Courtly Love: The Path of Sexual Initiation [Paperback]

Jean Markale (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 1, 2000

A comprehensive examination of the rituals and philosophies that created and sustained medieval troubadour culture

• Debunks the myth of the platonic nature of courtly love, showing the many sexual similarities to the Tantric practices of India

• Reveals how the roots of courtly love go back to the matriarchal cultures of neolithic times

The widespread turmoil that shook Western Europe as it entered the new millennium with the year 1000 prompted a vast reevaluation of the chief tenets of society. Foremost among these was a new way of looking at love and the place held by women in society. The Christian-inspired tradition that at best viewed women with contempt--and often with outright fear and loathing--was replaced by a new perspective, one in which women enjoyed a central role as the inspiration for all male action. For several hundred years courtly love, with its emphasis on adultery, carnal pleasures, and the power of the feminine, dominated European culture despite its flouting of conventional Christian morality.

Medieval historians by and large have tended to regard courtly love as a sterile parlor game for the upper classes. To the contrary, Jean Markale shows that the stakes were much higher: the roots of the ritual re-created here go all the way back to the great mother goddess. In addition, the platonic nature attributed to these relationships is based on a misunderstanding of courtly love; underneath the refined poetry of the troubadours' verses flourished a system of sexual initiation that rivaled Indian Tantra.

Editorial Reviews

Language Notes

Text: English (translation)
Original Language: French

About the Author

Poet, philosopher, historian, and storyteller, Jean Markale has spent a lifetime researching pre-Christian and medieval culture and spirituality. He is the author of more than forty books, among which are The Druids, The Grail, The Great Goddess, The Celts, Merlin, Women of the Celts, The Epics of Celtic Ireland, and King of the Celts. He is a specialist in Celtic studies at the Sorbonne and lives in the Brittany region of France.

Product Details

• Paperback: 208 pages
• Publisher: Inner Traditions (November 1, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0892817712
• ISBN-13: 978-0892817719
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,336,986 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Courtly Love -- from then to now, March 20, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Courtly Love: The Path of Sexual Initiation (Paperback)

Courtly Love is a subject much discussed and much misunderstood. Jean Markale helps to clear the fog away from the subject, revealing the practice, and the culture within which it grew, in terms of a moral-poetic quest and an enhanting experience of heterosexual relationships. Perhaps the leading expert on all things Celtic, Markale traces the history of the concept from its life-giving roots in pre-Roman times through its various manifestations in southern France, to the deformations forced upon it by the Catholic Church, to its relation to Tantric Yoga. Courtly Love is not so much a unique study as an important reappraisal of the first appearence of the idea of elective love within post-Roman Europe. It is definitely worth the read!

2 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Pretty light, August 15, 2002

By 

Brennan T. MacDowell "branain" (Griffin, GA, United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Courtly Love: The Path of Sexual Initiation (Paperback)

This was interesting, but poorly written (or, translated?) and light in terms of backing up the thesis with concrete examples. I came away unconvinced, but intrigued.