Woman was evil; the struggle against her a laudable effort.
Very probably the stigmatising of all eroticism during that long spell
of a thousand years was necessary. Only the unnatural condemnation of
love in its widest sense, a hatred of sex and woman such as was felt by
Tertullian and Origen, could result in the reverse of sexuality--purely
spiritual love with its logical climax, the deification and worship of
woman. There can be no doubt that the Christian ideal of chastity was
largely responsible for the evolution of the ideal of spiritual love.
The identity of love and chastity was propounded--in sharp contrast to
sexuality and--more particularly amongst the later troubadours, such as
Montanhagol, Sordello, and the poets of the "sweet new style" in
Italy--with a distinct leaning towards religious ecstasy.
Infinite tenderness pervaded the nascent cult of woman. It seemed as if
man were eager to compensate her for the indignity which he had heaped
upon her for a thousand years.
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