Denis Pyramus

Who is Denis Pyramus?

Denis Pyramus was a Benedictine monk of Bury St. Edmunds Abbey and an Anglo-Norman poet who was active in the second part of the 12th and the beginning of the 13th century.

In 1150 he wrote Parthénopéus de Blois, a chivalric tale whose motif is drawn from the story of Cupid and Psyche. Parthénopéus was then adapted in the 13th century into a West Flemish novel in 9000 verses, Parthenopeus van Blois, which tells about the love of King Clovis. In the 19th century the original story of Parthénopéus de Blois served as a broad basis for Alfred Blau's libretto Esclarmonde, later turned into an opera by Jules Massenet.

Pyramus also wrote La Vie Seint Edmund le Roi.