Segurant, the Knight of the Dragon

Segurant, the Knight of the Dragon (French: Ségurant ou le Chevalier au Dragon) is a French medieval Arthurian romance of debated date and origin. As no complete manuscript has survived, its alleged rediscovery by paleographer Emanuele Arioli remains a subject of debate.

After isolating the episodes related to Segurant in a late and well-known manuscript of the Prophecies of Merlin, held at the Bibliothèque de l'Arsenal, Arioli suggested that these episodes were originally part of an earlier romance, later repurposed within the Arsenal chivalric compilation.

According to Arioli, the oldest known version of the romance, written in French, was produced in Italy between 1240 and 1273. However, the only complete manuscript of the text dates from the late 14th or early 15th century and was produced in France. Other manuscripts—along with several continuation romances and rewritings of the story—have been dated between the late 13th and late 15th centuries and originate from various regions of France, Italy, and Flanders, with some copies richly illustrated. This suggests that the romance enjoyed considerable popularity during this period.

Arioli’s claims have been widely criticized by the scholarly community. Critics argue that Arioli presents as "discoveries" manuscripts and texts that were already well known, and that he proposes a questionable redating to the 13th century of episodes attested solely in the Arsenal manuscript, which itself dates to the late 14th or early 15th century. Moreover, some of the evidence advanced in support of Arioli’s reconstruction has been shown to be erroneous or false.