Frère lai

schemes and the alexandrine, provided a flexible framework for poetic expression of all kinds, and a long experience of theatre paved the way for later developments. And just as the author had been born, so the concept of genres became clearer. The lai, fabliau and nouvelle pointed to the later growth of the novel. Epic and romance, which were perpetuated in stilted forms, contained the seeds of the popular literature hawked by the colporteurs. Lives of saints, kings and heroes, abetted by chronicles