What is fin' amor, courtly love?

What is fin' amor, courtly love?

Fin’ amor, or the courtly love, is found in most of the troubadours’ poems. The repeated noticeable image of fin’ amor is the love between a lady who is higher in status and power and a man who serves the lady.

In his poem “When the Ice and Cold and Snow Retreat”, Guiraut de Bornelh says “If she to whom I offer / Myself as gift / Chose to accept, that honor would lift / Me over all men in wealth and power” Here we can see that he offers himself as a gift to a lady he loves, implying that he will be her servant and possibly do whatever she wants him to do. The relationship in fin’ amor starts when the lady “accepts” the man’s offer. He describes that he will be honored and lifted if she accepts his love “over all men in wealth and power.” It shows that at that time, having a beautiful, popular woman is considered as honor, probably because it was difficult. He emphasizes his passive role in this relationship as we can see in the phrases like “I beg that you might save me,” “I pray, True Love, you’ll fortify me,” “See how I’m conquered by my lady.” He is the one who is saved, fortified, and conquered by the lady, and it shows that the lady is the one who is in control.

Similar characteristics of courtly love is found in the poem “You’ve Asked, My Lords, for Song” by Bernart de Ventadorn:

Good Lady, thank you for

Your love so true and fine;

I swear I love you more

Than all past loves of mine.

I bow and join my hands

Yielding myself to you;

The one thing you might do

Is give me one sweet glance

If sometime you’ve the chance.

Here, Bernart specifically states that he is “yielding” himself to the lady, expressing man’s submission to a woman in courtly love. He bow and join hands together, showing respect to the lady he admires and all he wants is just one sweet glance. Despite the giving of a man, who gave his whole self to her, his expectation from this lady is trivial. As we can see, men are expected to do more for a lady in the fin’ amor relationship.

Another interesting poem to look at is “When a Lady Loves” by Maria de Ventadorn and Gui d’Ussel. In this poem, the viewpoints of a man and woman is both shown. Unlike other male troubadours, Gui expresses a more radical view of fin’ amor, emphasizing the equality of both man and woman. Maria, on the other hand, persist to support the traditional view of fin’ amor, the idea of men serving women. Gui says that “in friendship (love) rank is no consideration,” expressing how he opposes the idea of a woman in a higher rank and a man in a lower rank. Maria states that “she, however, should regard / Him as a friend but never as her lord,” showing her thoughts how men and women can be equal but men can never be higher than women in status while women can.

Maria says that:

They join their hands together and get

Down on their knees to try to win

A lady’s favor: they say, “Grant that I

May be your man and freely serve you, lady,”

And she accepts; to say she should receive him

As a servant and an equal’s treason!

She thinks it is ordinary and traditional to consider courtly love as a man yielding to a woman, “trying to win a lady’s favor.” Here, she says that it is always a woman’s choice to “accept” the love, just like we saw in the first poem.