Lecture 6 - Getting political: The Feudal Context of Béroul's Tristan

Overall treatment of the love narrative, domestic policy: concilium and auxilium, escondit, kingship; foreign affairs: neighbouring kingdoms, overseas relations

Treatment of the love narrative

Love narrative = love story

Amor fine = Thomas = 69 instances, Béroul 1

Love narrative = political story

Béroul’s innovation to version commune

Feudal law and social organisation

Not necessarily ‘more realistic’ treatment despite its engagement with sociopolitical issues, structural contrivance.

Political satire vs pretext for drama at both ends of its possible spectrum (it finds itself somewhere in between)

Political context in Béroul’s Tristan

Domestic policy (within Marc’s kingdom)

• Auxilium (military aid) and consilium (advice)

• Escondit - the way in which someone responds to a challenge, clears their name - concerns both Tristan and Iseut

Foreign affairs

• Relations with neighbouring kingdoms (Marc and Arthur, threat to send Tristan somewhere else)

• Overseas relations with Ireland

Concilium and auxilium : barons

Epic motif of revolting against barons e.g. Guillaume d’orange cycle (c. 1130)

Courtly motif of losengiers e.g. Chastelaine de Vergi (though before 1288) Disrupters of central love narrative as barons disrupt social order

The barons’ motivation in Eilhart’s version of Tristan and Iseut is personal jealousy and familial spite.

The barons’ motivation in Béroul’s version is more complex, and developed in feudal terms

Judgements of barons (1)

Reported dereliction of feudal duties

Tryst: taisant et muz; fail to prendre ses adous; didn’t speak or offer their military service so failed in auxilium and concilium. 

• Molt les vi ja taisant et muz, / Qant li Morhot fu ça venuz, / Ou nen i out uns d’eus tot sous / Qui osast prendre ses adous / Molt vi mon oncle iluec pensis, / Mex vosist estre mort que vis. / Por s’onor croistre m’en armai, / Conbati m’en, si l’en chaçai (vv. 135-41) (I saw them stay quite silent and say nothing when Morholt came here; there wasn’t a single one of them who dared to take up arms. I saw my uncle very troubled at that time; he would rather have been dead than alive. In order to increase his honour, I armed myself, fought with Morholt, and chased him away)

They didn’t step up to the mark to serve Marc against Morholt - leads to felon attribution. Further evidence of dereliction of duty

• Se li felon de cest’enor / Por qui jadis vos conbatistes / O le Morhout, quand l’oceïstes / […] / Se li felon de cest’enor… (vv. 26-28, 44-45) (If the villains in this kingdom - for whose sake/in place of whom you once fought and killed Morholt - […] If the villains in this land…

The Cornish people : taisanz, n’ot un si hardi. Further evidence of dereliction of duty

• Nos barons fist si tost taisanz / Que onques n’ot un si hardi / Qui s’en osast armer vers lui. (vv. 850-852)

Judgements of barons

Jealousy: hatred of Tristan por sa proosie

• Li troi baron sont en la chanbre, / Tristan par ire an son lit prenent / Cueilli l’orent cil en haïne / Por sa prooise, et la roïne (vv. 771-74) (The three barons were now in the room; angrily they took Tristan in his bed. They had begun to hate him because of his prowess, and also the queen [or … because of his prowess and also because of the queen] Hatred of Tristan por… la roïne, or of Iseut herself? Is she an indirect or direct target of the barons’ hatred?

Justifiable motivations for wanting rid of Tristan? barons threaten to withdraw and unleash war on Marc.

• A la cort avoit trois barons / Ainz ne veïstes plus felons. / Par soirement s’estoient pris / Que, se li rois de son païs / N’en faisot son nevo partir, / Ils nu voudroient mais soufrir, / A lor chasteaus sus s’en trairoient / Et au roi Marc gerre feroient. / Qar en un gardin, soz une ente, / Virent l’autrier Yseut la gente / Ovoc Tristran en tel endroit / Que nus hon consentir ne doit ; / Et plusors foiz les ont veüz / El lit Marc gesir toz nus (vv. 581-94) (At the court there were three barons - you never saw such wicked men! They had sworn that, if the king did not make his nephew leave the kingdom, they would tolerate it no longer and would retire to their castles to make war on King Mark. For the other day, under a tree in a garden, they saw Iseut the Fair with Tristan in a place that no man should allow. And they had often seen them lying together, naked, in Mark’s bed)

Marc’s several ‘advisors’

All whose advise against the lovers = ill intent

Barons’ specious (seeming to be right or true, but actually wrong or false) feudal loyalty 

Frocin: duplicity of the double agent 

• Ha ! Or oiez qel traïson / Et confaite seduction / A dit au roi cil nain Frocin ! / Dehé aient tuit cil devin ! / Qui porpensa tel felonie / Con fist cel nain, qui Dex maudie ? (vv. 643-48) (Ah ! Now hear what treachery and contrived perfidy this dwarf Frocin proposed to the king! Cursed be all such magicians! Whoever thought of such wickedness as this dwarf did, whom God curses?)

Forester: self-interested cupinidious (full of excessive desire or cupidity - greed for money or possessions) The forester notices the lovers in the woods one day and he tells the barons what he has seen - spy/witness role. 

But not everyone who conspires against the lovers is on their side

Barons’ merciless treatment of informants.

Barons’ bullying of Marc

They exploit his feudal obligation to seek advice:

Barons’ belligerence:

• Et nos ne volon mais sosfrir.” / Li rois l’entent, fist un sospir, / Son chief abesse vers la terre, / Ne set qu’il die, sovent erre. / […] / “Q’en feras tu ? Or t’en conselle ! (vv. 609-612, 618)

Marc’s desperation:

• Conselier m’en, gel vos requier. / Vos me devez bien consellier, / Que servise perdre ne vuel (vv. 631-633) (Give me your advice, I beg you? You must advise me well, for I do not want to lose your service) 

The barons offer up spurious arguments to persuade Marc: consel te doron bonement and there is a call for an escondit (a form of legal defence)

• “Rois, or entent nostre parole. / Se la roïne a esté fole, / El n’en fist onques escondit. / S’a vilanie vos est dit ; / Et li baron de ton païs / T’en ont par mainte foiz requis, / Qu’il veulent bien s’en escondie / Qu’o Tristran n’ot sa drüerie. / Escondire se doit c’on ment. / Si l’en fait faire jugement / Et enevoies l’en requier, / Priveement, a ton couchier. / S’ele ne s’en veut escondire, / Lai l’en aller de ton enpire.” (vv. 3041-54) (“Sire, now listen to us. If the queen has behaved wickedly, she has never exculpated herself. This is spoken of as shameful to you; and the barons of your land have begged you many times to make her defend herself against the accusation of loving Tristan. She must vindicate herself if this is false. Oblige her to undergo judgement/Let her decide her own defence, and ask her soon in private when you go to bed. If she will not defend herself, banish her from your kingdom.

Escondit

Tristan becomes engaged in a judicial duel (like Thierry and Pinabel)

Marc denies Tristan the right to prove himself, as he believes Tristan’s confidence to be that unbeatable.

• Se je ne l’en puis alegier / Et en ta cort moi desrainier, / Adonc me fai devant ton ost / N’i a baron que je t’en ost / N’i a baron, por moi laisier, / Ne me face ardrë, ou jugier (vv. 2575-2580) (If I cannot defend her and exculpate myself at your court, then I will make my defence in front of your army. I make exception of none of your barons who would seek to harm me and have me condemned to be burnt)

All the barons deny Tristan an escondit

Iseut = oath guaranteed by a higher authority

Barons characterised by their cowardly opportunism. Marc momentarily rumbles the barons’ duplicity, but is unable to punish them directly. 

Other barons - Andrez and Dinas

Andrez and Dinas are equivocal (ambiguous) supporters of Tristan and Iseut. Andrez is Marc’s nephew. He has the courage to challenge Marc’s decision to banish Tristan (pragmatic, bigger picture) and is paired with Dinas to escort Iseut to Mal Pas.

• Li roiz a son nevo parole. / Andrez, qui fuz nez de Nicole, / Lui a dit : “Rois, quar le retiens, / Plus en seras doutez et criens.” (vv. 2869-72) (The king spoke to his nephew. Andrez, who was born in Lincoln, said to him: “King, retain him, for men will respect and fear you the more.”

There is also a joust against Tristan

Conclusion

Political context is essential and integral to love narrative

It expands feudal picture beyond les trois felons

Develops characters and settings