Composed in the early 13th century, the poem is 5,656 lines long and is especially notable for the large number of chansons it contains, and for its active female protagonist.
The romance incorporates forty-six chansons (or parts thereof); it is the first extant example in French literature of a text that combines narrative and lyric.
[3] The opening lines of the poem contain a dedication to Miles de Nanteuil, an early 13th-century churchman who was elected (but not confirmed) in 1201 as archbishop of Reims, and later became bishop of Beauvais, in northern France; he died circa 1235.
According to Todd, the nobleman de Nanteuil may have been too young and wild to be elevated to the archbishopric, but this would have made him a good candidate for Renart's dedication.
[7] F. M. Warren of Yale University, in a 1908 article, is one of the early proponents of identifying Renart as the author of all three, based on versification, phrasing, and vocabulary, and places the development of his poetic talent between 1195 and 1205.
"[9] The story begins at the court of Emperor Conrad, who for all of his good qualities has one defect: he refuses to get married, especially since, as he says, people no longer are as valiant and as noble as they used to be.
His minstrel, Jouglet, tells him of Guillaume de Dole and his sister Liénor, and quickly the emperor falls in love with her, although he does not actually see her until the story's denouement.
Guillaume is summoned to the court where he excels in chivalric exploits; the emperor tells him he wishes to marry his sister.
Conrad's jealous seneschal interferes and visits Guillaume's family, where he gives his mother a valuable ring and gains her confidence; from her he learns that Liénor has a particular birthmark in the shape of a rose on her thigh.
When Liénor reveals that she is in fact Guillaume's sister, the seneschal's earlier claim of having deflowered her is proven a lie.
She found a quick successor in the active female protagonist of Tibaut's Roman de la Poire.
[22] A lengthy analysis, partial edition, and summary in English was published by Henry Alfred Todd of Johns Hopkins University, in 1886.