HISTORY 115: COURTLY LOVE IN THE MIDDLE AGES

COURSE GOALS, REGULATIONS, AND ASSIGNMENTS:

The idea of courtly love typically evokes images of brave knights and fair ladies vowing eternal devotion in elegant language. The term itself is a loose translation of several expressions from the medieval period, the Latin amor honestus and the French fin amour. All three expressions, the English, the Latin, and the French, denote a special kind of love that is the exclusive province of the upper classes or nobility. Thus as a social phenomenon, courtly love is rooted in a particular class, to which it is restricted by definition. Yet even more than a social phenomenon courtly love is a literary phenomenon, which had its beginnings in the songs of the troubadours who would entertain their upper-class patrons with their vivid depictions of grand passion tinged with suffering. How such a concept took hold at the time that it did, in the early 12th century and onward, and what the consequences were for people of that time to the present, is the subject of our inquiry.

This course will explore the ideal of courtly love, its social function, its role in literature, the arts, and music, its ambiguous relationship to Christianity and to the feudal system, and finally, its critics. The most important work of the course will involve interpretive reading of texts from the period, supplemented by background lectures and readings from secondary sources.

There will be two types of written assignments: 2 source analyses (4 pages each), and 2 interpretative papers (4 pages each). For both types, you will receive detailed instructions before you proceed. Papers are due on the days indicated in class, at class time, unless you come to me in advance to request an extension. Otherwise, late papers will lose one-third of their grade for every week day they are late beyond class time. If they are more than a week late, I will give them no credit. Do not miss class or arrive late to finish a paper; a better strategy would be to arrive at class on time with whatever you have been able to finish and argue me into letting you take extra time to polish it up by the end of the day. The best strategy of all is good time management, of course! Since this course counts for WRI, you can rewrite any of the papers if you get the rewrites to me a week after the originals were handed back. You are encouraged to come in for individual conferences about your writing, and we will spend time in class discussing writing on the days that papers are handed back. The final grade for the paper will be the grade for the rewrite.

There will also be an in-class midterm and a final examination. Grading will break down as follows: Midterm (15%), Final (15%), Source Analyses (20%), Interpretative Papers (30%), and Class Grade (20%). The Class Grade includes your preparation, attendance, and participation in class on a daily basis. Regular attendance is essential to doing a good job in this course. If you need to miss class for any reason you must notify me, in advance if possible. The calculation of the class grade will be roughly as follows:

• A: faithful class attendance with regular particpation
• B: faithful class attendance with infrequent participation
• C: spotty class attendance with some participation
• D: spotty class attendance with little or no participation
• F: frequent unexcused absences

I leave it to you to figure out the difference between "spotty attendance" and "frequent absences." The best thing I can say is, don't go there!

If you have a documented disability for which accommodations may be required in this class, please contact Ruth Bolstad (bolstadr@stolaf.edu ) or Connie Ford (ford@stolaf.edu) in the Academic Support Center (x3288) located in the Modular Village. If you already have documentation on file with Student Disability Services in the Academic Support Center you are required to present your letters to the professor within the first two weeks of class.

Finally, the college has a statement on academic integrity that is posted in the online version of "the book." The opening paragraph is as follows:

As a community dedicated to the principled pursuit of knowledge and truth, St. Olaf College regards integrity and honesty as foundational to all aspects of its communal life, including and especially academic endeavors.  We understand academic integrity in terms of five fundamental values: honesty, trust, fairness, respect, and responsibility.  St. Olaf thus expects of its students, faculty, and staff:

• Intellectual and personal honesty in learning, teaching, research, and service.
• Mutual trust and the free exchange of ideas.
• Fairness in the interactions of students, faculty, and administrators.
• Respect of a wide range opinions, ideas, and persons.
• Personal responsibility and the importance of action in the face of wrongdoing.
  See the Center for Academic Integrity’s Fundamental Values Project

Please read this policy and take it to heart. You should also familiarize yourself with the honor system.

BOOKS TO PURCHASE:

• Carrington Coursepack
• Constance Brittain Bouchard, Strong of Body, Brave & Noble
• Andreas Capellanus, The Art of Courtly Love
• Christine de Pizan, The Treasure of the City of Ladies
• Chrétien de Troyes, Arthurian Romances
• Dante, La Vita Nuova
• Guillaume de Lorris and Jean de Meun, The Romance of the Rose
• Marie de France Lais

SCHEDULE OF ASSIGNMENTS
(selections marked with a * are from the reading packet)

Sep 10 Introduction

Sep 15 Reading: *Marguerite de Navarre, Heptameron, Story #10; Constance Bouchard, Chapter 1 "Nobles and Knights;" Peace of God; Truce of God; Motte and Bailey Castles

Sep 17 Reading: Bouchard, Chapter 2 “Nobles and Society”; Fulbert of Chartres: On Feudal Obligations; Feudal Oath of Fidelity; Charter of Homage and Fealty; Website for Wharram Percy

Sep 22 Reading: *Selections from Ovid, Ibn Hazm, Troubadours
SOURCE ANALYSIS PAPER

Sep 24 Reading: Capellanus, Editor's intro., Author's preface, Book I Ch. I-V, VI, first five dialogues

Sep 29 Reading: Capellanus, Book One, Ch. VI, dialogue 5 - Ch. XII

Oct 1 Reading: Capellanus, Books II-III; *Benton, "Clio and Venus"

Oct 6 Reading: Bouchard, Chapter 3 “Noble Families and Family Life”; *E. Jane Burns “Coutly Love: Who Needs It? Recent Feminist Work in the Medieval French Tradition” 

Oct 8  Reading: Chrétien, "Yvain"

Oct 13 Reading: Chrétien de Troyes, "Erec and Enide"
SOURCE ANALYSIS PAPER

Oct 15 Reading: Bouchard, Chapter 4 “Nobility and Chivalry”; *Duby, "Two Models of Marriage"

Oct 20 Reading: Chrétien, "Lancelot"

Oct 22 MIDTERM EXAMINATION

Oct 27 FALL BREAK

Oct 29 Reading: Marie de France Lais Guigemar, Eliduc

Nov 3 Reading: Marie de France Lais Milun, Yonec, Lanval

Nov 5 Reading: Romance of the Rose, Introduction and Chapters 1--3

Nov 10 Reading: Romance of the Rose, Chapter 4, lines 4029-4930, 6845-7200; Chapter 5; *R. Howard Bloch “Medieval Misogyny”

Nov 12 Reading: Romance of the Rose, Chapter 6, lines 9990-10856, 11985-12350; Chapter 7, lines 12351-13142, 13665-13936, 14379-14516; Chapter 8

Nov 17 Reading: Bouchard, Chapter 5 “Nobility and the Church”; *Duby, sel. from The Knight, the Lady, and the Priest
INTERPRETATIVE PAPER 

Nov 19 Reading: Romance of the Rose, Chapter 9, Chapter 10, lines 16690-17008, 17469-17706, 18969-19408; Chapters 11--12

Nov 24 Reading: Dante, La Vita Nuova, Introduction and I--XVI

Nov 26 THANKSGIVING BREAK

Dec 1 Reading: Dante, La Vita Nuova, XVII--XLII

Dec 3 Reading: *Joan Kelly Gadol, "Did Women Have a Renaissance"; *William Monter, "The Pedastal and the Stake"
INTERPRETATIVE PAPER

Dec 8 Reading: Christine de Pizan, The Treasure of the City of Ladies, Part One

Dec 10 Reading: Christine de Pisan, Part Two

Dec 15 Reading: Christine de Pisan, Part Three

FINAL EXAMINATION: Sat., Dec. 19, 2:00—4:00

Laurel Carrington carringt@stolaf.edu
Most recent update: November 4, 2009

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