Our idea of the gentleman is a Medieval creation, and the chivalric ideal - however removed from knightly practice – has survived as one of the noblest conceptions of the human spirit. If later centuries advanced upon the medieval ideas of morality and love, it was on a medieval foundation of family unit, moral education and slowly spreading habits of honor and courtesy.
Medieval morality was the heir of barbarism and the parent of chivalry. The worship of Mary brought new elements of tenderness into the behavior of European man and lifted the station of women during the medieval period. The Anglo Saxons warriors had a strong warrior code that placed strong emphasis on gift-giving and hospitality and bred a melancholy, fatalistic view of life. Women, if portrayed at all, are often nasty scolds, not worthy of further attention. There are others, especially in Norse literature, who are shown as strong and able. The literature of this time extols strength, loyalty to your lord and prowess in battle.
This mead-hall community was affected by the chivalric code of honor and the conventions of courtly love brought by the Normans. This new, lighter perspective on life softened the Anglo Saxon warrior code. The new literature that developed show both men and women acting out good manners, courtly behavior and enjoying a more comfortable life.
The medieval world seen in literature of that time was one of chivalry, courtesy and romance. The people in the stories and poems are filled with notions of ideal love and the irresistible power of gentleness and beauty. Passion, desire and steady affection are always in present in those in love. The ideal of courtly love involved these characteristics, as well as being in a state of utter subjection to the will of a more or less unapproachable woman.
The belief that no sacrifice was too great, the a whole lifetime could be spent paying court to a and that suffering on the behalf of a worthy lady inspired a whole new style of literature. It is possible that this began when pilgrims and crusaders found a tradition of Persian literature in which women were the subject of extravagant compliment and devotion.
The crusades had a direct influence on the concept of courtly love. The lady in the castle had a peculiar position when the lord was away for a year or two. She was left in charge of the household while he was gone – a household that was often filled with unoccupied men. The lady took on the functions of the absent lord, giving and receiving the homage due to the lord in a feudal society. Any wondering knights visiting the castle owed her a mixture of deference due to the lord and courtesy due to the lady. The troubadour poems take this courtesy further by making it into an act of hopeless love for an unavailable lady.
These troubadour poems begin at the end of the eleventh century as a school of lyric poetry showing the triumph of women over the chastisement that had been her part due to Eve’s fall. Among the first nobleman to write this style was the Count of Poitou and the Duke of Aquitaine using his own experiences with love affairs as a basis.
Many troubadours picked up this style and began writing about their own amorous adventures with high-born ladies. They dominated the literature of the time and molded the manners of an aristocracy emerging from the earlier warrior code into a chivalric code that lightened war and violence with courtesy and excused adultery with grace.
The troubadours dressed like the nobility they entertained, often afforded themselves the horses and armor reserved for the knightly class, entered tournament lists, and fought with a lance as well as their pen for the favor of the ladies in attendance. They wrote and performed for the nobility only.
The literary form allowed the troubadours poetic license to exaggerate their burning longing, divine fulfillment and tragic despair. Since marriage among the nobility had more to do with property and titles than with love, romance had to come outside of marriage. The amours of medieval literature are, for the most part, illicit love.
The general inaccessibility of the married lady made this form of literature possible – it is hard to romanticize desire fulfilled and where there are no impediments and no suffering, there is no poetry. A few troubadours did receive their final desire, but this is a breach of literary tradition. Usually a poet had to be satisfied with a kiss or a touch of the hand. This type of restraint made for refinement and courtesy. The poetry of the thirteenth century sees the full influence of the worship of Mary, turning sensuous love into something spiritual.
Another type of literature that became very popular was the romance. This grew in France spread through the rest of Europe. These poetic tales were mostly accounts of the valiant or marvelous adventures of medieval heroes. The warlike knights who loved truth, honor and courtesy are the outstanding figures in the world of chivalry and romance. The subject was often the battles of these best of all knights against robbers, giants, evil warriors or other knights.
These romances were set in a world filled with feasts and wars and tournaments, with bright armor and rich dress, strong, brave men and kind, clever women in well-furnished castles. They told tales that were thrilling, extravagant and often involved the supernatural. Above all, they emphasized the idolization and adoration of women who earn this treatment by being beautiful, kind and clever.
Chivalrous romances of the medieval period with the endless journeys and night-long vigils, their spells and mysteries are all tied together with the thread of courtly love. Women who had once been portrayed as squat, bad-tempered, scolding creatures were represented as pure and chaste beings. Men who had once been portrayed as brave fighters became caring lovers as well. Chivalric ideals brought love and romance to literature and life.
Continue to "A short history of the medieval tournament"
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