Courtly love compensated the medieval lady for the brutalities of marriage, and recognized her existence as an individual (Evans 113). The lover, who by definition was not her husband, addressed her with the same vocabulary of adoration he used for the Saints. For his lady’s sake, he sought to progress in merit, and to purify his spirit. For her he was mighty in battle and in her presence, gay, witty, well dressed, and well washed. He composed and sang love songs for her, and was always scrupulous to defend her honor (Dijkstra 60). Through honoring her, he respected all ladies and proclaimed their fame. He was his lady’s vassal and to her he rendered his homage. Though romantic, the concept of courtly love was a strict violation of the teachings of the church (Evans 113).
How far courtly love led to actual adultery is an insoluble problem. Plenty of troubadours celebrated their amorous victories, but these troubadours are very unreliable witnesses (Evans 120). At any rate, adultery in the swarming communal life of the castle was difficult, if not impossible. These sinful matings must have occurred mostly outdoors and must have greatly depended on the weather. In its entirety, it seems courtly love was mostly a game, an intellectual diversion with little effect on moral behavior (Lunt 67).
Courtly love framed the virtues and ideals of a man of status. It’s perfect representative was humble, a loyal warrior for religion, a defender of ladies’ honor, and a true gentleman in every aspect idealized at the time. The proper medieval gentleman had many virtues. He was generally loyal to his feudal obligations and conscientious in the administration of justice. He was generous, sincerely religious, respectful of church authority, and faithful to his duties (Bishop 86). An enormous outpouring of literature, nurturing that of King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table supported this ideal.
The deeds of chivalry and mystical acts of courtly love inevitably contributed to Arthurian literature and romances. The epic began as oral or folk literature. It is a natural product of most primitive societies, a tale of heroes sung by a bard (Mathew 44). Long-forgotten poets worked it into fixed artistic shape, into a rhythmical pattern congenial to the language and music of a particular people. Eventually, these songs and tales were written down, to become a model for later, more sophisticated writers (Mathew 46).
The epics expressed the noble attitudes and values of the early Middle Ages. They celebrate pride, honor, and victory, and had little to say of love (Mathew 47). Of course, new generations appeared, which were more cultured and sophisticated than their predecessors. They found the endless spearings, beheadings, and body bisections a bore. They asked for something more subtle: recognition of human problems, stories of love. The romance of chivalry, the roman courtois, or simply, the novel met their demands( Lunt 89).
The romances of chivalry were tales of love and adventure, in verse or prose. Directed toward an audience of nobles and upperclassmen, they glorified the aristocratic way of life (Lunt 127). They contained long descriptions of luxury, furniture, and accessories not possessed by the middle or lower class. They exalted women, who were the poets’ patrons and their most responsive public (Bishop 96). They also exalted the institution of courtesy, a code of morals and ideals for gentlemen and ladies. Most of all, they exalted love, “the origin and foundation of all that is good.”
The romances of chivalry began in northern France in the twelfth century and spread to the entire Western world. They took as their background themes, stories of old Rome and Charlemagne’s court, and especially the Celtic tales that filtered in through Brittany and England (Evans 56). These tales dealt with the Knights of the Round Table at the court of King Arthur, who was, in fact, a British Christian chief of the fifth century. Religion and mysticism haunted the legend of King Arthur, especially in the various romances of his quest for the Holy Grail (Dijkstra 77). These present the ancient theme of the quest, which paralleled the actual experiences of the crusaders. The primitive Celtic literature had the character that persists in Yeats and other modern Irish writers: love of the fantastic and marvelous; blurring of the natural and supernatural; acceptance of magic, wonder, fairies, witches, and talking beasts, trees, and fountains as commonplaces (Jordan 69). The idea of love as a tragic destiny, and wild soaring poetic description, transformed the lives of simple men (Jordan 71). This was all a realm of the imagination conceived my great authors during the Middle Ages and was translated into medieval garb (Evans 74). Perhaps very few people realize what a very great realm of the imagination the legends of King Arthur are, and how vast a literature it has become. During the Middle Ages, this was the great theme of creative writing in poetry and prose (Evans 137). Not only in England, but preeminently in France and Germany were there also romances of Arthur. In fact, they existed in every language of Christendom at the time (Lunt 121). This spirit was preserved in the re-workings of writers throughout history. The legend of King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table, whether truly every existent or not, have had a profound influence on virtues, ideals, morals, and literature throughout history.