Chapter 96 Traveling Through the Middle Ages 096

Chapter 96: Journey Through the Middle Ages 096

The 'courtly love' popular in the court at this time is a rather intriguing topic. Although Louisa initially regarded it as a kind of pretend game—when the need for 'love' could not be satisfied by a husband/wife, or even a lover, people sought an idealized, more elusive form of love through this method.

Devotion is the essence of 'courtly love,' especially the self-sacrifice of a knight for a lady. This is a behavior of silently doing many things for the other person without seeking anything in return, and it has a special term: 'service of love.'

Now, after spending a long time in the court, Louisa has gained a deeper understanding of 'courtly love.' Although she still does not consider it true love, she no longer dismisses all 'courtly love' as mere child's play.

To understand why courtly love exists, it is not because the idle rich are bored and need a way to adorn their romantic affairs, as if that would make them beyond reproach—this actually involves a cultural concept of the time, where true love was considered a supreme virtue!

The logic is that true love has the power to elevate a person. For example, if a knight falls in love with a noblewoman, he naturally must demonstrate bravery, wisdom, piety, humility, compassion, honesty, and justice for her sake—this is to win her favor and to make himself more worthy of her.

This has always been widely accepted, with the only debate being: what counts as 'true love'? In earlier times, people believed that love directed towards God was considered true love, pure and capable of making one devout, even transcendent. Love between the sexes (homosexuality was not recognized by religion) was considered mere lust, dirty and base!

However, with the rise of secularism, at least in the court, such religious love was no longer discussed! People only evaluated love between individuals, distinguishing between noble and base love—in essence, love where one party was not a noble and the ultimate goal was physical satisfaction was considered base love. Love where both parties were nobles, devoted to each other without seeking anything in return, and pursued spiritual harmony, bore a resemblance to Platonic love.

Even in the narrative poems depicting courtly love and in actual courtly love, physical intimacy was often part of the equation. If it did not occur, it was usually because the noblewoman was the wife of the knight's lord, and reality did not permit it...

In any case, in 'courtly love,' women enjoyed unprecedented agency. On one hand, this was because noble love required that knights could not engage in coercive behavior and could only offer 'service of love' in devotion, hoping to win the other's heart. On the other hand, it was also a requirement of the court and courtly love for women—to maintain a demeanor of reserve!

Unless it was love at first sight, being too readily swayed without going through many difficulties—could that be called 'true love'? Wasn't that no different from pursuing an ordinary woman?

Such a concept might be difficult to understand in later times, but at this time, it was widely accepted and believed!

Of course, maintaining reserve did not mean being cold and heartless, or else the noblewoman would also be considered inappropriate. The balance in this regard was often an important criterion for assessing a noblewoman's character. Both might reject a knight, but some noblewomen would be praised, while others would be criticized!

This was the reason for the dispute between Gina and Sir Bowen. Sir Bowen believed Gina was overly aloof and unfeeling, and should at least give him some 'sweetness.' Gina, however, felt she had done nothing wrong and that Sir Bowen was too impatient, which was a sign of disrespect for the lady and for his own 'love' in courtly love.

Regardless of whose idea was right (in Louisa's eyes, both had issues), at least Louisa would definitely stand on Gina's side!

So when she saw this scene, she intervened to assist Louisa, as if she had just come to find Gina for something and had not heard the argument, saying, "Gina, we are about to leave... Oh, Sir Bowen, hello."

"Are you here to see Gina? I'm sorry, but we are about to leave. As the Tournament Queen, I have to go to the jousting field, and Gina has to accompany me—I heard you will also participate in the joust? I wish you good performance." Without waiting for a response, Louisa took Gina's hand and walked away.

Today was Thursday, the day of the team joust. Compared to individual competitions, the team joust was the core event of the knightly tournament.

It simulated actual combat, with dozens to hundreds of knights forming a group, competing against other groups. The tactics and combat used in this process were almost no different from real warfare. At most, the risk of casualties was minimized, with camps set up as safe zones, and unless there was prior enmity, it was unlikely that anyone would be killed—though in real warfare, if possible, knights would not be killed either, as a captured knight could command a hefty ransom!

Even if the knight could not pay, his lord would usually pay for him... After all, he was fighting for you, and you wouldn't even help pay the ransom? That would be too heartless.

In any case, compared to the team joust, individual competitions were merely a prelude. As for why this prelude seemed to be gaining prominence, both in literature and in popularity, gradually surpassing the team joust, this was partly because individual heroism was inherently compelling, and one-on-one duels were much more entertaining than group battles. Why else would literary works feature scenes of generals clashing in front of armies to decide the outcome? It was because the audience loved it!

On the other hand, the team joust was not easy to watch, and spectators often felt disconnected. In individual competitions, within a relatively small arena, the audience could watch from the stands, seeing everything clearly from start to finish, much like watching a game in a modern stadium. The team joust, simulating actual combat, even in a limited way, required a much larger area!

This was somewhat like contemporary rally or cycling events, and at this time, there was no television broadcast, not even radio commentary. So, the audience really couldn't watch easily, at most seeing a general view from a high vantage point.

Even in modern times, with the ability to broadcast live, the influence of such events generally cannot compare to games held in stadiums. At this time, it was even more so, and only because the experience of the participants and the audience was still important, and the event was not yet commercialized, did the team joust not completely reverse—in any case, the knights still loved the team joust.

"Thank you," Gina said softly to Louisa in the carriage on the way to watch the team joust, feeling quite embarrassed.

Louisa just smiled and shook her head, reassuring Gina by not mentioning what had just happened. Instead, she changed the subject: "...Today promises to be dull, watching the team joust. Will we really be able to see clearly? And I don't understand any of this, even if I can see, I won't understand, so it will still be very dull."

As the mascot-like Tournament Queen, even if most other spectators could skip today's event and do whatever they wanted (in fact, most people couldn't go watch the event even if they wanted to), Louisa still had to make an appearance. It was said that a vantage point had been arranged on the western city wall of the Palatinate, as a high point with little obstruction, where most of the team joust area could be seen.

"It's not difficult, you can engage a herald skilled in narrating the joust to describe the situation to you," Gina thought for a moment and immediately offered a solution.

Louisa nodded slowly but did not indicate whether she would do so—she had only changed the subject, and whether to hire a professional commentator later was something to be decided then. She wasn't even sure if she would muster the slightest interest in the team joust!

In a stadium or by a television, those inclined to heed explanations of the rules, tactics, and the level of the participants must at least have some interest. Otherwise, it would be better to find something else to do, or even just daydream!

However, unexpectedly, when Louisa arrived at the designated viewing point, there was already a herald in bright livery waiting for her. This was the herald who had served as part of the competition host during the previous individual tournaments—of course, there couldn't be just one host, that would be too exhausting, and in case of any accidents, wouldn't the audience be left hanging?

This herald introduced himself as being there to serve the 'respected Queen of the Arena,' and if Louisa had any questions, she could ask him.

Louisa thought this was the tournament organizers' thoughtfulness, even taking into account spectators like her who really didn't understand the tournaments, and she didn't refuse. After thanking him a few times, she asked, "What is the format for today's competition? I heard that in such team tournaments, teams are typically formed based on nationalities."

"But if that's the case, the 'Mubohan team' would have an overwhelming advantage..."

"Yes, you're right, but in large tournaments, besides dividing teams by nationality, there are few alternatives that can satisfy all parties. Sometimes, it can even lead to very bad consequences, making people perceive it as a form of political alignment... So there's no choice, today we still have the 'Mubohan team,' 'Vasson team,' 'Gaudenland team,' and 'Rolancy team.'"

"Anyway, even if other teams don't have as many options, it's feasible to assemble enough knights to participate in the competition—according to the rules, each group this time is 100 knights."

Although this celebration was actually for the coronation of the King of Mubohan, the majority of attendees were Mubohan nobility, but there were also many foreign nobles attending, even monarchs came in person! The number of knights accompanying these people added up to quite a few, take Count Balzac, for instance, who brought over a hundred knights?

So a country can always form a team of 100 knights.

"Today's tournament is between Mubohan and Rolancy, next Thursday it's Vasson and Gaudenland, the Thursday after that, the previous winners will compete, and the last Thursday there will be no team tournament." The herald in livery also outlined the upcoming schedule.

The foreign nobles who came were not only from Mubohan, Rolancy, Vasson, and Gaudenland, but also from minor kingdoms and even small duchies on the periphery. Some could also form a team of a hundred knights, but there was no necessity for them to join the team tournament. Since they themselves did not strongly demand it, it was decided to form just four teams.

In fact, the Rolancy team was assembled with considerable reluctance... As is well known, Rolancy is not a unified kingdom at all, it's merely a geographical designation. Within Rolancy, North Rolancy, Central Rolancy, and South Rolancy are not the same thing, not just politically, but culturally, there are profound divisions!

It's just that this time, most of the attendees were nobles from North Rolancy and bishops from Central Rolancy (Central Rolancy is the preserve of the Church), which made it easier to form teams, so the nobles from North Rolancy formed the North Rolancy United Team—Central Rolancy was out of the question, as the Church itself opposes tournaments, and the prohibition on tournaments remains in effect! It's just that no one cares.

"Arranging the tournament schedule this way is very reasonable." Upon hearing that it was structured as a knockout tournament, Louisa thought it was quite reasonable. In later times, knockout and round-robin tournaments were not prevalent at this time. Participants often competed as they saw fit, like in the previous individual tournaments, where they chose an opponent and competed.

"Yes, very reasonable, it can determine a final winner. And..." Here, the herald who had served as a host humorously added, "I suppose there are also considerations about the spoils, after all, those who have lost before have no equipment or horses left, and can't compete again."

Team tournaments usually set the spoils in advance, sometimes agreeing on a ransom or compensation, which are common things on real battlefields. Sometimes, the agreed ransom or compensation can be unusually high, even higher than on real battlefields! However, most of the time, the victor's spoils include the defeated's equipment and horses, nothing else.

"That is indeed a consideration." Hearing the herald say this, Louisa also smiled.

In theory, affluent lords would reimburse knights for the equipment lost in team tournaments, but few lords possess the wealth to repeatedly make such compensations. So to reduce complaints from knights and lords later, it really had to be arranged this way—from this perspective, the herald's explanation, though humorous, held some truth.

This should at least be one of the factors considered in arranging the schedule this way.

With such a talkative commentator by her side, today was more bearable. When the Mubohan and Rolancy teams appeared in view, the herald could even rely on the 'live reports' from the messengers to piece together the battles happening out of sight for Louisa.

"Obviously, the King of Borlag, despite his youth, excels in battlefield tactics than the Duke of Milano... Ah, may I ask, who do you hope will win?" The herald commented on the tournament situation, as if suddenly thinking of something, and asked.

Louisa didn't think much: "Of course, it's the Mubohan side, after all, the leader is my brother-in-law!"

Generally, in such team tournaments, the leader of each group would be the person with the highest status... This time, the knights of the 'Mubohan Allied Forces' hailed from notably diverse origins, each with different lords. The King of Mubohan himself did not participate, so only the King of Borlag could keep those arrogant knights in check.

"Then, if Mubohan and Vasson each win, who will you support later?" The herald asked again.

These were not difficult questions, after all, the herald wasn't trying to challenge Louisa. Some political statements are hard to make because choosing either is wrong, there's no absolute reason, and saying it would offend people.

But at the moment, there was no such difficulty, Louisa naturally said: "Of course, it's Vasson, it's my country!"

Thus, guided by the herald, Louisa managed to watch and understand the morning's battles quite completely—of course, it wasn't over yet! This was a simulation of a real battlefield, unless the strength gap was too large, or it was forced into a situation where a decisive battle was necessary, it was rare to end the battle in just one or two encounters! People often fought for a while, reached a stalemate, and then separated.

There was room for tactical and strategic maneuvers here!

After lunch, the afternoon tournament had to continue. Fortunately, the battle ended in the afternoon, without dragging into a night tournament. Night tournaments are not only too exhausting for the participating knights, but also more dangerous. Night battles are rarely used on real battlefields, let alone if assassination tactics were used, who knows what the repercussions would be...

"...Today, many things were somewhat coincidental." Back at the residence in the evening, Madam Hugo suddenly said.

Louisa had been sitting and watching the tournament all day, listening to the herald's explanations, and really didn't know about other things. Hearing Madam Hugo say this, she didn't think much, and just followed up: "What things? What coincidences?"

"It's just that everything... has been going too smoothly." Madam Hugo seemed to find it difficult to describe precisely, so she simply gave Louisa an example: "For instance, the arrival of that herald, or the fact that during lunch, there were fruits and vegetables placed in front of you that you particularly enjoy, which no one else at the table was served."

Today's lunch was slightly better than usual, though still not to Louisa's taste, but at least there was something edible.

Then Madam Hugo mentioned events that occurred beyond Louisa's view... There were definitely issues! Of course, after Madam Hugo noticed something was amiss, she had someone look into it, but unfortunately, nothing had been uncovered yet.

Louisa had no clear thoughts on the matter and could only comfort her by saying she might be overthinking it, perhaps everything was just a coincidence, or the host was being particularly attentive and enthusiastic—then the very next day, she was proven wrong! Early in the morning, someone sent a basket of flowers, presumably just picked.

Although sending flowers could have other explanations, such as to parents, teachers, or friends, it's undeniable that, whether in ancient or modern times, sending flowers often signifies love, especially in the West.

"Who sent them?" Louisa asked. She remained composed, thinking it was merely a basket of flowers. Even if it was a gesture of love, she had seen many such gestures these days, and in the court, it wasn't a big deal.

Madam Hugo paused before responding, "It was sent by Sir Clare."

Perhaps fearing that Louisa might not remember who 'Sir Clare' was, or might confuse him with someone else, she quickly added, "He is the attendant to the Count of Zebland."

Louisa felt a sinking feeling—after the banquet on Tuesday, she had bluntly rejected Prince Guillaume, and it was quite possible that he might give up out of pride or other reasons. But it's undeniable that there's also a high possibility he might continue to persist.

As she grew older, Louisa had come to understand her 'charm' in this life. This wasn't just because of her appearance; obviously, factors like her low status were also significant pluses. In short, rejection didn't mean everything was settled; such 'precedents' were not uncommon in the court of Bludo!

Also, it was an intuition; having looked into Guillaume's deep, sea-like eyes, Louisa instinctively felt he wasn't someone who would easily give up. Including such matters...

For the past two days, there had been no movement, and Louisa felt a bit relieved, thinking she might have overthought it. On the other hand, she felt uneasy, with a premonition that reality might strike her at any moment.

"Sending flowers is quite common in the court..." Louisa sighed, still emotionally stable.

However, Madam Hugo's next words caught her off guard. Madam Hugo looked deeply at Louisa and said, "I can't say whether I should tell you this or not, but upon careful consideration, I shouldn't hide it from you, even though I can guess you wouldn't want to hear this—the flowers were picked by the Count of Zebland himself this morning."

"And about yesterday's matter, we finally found out the result. I was really worried, so I asked Sir Cornell to inquire more from those involved. Sir Cornell came to tell me this morning that everything that could be traced was arranged by the Count of Zebland... He is quietly serving you, just as a knight should."

Although the court advocates that knights should serve the ladies they admire, many believe that such service should not be flaunted, unless the person has no ulterior motives and is purely devoted, as well as displaying chivalry—obviously, everyone knows that if something starts with a lot of noise, the chances of success are greatly reduced.

The saying 'Secrecy leads to success, leakage leads to failure' wasn't known in the Middle Ages, but they understood similar principles.