Medieval View of Love
Romance
The medieval world was organized according to a grand hierarchy.
The word Romance refers to spoken French.
What held this hierarchy together was Caritas [charity].
So, Literature written in this language was called “romance” literature.
There were 2 kinds of love: Caritas – spiritual love, and Amor – worldly Eventually it came to refer to stories about knights and ladies.
love.
The audience for these stories were mostly women of the courts.
Amor meant you loved things in this world, like money, power and
people.
These “romances” mostly focused on women characters
When Amor was talked about in literature it was called Courtly Love.
Courtly love reflected a change in the way people thought about women.
Two women had a lot of influence on these stories: 1) Eleanor of
Aquitaine who was queen of France and then England and 2) her
daughter Marie.
Courtly Love was when a knight loved some ideal that he saw in a
particular woman.
The first “romances” emphasized a kind of love that poets called
“courtly love.”
Courtly love was rooted in both feudal and religious terms.
Courtly love was modeled on the relationship that a servant had with his
lord – obedience and submission.
The lover was expected to obey and serve his lady just like a servant
obeyed and served his master.
Courtly love was noble – even if there was no sex or the lady even knew
about it.
The lady lived on a much higher plane than the knight who loved her.
Courtly love was not the typical kind of love in the Middle ages.
Sex was not expected in courtly love.
Courtly Love was an ideal.
In courtly love the lady was already married to someone else.
Most marriages were practical or political.
Courtly Love had little effect on the situation of women in general in the
Middle Ages.
Love in marriage was a radical idea.
But there were 2 long term effects of Courtly Love: 1) Europe got a
more refined way to talk about love, and 2) women came to have an
increased role in society.
And the audience knew it was a fiction.
The whole point was to see what have love affected howpeople behaved.
So in the long run women stopped being objects and begin to be in
control of the love game.
Step 2 Cluster
Audience
And the audience knew it was a fiction.
The audience for these stories were mostly women of the courts.
The Lady
In courtly love the lady was already married to someone else.
The lady lived on a much higher plane than the knight who loved her.
Romance
The word Romance refers to spoken French.
So, Literature written in this language was called “romance” literature.
Eventually it came to refer to stories about knights and ladies.
These “romances” mostly focused on women characters
The first “romances” emphasized a kind of love that poets called “courtly love.”
Courtly Love
Courtly love was modeled on the relationship that a servant had with his lord – obedience and submission.
Courtly love was noble – even if there was no sex or the lady even knew about it.
Courtly love was not the typical kind of love in the Middle ages.
Courtly Love was an ideal.
Courtly love reflected a change in the way people thought about women.
Courtly Love was when a knight loved some ideal that he saw in a particular woman.
Courtly love was rooted in both feudal and religious terms.
Amor
Amor meant you loved things in this world, like money, power and people.
When Amor was talked about in literature it was called Courtly Love.