A Court of Bleeding and Boiling: Medieval & Modern Courtly Romance

In this episode, we finish off the Lais of Marie de France and ask - what makes a medieval romance, and how can we apply that to our games and stories in fresh ways? How does medieval romance compare to modern fantasy romance?

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Citations & References:

• Marie de France. French Medieval Romances. Trans. Eugene Mason. 1911. Project Giutenburg. Read here.
• Second translation by S.A. Kline, Poetry in Translation. Read here.
• Gautier, Léon (1891) [1884]. "The Code of Chivalry". Chivalry. Translated by Frith, Henry. Routledge.
• Damon, S. Foster. “Marie de France: Psychologist of Courtly Love.” PMLA, vol. 44, no. 4, 1929, pp. 968–96. JSTOR, https://doi.org/10.2307/457705. Accessed 21 Sept. 2025.
• Lewis, C.S. Allegory of Love. Oxford University Press, 1958. Link.
• Moore, John C. “‘Courtly Love’: A Problem of Terminology.” Journal of the History of Ideas, vol. 40, no. 4, 1979, pp. 621–32. Link.