Courtly 1

BARBARA TUCHMAN "If tournaments were an acting-out of chivalry, courtly love
was its dreamland. Courtly love was understood by its contemporaries to be love for
its own sake, romantic love, true love, physical love, unassociated with property or
family . . . focused on another man's wife, since only such an illicit liaison could have
no other aim but love alone. . . . As formulated by chivalry, romance was pictured as
extra-marital because love was considered irrelevant to marriage, was indeed
discouraged in order not to get in the way of dynastic arrangements.
"As its justification, courtly love was considered to ennoble a man, to improve him in
every way. It would make him concerned to show an example of goodness, to do his
utmost to preserve honor, never letting dishonor touch himself or the lady he loved.
On a lower scale, it would lead him to keep his teeth and nails clean, his clothes rich
and well groomed, his conversation witty and amusing, his manners courteous to all,
curbing arrogance and coarseness, never brawling in a lady's presence. Above all, it
would make him more valiant, more preux; that was the basic premise. He would be
inspired to greater prowess, would win more victories in tournaments, rise above
himself in courage and daring, become, as Froissart said, 'worth two men.' Guided
by this theory, woman's status improved, less for her own sake than as the inspirer
of male glory, a higher function than being merely a sexual object, a breeder of
children, or a conveyor of property.
"The chivalric love affair moved from worship through declaration of passionate
devotion, virtuous rejection by the lady, renewed wooing with oaths of eternal fealty,
moans of approaching death from unsatisfied desire, heroic deeds of valor which
won the lady's heart by prowess, [very rarely] consummation of the secret love,
followed by endless adventures and subterfuges to a tragic denouement. . . . It
remained artificial, a literary convention, a fantasy . . . more for purposes of
discussion than for every day practice." (66-68)
Courtly Love
Barbara Tuchman offers a fairly concise discussion of courtly love in her book A
Distant Mirror. While much of the book should be used with caution as a guide to the
fourteenth century, her words below do capture the essence of courtly love quite
nicely:
"If tournaments were an acting-out of chivalry, courtly love was its dreamland.
Courtly love was understood by its contemporaries to be love for its own sake,
romantic love, true love, physical love, unassociated with property or family . . .
focused on another man's wife, since only such an illicit liaison could have no other
aim but love alone. . . . As formulated by chivalry, romance was pictured as extramarital because love was considered irrelevant to marriage, was indeed discouraged
in order not to get in the way of dynastic arrangements.
"As its justification, courtly love was considered to ennoble a man, to improve him in
every way. It would make him concerned to show an example of goodness, to do his
utmost to preserve honor, never letting dishonor touch himself or the lady he loved.
On a lower scale, it would lead him to keep his teeth and nails clean, his clothes rich
and well groomed, his conversation witty and amusing, his manners courteous to all,
curbing arrogance and coarseness, never brawling in a lady's presence. Above all, it
would make him more valiant, more preux; that was the basic premise. He would be
inspired to greater prowess, would win more victories in tournaments, rise above
himself in courage and daring, become, as Froissart said, 'worth two men.' Guided
by this theory, woman's status improved, less for her own sake than as the inspirer
of male glory, a higher function than being merely a sexual object, a breeder of
children, or a conveyor of property.
"The chivalric love affair moved from worship through declaration of passionate
devotion, virtuous rejection by the lady, renewed wooing with oaths of eternal fealty,
moans of approaching death from unsatisfied desire, heroic deeds of valor which
won the lady's heart by prowess, [very rarely] consummation of the secret love,
followed by endless adventures and subterfuges to a tragic denouement. . . . It
remained artificial, a literary convention, a fantasy . . . more for purposes of
discussion than for every day practice." (66-68)
The phrase "courtly love" is a modern scholarly term to refer to the idea espoused in
medieval French as "Fin Amour." This phenomenon is a cultural trope in the late
twelfth-century, or possibly a literary convention that captured popular imagination.
Courtly love refers to a code of behavior that gave rise to modern ideas of chivalrous
romance. The term itself was popularized by C. S. Lewis' and Gaston Paris' scholarly
studies, but its historical existence remains contested in critical circles. The
conventions of courtly love are that a knight of noble blood would adore and worship
a young noble-woman from afar, seeking to protect her honor and win her favor by
valorous deeds. He typically falls ill with love-sickness, while the woman chastely or
scornfully rejects or refuses his advances in public, but privately encourages him.
Courtly love was associated with (A) nobility, since no peasants can engage in "fine
love"; (B) secrecy; (C) adultery, since often the one or both participants were married
to another noble or trapped in an unloving marriage; and (D) paradoxically with
chastity, since the passion could never be consummated due to social
circumstances, thus it was a "higher love" unsullied by selfish carnal desires.
An example of this attitude is found in Castiglione's The Courtier, which presents a
Renaissance outlook on this medieval ideal:
I hold that a gentleman of worth, who is in love, ought to be sincere and truthful in
this [labor] as in all other things; and it if it is true that to betray an enemy is
baseness and a most abominable wrong, think how much more grave the offense
ought to be considered when done to one whom we love. And I believe that every
gentle lover endures so many toils, so many vigils, exposes himself to so many
dangers, sheds so many tears, uses so many ways and means to please his lady
love--not chiefly in order to possess her body, but to take the fortress of her mind
and to break those hardest diamonds and melt that cold ice, which are often found in
the tender breasts of women And this I believe is the true and sound pleasure and
the goal aimed at by every noble heart. Certainly, if I were in love, I should wish
rather to be sure that she whom I served returned my love from her heart and had
given me her inner self--if I had no other satisfaction from her--than to take all
pleasure with her against her will; for in such a case I should consider myself master
merely of a lifeless body. Hence, those who pursue their desires by these tricks,
which might perhaps rather be called treacheries than tricks, do wrong to others, nor
do they gain that satisfaction withal which is sought in love if they possess the body
without the will. I say the same of certain others who in their love make use of
enchantments, charms, sometimes force, sometimes sleeping potions, and such
things. And you must know that gifts do much to lessen the pleasures of love; for a
man can suspect that he is not loved but that his lady makes a show of loving him in
order to gain something by it. Hence, you see that the love of some great lady is
prized because it seems that it cannot arise from any other source save that of real
and true affection, nor is it to be thought that so great a lady would ever pretend to
love an inferior if she did not really love him.
--The Book of the Courtier, Book 2, Paragraph 94.
Castiglione's writings originate in the early sixteenth and late fifteenth centuries, but
they very much embody earlier ideals. In the late twelfth-century and early thirteenthcentury, Andreas Capellanus' Rules of Courtly Love provides a satirical guide to the
endeavor by offering a set of hyperbolic and self-contradictory "rules" to this courtly
game. Chretien de Troyes satirizes the conventions in his courtly literature as well.
Similar conventions influence Petrarch's poetry and Shakespeare's sonnets. These
sonnets often emphasize in particular the idea of "love from afar" and "unrequited
love," and make use of imagery and wording common to the earlier French tradition.
Good sources might be C. S. Lewis' Allegory of Love, or a historical text such as
Andreas Cappellanus' "Rules of Courtly Love," Ruiz's Libro de Buen Amor, or
Castiglione's Book of the Courtier.
Cult of Chivalry
"If I had one foot already in paradise, I would withdraw it to go and fight!"
--Garin li Loherains, heroic character in a chanson de geste.
Chivalry is an idealized code of military and social behavior for the aristocracy in the
late medieval period. The word "chivalry" comes from Old French cheval (horse) and
literally means "horsemanship." Normally, only rich nobility could afford the
expensive armor, weaponry, and warhorses necessary for mounted combat, so the
act of becoming a knight was symbolically indicated by giving the knight silver spurs.
The right to knighthood in the late medieval period was inherited through the father,
but it could also be granted by the king or a lord as a reward for services. The tenets
of chivalry were attempts to civilize the rather brutal activity of warfare. The ideals
include sparing non-combatants such as women, children, and helpless prisoners;
the protection of the church; honesty in word and bravery in deeds; loyalty to one's
liege lord; dignified behavior; and single-combat between noble opponents who had
a quarrel. Other matters associated with chivalry include gentlemanly duels
supervised by witnesses and heralds, behaving according to the manners of polite
society, courtly love, brotherhood in arms, and feudalism.
The paradox of chivalry can be seen in both its violent nature and its emphasis on
polite rules of behavior. Consider the quotation below:
"My heart is filled with gladness when I see
Strong castles besieged, stockades broken and overwhelmed,
Many vassals struck down,
Horses of the dead and wounded roving at random.
And when battle is joined, let all men of good lineage
Think of naught but the breaking of heads and arms,
For it is better to die than be vanquished and live. . . .
I tell you I have no such joy as when I hear the shout
'On! On!' from both sides and the neighing of riderless steeds,
And groans of 'Help me! Help me!'
And when I see both great and small
Fall in the ditches and on the grass
And see the dead transfixed by spear shafts!
Lords, mortgage your domains, castles, cities,
But never give up war!"
--Bertrand de Born, French aristocrat and troubadour
It is clear that warfare is near and dear to the heart of the knight. However, this can
be contrasted (especially in the late medieval period and early Renaissance) with the
ideals listed in other quotations about knighthood in the days of the Renaissance
courtier.
Courtly Love
Previous (Court Jew)
Next (Covalent bond)
Lancelot and
a Guinevere
e's last kiss.
Courtly love was a medieval

m
Euro
opean concep
ption of ennob
bling love which found its genesis in the
e ducal
and princcely courts in regions of prresent-day so
outhern Franc
ce at the end of the eleven
nth century. Itt involved
a parado
oxical tension between ero
otic desire and
d spiritual atta
ainment, "a lo
ove at once illicit and mora
ally
elevating
g, passionate and self-discciplined, humiliating and ex
xalting, huma
an and transccendent."[1] It can
c be
seen as a combinatio
on of complexx factors: Philo
osophical, so
ocial, religiouss, romantic, a
and erotic.
The term
ms used for co
ourtly love during the medieval period ittself were "Am
mour Honestu
us" (Honest Love)
L
and
"Fin Amo
or" (Refined Love).
L
The term "courtly lo
ove" was first popularized by
b Gaston Pa
aris in 1883, and
a has
since com
me under a wide
w
variety of
o definitions.
The Fren
nch court of th
he troubadou
ur Duke Willia
am IX was an early center of the culture
e of courtly lov
ve.
William'ss granddaugh
hter, Eleanor of
o Aquitaine, was a great influence
i
in spreading
s
thiss culture. She
e
supporte
ed the ideals of
o courtly love
e throughout her reign in Aquitaine
A
and
d brought it to
o England whe
en she
married Henry II. Her daughter, Ma
arie of Champagne, encou
uraged Chrtien de Troyess to write Lan
ncelot.
Later, the
e ideas of courtly love werre formally exxpressed in a three part tre
eatise by And
dr le Chapela
ain. In
the thirte
eenth century, the lengthy poem, Roma
an de la rose, painted the image of a lovver suspende
ed
between happiness and
a despair.
Contents
[hide]
1 Origin of
o term
2 History
3 Stages of
o courtly love
4 Impact
5 Literaryy conventions
6 Points of
o controversy
6.1 Sexuality
6.2 Origins
6.3 Real-world praactice
6.4 Courts of love
7 Notes
8 References
9 Externall links
10 Creditss
Scholarss have debate

ed the degree
e to which cou
urtly love was
s practiced in the real world versus bein
ng a
literary id
deal, as well as
a whether itss literature wa
as meant to represent
r
a se
exual relation
nship or a spiritual
one, usin
ng erotic lang
guage allegorically.
Origin
n of term
The term
m amour court
rtois ("courtly love") was given its origina
al definition by
b Gaston Paris in his 1883 article,
"tudes sur les roman
ns de la Table
e Ronde: Lan
ncelot du Lac, II: Le conte de la charrettte," a treatise
e
inspectin
ng Chretien de Troyes's La
ancelot, the Knight
K
of the Cart
C (1177). Paris
P
defined amour courto
ois as
involving
g both idolizattion and an ennobling disccipline. The lo
over (idolizer) accepts the independenc
ce of his
mistress and tries to make
m
himselff worthy of he
er by acting brravely and ho
onorably and by doing wha
atever
deeds sh
he might desire. Sexual sa
atisfaction ma
ay not have been either a goal
g
or the en
nd result. How
wever,
courtly lo
ove was not always
a
entirely Platonic eitther, as it was
s based on atttraction, whicch sometimes
s
involved strong sexua
al feelings.
Both the term and Pa
aris's definition
n of it were so
oon widely ac
ccepted and adopted.
a
In 1936, C.S. Lew
wis wrote
the influe
ential book, The
T Allegory of
o Love, furthe
er solidifying courtly love as
a "love of a h
highly specialized
sort, who
ose characterristics may be
e enumerated
d as Humility, Courtesy, Ad
dultery, and the Religion of
o
Love."[2] Later, historia
ans such as D.W.
D
Robertsson[3] in the 19
960s, and John C. Moore[44] and E. Talb
bot
Donaldso
on[5] in the 19
970s, were critical of the te
erm as being a modern invvention.
Historry
Courtly Lo
ove comes in the basket
Courtly lo
ove had its origins in the castle
c
life of fo
our regions: Aquitaine,
A
Pro
ovence, Cham
mpagne, and ducal
Burgundy, beginning about the tim
me of the Firstt Crusade (10
099). It found its early exprression in the
e lyric
poems written
w
by trou
ubadours, succh as William IX, Duke of Aquitaine
A
(1071-1126), one of the first
troubado
our poets.
Poets adopted the terminology of feudalism, declaring themselves the vassal of the lady and addressing
her as midons (my lord). The troubadour's model of the ideal lady was the wife of his employer or lord, a
lady of higher status, usually the rich and powerful female head of the castle. When her husband was away
on a Crusade or other business, and sometimes while he remained at home, she dominated the household
and especially its cultural affairs. The poet gave voice to the aspirations of the courtier class, for only those
who were noble could engage in courtly love. This new kind of love, however, saw true nobility as being
based on character and actions, not wealth and family history, thus appealing to poorer knights who hoped
for an avenue for advancement.
Eleanor of Aquitaine, William IX's granddaughter who was queen to two kings, brought the ideals of courtly
love from Aquitaine first to the court of France, then to England. Eleanor enjoyed fame for her beauty and
character, and troubadours wrote songs about her, "If all the world were mine from the seashore to the
Rhine, that price were not too high to have England's Queen lie close in my my arms."[6] Her daughter,
Marie, Countess of Champagne, brought the tradition to the Count of Champagne's court. The rules of
courtly love were codified by the late twelfth century in Andreas Capellanus' influential work De
Amore (Concerning Love).
Stages of courtly love

The following stages of courtly love were identified by scholar Barbara Tuchman from her studies of
medieval literature. However, not all stages are present in every account of romantic love, and the question
of how literally some of the stages should be taken is a point of controversy.[7]
Attraction to the lady, usually via eyes/glance
Worship of the lady from afar
Declaration of passionate devotion
Virtuous rejection by the lady
Renewed wooing with oaths of virtue and eternal fealty
Moans of approaching death from unsatisfied desire (and other physical manifestations of
lovesickness)
Heroic deeds of valor which win the lady's heart
Consummation of the secret love
Endless adventures and subterfuges avoiding detection
Impact
"God Spe
eed!" by Edmun
nd Blair Leighto
on: A lady givin
ng a favor to a knight about to
o do battle
Courtly lo
ove had a civvilizing effect on knightly behavior. The prevalence of
o arranged m
marriagesofften
involving
g young girls to
t older men for strictly po
olitical purposesmotivate
ed other outle
ets for the exp
pression
of person
nal love. At times, the ladyy could be a princesse
p
loin
ntaine, a far-a
away princesss, and some tales
t
told
of men who
w had fallen
n in love with women whom
m they had never seen, merely
m
on hearing their perffection
describe
ed. Normally, however, she
e was not so distant. As th
he etiquette off courtly love became morre
complica
ated, the knight might wear the colors of
o his lady: Blu
ue or black were
w
the colorrs of faithfulne
ess;
green wa
as a sign of unfaithfulness
u
s. Salvation, previously
p
fou
und in the han
nds of the prie
esthood, now
w came
from the hands of one
e's lady. In so
ome cases, th
here were also female trou
ubadours who
o expressed the
t same
sentimen
nt for men.
Saint Bernard veneratess the Virgin Ma

ary
Courtly lo
ove thus saw
w a woman ass an ennobling
g spiritual and
d moral force
e, a view that was in oppos
sition to
medieva
al ecclesiastical sexual attittudes. Ratherr than being critical
c
of rom
mantic love as sinful, the po
oets
praised it as the highe
est ideal.
The idea
als of courtly love would im
mpact on Church traditions in important ways. Marria
age had been
declared
d a sacramentt of the Churcch, at the Fou
urth Lateran Council,
C
1215
5, and within C
Christian marrriage,
the only purpose wass procreation with
w any sex beyond that purpose
p
seen
n as non-piou
us. The ideal state
s
of a
Christian
n was celibacy, even in ma
arriage. By the beginning of
o the thirteen
nth century, th
he ideas of co
ourtly
tradition were condem
mned by the church
c
as being heretical. However, the
e Church cha
anneled many
y of these
romanticc energies into
o veneration of the cult of the Virgin.
It is not a coincidence
e that the cultt of the Virgin Mary began in the twelfth
h century as a counter to th
he
secular, courtly, and lustful views of
o women. Be
ernard of Claiirvaux was instrumental in this moveme
ent,
and Fran
ncis of Assisi would refer to
o both chastitty and povertty as "my Lad
dy."
Litera
ary conve
entions
The litera
ary conventio
ons of courtly love are evid
dent in most of
o the major authors
a
of the
e Middle Ages
s, such
as Geofffrey Chaucer,, John Gowerr, Dante, Marie de France,, Chretien de Troyes, Gotttfried von Stra
assburg,
and Malo
ory. The medieval genres in which courrtly love conv
ventions can be
b found inclu
ude lyric poettry, the
Romance, and the allegory.
Walther von
v der Vogelw
weide (Codex Manesse,
M
c. 130
00)
Lyric Po
oety: The con
ncept of courttly love was born
b
in the tra
adition of lyric poetry, first a
appearing witth
Provena
al poets in the
e eleventh ce
entury, including itinerant and
a courtly minstrels
m
such as the
French troubadours and
a trouveress. This French
h tradition sprread later to the German M
Minnesnger, such as
Walther von der Voge
elweide and Wolfram
W
von Eschenbach.
E
Romanc
ce: The verna
acular court poetry
p
of the romans
r
courto
ois, or Roman
nces, saw ma
any examples
s of
courtly lo
ove. Many of them are set within the cyycle of poems
s celebrating King
K
Arthur's court. This was
w a
literature
e of leisure, directed to a la
argely female
e audience forr the first time
e in European
n history.
Allegory
y: Medieval allegory
a
also shows
s
elemen
nts of the trad
dition of courttly love. A prim
me example of this is
the first part
p of The Romance
R
of th
he Rose.
More forrmal expressio
ons of the concept also ap
ppeared. Perh
haps the mosst important a
and popular work
w
of
courtly lo
ove was that of
o Andreas Capellanus's
C
D Amore, wh
De
hich describe
ed the ars ama
andi ("the art of
loving") in twelfth century Provence. His work fo
ollowed in the
e tradition of the
t Roman w
work Ars amattoria ("Art
of Love")) by Ovid, and
d the Muslim work Tawq al-hamamah(
a
The Turtle-Do
ove's Necklacce) by Ibn Ha
azm.
The them
mes of courtlyy love were no
ot confined to
o the medieva
al, but are see
en both in serious and com
mic forms
in Elizabethan times.
Pointss of contrroversy
Sexua
ality
Court of Love
L
in Provence in the fourte
eenth century (after
(
a manusc
cript in the Biblliothque Natio
onale, Paris).
Within th
he corpus of troubadour po
oems there iss a wide range
e of attitudes, even acrosss the works off
individua
al poets. Som
me poems are physically se
ensual, even bawdily imag
gining nude embraces, while others
are highlly spiritual and border on the
t platonic.[88]
A point of
o ongoing controversy abo
out courtly lovve is to what extent it was sexual. All co
ourtly love wa
as erotic
to some degree and not
n purely pla
atonic. The tro
oubadours sp
peak of the ph
hysical beautyy of their ladie
es and
the feelin
ngs and desirres the ladiess rouse in them
m. It is unclea
ar, however, what
w
a poet sshould do abo
out these
feelings
live a life off perpetual de
esire channeling his energies to higher ends, or strivve for physica
al
consumm
mation of his desire.
The view
w of twentieth century scho
olar Denis de Rougemont is that the tro
oubadours we
ere influenced
d
by Catha
ar doctrines which
w
rejected
d the pleasure
es of the flesh
h and that the
ey were addre
essing the sp
pirit and
soul of th
heir ladies using the metap
phorical langu
uage of erotic
cism.[9]Edmun
nd Reiss agre
eed that courttly love
was basiically spiritual, arguing tha
at it had more in common with
w Christian
n love, or carittas, than the gnostic
spiritualitty of the Cath
hars.[10] On the other hand, scholars suc
ch as Mosch
Lazar hold that courtly lo
ove was
outright adulterous
a
se
exual love with physical po
ossession of the
t lady the desired
d
end.[11]
Origin
ns
Many of the conventio
ons of courtlyy love can be traced to Oviid, but it is do
oubtful that they are all trac
ceable to
this origin. The Arabisst hypothesis, proposes th
hat the ideas of
o courtly love
e were alread
dy prevalent in AlAndalus and elsewhe
ere in the Islam
mic world, be
efore they app
peared in Chrristian Europe
e.
According to this theory, in eleventh century Spain, Muslim wandering poets would go from court to court,
and sometimes travel to Christian courts in southern France, a situation closely mirroring what would
happen in southern France about a century later. Contacts between these Spanish poets and the French
troubadours were frequent. The metrical forms used by the Spanish poets were similar to those later used
by the troubadours. Moreover, the First Crusade and the ongoing Reconquista in Spain could easily have
provided opportunities for these ideas to make their way from the Muslim world to Christendom.
Real-world practice
A continued point of controversy is whether courtly love was primarily a literary phenomenon or was
actually practiced in real life. Historian John Benton found no documentary evidence for courtly love in law
codes, court cases, chronicles or other historical documents.[12] However, the existence of the non-fiction
genre of courtesy books may provide evidence for its practice. For example, the Book of the Three
Virtues by Christine de Pizan (c. 1405), expresses disapproval of the ideal of courtly love being used to
justify and cover-up illicit love affairs. Courtly love also seems to have found practical expression in
customs such as the crowning of Queens of Love and Beauty at tournaments.
Courts of love
Another issue is the alleged existence of "courts of love," first mentioned by Andreas Capellanus in the
twelfth century. These were supposed courts made up of tribunals staffed by ten to 70 women who would
hear a case of love and judge it based on the rules of love. Nineteenth century historians took the existence
of these courts as fact. However later historians such as John F. Benton noted "none of the abundant
letters, chronicles, songs and pious dedications" suggest they ever existed outside of the poetic
literature.[13] According to Diane Bornstein, one way to reconcile the differences between the references to
courts of love in the literature and the lack of documentary evidence in real life, is that they were like literary
salons or social gatherings, where people read poems, debated questions of love, and played word games
of flirtation.[14]
Notes
1. Francis X. Newman, The Meaning of Courtly Love. (1968).
2. C.S. Lewis, The Allegory of Love (1985).
3. D.W. Robertson. A Preface to Chaucer: Studies in Medieval Perspectives (1962).
4. John C. Moore, "Courtly Love: A Problem of Terminology," Journal of the History of Ideas
40.4 (1979): 621-632.
5. E. Talbot Donaldson. "The Myth of Courtly Love," in Speaking of Chaucer (1970).
6. Bonnie Wheeler, Medieval Heroines in History and Legend (2002).
7. Barbara Wertheim Tuchman, A Distant Mirror (1978).
8. Diane Bornstein, "Courtly Love," in Dictionary of the Middle Ages (1986), p. 668-674.
9. Denis de Rougemont, Love in the Western World (1956).
10. Edmund Reiss, "Fin'amors: Its History and Meaning in Medieval Literature" in Journal of
Medieval and Renaissance Studies (1979), p. 8.
11. Mosch Lazar, Amour courtois et "fin'amors" dans le littrature du XII sicle (1986).
12. John F. Benton, Studies in Philology and Speculum (1962 and 1961).
13. Ibid.
14. Diane Bornstein, 1986.
References
Benton, John F. "The Evidence for Andreas Capellanus Re-examined Again." In Studies in
Philology, Vol.59, 1962.
Capellanus, Andreas. The Art of Courtly Love. Columbia University Press, 1990. ISBN 9780231073059
Duby, Georges. The Knight, the Lady, and the Priest: the Making of Modern Marriage in Medieval
France. Translated by Barbara Bray. Pantheon Books, 1983.
Lewis, C.S. The Allegory of Love: A Study in Medieval Tradition. Oxford University Press, 1985. ISBN
0-19-281220-3
Markale, Jean. Courtly Love: The Path of Sexual Initiation. Inner Traditions, 2000. ISBN 9780892817719
Menocal, Maria Rosa. The Arabic Role in Medieval Literary History. University of Pennsylvania Press,
1990. ISBN 0-8122-1324-6
Moore, John C. . "Courtly Love: A Problem of Terminology." 'Journal of the History of Ideas.' Vol. 40.4.
October, 1979.
Newman, Francis X. The Meaning of Courtly Love. State University of New York Press, 1968.
Robertson, Durant W. A Preface to Chaucer: Studies in Medieval Perspectives. Princeton Univ Press,
1962. ISBN 978-0691012940
Schultz, James A. Courtly Love, the Love of Courtliness, and the History of Sexuality. The University
of Chicago Press, 2006. ISBN 0-226-74089-7
Tuchman, Barbara Wertheim. A Distant Mirror: the Calamitous 14th Century. Knopf, 1978. ISBN 0394-40026-7
Wheeler, Bonnie. Medieval Heroines in History and Legend, part II. The Teaching Company,
2002. ISBN 1-56585-523-X
External links
All links retrieved June 27, 2013.
Courtly Love, Washington State University. www.wsu.edu.
"Courtly love". In Encyclopedia Britannica Online. www.britannica.com.
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The Rules of Medieval Courtly Love

The violence and wars of the Middle Ages were tempered by the Rules of Medieval
Courtly Love. The following rules and elements of Medieval Courtly Love during the
Medieval times of the Middle Ages were written by the 12th Century Frenchman,
Andreas Capellanus:
Marriage is no real excuse for not loving

He who is not jealous, cannot love
No one can be bound by a double love
It is well known that love is always increasing or decreasing
That which a lover takes against the will of his beloved has no relish
Boys do not love until they arrive at the age of maturity
When one lover dies, a widowhood of two years is required of the survivor
No one should be deprived of love without the very best of reasons
No one can love unless he is impelled by the persuasion of love
Love is always a stranger in the home of avarice
It is not proper to love any woman whom one would be ashamed to seek to
marry
A true lover does not desire to embrace in love anyone except his beloved
When made public love rarely endures
The easy attainment of love makes it of little value; difficulty of attainment
makes it prized
Every lover regularly turns pale in the presence of his beloved
When a lover suddenly catches sight of his beloved, his heart palpitates
A new love puts to flight an old one
Good character alone makes any man worthy of love
If love diminishes, it quickly fails and rarely revives
A man in love is always apprehensive
Real jealousy always increases the feeling of love
Jealousy, and therefore love, are increased when one suspects his beloved
He whom the thought of love vexes eats and sleeps very little
Every act of a lover ends in the thought of his beloved
A true lover considers nothing good except what he thinks will please his
beloved
Love can deny nothing to love
A lover can never have enough of the solaces of his beloved
A slight presumption causes a lover to suspect his beloved
A man who is vexed by too much passion usually does not love
A true lover is constantly and without intermission possessed by the thought of
his beloved
Nothing forbids one woman being loved by two men or one man by two
women
http://www.medieval-life-and-times.info/medieval-knights/medieval-courtly-love.htm
Courtly Love
Dr. Michael Delahoyde (2011)
Introduction:We are so familiar with the love tradition that we mistake

it for a natural and universal phenomenon and have no impulse to
inquire into its origins. But it is difficult if not impossible to show love
to be anything more than an artistic phenomenon or construct -- a
literary or performative innovation of the Middle Ages.
The term "Courtly Love" ("l'amour courtois") was coined by Gaston
Paris in 1883 (in the journal Romania), so the first problem is that we
tend to let the Victorians define it for us. The terms that appear in the
actual medieval period are "Amour Honestus" (Honest Love) and "Fin
Amor" (Refined Love).
The concept was new in the Middle Ages. The medievals were the first
to discover (or invent) it, the first to express this form of romantic
passion. There was no literary nor social framework for it in the
Christian world before the end of the 11th century; the Western tradition
had no room for the expression of love in literature: there's none in
Beowulf or The Song of Roland. The religious tradition speaks of love,
but that's agape -- platonic/christian love of all humankind as your
brothers and sisters. In classical literature we witness what's called love,
but, as exemplified well by the case of Dido for Aeneas, the passion is
often described in firy terms and always reads like eros -- hot lust.
(Medea and Phaedra are other cautionary examples, and "love" plunges
them into crime and disgrace.) Ovid's Ars Armitoria and Remedia
Amoris (The Art of Love and The Cure for Love) are ironic and didactic
treatises generated from a premise that love is a minor peccadillo. Ovid
gives rules for illicit conduct.
Rather unlike "Courtly Love," the literature of the Church is antifeminist. And the tastemakers in feudal society marry not for love but
for real estate and heirs. It's been said that in the Middle Ages you
Source URL: http://public.wsu.edu/~delahoyd/medieval/love.html
Saylor URL: http://www.saylor.org/courses/engl201
Dr. Michael Delahoyde (http://public.wsu.edu/~delahoyd/)

Used by permission.
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Page 1 of 8
married a fief and got a wife thrown in with the bargain. Idealized "love"
goes against the utilitarian economics of marriage, and passion was
forbidden by the Church, so until the courtly version came along, Love
was duty and "Luv" was sinful. Thus, "Courtly Love" emerged and
remained outside of marriage. (Love and marriage don't go together like
a horse and carriage.) C.S. Lewis decided that its key features were
humility, courtesy, and adultery.
Historical Basis?:Scholars who have believed that Courtly Love was a
true historical development rely on the literature to read back a history.
They have decided that it all began in southern France, which was
sufficiently peaceful and isolated for such a movement to develop. Old
Roman war dogs retired here (Avignon; Toulouse; Nimes under the
domaine of Eleanor, Duchess of Aquitaine) and the leisure class, a
wealthy and self-sufficient society, found a new fad. (After all, you can't
love if you're poor -- check your Andreas Capellanus.) Intellectuals from
all over were attracted to the area's courts. The south was freer and more
tolerant, and was pluralistic (with Arabs, Jews, and Byzantines
numbered among the residents). And perhaps the men outnumbered the
women (check Rules 3 and 31 in Andreas).
Troubadours:What we find are troubadour poems. The troubadours
were not really wandering minstrels but mostly rich young men, using
the Provenal langue d'Oc. Circa 1071 is the birth year for the first
known troubadour, William IX of Poitiers. [In the north, feudal knights
preferred epic poems of chivalry like the Arthurian tales crossing the
channel. But trouvres picked up the troubadour tradition, transposed
into the langue d'Oil. In Germany they were called minnesingers.]
Consider Arnaut Daniel's "Chanson do.ill mot son plan e prim" ("A
Song with Simple Words and Fine") and Bernard de Ventadour's "Can
vei la lauzeta mover" ("When I See the Lark Moving"). Guillaume de
Machaut comes later, in the fourteenth century, but is a key big name in

Used by permission.
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love songs: "Amours me fait desirer" ("Love Fills Me with Desire"), "Se
ma dame m'a guerpy" ("If My Lady Has Left Me"), "Se je souspir" ("If I
Sigh"), "Douce dame jolie" ("Fair and Gentle Lady"), etc.
The formes fixes of the poetry included:
Ballade: a a b (or, if a = ab, then ab ab c)
Virelai: A b b a A b b a A
Rondeau: A B a A a b A B
In other words, there were learned combinations of rhymes, stanzas, and
concepts. Some of the music survives but we've lost the form of the
rhythms.
The Courtly Love sung of in the songs represents a new structure, not
that of the Church or of feudalism, but an overturning of both. Love is
now a cult -- a sort of religion but outside of normal religion -- and a
code -- outside of feudalism but similarly hierarchical. The language and
the relationships are similar (and the language, sometimes borrowed
from religion, ends up borrowed back by religion in certain lyrics). In
feudalism the vassal is the "man" of his sovereign lord; in courtly love,
the vassal is the "man" of his sovereign mistress. In religion, the sinner
is penitent and asks that Mary intercede on his behalf with Christ, who is
Love. In courtly love, the sinner (against the laws of love) asks the
mother of the love god, Cupid's mother Venus, to intercede on his behalf
with Cupid or Eros, who is the god of love. So this new love religion
seems to parody real religion.
The Procedure: That's the static phenomenon interpreted. But the
process of courtly love, a long-standing relationship with standardized
procedures, can be extracted from the literature and tales of love in the
medieval period. Here's the deal. Andreas Capellanus describes the optic
physiology of the first moments. In short, he sees her. Perhaps she is

Used by permission.
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walking in a garden. The vision of her, which is made up of light rays,

enters into his eyeball (hence the blind cannot fall in love). Through a
rather circuitous anatomical miracle, the love-ray makes its way down
around his esophagus and sticks in his heart. Now he's love-struck. She
doesn't know about him at all. She is of high status and "daungerous,"
which means not that she knows Tai Kwon Do but rather that she is
standoffish. He is abject.
After haunting himself with visions of her limbs (by the way, she's long
gone now), he swoons a lot and follows various of Andreas' rules ("you
can't eat, you can't sleep; there's no doubt you're in deep"). Eventually all
this love has to come out somehow, and remarkably it tends to emerge in
well-crafted stanzas with rhyme patterns mentioned above and a zippy
little meter. Secretly, the lover writes poems to the lady called
"complaints" ("planh" in Provenal) because they are largely constructed
of laments about his own suffering. These may be delivered to her by an
intermediary. But she remains scornful while he or his friend continues
heaving poems in her window tied to rocks.
Before actually getting a poem in the teeth, she, through some quirky
event, will come to know who has been sending the poems. Eventually
she will smile, which means she has accepted him as her "drut" ("dread"
-- meaning not "oh, no, there he is again" but rather in the sense of awe:
"revered one"). Next comes the performance of tests. The lover gets a
token, perhaps a glove or a girdle (not the 18-hour kind -- more a scarf
or sash). And the woman gets carte blanche -- jousting, journeys, deeds,
anything she wants. "Sir Eminem has insulted me. Kill him." He has to.
"Bring home some pork chops. Those last ones were awful." He has to
go slay a wild boar. "Fetch me the molars of the Sultan of Baghdad."
He's got to climb the widest sea and swim the highest mountain and,
though he has nothing against them per se, he's got to hack his way
through the Sultan's guards and face the old boy, saying, "Render hither
thine molars, payan swine!" "Nay, that likest me not nor will I nother!"

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Page 4 of 8
Then he has to decapitate the Sultan, wrench out the back teeth, and get
back home (probably switching clothes with a palmer at some point),
only to find out that now she wants some Baskin Robbins pistachio
swirl. And this goes on endlessly.
Something Fishy:Supposedly the finer points of courtly love were so
complex that Eleanor's daughter, Marie of Champagne, commissioned
her chaplain, Andreas, to write a rulebook. Another religious man,
Chretien de Troyes (fl. 1160-1172) was ordered to write "Lancelot," in
which the knight's hesitation at getting into a cart is crucial. Andreas
supplies a Latin prose work, De Arte Honeste Amandi (The Art of
Courtly Love, as the title is usually loosely translated), which
subsequently has been taken as a textbook on courtly love.
But Andreas is a churchman. Check out some of the chapters in the
Table of Contents! And what's your honest reaction to reading some of
this. A textbook on illicit love? 31 rules? Why 31?
Andreas also provides legal cases! Supposedly, the history of love
included Courts of Love ruled by the ladies. There's no historical
evidence that this ever took place, and it seems pretty unlikely, but
Andreas' material has been referred to so often that it has come to seem
true.
Here's one case: a woman's husband has died. Can she accept her servant
as her lover? The decision: no, she must marry within her rank. This is
not to say that a widow may not marry a lover, but then he would be her
husband, not her lover.
Another case: a knight is serving his lady by defending her name. It's
getting embarrassing and she wants it stopped. There is much debate
about this case. The decision: no, the woman is wrong; she cannot forbid
him from loving her.

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A final case: two little kids were playing in their medieval sandbox and
noticed all the fine ladies and gentlemen engaged in the new love fad
about them. They imitatively also agreed to a contract between them:
that they would share a kiss each day. They years have passed and this
guy keeps showing up at the door every morning for the kiss. The
woman wants to be released from this juvenile contract. Does she have a
case? The decision: granted, because the rules specifically state that one
cannot be about the business of love until one is around the age of
thirteen. Therefore all those kisses given since that age must be returned.
(Huh?)
So is this all a joke? Andreas also offers a retraction -- an about-face at
the end. And he mentions a "duplicem sententiam" (a double lesson).
Finally all seems sinful and love a heresy.
Feminist Perspective: Does Courtly Love heighten the status of
women? Yes, compared to their roles merely as "cup-bearers" and
"peace-weavers" -- that is, in Beowulf for example, servants and political
pawn in marriage. But...
One must acknowledge that the chivalrous stance is a game the master
group plays in elevating its subject to pedestal level.... As the sociologist
Hugo Beigel has observed, both the courtly and the romantic versions of
love are 'grants' which the male concedes out of his total power. Both
have had the effect of obscuring the patriarchal character of Western
culture and in their general tendency to attribute impossible virtues to
women, have ended by confirming them in a narrow and often
remarkably conscribing sphere of behavior. (Kate Millett, Sexual
Politics 37; qtd. in Toril Moi, Sexual/Textual Politics 27)


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Marxist Perspective:
The "love story" has been one of the most pervasive and effective of all
ideological apparatuses: one of the most effective smokescreens
available in the politics of cultural production. One need only think of
the historical popularity of crime stories purveyed as "love stories": from
the Trojan War -- that paradigmatic "linkage" of love and genocide -- to
Bonnie and Clyde, from the subcultural Sid and Nancy to the hyperreal
Ron and Nancy, we see the degree to which the concept of love is used
as a "humanizing" factor, a way of appropriating figures whom we have
no other defensible reason to want to identify with. It is also a way of
containing whatever political or social threat such figures may pose
within the more palatable and manipulable (because simultaneously
fetishized as universal and individual) motivations of love and sexual
desire.... the "love story," a narrative that frequently disguises itself (qua
narrative) or is taken as "natural" as opposed to the contrivances of other
generic forms. (Charnes 136-137).
Wipe-Out:The era of courtly love vanished quickly under the impact of
economic and cultural devastation brought by the Albigensian Crusade
(1209-1229). Northern knights headed by Simon de Montfort swept
down, the country was impovershed, freedom disappeared, and an
inquisition and northern French dialect were imposed. The rule of Paris
put an end to the south for centuries. But the songs did survive and
travel, into the north by the trouvres, east into Germany with the
minnesingers, south to Italy.


Used by permission.
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Page 7 of 8
Works Cited
The Art of Courtly Love. The Early Music Consort of London. London,
Virgin Classics Ltd., 1996. D 216190.
Campbell, Joseph, with Bill Moyers. "Tales of Love and Marriage." The
Power of Myth. NY: Doubleday, 1988. 186-204.
Charnes, Linda. Notorious Identity: Materializing the Subject in
Shakespeare. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1995.
Dodd, William George. "The System of Courtly Love." 1913. Rpt. in
Chaucer Criticism, Vol. II. Ed. Richard J. Schoeck and Jerome Taylor.
Notre Dame: University of Notre Dame Press, 1961. 1-15. Dodd treats
the phenomenon as historical.
Donaldson, E. Talbot. "The Myth of Courtly Love." Speaking of
Chaucer. NY: W.W. Norton & Co., Inc., 1970. Donaldson declares
Andreas a clerical joke.
Lewis, C.S. The Allegory of Love. 1936. NY: Oxford University Press,
1958.
Troubadour and Trouvre Songs. Music of the Middle Ages, Vol. 1.
Lyrichord Early Music Series. NY: Lyrichord Discs Inc., 1994. LEMS
8001.


Used by permission.
Saylor.org
Page 8 of 8
Historical Context for the codes of Chivalry and Courtly Love

Below are the rules and stages that guided knightly behavior in the realms of chivalry (a moral
code of sorts) and courtly love. Keep them in mind while reading The Knights Tale and make
note where you encounter them in action in the tale.
The Ten Commandments of the Code of Chivalry
From Chivalry by Leon Gautier
1. Thou shalt believe all that the Church teaches, observe all its directions, and defend
thy church.
2. Thou shalt love the country in which thou wast born.
3. Thou shalt respect all weaknesses, and shalt constitute thyself the defender of them.
4. Thou shalt not recoil before thine enemy. Thou shalt be everywhere and always the
champion of the right and the Good against Injustice and Evil.
5. Thou shalt die with honour and valor.
6. Thou shalt perform scrupulously thy feudal duties, if they be not contrary to the laws
of God.
7. Thou shalt never lie or cheat and shall remain faithful to thy pledged word.
8. Thou shalt be generous, give largess to everyone, and exhibit manners.
9. Thou shalt be respectful of women, host, and honour.
10. Thou shalt never attack an unarmed foe, attack from behind, or use a weapon on an
opponent not equal to attack.
Stages of Courtly Love
(Adapted from Barbara Tuchmans A Distant Mirror: the Calamitous Fourteenth Century
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Attraction to the lady, usually via eyes/glance

Worship of the lady from afar
Declaration of passionate devotion
Virtuous rejection by the lady
Renewed wooing with oaths of virtue and eternal fealty
Moans of approaching death from unsatisfied desire (and other physical manifestations of
lovesickness)
7. Heroic deeds of valor which win the lady's heart
8. Consummation of the secret love
9. Endless adventures and subterfuges avoiding detection
The Chief Rules in Love
From The Art of Courtly Love by Andreas Capellanus
1. Thou shalt avoid avarice like the deadly pestilence and shalt embrace its opposite.
2. Thous shalt keep thyself chaste for the sake of her whom thou lovest.
3. Thou shalt not knowingly strive to break up a correct love affair that someone else is engaged
in or be a revealer of love affairs.
4. Thou shalt not choose for thy love anyone whom a natural sense of shame forbids thee to
marry.
5. Be mindful completely to avoid falsehood and always be polite and courteous.
6. Thou shalt not have many who know of thy love affair. When made public, love rarely
endures.
7. Being obedient in all things to the commands of ladies. Thou shalt ever strive to ally thyself
to the service of Love.
8. When a lover suddenly catches sight of his beloved his heart palpitates and he regularly turns
pale. He whom the thought of love vexes eats and sleeps very little.
9. Boys do not love until they reach the age of maturity.
10. When one lover dies, a widowhood of two years is required of the survivor.
11. Real jealousy always increases the feeling of love but also increases when one suspects his
beloved.
12. The easy attainment of love makes it of little value: difficulty of attainment makes it prized.
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Guilhm VII coms de Peitieus (or Peitieu), Guilhm IX duc d'Aquitnia e de Gasconha (1071 - 1127)
( William, 1071 - 1127, Count of Poitou, Duke of Aquitaine)
( Guillaume, 1071 - 1127, comte de Poitou, duc d'Aquitaine )
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William IX, Duke of Aquitaine, usually known in his native Occitan as Guilhem de Peitieus, and in French
as Guillaume d'Aquitaine) is the earliest troubadour whose work survives. His familiarity with his art,
along with certain allusions in his poems, suggest that he was not the only trobador of his time. It
generally assumed that although he had comtemporaries he had no predecessors, as no allusions to
any earlier trobador are known. Among contemporary and later troubadours Guilhem was invariably known
.
as The Count of Poitou
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He is said by the chronicler Ordericus Vitalis to have made joking verses about his disasterous crusade
in the East, but none of them have come down to us. According to other chroniclers Guilhem was a brave
and accomplished knight, but also a gloriously irreverent and immoral one. Anecdotes about him are
recorded, and some of his own songs confirm his reputation. Among the eleven extant works some
barely qualify as examples of troubadour verse. Their boldness and coarseness are reminiscent of old
popular songs rather than concepts of chivalry. On the other hand, four of his love-songs display
notable charm, simplicity and sincerity. They express less conventionalised emotions than other
troubadours; presumably because the conventional courtly form of love was then unknown - it was created
by troubadours over time so cannot be expected in the works of the earliest troubadour. Some
troubadour conventions can already be discerned in his work. Another of guilhem's poems is an enigma,
or nonsense verse. Later troubadours used this form to convey the dreamy and confused emotions to
which love purportedly reduced them. It is not known to whom his songs were addressed, but it
seems probable that some were addressed to one of his mistresses, the Countess Amalberge.
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The verse-forms employed by Guilhem in his love-songs are simpler than those typically used by the
later troubadours, but there is a grace about them which show him to have been a practised poet. Except
for a fragment of the melody to one of his songs (which was adapted to different words in al mystery play
of Saint Agnes), none of his music has come down to us, so we know nothing of his talent as a musician.
His domain extended south to the Pyrenees covering a large part of
Occitania. Guilhem spent time in what is now Spain where he had friends. He
may have learned song-making there. Ezra Pound says that Guilhem brought his song
from Spain. As he puts it in Canto 8:
"And Poictiers, you know, Guillaume Poictiers,
http://www.midi-france.info/190401_guilhem.htm (1 of 12) [08-Dec-14 8:31:29 PM]
The
Troubadours
had brought the song up out of Spain

with the singers and viels..."
Perhaps there was a Moorish influence as well as Guilhem is known to have captured
a group of Moorish dancing girls. He may also have adopted some monastic
ideas. At the monastery of Saint Martial in Limoges near Poitiers the monks
were making up church songs in rhyming Latin. Guilhem adopted their tunes and verse forms and
set vernacular words to them to amuse his companions. In any case, Guilhem was the first rhyming poet in
any modern European language.
During Guilhem's reign the Languedoc ( Lengadoc), Provence (

Provea), the Aquitaine ( Gasconha) and much of the rest of Occitania
had not yet been annexed by France.
In France to the north the troubadour tradition was copied by speakers of French (the langue d'oil) who
are generally known as Trouvres. This was probably accelerated when Eleanor of Aquitaine (the
grand-daughter of William IX of Aquitaine) married the King of France. She exported the same ideals
of courtly love to England when she later married King Henry II. Her daughter Marie, Countess
of Champagne took the same ideas of courtly behaviour to the court of the Count of Champagne. Henry
and Eleanor's son Richart d'Anglaterra was also a troubadour like his great-grand-father. Although his
first language was Occitan and his favourite place the Aquitaine, of which he was Duke, he is better known
to us as Richard the Lionheart, King of England. His works include: two sirventes, one with music.
Click on the following link for more about William IX of Aquitaine
Below are some examples of Guilhem's work, with rhymed English translations
Farai un vers, pos mi somelh
How the Count of Poitiers pretended to be mute
Ben vuelh
"I brought this song in from the shop", Guihem's master

brag.
craftsman
Companho, tant ai agutz
"Friends, so miserably I've fared."
Farai un vers de dreyt nien
"I've made this rhyme completely free of sense"
Ab la dolchor del temps novel
"New life: the woods are leafing out."
How the Count of Poitiers pretended to be mute

em vauc e m'estauc al solelh.
Domnas i a de mal conselh,
e sai dir cals:
cellas c'amor de cavalier
tornon a mals.
I rhymed this while I was asleep

and sunning out among the sheep:
By prejudice, some ladies keep
away from knights,
but gallant cavaliers to spurn
just isn't right!
Domna fai gran pechat mortal

qe no ama cavalier leal;
mas si es monge o clergal,
non a raizo:
per dreg la deuri'hom cremar
ab un tezo.
Great mortal sin a lady does

if she won't give us knights her love.
To favor priests instead of us
is a mistake;
and monks?, I'd say we ought to burn
her at the stake.
En Alvernhe, part Lemozi,

m'en aniey totz sols a tapi:
trobei la moller d'en Guari
e d'en Bernart;
saluderon mi simplamentz
per sant Launart.
When I was roving on the sly

once in Auvergne, as I passed by
I saw two well-appointed wives
survey the square.
In wide-eyed innocence one turned
and spoke me fair
La unam diz en son latin:

"E Dieus vos salf, don pelerin;
mout mi semblatz de belh aizin,
mon escient;
mas trop vezem anar pel mon
de folla gent."
Her style was decorous and prim:

"Good pilgrim, God your soul redeem,
a worthy gentleman you seem,
but in this world
the wanderers, as we have learned,
are often fools."
Ar auzires qu'ai respondut;

anc no li diz ni bat ni but,
ni fer ni fust no ai mentaugut,
mas sol aitan:
"Babariol, babariol,
babarian."
How I answered you will hear

no indiscretion, never fear,
or word that might offend the ear,
just this remark:
"Baboogaloo baboogaloo,
babar babark!"
So diz n'Agnes a n'Ermessen:

"Trobat avem que anam queren.
Sor, per amor Deu, l'alberguem,
To Eremesse said Agnes, "Sister,

we've discovered one at last!
For love of God, make him our guest.
qe ben es mutz,
e ja per lui nostre conselh
non er saubutz."
The man is mute

with him, no matter what we do,
it won't get out!"
La unam pres sotz son mantel,

e mes m'en sa cambra, al fornel.
Sapchatz qu'a mi fo bon e bel,
el focs fo bos,
et eu calfei me volontiers
als gros carbos.
One led; the other steered my arm

and shared her cape. They took me home
beside their hearth so I'd be warm.
The fire glowed;
I gladly stretched my legs and basked
before the coals.
A manjar mi deron capos,

e sapchatz agui mais de dos,
e no.i ac cog ni cogastros,
mas sol nos tres,
el pans fo blancs el vin fo bos
el pebr' espes.
They brought roast quail to eat, and we

applied ourselves to gluttony.
No servants, just a cozy three.
I liked it fine:
spice and white bread by the basket,
first rate wine.
"Sor, aquest hom es enginhos,

e laissa lo parlar per nos:
non aportem nostre gat ros
de mantenent,
qel fara parlar az estros,
si de renz ment."
"This man may be a clever trickster,

holding back on talking just to
fool us. Fetch the kitty, sister!
If he's not mute,
he'll soon be remonstrating briskly
with our cat."
N'Agnes anet per l'enujos,

e fo granz et ac loncz guinhos:
e eu, can lo vi entre nos,
aig n'espavent,
q'a pauc non perdei la valor
e l'ardiment.
That catI'm no enthusiast

was huge and wore a big moustache.
The villain had me so abashed
and so surprised
I nearly lost my taste for risky
enterprise.
Qant aguem begut e manjat,

eu mi despoillei a lor grat.
Detras m'aporteron lo gat
mal e felon:
la unal tira del costat
tro al tallon.
When we had finished with our feast

I doffed my clothes, at their request.
One sidled round me with the beast,
which didn't fail
to flail with rage, because she bore
it by the tail.
Per la coa de mantenen

tiral gat et el escoissen:
plajas mi feron mais de cen
aquella ves;
mas eu nom mogra ges enguers,
qui m'ausizes.
Right then from stem to stern she hauled

that vicious cat and made it maul
my hide while digging in its claws.
Though I'd be skinned
within an inch of life, I swore
I wouldn't flinch.
"Sor," diz n'Agnes a n'Ermessen,

"mutz es, qe ben es conoissen;
sor, del banh nos apareillem
e del sojorn."
Ueit jorns ez encar mais estei
en aquel forn.
To Eremesse said Agnes, "Sis,

the man is mute for sure, so let's
get ready for our little rest
and take a bath."
Eight days I stayed with them, and more,
upon that hearth.
Tant les fotei com auzirets:

cen e quatre vint et ueit vetz,
q'a pauc no.i rompei mos coretz
e mos arnes;
e no.us puesc dir lo malaveg,
tan gran m'en pres.
I humped themwhy say "lots" of times?

a clear one hundred ninety nine.
My gear below the waterline
would almost break.
You won't believe what all is sore
and how I ache.
Ges no.us sai dir lo malaveg,

tan gran m'en pres.
No, you'd not believe what all is sore

and how I ache.
Translation2001 Leonard Cottrell, quoted by permission
Sant Launart - St. Leonard, a 6th Century hermit - was invoked invoked as patron saint of
deafmutes, imbeciles, and those possessed by the devil.
Ben vuelh
Master craftsman brag. "I brought this song in from the shop"
Ben vuelh que sapchon li pluzor

dest vers sis de bona color,
quieu ai trag de mon obrador:
quieu port dayselh mestier la flor,
et es vertaz,
e puesc en trairel vers auctor
quant er lassatz.
I brought this song in from the shop

to show you all how well it's made
so note the shape, which is tiptop.
My works the flower of the trade,
and thats the truth.
These verses, all laced up for show,
can serve as proof.
Ieu conosc ben sen e folhor,

e conosc anta et honor,
et ai ardimen e paor;
e sim partetz un juec damor
no suy tan fatz
I know foolishness from sense;

honor I can tell from shame,
and bravery from diffidence.
Try me in some courtly game:
Im not so dense
non sapcha triar lo melhor

dentrels malvatz.
I'd bet the wrong way on the throw

and miss my chance.
Ieu conosc ben selh qui bem di,

e selh quim vol mal atressi,
e conosc ben selhuy quim ri,
e sil pro sazauton de mi,
conosc assatz
quatressi dey voler lor fi
e lor solatz.
I know who greets me honestly

and which ones wish Id go to Hell.
I know real laughterI can tell
the brave who seek my company,
and how I must
provide the welcome they expect
to earn their trust.
Mas ben aya sel quim noyri,

que tan bo mestier meschari
que anc a negu non falhi;
quieu sai jogar sobre coyssi
a totz tocatz;
mais en say que nulh mo vezi,
qual quem vejatz.
Bless him who taught me winning ways

anywhere my hand is dealt.
I can play it as it lays
between the sheets and on the felt;
nobody else
has been able to perfect
the moves so well.
Dieu en lau e Sanh Jolia:

tant ai apres del juec doussa
que sobre totz nai bona ma,
e selh qui cosselh mi querra
non ler vedatz,
ni us mi noa tornara
descosselhatz.
Praise Saint Lulu and the Lord,

Ive practiced at the sweetest game
till Im an expert. I've such fame
that students come to me for lore
and are made wise.
The noviceif there is one here
I will advise.
Quieu ai nom "maiestre certa":

ja mamigu anueg no maura
que nom vuelh aver lendema;
quieu suy daquest mestier, som va,
tan ensenhatz
que ben sai guazanhar mon pa
en totz mercatz.
The master craftsman

a girl who's spent the night my way
is sure to want me the next day.
Im such an artist with a dame
that I could earn
my bread in any market square
with what Ive learned.
Pero no mauzetz tan guabier

quieu non fos rahusatz lautrier,
que jogava un joc grossier,
quem fon trop bos al cap primier
tro fuy ntaulatz;
quan guardiey, no mac plus mestier,
sim fon camjatz.
But, friends, youll never hear me say

I wasnt flat-out on the floor
last Tuesday in some high-stakes play.
Id so enjoyed the round before,
I was amazed
to find my skill just disappear
as we engaged.
Mas elham dis un reprovier:

"Don, vostre dat son menudier,
She chided me for my delay:

"Duke, your dice aren't in the cup;
is my name:
et ieu revit vos a doblier."

Dis ieu: "Quim dava Monpeslier,
non er laissatz."
E leviey un pauc son taulier,
ab ams mos bratz.
why dont you double and replay?"

Said I: "I would not pass that up
for Montpellier."
With both my arms I got her rear
a little way
E quant laic levat lo taulier,

empeis los datz,
elh duy foron cairavallier
el terz plombatz.
E fils fort ferir al taulier,
e fon joguatz.
raised up, and having trued the board,

I grabbed three dice and rolled the same:
two of them just knocked around
but the third sank plumb to ground.
Then a solid hit was scored,
and it was game.
Companho, tant ai agutz
Companho, tant ai agutz d'avols conres

qu'ieu non puesc mudar non chan e que nom
pes;
Enpero no vueill c'om sapcha
mon afar de maintas res.
E dirai vos m'entendensa de que es:
no m'azauta cons gardatz ni gorcs se peis,
ni gabars de malvatz homes
com de lor faitz non agues.
Senher Dieus, quez es del mon capdels e reis,
qui anc premiers gardet con com non esteis?
C'anc no fo mestiers ni garda
c'a si dons estes sordeis.
Pero dirai vos de concals es sa leis,
com sel hom que mal n'a fait e peitz n'a pres:
si c'autra res en merma
quin pana e cons en creis.
E silh qui no volran creire mos casteis
"Friends, so miserably I've fared"

Friends, so miserably I've fared
I can't resist the urge to sing.
Instead of every little thing
that vexes me in my affairs,
I'll tell the crux: I am not fond

of guarded cunt, or fishless ponds,
or listening to lively cracks
from those who talk but never act.
Great Ruler of the world! Oh Lord,
why didn't you destroy the first
who ordered cunt kept under guard?
for no man served his lady worse!
Despite my recent poor success
I'll cite the bottom line on grooves:
While other goods by use grow less,
the supple opening improves!
And anyone who fails to see
can try this country metaphor:
Where skillful woodsmen fell the tree

there always spring up several more.
anho vezer pres lo bosc en un deveis:

per un albre c'om hi tailla
n'i naison dos ho treis.
As trees are logged, so grow the woods.

The owner gets his revenues,
so why complain? How does he lose
when he can show no damaged goods?
E quam lo bocx es taillatz nais plus espes

El senher non pert son comte ni sos ses
A revers planh hom la tala,
sil dampnatges no.i es.
Tortz es c'om planha la tala si negun dan noi a
ges.
?
?

In the original Guilhem uses the word con
Farai un vers de dreyt nien

Farai un vers de dreyt nien:
non er de mi ni d'autra gen,
non er d'amor ni de joven,
ni de ren au,
qu'enans fo trobatz en durmen
sobre chevau.
No sai en qual horam fuy natz:
no suy alegres ni iratz,
no suy estrayns ni sui privatz,
ni non puesc au,
qu'enaissi fuy de nueitz fadatz,
sobr' un pueg au.
No sai quoram fuy endurmitz
ni quoram velh, s'om no m'o ditz.
Per pauc no m'es lo cor partitz
d'un dol corau;
four times, but the fifth time it is conres
(fare, provisioning) as a pun.
"I've made this rhyme completely free of sense"
I've made this rhyme completely free

of senseit's not of you and me,
or youth, or doings he-and-she,
or springtime thoughts.
It came to me while I was sleeping
on my horse.
What planet ruled when I was born?
I'm native here and still feel foreign.
Can't be contented, or forlorn,
or change myself:
I was the midnight work of freaking
magic elves.
I can't tell when I wake or sleep

unless the others keep me briefed.
It almost breaks my heartI'm deeply
plagued by doubts,
e no m'o pretz una soritz,

par Sanh Marsau!
and none of them, by Saint Martial,

is worth a mouse.
Malautz suy e tremi murir,

e ren no sai mas quan n'aug dir;
metge querrai al mieu albir,
e non sai tau;
bos metges es quim pot guerir,
mas non, si amau.
They say I'll soon be dropping dead

Fetch that doctor, quick!I said
his name has just escaped my head.
No matter who:
he's bad if I do not get well,
good if I do.
M'amigu' ai ieu, no sai qui s'es,

qu'anc non la vi, si m'ajut fes;
nim fes quem plassa ni quem pes,
ni no m'en cau,
qu'anc non ac Norman ni Frances
dins mon ostau.
My lady friend I've never seen:

I don't know if she's cute or plain,
or if she's kind to me or mean.
Why should I care?
I don't let French and Normans stay
the night in here.
Anc non la vi et am la fort,

anc non n'aic dreyt ni nom fes tort;
quan non la vey, be m'en deport,
nom pretz un jau
qu'ien sai gensor et bellazor,
e que mais vau.
My passion's absolutely strong

but she won't do me right, or wrong.
Avoiding her I get along
just fine. Forget her:
I've others nicer anyway
who please me better.
Fag ai lo vers, no say de cuy;

e trametrai lo a selhuy
que lom trametra per autruy
lay vers Anjau,
quem tramezes del sieu estuy
la contraclau.
This verse I've madeof what or who

unknownI'll send to someone who
will send it on to someone who
is in Anjou,
who might decode it and convey
the key to you.

"New life: the woods are leafing out"

foillo li bosc, e li auchel
chanton, chascus en lor lati,
segon lo vers del novel chan;
adonc esta ben c'om s'aisi
d'acho don hom a plus talan.
De lai don plus m'es bon e bel
non vei mesager ni sagel,
per que mos cors non dorm ni ri,
ni no m'aus traire adenan,
tro que eu sacha ben de fi
s'el es aissi com eu deman.
La nostr' amor vai enaissi
com la branca de l'albespi
qu'esta sobre l'arbre tremblan,
la nuoit, a la ploia ez al gel,
tro l'endeman, quel sols s'espan
per la fuella vert el ramel.
Equer me membra d'un mati
que nos fezem de guerra fi,
e quem donet un don tan gran,
sa drudari' e son anel:
equer me lais Dieus viure tan
c'aia mas manz soz so mantel.
Qu'eu non ai soing de lor lati
quem parta de mon Bon Vezi,
qu'eu sai de paraulas com van,
ab un breu sermon que s'espel,
que tal se van d'amor gaban,
nos n'avem la pessa el coutel.
New life: the woods are leafing out

and every type of bird is shouting
now
in its specific tongue,
all versions of the latest song.
The time is sweeta man should find
the ease which most is on his mind.
From there (where it would please me best
to be) so far I have no word
until I can be reassured
by her of what I'm hoping for,
I don't dare go there any more
and so can neither laugh nor rest.
This is how our love is now:
it's like a fragile hawthorn bough
that trembles on the tree all night
and rattles under hail and rain,
but next day feels the spreading light
on twigs which soon are pushing green.
That branch reminds me of a morning
when we made an end to war
and when she gave me precious gifts:
her ring, her friendship, and her love.
Dear God, may I live long enough
to get my hands beneath her shift!
You know how the jabber goes
that keeps the two of us apart:
officious meddlers breeding strife.
Let's not take idle talk to heart
no matter what the others boast
of love, we've both the loaf and knife.
Some other websites about Guilhem and his works:
http://www.planck.com: by Leonard Cotterrel. Great site from which the translations above are taken.
http://www.multimania.com/chamboliva/trobadors.html by Ivon d'a Chamboliva has a list of links to
sites with troubadour songs including Guilhem's.
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Is Chivalry Dead? | Reuniting
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Is Chivalry Dead?
Submitted by Marnia on Fri, 2006-01-13 12:14
More than 70 years ago, Denis de Rougemont, the late Swiss scholar, wrote a fascinating book called Love in
the Western World. In it he theorizes that Tantra, which ignited in India
some time before 800 C.E. from much older roots, traveled west via
the Muslim world under the umbrella of divine passion, or fana (the
passing away of the self). Fana was the theme of mystical Arab love
poetry and song. It infected the Spanish Moors within a few centuries.
When it crossed the Pyrenees into what is now southern France - in the
refrains of wandering minstrels - it encountered a version of
Gnosticism, which had migrated westward from Bulgaria, or beyond.
The Mysterious Cathars
The result was the wildly popular, doomed, and surprisingly influential
Cathar movement - which ultimately gave rise to chivalry, or courtly
love. The Cathars were passionate purists who regarded themselves as
the true Christians. They believed in the "Good God," and claimed that
http://www.reuniting.info/wisdom/courtly_love_chivalry_cortezia_cathars_gnostics (1 of 8) [01-Feb-15 9:40:16 PM]
their principles predated those of the Catholics (who believed in

the "other" God, who had imprisoned mankind in matter). Cathars
did not kill, were vegetarian, and chaste. The Divine Feminine
(the Lady, or Sophia, Queen of Heaven) was a key figure in
their cosmology, and women could be clerics in their order.
Unlike the Catholics they did not favor physical procreation,
choosing instead to place their focus on their spiritual lives beyond
the material world. One of the Cathars basic beliefs was that
'true love' was not the ordinary human love between husband and
wife but rather the worship of a feminine savior (the Lady), a
mediator between God and man, who waited in the sky to welcome
the pure with a holy kiss and lead them into the Realm of Light.
By contrast with this pure love, ordinary human sexuality and
marriage were bestial and unspiritual. Cathars believed that the love
of man and woman should be an earthly allegory of their spiritual
love for the Queen of Heaven.
The word "cathar" means "pure" in Greek, and that is how the
Cathars are remembered. Their very purity ultimately drove
the Church to tighten up on many lax practices, like priests
openly keeping mistresses - a common practice in those times.
The impassioned purity of the Cathars also indirectly inspired
the Reformation and the Quaker movement. Widespread admiration
for the Cathars - amid the rampant
corruption of the Church - swelled Cathar
ranks.
Their growing influence throughout French Provence triggered a hideous crusade by the
Catholics. Between 1000 and 1200 C.E the Church burned alive or otherwise brutally
murdered 500,000 suspected Cathars - including whole towns, right down to the infants.
Guillaume Belibaste, the last Cathar recorded to have burned at the stake in 1321, a
victim of the Inquisition, is said to have prophesied that "at the end of seven hundred
years the laurel would turn green again." Does that mean the the principles of
Catharism, or "the true Christianity," would once again come to the world's attention?
The Rise of Courtly Love
Persecution sent the movement underground and into decline, but the troubadours of
Provence spread elements of it throughout Europe under the guise of cortezia, the
courtly love tradition. As a troubadour sang impassioned songs to his Lady pledging willing submission, those in
the know would have recognized them as hymns venerating the Divine Feminine revered by the Cathars.
Not surprisingly, Madonna worship rapidly increased during this period.
Just as in India where Tantra was waxing, higher love was in the air in Europe. Courtly love had echoes of
tantric practice (more below). The mystical Jewish Kabbalah has also been traced to 12th century Provence.
Also around the same time, a venerated Sufi scholar, who wrote about the spiritual power in the union of male
and female, Ibn al-`Arabi, was born in Spain in 1165.
Contemplation of the Reality without formal support is not possible. . . . Since, therefore, some
form of support is necessary, the best and most perfect kind is the contemplation of God in
woman. The greatest union is that between man and woman. Ibn al-`Arabi Bezels of Wisdom
The European version, courtly love, covered a wide array of practices. As it freed itself
from its Cathar and distant Tantric roots, it transformed from an underground
religious movement into a code of manners for the upper classes known as chivalry. Once
a radical change in mores, the code of chivalry now lingers in such mundane routines as
men holding doors for women or rising when a woman enters the room. De Rougemont
and other scholars also trace the Western desire for an all-consuming passionate romance to chivalry.
Chivalry had elements of sacred sex, whether from Cathar practices (via the earliest Gnostics) or from echoes of
Tantra (via the Moors). Knights would pledge themselves to ladies with whom they would (in theory at least)
never have procreative sex. Often they chose unavailable lovers, i.e., married women. By sublimating their
unrequited passions, knights gained the energy for various spiritual and physical quests. They were rewarded
with favors, which seem to have ranged from smiles, tokens, and kisses to sleeping together in the nude and
even intercourse without ejaculation. The code of chivalry greatly prized this refined love. One of the maxims of
chivalry was E d'amor mou castitaz (from love comes chastity).
The midieval work De Amore by Andreas Capellanus contains many veiled references to sexual self-control. Here's
a section:
Car en cest monde puet avoir
Double amour, ce dois tu savoir
La premiere est pure apelee
Et la seconde amour mellee.
Cil qui sentraiment damour pure
Dou delit de la char nont cure
Ains wellent sanz plus acoler
Et baisier sanz outre couler.
Et tele amour est vertueuse,
Ne nest a son proime greveuse.
De tele amour vient grant proece
Et Diex gaires ne sen courece.
Et tele amour puet maintenir,
Sans li por grevee tenir,
Pucele et fame mariee,
Et nonnain a Dieu dediee
English translation: For in this world there may exist a double form of love, and this you must know. The first is
called pure love and the second mixed love. Those who share pure love pay no heed to the work of the flesh
but want merely to embrace and to kiss each other without going any further. And such a form of love is virtuous
and is not harmful to ones neighbour. From such a form of love springs great prowess and God is hardly angered
at it. And such a form of love can be practised, without the woman feeling afflicted, by virgin and married
woman, and nun devoted to God.
Scholars Danielle Jacquart, Claude Thomasset and Matthew Adamson then add:
We have deliberately given a literal translation. There is another way of understanding the line Et baisier
sanz outre couler: one can, of course, read Make love without ejaculating or more exactly without
shedding anything more than the secretion of the prostatic humour. In the line Ne nest a son proime
greveuse, the adjective greveuse has been interpreted as meaning harmful, but it must have the meaning
capable of causing pregnancy. Being pregnant is a well-known meaning of the past participle. It can now easily
be understood why virgins, married women and nuns can indulge in this form of love without considering
themselves to be greve harmed, or made pregnant. The meaning of this passage appears to us to be most
explicit. (emphasis added). [See excerpt from Sexuality and Medicine in the Middle Ages]
The scholars, got it right, but didn't seem to understand the significance of their alternative interpretation.
A Knight in Modern Amour
My friend RJ, a modern-day adherent of chivalry, describes its principles and benefits as follows:
Donnoi was the courtly love designation for an acknowledged relationship between
a man and woman. Donnoi involved a marriage-like ceremony with the gift of a
ring (to the man).
In the poetry and romances inspired by this relationship we see the idea of love as
a requisite to bonding. This is the beginning of woman's liberation in the western
world - at least of her heart and body, though not directly of her economic and
political status. The relationship had certain rules, similar to the vows exchanged
during a wedding ceremony. The knight pledged certain things to the lady. He was
expected to woo, or pursue, her, which is the source of our modern courtship
behavior.
It evolved into such courtesies and gallantries as opening doors, writing poetry,
observing formal manners, and asking for a lady's hand on bended knee. Women
were treated with honor, not as property. The knight pledged always to be
passionate. She controlled his "virtue," that is, whether or not ejaculatory release
was permitted. He underwent ritual testing to see if he had the discipline of
restraint necessary to love. The woman was not required absolutely to forego her
own pleasure, but she could veto the advances of the man at any stage of their
dalliance.
Women sought a man of passion, but with self-control and the ability to be unselfish. (Remember when men
used to say that they respected a woman who said 'no'?) Under the rules of courtly love, the woman "gentled"
the man and used his passion to create their bond. As an aside, I suspect that bonding is a natural male
biological response to delayed gratification. Women have used it for ages when in the presence of "husband
material." If the knight passed his tests and the lady accepted him as her lover, he pledged obedience to her rule
in the realm of love.
Such obedience today sounds like the man was in a submissive role. He was, but do not confuse this submission
with dominatrix fetishism. By submitting, the man was acknowledging the error that man should be in control of
the woman, including her sexuality. Chivalry freed the woman to assert herself in the
realm of love, assuring her satisfaction. She set the pace and the mood, directing or
redirecting the man's attention as he deferred to her.
Unfortunately, the romance of courtly love failed to translate into the common
marriage. It found expression mostly in love triangles that created unrequited love.
[dopamine cravings?] However at least one author, Chretien deTroys, played with the
idea of incorporating the courtly ideals within the matrimonial bond, influencing the
thought of others that would follow.
Beyond her authority as queen in loves realm, the lady did not rule over her knights conduct. True, she might
help perfect him by challenging him to hone his fighting skills in tournaments, or humble his ego by asking him to
lose a match, or dress in rags, if he was proud or haughty.
Knights also had safeguards. He expected to be treated with dignity. If he felt she was abusing her power he had
the right of defi, the right and obligation to defy her under chivalry. Sometimes such disagreements came before
a "court of love," where women sat as judges and debated the ethics of behaviors.
Also a knight's obedience was offered subject to mezura. Mezura meant both temperance and moderation. He
was not expected to be passive in love, waiting on her every word. (A man's perennial hope is that "no" means
"later.") After his trials, or tests, the knight could expect a bit more mercy from his lady in regard to his
testosterone driven, biological urges. Yet perfect chastity was the spiritual ideal.
The relationship was fundamentally Tantric in sexual expression. Tantra is now sometimes confused with some
practice of sexual athleticism, but originally it was a means of spiritual connection and sustained intimacy.
Interestingly, men seem to have provided the original courtly love inspiration - which women
refined later in the courts of love. Men were seeking their own liberation - probably for spiritual
reasons, influenced by the monks and the heretical cults steeped in older Gnostic traditions
(Cathars).
Spiritual quests fill the literature of courtly love, the search for the Holy Grail being one theme.
For me, the era of courtly love was a grand, noble politico-religious, sacred and erotic mystery
play. I think it has relevance for men and women today as they seek to form new relationship
paradigms. Some troubadours insisted that donnoi was the way of love consistent with nature. As I look at
ancient history, socio-biology, and "alternative" relationships, I see courtly love as embodying most clearly and
fully an archetype that will not die and is seeking rebirth.
Those desiring to discuss courtly love can contact RJ at 'courtlymeATyahoo.com'
Source/ Type:
Article by Marnia Robinson and Gary Wilson
Topic:
Cortezia
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BARBARA TUCHMAN "If tournaments were an acting-out of chivalry, courtly love

Courtly love was a medieval

6.3 Real-world praactice

6.4 Courts of love

Scholarss have debate

Stages of courtly love

Attraction to the lady, usually via eyes/glance

Worship of the lady from afar

Declaration of passionate devotion

Virtuous rejection by the lady

Renewed wooing with oaths of virtue and eternal fealty

Heroic deeds of valor which win the lady's heart

Consummation of the secret love

Endless adventures and subterfuges avoiding detection

Saint Bernard veneratess the Virgin Ma

Courtly Love, Washington State University. www.wsu.edu.

"Courtly love". In Encyclopedia Britannica Online. www.britannica.com.

Thiss page was lasst modified on 27

Aboutt New World En

The Rules of Medieval Courtly Love

Marriage is no real excuse for not loving

Introduction:We are so familiar with the love tradition that we mistake

Dr. Michael Delahoyde (http://public.wsu.edu/~delahoyd/)

Dr. Michael Delahoyde (http://public.wsu.edu/~delahoyd/)

Dr. Michael Delahoyde (http://public.wsu.edu/~delahoyd/)

walking in a garden. The vision of her, which is made up of light rays,

Dr. Michael Delahoyde (http://public.wsu.edu/~delahoyd/)

Dr. Michael Delahoyde (http://public.wsu.edu/~delahoyd/)

Source URL: http://public.wsu.edu/~delahoyd/medieval/love.html

Dr. Michael Delahoyde (http://public.wsu.edu/~delahoyd/)

Source URL: http://public.wsu.edu/~delahoyd/medieval/love.html

Dr. Michael Delahoyde (http://public.wsu.edu/~delahoyd/)

Source URL: http://public.wsu.edu/~delahoyd/medieval/love.html

Dr. Michael Delahoyde (http://public.wsu.edu/~delahoyd/)

Historical Context for the codes of Chivalry and Courtly Love

Attraction to the lady, usually via eyes/glance

The History of the Languedoc: Occitan and Occitania: The Troubadours

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The History of the Languedoc: Occitan and Occitania: The Troubadours

had brought the song up out of Spain

During Guilhem's reign the Languedoc ( Lengadoc), Provence (

How the Count of Poitiers pretended to be mute

"I brought this song in from the shop", Guihem's master

Companho, tant ai agutz

"Friends, so miserably I've fared."

Farai un vers de dreyt nien

"I've made this rhyme completely free of sense"

http://www.midi-france.info/190401_guilhem.htm (2 of 12) [08-Dec-14 8:31:29 PM]

The History of the Languedoc: Occitan and Occitania: The Troubadours

Ab la dolchor del temps novel

"New life: the woods are leafing out."

Farai un vers, pos mi somelh

How the Count of Poitiers pretended to be mute

Farai un vers, pos mi somelh

I rhymed this while I was asleep

Domna fai gran pechat mortal

Great mortal sin a lady does

En Alvernhe, part Lemozi,

When I was roving on the sly

La unam diz en son latin:

Her style was decorous and prim:

Ar auzires qu'ai respondut;

How I answered you will hear

Introduction:We are so familiar with the love tradition that we mistake