exist between two people joined together in the conjugal relation." The idea is again expressed, on the authority of the same Countess, in the excuse which a certain lover offers for seeking love out of wedlock, although he has a beautiful wife whom he professes to love" totius mentis affectione maritali."2 In accord with these opinions, and probably based upon them, is the first law of the longer code, which frankly states that a woman cannot plead marriage as a sufficient excuse for denying a lover's petition. 3. A love, sensual and illicit, must needs be secret. The shorter code lays this down as a law; and the longer adds, as the reason, that a love which is divulged, rarely lasts. No article of the code is so important as this, and none is insisted upon so much. "Qui non celat, amare non potest.' He who reveals the secrets he should keep, is branded as a traitor to the god of Love. Nothing is so despicable as to blab after having received favors. But not only must love be secret; it must also be furtive. It was the element of furtiveness, largely, that made the courtly love incompatible with the legal relations between husband and wife. The necessity of secrecy gives rise in the literature to a constant fear of spies: a fear exaggerated, no doubt, but not without foundation, if we may accept the romances as reflecting contemporary life. In these stories, it is often the rôle of the false steward to spy upon lovers and to report their actions to the lady's father or husband. There were grounds of a very practical nature for the insistence upon secrecy. Chaucer, describing the violation of Lucretia, tells us: Thise Romain wyves loveden so hir name At thilke tyme, and dredden so the shame, That, what for fere of slaundre and drede of deeth, She loste bothe at ones wit and breeth, And in a swough she lay." Fear of slander has disturbed the mind of many a woman far less chaste than Lucretia. As the Wife of Bath aptly puts it, 1 "Dicimus enim et stabilito tenore firmamus, amorem non posse suas inter duos iugales extendere vires." — Andreas, p. 153. 2 Ibid., p. 172. "Causa coniugii ab amore non est excusatio recta."— Ibid., p. 310. 4"Amoris tui secretarios noli plures habere.”—Ibid., p. 106. 5 "Amor raro consuevit durare vulgatus."- Ibid., p. 310. Cf. also "Qui suum igitur cupit amorem diu retinere illaesum, eum sibi maxime praecavere oportet, ut amor extra suos terminos nemini propaletur, sed omnibus reservetur occultus."— Ibid., p. 238. 6 Ibid., p. 310. "Legend of Good Women: Lucretia, Il. 133–137. "For be we never so vicces wilme. We wol been bolden wyse, and tiene of sinne." Despite the moral laxness of the socery out of which the courty love grew. there were some, perhaps many, to whom its ideas were aborrent However this may be, the women of that society fat it necessary to protect their good name. Chastity might be dispensed with without scrapie, but a sullied reputation was unbearable. Once the lady had satisfied bersed that the aspiring lover would be true to her. her greatest fear was that ther liaison should become known, and that she might be subjected to the aspersions of talebearers. Another reason for secrecy may be found in the peculiar relations between husband and wife among the higher classes of mediaeval society. Marriage was rarely a matter in which the heart was concerned. Business affairs and political considerations often brought about unites in which no affection could exist. Yet the integrity of the tie and the exclusive rights pertaining to the married state seem to have been insisted upon by husbands. By the theory of ourtly love, jealousy could not exist between a man and his wife, and since jealousy was a requisite of love, no love could exist between them. As a matter of fact, jealous husbands are execrated in love poetry from the early carols of the peasant girls of Poitou and Limousin to Chaucer. Criseyde says: *Shal noon housbonde seyn to me 'Chekmat!" For either they ben ful of jalousye, $ What action the husband of an unfaithful wife was expected to take, in case her infidelity was discovered, we may infer from the summary and severe punishment dealt out to such offenders, as it is pictured in romances, ballads, and chronicles. Due precaution for the maintenance of strict secrecy would therefore be dictated by wisdom and common sense. 1 Wife of Bath's Tale, II. 87-89. 2 Langlois, Origines et Sources du Roman de la Rose, Paris, 1891, p. 3Andreas, p. 154. 4" Ex vera zelotypia affectus semper crescit amandi."— Ibid., p. 154. 5 Paris, Origines de la Poésie Lyrique en France au Moyen Age, Paris, 1892, p. 51. Troilus and Criseyde, bk. ii, st. 108. See the ballad of Sir Aldingar, and the romances The Erl of Tolous and Sir Triamour; also the romance of The Knight of Curtesy and the Fair Lady of Faguel. The story of the lover's heart being served by the husband to his wife while eating, is told also of the troubadour Guillem de Cabestaing; see The Lives of the Troubadours, translated by Ida Farnell, London, 1896, pp. 41 ff. 4. Love, to meet the requirements of the courtly system, must not be too easily obtained.1 This idea receives great stress because of the lofty position which woman held in the courtly society. The concrete working of the rule is seen in the coldness and capriciousness of the lady, which are the cause of all the lover's woes as they are pictured in the poetry of the troubadours. We have already observed that courtly love was exalted under the system as a virtue which ennobled those who practised the art. In theory, love is the fount and origin of every good." It is constantly associated in the literature with courtesy and "largess." Andreas declares that love is "ever banished from the domicile of avarice." In another passage, he states specifically that love makes the rude and uncouth excel in every grace; that it enriches those of low birth with real nobility of character; and that it makes the true lover show a becoming complaisance to all. And then he breaks out rapturously: "O, how wonderful is love, which causes a man to be effulgent in virtue, and teaches every one to abound in good manners! "5 It was to achieve these virtues that the courtly lover sought his lady's favor. Strangely enough, the "good" was all on one side. If this love was like mercy, which "blesseth him that gives and him that takes," it is not so stated in the manual of Andreas. This again is due to the high position held by woman in the society of the time, and the reverence with which she was regarded. From her lofty place, as the perfect being, she dispensed favors which were at the same time the reward of noble deeds and the incentive to further effort. It must be noted that the ideals of the courtly system, if we disregard the element of sensualism, were high. This was true, 1" Facilis perceptio contemptibilem reddit amorem, difficilis eum carum facit haberi."— Andreas, p. 310. 2 The iteration of this idea in Andreas becomes tiresome. See pp. 29, 63, 69, 81, 86, 87, 88, 162. 6 Ibid., p. 10. 3 Rule 10, Andreas, p. 310. 4 Andreas, p. 9. not only in matters of decorum, but of honor as well. Constancy was of the utmost importance.1 No more grievous fault could be committed, no breach of the canons could be more serious, than for a lover, man or woman, to be unfaithful. This idea is insistently dwelt upon by Andreas, and it appears conspicuously in the other erotic literature of the period and of the following centuries. "Supplanting" also was strictly forbidden.2 To choose for his mistress one whom he would be ashamed to marry, was thought unworthy of a lover.3 Though sensual love lay at the bottom of the system, voluptuousness was regarded as fatal to real love. Indeed, though according to the courtly ideas love is in essence sensual, and should be secret and furtive, yet it incited the lover to worthy deeds; it demanded of him nobility of character and moderation in all his conduct. It is a love evil at the heart of it, yet it is a love which "loses half its evil, by losing all its grossness." Such was the theory of the courtly system. For its practical side, we turn to the poetry of the troubadours. Inspired, professedly, by real and actual love affairs, their lyrics present the concrete workings of the sentiment which afterward became the basis of the erotic philosophy not only of Chrétien de Troies but of Andreas himself. In the poems of the troubadours, therefore, we find portrayed the birth and progress of their love, their emotional experiences, their relation and attitude toward the ladies whose favor they sought, and their behavior as affected. by their passion. 1" Nemo duplici potest amore ligari." "Verus amans alterius nisi sui coamantis ex effectu non cupit amplexus."— Rules 3, 12, Andreas, p. 310. Cf. Rule 7, same code. 2" Alterius idonee copulatam amori scienter subvertere non coneris.". Rule 3, Andreas, p. 106. 3" Eius non curis eligere, cum qua naturalis nuptias contrahere prohibit tibi pudor."- Rule 4, Andreas, p. 106. 4" Non solet amare, quem nimia voluptatis abundantia vexat.” — Rule 29, Andreas, p. 311. Cf. also Rule 8, ibid., p. 106. The lady is regularly represented as perfect in all her attributes. The basis of this idea is, of course, the high social position of woman. Her good qualities were doubtless exaggerated, however, because of her rank; for the poet was often politically her subject, as well as her humble lover. Her perfection is pictured in her physical beauty, her character, and her influence upon others. Her physical beauty, when portrayed, accords with the mediaeval ideal. Her hair is blond or golden; her eyes beautiful; her complexion fresh and clear; her mouth rosy and smiling; her flesh white, soft, and smooth; her body slender, well formed, and without blemish. In character, she is distinguished for her courtesy, kindness, refinement, and good sense. In short, all that makes the perfect woman, in soul or in manners, the poet's love possesses. Her influence on others is always ennobling. Her goodness affects all who come near her, making them better. One poet fondly sings: "There is not in the whole world a vile person so ill-bred that he will not become courteous, if he speaks a word with her." Another declares: "The most ignorant man in the company, when he sees and gazes at her, ought at parting to be wise and of fine bearing." 2 As a perfect being, the lady occupies a position of exalted superiority in respect to the lover. He becomes her vassal and 1 Qu' el mon non es vilas tan mal apres, G. de Saint-Didier. See Raynouard, Choix des Poésies Originales des Troubadours, Paris, 1816, III, 301. The translations of the passages from the troubadour lyrics are taken from Mr. Mott's work, The System of Courtly Love. 2 Lo plus nescis hom del renh Que la veya ni remir Deuria esser al partir Savis e de belh captenh. Raimond de Miraval, Raynouard, III, 359. |