ENGLISH 213

SAMPLE PROPOSAL, THESIS, OUTLINE, AND ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY

Proposal

My initial research established that chivalry was the exclusive code of gentlemanly behaviour
adopted by knights of the Mediaeval age. Knights were expected to emulate qualities such as
love, honour, courtesy, loyalty, and other noble attributes. This code of conduct was the
embodiment of three sets of ideas: feudal chivalry, religious chivalry, and courtly love. I would
like to focus on courtly love, the concept which presented a new attitude toward love and
women in a society that viewed women as “second class citizens.” This noble and honourable
love encouraged knights to behave in a courteous and gentlemanly manner toward ladies. My
aim is to determine what led to the acceptance of this new idea as part of the code of chivalry.
 Thesis and Outline

Thesis Statement: Although courtly love was a novel idea in Mediaeval France, society
accepted the idea as part of the knightly chivalric code largely because the literature of the
period presented it as an ideal to which knights should aspire.

I. Courtly love was one of three components of the knightly chivalric code.

A. Chivalry was the exclusive code of behaviour adopted by the knightly class.
1. Feudal chivalry: born of feudal system
2. Religious chivalry: dictated by Church
3. Courtly love: expressed through songs and poems

B. Courtly love was a novel idea that fitted the mould of ideal knightly
behaviour.
1. Characteristics: courtesy, humility, adultery, religion of love
2. Adopted guise of chivalric honour: exclusive to knights

II. Conditions in France, especially in the northern region, were, for the most part, not
favourable to this new idea.

A. The status of women was not very high.

1. Legally
2. In the eyes of the Church

B. The knights were occupied with other pursuits.

1. Fighting in battles and/or tournaments
2. Seeking glory and fame for themselves
3. Listening to “chansons de geste”

C. The Church opposed the implications of courtly love.

1. Negative attitude toward sex except for purposes of reproduction
2. Low opinion of women: child-bearers only

D. However, acceptance of courtly love was in the best interests of a minority.

1. Troubadours gained materially by composing songs and poems:
a. Gifts
b. Food
c. Lodging
2. Ladies received the attention they desired
a. From troubadours and knights
b. From position of prominence in songs and poems
III. The promotion of courtly love through literature made it appear to be part of the ideal
knightly code of behaviour.

A. The troubadours presented an entirely new conception of love through their

poems and songs.
1. Feudalization of love: lord (lady) and serf (knight) relationship
2. Religious implications: worship and adulation of ladies
3. Mystical aura about love, with ultimate ecstasy of pure love (fin’ amor)

B. But courtly love was presented under the guise of chivalry.

1. Knight became more noble through love
2. Must be a ladies’ man to be a knight
3. Must win favour of a lady by performing noble acts

IV. Although courtly love was not favoured by all, the concept was adopted as part of chivalry.

A. The Church objected to the effects of courtly love.

1. Fin’ amor encouraged adultery and sexual intercourse within marriage
2. Elevated position of women threatened to replace Church in the
knights’ eyes

B. But the knights accepted this new concept of love wholeheartedly.

1. They practised its conventions
2. They wrote poems themselves, expounding the concept
a. William of Poitiers (example)

C. On the whole, courtly love blended into the code of behaviour already being
practised by the knights.
1. It presented a new concept of love in relation to women
2. But the underlying elements were common to other forms of chivalry
a. Honour
b. Loyalty
c. Courtesy
 Annotated Bibliography

Barber, Richard W. The Knight and Chivalry. New York: Scribner, 1970. Part II of this book
examines the appearance of courtly love in the literature of 12th century France.

Burnley, J. D. “Fine amor: its meaning and context.” Review of English Studies 31 (May 1980):
129-48. Burnley discusses the range of meaning of fin’ amor to establish its relationship
to amor courteois (courtly love).

Calin, William. “Defence and Illustration of Fin’ Amor: Some Polemical Comments of the
Robertsonian Approach.” The Expansion and Transformation of Courtly Literature.
Ed. Nathaniel B. Smith and Joseph T. Snow. Athens: University of Georgia Press, 1980.
Calin presents a rebuttal to Robertson’s view by using examples to illustrate the
existence of courtly love in Mediaeval France.

Cropp, Glynnis. “The Partimen between Folquet de Marseille and Tostemps.” The Interpretation
of Mediaeval Lyric Poetry. New York: Columbia University Press, 1980. This essay
studies the poem to determine its underlying ideas, namely fin’ amor.

Lewis, C. S. The Allegory of Love: A Study in Mediaeval Tradition. London: Oxford

University Press, 1936. Lewis’s first chapter traces the growth of the sentiment called
courtly love to the point where it gives rise to allegory.

Nelson, Deborah. “Marcabru, prophet of fin’ amors.” Studies in Philology 79 (Summer 1982):
227-41. This article shows that although Marcabru is considered to be a religious poet,
he is also an advocate of courtly love because he elevates human love by describing it in
religious terms.

Painter, Sydney. French Chivalry: Chivalric Ideals and Practices in Mediaeval France.
Baltimore: Johns Hopkins Press, 1940. Painter attempts to show how the idea of courtly
love came to be embodied in the chivalric code through practice.

Robertson, D. W. “The concept of courtly love as an impediment to the understanding of

mediaeval texts.” Essays in Mediaeval Culture. Ed. D. W. Robertson. New York:
Princeton University Press, 1980. In this essay, the author presents his view that so-
called courtly love did not exist in the Mediaeval age.

Rudorff, Raymond. Knights and the Age of Chivalry. New York: Viking Press, 1955. In Ch. 3,
the author uses specific examples to trace the development of the three forms of
chivalry.

Shirt, D. J. “Le Chevalier de la Charrette: A World Upside Down?” Modern Language Review
76 (October 1981): 811-22. The article examines the poetry of the troubadour Crétien
de Troyes to show how he presented fin’ amor in an acceptable light to the public.