Arou d 1700, German novels featured chivalrous narratives with female protagonists, but only went on to become a 'literary genre' in the 18^th century. This study analyzes for the first time the principles of constructing chivalrous femininity in the novel (1690-1720) and describes their specificity in relation to genre and gender while considering poetic, societal, and economic aspects of the world of media and books around 1700.