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76-605: The first volume, published in 1801, attempted to collect all Welsh poetry prior to 1370, with the exception of the work of Dafydd ap Gwilym , which had already been published. Volume two, also published in 1801, contained the Welsh Triads , the chronicles (versions of the Brut y Brenhinedd and Brut y Tywysogion ) and other prose documents of a historical nature. Volume three, which did not appear until 1807, contained didactic literature, laws and music. All three were reprinted in

152-580: A 1883 article discussing the relationship between Lancelot and Guinevere in Chrétien de Troyes 's Lancelot, the Knight of the Cart ( c. 1181). In his article, Paris outlined four principal characteristics of amour courtois : Paris used it as a descriptive phrase, not a technical term, and used it interchangeably with the phrase amour chevaleresque . Nonetheless, other scholars began using it as

228-474: A bewildering variety of uses and definitions", but nonetheless defended the concept of courtly love as real and useful. E. Talbot Donaldson criticized its usage as a technical term as an anachronism or neologism . Richard Trachsler says that "the concept of courtly literature is linked to the idea of the existence of courtly texts, texts produced and read by men and women sharing some kind of elaborate culture they all have in common". He argues that many of

304-401: A case of love and rule on it based on the rules of love. In the 19th century, historians took the existence of these courts as fact, but later historians such as Benton noted "none of the abundant letters, chronicles, songs and pious dedications" suggest they ever existed outside of the poetic literature. Likewise, feminist historian Emily James Putnam wrote in 1910 that, secrecy being "among

380-410: A coherent idea. D. W. Robertson Jr. said, "the connotations of the term courtly love are so vague and flexible that its utility for purposes of definition has become questionable." John C. Moore called it "a term used for a number of different, in some cases contradictory, conceptions" and called it "a mischievous term which should be abandoned". Roger Boase admitted the term "has been subjected to

456-515: A different context. Like Dafydd, Glyn used cywydd meter and referenced himself in his poetry; however, in Glyn’s “Moliant i Syr Rhisiart Gethin ap Rhys Gethin o Fuellt, capten Mantes yn Ffrainc,” one can see other influences in Welsh literary culture. The poem praises an English lord in the same manner of classic heroes such as Arthur. God is also mentioned as an omnipotent protector. Glyn’s poem demonstrates

532-574: A favorable outlook if you take Wales in the time of Dafydd. The Welsh had become predominantly subservient to the English after the Edwardian conquests. Bartlett might argue that the cultural developments that came in the period of peace after the conquests is evidence for this principle of assimilation. Some contend still that cultures developed as a product of their internal audiences. In the case of Dafydd, Helen Fulton argues that his poetry reflected

608-534: A gift worth celebrating. Dafydd’s poetry also differs from the conventions of other love poetry in its use of sexual metaphor. Some of Dafydd’s poetry, such as “A Poem in Praise of the Penis” display explicit connection to sexual desire. Yet, Dafydd was also well adept at keeping his metaphors subtle. In “The Lady Goldsmith,” Dafydd praises his devotion to a woman who creates attire out of her hair and nature’s bristle. In

684-477: A larger literate audience. In the high Middle Ages, a "game of love" developed around these ideas as a set of social practices. "Loving nobly" was considered to be an enriching and improving practice. Courtly love began in the ducal and princely courts of Aquitaine , Provence , Champagne , ducal Burgundy and the Norman Kingdom of Sicily at the end of the eleventh century. In essence, courtly love

760-458: A late 12th-century poem by Peire d'Alvernhe . It is associated with the Provençal term fin'amor ("fine love") which appears frequently in poetry, as well as its German translation hohe Minne . Provençal also uses the terms verai'amors , bon'amors . The modern use of the term "courtly love" comes from Gaston Paris . He used the term amour courtois ("courtly love") in

836-410: A more popular expression of Welsh culture because there was less of a united interest on warfare and defense. It is believed that about one hundred and seventy of his poems have survived, though many others have been attributed to him over the centuries. His main themes were love and nature. The influence of wider European ideas of courtly love , as exemplified in the troubadour poetry of Provençal ,

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912-456: A much more traditional approach of gallantry and chivalry popular in continental European literature. Glyn also demonstrates the principle of assimilation in the sense that the English are viewed as equals or interchangeable with the Welsh. Despite taking influence from a previous Welsh figure in Dafydd, Glyn also demonstrates the effect outside influences had in shaping Welsh literary culture. It

988-522: A personal wonderment at nature; Dafydd's poetry on the latter subject in particular is largely without precedent in Welsh or European literature in terms of its depth and complexity. His popularity during his own historic period is testified by the fact that so many of his poems were selected for preservation in texts, despite a relatively short career compared to some of his contemporaries. Many of his poems are addressed to women, but particularly to two of them, Morfudd and Dyddgu. His best-known works include

1064-411: A poet should do: live a life of perpetual desire channeling his energies to higher ends, or physically consummate. Scholars have seen it both ways. Denis de Rougemont said that the troubadours were influenced by Cathar doctrines which rejected the pleasures of the flesh and that they were metaphorically addressing the spirit and soul of their ladies. Rougemont also said that courtly love subscribed to

1140-469: A prudish and patriarchal theocracy views courtly love as a "humanist" reaction to the puritanical views of the Catholic Church. Scholars who endorse this view value courtly love for its exaltation of femininity as an ennobling, spiritual, and moral force, in contrast to the ironclad chauvinism of the first and second estates. The condemnation of courtly love in the beginning of the 13th century by

1216-424: A quiet scene with a household servant performing for the king or lord and a few other people, usually unaccompanied. According to scholar Christopher Page, whether or not a piece was accompanied depended on the availability of instruments and people to accompany—in a courtly setting. For troubadours or minstrels, pieces were often accompanied by fiddle, also called a vielle , or a harp . Courtly musicians also played

1292-714: A single volume, with some additional material, in 1870. The majority of its material is genuine, although it does contain some of Iolo's forgeries, including the "third series" of Triads and two chronicles, the Brut Aberpergwm and the Brut Ieuan Brechfa , in volume two, and the Doethineb y Cymry ("wisdom of the Welsh") in volume three. This Wales -related article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Dafydd ap Gwilym Dafydd ap Gwilym ( c. 1315/1320 – c. 1350/1370)

1368-525: A situation closely mirroring what would happen in southern France about a century later. Contacts between these Spanish poets and the French troubadours were frequent. The metrical forms used by the Spanish poets resembled those later used by the troubadours. The historic analysis of courtly love varies between different schools of historians. That sort of history which views the early Middle Ages dominated by

1444-539: A technical term after him. In 1896, Lewis Freeman Mott applied the term "courtly love" to Dante Alighieri 's love for Beatrice in La Vita Nuova (1294). The two relationships are very different — Lancelot and Guinevere are secret adulterous lovers, while Dante and Beatrice had no actual romantic relationship and only met twice in their whole lives. Nonetheless, the manner in which the two men describe their devotion to and quasi-religious adoration of their ladies

1520-543: Is a wide range of attitudes, even across the works of individual poets. Some poems are physically sensual, even bawdily imagining nude embraces, while others are highly spiritual and border on the platonic. A continued point of controversy is whether courtly love was purely literary or was actually practiced in real life. There are no historical records that offer evidence of its presence in reality. Historian John F. Benton found no documentary evidence in law codes, court cases, chronicles or other historical documents. However,

1596-500: Is also found in the Roman de la Rose by Guillaume de Lorris and Jean de Meun . In it, a man becomes enamored with an individual rose on a rosebush, attempting to pick it and finally succeeding. The rose represents the female body, but the romance also contains lengthy digressive "discussions on free will versus determinism as well as on optics and the influence of heavenly bodies on human behavior". Courtly love in troubadour poetry

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1672-526: Is associated with the word midons . Midons comes from the Latin phrase "my lord", mihi dominus . The mi part is alternatively interpreted as coming from meus or mia , though the meaning is unchanged regardless. Troubadours beginning with Guilhem de Poitou would address the lady as midons , flattering her by addressing her as his lord and also serving as an ambiguous code-name. By refusing to disclose his lady's name,

1748-417: Is called mixed love which gets its effect from every delight of the flesh and culminates in the final act of Venus. On the other hand, continual references to beds and sleeping in the lover's arms in medieval sources such as the troubador albas and romances such as Chrétien 's Lancelot imply at least in some cases a context of actual sexual intercourse. Within the corpus of troubadour poems there

1824-570: Is fair to say Dafydd was important in establishing certain customs that would become popular among Welsh literary culture. Although literary culture was very prevalent in the identities of Medieval cultures, it often gets overlooked in larger debates about the spread of culture. By looking at Dafydd ap Gwilym, literary culture appears as just as an important part of Welsh cultural identity as resistance to occupation was. Courtly love Courtly love ( Occitan : fin'amor [finaˈmuɾ] ; French : amour courtois [amuʁ kuʁtwa] )

1900-544: Is full of his own feelings and experiences, and he is a key figure in this transition from a primarily social poetic tradition into one in which the poet's own vision and art is given precedence. Dafydd’s poetry was also unique in its expressions of religion and nature. In “Praise of Summer,” Dafydd praises both the divine and the changing of summer as connected and benevolent. Reference to the divine in prior and contemporary literature usually depicted strong themes of judgement and virtue. With Dafydd’s poetry, we see these forces as

1976-417: Is provided in the music itself. One lay, the "Lay of Lecheor", says that after a lay was composed, "Then the lay was preserved / Until it was known everywhere / For those who were skilled musicians / On viol, harp and rote / Carried it forth from that region…" Scholars have to then decide whether to take this description as truth or fiction. Period examples of performance practice, of which there are few, show

2052-577: Is regarded as one of the leading Welsh poets and amongst the great poets of Europe in the Middle Ages . Dafydd’s poetry also offers a unique window into the transcultural movement of cultural practices and preservation of culture in the face of occupation. Dafydd also helps answer questions that linger over the spread of culture. Even though it has been given less attention, cultural development in Wales differed slightly than in other parts of Europe during

2128-595: Is seen as a significant influence on Dafydd's poetry. Courtly love was not a unique theme of Dafydd’s poetry. While courtly love is primarily associated with the literature of mainland Europe, its elements can be found in works across the British Isles. Elements of courtly love have been noted in Welsh literature well before the Dafydd’s active days, suggesting that courtly love grew as a culturally connected phenomena across European literature. Dafydd’s poetry reflected

2204-464: Is similar. In 1936, C. S. Lewis wrote The Allegory of Love which popularized the term "courtly love". He defined it as a "love of a highly specialized sort, whose characteristics may be enumerated as Humility, Courtesy, Adultery, and the Religion of Love". In 1964, Mosché Lazar differentiated three separate categories within "courtly love." Scholars debate whether "courtly love" constitutes

2280-454: The Count of Champagne 's court. Courtly love found expression in the lyric poems written by troubadours , such as William IX, Duke of Aquitaine (1071–1126), one of the first troubadour poets. Poets adopted the terminology of feudalism , declaring themselves the vassal of the lady. The troubadour's model of the ideal lady was the wife of his employer or lord, a lady of higher status, usually

2356-488: The castle life of four regions: Aquitaine , Provence , Champagne and ducal Burgundy , from around the time of the First Crusade (1099). Eleanor of Aquitaine (1124–1204) brought ideals of courtly love from Aquitaine first to the court of France, then to England (she became queen-consort in each of these two realms in succession). Her daughter Marie, Countess of Champagne (1145–1198) brought courtly behavior to

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2432-476: The "pure love" described in 1184 by Capellanus in De amore : It is the pure love which binds together the hearts of two lovers with every feeling of delight. This kind consists in the contemplation of the mind and the affection of the heart; it goes as far as the kiss and the embrace and the modest contact with the nude lover, omitting the final solace, for that is not permitted for those who wish to love purely.... That

2508-485: The Courts of Love and the later works of Petrarchism (as well as the continuing influence of Ovid), the themes of courtly love were not confined to the medieval, but appear both in serious and comic forms in early modern Europe. Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet , for example, shows Romeo attempting to love Rosaline in an almost contrived courtly fashion while Mercutio mocks him for it; and both in his plays and his sonnets

2584-652: The Dove ) by Ibn Hazm is a treatise on love which emphasizes restraint and chastity. Tarjumān al-Ashwāq ( The Translator of Desires ) by Ibn Arabi is a collection of love poetry. Outside of Al-Andalus, Kitab al-Zahra ( Book of the Flower ) by Ibn Dawud and Risala fi'l-Ishq ( Treatise of Love ) by Ibn Sina are roughly contemporary treaties on love. Ibn Arabi and Ibn Sina both weave together themes of sensual love with divine love. According to Gustave E. von Grunebaum , notions of "love for love's sake" and "exaltation of

2660-436: The English kingdom fell to William I’s Norman conquest, Welsh holdings that were already contested by the English fell to Norman power. Immediately, William I placed William fitz Osbern in charge of managing the defense of the holdings. Quickly, Norman and trusted Anglo-Saxon nobility were put into centers of control within Welsh lands. The Norman Invasions began a long period where the preservation of Welsh culture coincided with

2736-451: The French troubadours and trouvères , as well as the writers of lays. Texts about courtly love, including lays, were often set to music by troubadours or minstrels. According to scholar Ardis Butterfield, courtly love is "the air which many genres of troubadour song breathe". Not much is known about how, when, where, and for whom these pieces were performed, but we can infer that the pieces were performed at court by troubadours, trouvères, or

2812-549: The Pheasant in 1454, relied on parables drawn from courtly love to incite his nobles to swear to participate in an anticipated crusade, while well into the 15th century numerous actual political and social conventions were largely based on the formulas dictated by the "rules" of courtly love. A point of controversy was the existence of "courts of love", first mentioned by Andreas Capellanus . These were supposed courts made up of tribunals staffed by 10 to 70 women who would hear

2888-513: The Talley Abbey Churchyard: On Saturday 15 September 1984 a memorial stone was unveiled by a Prifardd to mark the site in the churchyard at Talley where a deeply-rooted tradition asserts that the poet Dafydd ap Gwilym lies buried. For many centuries the rival claims of Talley and Ystrad Fflur have been debated as the burialplace of Wales’ foremost poet. While it may be difficult to trace the exact years Dafydd

2964-415: The Welsh. While some of these similarities are directly attributed to warfare, there is also an apparent spread of cultural traditions peacefully. The argument is taken further by Carol Llyod Wood, who demonstrates how intermarriage and architectural similarity amongst various regions also support an idea of passive cultural diffusion. Although, when looking at architecture from after the Edwardian conquests,

3040-425: The assimilation and domination present by the Edwardian conquests. Yet, Dafydd also displays poetic structure that would become part of the Welsh literary identity. Scratching the surface of Dafydd’s poetry reveals that culture was defined and controlled by many aspects, and not just one major force. When looking at a successor of Dafydd, Guto’r Glyn, one is able see to how these forces that control culture interact in

3116-628: The beloved lady" can be traced back to Arabic literature of the 9th and 10th centuries. The ennobling power of love is overtly discussed in Risala fi'l-Ishq . According to an argument outlined by María Rosa Menocal in The Arabic Role in Medieval Literary History (1987), in 11th-century Spain, a group of wandering poets appeared who would go from court to court, and sometimes travel to Christian courts in southern France,

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3192-469: The church and to the individual Christian soul". Marie de France's lai " Eliduc " toys with the idea that human romantic love is a symbol for God's love when two people love each other so fully and completely that they leave each other for God, separating and moving to different religious environments. Furthermore, the main character's first wife leaves her husband and becomes a nun so that he can marry his new lover. Allegorical treatment of courtly love

3268-498: The church as heretical, is seen by these scholars as the Church's attempt to put down this "sexual rebellion". However, other scholars note that courtly love was certainly tied to the Church's effort to civilize the crude Germanic feudal codes in the late 11th century. It has also been suggested that the prevalence of arranged marriages required other outlets for the expression of more personal occurrences of romantic love, and thus it

3344-406: The code of chivalry , and therefore a knight's loyalty was always to his King before his mistress. Edmund Reiss claimed it was also a spiritual love, but a love that had more in common with Christian love, or caritas . On the other hand, scholars such as Mosché Lazar claim it was adulterous sexual love with physical possession of the lady the desired end. Many scholars identify courtly love as

3420-419: The courtiers themselves. This can be inferred because people at court were encouraged or expected to be "courtly" and be proficient in many different areas, including music. Several troubadours became extremely wealthy playing the fiddle and singing their songs about courtly love for a courtly audience. It is difficult to know how and when these songs were performed because most of the information on these topics

3496-566: The cycle of poems celebrating King Arthur 's court. This was a literature of leisure, directed to a largely female audience for the first time in European history. Allegory is common in the romantic literature of the Middle Ages, and it was often used to interpret what was already written. There is a strong connection between religious imagery and human sexual love in medieval writings. The tradition of medieval allegory began in part with

3572-553: The existence of the non-fiction genre of courtesy books is perhaps evidence for its practice. For example, according to Christine de Pizan 's courtesy book Book of the Three Virtues (c. 1405), which expresses disapproval of courtly love, the convention was being used to justify and cover up illicit love affairs. Courtly love probably found expression in the real world in customs such as the crowning of Queens of Love and Beauty at tournaments . Philip le Bon , in his Feast of

3648-579: The following poems: The lyrics to the Lied 'Der Traum' in Ludwig van Beethoven 's 1810 collection 26 Welsh Songs are a German translation and adaption of a dream-vision poem supposedly by Dafydd, though not to be found among his works or in his apocrypha. The development of culture has been a topic of discussion for many years. As Robert Bartlett argues, European cultures formed in a homogeneous nature, primarily through conquest and settlement. This view has

3724-649: The guild of professional poets in medieval Wales, and yet the poetic tradition had been strong in his family for generations. According to R. Geraint Gruffydd he died in 1350, a possible victim of the Black Death . Tradition says that he was buried within the precinct of the Cistercian Strata Florida Abbey , Ceredigion . This burial location is disputed by supporters of the Talley Abbey theory who contend that burial took place in

3800-405: The individuality of his own personal as well as Welsh cultural expression through his unique expression of common literary practices, as well as his individual voice in his poetry. One aspect that differed from conventional poetry in Dafydd’s works was the use of himself as the subject. Traditional contemporary poetry traditionally kept the poet far removed from the scene. Dafydd's work, in contrast,

3876-626: The interpretation of the Song of Songs in the Bible. Some medieval writers thought that the book should be taken literally as an erotic text; others believed that the Song of Songs was a metaphor for the relationship between Christ and the church and that the book could not even exist without that as its metaphorical meaning. Still others claimed that the book was written literally about sex but that this meaning must be "superseded by meanings related to Christ, to

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3952-539: The late 12th century Andreas Capellanus ' highly influential work De amore had codified the rules of courtly love. De amore lists such rules as: Much of its structure and its sentiments derived from Ovid 's Ars amatoria . One theory holds that courtly love in Southern France was influenced by Arabic poetry in Al-Andalus . In contemporary Andalusian writing, Ṭawq al-Ḥamāmah ( The Ring of

4028-545: The lover's first duties" in the ideology of courtly love, it is "manifestly absurd to suppose that a sentiment which depended on concealment for its existence should be amenable to public inquiry". According to Diane Bornstein, one way to reconcile the differences between the references to courts of love in the literature, and the lack of documentary evidence in real life, is that they were like literary salons or social gatherings, where people read poems, debated questions of love, and played word games of flirtation. Theologians of

4104-449: The major authors of the Middle Ages, such as Geoffrey Chaucer , John Gower , Dante , Marie de France , Chretien de Troyes , Gottfried von Strassburg and Thomas Malory . The medieval genres in which courtly love conventions can be found include the lyric , the romance and the allegory . Courtly love was born in the lyric, first appearing with Provençal poets in the 11th century, including itinerant and courtly minstrels such as

4180-442: The male troubadours to use the images of women as a means to gain social status with other men, but simultaneously, Bogin suggests, voiced deeper longings for the audience: "In this way, the sexual expressed the social and the social the sexual; and in the poetry of courtly love the static hierarchy of feudalism was uprooted and transformed to express a world of motion and transformation." Through such routes as Capellanus's record of

4256-400: The maxims of courtly love and finally wins her after fighting a duel with her aristocratic betrothed. A point of ongoing controversy about courtly love is to what extent it was sexual. All courtly love was erotic to some degree, and not purely platonic—the troubadours speak of the physical beauty of their ladies and the feelings and desires the ladies arouse in them. However, it is unclear what

4332-505: The narratives of the polarized views tend to be amplified. Architecture tended to reflect the cultures of either the Welsh or English based on the level of authority of either group in the region. Dafydd’s poetry reflects the multiple avenues in which cultural exchange manifested in Medieval Europe. Dafydd had clear influences by traditions of foreign origin that became used often in his poetry. Some of Dafydd’s poetry also reflects

4408-531: The need for military defense. In the following decades, the Norman advance grew slow, as the Welsh had time to plan defenses unlike their English counterparts. As the campaigns drew on, marcher lordships were established on the border of Wales to help facilitate a defense against any counter-incursions. Due to the relative freedom granted to marcher lords, local marcher lords would often compete over territory. The lack of pressure exercised on Welsh authorities during

4484-443: The newly acquired Welsh territories saw a large expansion of English influence. The English made large investments into Welsh infrastructure and instituted new laws that would align more similarly to English law. This period of Welsh history saw Welsh culture physically dominated by English occupation; however, the peace brought under English rule allowed for Welsh culture to manifest in more artistic means. Poetry, like Dafydd’s, became

4560-465: The period of marcher lordships allowed Welsh cultural authority to strengthen in regions not controlled by the Normans or English. In 1277, after multiple attempts to gain more local authority by the Welsh, Edward I began his conquests of the Welsh territories to firmly plant control in English hands. Within 5 years of the conquest’s start, most of Wales was under English control. Under English control,

4636-407: The poem, the woman crafts a belt for Dafydd. In this poem, the metaphor of sexual desire is drawn from the proximity of the woman’s hair to Dafydd’s waist. The belt itself stands as the sexual connection between this woman and Dafydd. In contrast, traditional courtly love literature tended to shy away from praising sexual desire in favor of patience and virtuous romance. He was an innovative poet who

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4712-557: The rich and powerful female head of the castle. When her husband was away on Crusade or elsewhere she dominated the household and cultural affairs; sometimes this was the case even when the husband was at home. The poet gave voice to the aspirations of the courtier class, for only those who were noble could engage in courtly love. This new kind of love saw nobility not based on wealth and family history, but on character and actions; such as devotion , piety , gallantry , thus appealing to poorer knights who saw an avenue for advancement. By

4788-421: The same time. R. Geraint Gruffydd suggests c. 1315- c. 1350 as the poet's dates; others place him a little later from c. 1320-40 c. 1370-80. Later tradition has it that Dafydd was born at Brogynin, Penrhyn-coch (at the time Llanbadarn Fawr parish), Ceredigion . His father, Gwilym Gam, and mother, Ardudfyl, were both from noble families. As one of noble birth it seems Dafydd did not belong to

4864-435: The texts that scholars claim to be courtly also include "uncourtly" texts, and argues that there is no clear way to determine "where courtliness ends and uncourtliness starts" because readers would enjoy texts which were supposed to be entirely courtly without realizing they were also enjoying texts which were uncourtly. This presents a clear problem in the understanding of courtliness. The practice of courtly love developed in

4940-405: The time emphasized love as more of a spiritual rather than sexual connection. There is a possibility that writings about courtly love were made as a response to the theological ideas about love. Many scholars believe that Andreas Capellanus' work De amore was a satire poking fun at doctors and theologians. In that work, Capellanus is supposedly writing to a young man named Walter, and he spends

5016-406: The troubadour permitted every woman in the audience, notably the patron's wife, to think that it was she; then, besides making her the object of a secret passion—it was always covert romance—by making her his lord he flashed her an aggrandized image of herself. She was more than "just" a woman: She was a man. These points of multiple meaning and ambiguity facilitated a "coquetry of class", allowing

5092-424: The values admired by Welsh audiences and reflected values of the culture’s uniqueness. In this context, Welsh culture is formed outside of outside influences of other cultures. Others place their arguments somewhere on a spectrum of these two extremes. Andrew Breeze has noted that from even the earliest evidence of Welsh literature, there are many similarities between works of cultures from close and far proximity to

5168-594: The vielle and the harp, as well as different types of viols and flutes . This French tradition spread later to the German Minnesänger , such as Walther von der Vogelweide and Wolfram von Eschenbach . It also influenced the Sicilian School of Italian vernacular poetry, as well as Petrarch and Dante . The vernacular poetry of the romans courtois , or courtly romances , included many examples of courtly love. Some of them are set within

5244-614: The writer can be seen appropriating the conventions of courtly love for his own ends. Paul Gallico 's 1939 novel The Adventures of Hiram Holliday depicts a Romantic modern American consciously seeking to model himself on the ideal medieval knight. Among other things, when finding himself in Austria in the aftermath of the Anschluss , he saves a Habsburg princess who is threatened by the Nazis, acts towards her in strict accordance with

5320-444: Was a medieval European literary conception of love that emphasized nobility and chivalry . Medieval literature is filled with examples of knights setting out on adventures and performing various deeds or services for ladies because of their "courtly love". This kind of love was originally a literary fiction created for the entertainment of the nobility, but as time passed, these ideas about love spread to popular culture and attracted

5396-460: Was active, it is clear he wrote after the Edwardian conquests of Wales. Despite living under English authority, Dafydd’s poetry presents ways in which Welsh culture continued to distinguish itself and prevail. Some of Dafydd’s poetry outright reflects rejection of the standards of English authority, like in one poem where he draws attention to the state of housing after English subjugation of Wales. The first recorded observation that Dafydd ap Gwilym

5472-529: Was an experience between erotic desire and spiritual attainment, "a love at once illicit and morally elevating, passionate and disciplined , humiliating and exalting, human and transcendent ". The topic was prominent with both musicians and poets, being frequently used by troubadours , trouvères and Minnesänger . The topic was also popular with major writers, including Dante , Petrarch and Geoffrey Chaucer . The term "courtly love" appears in only one extant source: Provençal cortez amors in

5548-515: Was buried in Talley was made in the sixteenth century. Talley is located about 30 miles from Strata Florida (Welsh: Ystrad Fflur). While Dafydd’s work displays the role literature played in forming Welsh culture in the early 14th century, artistic expression of culture was not as prevalent in the centuries prior. A large majority of cultural expression was demonstrated militarily, as the Welsh suffered many incursions by Norman and English invaders. As

5624-510: Was not in reaction to the prudery or patriarchy of the Church but to the nuptial customs of the era that courtly love arose. In the Germanic cultural world, a special form of courtly love can be found, namely Minne . At times, the lady could be a princesse lointaine , a far-away princess, and some tales told of men who had fallen in love with women whom they had never seen, merely on hearing their perfection described, but normally she

5700-485: Was not so distant. As the etiquette of courtly love became more complicated, the knight might wear the colors of his lady: where blue or black were sometimes the colors of faithfulness, green could be a sign of unfaithfulness. Salvation, previously found in the hands of the priesthood, now came from the hands of one's lady. In some cases, there were also women troubadours who expressed the same sentiment for men. The literary convention of courtly love can be found in most of

5776-567: Was responsible for popularising the metre known as the " cywydd " and first to use it for praise. Dafydd also has been credited for popularizing the meter form known as “cynghanedd.” The continued use of cynghanedd and cywydd by Welsh poets after Dafydd’s active years is a testament to the effect Dafydd had on shaping Welsh literary culture. Dafydd’s poetry provided a framework for which Welsh literary culture could grow its own unique traditions. Although Dafydd wrote comparatively conventional praise poetry, he also wrote love poetry and poetry expressing

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