The term 'literary lives' defines the specific focus on the question of role designs that runs throughout this volume. The focus is on literature, albeit in a broadly conceived sense of the term. The 'role designs' in the sub-title refer first of all to the plurality of different 'careers' that individuals may traverse in the course of their lives, and secondly to the exemplary nature of these literary designs. The articles centre largely on the 13th century, the earliest period in which we encounter a wide-ranging spectrum of roles in all literatures. The extension of the focus back to the late 12th century and forward to the late Middle Ages is intended to give an additional perspective to the central issue the volume inquires into.