>>...
That pryvely she fil of his accord
To take hym for hir housbonde and hir lord,
Of swich lordshipe as men han over hir wyves.
And for to lede the moore in blisse hir lyves,
Of his free wyl he swoor hire as a knyght
That nevere in al his lyf he, day ne nyght,
Ne sholde upon hym take no maistrie
Agayn hir wyl, ne kithe hire jalousie,
But hire obeye, and folwe hir wyl in al,
As any lovere to his lady shal,
Save that the name of soveraynetee,
That wolde he have for shame of his degree. <<
Bit of equivocating (not equality) going on there, though: "shame of his
degree" may have impelled many a man to action not precisely marked by
"gentilesse". Promises, promises. Good to know that the mediaeval poetic
take on patriarchy knew what the latter was getting away with & tried to
compensate. But was it useful to anyone?... It was nice to be reminded of
this ~ read it at school, where the astrology rather bemused me (those were
days when there was no astrology in the papers), but never since. -- I
googled it, Alison, it's all out there in virtual space.
Martin
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