Courtly love or domnei was a medieval European conception of nobly and chivalrously expressing love and admiration. Generally, courtly love was secret and between members of the nobility. It was also generally not practiced between husband and wife.
The "courtly love" relationship is modeled on the feudal relationship between a knight and his liege lord. The knight serves his courtly lady (love service) with the same obedience and loyalty which he owes to his liege lord. She is in complete control of the love relationship, while he owes her obedience and submission.The knight's love for the lady inspires him to do great deeds, in order to be worthy of her love or to win her favor. Thus "courtly love" was originally construed as an ennobling force whether or not it was consummated, and even whether or not the lady knew about the knight's love or loved him in return.
The "courtly love" relationship typically was not between husband and wife, not because the poets and the audience were inherently immoral, but because it was an idealized sort of relationship that could not exist within the context of "real life" medieval marriages. In the middle ages, marriages amongst the nobility were typically based on practical and dynastic concerns rather than on love. The idea that a marriage could be based on love was a radical notion. But the audience for romance was perfectly aware that these romances were fictions, not models for actual behavior. The adulterous aspect that bothers many 20th-century readers was somewhat beside the point, which was to explore the potential influence of love on human behavior. The behavior of the knight and lady in love was drawn partly from troubadour poetry and partly from a set of literary conventions derived from the Latin poet Ovid, who described the "symptoms" of love as if it were a sickness. The "lovesick" knight became a conventional figure in medieval romance. Typical symptoms: sighing, turning pale, turning red, fever, inability to sleep, eat or drink. Romances often contained long interior monologues in which the lovers describe their feelings.
tl;dr characters are in a fantasy/medieval setting and having a courtly romance.
How to Play
- Comment with your character, preferences, etc. Also, be sure to include what "role" your character will be taking on in this little affair.
- Lord/lady
- Knight (gender neutral, of course)
- Prince/princess
- Bard or poet
- Servant
- Commoner (for the ultimate "forbidden romance")
-Comment to others, using the RNG to determine your fate.
Prompts- When I First Saw Your Face: You are meeting your liege or your knight for the first time. What you see takes your breath away.
- Lovesick: Your pining for your beloved has made you ill! You can't eat, you can't sleep, you're in loves throes.
- Playing Hard to Get: If you're of nobility, you at least have to pretend you're not interested.
- You're So Coy: The art of flirtation is just getting started, but you have to be subtle about it.
- In Your Honor: Be it a jousting match or a battle, you're going to win this for your lord/lady's name!
- A Token: You must give your knight something for good luck.
- A Gift: This is the reverse of the above. You must give your love something.
- Keep a Secret: Kisses behind columns, holding hands under the table. You must sneak away little moments together, but you have to keep others in the dark.
- Back from War: Your knight has been away in combat, and now they've returned. You want to shower them with affection.
- Consummate: Believe it or not, courtly love could have a physical angle, as well. Sometimes physical afairs happened.
- To Defend Your Honor: Someone has insulted your fair lady or lord. You know what that means! DUEL.
- I'll Protect You: The lands are under an attack, and you must protect the person you love!
- Breaking the Rules: You've decided to abandon the pretense of courtly love and actually be with this person, even if that means running away.
- WILDCARD
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bakerstreet2019-04-11 08:50 am
thorin oakenshield (f) ♔ the hobbit
Ariadne | Original | F/M
Sansa Stark | Game of Thrones | M/F
Aera Mirus Fleuret | Final Fantasy XV | ota
Mary Crawley | Downton Abbey | M/F
Marcus | Gladiator OC | M/M
Zelda | Breath of the Wild | OTA
Fuyuhiko Kuzuryuu | Danganronpa | ota
Laslow | Fire Emblem Fates | ota
éomer éomundsson | tolkien legendarium
Cassandra de Rolo | Critical Role | M/F but OTA for castmates
Toby + Man Who Killed Don Quixote + OTA
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Truthfully he didn't know if the old Knight had mistaken the lady of the house for Dulcinea, or if he simply thought she was one of the dozens of young women who was hopelessly in love with him despite his heart belonging to another. In the long run it didn't matter, because they had been welcomed as guests only to have Quixote challenge one of the other guests to a duel for the lady's honor. The fact that he also seemed to have mistaken a servant girl for the lady of the house hadn't escaped Toby's notice, though it had, luckily, seemed to have escaped everyone else's.
Luckily the whole thing had been little more than a misunderstanding, and had been settled amicably, but it was still too close for his comfort, which was why, once the old knight was well-settled after the hospitality, he went in search of the girl to apologize.
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One thing that Evie could say was that the monotony of daily life had been broken with the arrival of the unexpected guests. Her mistress was the kind sort, and even after fending off amorous advances and ensuring that a duel did not take place in the middle of the garden, the excitement came to a blessed halt.
At least, for her mistress and her other guests. Evie, though, then found herself at the center of the older man's attention, even as she stuttered as she informed him that he must have had her confused with someone else. Her name was Evelyn, after all, not Dulcinea, and she had never met him before in her life.
Thankfully, that misunderstanding had been taken care of fairly quickly as well, and she was allowed to continue with her duties, although she couldn't lie and say she wasn't a little bit shaken by it all. Grateful for the quiet, she went about collecting dirty linens for the morning wash.
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"I know he may not seem like it, but he's a kind soul." That much he knew for sure, for as eccentric as the old Knight could be, he often went out of his way to be kind to pilgrims on the road, regardless of their religion, "And I know it would pain him if he'd caused you undue distress."
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"Please, no, it's fine, really - ", she replied in a nervous chatter. "He did no real harm, and I was not scared, just ... ", she raised her shoulders into a shrug, "Surprised."
And a little flattered, although the only hint of it she would show was a slight flush of her cheeks. It had hardly been the worst that a man had tried with her, guest or otherwise, and she had found the old man mostly harmless.
"I trust that he has settled in well? And you?"
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"And good, that it was merely a surprise, I mean. He, he has a way of doing that to everyone, even me."
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"He's the unpredictable sort, then?", she asked, amusement tinging her voice. "Is it very difficult to keep up with him?"
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A thoughtful little sound followed, brow creasing a little as if thinking it over, "But I've managed this far, suppose it will only get easier from here."
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Nico Acosta | OC | M/F
Evie Montgomery | OC | F/M