Over the course of five hundred years from 1100 until 1600, methods of female agency in gaining political power changed drastically. A focus on the revival of the past, medieval love games, and the dying throes of chivalric tradition, allowed feminine political agency to expand rapidly. The key developments in queenly tactics involved the introduction of sexuality as a political tool; the use of masculine rhetoric and actions; the addition of familial influence and favors at Court; the reintroduction of romance to marriages; and the growth of the mutual expectation of fidelity between royals. Careful examination of courtly love traditions, Arthurian lore, and instructional pamphlets establishes an ideal noblewoman who gradually could encompass
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Eleanor worked with her daughter, Marie of Champagne, to develop and introduce the work of Andreas Capellanus in the twelfth century. An instructional treatise on noble romance, De arte honeste amandi, or The Art of Courtly Love, offers a formula for love and lists multiple approaches to relationships. Capellanus’ title, now translated as “courtly love”, actually addressed what he described as “honest love”. His instructional manual considers extramarital courtship as the pinnacle of romance and held strict rules for its proper performance. Marie and Eleanor directly assisted him in the project and he cites them often as sources of higher knowledge on the topic of …show more content…
She opens the narrative in a side story about her intercession to keep knights at Camelot after Arthur failed to do so. Meanwhile, Prince Méléagant, son of King Bagdemagus of Gorre, visits Camelot to boast of the many people kidnapped from Arthur’s land, Logres. Guinevere agrees to parlay with him per his terms of release for the captives. Sir Gawain presents his suspicions of the Prince’s motives to Arthur. In agreement, the knights ride after the pair. Upon their arrival, the escort’s bloodied horse greets them. Far ahead of everyone else, Gawain encounters an unnamed knight, Lancelot. Upon news of Guinevere’s capture, he takes off on a new steed to save a queen uninterested in external
Eleanor worked with her daughter, Marie of Champagne, to develop and introduce the work of Andreas Capellanus in the twelfth century. An instructional treatise on noble romance, De arte honeste amandi, or The Art of Courtly Love, offers a formula for love and lists multiple approaches to relationships. Capellanus’ title, now translated as “courtly love”, actually addressed what he described as “honest love”. His instructional manual considers extramarital courtship as the pinnacle of romance and held strict rules for its proper performance. Marie and Eleanor directly assisted him in the project and he cites them often as sources of higher knowledge on the topic of …show more content…
She opens the narrative in a side story about her intercession to keep knights at Camelot after Arthur failed to do so. Meanwhile, Prince Méléagant, son of King Bagdemagus of Gorre, visits Camelot to boast of the many people kidnapped from Arthur’s land, Logres. Guinevere agrees to parlay with him per his terms of release for the captives. Sir Gawain presents his suspicions of the Prince’s motives to Arthur. In agreement, the knights ride after the pair. Upon their arrival, the escort’s bloodied horse greets them. Far ahead of everyone else, Gawain encounters an unnamed knight, Lancelot. Upon news of Guinevere’s capture, he takes off on a new steed to save a queen uninterested in external