1. Romance of the Rose John de Meun and Guillaume de Lorris

2. Courtly Love Courtly love – Not “Courtney Love” – Remarkable literary innovation: lots of poetry, romances, written in the vernacular tongues of Europe – Poets called “troubadours” – Poems meant to be sung to music – Focus on the relationship of men and women, a new sensibility: chivalry

3. Courtly Love Courtly love – Influences from Arabic love poetry and Muslim mystical literature – Soul=feminine / God/lover=masculine – Troubadours secularize this mystical tradition and love becomes something honorable and dignified – Popularizes romantic love  THIS is the innovation, a notion in the West that we take for granted!

4. Courtly Love Courtly love – Ideal male: knight-errant, warrior searching for adventure – Free but virtuous – Virtue leads him to take a vow in his lady’s name – Chivalric virtue: self-denial, self-sacrifice (damsel in distress, slay the dragon and save the lady or the village) – Chrétien de Troyes (Arthur romances): women are elevated; men are the “love-vassals” of the women – Spreads from southern France (Provençal) to Germany and throughout Europe

5. Romance of the Rose The Romance of the rose Five [-and-a-half] things: Author Guillaume de Lorris (1190's?-1240's?) and Jean de Meun (1250's-1305) Title The Romance of the Rose; Roman de la Rose Date 1225-1230 and 1269-1278 Location France Language French

6. Romance of the Rose [textual tradition/edition] One of the most influential of all the medieval texts; 200 mss have survived; popular from 13th century - mid-17th century Also, this is a book with two authors. You're reading the Guillame de Lorris original; you're missing out on the expansion of Jean de Meun (Reason, Academic, Philosophy, and an answer to the despair of the end of Guillame de Lorris)

7. Romance of the Rose Major literary concerns: Allegory Didactic Locus amoenus Courtly love Fablieaux The text: Setting: 13th century: a dream