? ELEANOR OF AQUITANE’S COURT OF LOVE ?
? Ahhhhhh, The Court of Love…
No, its not a new tv series where lusty young twenty~somethings look for love, in a courtroom setting.
This Court of Love, was held by a powerhouse of a queen, the formidable and glamorous Eleanor of Aquitaine.
? The myth of the Court of Love, is as enduring as it is elegant.
Eleanor of Aquitaine, the duchess who was queen to two separate monarchs during her lifetime, has long been regarded as the epitome of a 12th century era of romance and chivalry.
? As the popular story goes, upon her separation from second husband Henry II of England, Eleanor returned to her ancestral lands of Aquitaine – in what is now south-west France.
The area was in great trouble, the nobles rebellious, the people disordered and unmannered.
All in all, these reprobates were in desperate need of guidance, control and finesse….
The more than competent Eleanor, rose to the challenge, and set about bringing chivalry, peace and harmony to her troubled realm.
? The Maubergeonne Tower in Poitiers, where she established her court, was luxurious, spacious and grand.
It was from there that Eleanor saw to the calming of her disordered province, turning a land of barbarity and bad manners, into a revived social and economic centre.
? It was to this haven of civilisation that many came to witness the miracle that had been Eleanor’s making.
Knights, troubadours and poets, all came to pay Eleanor homage, and to sample the sophistication and virtue of her court.
? Not only that, Eleanor and her daughters, were said to have presided over a set of actual courts~ the Courts of Love.
During the sittings of these courts, knights brought their disputes over romance and love, whereupon the women would pronounce judgement, their decision final.
? Under Eleanor’s careful guidance, the ideas of courtly love flourished, and knights learned how to be true knights, and how to treat a woman and win her love.
Each Knight, devotedly pining for his mistress, pledged his affections to her alone – as he strove to prove his worth by his deeds, and gain her love.
These brave Knights learned new ways to conquer their biggest foes…a woman!
? In short, while stories of Arthur and his gallant knights flourished throughout Christendom, Eleanor and her ladies were living the reality ~ Eleanor’s court was a real life Camelot!
? Eleanor was a most fitting choice for the role legend has bestowed upon her.
The grand-daughter of the man known as the ‘first’ troubadour, William IX of Aquitaine, it could be said she had courtly love in her blood.
She was, by all accounts, greatly attractive.
She dressed well, and had a penchant for fine fabrics and jewellery, and excelled on looking the ‘part’ of a courtly queen.
? Looks aside, there is no doubt Eleanor was an all-round outstanding woman.
In an age where women were woefully lacking in political power, Eleanor governed her own lands and those of her husband.
She did not allow herself to be relegated to the traditional place of a woman ~ submissive, and not dominant.
? It could be argued, given the enduring nature of her legend – that the lack of factual truth surrounding Eleanor’s part in the creation of courtly love, matters little to those who admire Eleanor of Aquitaine.
Her legends have been more influential than the woman herself, ever was.
In the popular imagination at least, Eleanor remains the ‘Queen of courtly love’.
? Queen Eleanor by Frederick Sandys ~ 1858.
National Museum Wales
