In the article Love Blossoms, we saw how courtly love1 burst forth in Poitiers. André le Chapelain's work on the "Art of Loving Nobly" was used as a handbook on relationships between young men and women in the court of the duchess, Eleanor of Aquitaine.
The duchess and her daughter, Marie de Champagne, presided over Courts of Love -- not a new concept in themselves, but novel and intriguing events in the hands of Eleanor. After enjoying a variety of entertainments, the richly-dressed lords and ladies would be drawn by sweet music into the hall, where they would hear a tale of Arthur or another romantic hero. Then court would begin, and the assembled nobility would listen intently to the petitions set forth. Advocates would speak for anonymous petitioners on points of order concerning the rules of love. The Countess of Champagne would then pass judgment on the case, often consulting her mother for additional rulings.
But "the rules" were those of courtly love and not law, and they were diametrically opposed to the reality of medieval society. No king would change his life to suit these games. So what possible effect on the rest of Europe could this apparently useless pastime have?
At first, not much. All across Europe men of noble birth were fighting each other in wars both petty and major. Their social and political positions were based on their value as fighting men, and it was to the arts of war that they turned their attention. But when their military skills were not demanded, recreational activities caught their interest. Sophisticated diversions like falconry, hunting, tourneys, and dances were those special privileges of the nobility no other class could enjoy. By pursuing these entertainments, the noble class set themselves apart from all others.
It was through these upper-class pastimes that courtly love made its impact. The fashion of manners and regard for women filtered into many aspects of life at court, particularly through literature and poetry, to which lords and ladies were privileged to listen when troubadours visited their courts. Such performances were witnessed by everyone in the castle (often by everyone from miles around), and a wise lord would not let his people contrast him too unfavorably to these romantic heroes; if he could, he would live up to the literature.
Slowly, across a generation or so, the fashion evolved into a way of life, a code of "civilized" behavior. The code began to be applied particularly well to the knight, and over the centuries it combined with the rules he already lived by, along with Church influence, and thus evolved into the chivalric code we think of when we say, "chivalry is not dead."
Courtly love was certainly not the only influence on the behavior of the upper classes -- the Church had a strong impact, as did many other pressures of society. Nor did every knight conform to the ideals in quite the same way, if at all. It's also important to remember that chivalry among the nobility was at first limited to other nobility, and remained so limited for quite some time. The greatly-admired knight the Black Prince (son of King Edward III of England) was known for treating both friends and enemies with the utmost charity and kindness, but his treatment of peasants was harsh, and considered rightly so.
Nevertheless, courtly love did have an effect, though difficult to measure. And one of the most (if not the most) significant effects was on literature. Epic poems about battles and kings gave way to romances like the Arthurian tales and The Song of Roland -- stories that were still exciting adventures, but through which a variety of themes were explored. (A particularly wonderful example of this kind of literature is the work of Chretién de Troyes, who was commissioned by Marie de Champagne to write several Arthurian romances).
The body of literature begun in the twelfth century is, arguably, an integral part of the western psyche, and there is no discounting the influence of courtly love on that literature, and thus on ourselves. Over the centuries it has often been regarded as evidence of a nobler past and an ideal toward which to strive. Courtly love still has an effect for those of us who look longingly back at chivalry, adapt it to our own society, and measure our integrity against its paragon.
In a sense, it is literature we still live today.
Note
1 Much like the terms "medieval," "middle ages," and "Renaissance," the term "courtly love" was coined in a later era. Gaston Paris, a nineteenth-century medievalist, is generally accepted as the inventor of the term.Guide's Note: This feature was originally posted in February of 1998, and was updated in March of 2007.
Sources and Suggested Reading
The links below will take you to a site where you can compare prices at booksellers across the web. More in-depth info about the book may be found by clicking on to the book's page at one of the online merchants.
The Art of Courtly Love
by Andreas Capellanus; translated by John Jay Parry
Eleanor of Aquitaine and the Four Kings
by Amy Ruth Kelly
The Civilization of the Middle Ages
by Norman F. Cantor
Life in Medieval Times
by Marjorie Rowling
