User:Esalex2/Lais of Marie de France

'The lais'' of Marie de France are a series of twelve short narrative Breton lais by the poet Marie de France. They are written in Anglo-Norman and were probably composed in the late 12th century, most likely between 1155-1170. The short, narrative poems generally focus on glorifying the concept of courtly love by the adventures of their main characters. Marie's lais are thought to form the basis for what would eventually become the genre known as the Breton lais. Despite her stature in Anglo-Norman literature and medieval French literature generally, little is known of Marie herself, but it is thought that she was born in France and wrote in England.'''

Literacy characters[edit]
'''Marie de France's lais, told in octosyllables or eight-syllable verse, are notable for their celebration of love, individuality of character, and vividness of description, hallmarks of the emerging literature of the times. Five different manuscripts contain one or more of the lais, but only one, Harley 978, a 13th-century manuscript housed in the British Library, preserves all twelve. It has been suggested that if the author had indeed arranged the Lais as presented in Harley 978, she may have chosen this overall structure to contrast the positive and negative actions that can result from love. In this manuscript, the odd lais ("Guigemar", "Le Fresne", etc.) praise the characters who express love for other people. By comparison, the even lais, such as "Equitan", "Bisclavret" and so on, warn how love that is limited to oneself can lead to misfortune.'''

'''The Harley 978 manuscript also includes a 56-line prologue in which Marie describes the impetus for her composition of the lais. In the prologue, Marie writes that she was inspired by the example of the ancient Greeks and Romans to create something that would be both entertaining and morally instructive. She also states her desire to preserve for posterity the tales that she has heard. Two of Marie's lais, "Lanval," a very popular work that was adapted several times over the years (including the Middle English Sir Launfal) and "Chevrefoil" ("The Honeysuckle"), a short composition about Tristan and Iseult, mention King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table. Marie's lais were precursors to later works on the subject, and she was probably a contemporary of Chrétien de Troyes, another writer of Arthurian tales.'''

Context
The European civilization having all the ingredients to make a great environment for Marie to write the lais. Starting with some changes in politics, there was a rise in courts held by the secular rule instead of through the church as the crown was beginning to pull away from the church. Many of these courts were held by women. Not only did they have power in the courtroom, but some also ruled over fiefs and made executive decisions when it came to running kingdoms. This created the perfect time for Marie to write the lais as a dramatization of the proceedings going on in the courts.

The lais were written during the 12th century. This is when the courts are starting to take form. At the same time the lais were written Henry II was king of England and Louis the VII was king of France. France played some role in the lais because the lais were written in Old French. Even though it is said that Marie most likely resided in King Henry II’s court she was still from France and was writing for an Old French audience. This is not to say that the English court did not have any influence either considering she dedicates her writing to King Henry.

An important aspect as to why the environment in which Marie wrote these lais looked the way it did was because women played a big role in the law system during this time as well. In Kelly’s article referring to Eleanor of Aquitaine and others such as Marie, Countess of Champagne held courts and power similar to those of a king. In 1170, Eleanor appointed her son as ruling duke of Poitiers. She did this of her own accord, with permission form no one, showing that she was creating her own independent sovereignty. It is then further explained that along with Eleanor, Marie, her eldest daughter, held courts on the matter of love. There were around sixty noblewomen in the court all there to judge the complaints brought to them. These courts were perfect for the ideas of a knightly class and chivalric masculinity to form. Not only would this be the perfect stage for Marie de France to write her lais, but even in this article they make mention of the possibility that she was in this court.

Women in the Courts
Jerry Root is comparing the Lais of Marie de France and the Coutumes de Beauvaisis of Philippe de Beaumanoir to explore how women are represented in both. What is brought up in both writings is the idea of the societal norms and what is going on in the courts. The author does also warn that everything being mentioned is within the limits of what could be said and imagined about women at the time. Even with these constraints, Root makes a clear distinction that in Philippe’s writing women do not have much voice unless it is on the matter of reproduction, and in Marie’s writings the women have a little more space to talk. He refers to the lai “Le Frense,” when Frense and Gurund fall in love and plan to live together. The space that the courtly love of Marie’s lais  provides for Frense to speak is on her desire and moving away from the convent, but as Root relays, the women still is directly related to reproduction when she mentions pregnancy. Marie’s characters themselves still do not break through those limitations however, Root says that Marie herself is able to transcend the limitations not by creating a whole new space to speak, but by using her literary voice she is freed from speaking in a traditional sense. Root concludes that in order to get the full picture, these two authors cannot be read alone, they have to be paired together. By challenging the traditional gender roles in her writing, Marie leaves the possibility of their being a voice for women.

This idea is expanded on when talking about other women writers like Heloise and Hildegard along with Marie. These three women were liminal figures who helped draw attention to religious institutions clashed with reform and innovation. Their writings could go where they themselves could not. From the information provided by their writings we find that many of relationships that were had between these women and the men that were seen as their mentors or partners helped to construct new institutions and reshape the ideas of others as well as the idea of spiritual friendship and syneisactism. We get a glimpse of how pivotal a role these women played in the ideas of the 12th century.

Women did play a central role in the courts of the 12th century. During this time the courts were a hub for cultural creativity with knights and clerks fighting to best one another whether it be the most elaborately dressed, skilled fighter, or best writer. All of this was to win the favors of the women in the court. Their roles in the courts were important not only because they pushed the men to be better than on another, but they were also being educated in literacy among other things. The ladies of the court were seen in the same light as the lords, complementing each other, being examples for the people of their house. Many of the activities taking place in the courts were seen as a form of entertainment, such as storytelling. One example comes from a description of a chaplain by Orderic Vitalis: he would give sermons to the knights of the house that would captivate them by combining stories of warrior-saints and the word of God. Many stories were told in ways that didn't seem so much like listening to a lecture or a sermon from a priest, much like the stories of Marie that were meant to teach the men but also captivate the audience.

Chivalric Masculinity
Thomas Schneider takes a different approach by exploring the masculinity of the male characters and how they continue to embody those chivalric ideals through transformation from man to beast. Schneider situates the laws in their twelfth-century context. Contemporary shifts in learning and schools changed the way people viewed the male body, it had become important to be handsome and put together and not just a trained killer. He goes on to say that Marie's lais did not transform women but men.

Throughout the rest of the article, he focuses on 4 knights, Muldumarec, Bisclavret, Lanval, and Guigemar to explain the transformation of the masculine identity. The first two, Bisclavret and Muldumarec, undergo physical metamorphosis by turning from man to creature, which had been becoming an interest to readers of the time. Even though they went through physical change they kept their human/ masculine identity. This is when the women of the story see the old warrior in these knights, their savagery. With Lanval and Guigemar, it is more of the roles the knights had in social relationships. As Schneider mentions talking about the back story of the lai with Lanval, masculinity in the courts of the 12th century was more so about being sexually active and it being known by the public. When that wasn’t known to Guinevere, she accuses him of liking men. The same happens with Guigemar minus the direct accusation. The idea of knights being with other men twists their perception of them, even though their masculine traits are still intact. It is then pointed out that Marie is questioning whether society can recognize what a good knight really is. She displays that these knights do have a chivalric identity, however, it is paired with their past life of being killers and they are still trying to figure out what it means to be a civilized warrior that is the knight.

It is evident in Marie’s Lais that there is in fact a distinct knightly class. However, she does quite a lot more than that, the knights are trying to grapple with the transformation of the times, going from just having to be good at killing to living by a code of ethics where they must have manners, be loyal, and be a “hero”, they must become the civilized warriors. They are not like the typical Gawain or Lancelot, those are tales, and though Marie’s lais are much of the same, they are showing more of what it was like to see these knights firsthand.

Lais[edit]
(This list follows the sequence of texts found in Harley 978.)