“Sweaty men, big horses, and
marriages of convenience.”

That’s how one fan of medieval romances summed it up when I asked her to explain the lure of her favorite time period. The Middle Ages, the millennium between the years 500 and 1500, had its share of sweaty men. Sweaty women, too. Even the big horses were sweaty. But it’s the men—those larger-than-life, broad­sword-wielding knights of old—who truly capture our imagina­tion...and hearts.
            The medieval knight epitomized the earthy and often brutal era in which he lived. Buckled into his armor and mounted high on his warhorse, his weapon at the ready, his battle pennon snapping in the breeze, he was a sort of archaic Superman—a righter of wrongs, an icon of virility who used his strength only for good, governed as he was by a system of ethics known as the code of chivalry.
            A captivating image, with the power to make many a modern maiden yearn for a time machine. If we could zip back to, say, the twelfth century, and observe the reality of knighthood, my guess is we’d find the truth a tad less than romantic. We’d see our invincible warrior being hauled by grunting squires onto his horse because he’s too heavy in his armor to manage the feat himself. By the same token, if he was unseated during battle, we’d see him twitching helplessly on the ground like an over­turned turtle, unable to right himself or stand. We’d watch in horror as he bloodied his sword for causes less than righteous, or dipped into his purse and paid off those to whom he owed fealty, so that he wouldn’t have to fight at all. And we’d nag him to take a bath once in a while, only to hear him bray with laughter at the thought. (That said, there were members of the nobility who actually did bathe regularly. Some even traveled with their own bathtubs.)
            This is not to imply that our notion of the gallant knight is just a pretty myth. There were many cheva­liers famous for their valor, foremost among them being William Marshal, earl of Pembroke, the most venerated nobleman of his day and the proto­type for the exemplary knights who populate our romanc­es. Like William, our fictional heroes represent manhood in its finest flower—a perfect fusion of testosterone and virtue. What’s not to like?
            But these stories aren’t just about heroes. Medieval women carried their weight in society. Our heroines worked, and worked hard—and not just women of the merchant and peasant classes, but wives and daughters of the nobility. Contrary to our modern notion of the fair damsel closeted in her solar with her needle­work and her lute, the chatelaine of a great castle shouldered vast responsi­bilities—domestic, adminis­tra­tive, medical, and even military. One of her obliga­tions was to train her children for their future roles, and this she did by foster­ing them out to other noble families, where they were put to work as pages or ladies-in-waiting. Some children were sent to convents and monasteries to be educated, often in preparation for taking Holy Orders themselves.



            It goes without saying that all members of the humbler classes—men, women, and children—toiled ceaselessly in service to their overlord. Feudalism, the pecking order that provided the social, economic, and governing backbone for most of Western Europe during the Middle Ages, was ruthlessly simple and com­pletely inviolable. The rights of serfs, or villeins, those at the bottom of the medieval food chain, varied from time to time and place to place. Sometimes they were considered proper­ty, like slaves, sometimes not. In either case, they had little choice but to spend their lives in backbreaking labor for the benefit of someone else.
            In medieval Europe, there was never much question about where you stood in society and what was expected of you. From the lowliest peasant to the king himself, lives were governed very much by convention, with little room for personal choice. Which brings us to possibly the most seductive ingredi­ent of the medieval romance...
            Ah! The marriage of conve­nience, the most popular primal romance plot and, incidentally, my own personal favorite. During the Middle Ages, alliances of property were standard fare for the upper classes. Nothing enforces intimacy between a hero and heroine like an arranged marriage! Whether the couple is ac­quainted or not, the necessity of sharing a home—not to mention a bed—regardless of their feelings for each other is ripe with potential for sexual tension, the lifeblood of all romances.
            As with the Regency and Victorian periods, Europe in the Middle Ages was regulated by a tapestry of rules and expecta­tions. One of the greatest pleasures of reading medieval romance is the oppor­tu­nity to live vicariously through our spirited heroine as she prevails over society’s stifling dictates, talks the sweaty hero off that big horse, and turns her cold-blooded marriage of convenience into a passionate union of true and lasting love.

The Seductive Middle Ages
                       
Patricia Ryan has written 28 novels, 17 of which have been romances, both contemporary and historical. Her book, Silken Threads, won Romance Writers of America's RITA Award for Best Long Historical Romance in 2000.  Patricia's romantic oeuvre consists so far of 6 medievals, 8 Harlequin Temptations, 2 contemporary novellas, and 1 historical novella. She tapped into her fascination with 19th century American cities to create the Gilded Age mystery series, which she writes as P.B. Ryan.  Her newest project is the Hidden Grotto series which she's writing as Louisa Burton. Although Patricia has branched off during the past few years into other genres, she still love romances, and hopes to publish more of them in the future.  Please visit her website at www.patricia-ryan.com

Click here to return to Village News >>