The sun., 1895-05-05

the more gifted OF the Provencal scigneurs to be
known MS tr0tbdtio,,rs, n word which, in Pro-
vencal. means inventor, from trohu,, Ito in
vent" Just as the Greek word poet comes from
word meaning ITO make"
| Nv.
Leaving tho chapters which describe In detail
| the poetry of the troubadours. and which. by the
wny. include n number of translations of their
| lyrics, we pass to the authors account of the
| courts of love.
OF the existence OF the courts Of lovo there is
| no longer any room for doubt In view Of the
overwhelming evidence that has been produced,
| including contemporary authorities. or these
courts the most celebrated were those of Queen
Eleanor OF England, of tho Ladies' of Gnscony,
| of the Niscountess of Narbonne. of the Countess
| OF Champagne, and of the Countess of Flanders.
| In Provence itself. where the institution seems
to have originated. there were also several
courts; those Of Plerrefeu. Signe Romanin. and
Avignon being the most celebrated. History
has preserved the names of the Judges or jurors
at these courts, and the lists disclose the fact
that these were always ladies. and moreover.
that nearly all Of them were married. In tho
court Of the Ladies of Romanin the author Of
this book has found the name OF one unmarried
lady. and. In the court of the Ladies'
OF Pierrefeu perhaps one name may be assumed
to be that OF n spinster. But these are striking
exceptions to the rule that all the ladies who
composed the tribunals should be married or
widows, while there was another principle Of.
selection. namely, that they should belong to
the haute noblesse Of their district. There does
not appear to have been any exact regulation as
to numbers, but 1t is certain that very many
ladies' assembled to constitute these courts and
to try and legislate upon all questions connected
with the one great subject which was upper
most In everybody's mind. to wit, love. the
generator focus OF culture, art, breeding and
eloQuence. On special occasion, the enormous
number OF sixty ladies Is mentioned as having
met to consider an important case connected
with lady's behavior to a noblomnn Of high
rank. We should further note that the assent
OF all the ladies present was necessary to mako
a verdict valid.
Before recounting some Of tho trials and ver-
diets given In these amatory courts tho author
enumerates the thirty-one laws of love which
were accepted as a common code BY all the
tribunals. and were invariably quoted to the
pleaders as unchallengcable rules. From this
code we cite the following peculiarly suggestive
provisions: Marriage cannot be pleaded as an
excuse for refusing to love: A person who cannot
keep secret can never be lover: No one can
really love two people at the same time: Love
never stands still; it always increases or di-
mintshes Favors which are yielded unwilling!y
are tasteless: II one of two lovers dies, love
must be forsworn for two years by the
survivor: No one when once a lover
can be deprived OF his title without q very
good reason indeed No one can love unless the
soft persuasion of love itself compel him: A new
love affair banishes the old one com petcly: The
affection OF love invariably increases under the
influence of jealousy: A real lover is always
the prey Of anxiety and malaise: When one Of
the lovers begins to entertain suspicion of tho
other, the 1eQlOusy and che love
once. But OF all the features OF this code, those
which to our age seem most paradoxical are tho
following: 1T is not becoming to love those
ladies who only love with view to marry" and
Love can deny nothing to love-" An inspec-
tion of this curious code leads Mr.. Rowbotham
to comment on the cynicism with which i'm
morality was avowed in the Provencal-speaking
land. and helps US to understand why the i'm
morality, coupled as it was. with irreligion,
provoked Pope Innocent III. to launch against
the country of the troubadours tho Albigen-
sian crusade directed by Simon de Montfort-
Tho deductions which would be drawn from
the laws Of love Just cited to the state of
society which underlay q surface of exquisite
refinement are confirmed by the records of some
of the causes tried before certain tribunals, and
of the judgments arrived at by the ladies who
COmpOScu UncH. we reaQ, IOr instance, that
on the Goth of April. 1174. the following case
was brought before the Court of Love presided
over by the Countess Of Champagne: Can real
love exist between people married to one an
otherT" Tho question earnestly debated,
and. at the conclusion of the proceedings, the
Countess of Champagne pronounced judgment
as follows: 1--WE declare and affirm, agreeaby
to the judgment of those present, that love can
not exercise its power upon married people"
The following reasons were given: Lovers grant
everything mutually and gratuitously without
being restrained by any motive or necessity;
married people. on the contrary. submit
to one another's wishes. and are not per-
mItted to refuse anything to ono an
other For this reason, 1t is evident that
love cannot exercise Its power on married
people. Let this decision which wo hive ar |
rived at with great deliberation. and after
taking counsel OF a large number of ladies. |
be held henceforth AS confirmed and |
irrefragable truth" On another occasion, be-
fore the court of Ermengarde. viscountess of
Narbonne, somewhat similar case.was tried: |
Can the greater affection. the moro lively at |
tachment, subsist between lovers or between |
married peoplel" After phlosophic consider |
alton OF the matter the Viscountess pronounced |
the verdict of the court in the following terms:
THE attachment OF married people and tho
tender affection Of lovers are sentiments, both
IN iorih oi hhture ana OF morality, completely
different. There can, therefore, be no just COM
parison between objects which have not the
slightest resemblance or relation to one an
other" Another case brought before the same
court was this: "A lady who WAS attached to a
gentleman by recognized union Of love mar
ried another. Has she, henceforth. the right to
repulse her former lover. and to refuse him the
favors which he had been accustomed to re-
ceivef" This question was carefully weighed by
the Niscountess and her associate ladies. and
the following judgment was eventually pro-
nounced: Tho interposition OF the marriage
tie by no means annihilates the former love af-
fair. unless the lady decides to bid good-by to
love forever and to love no one In the future."
vi.
In accordance with the principle OF these de-
cisions, Judgment was rendered in u curious
case brought beforethe court OF Queen Eleanor