O Limousin, land of delights and honor, You are honored by merit, glory, All values are gathered in one place, And now the opportunity has been given to us
Experience the joy of knowing in full:
The more courtesy everyone needs, Who wants to conquer a lady without flattery.
Gifts, bounty, mercy in every gesture
Love cherishes like a wave fish
Nice courtesy to her, good news, But also - courtyard, tournaments, abuse, war:
In whom the craving for the highest valor is strong, Do not blunder, for by fate she
Sent to us with Donna Guiscard together.
("Song for the Arrival of Donna Guiscarda" by Bertrand de Born (1140-1215))
On the pages of TOPWAR, we have more than once got acquainted with knightly armor, and with descriptions of the battles in which the knights dressed in them participated. But … if you think that the knights did only that, then you are mistaken. First of all, they “just lived”. They ate, slept, wrapped the skirts of the peasant women on their backs, went hunting, it happened - they were drunk, sometimes they came to the palace to see the king. They were jealous … They were glad that "kings also cry." They flattered them when possible … That's how we lived. And they fought … God forbid, if 40 days a year. Although there were those who fought literally from morning to evening. Yes, here's another thing - they were dragging behind the women. That is, they had a "lady of the heart" who should have been loved platonically, but physically … for this there were wives, servants, and market whores - where there is demand, there is always supply.
But … but how can we learn about the life of at least some knight, and so that it was not fiction, not a "novel", but historical evidence. Well, it turns out you can do this too, and tell not just about a knight, but about a very famous person, also thanks to … a movie!
Tournament from the film "The Story of a Knight" (2001). Judging by the armor and general surroundings, this is not even the Hundred Years War, but at least the beginning of the 16th century.
Well, who, pray tell, has not seen the feature film "A Knight's Story" with Heath Ledger in the title role? However, few people know that the character he plays in it really existed! But the real knight Ulrich von Lichtenstein was born, lived and died in the 13th century, around 1200-1275, and not at all during the Hundred Years War, as is evident from this movie. And he was by no means poor, as the creators of the picture showed us, but even very rich! Well, the armor in which the "filmmakers" wore him, also in no way corresponded to his era, as they were borrowed from … the next 16th century! But here we were very lucky. There is, as it turned out, a 13th century manuscript kept in the Munich State Library, in which the knight Ulrich von Lichtenstein himself told about his adventures. It is called "Frauendienst" ("Serving the Ladies"). True, “told” does not sound entirely correct, since he did not know how to write (although he had the happy gift of composing beautiful love sonnets!), And he had to dictate a description of his life to his scribe. But his "story of a knight" did not get any worse from this! Although, maybe he embellished her a little. But if he embellished it, then quite a bit, first of all, because "lying in writing" at that time was considered a terrible sin, and besides, there are cross-references confirming his messages.
This is how Ulrich von Lichtenstein was depicted on the pages of the famous Manes Codex from the Heidelberg University Library.
So, here it is - the life of a real knight, told by him.
Well, and it should begin with how, in his early youth, he … fell in love with a certain noble lady, moreover, older than his years and, being her page (and then the knights gave their offspring to the courts of richer and noble seniors) and constantly Serving her, he drank water in which she washed her hands. Today it is impossible to say with certainty what the name of this lady was, but it is clear that in the nobility of the family she surpassed the “poor youth”. Well, according to individual hints from the author, we can conclude that it could also be the wife of the Austrian Duke Leopold, who was the suzerain of Ulrich von Liechtenstein.
And here is another equally old image of the knight-minnesinger Bertrand de Born, the author of the epigraph poem. Miniature from a manuscript of the National Library of France.
Being knighted, Ulrich immediately felt that it was finally time to offer his lady of the heart and something more than the usual page services. But here's the trouble - the knight could not approach his beloved as easily as an inconspicuous page, so he needed an intermediary. One of his aunts, a former friend of a noble lady, decided to act as a pimp, and, apparently, it could well be that both ladies were simply bored and thus decided to have fun. The love affair began with an exchange of messages. Ulrich composed poems and sent them through his aunt to the lady; and she not only accepted them favorably, even praised them. However, the matter did not go further than the recognition of his merits as a poet. To all his calls, the lady answered that Herr Ulrich might not even dream that his services would be accepted by her. That is, everything happened according to the custom of that time, when the mistress seemed to push her admirer away, but not enough to completely push him away, and encourage him at the same time so that the unfortunate lover would receive absolutely nothing, but would constantly be tormented by doubts. Well, and then she suddenly said that his upper lip was very bulging, which, apparently, really was, well, let's just say - a little too big.
Needless to say - the armor on the "cinematic" Ulrich is quite historical, but … the time was not chosen at all.
As soon as Ulrich found out about this, he immediately went to the best local surgeon, and he, of course, cut off his excess flesh without anesthesia! Moreover, our knight did not allow himself to be tied up - after all, he was a real knight, and therefore he simply sat down on the bench and silently endured all the time while the doctor cut off almost half of his lips. And after another six months he endured the pangs of hunger stoically, since after the operation he was unable to eat or drink. The fact was that his lip was constantly smeared with some very foul-smelling ointment, so he immediately felt sick when he ate, since this ointment, no matter how hard he tried, still got into his food and drink, and then into her mouth, and her taste and smell were disgusting! However, he did not lose heart at all, but, on the contrary, wrote, or rather, dictated the following lines: "My body suffered, but my heart was filled with happiness."
When the lady found out what Ulrich had done for her, then … of course, she decided to see "how much he corrected himself," and agreed to meet with him, but he was worried on this date so that he could not utter a word. As a result, an angry lady tore a lock of hair from his head with the words: "This is for cowardice!" But this did not seem enough to her, and she also wrote him an insulting letter, reproaching him with not at all knightly cowardice. A man of our time would have sent such a lady to hell and would have gone “to cut a tree by himself,” but such an attitude did not stop the knight Ulrich that time.
He began to appear at knightly tournaments and everywhere announced that he was fighting for the honor of his beloved lady of the heart, whose name he could not reveal. And everyone treated this with understanding! And he had already broken a hundred spears in fights, emerged victorious in all fights, began to be mentioned among the best fighters when the spear of his opponent hit him in the right hand, and almost tore off his … little finger. The doctor, however, said that since the finger is still hanging on the piece of skin, you can still try to save it and … took it and sewed it back to its original place! Ulrich then underwent treatment for six months, but the little finger is just a fantasy, nevertheless it has grown to the hand, albeit crookedly. When his evil passion was told about this, she wrote to him that all this was not true, and that the little finger (she, they say, knows for sure from the most reliable sources) did not go anywhere and this whole story was a fiction to pity her. Truly, the deceit of women has no boundaries! But how did Ulrich react to this? Do you think he went to the surgeon so that he would testify to the veracity of this message by the oath on the cross and the testimony of worthy people? Nothing like this! He went to his friend and asked him … to cut off his newly healed finger! The latter complied with his request, and Ulrich went to the jeweler and asked to make a gold clasp for the book, moreover in the shape of a little finger, where he hid this severed finger, and sent the book to his lady of the heart as a gift! Just imagine what she experienced when she opened the gold case and fell out of it right into her hands … the severed little finger of her adorer, by this time also, most likely, "spoiled"? Therefore, you and I are unlikely to be surprised by her answer: "I never thought that a reasonable person is capable of such nonsense!" However, he was just capable and, what is most interesting, his very friend did not dissuade him, but hurried to fulfill his request!
Then Ulrich von Lichtenstein went to Venice, and ordered many women's dresses from the local tailors, but not for his lady, but … for himself! Twelve skirts and thirty blouses with embroidered sleeves, three white velvet robes and many other items of ladies' dress were sewn, and at the end also two long braids decorated with pearls. Equipped in this way, he set off to travel around Europe, while a herald was riding in front of him, telling where he was going and why, and also reading out a letter out loud, in which it was reported that Mr. Ulrich wanted to go all the way incognito (he had invented good things incognito for himself!), and at the same time participating in fights, while always wearing a woman's dress, as supposedly the goddess Venus herself! In addition, five servants were still galloping ahead of him, and a standard-bearer with a white banner rode behind him. On both sides rode two trumpeters blowing their trumpets. Further behind him were three riding horses in full gear and three more Parlefroy horses. Then the pages carried his helmet and shield. After them rode another trumpeter and four squires carrying a bunch of silver-painted spears. Two girls, dressed in white dresses, rode on horseback, just like two violinists, also on horseback, and at the same time playing the violins. At the end of such an amazing procession rode the goddess Venus herself, dressed in a white velvet robe, with a hood pulled down over her face; and on her head was a hat adorned with pearls. And also two long braids fell from under the hat, and they are also decorated with pearls! This is truly a scene that should have been filmed in Hollywood! And … that they didn’t have enough money, if they didn’t dare to shoot exactly “this”, but for some reason came up with their own plot? Is it really more spectacular?
And yet, we note the main thing: it was then, let's say - "strange time" that this glorious knight did not even think of tying up and locking in an insane asylum, but on the contrary, wherever he came, everywhere they greeted him with glee, and other knights considered it an honor to fight him in duel. As a result, he broke 307 copies on them, and presented 270 rings to his rivals in memory of his lady of the heart. At the same time, he himself did not even get a scratch, but he knocked four knights out of the saddle. Once he ran into exactly the same abnormal as himself. A certain Slovenian knight decided in honor of his lady to dress up in a woman's dress and to release fake braids from under the helmet. However, this masquerade did not help him and Ulrich knocked him to the ground.
In order for the spears in the film to be beautifully scattered from the blow to smithereens, they, firstly, like real tournament spears, were empty inside, and in addition cut, and secondly, filled with "raw" pasta and sawdust!
Both girls and women everywhere greeted Ulrich with almost boundless enthusiasm, just as now, perhaps, only rock stars, popular artists and athletes are greeted, so they liked his nobility and "true love"! One day, 200 women met him at the house where he spent the night, only to be escorted to church. And at the same time, no one objected that the man, the knight, was dressed in a woman's dress and in such a masquerade he entered the church, sat there in the places specially designated for women and, again, dressed like a woman, took Holy Communion in it. !
This is how the heroes of the movie should be dressed up if it corresponded to the realities of the story.
During this tour, Ulrich managed to get married and have four children. But neither the children nor the loving wife could serve as an obstacle to his love for a completely different woman. Usually in winter he came to his castle, lived there with his wife, but immediately in the spring he set off again in search of romantic adventures. And his wife did not interfere with this at all and did not even think that her husband was clearly abnormal! Although, it is possible that she also had an equally obsessive disposition, and in that era such behavior was perceived as the norm?
And so, in the end, the cruel heart of Ulrich's beloved softened, and she sent him word that she wanted to meet him. But at the same time, he had to show her his humility: put on a beggarly dress, and, along with the crowd of lepers awaiting her favors at the castle, wait for an invitation until a rope twisted from sheets was lowered from the window from above.
The knight and novelist Wolfram von Eschenbach, who lived at about the same time as Ulrich von Lichtenstein, even wore on his helmet … no, not horns, but two axes, however, very stylized.
From disgust (you will live among the lepers!) Ulrich almost vomited, but in the end he was still rewarded: his lady of the heart allowed him to come up to her, kindly received him, praised him for his loyalty and generally behaved very much with him. affectionately, only she did not give up her hands and set a strange condition: in order to prove his love, he had to hang outside the window all on the same sheet. Those who have read Don Quixote by M. Cervantes will immediately guess where he copied this episode from, and what happened there after the naive Ulrich happily agreed to it. Ulrich was cruelly deceived: the mistress's maid let go of the end of the sheet, and the unfortunate hero-lover fell right to the base of a rather high tower and was badly hurt! But Ulrich's boundless love was not extinguished even by this end of his love saga, and only after a little thought, he finally realized, "… that only a fool can serve indefinitely where there is nothing to count on a reward."
American film is just infinitely far from the true "story of a knight", isn't it? Although, as a "movie", it is quite possible to watch it once. Not more.
