Between Concealment and Eloquence

Abstract

Georges Duby gives a clear picture of a desirable mistress in medieval Provence: she must be so beautiful that a man cannot help falling in love with her at once and, therefore, be the victim; she has to be honorable so that loving her is a sign of an appreciation for good manners and a respect for what counts in noble society; and, last but not least, she must be a virgin and whomever she finally loves will be the one and only man in her life. Medieval Provençal didactic literature, especially the so-called ensenhamen, provides other, contemporary, more gratifying descriptions of what a woman must be and do to please a man in twelfth- and thirteenth- century Provence; however, and the rules they set down for women’s behavior will be the subject of this chapter.