'Here William died; his song was done.
When forty years had passed away,
Sir John the romance carried on,
And here commencing, told the lay.'
While Jean de Meung himself says, prophesying after the event—
'Car quant Guillaume cessera
Jehan le continuera
Après sa mort que je ne mente
Anns trespassés plus de quarente.'
So that if we fix the date of Jean de Meung, we have that of Guillaume de Lorris. Now, there is nothing to help us, except a tradition that Guillaume died in the middle of the thirteenth century, and whatever internal evidence the book itself affords. Most writers, because the order of Knights Templars is mentioned as still existing, have been content to date the book at about 1306, the year before the destruction of the fraternity; but the poet mentions Charles of Anjou as King of Sicily. We have, therefore, a much lower limit, viz., the year 1282. Perhaps on closer examination, a range of years might easily be found in which the book was written. It is, however, sufficient for our purpose to date its authorship about 1280, and that of Guillaume de Lorris at 1240.