LOVE AND DEATH IN MEDIEVAL FRENCH AND OCCITAN COURTLY LITERATURE This page intentionally left blank Love and Death in Medieval French and Occitan Courtly Literature Martyrs to Love by SIMON GAUNT 1 3 Great Clarendon Street, Oxford OX2 6DP Oxford University Press is a department of the University of Oxford. It furthers the University’s objective of excellence in research, scholarship, and education by publishing worldwide in Oxford New York Auckland Cape Town Dar es Salaam Hong Kong Karachi Kuala Lumpur Madrid Melbourne Mexico City Nairobi New Delhi Shanghai Taipei Toronto With offices in Argentina Austria Brazil Chile Czech Republic France Greece Guatemala Hungary Italy Japan Poland Portugal Singapore South Korea Switzerland Thailand Turkey Ukraine Vietnam Oxford is a registered trade mark of Oxford University Press in the UK and in certain other countries Published in the United States by Oxford University Press Inc., New York © Simon Gaunt 2006 The moral rights of the author have been asserted Database right Oxford University Press (maker) First published 2006 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the prior permission in writing of Oxford University Press, or as expressly permitted by law, or under terms agreed with the appropriate reprographics rights organization. Enquiries concerning reproduction outside the scope of the above should be sent to the Rights Department, Oxford University Press, at the address above You must not circulate this book in any other binding or cover and you must impose the same condition on any acquirer British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data Data available Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data Gaunt, Simon. Love and death in medieval French and Occitan courtly literature : martyrs to love / by Simon Gaunt. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN-13: 978–0–19–927207–5 (alk. paper) ISBN-10: 0–19–927207–7 (alk. paper) 1. French literature–To 1500–History and criticism. 2. Provençal literature–History and criticism. 3. Courtly love in literature. 4. Death in literature. I. Title. PQ155.C74G38 2006 841(cid:1).1093543—dc22 2005029729 Typeset by Newgen Imaging Systems (P) Ltd., Chennai, India Printed in Great Britain on acid-free paper by Biddles Ltd., King’s Lynn, Norfolk ISBN 0–19–927207–7 978–0–19–927207–5 1 3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2 Che non si muore per amore è una gran bella verità Lucio Battisti Acknowledgements I record specific debts in relation to individual chapters at various points throughout this book. Chapter One is based upon Gaunt (2001a); Chapter Three draws slightly on Gaunt (2004b); the middle section of Chapter Six largely reproduces Gaunt (2004a). I would like to thank Duke University Press, Peter Lang, and Palgrave Macmillan for permis- sion to reproduce previously published material. I am also grateful to Librairie Nizet for permission to quote in full a lyric by Gaucelm Faidit in Chapter Two, and to Mucchi Editore for permission to quote in full the lyric by Guilhem IX in the Conclusion. The company, intellectual stimulation, scholarship, and friendship of some very talented medievalists in London and Cambridge have shaped this book in decisive ways, notably Bill Burgwinkle, Ardis Butterfield, Emma Campbell, Chris Cannon, Jane Gilbert, Miranda Griffin, Sylvia Huot, Sarah Kay, Clare Lees, Bob Mills, Francesca Nicholson, Karen Pratt, Ben Ramm, Marion Turner, and Julian Weiss. Similarly, the interest shown in my work by colleagues further afield such as Stefano Asperti, Carolyn Dinshaw, Aranye Fradenburg, Saverio Guida, Mario Mancini, Peggy McCracken, and Gina Psaki has been invaluable and enormously encouraging. In particular, the queer companionship of Bill and Bob has helped me retain a sense of why I do what I do as a medievalist, while Sarah’s brilliance, generosity, and drive never fail to inspire my faith in medieval French studies as the most interesting, thought-provoking, and glamorous of disciplines. In King’s College London Catherine Boyle, Patrick ffrench, Anne Green, Peter Hallward, Hector Kollias, Jo Malt, and Jim Wolfreys have been sterling colleagues in every respect: it has been a privilege indeed to work with them and their thinking—generously shared during the course of many seminars, cups of coffee, and impromptu lunches in the courtyard of Somerset House—has informed this book constantly. In particular, Patrick’s unstinting intellectual generosity has been a beacon for me— and I know for many others—in King’s. It has also been a privilege to encounter the keen intelligence, and sometimes scepticism, of King’s students such as Anna Kemp, Davina McTiernan, Paul Mertens, Alex O’Brien, Anna Papaeti, Anne-Marie Phillips, Ian Riley, Jessica Rosenfeld, Acknowledgements vii Chloe Roskilly, and Luke Sunderland, who have kept me on my toes, frequently delighting me with their insights and questions. During much of the time I was working on this book, I carried a heavy administrative load: Rita Pannen, David Ricks, Christine Saunders, and Christine Theo, albeit in different ways, often made this load seem lighter with their thoughtful, creative, and humane approach to university administration and management. Also, without the study leave granted me by King’s College London this book would still be unfinished: I count myself fortunate indeed to work in such a supportive institution. Liz Guild has been my constant interlocutor on psychoanalysis as well as a dear friend: I cannot thank her enough for all her help. Elizabeth Edwards, Joël Gouget, Joan Haahr, Nick Harrison, and Phil Levy have likewise been stalwart friends, whose intellectual probity and compassion I can only hope to emulate. Mark Treharne read the entire manuscript and as ever offered invaluable reassurance. Finally, I would like to thank my sister Vanessa Gaunt, my step-mother Belinda Graham, and my aunt Monette Gaunt for their love and support. I should like to dedicate this book to them, and also to my nephew, the budding Egyptologist Titus Gaunt: though but a boy, he loves the past and realizes its importance. S.G. London May 2005 This page intentionally left blank Contents Illustration x A Note on Quotations and Translations xi Introduction 1 1. Love’s Martyrdom and the Ethical Subject 16 2. To Die For: The Sovereign Power of the Lady in Troubadour Lyric 44 3. The Deadly Secrets of the Heart: TheChastelaine de Vergy and the Castelain de Couci 73 4. Between Two (or More) Deaths: Tristan, Lancelot, Cligès 104 5. Talking the Talk/Walking the Walk: Gendering Death 138 6. The Queer Look of Love: Narcissus, Bel Vezer, Galehaut 168 Conclusion 205 Bibliography 217 Index 233