Royal Holloway University of London

Inaugural Lecture

Professor Ruth Harvey (Professor of Medieval Occitan Literature) – The Lady and the Song

The medieval troubadours are best known for their creation of Courtly Love, a cultural transformation affecting the whole course of European literature and sensibilities. The idealised Lady addressed in their love-songs lacked voice or agency. In contrast, this lecture will focus on some of the many ways in which noblewomen actively nourished and exploited this cultural shift: as patrons, politicians, poets and critics. This event has been recorded and is available as a podcast at the following URL: http://backdoorbroadcasting.net/2011/03/ruth-harvey-the-lady-and-the-song/