Knights and Castles and Dungeons...Oh my!

In case some of you weren't aware...I am kind of a nerd. I mean I love reading and Star Wars and other nerdyish things. However, when I was a kid I was even more of a nerd than I am today. When you ask a middle schooler what they want to be when they grow up they answer with some generalized answer like, "Oh, I want to be a doctor" or "I want to be a teacher". But even when I was young I knew exactly what I wanted to be. I was going to be a historian and study medieval warfare and history. I do not think that it is possible to get any nerdier than that :)

I have since left those dreams behind and moved onto my dreams of becoming a theatre major, but there is still that part of me that will always be fascinated by the middle ages. With the ladies and knights and other fantastical things it just holds a special place in my heart.

One of the things that I find the most fascinating about middle ages are the "Rules of Courtly Love". Most people have heard about the code of chivalry which dictated a knight's behavior, but people are generally less familiar with these laws of Courtly Love. They tell knights how to treat and respect women, and properly conduct their relationships. Now there are many rules, but I am just going to share the ones that I find the most interesting...So, here it goes. You can all prepare to be thrust into my world of nerdiness as we look back on the romance that was the middle ages...

Rule #1: No one should be deprived of love without

the very best of reasons.

Rule #2: Love is always a stranger in the home of avarice.

Rule #3: The easy attainment of love makes it of little value;

difficulty of attainment makes it prized.

Rule#4: Every lover regularly turns pale in the presence of his beloved.

Rule#5: When a loves suddenly catches sight of his beloved his heart

palpitates.

Rule #6: He whom the thought of love vexes eats and sleeps

very little.

Rule #7: Every act of a lover ends in the thought of his beloved.

Rule #8: A true lover considers nothing good except that which he

thinks will please his beloved.

Rule #9: Love can deny nothing to love.

Rule #10: Never give evil council to a lady, whether married or not; he must

treat her with great respect and defend her against all.

Don't you just wish that everything was always like that. I love how there were rules and ideals to live by and love by that emphasized trust, faith, and utter devotion to one another. Sometimes I wish that we had things like this now in our society to create that respect and longing that many couples seem to miss out on. I know that the middle ages were by no means perfect...

I mean, they had chamber pots and disease and the feudal system which could be pretty darn harsh...but there are still moments of my life when I wish that even just for a day I could travel back to the middle ages and get the chance to feel that love and devotion that was such an important part of their culture. But for now, until the invention of a time machine I am stuck in Ogden, Utah in the year 2011 where I am boyfriendless and striving to make it through scholarship applications and important life decisions. Who knows, though, maybe one day I will meet my own knight in shining armor and realize that there really are some people out there who have their own modern day version of the rules of courtly love.