Page 2
The tradition traveled across the Channel to England when Eleanor married Henry II. Such epics as de Troyes’s Lancelot, were translated from French into English for the lower classes (Anglo-Saxons who did not speak French). Richard the Lionhearted was a skilled troubadour, carrying on the family tradition begun by his great-grandfather. When Eleanor left England for Poitiers, she brought Richard with her – and her eldest daughter (with Louis VII) Countess Marie of Champagne ruled jointly with her mother over the Aquitainian Courts of Love.
Some of the great works of the age, "Art of Courtly Love" by Capellanus, http://www.astro.umd.edu/~marshall/chiva... and The Knight of the Cart by Chretien de Troyes (the romance in which the love of Lancelot for Guenevere is first introduced) were dedicated to the vivacious Countess.
All in all, Eleanor’s love of poetry, music and the men who made them was a stimulus to the growing body of secular music. Many Arthurian tales which were first being penned during this period, reflected the heroic and romantic standards that stemmed from the encouragement given to the troubadours and trouveres by the first true Renaissance woman.
For more info on Eleanor's influence on the arts:
http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Aegean/7... http://www.vanderbilt.edu/Blair/Courses/...
Go To Page: 1 2
