Re: Courtly behavior (fwd)

[AEdric the Grene <AEdric@mindspring.com>]

Poster: AEdric the Grene <AEdric@mindspring.com>

>Poster: clevin@ripco.com (Craig Levin)
>
>AEdric the Grene:
>gotten to where he was (for William Marshal). As I said, it all
>depends on one's persona; indeed, as Barber notes, before the
>1100's, there really wasn't anything like chivalry, and as Lewis
>notes, there wasn't courtly love before then either. Afterwards,
>there's a brief period where one did quite well without the
>other, but by the 1300's, they're linked, for all practical
>purposes.

Ah, I think I realise we're talking at slight cross-purposes.  I agree with
everything you say for history.  But, where I differ is in thinking that
one need not go into doing the courtly love thing while doing the chivalry
thing *in re-creation*.  Even not doing that it seems that at least Diana
Listmaker as far back as AS V (in an article in _The_Known_World_Handbook_)
was suggesting a heavily modified form of Courtly Love in the SCA where
one's greatest love was for one's actual love.  (I may be misremembering as
I can't currently check my copy, having loaned it to another SCA friend,
but I seem to remember that being the upshot of it.)  One can argue whether
or not publishing it in the general-purpose SCA resource is an endorsement
of the concept, but it seems like most people would go with it initially
(at least until another pushed them otherwise or they did their own
research).  So, I guess what it comes down to is should one have to commit
to the all-or-nothing marriage of Courtly Love and Chivalry as is
historical?  Or, are they seperable/modifiable for re-creation?  I believe
the latter.

>I must have misread it-please forgive me.

I forgive you as I ask you to forgive me for a strongly worded questioning
of the reading.  I admit time in politics makes me expect word-twisting
when I should not expect it from honorable SCA folk.

>Very true. Courtesy is in the heart, and not the muscles, IMO.

On this we most certainly agree.  I've met small children who've had
Courtesy that big and strong adults could learn from.


AEdric the Grene
House Howling Mouse

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