# Joseph Bedier

## Biography

Joseph Bédier was a prominent French writer and historian specializing in medieval French literature. Born in Paris in 1864, he spent his formative years in Réunion before embarking on a distinguished academic career. Bédier held professorships in medieval French literature at the Université de Fribourg and later at the esteemed Collège de France. He is widely celebrated for his invaluable contributions to the study of epic poems such as the Tristan and Isolde and the Chanson de Roland. His 1900 reconstruction, "Le Roman de Tristan et Iseult," garnered significant acclaim, and he produced a critical edition of "La Chanson de Roland" in 1921. Bédier's scholarly work laid the groundwork for modern theories concerning the fabliaux and chansons de geste. He was elected to the Académie française in 1920, serving until his death in 1938. Bédier also co-edited the comprehensive two-volume "Littérature française," a major general history of French literature.

## Books

- [The Romance of Tristan and Iseult](https://samolit.com/books/96416)