In the fourteenth century the growing love for national poetry and the more widely spread ability to read and write, which in previous centuries had been mostly confined to ecclesiastics, led to the production of a large number of illuminated manuscripts of works such as the _Quest of the Holy Grail_, including the whole series of the _Chansons de Geste_ with the Lancelot and Arturian romances, the _Roman de la Rose_, one of the most popular productions of the fourteenth century, and a whole class of _Fabliaux_ or short stories in verse dealing with subjects of chivalrous and romantic character. Romances based on ancient history and mythology, such as _Les cent Histoires de Troye_ written by Christina of Pisa[137] about 1390-1395, became very popular among the knightly courtiers of the Rulers of France and Burgundy[138]. In manuscripts of this class the miniature illuminations play a very important part, and give great scope to the fancy and skill of the illuminator. _Italian influence._ In southern France the style of manuscript illumination differed a good deal from that of the northern provinces. During the fourteenth century there was a considerable strain of Italian influence, partly due to the establishment of the Papal Court at Avignon, and the introduction there of Simone Martini or Memmi, and other painters from Florence and Siena, to decorate the walls of the Pope's Palace[139]. On the whole, however, manuscripts were not produced in such abundance or with such skill in southern France as they were in the north. Paris, Burgundy and the French districts of Flanders were the chief homes of the illuminator's art. _Secular miniaturists._ By this time the production of illuminated manuscripts ceased to be almost wholly in the hands of monastic scribes, as it had been in earlier days when manuscripts dealing with profane subjects were scarcely known. In Paris, Brussels, Antwerp, Bruges, Ghent, Arras and other French and Flemish cities, large classes of secular writers and illuminators of manuscripts grew up, and special guilds of illuminators were formed, exactly like the guilds of other arts and crafts[140]. Before long this great extension of the art of illumination, and the fact that it became a trade, a method of earning a livelihood, like any other craft, led to a serious decadence in the art. Though wealthy patrons were able to pay large prices for richly illuminated manuscripts, thus keeping up the production of very elaborate and artistically valuable works of miniature art, yet the practical result was a growing decadence of style and workmanship. _Decay of the art._