1. Courtly Society in Medieval Europe

2. Fusion of the Early Middle Ages 5th-11th centuries
Fall of Rome
Celtic Influences
Norse-Germanic Influences
Spread of Christianity throughout Europe
Islamic Influences
Feudalism
Empires and Kingdoms

3. Fall of Rome: Rise of Germanic Tribes
330: Constantine moved the capitol of the Roman Empire to Constantinople
402: Honorius moved capitol of the Western Empire from Rome to Ravenna
410: Visigoths sacked Rome
455: Vandals sacked Rome and took control of N. Africa and Spain
5th c.: Waves of Angles, Saxons and Jutes invaded Britain and Burgundians controlled much of France
476: Goths seized Rome: Odoacer became Emperor

4. Celtic
Migrations
Hallstatt

5. Celtic Influences Decorative Animal motifs Arabesques Religious
Scholarship
Monasticism
Literary
Epics and folklore
Sovranty: Love-Political Triangle
King-Queen-Suitor/Challenger
Arthur-Guinevere-Lancelot

6. Celtic Christianity
Christianity was introduced into the British Isles in late 1st century or early 2nd c. with Roman soldiers
Cultic religion existing alongside other cults; both indigenous and brought in by the Romans, such as the cult of Mithras.
The new faith rapidly gained adherents
During the late 1st century or early 2nd Century C.E., Christianity was introduced into the British Isles. At first following the path of the Roman occupation of Britain, it began to spread to the surrounding lands, the Celtic homelands of the Gael. It is thought, from the archaeological evidence, that Christianity had entered the Isles with Roman soldiers during the time of Roman control of the southern parts of Alba. In the late first and second century, the practice of Christianity in Roman-occupied Britain would have been cultic and have existed amongst the sundry other cults; both those indigenous to the Britions and other cults brought in by the Romans, such as the cult of Mithras. The new faith rapidly gained adherents and began to make its influences felt on the surrounding culture. Among the artifacts are monuments and silverware with the fish symbol engraved on the handles. Further, textual commentary by Nennius tells of the British King Lucious being converted in 167. We also know that a number of British bishops attended the Council of Arles.

7. The Irish Church Elements of Eastern Christianity:
emphasis on monasticism
organizational structure of abbots and monasteries versus bishops and parish churches
ascetic holiness and pilgrimage
The abbeys' and monasteries' success in teaching:
Generations of scholars who not only copied Christian material but also transcribed the myths of the Ulster and Finian cycles, the Brehon laws, and other Celtic documents
Survival of Christianity in the British Isles despite conquest by the pagan Angles and Saxons.
Sent missionaries to England and scholars to courts, such as Charlemagne’s, throughout Europe
The abbeys' and monasteries' success in teaching provided successive generations of scholars who would guarantee the survival of the existing Celtic culture. These scholars would not only copy Christian material but also would eventually transcribe the myths of the Ulster and Finian cycles, the Brehon laws, and other documents related to Celtic civilization. The growth of the Christian faith in Ireland created a haven for the survival of Christianity in the British Isles because, in Britain, the withdrawal of the Roman Empire in 450 AD would open the way for conquest by the Angles and Saxons and the restoration of pagan worship. With the withdrawal of the Romans, which would shortly be followed by the fall of the Roman Empire, Ireland would be isolated from the continent of Europe and the traditional centers of the Christian faith.
Following the efforts of Patrick and Columba, Celtic Christianity prospered and expanded throughout the Gaelic world. The high points of Celtic Christian culture were between the years 600 AD and 850 AD. The Book of Kells was produced circa 800 AD. Many of the larger monastic houses were also built in this period, such as Lindesfarne and Kells.But the end of an independent Irish Church was already at hand. In 398 AD, Pelagianism was denounced as heresy by the Roman Church. Pelagius was actually his Latin name, the Celtic Church referred to him as St. Morgan of Wales. Pelagius denied the doctrine of original sin. Pelagius was a Brython who was a ranking member of the Celtic Church. His view was that humans are offered choices by God and elect the path they will take based on free will, not because of original sin. Pelagius was not condemned as a heretic in his lifetime; however, his followers were, because they extended his doctrine into the idea that humans could be perfect by simply electing not to sin. Following the condemnation of Pelagianism, bishops were dispatched by Rome to Britain, in part to counter the feared spread of the Pelagian heresy, and later, St. Augustine came to Britain and established himself at Kent, and with him came the Roman ecclesiastical structure of parishes and bishops. Rome felt that they needed a presence in the British Isles, both to counter the growth of this new heresy and extend the boundaries of the Roman rite. Slowly but surely, the Roman system was cultivated and taught. The differences between the two rites was put to the test in 664 AD. At the synod of Whitby, Northumbria decided for the Roman rite, with the issues in question being the method of calculating Easter and the cutting of the monk's tonsure. This began the gradual demise and absorbtion of the independent Irish churches.

8. The Book of Kells

9. Völkerwanderrung Germanic Migrations

10. Germanic Comitatus or Kinship Groups
König, eorlas und thanes: kings, nobles and warriors
Mutual loyalty -- warriors fight for king, king is generous to warriors
Originally a socially egalitarian setup, during the third and fourth centuries AD, became socially stratified
Basis for feudal loyalty
Ideal and philosophy expressed in oral epics like Beowulf and The Song of Roland

11. Charlemagne
Otherwise known as Charles the Great, or Charles the First
Eldest son born of Pepin the Short and his wife Bertrada
Possessed many qualities of greatness: imposing physical stature, warrior prowess, piety, generosity, intelligence, devotion to family and friends, and joy for life.
A hero in his own time who became a legendary figure
Charlemagne, otherwise known as Charles the Great, or Charles the First, was King of the Franks from AD He was the eldest son born to Pepin the Short and his wife Bertrada. In the eyes of his contemporaries, he possessed many qualities of greatness: imposing physical stature, warrior prowess, piety, generosity, intelligence, devotion to family and friends, and joy for life. His actions made him a hero in his own time and also for many European generations to come Charlemagne and his brother, Carloman, served as co-rulers over the Frankish domains in a spirit of animosity until 771 when Carloman died and Charlemagne became sole ruler. This territory became known as the Carolingian Empire after Charlemagne was crowned Emperor of the reconstituted Western Roman Empire by Pope Leo III on Christmas day of 800 in return for preventing the Pope's ouster by unruly Romans His military victories and annexations of land included conquering the Lombards in in response to Pope Adrian's request for aid against them. He also subdued the Saxons in wars that lasted thirty years, from In one day alone 4,500 Saxons were executed at Verden. He annexed Bavaria in 788 and conquered the Avars in the Danube region in 798. He led an invasion into Spain in 777 that didn't result in a takeover but the great literary work called "The Song of Roland" was a result of his action. Charlemagne's conquests left him the great undisputed master of nearly the entire Christian West. The wealth he acquired in these conquests gave him temporary independence from his Austrasian aristocratic supporters and he was able to institute several significant administrative reforms Among his administrative reforms, Charlemagne regularized the central administration and implemented more direct influence on local affairs through expanded use of the written word. He developed special agents, missi dominici, to investigate imperial affairs. These agents also taught the local officials what was expected of them and reported to the court on local conditions. Charlemagne also issued royal orders, capitularies, that informed local officials of royal intent and guided them in their actions in matters relating to public order. He promoted commerce, education, and building by implementing educational reform, importing scholars, and establishing interest in history, architecture, and literature. The capital, Aachen, became the cultural center of Carolingian learning and art

12. CHARLEMAGNE
Expanded the Frankish empire by fighting more than 50 campaigns; defeated the Lombards; Moors; Saxons, Slavs & Danes; Avars in Bavaria, etc.
By 805 the Frankish kingdom included all of continental Europe except Spain, Scandinavia, southern Italy, and Slavic fringes in the East
Established marches (strongly fortified areas) mainly to check the Muslims in Northern Spain --deliberately persecuted non-Christians
800: Pope Leo III crowned Charlemagne as Holy Roman Emperor, Charlemagne's motto becomes Renavatio romani imperi (Revival of the Roman Empire)

13. Charlemagne’s Empire

14. CAROLINGIAN RENAISSANCE
Charlemagne was a strong supporter of education
Assembled scholars and learned men at court in Aachen
Most noted was Alcuin (c ) who was Charlemagne's chief advisor on religious and educational matters; prepared official documents and exempla
The scholars copied books and built up libraries; used "Carolingian minuscule;" saved the thoughts and writings of the ancients
Worked on educating priests
Limited illiteracy
Preserved Latin culture in West
Carolingian MS.

15. Illuminated Manuscripts
. The word `illuminated' comes from a usage of the Latin word illuminare -- `adorn'.
The decorations are of three main types:
miniatures or small pictures, into the text or occupying the whole page or part of the border;
initial letters either containing scenes (historiated initials) or with elaborate decoration;
Books written by hand, decorated with paintings
borders, which may consist of miniatures, occasionally illustrative, or more often are composed of decorative motifs.
                 
Manuscripts are for the most part written on skin, parchment, or vellum. From the 14th century, paper was used for less sumptuous copies. Although a number of books have miniatures and ornaments executed in outline drawing only, the majority are fully coloured. By the 15th cent. illumination tended more and more to follow the lead given by painters, and with the invention of printing the illuminated book gradually went out of fashion. During the 15th and 16th centuries, illuminations were added to printed books.
Sacramentary--Use of Saint-Denis,9thc.

16. Viking Conquests
In the year AD 789, three strange ships arrived at Portland on the southern coast of England and Beaduheard, the reeve of the King of Wessex, rode out to meet them. He took with him only a small blind of men under the mistaken impression that the strangers were traders: "and they slew him...” records the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle tersely. It adds, with over a century of grim hindsight, "those were the first ships [of Northmen] which came to the land of the English".
The first raids by Danes in the west were on Frisia and, in 834, the thriving and populous trading centre of Dorestad on the Rhine estuary was attacked. This was the beginning of period of history known to us as the Viking Age, normally dated to around AD , when Scandinavian peoples from the modern countries of Denmark, Norway and Sweden influenced much of northern Europe and beyond. They travelled further than Europeans had ever gone before and established a network of communications over great distances. They exploited the riches of the East and explored the uncharted waters of the North Atlantic. They settled as farmers in the barren western lands of Greenland and discovered America five hundred years before Columbus.

17. I've been with sword and,spear slippery with bright blood where kites wheeled. And how well we violent Vikings clashed! Redflames ate up men's roofs, raging we killed and killed; and skewered bodies sprawled sleepy in town gateways.
What is clear is that Viking expansion was only made possible by the Vikings' legendary superiority in shipbuilding technology and their supreme navigation skills, which allowed them to travel further, faster and more surely than their contemporaries. "Never before has such a terror appeared in Britain as we have now suffered from a pagan race, nor was it thought possilbe that such an inroad from the sea could be made". So commented the English scholar Alcuin in A.D 793 when he heard of the Viking raid on Lindisfarne. The Scandinavian tradition of shipbuilding during the Viking Age was characterised by slender and flexible boats, with symmetrical ends ind a true keel, producing longships capable of high speeds. Over recent years, our knowledge of functional and regional variations in Viking Age boats and ships has been greatly increased by the excavations of wrecked or abandoned vessels (see no. 19), but it is the elegant lines of the Gokstad ship (no. 1) which have come to symbolise the exceptional achievements of the Viking seafarers
The Scandinavians revered poetry known as skaldic verse which, though often bloodthirsty in content, portrays a people with an heroic and sophisticated literature. A Viking verse by the great teath-century Icelandic poet, Egil Skallagrimsson, is translated

18. Vikings, or Norsemen, who settled in northern France (or the Frankish kingdom), together with their descendants
A Viking named Rollo emerged as the leader among the new settlers.
911 the Frankish king Charles III the Simple ceded Rollo the land around the mouth of the Seine and what is now the city of Rouen
The Normans founded the duchy of Normandy and sent out expeditions of conquest and colonization to southern Italy and Sicily and to England, Wales, Scotland, and Ireland.
The Normans
member of those Vikings, or Norsemen, who settled in northern France (or the Frankish kingdom), together with their descendants. The Normans founded the duchy of Normandy and sent out expeditions of conquest and colonization to southern Italy and Sicily and to England, Wales, Scotland, and Ireland The Normans (from Nortmanni: "Northmen") were originally pagan barbarian pirates from Denmark, Norway, and Iceland who began to make destructive plundering raids on European coastal settlements in the 8th century. During the later 9th century their raids on the northern and western coastlands of France grew in scale and frequency, and the Vikings had secured a permanent foothold on Frankish soil in the valley of the lower Seine River by about 900. A Viking named Rollo, who had already won a reputation as a great leader of Viking raiders in Scotland and Ireland, soon emerged as the outstanding personality among the new settlers. In 911 the Frankish king Charles III the Simple made the Treaty of St. Clair-sur-Epte with Rollo, ceding him the land around the mouth of the Seine and what is now the city of Rouen. Within a generation the Vikings, or Normans, as they came to be known, had extended their rule westward to the districts of Lower Normandy. From then on until the mid- 11th century, the history of the Normans in Normandy was marked by a line of ruthless and forceful rulers calling themselves counts, or dukes, of Normandy and struggling to establish political hegemony over the indigenous Frankish population of the region Despite their eventual conversion to Christianity, their adoption of the French language, and their abandonment of sea-roving for Frankish cavalry warfare in the decades following their settlement in Normandy, the Normans retained many of the traits of their piratical Viking ancestors. They displayed an extreme restlessness and recklessness, a love of fighting accompanied by almost foolhardy courage, and a craftiness and cunning that went hand in hand with outrageous treachery. In their expansion into other parts of Europe, the Normans compiled a record of astonishingly daring exploits in which often a mere handful of men would vanquish an enemy many times as numerous. An unequaled capacity for rapid movement across land and sea, the use of brutal violence, a precocious sense of the use and value of money--all these traits characterized the Normans.

19. Social Classes SECULAR KING NOBLES KNIGHTS
MERCHANTS PROFESSIONALS CRAFTSMEN
PEASANTS
freemen
serfs
ECCLESIASTICAL
POPE
CARDINALS
BISHOPS ABBOTS
PRIESTS MONKS
SUMMONERS FRIARS
PARDONERS NUNS
PEASANTS
lay brothers and sisters
serfs
From the 12th century onward feudalism came under attack from various rival forces. The centralized state with its salaried officials and its mercenary armies was being built on Roman ideas about sovereignty and the safeguard of public order; the relationship between subject and sovereign replaced that of vassal and lord as the basis of a well-ordered society. The towns, growing in economic power and even forming their own militias, were able to a large extent to impose their own concepts about society against those of the knights. Finally, the manorial system, the material basis of the knightly class, in the 12th and 13th centuries underwent a deep economic crisis.
Although feudalism by the end of the 14th century was no longer a political and social force, it had left its mark on European society. It exercised its greatest influence in the elaboration of modern forms of constitutional government. Ideas about consent to taxes and resistance to and defiance of the lord and the whole balance of rights and duties between lords and vassals played a great role in colouring the outlook of early representative institutions.

20. January
Limbourg Bros.
Très Riches Heures
of the Duc de Berry

21. Norman Conquest 1066: Contest for the English crown:
Harold, Earl of Wessex: Anglo-Saxon claimant
Harald Hardrada of Norway
William Duke of Normandy
Battle of Stamford Bridge: Harold defeated Hardrada's army which invaded using over 300 ships; so many were killed that only 25 ships were needed to transport the survivors home.
Battle of Hastings: William led Norman forces against the English. Harold Killed in battle; William seized the throne
William the Conqueror
Harold II
On Edward's death, the King's Council (the Witenagemot) confirmed Edward's brother-in-law Harold, Earl of Wessex, as King. With no royal blood, and fearing rival claims from William Duke of Normandy and the King of Norway, Harold had himself crowned in Westminster Abbey on 6 January 1066, the day after Edward's death. During his brief reign, Harold showed he was an outstanding commander. In September, Harald Hardrada of Norway (aided by Harold's alienated brother Tostig, Earl of Northumbria) invaded England and was defeated by Harold at the Battle of Stamford Bridge near York. Hardrada's army had invaded using over 300 ships; so many were killed that only 25 ships were needed to transport the survivors home. Meanwhile, William Duke of Normandy (who claimed Harold had acknowledged him in 1064 as Edward's successor) had landed in Sussex. Harold rushed south and, on 14 October , his army of some 7,000 infantry was defeated on the field of Senlac near Hastings. Harold was hit in the eye by an arrow and cut down by Norman swords. An abbey was later built, in 1070, to fulfil a vow made by William I, and its high altar was placed on the spot where Harold fell. The ruins of Battle Abbey still remain with a stone slab marking where Harold died.

22. From their settlements in Normandy the adventurous Normans embarked on several major expansionary campaigns in Europe. The most important of these was the invasion of England in 1066 by William, duke of Normandy, who became king of England upon the success of what is now known as the Norman Conquest. Early in the 11th century, Norman adventurers also began a somewhat more prolonged and haphazard migration to southern Italy and Sicily, where they served the local nobility as mercenaries fighting the Arabs and the Byzantines. As more Normans arrived they carved out small principalities for themselves from their former employers. Among the most remarkable of these Norman adventurers were the sons of Tancred de Hauteville, who established their rule over the southern Italian regions of Calabria and Puglia (Apulia) in the s and over Sicily in the following decades. Their possessions were amalgamated by Roger II, a grandson of Tancred, in the early 12th century as the kingdom of Sicily, whose rulers retained a basically Norman character until the last decades of that century Among the Norman traits regarded by their contemporaries as specially characteristic were their utterly unbridled character and their capacity for quick and fruitful imitation and adaptation. The former characteristic contributed to the production, by a process akin to natural selection, of lines of outstandingly able and ruthless rulers wherever a Norman state came into being. Many of the early Norman rulers of Normandy, England, and Sicily were among the most powerful and successful secular potentates of their age in western Europe in their ability to create political institutions that were both stable and enduring.member of those Vikings, or Norsemen, who settled in northern France (or the Frankish kingdom), together with their descendants. The Normans founded the duchy of Normandy and sent out expeditions of conquest and colonization to southern Italy and Sicily and to England, Wales, Scotland, and Ireland The Normans (from Nortmanni: "Northmen") were originally pagan barbarian pirates from Denmark, Norway, and Iceland who began to make destructive plundering raids on European coastal settlements in the 8th century.
BAYEUX TAPESTRY English axman in combat with Norman cavalry during the Battle of Hastings

24. Norman Castles Tower of London Motte and Bailey Castle
The Normans' capacity for imitation and adaptation was even more significant for the history of Europe. The Normans began as pagan destroyers bent upon plundering and slaughter. Forced to come to terms with the Carolingian and Capetian dynasties and to adopt French as their language and Christianity as their religion, they quickly became missionaries and proselytizers of the civilization that they had attacked and that had ultimately absorbed them. They quickly grasped the principles of Carolingian feudalism, and Normandy became in the 11th century one of the most highly feudalized states in western Europe.The art of building castles was not a Norman invention, but the Normans became masters in the use of the simple yet enormously effective motte-and-bailey castle--a mound (motte) topped by a timber palisade and tower, surrounded by a ditched and palisaded enclosure (bailey). These little fortifications, which were complementary to the warfare conducted in open country by small units of cavalry, became the hallmark of Norman penetration and conquest. Again, although the Normans were at first novices and imitators in the practice of fighting on horseback, they soon became masters of cavalry warfare as it was then practiced in continental Europe. Mounted on much the same breed of war horse as his Frankish, Angevin, or Breton opponent, wearing the heavy mail hauberk that was standard among the warriors of northwestern Europe, protected by a conical helmet and a kite-shaped shield, and armed with a long, broad-bladed sword and a slender lance, the Norman cavalryman proved on countless occasions that he could outfight and overwhelm the most powerful forces brought against him. To some extent, no doubt, this was due to the importance which the Norman knightly class attached to the training of young warriors. They eagerly adopted the carefully fostered cult of knighthood which had grown up in the old Carolingian empire in the 10th and 11th centuries. But Norman knights were also fierce and brutal soldiers who had received an arduous training that left little room for the feelings of humanity and mercy with which Christian teaching was later to endow the concept of chivalry.
Motte and Bailey
Castle

25. Crusades: th c.
Holy Wars"-- against various enemies of the Church
Initially non-Christians: Moslems and pagans
At first the object of the Crusades was to recover the Holy Places (in what are now Israel and Jordan) from the Moslems, who had seized them in the 7th Century.
Later Crusades were preached against Christian heretics, and even against orthodox Christians who happened to have political disputes with the current pope.

26. Chivalry
Chivalry was a peculiarity of the practice of war in medieval Europe.
The feudal knight was supposed to be devout, honest, selfless, just, brave, honorable, obedient, kind, charitable, generous, and kind to women.
Complex rituals and rules
Chivalry was a peculiarity of the practice of war in medieval Europe. It can be likened to the Code of Bushido produced in very similar feudal Japanese society. The feudal knight was supposed to be devout, honest, selfless, just, brave, honorable, obedient, kind, charitable, generous, and kind to women. Sort of a heavily armed Boy Scout . His life was to some extent governed by complex rituals and rules, and he belonged to a quasi-religious international brotherhood.
There were numerous examples of truly chivalrous conduct during the Hundred Years' War. Thus, the Black Prince accorded Jean II of France all the deference due him as a king, even though Jean was a prisoner of war. And Jean, having been released from captivity in England to help negotiate his ransom, voluntarily returned when one of his sons, who had been standing surety for his return, escaped from England. These were deeds celebrated throughout Europe. There was, however, another side to chivalry. Many French --and several English-- defeats in the war can be traced to a bit too much concern for knightly honor, such as Crecy and Agincourt. And, of course, chivalry extended only to certain classes of society. The code did not restrain a person of rank in his dealings with the lower orders.

27. Courtly Love C.S. Lewis: “Humility, Courtesy, Adultery and the
Religion of Love”
April
Très Riches Heures
of the Duc de Berry

28. The "rules" for this game are roughly:
Moans of approaching death from unsatisfied desire
Heroic deeds of valor which win the lady's heart
Consummation of the secret love
Endless adventures and subterfuges
Tragic end
Worship of the chosen lady
Declaration of passionate devotion
Virtuous rejection by the lady
Renewed wooing with oaths of eternal fealty
Much of what has passed down to us regarding chivalry has to do with that aspect of it involving noble men pursuing other mens wives. The "rules" for this game are roughly as follows;
1 Worship of the chosen lady 2 Declaration of passionate devotion 3 Virtuous rejection by the lady 4 Renewed wooing with oaths of eternal fealty 5 Moans of approaching death from unsatisfied desire 6 Heroic deeds of valor which win the lady's heart 7 Consummation of the secret love 8 Endless adventures and subterfuges 9 Tragic denouement
Item 6 was often played out at tournaments , where the lady in question could watch her lover roar through the lists and make his mark jousting. Item 7 often took place the evening after the brave kinght won the tournament. Item 8 involved trying to keep the lady's husband in the dark and item 9 was the result of the husband discovering he was a cuckold.Like the Code Bushndo, the Code of Chivalry seems to have been honored mostly in the breach.

29. Troubadour Poetry
Origins in Provençal: Guillaume IX considered to be first troubadour poet
Troubadours and Trobiaritz flourished between 1100 and 1350 and were attached to various courts in the south of France.
Innovations:
vernacular language
passionate love poetry influenced by Islamic love poetry
voice of amour courtois
love viewed as ennobling -- heightens one’s sensibility
Troubadours: They flourished between 1100 and 1350 and were attached to various courts in the south of France. The troubadours wrote almost entirely about sexual love and developed the concept and practice of courtly love
There was no tradition of passionate love literature in the European middle ages before the twelfth century, although there was such a tradition in Arabic-speaking Spain and Sicily. This Arab love poetry was readily accessible to Europeans living in Italy and Spain and was a major source of the Troubadour-developed cult of courtly love.
Troubadour love poetry, although conceptually adulterous, inspired the man (and perhaps the woman) and ennobled the lover's character.

30. August
Très Riches Heures
of the Duc de Berry

31. Detail from the Minnesanger Manuscript
Minnesänger
Medieval German poets, who contributed to the development of the ideas of courtly love in the 13th and 14th centuries
German minnesänger were willing to incorporate the ideals of courtly love into a marriage framework -- see especially Wolfram von Eschenbach’s Parzival
Walther von der Vogelweide ( ) Gottfried von Strassburg ( fl ). Wolfram von Eschenbach ( ). Gottfried von Strassburg ( Early 13th c.)
Detail from the Minnesanger Manuscript

32. La Stil Nuova Italian courtly poetry Love for lady becomes sublimated
Protagonist of the stilnovist song .is a young scholar in love with a star
Calvacanti, Dante, Petrarch
Development of the sonnet
Part II: The Stilnovisti [New Style] in 13th century Italy, esp. the young Dante
The gentle heart and intelligence develop through love of beauty; there are special aptitudes needed to perceive this beauty. Valency writes: "In the poetry of the dolce stil, everything is vast in scale and of extraordinary intensity." (p.236) Certainly by the time we reach Dante, the lady, while always remaining herself, becomes also her city, a guide from darkness to light, the universe, and a bearer of God. She becomes a "reality symbol," I would say, and her multi-leveled meaning becomes clearer in the Commedia.
"Guinizelli had used the idea of the angelic lady as a similitude: the lady resembled an angel. Cavalcanti proposed it as an authentic intuition: the lady whose radiance made one think of a star was in fact a star. [that is, an angel, a radiant spirit, a God-bearing presence: JGS] .... SHE IS AN ANGEL, therefore the lover can follow her to the throne of God The protagonist of the troubadour song was a knight in love with a lady. The protagonist of the stilnovist song was a young scholar in love with a star." (see Valency pp )

33. Courtly Love and the Roman Courtois
Countered Franco-German ideal of Holy Roman Empire with Charlemagne as saint
Nourished by Celtic inspiration, Provençal eroticism and Islamic poetry
Theme: initiation, dedication, metamorphosis and absorption into a higher and fuller life
“love is a cue for chivalric adventure, and chivalry is a means of deserving love”
Courtly Love and the Roman Courtois

34. MAY
Très Riches Heures
of the Duc de Berry

35. Arthurian Legend
Historical: Romano-Celtic dux bellorum who fought the Anglo-Saxon invasions
Major texts:
12th century
Geoffrey of Monmouth’s History of the Kings of Britain
Chretien de Troyes’ romances
13th-14th century: French prose romances
15th century: Malory

36. The Lais of Marie de France
Lanval set at Arthurian court
Breton troubadour influence
Courtliness and magic
Investigations into the intricacies of love and honor
Explore questions of sovereignty in relationships

37. Lancelot by Chretien de Troyes c. 1170
Commissioned by Marie de Champagne
Introduction of Lancelot
Ideal courtly romance

38. Church’s response to Amour Courtois
Obviously disapproved of the cultic status of the lady and the tacit approval of adultery
Encouraged infusion of Christian ideals into literature:
Grail romances
Sublimated love: Dante’s Divina Commedia
Used the language of courtly love in the veneration of the Virgin Mary

39. Notre Dame du Chartres 1145-1220 Gothic Cathedral

41. Illuminated Manuscripts
Adoration of the Magi
Virgin and Child in Orchard Book of Hours N. France Mid 15th C.

42. Perceval: The Story of the Grail by Chretien de Troyes, 12th c.
First Grail Romance
Grail not here associated with the cup of the Last Supper or the cup used to catch Christ’s blood
A symbol of beauty and mystery, but not of religious devotion

43. 13th-14th Century: French Grail Romances
Robert de Boron, Joseph d’Arimathie and Merlin, c
Didot Perceval: Perceval le Gallois ou le Conte du Graal, c
Vulgate prose cycle: French Cistercian retelling of Estoire del Saint Graal, Estoire de Merlin, Lancelot du Lac, Queste del Saint Graal, and Mort Artu, c
Roman Du Graal and Lancelot Cycle: variant versions of the Vulgate Cycle, c

44. Cistercian Spirituality
Transforms the grail into “the Holy Grail” -- the cup in which Joseph of Arimathea caught the blood dripping from Jesus’ wounds
Claims that Joseph of Arimathea brought the grail to Britain
Grail quests become the central activity of the Arthurian knights, especially Gawain, Perceval, and Lancelot: none of whom can achieve the grail because of their impurities.

45. Introduction of Galahad, son of Sir Lancelot and the maiden Elaine, who, because of his purity is able to attain “The Holy Grail”

46. Dante’s Divina Commedia

47. Dante Gabriel Rossetti, Dante‘s Dream At The Time Of The Death Of Beatrice 1871

48. Paolo and Francesca

49. Realism and the International Style
Limbourg Brothers, Tres Riches Heures, 15th c.
FEBRUARY JULY

50. JUNE

51. Boccaccio’s Decameron
Collection of 100 novelle with a frame tale
Frame tale realistically details the Black Death in Italy
Novelle: short tales based set in realistic settings with a variety of characters from all social classes

52. Geoffrey Chaucer First great English poet
Early works reflect courtly concerns and ideals
Influenced by French and Italian models

53. The Canterbury Tales Chaucer’s masterpiece
Frame: Pilgrimage from London to Canterbury
Brilliant portraits of English characters
Tales include many genres: romance, sermon, fabilaux, lai, etc.

54. Christine de Pisan ca. 1430
                                                                                    
First European professional female author
Prominent in the “Debate about Women”
Works include courtesy books, military treatises, dream visions and The Book of the City of Women
Christine de Pisan, the first female writer to earn a living from her pen, defended the status of women. In this illustration, aided by Reason, Uprightness, and Justice, she lays the foundation of a City exclusively for women who have served the cause of women (female warriors, politicians, good wives, lovers, and inventors, among others). The imagined City will be crowned by the glory of the Virgin and sainted women.
From Christine de Pisan, 'Works'. Copyright ©, The British Library

55. The Middle Ages in Europe faded as nation states solidified, the learning and art of the Renaissance emerged, and the unity of the Western Church was broken with the Protestant Reformation.

56. Courtly Society in Medieval Europe