[MR] Courtesans of Atlantia

[David Chessler]

Regrettably, I have little information about courtesans of Europe. Problems of
period, region, and so forth.

What I did was check Wikipedia to get some dates. One of the things I've
learned in the SCA is that when you try to cover 1000 years of history, things
change. The "modern" view of the courtesan appears to have developed in the
16th C in Italy and perhaps France. England was ruled by a "virgin queen", and
so, while the society was "open", lewd and bawdy by our present standards,
it's not so clear that the court was--or if it was, in what ways. Germany was
not united in the 16th C, and I don't know much about it.

Anyhow, Wikipedia did have some good quotes which mostly said that the
renaissance was a change from what had preceded it. But we all knew that. We
knew that, but forgot it, even though we've seen equivalent changes in our own
lifetimes (or those of us who remember the 1960s). (But, people who claim to
remember the '60s, don't.)

------ Original Message ------
Received: Tue, 18 Jan 2011 06:42:33 PM EST
From: Stefan li Rous <StefanliRous at austin.rr.com>
To: Atlantia maillist <atlantia at seahorse.atlantia.sca.org>
Subject: Re: [MR] Courtesans of Atlantia

> Cassandra said:
> <<< For those with more interest on the topic, please do not be discouraged
to contact me off list.  As her Highness has requested, I would like to take
further discussion off list. >>>
> 
> I, for one, was very interested in this discussion of the Courtesans of
Atlantia or of the period of history in Europe that we purport to study. I am
finding that I had a number of misunderstandings about these Courtesans, even
in the brief mentions of them earlier on this list.
> 
> I am sorry to see such a scholarly discussion be forced from this list. But
if that is the wish of the members of this list, then yes, please let's take
it from this list, but please include myself since I imagine there is a lot I
could learn.
> 
> I would welcome yourself, or perhaps David Chessler? or other folks
knowledgeable about these Courtesans of Europe to write one or more papers or
articles on these women for the Florilegium. It is a topic not well covered
and probably known more by myths than real knowledge.
> 
> Individuals may view these women with wonder, disgust or fear, depending
upon their own beliefs and upbringing, but unlike the Victorians, I believe we
should study all aspects of the culture and times we study and not force
ourselves to look through rose-colored glasses. That we should look at the
blood and gore of medieval combat and life as well as its romanticism and
chivalry. 
> 
> While we make the assumption that all gentles we meet at our events our of
noble birth unless otherwise indicated, that doesn't mean all are or wish to
portray themselves as of noble birth at all times. Do some not wish to portray
themselves as men-at-arms? or lowly merchants? or serving ladies or even
beggars at times? Well, if so, shouldn't be strive to be those people we
portray? Or are we trying to simply create a fairy-tale story instead of what
was?  The SCA has occasionally suffered from "political correctness", I hope
this isn't another such episode.
> 
> THLord Stefan li Rous
> 
> --------
> THLord Stefan li Rous    Barony of Bryn Gwlad    Kingdom of Ansteorra
>   Mark S. Harris           Austin, Texas         
StefanliRous at austin.rr.com
> **** See Stefan's Florilegium files at:  http://www.florilegium.org ****
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