How does the court depicted by Béroul differ from that of Walter Map? A study of
courtly life in Béroul's Tristan et Iseut and Walter Map's De Nugis Curialium.
Kathleen O’Neill
© Kathleen O'Neill and The Victorian Librarian Blog, 2014. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Kathleen O'Neill and The Victorian Librarian blog with appropriate and specific direction to the original content. How does the court depicted by Béroul differ from that of Walter Map?
In 12th century Western Europe, an extensive body of literature was written about contemporary royal courts, and about the real and fictional people who comprised them.
The French writer Béroul wrote such a tale of courtly romance in his native language, while Map, a clerk and cleric at the court of Henry II, wrote his chronicles in Latin.
Béroul was the author of what is considered to be the earliest version of the legend of
Tristan and Iseut1, and Map of De Nugis Curialium, a selection of satirical tales examining courtly and monastic life. Both writers present life at court as violent, often bleak and miserable, full of intrigue, in a place where allegiances are constantly shifting.
Relationships between the sexes are also fraught, sometimes falling prey to courtiers' plotting, and there are many illicit love affairs being conducted. Kings are suspicious of their wives, and as a result some queens are murdered. Noblemen force themselves upon women, and are later left bereft when their wives flee to their own homes. On a first reading of both Béroul and Map, it is very easy to conclude that they both despise courtly life - Map in the opening pages of his text goes so far as to compare the court to
Hell, and spells out this comparison in the first chapter's title, 'A Comparison of the
Court with the Infernal Regions'2.
If existence at court is so miserable, it then must be asked why both writers attached themselves to such royal courts. Map in particular had a well-documented career at the court of Henry II, as a royal clerk, accompanying Henry on journeys
1 Norris J Lacy, ed., Béroul: The Romance of Tristan, (London: Garland Publishing, Inc., 1989), p. 11. 2 M. R. James, ed./trans., Brooke, C. N. L., and Mynors, R. A. B., rev., Walter Map: De Nugis Curialium; Courtiers' Trifles, (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1983), pp. 3-8.
2 abroad, and acting as the King's representative at the Third Lateran Council3. Like so many others, he forged a career for himself at court that brought him more rewards than he could have expected away from the court, first as a clerk, then as a canon, later as a chancellor, and had his own household, a gift from the King himself. There were ever more opportunities for advancement at royal and ecclesiastical courts and in the households of superior nobles4. Furthermore, for an writer like Map, the court was a rich source of stories on which he could draw.
Yet the courts described by Béroul and Map prove to be less dark than they seem on the first reading. There are many noble and virtuous characters, including
Sadius and Galo, in Map, and King Arthur and the hermit, in Béroul. Considering the prevalent suspicion with which women were viewed in the earlier Middle Ages, it is easy to see such misogyny reproduced in both texts, particularly in that of Map, who as a cleric could have been considered as particularly condemning of women. Only one female protagonist between the two books is absolutely innocent, and her death is supremely tragic as a result5. However, it is arguably the case that the writers create admirable female characters - Iseut is a brave, resourceful and intelligent young woman
- or seek to address the wrongs perpetrated by men towards women - several male protagonists in Map are abandoned by their wives, who were kidnapped by said men in the first place.
This paper focuses upon the central roles of Kings and Queens, both historical and literary, and applies these examples of kingship and queenship to the monarchs and their consorts in the stories of Map and Béroul. Both authors provide examples of
3 Ibid., p. xvii. 4 Ibid., p. xix. 5 Ibid., p. 33.
3 just, courageous, intelligent kings and queens, but also recognise the failings of their respective protagonists, in a study of the darker side of courtly life, of the pervasive vice, envy and plotting. Thus, the nature of kings and kingship, and of queens and queenship, is the primary focus of this discussion. There being such an emphasis by both authors upon the role of women in general at the court, and upon supernatural women (including queens) in particular, this paper further addresses their various roles and situations. Ultimately, through a study of Map and Béroul's presentation of these different components of courtly life, it becomes clear that, while their vision of the medieval court is superficially very negative, they also demonstrate that courtly life and people at court are more complex. Few characters are absolutely evil or perfectly good, and many seemingly straightforward situations are in fact highly nuanced. Their portrayal of female characters is the most surprising. Initially, the proposed position of this paper in this regard was that both authors were particularly condemning of their female protagonists. Yet further examination of the texts will prove that this is not the case; only one queen is beyond redemption6, and other women are innocent, display great potential, and/or are dynamic characters who actively take responsibility for their own lives, and those of others, into their own hands. While they do severely criticise elements of courtly life, in the end Map and Béroul present us with courts in which good and evil are not always absolutes, in which their seemingly-negative opinion of the court belies a greater, more intriguing complexity.
Echard defines Map as one of the 'figures of the twelfth-century renaissance, participating in that literary explosion in the context of the courts'7. He was both a clerk
6 Ibid., pp. 210-247. 7 Siân Echard, Arthurian Narrative in the Latin Tradition. (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1998), p. 2.
4 at the Angevin court of Henry II and Eleanor of Aquitaine, and a cleric. As a clerk at the courts of Louis VII and Henry II, as well as '[m]aster of a household so great that he can liken it to a petty court'8, he had a great deal of experience upon which to draw. The tales in De Nugis Curialium concern the secular court, a variety of religious orders, and
Map's own household, as mentioned above, but only the court tales share certain themes with Béroul's Tristan et Iseut. Map is almost unremittingly critical of the court, famously comparing it to Hell in the opening pages, but as a cleric he is particularly renowned for his misogyny and misogamy, as demonstrated in A Dissuasion of Valerius to Rufinus the Philosopher, that he should not take a Wife.
Béroul's version of the Tristan and Iseut tale is thought to have been composed between 1150 and 11909, in Walter Map's lifetime, and depicts King Mark's court, superficially, as a most miserable place, chaotic, ever-changing, and violent. The only two absolutely good, consistently admirable characters are remarkable for the fact that they are not in fact attached to the Cornish court. King Arthur is Mark's own overlord, a higher authority in the land, who comes to this court only for a short time, and the hermit in the woods, arguably Tristan and Iseut's spiritual advisor, never leaves the forest. The implication is that
[i]n the Courts nothing prevails except envy and ill-will, wicked customs, dissolute
living and every kind of vice.10
Although acknowledging that these elements exist in both authors' courts, herein it will be argued that there is more to the court than corruption, and that individual characters
8 Frederick Tupper and Marbury Bladen Ogle, ed., Master Walter Map's Book, De Nugis Curialium (Courtiers' Trifles), (London: Chatto & Windus, 1924), p. xiii. 9 Lacy, p. 11. 10 Baldesar Castiglione, The Courtier, trans/rev. by George Bull, (London: Penguin Books, Ltd, 1967), p. 109.
5 clearly demonstrate their nobility, goodness, intelligence and political acumen. In Map,
King Herla, and the Queen of Portugal are two such characters11, and in Béroul, the titular characters prove that they themselves could rule over Mark's kingdom12. The nature of royal governance of kingdoms is a key aspect of both texts, and the King and
Queen are accordingly key protagonists in Béroul and Map. Their relationships with one another and with their court drive the plots to their conclusion, which in these tales is frequently violent or tragic. The theories of kingship and queenship, outlining the various roles and types of Kings and Queens, can give the reader a greater insight into the true nature of Kings and Queens in Béroul and Map, as well as highlighting the kingly or queenly potential of other characters, such as Tristan.
The nature of the royal court itself is also examined by both authors. For example, Béroul draws upon the courtly love tradition, using the locus amoenus, the lovers’ safe haven, usually a garden, or a forest, as in Aucassin et Nicolette13, but all romantic associations are put aside as he focuses on the harsh reality of their plight.
Tristan and Iseut fear that Marc will find them at any moment, and they have little if anything to eat. Béroul’s court, therefore, sets itself apart from the romanticized, often fantastical courts of the Arthurian tales, focusing on the political and social ramifications of deceit, adultery, and plotting, and acknowledging these faults in the majority of his protagonists. Map also features similarly deceitful courtiers, as in Of the King of
Portugal14, and so demonstrates the destructive power that the court can have over its
King. Both authors thus show their awareness of the darker side of courtly intrigue, and
11 James, Brooke and Mynors. 12 Lacy. 13 Aucassin et Nicolette, ed. by Jean Dufournet, (Paris: G F Flammarion, 1984), p. 102. 14 James, Brooke and Mynors, pp. 31-37.
6 present us with an image of the court as a dangerous milieu in which to live. They are united in their condemnation of this particular aspect of the court, and a comparison of their individual visions of court life only confirms this. Béroul's court is in this regard more chaotic than Map’s, in that every character is embroiled in the plotting which marks it from the outset. King Marc veers from one faction to another, while Iseut enlists the help of her maid in concealing her affair with Tristan, only to consider killing her very shortly afterwards. In De Nugis Curialium, however, Map portrays courts that are initially well-ordered, and certain marital relationships that begin (relatively) well.
The portrayal of women by both writers seems on the surface unremittingly negative, which makes sense in light of the fact that fear, distrust and loathing of women were commonplace in the 12th century; it was a time when women were considered as lesser beings, and as the property of their male relatives or guardians. Female sexuality especially was viewed with great suspicion, and it was believed that women could infect men with diseases such as leprosy through sex, while remaining immune themselves, which was considered further proof of their depravity15. Béroul and Map bring their female protagonists to the fore primarily in terms of their sexuality, examining real and supposed adulterous affairs, rape, and marital relationships. The male characters view the women with great suspicion and seemingly find it easy to believe them capable of adultery and deception, and the writers share in the condemnation of adulterous and 'unchaste'16 behaviour. There is also is an emphasis on the Otherness of women in both Map and Béroul - many of the former's stories focus on 'fairy' women,
15 Saul Nathaniel Brody, The Disease of the Soul: Leprosy in Medieval Literature, (London: Cornell University Press, 1974 16 Map refers to Eleanor of Aquitaine as 'queen of the French, the wife of the most pious Louis, [who] case her unchaste eyes [upon Henry II]', James, Brooke and Mynors, p. 475.
7 entrapped and raped by mortal men. These women become part of the human court, establishing a dynasty with their rapists/husbands, but inevitably they abandon the court, and destroy their husbands’ future hopes by taking the children with them to their own lands. Béroul’s Iseut is an Irish princess, whose voyage to Cornwall has therefore brought her across the liminal sea from a mysterious land, and she proves that she, like her mother, has some knowledge of magic. She has the potential to be a supernatural woman like those in Map. It is possible that such creatures are to be considered with more caution than mortal women, but this does not seem to be the case in either Map or
Béroul. Both authors are remarkable for the fact that they consider their female protagonists in wider terms, examining their intelligence and considering their moral right to revenge. Thus it will here be argued that these texts give us a more nuanced and layered picture of the medieval Queen and noblewoman than would have been expected of texts of this period.
Early in De Nugis Curialium, Map states that
[w]e courtiers are assuredly a number, and an infinite one, and all striving to
please one individual. But to-day we are one number, to-morrow we shall be a
different one: yet the court is not changed; it always remains the same. It is a
hundred-handed giant, who if he be all maimed, is yet all the same, and still
hundred-handed, that makes of none effect and despises the labours of
Hercules.17
It is immediately clear that the king is the most important, and constant, figure at court; a fact that may seem obvious, but that does raise certain questions. What exactly does it
17 James, Brooke and Mynors, p. 3.
8 mean to be a king, and, more precisely, what does it mean to be a good king? There are many theories of kingship, and Map and Béroul between them show us many kings, good and bad. Thus it is also clear that there is more to being a king than may immediately seem obvious.
'Kingship is both the rule of one person over a political unit, as at least its nominal head, and the art or science by which such a governor rules well' 18. A great number of
"mirror for Princes" genre texts have been written over the centuries, and John of
Salisbury's Policraticus19(1159) is one such comprehensive work of political theory.
Writing at the same time as Map and Béroul, as a cleric and bureaucrat, John defines a good king in the following terms:
obedient to law, and rules his people by a will that places itself at their service and
administers rewards and burdens within the republic under the guidance of law
in a way favourable to the vindication of his eminent post, so that he proceeds before
others to the extent that, while individuals merely look after individual affairs, princes
are concerned with the burdens of the entire community. 20
He also establishes that a king's rule is divinely ordained, and that a king should therefore advice from his priests/clerics - it is worth noting that no example of such counsel exists in either Map or Béroul21.
18 Henry A Myers, Medieval Kingship, (Chicago: Nelson-Hall Inc, 1982), p. 1. 19 C. J. Neederman, ed./trans., John of Salisbury's Policraticus: Of the Frivolities of Courtiers and the Footprints of Philosophers, (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1990). 20 Ibid., p. 28.
9 In Tristan et Iseut, there are two official kings - King Marc of Cornwall, and the ubiquitous (as regards medieval courtly romances) King Arthur. At the risk of oversimplifying, Marc is a good example of generally weak or bad kingship, while
Béroul's Arthur is all that is noble and just. When we first glimpse King Marc, he is hiding up a tree, eavesdropping upon a conversation between his Queen and his nephew, as he seeks to find proof that they are having an affair. He leaves himself open to ridicule, and deprives himself absolutely of the dignity which would better befit a monarch. It is difficult to take the character seriously from this point on. His character does not improve as the story progresses, and he remains ever jealous, easily-swayed, vengeful, and violent. He transforms from a king easily influenced by his courtiers into an absolute tyrant. When he successfully catches the lovers in the royal bedroom, they are immediately condemned to death; Iseut is treated particularly harshly. Marc has become so fearsome in his rage and jealousy that he no longer listens to his advisors, or to his people - Béroul tells us that they are afraid even to approach him. His decision to give her to the lepers is worse than the sentence of death - as Yvain himself explains:
Yseut nos done, s'ert conmune.
Paior fin dma n'ot mais une.
Sire, en nos a si grant ardor
Soz ciel n'a dame qui un jor
Peüst soufrir nostre convers.22
21 Unless, if we look at Tristan as a king, under the terms of the "reiks" and "thiudans"; he does in fact seek advice from the wise hermit in the woods, who surely bears certain resemblances to a priest. But no anointed king is shown by either author to seek advice from such a person. 22 Lacroix and Walter, p. 78.
10 In short, she will be raped many times a day, until such time as she finally dies23. This is the moment where Marc transforms absolutely from the weak, inconstant king into a monster consumed by his jealousy and need for vengeance. He has thus lost sight of his role as king. Marc's people remain terrified of him, in spite of the fact that there has been a resolution effected by Arthur, between Marc, Iseut, and Tristan, as we are told that 'Li rois a Cornoualle en pes|Tuit le criement et luin et pres' 24.
Arthur, on the contrary, is the epitomé of John of Salisbury's ideal prince. At
Iseut's request, he presides over her "trial", and is portrayed as an almost Godlike figure, grave and wise, judging the disputes of lesser kings and queens, and seeking to reconcile them. He escorts Iseut to the meeting place, and goes to greet Marc, demonstrating his tact and diplomacy, and is simultaneously the epitomé of the courtly hero:
Ja ne seront en cele terre
Que m'en tenist ne pais ne gerre,
Des que j'orroie la novele
De la roïne Yseut la bele,
Que n'i allons a esperon
Lui desrainier par grant raison.25
He appoints himself as Iseut's protector against Marc's treacherous courtiers, and reassures her that she may return to her husband without fear of further reprisals. Thus
23 There is a popular tradition connecting leprosy and wanton/adulterous sexuality, to the extent that leprosy was considered a venereal disease, transmitted by women to men. (Saul Nathaniel Brody, The Disease of the Soul: Leprosy in Medieval Literature, (London: Cornell University Press, 1974) 24 Lacroix and Walter, p. 216. 25 Ibid., p. 216.
11 Arthur re-establishes the dynastic security of Marc's line by returning his wife to him.
His calm authority is the very opposite of Marc's impetuosity and tyranny.
However, it could be argued that Béroul also presents us with a third (potential) king, Tristan, albeit one who does not bear that title. Myers refers to an old German theory of kingship, that distinguished between two types of kings:
One was a tribal embodiment in a sacred person, the other a warrior ruler. The
first was needed in order to deal with the gods effectively, the second for the
reason of needing one man's leadership in battle.26
The former, the thiudans, could be 'the oldest, the most evidently capable, or simply the most conspicuously fortunate adult of the extended family unit, the clan or tribe' while the reiks was the warrior of the people, as etymologically the word could mean
'commander' or 'military official' 27. Tristan is clearly the 'muscle' and Mark the statesman. Iseut, and Marc's people, are themselves aware that it is Tristan who protects Mark's kingdom, and that Mark therefore clearly is in his debt. Thus Tristan is an ambiguous figure, one who plays the part of a king, but who does not have a title to accompany his deeds. Does he know this, and, perhaps more crucially, does Mark?
The young knight is yet more contradictory if we consider that he poses a threat to
Mark's rule, even while he is its protector.
Map is by and large critical of his own king, making reference to his rages and those of other kings, and his writing mirrors Béroul's negative portrayal of Marc's style of kingship, which is marked by his fits of anger. There is a striking resemblance between
Map's King of Portugal and Béroul's Marc, both kings easily influenced and duped by
26 Myers, p. 4. 27 Ibid.
12 conniving courtiers seeking to put an end to a rival. The King of Portugal is a darker version of Marc, in that he actually does become a monster, having been convinced by the aforementioned nobles that his wife is having an affair with his most beloved courtier:
He (for his madness had not yet abated) hastened homeward, burst into the bed- chamber,
an inner room which he scarcely ever entered, dismissed its other occupants, and furiously
attacked the queen - now near her confinement - brutally setting upon her with feet and fists,
and thus put an end to two lives by a single onslaught.28
Thus the King, consumed with jealousy, kills both his wife and his child, leaving himself and the kingdom without an heir, and without the means of replacing said heir. The succession is now in jeopardy, the king has proven his weakness, he has lost his most valued friend, and the courtiers responsible are in a position of great power. Truly the court is then in a state of chaos. Unfortunately for the aforementioned courtiers, however, they are finally tortured and maimed by order of the king, unable to live with his guilt,
sated a wrath upon them, now at last justified, upon the contrivers and accomplishers of
that wickedness, whom he blinded and castrated and so left them to a living death, in
perpetual night, and deprived of all bodily enjoyment. 29
28 James, Brooke and Mynors, p. 33.
13 The influence of the court upon its king is also reflected in this punishment, as much as in the acts which caused it, for it is when the king perceives the court 'steeped in sadness', and when he learns 'from many mouths' of the deception, that he feels his guilt and so punishes his deceivers. Yet Map hints that there is no salvation for the king himself - the court will still live in fear of him, and feel pity for his victims, as will Marc’s people in his case30, and call him tyrant - and concludes by sardonically inviting to court all 'whoever enjoys beholding enormities'31.
In the Old Irish tale, Cath Maige Tuired, Bres fails to be a proper king to his people:
At that time, Bres held the sovereignty as it had been granted to him. There was
great murmuring against him among his maternal kinsmen the Túatha Dé, for
their knives were not greased by him. However frequently they might come, their
breaths did not smell of ale; and they did not see their poets nor their bards nor
their satirists nor their harpers nor their pipers nor their horn-blowers nor their
jugglers nor their fools entertaining them in the household. They did not go to
contests of those pre-eminent in the arts, nor did they see their warriors proving
their skill at arms before the king, except for one man, Ogma the son of Étain.32
The King has obligations towards his court, in that he must provide, and, equally importantly, be seen to provide, food, shelter, and entertainment. He must look after the people in his care properly, as a good host would his guests. Hincmar of Rheims also picks up on this theme in his analogy of the home being as the court, wherein the queen
29 Ibid., p. 35. 30 Lacroix and Walter, p. 72. 31 James, Brooke and Mynors, p. 35. 32 Elizabeth A. Gray, ed., Cath Maige Tuired: The Second Battle of Mag Tuired, ed. by Elizabeth A. Gray, (Co. Kildare: Leinster Leader Ltd, NAAS, 1982), p. 33.
14 is hostess33. The provision of food and drink and the arrangement of celebrations for all at court do then consolidate and bear witness to the king's position and prestige. In the giving of gifts, he honours the giver and further establishes his own sovereignty and generosity. For example, in Chrétien de Troyes' Erec et Enide, King Arthur elevates
Enide from the rank of impoverished, unknown noblewoman, to that of a future queen, by his gifts and his attention. He therefore establishes before his whole court his generosity, even to strangers, and also, possibly more importantly, demonstrates to this stranger that he is a noble, bountiful king.34 It is essential that a good, successful king be seen to be actively involved in regular acts of patronage; otherwise he is diminished.
Map emphasises at several points in De Nugis Curialium the generosity of Henry II:
Our lord, I mean King Henry II, to whom [the Grandmontines] lay everything open, is so
lavishly bountiful towards them in the way of charity that they are nowhere in want. 35
It is clear that the medieval concept of the generous king was as important in real life as it was in courtly fiction. So what happens if a stranger adopts this role himself, at the king's own court? Map addresses this question in his tale Of King Herla. Herla encounters a dwarf, a king in his own right, who asks to be invited to the former's wedding (to the King of France's daughter). His wish is granted, and when he arrives, pavilions spring up, filled with servants, dishes, food, and drink, surpassing in volume and quantity the guests' desires.
33 Hincmar of Rheims, 'On the Governance of the Palace', in The History of Feudalism, ed. by David Herlihy, London: MacMillan, 1971), p. 219. 34 Chrétien de Troyes, Erec et Enide (Paris: Librairie Générale de France, 1992), pp. 136-158. 35 James, Brooke and Mynors, p. 115.
15 Nothing of Herla's preparations was touched: his own servants sat with their hands
before them, neither called for nor offering aid. Round went the pygmies, gaining
golden opinions from everyone: their splendid clothing and jewels made them shine like
burning lights among the company: never importunate, never out of the way, they vexed
no one by act or word. 36
Herla is thus weakened, and diminished, in his own court - his role is taken by an outsider, the gratitude that would have been extended unto him as a tacit recognition of this role is heaped upon this otherworldly being, and so he is redundant. Furthermore, he is thereby put under obligation to the pigmy to repay this perceived debt: he must go to the pigmy's kingdom to celebrate his marriage. As a result of leaving his own kingdom, he loses it, his power and his status, irrevocably and unknowingly, returning centuries later to a world he does not know, condemned to wander the earth.
Béroul and Map both paint a very dismal picture of the state of kingship in different courts, both fictional and real, with the only truly good king being King Arthur in
Tristan et Iseut. The nature of kingship, and the perceived success or failure of kings, were closely scrutinised at the time Béroul and Map were writing, and in such texts, for example in John of Salisbury's Policraticus, we see repeated the points raised by them both. Ultimately, the king as portrayed by Map and Béroul is weak, vengeful, and violent; the potential for tyranny is in many of their monarchs, and, unfortunately, said monarchs are equally easily persuaded to give into these urges. If the King, the central
36 Ibid., p. 29.
16 figure of the court, is so lacking in all the traits required in a good ruler, what hope is there for the court itself?
Having considered the King, the next logical step is to consider the role of the Queen, which is superficially simple; she is, in most cases, the wife of the King, as succession to the throne was passed down the male line. Like any medieval wife, she is expected to bear her husband children, in particular sons. Eleanor of Aquitaine, who was married firstly to Louis VII of France, and subsequently to Henry II of England, was a prominent figure at various medieval courts. She was the mother of two daughters, by Louis, and of five sons and three daughters, by Henry II. She was vilified by clerics, accused of having an affair with her own uncle, and abetted her sons in their plots against Henry.
Other Queens were mothers of Kings too young to rule themselves; their mothers then frequently acted as regents. Henry II's mother, the Empress Matilda (1135-1154), was one (albeit unpopular) example. Queen Aethelfryth, widow of King Edgar of England, who died in 975, was a hugely influential figure in the early years of her son Aethelred
Unraed's reign, to the extent of having his half-brother (and rival for the throne) murdered37. A medieval Queen is thus an adjunct, in one of two ways, to a male monarch; she does not rule in her own right. As wife to the King, her primary purpose is to have and raise children, and as mother of a child King, she exists to assist in his education as a strong future monarch, and to safeguard his kingdom.
Yet the medieval Queen is also a complicated figure in her own right, who has multiple roles at court in addition to those basic roles of mother and spouse. To see her
37 Pauline Stafford, 'Sons and Mothers: Family Politics in the Early Middle Ages', in Medieval Women, ed. by Derek Baker, (Oxford: Basil Blackwell, 1978), p. 80.
17 only thus diminishes her unfairly, and in Map and Béroul there is a clear awareness of the greater social, political and personal roles that a Queen may play - Béroul's Iseut shows that she herself is aware of her queenly responsibilities, for all that she neglects them38. A Queen can also act as an intercessor between the King and the people, in a role doubtless inspired by (the medieval cult of) the Virgin Mary, and so is not necessarily a corrupt and evil presence at the heart of the court, as Béroul and Map would at first glance have her be. Careful examination of Tristan et Iseut and De Nugis
Curialium demonstrates that there is at least some good in at least some of these
Queens, and in other female characters, and that they are capable of more than fulfilling the basic duties of a wife and/or a mother, and, most importantly, of a true Queen. The
Queen was a key figure at the medieval court, and so the nature of queenship was a topic of much discussion in the Middle Ages, in 'mirrors for princesses' and in courtly literature. In De Nugis Curialium and Tristan et Iseut, the various Queens appear on the surface to act uniformly in opposition to rules laid down for their guidance, and other women seem to follow their example, their lives and worlds seemingly a microcosm of those of Queens. The general perception of the role of Queen in the Middle Ages, in theoretical tracts on the court, kingship and queenship, seems to have been that she existed primarily to run the King's household, i.e. the court. Sedulius Scottus explains in the Liber de rectoribus christianis (written in 869 for Charles the Bald) that
[i]t is for [the queen] to concern herself disciplinariter with whatever is necessary, it is for
her to regulate pacifice the children and the household, with modest face and
cheerful
38 Lacroix and Walter, p. 124.
18 words. She must be the beauty of the familia; at the same time she must have
the
prudence of the good counsellor. If the bad wife was characterised by
persuasio, the
good one had consilium. 39
A queen's role is therefore essentially that of a housewife, who must provide a stable environment for her husband to rule from. Thus the court and the kingdom for the queen an extension of the home, which she must care for as a housewife. This theory recommends that the queen must be beautiful, wise, and capable of advising her husband. Thus she has two further roles to play at court, one which situates her and her identity absolutely in her physical body, and the other through which she may be permitted to assist in the governance of the realm. Hincmar of Rheims, in his tract On the governance of the palace (De ordine palatii, c820), also establishes the queen’s principal role as housewife, stating that
[t]he good management of the palace, and especially the royal dignity, as well
as the gifts given annually to the officers pertained especially to the queen, and
under her to the chamberlain…. They gave attention to these and to similar
things for this purpose, in order that the king, insofar as it could be accomplished
reasonably and appropriately, might be freed of all concern for the household or
the palace. Thus, continuously placing his hope in Almighty God, he could
keep his mind ever intent on the governance and preservation of the state of the
entire realm. 40
39 Janet Nelson, 'Early Medieval Rites of Queen-Making and the Shaping of Medieval Queenship', in Medieval Queenship, ed. by John Carmi Parsons, (Stroud: Allan Sutton Publishing Ltd., 1993), p. 305.
19 Considering that Hincmar was writing in the 7th century, it must be asked whether his comments are still relevant in the time of Map and Béroul. In certain ways, they still resonate by this time; one way in which a Queen may play her role according to
Hincmar's theory is through her fulfilment of the task of bringing up the courtly maidens, to prepare them to run their own households and take their places as the wives of the king's noblemen. In political terms, it falls to her to ensure that her husband's court not only survives, but flourishes, thus establishing or strengthening bonds between the king and the new families/dynasties which emerge. Béroul's Iseut demonstrates a clear awareness of her own failures in this regard, having abandoned court to be with Tristan:
Les damoiseles des anors,
Les filles as frans vavasors
Deüse ensenble o moi tenir
En mes chanbres, por moi servir,
Et les deüse marïer
Et as seignors por bien doner. 41
Hincmar also implies that a queen, like a king, must be seen to be actively involved in acts of patronage at court. There is no real example of this behaviour in either Béroul or
Map, but contemporary historical examples do exist. Stafford describes a picture of
Queen Emma and her husband King Cnut, found in the Liber Vitae of New Minster
Abbey in Winchester:
It shows Emma and Cnut making a gift to the church of New Minster, Winchester, jointly….
40 Hincmar de Rheims, p. 219. 41 Lacroix and Walter, p. 124.
20 She may not grasp the cross, but she is clearly involved in the gift, gesturing actively towards it;
she is as large and prominent as her husband in the picture. 42
Yet Emma differs from Hincmar's description of the queen in that she does not act independently of her husband. Béroul and Map also establish in their tales that the queens are more clearly defined here by their links to the king than seems the case for
Hincmar's queens. The focus seems to have shifted to emphasise the queen’s ability to provide her husband with an heir to his throne. She thus ensures the continuance of his royal dynasty, and also brings a greater sense of security to the kingdom, and to the king's family's hold thereupon. Should the king die, there is someone of his bloodline to take his place, and thus there should be no fighting among courtiers over the throne.43
There must be no suspicion about the circumstances of the child's conception - a queen must be seen to live chastely, and to be most faithful to her husband. Should she be caught, even suspected, of adultery, the consequences could be severe, and the ramifications at court little better. Iseut and Tristan's adultery effectively tears the court apart, and deprives it of any rational leadership as Marc is consumed by jealousy and the desire for vengeance. Stafford emphasises the idea that the queen may only function in this secondary way, saying that her role derives from her 'intimate relationship with the king's body'44, which can mean that the queen is thereby located absolutely in her own body, and so in her unique physical capabilities, as a (potential)
42 Pauline Stafford, 'Emma: The Powers of the Queen', Queens and Queenship in Medieval Europe, ed. Anne Duggan, (Woodbridge: The Boydell Press, 1997), p. 4. 43 But the birth of an heir does not mean that said heir will automatically assume the throne. Warren tells us that "The principal of primogeniture was not yet fully established in feudal law, and questions of precedence of blood could still arouse sharp disagreements." (p. 19) 44 Stafford, p. 10.
21 mother. Thus in Map and Béroul, we have examples of pregnant queens, adulterous queens, and noblewomen raped and then marrying their rapist - the female role at this time is arguably grounded in the woman's physicality. The female body, therefore, of a queen or of a noblewoman, is of paramount importance in these tales. Her ability to give birth marks her as a mother, to her own children and to the court, and also makes her a central figure in the more chaotic and painful tales of courtly life; the adulterous queens are at least partly responsible for this misery, for example Iseut and the queen in Of the Friendship of Sadius and Galo. That both authors are at points highly critical of these particular female protagonists is unsurprising, and can be linked to the vilification of medieval women by their own society, in particular by clerics, such as Map himself. The French cleric Bernard de Clairvaux’s mistrust of Eleanor of Aquitaine demonstrated his fear of her influence over her husband:
In a sudden illumination he recognized the evil genius of the king, that “counsel of the
devil” that had plunged Louis into abysses of sin and remorse. Why had he been so blind
to this primordial ruse, Satan in the guise of a fair-seeming woman?45
He saw evil in Eleanor's physical appearance, and Béroul's description of Iseut's beauty could be similarly interpreted. Superficially, she is all that a queen should be, beautiful and richly-dressed:
En un bliaut de paile bis
Esoit la dame, estroit vestue
E d'un fil d'or menu cosue.
45 Amy Kelly, Eleanor of Aquitaine and the Four Kings, (London: Harvard University Press, 1950), p. 27
22 Si cheval hurtent a ses piez,
D'un filet d'or les ot trechiez. 46
Physically, she bears a great resemblance to Map’s 'golden peril' 47, the blonde, pale- skinned stereotype of the courtly romance. The very fact that she has come from across the sea, from Ireland, makes her an unknown quantity at the Cornish court, an
Otherworldly Celtic being. Despite looking the part of a virtuous wife and Queen, Iseut never truly plays it, even when the influence of the love potion wears off. Her priority is her love for Tristan, first, last, and always. But as Queen, she is bound to provide Marc with heirs to his throne, to secure the succession, and thus she is key to ensuring political stability. As a wife, she is to be faithful to her King and husband, doubly her superior, and to be the mother to the court in particular and to his subjects in general. It may be argued that her body is in fact his, and by loving another man, she rejects the physical demands of her role, as a real and figurative mother, to the extent that when she runs away with Tristan, the court, and so the kingdom, are thus orphaned. The lovers make repeated references to a love potion, taken allegedly by mistake, in pages missing from the extant manuscript. Iseut's mother gave her this potion, that she should share it with Mark, to ensure the success of their union. However, Brengain gives the potion to her mistress and Tristan, who then immediately fall in love. There are arguably parallels being drawn between this story and the Fall of Man in Genesis.
Iseut, proffering the goblet filled with the love potion, is Eve48, tempting the Tristan-
46 Lacroix and Walter, p. 76. 47 James, Brooke and Mynors, p. 157. 48 Developing the analogy further, I would argue that Iseut's mother, who made the potion, and Brengain, who served it, are symbolic of the serpent. Such an argument makes sense considering that medieval artists frequently represented Eden's snake as having the face of a woman (Pamela Norris, Eve: A Biography, (New York: New York University Press, 1998), pp. 318-319.)
23 Adam figure to taste the forbidden fruit. Iseut's betrayal of her queenly body's duties echoes Eve's physical betrayal of her promise to God, and Béroul's censure of adulterous women made clear.
Map likewise features adulterous women in his tales. The human Queen who appears in Sadius and Galo is consumed by lust and jealousy, and upon being rejected by Galo seeks to humiliate and destroy him. Map is unstinting in his condemnation of her:
by her importunity she made herself nothing but a bawd; whatever expectant passion
can suggest to its mad victim she tried. 49
Like Iseut, this Queen betrays the requirements made of her regal body, as she conducts an extra-marital affair. But her love for Galo pushes her to more desperate extremes than does Iseut's for Tristan, in as she sends a maid to seduce him, to be sure that he does not reject her because he is impotent. When she realises that he is not, she is consumed with rage and vengeful thoughts, and is determined to trap him in some way on the charge of lese-majesté50. Thus we see a queen prepared to use her position to revenge herself upon a man who rejected her - as her subordinate, he is subject to her judgement. Map compares her to animals, such as bears and tigers51, suggesting that in her lust and rage, and that by giving into such base instincts, she is no longer human.
49 James, Brooke and Mynors, p. 213. 50 According to the OED, “[a]ny offence against the sovereign authority; treason.” 51 "The Church …. saw the bear as the symbol of lust." (Beryl Rowland, Animals with Human Faces (London: Allen and Unwin, 1974), p. 32.) "Both secular and religious writers saw the tiger as the image of wrath and lust, the irascible and concupiscent passions." (Ibid., p. 151) Map's use of symbolism here subtly reinforces his negative portrayal of women as creatures ruled by lust, as he would certainly have been aware of the meanings quoted above.
24 Yet other courtly women's physical bodies are used, directly and indirectly, by other characters to their own ends, and these women are therefore at least partly innocent. The innocent Queen of Portugal is condemned as an adulteress by courtiers seeking to remove their rival from court, while Iseut's maid Brengain is requested to give up her virginity to Mark to protect Iseut, no longer a virgin, from his wrath. Map does not focus only on women who are inhuman, metaphorically speaking; many of his kings and noblemen encounter and subsequently marry women who are physically supernatural.
For example, he tells us how, when Eadric Wilde encounters some fairy women,
the whole of him kindled and blazed up, and from the fever of that fairest of plagues, that
golden peril, he drew courage. He had heard tell of the fables of the heathens, the nightly
squadrons of devils and the deadly vision of them, of Dictynna and the bands of
Dryads
and Lares. 52
He has come upon a house filled with women surpassing mortal beauty and stature, and succeeds in carrying away one of them. Map does not use the romantic language of courtly love tales, saying instead that Eadric 'for three days and nights used her as he would'53. The woman then submits, but only upon the condition that he does not mention her origins, her family, or home to her. She thus places a curse upon him, condemning him to misery, bad luck, and an early death, should he break this promise.
They are married, she is presented at court, and bears a son, but then he breaks the
52 James, Brooke and Mynors, p. 157. 53 Ibid.
25 taboo, and she leaves him. These tales are ambiguous, and may be interpreted in two ways. The female protagonists are potentially being held responsible for the destruction of the royal or noble family unit, if it is accepted that Map's purpose in telling these tales is an effort to give further proof of the fundamental unreliability of women - each fairy woman marries a mortal man, and has children, thus continuing his dynasty, and doing her perceived wifely duty. Yet even before the wedding ceremony, she places certain conditions upon their union. Inevitably the husband breaks these (often seemingly mild) conditions, and she leaves him, taking the children. He then has no heir to his name and his wealth, and no wife on whom to father more children. Map could be portraying the fickleness of women, and the inherent danger in loving them, or, as seems to happen here, of being entranced by them. These particular women are an exaggerated version of mortal women, more beautiful and attractive, and so more dangerous and vengeful, but mortal women could conceivably behave in a similar fashion. A man does not only imperil his own heart, and soul, but also his entire bloodline and dynasty, in his desire to possess this female body. If the man is a King, he furthermore risks the peace of his kingdom. This tale could also be a demonstration of feminine abuse of power, in that the wife does not accept her husband’s authority, but instead establishes her own power over him, that she then uses to leave him. Yet the strongest argument, in favour of the female protagonists, suggests that Map is conceivably allowing the women revenge upon their rapists/husbands, by physically withdrawing from them. He succeeds in turning on its head a recurring courtly love motif, that of the woman succumbing to her ravisher. Gravdal discusses this very conflation of sexual violence
26 and romance in a discussion of Chrétien de Troyes' Arthurian romances, highlighting the ambivalence of rape in a literary context:
Arthurian romance transforms rape into a romantic adventure: the heroine who is subjected
to the threat of assault both enjoys the great compliment to her beauty and basks in the
reflected glory of the triumphant knight'. 54
Map turns this on its head, having the woman submit, only to get her revenge in a single destructive act that essentially eradicates the knight's bloodline and so his security and ambitions. Thus Map is not as misogynistic a writer as he initially appears to be, allowing his female protagonists both to avenge the crimes perpetrated against them and to have a strong, influential presence in the medieval court.
It has been observed that adulterous women in medieval courtly literature almost never become pregnant, and it has been suggested that this is because the dynastic implications were too frightening to consider. Pratt draws attention to this in her discussion of Queens in medieval French literature:
It is politically disastrous if her children are thought to be illegitimate…. This is an anxiety
which lurks behind the presentation of adulterous queens in romance….and is indeed avoided
by making these queens apparently barren.55
54 Kathryn Gravdal, Ravishing Maidens: Writing Rape in Medieval French Literature and Law, (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1991), p. 67. 55 Karen Pratt, 'The Image of the Queen in Old French Literature', in Medieval Queenship, ed. by John Carmi Parsons (Stroud: Alan Sutton Publishing Ltd., 1993), p. 243.
27 Béroul does not address this issue, and the only Queen in Map who is pregnant comes to a tragic end. While the author and the reader know that she is pregnant by, and faithful to, her husband, he is led to believe that she is an adulteress, and so beats her, and their unborn child, to death. In his actions, we see the extremes to which the widespread medieval belief in the lustful nature of Queens and women can bring a man, and how it can be used for political motives by less scrupulous courtiers, as also happens in Béroul. It could be argued that writers like Map and Béroul are trying to tell us that the presence of women at court is a danger not only because women in themselves are not to be trusted, but also because this mistrust can be exploited to bring about disaster, as it is clear that women, particularly Queens, frequently were regarded with suspicion in medieval courtly literature. The abundance of otherworldly and inhuman female creatures in such literature actualises this belief and further emphasises that evil is situated in the body and nature of the female. Their very presence at court could be considered destabilizing in political terms, threatening the very future of the court or milieu in which they live, and of the dynasty which the Queens establish with their husband. Yet Map’s presentation of a pregnant Queen as an innocent figure ignorant of the machinations surrounding her subverts this idea and instead presents us with a virtuous and successful Queen.
Queens are courtly women can thus be innocent or guilty of great transgressions, all of which are grounded in their physical body. Yet, while they are first and foremost prized and condemned for the capabilities, perceived and actual, of their bodies, it is clear that they are capable of much more. In both Map and Béroul, there are examples of Queens and women taking on more politically and socially active roles, acting as
28 intercessors, taking charge of younger noblewomen in the court or household, and facilitating the marriages of their own children. There are clear examples of the female protagonists' understanding of their roles, and of their good intentions to work towards creating and maintaining a harmonious court.
The role of Queen as a mediator between the King and the people, whether nobles at court, or ordinary people, is based upon the role of the Virgin Mary as mediator between her Son in Heaven and His people on Earth. Herself a Queen, called
Maria Regina, and a mother, the Mother of God, she is the ideal model for temporal
Queens:
She mediates between heaven and earth, for in her glorified body she belongs in
both realms. She listens to the implorations of mankind…and promises to ease their
pain with heavenly medicine. The theology of the Virgin’s intercession maintains very
strictly that the Virgin does not have the power to grant any boon by herself, but only
intercedes with her son, who as God is the only source of salvation.56
Warner’s description can also signify the relationship between King, Queen and the court or people, whereby the Queen’s power lies in this regard lies in her ability to persuade the King, on behalf of the court or people. There are no clear examples of
Iseut as intercessor, but there is a definite bond between her and the people of
Cornwall, considering their reactions as she is led to the stake to be executed:
56 Marina Warner, Alone of All Her Sex: The Myth and Cult of the Virgin Mary, (London: Quartet Books, 1978), pp. 285-6.
29 Quant la dame lïee virent
(A laidor est), molt s’esfroïrent.
Qui ot le duel qu’il font por li,
Com il crïent a Deu merci!
“Ha! roïne franche, honoree,
Qel duel ont mis en la contree
Par qui ceste novele est sorse!” 57
If Iseut had not been a mother to her people, if she had not sought to listen to their problems and to ease their pain, it is difficult to comprehend that they would have cared about her to such a degree.
The Queen may also be perceived as someone who could intercede with the
King on his own behalf and for his own good (not only for the good of his people) if, for example, his soul’s salvation was in question. Pope Gregory I challenged Queen
Bertha of Kent to convert her husband to Christianity:
[I]t was your duty this long time past, by the excellence of your prudence, like a true
Christian, to have pre-disposed the mind of our illustrious son, your consort, to follow
the faith which you cherish, for the salvation of his kingdom and his soul. 58
The Queen is here held responsible for her husband’s ultimate fate and for that of his people. Rather than being asked to intercede with the King by the people on their behalf, she has in fact been approached by one outside the court, and asked to
57 Lacroix and Walter, p. 72. 58 Stacy S. Klein, 'Reading Queenship in Cynewulf's Elene', in Journal of Medieval and Early Modern Studies, 33 (1), (Duke University Press, 2003), p. 47.
30 intercede with the King for himself, and for his people, without their being consulted.
This implies that the Queen is clearly a very strong influence over the King, able to persuade him to change his personal beliefs and to encourage him to have his people convert also. It is to a degree surprising that such an important task should be assigned by a cleric to a woman, in light of priests’ normally misogynous attitudes towards women, an attitude shared by Map to an extent, but therefore demonstrates that a
Queen’s role as intercessor was not one to dismiss.
Many medieval Queens also played a diplomatic role at the medieval court, travelling around the kingdoms, patronizing churches and the houses of religious orders, and in facilitating royal marriages. Royal marriages were usually political, an attempt to create a bond between two families, or kingdoms. Thus the arrangement of these marriages was a diplomatic task in itself, frequently involving a long period of negotiation. Eleanor of Aquitaine was a central figure in her son Richard’s search for a bride:
Hers was the straightforward plan of providing her son with a wife worthy of her
calling, who would provide an incontestable heir for the Angevin Empire….The lady
summoned to the throne of the Plantagenets was Berengaria, daughter of
Sancho the
Wise, King of Navarre, who was herself a notable exemplar of all the graces of the courts
of love, one born to the familiar culture of the south…Not even the queen’s age nor
31 the danger of a wintry journey over the mountain passes daunted her in giving effect
to her plans. 59
Kelly demonstrates that Eleanor was not only involved in the plans for Richard’s marriage, but that it was in fact she who chose the bride, that she then negotiated the terms with King Sancho, and that she did not shirk from an arduous journey to meet
Berengaria and to bring her to her husband. Eleanor was obviously capable of successfully carrying out complex negotiations, particularly when there was a great deal at stake (in this instance, the propagation of the Angevin line). King Richard I obviously, and rightly, had great faith in this Queen’s abilities to successfully complete diplomatic missions. Béroul’s Iseut also demonstrates her awareness that she has a key diplomatic role to fulfil at Marc’s court, one that she has abandoned to be with Tristan:
Les damoiseles des anors,
Les filles as frans vavasors
Deüse ensenble o moi tenir
En mes chanbres, por moi servir,
Et les deüse marïer
Et as seignors por bien doner. 60
By arranging marriages between the maidens ostensibly under her protection and noblemen also at Marc’s court, she establishes a bond between the couple and the court, and so strengthens Marc’s kingship by guaranteeing him their support; ideally, the couple will then have children who will take their place as the next generation at Marc’s
59 Kelly, pp. 262-3. 60 Lacroix and Walter, p. 124.
32 court. Thus the Queen takes on a diplomatic role to further validate and establish her
King’s position and court. In so doing, she further perpetuates the concept of the King and Queen as father and mother to the court.
Béroul demonstrates that Iseut, in addition to her awareness of her diplomatic, has an innate intelligence, that, like her ability to assert her authority, is commendable, both being essential weapons needed merely to survive at Marc's court. Iseut shows that she has the makings of a truly successful Queen, qualified to help her husband rule his court and his kingdom. When she agrees to swear an oath to prove her fidelity to
Marc, she is solely responsible for the plan in which Tristan, disguised as a leper, carries her across the river and accidentally falls with her onto the bank, thus permitting her to swear honestly that
Q'entre mes cuises n'entra home,
Fors le ladre qui fist soi some,
Qui me porta outre les guez,
Et li rois Marc mes esposez.61
Her authority is clear in her instructions to both Perinis and Tristan, and she clearly has no trouble giving orders to men, thus appearing comfortable in and confident about her role as Queen. It is notable that she does not explain her intentions to either man, merely issuing her orders and expecting them to be obeyed. This woman is a force to be reckoned with in a male-dominated court, and clearly has the potential to be a strong and influential Queen.
Thus Béroul and Map acknowledge both the good and the bad elements in their various queens and noblewomen. They address the implications of a queen's adultery
61 Lacroix and Walter, p. 214.
33 for the court, and do not shrink from condemning the queens who indulge such desires.
Yet both authors present a nuanced portrayal of their courtly women, and ultimately present a very balanced portrayal of the female protagonists, some fundamentally innocent, some beyond redemption and others a blend of good and bad choices and instincts. The various roles that women, in particular queens, may play in the court setting are acknowledged, and ultimately we are left with a concept of the medieval queen as a valuable central figure at the court, whose presence is necessary not only to produce a heir to the throne but also to assist in the management of the court, and of the kingdom.
Upon reading De Nugis Curialium and Tristan et Iseut for the first time, the various courts seemed fundamentally dark, and bleak. It was difficult to comprehend how anybody, for example Map, could have wished to live in such an environment. Yet from subsequent readings of the texts there emerged new details and themes, which rendered the court and those within it more sympathetic. Having focused primarily upon the two central figures of any courts, the king and queen, and considering them through the lens of kingship and queenship theories, it is clear that both figures are necessary in different ways to ensure the stability of the court. Yet the only absolutely good and successful monarch portrayed by either author is King Arthur, in Tristan et Iseut. Other kings may be violent and vengeful, like King Mark and the King of Portugal. Others are basically good kings who lose their kingdoms through the agency and deceit of others, as in the case of King Herla. There are others capable of ruling, yet lacking a crown, such as Tristan, who shows how is he equipped to protect the realm in ways that Mark
34 is not. Béroul and Map studied all these kinds of kings, and succeeded in giving both positive and negative portrayals of what it means to be king. The queens did not initially come across as sympathetic and successful beings, yet further study demonstrated that both authors were in fact more positive about their female protagonists than was to be expected of someone writing in their time. One queen in particular, in the tale of Sadius and Galo, is utterly caught up in her lust, while Iseut, who may be compared to her, clearly demonstrates her intelligence and an awareness of her royal responsibilities, that suggests she has the capacity to be a great queen. Map gives his otherworldly women the chance to avenge themselves on the men who kidnapped and raped them, thus turning courtly romance motifs on their head, and, unexpectedly taking the side of the woman. Queens are also shown as the innocent victim of courtiers' dark plots, and the darkest portrayal of courtly life is undoubtedly the double murder of the innocent courtier and pregnant queen in Map's Of the King of Portugal, at the hands of courtiers and king. Thus Map and Béroul show us a multi-faceted image of courtly life, where initial perceptions of their tales must not be taken as a true reflection of the court. It is made clear that both kings and queens are essential to the establishment and continuation of a successful court, and that they each have many roles; if either figure is absent or distracted from his or her obligations, the court cannot function properly.
There are clear dangers present at the court, and both king and queen are vulnerable to the machinations of their courtiers - in order to survive, they must demonstrate an acute intelligence and ability to take control, for it is ultimately through weakness, credulity and suspicion that Map and Béroul's potentially successful courts may be destroyed.
35
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