In order to understand the meaning behind the Shield of Parade, it is necessary to explore attitudes towards love during the Middle Ages. Courtly love (amor cortese), which emerged in the court environment, followed the Code of Chivalry. This was the expression of the knightly worship of a refining ideal embodied in the person of the beloved. The act of loving was in itself ennobling and refining and love was viewed as the source of all virtues. In the Middle Ages, romantic love became something that was worth celebrating. The main sources of courtly love are derived from literary sources, such as the Troubadour poets, works of Geoffrey Chaucer and Arthurian legends, which, as a part of the fiction upon which civilisation is based, is an essential instrument to examine courtly love.
The Casket of Romance at the British Museum
Historian Roger Boase highlights the paradoxical nature of love during the Middle Ages in his book 'The Origin and Meaning of Courtly Love'.
“love is returned as a favour, not as an obligation, and if it is honest and true it will endure forever; love is a prison and a delightful malady; the lover, like the butterfly drawn towards the light, senses mortal danger in his lady’s beauty; in her presence he is fearful, fear being a true sign of love, but gazes at her image when he is alone; love is a source of virtue and joy, uniting two hearts and two wills, but offering no solace; it is a profession which, above all, requires courtesy”
The shield represents an idealisation of love, a prevalent theme in literature of the Middle Ages. The scroll above the knight’s head declares ‘vous ou la mort’, meaning ‘you or death’. The romantic language employed by the knight was intended to woo the lady by declaring that he would rather die than fail to win her heart. The eloquent expression of love is one of the main concerns of courtly speech and it was essential to be a fluent poet as well as a courteous lover. The Code of Chivalry inspired knights to have a strong ethos of honour and virtue, compelling them to achieve glory in warfare, tournaments, and most importantly by proving themselves worthy of gaining the damsel's affection.
Edward III courting the Countess of Salisbury is resonant to the knight's declaration on the Shield of Parade.
“Ah fair lady ... truly the sweet behaviour the perfect wisdom, the elegant grace, nobleness and surpassing beauty that I see in you, hath so enraptured my soul, that I cannot but love you; and without your return of love, I am but as dead.”
Idealised love was celebrated in lyric and romance, as expressed in a poem written by a French 12th Century Knight, Bertran De Born.
“Love wants a chivalrous lover
skilled at arms and generous in serving
who speaks well and gives greatly,
who knows what he should do and say,
in or out of his hall,
as befits his power.
He should be full of hospitality, courtesy, and good cheer.
A lady who lies with such a lover as that
is clean of all her sins.”
Not only did aristocrats of the late Middle Ages fall in love in the ways prescribed in courtly literature, but they also earned their ladies' love in the romantic manner of elaborate duels and grand tournaments. Tournaments represented masculine violence while simultaneously they had courtly and amorous appeal with the ultimate objective to win the hand of the lady. In the European court, noble women were much sought after due to a higher male to female ratio, which was reflected in courtly literature where the lady's dominance within courtship was emphasised. Indeed, in many courts the social status of women altered during the Middle Ages, who were no longer accepting the secondary role assigned to them quite so passively. The lady commanded respect and submission from the knight who competed and fought in order to gain her favour in jousting competitions. This is clearly conveyed on the image of the shield as the woman stands, while the knight, the lover’s servant, kneels for her as a chivalric gesture.
Courtesy of http://www.knight-medieval.com/medieval-knight-chivalry.htm
"And if I so consent, I wrongfully
complain, indeed: buffeted to and fro,
all rudderless within a boat am I
amid the sea, between winds two
that against each other always blow.
Alas! What is this wondrous malady?
Through heat of cold, through cold of heat I die." -Troilus' symptoms of lovesickness in Troilus and Criseyde, Chaucer.
Courtesy of http://condor.depaul.edu/dsimpson/tlove/knightrule1.jpg
The figure of death lurking behind the knight, however, creates a far darker meaning and makes the shield unique to others of the time. The incorporation of death highlights the perils of love and perhaps acts as a warning of the pain love can cause. An alternative interpretation of the scroll, ‘you or death’, is that the knight, placed between his love and the personification of death, will either pursue a life of passionate love with the beautiful lady, or will face death, as by failing to win her affection, he will die due to his overwhelming grief and despair. During the Middle Ages it was widely believed that lovesickness (ereos) was a medical disease with mental and physical symptoms. Lovesickness had physical manifestations such as sleepiness, mood swings, fainting and speech loss, signifying a lack of rationality. However today historian's view lovesickness as essentially a mental affliction in which noblemen overestimated and idealised their beloved. An example of an illicit love affair which resulted in lovesickness in literature of the Middle Ages can be found in Equitan, one of the short stories written by Marie de France, in which the noble King sets off to go hunting but has to turn back because he is infatuated with the seneschal’s wife, resulting in extreme illness. The most notable portrayal of lovesickness is Chaucer's poem Troilus and Criseyde in which Troilus, a warrior of Troy, instantly becomes infatuated by Criseyde, daughter of Calchas who deserted Troy and joined the Greeks, as a result of Cupid's divine power.
The Shield of Parade and its meaning regarding the relationship between love and death remains ambiguous. However the evidence suggests that the shield depicts an idealisation of love in which the knight who is infatuated by his beloved, declares that he would rather die than have his love unrequited, thus emphasising the vast magnitude of his undying affection.