Traditional religion was transformed so that a place might be
found in it for a woman.
The reason for the recognition of spiritual love from the moment of its
inception as something supernatural and divine, is obvious. The heart of
man was filled with an emotion hitherto unknown, an emotion which
pointed direct to heaven. The soul, the core of profound Christian
consciousness, had received a new, glad content, rousing a feeling of
such intensity that it could only be compared to the religious ecstasy
of the mystic; man divined that it was the mother of new and great
things--was it not fitting to regard it as divine and proclaim it the
supreme value? The troubadours had known it. Bernart of Ventadour had
sung:
I stand in my lady's sight
In deep devotion;
Approach her with folded hands
In sweet emotion;
Dumbly adoring her,
Humbly imploring her.
Peire Raimon of Toulouse:
I would approach thee on my knees,
Lowly and meek,
I would fare far o'er lands and seas
Thy ruth to seek.
Pages:
222
223
224
225
226
227
228
229
230
231
232
233
234
235
236
237
238
239
240
241
242
243
244
245
246