Many are the attempts to show Lancelot as a real character. None definitive. It appears in all the legends about the legendary King Arthur. He is considered the best of Arthur's knights, but Arthur appoints him defender of the king's wife, Guinevere. Then it happens that Lancelot falls in love like a madman with Guinevere, and this leads him to betray Arthur. From here, a series of events take place that end with the end of Arthur and his reign.
These legends present Lancelot to us not as a simple knight but as a noble son of a king. Lancelot is not educated by his parents, but by The Lady of the Lake, a character that can be seen in many Arthurian legends. Hence the name of Lancelot del Lago. The Lady of the Lake teaches Lancelot everything a knight needs to know. Later he takes him to the court of King Arthur where he acquires the fame of the noblest and most loyal knight. However, his love for Guinevere causes him to abandon all his duties as a knight. And to show his chivalry he has to overcome a multitude of challenges. Deceived, he sleeps with Elaine, daughter of the Fisher King. From this union Galahad is born, who when he grows up represents the perfect gentleman and full of purity .
At that time, Christian dogmas prevailed over all others, hence the systematic allusion to sin, atonement, morality. Galahad, the perfect knight, representing all Christian thought, replaces his father as the ideal knight, since Lancelot submitted to his passion for Guinevere. This love story was tragic because as the story progresses, Lancelot's affair with the king's wife completely tears King Arthur's court apart, with a harsh and bloody war.
When Mordred rebels, Arthur fights him and is mortally wounded. Guinevere and Lancelot realize that their life together has been a continual transgression, and they both abandon worldly life and become a monk and nun, and remain so until their last breath.
The best-known story of Lancelot was written by Chrétien de Troyes , and there is no doubt that the Christian beliefs that prevailed at the time were of great importance in writing this story. Therefore, it is not surprising that the writer paid special attention to the Bible. Some believe that Lancelot's story is similar to Lot's.
Fact or fiction, the figure of Lancelot is closely linked to Arthurian legends, and represents the beginning of the European romantic novel. Even though he is English, these days he is considered a mythical European knight.