Feudal knighthood’s ethos actively scorned women and their counsel

Evidence

This warlike civilization has only scorn for women. The knight is not interested in women: his horse is a treasure of much higher value to him; in the epics, girls are always the ones to make the first step toward young men; once married, they alone are expected to be faithful; the man dissociates them from his life. “Cursed be the knight who takes counsel from a lady on when to joust.” And in Renaud de Montauban, there is this diatribe: “Go back into your painted and golden quarters, sit ye down in the shade, drink, eat, embroider, dye silk, but do not busy yourself with our affairs. Our business is to fight with the sword and steel. Silence!” — Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex, 207

Categorization

• XREF: The ‘go back to your painted quarters’ diatribe prefigures the gendered separation of spheres Beauvoir analyzes throughout — the confinement of woman to the private/domestic while man owns the public world of action. — connects to: Feudal marriage rules let men repudiate wives repeatedly to gain land — Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex, 207; The Church’s marriage-degrading clergy drove the medieval attack on women.; In feudalism woman functioned as property transmitting land to men — Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex, 207 (+2 more)
• FICTION: The Renaud de Montauban quote is vivid material for any historical fiction about feudal gender dynamics.

Broader Connections

• In feudalism woman functioned as property transmitting land to men #expands (0.80) — Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex, 207
• Literary plots punish passionate women for breaches of marital convention. #exemplifies (0.75)
• Medieval apologists defended marriage’s permanence by calling wives colleagues. #contradicts (0.72) — Norman Daniel, Islam and the West, 810