Clothed in Blood: Excesses and Fetishes of Chivalric Eros

Abstract

This study adopts a resolutely anthropological approach to examine the interplay of Ares and Eros. This nexus—comprising ideological, thematic, iconic, and emotional elements—constitutes the core and principal site of tension in the instinctual drives and sensibilities that shape the discourse on the symbolic practices and performances of chivalry in medieval French fiction. These dynamics are explored across both romances and shorter narrative forms. The interweaving of Arma and Amor profoundly informs the combative and sentimental protagonism of knights (milites). It plays a crucial role in constructing an imaginary of civilisation and a framework for containing primal impulses. This containment involves the regimentation of warrior ferocity and sexual predation. However, beyond the moral pressures exerted by ecclesiastical authority and the constraints of courtly pedagogy, some narratives highlight the more brutal and violent aspects of chivalric conduct. These tales emphasise the warrior-amorous libido but sublimate it into a highly stylised and idealised form. This process transforms these impulses into a captivating aesthetic value. Jacques de Baisieux’s Des trois chevaliers et del chainse serves as the primary case study for this analysis. It is examined in dialogue with other texts and situated within the broader literary tradition. This approach reconstructs an ideology of erotic excess and martial extremity. The roots of this ideology appear to intertwine ethological and sociological imperatives with universal psychic dynamics and the demands of “figurative” representation.