Chivalry and Courtly Love
The ideal of Courtly Love which features so much in the Chansons
of the Medieval period was developed into a Court of Love, presided over by
Eleanor, Queen of France and England, Countess of Aquitaine, at Poitiers in
Southern France.
Eleanor, in association with the troubadour and poet Cretien
de Troyes, employed Chansons, or love songs, to promote courtly love; to the
subtle end that women might receive better treatment than they usually received
in the Medieval ages.
Andreas Capellanus, the chaplain of Eleanor's daughter, Marie
de Champagne, wrote a treatise called 'De
Arte Honeste Amandi' or The Art of Courtly Love based on the decisions
of this Court. This book had a number of statements to guide the lovers.
Capellanus wrote that all ladies were of noble birth and honorable.
A knight, however, must prove his honor to gain the favor of a Lady. He could
prove himself by her consent, by combat, or by accomplishing a difficult task
or quest. Capellanus outlined a series of statistical percentages
that would assist the Court of Love in making their decisions.
To quote from Capellanus:
A neutral observer shall then determine if the Knight is
worthy of the favour of the Lady by comparing the Knight's Romance Factor
with the Lady's Romance Factor.
The Romance Factor is calculated by adding the Knight's Charisma, Personal
Appearance, Experience Level and Social Status and comparing it to the total
of Lady's Charisma, Personal Appearance, Intelligence and Social Status.
If the Knight's Romance Factor is greater than the Lady's Romance Factor,
the Knight has a 75% basic chance of obtaining the Lady's favour.
If his Romance Factor is equal to her Romance Factor, the Knight has a 50%
basic chance.
If his Romance Factor is less than her Romance Factor, the Knight has a 25%
basic chance.
If there are social impediments between the two such as the Knight being of
a different religion or political party or grouping, there is a -25% chance
for each degree of difference (-25% for different religion, -25% for different
political group, -25% for opposing faction etc).
Should the Knight have previously failed to obtain the favour of any Lady,
reduce the chance of her acceptance by 25%.
Should the Knight have previously obtained the favour of a Lady either
by Force of Arms or by her consent increase the chance of acceptance for every
previous success by 25%.
After the calculation the neutral party determines the result by rolling
against the percentage chance of acceptance.
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