I found it interesting that the whole Ottoman Empire was seen as an extension of the Sultan's household. That philosophy lends itself to the idea that every one in the empire was cared for by the state, and also disciplined by the state. It is an agreement that the state takes care of it's people and in return they must defend and serve the greater good of the empire. There were very sophisticated ways of making sure the agreement was upheld, like schooling that prepared children for military and political service, taxes based on many factors, and organizations to help the needy (i.e. soup kitchens). 

The reading mentioned that women held power in the Ottoman empire. They could own their own not-for-profit organization, and they were involved with the business of the running of the empire. Unlike many other types of rulers from the same time period, sultans were faithful to one woman and she acted as a kind of "fist lady" within the empire. The mother of the sultan was the most powerful figure in the nation. This is one of the only times throughout our study of the Mediterranean when women are powerful and respected. 

I find it interesting that when Islam first emerged it was seen as a force that would divide Christianity. It was viewed more as a military threat to the Christian nations than a religious threat. Most Christians believed that Islam would not last as a religion. When christians started to convert though, it became more of a threat in the eyes of the church, and so the writings about Muslims go more violent and hateful.

Dante's depiction of Muhammed is interesting. He definitely does not present Muhammed as a positive figure, he is n Hell, but he is not with the heretics in hell. He is with another figure Arius, who was seen as a divider of the church and was excommunicated both during his life and after his death. So, while Dante does think that Muhammed and Islam would divide Christians he does not place him with heretics.

In the story of Masetto and the nuns, as well as the story of Pietro di Vinciolo, the characters deceive each other in order to get what they want.

Masetto pretends to be deaf and dumb in order to get the nuns to sleep with him. The nuns deceive the abbess  by hiding their affairs with Masetto and then once the abbess starts sleeping with Masetto, every one in the convent is hiding something. Not to mention the fact that all of the nuns are defying the virginal image that they display to the public. They are also being unfaithful to their promise to God, but one nun justifies that by saying that everyone makes promises that they can't keep.

Pietro di Vinciolo will not have sex with his wife, instead he goes off with other men. So, she has many lovers to keep her satisfied. One night when she has a man in the house, her husband comes home and is upset because the wife of one of his friends was caught cheating. His wife quickly hides the man under a chicken coup and then goes to her husband. She speaks against the woman who was caught cheating, all the while hiding her own affair. A donkey wanders by the chicken coup and steps on her lover's hand, he yells and immediately Pietro's wife is caught. She starts yelling about how Pietro will not sleep with her, and instead of being angry Pietro makes a deal with his wife, they will both sleep with this young man.


These two stories emphasize the importance of speech and communication. Masetto feigns an inability to speak in order to get what he wants, and because he can't say anything the nuns are willing to sleep with him. In the Pietro story, his wife must speak negatively about what his friend's wife did in order to protect herself. However, when she does this she is condemning her own behavior. Also, if Pietro and his wife had communicated their desires earlier, they both would have had what they wanted.

Throughout the semester we have discussed the idea that, when in the presence of a beautiful woman men cannot control themselves and they must sleep with her despite their better judgement. In the story about the young monk and the Abbott, the young monk sees a beautiful girl and although he is supposed to abstain from sex, he invites her to his room and they sleep together. He gets caught by the Abbott and he is about to be punished, but then the monk sees the Abbott sleep with her as well. So, they hide each others' sins and continue to invite the girl to the monastery to sleep with both of them. This story not only mocks the seriousness of the church, but reinforces the idea that men cannot control themselves around beautiful women.
The ultimate example of men's lack of control in love, is the story of Alatiel. Alatiel is shipwrecked and then passed from one man to the next as they literally kill each other in order to have sex with her. At first, she rejects the first man, but after he convinces her to sleep with him, she doesn't refuse any of the next 8 men who come her way. And what's funniest is that when she gets back home, she claims to be a virgin and gets married based on that pretense.

I think that the mountain girls represent repeated mistakes. After meeting the first mountain girl and sleeping with her, the arch priest has to avoid her, because he made promises that he could keep. But, it seems like he keeps running into the same "problem" over and over, he gets kind of lost and cold and hungry, and then he finds another mountain girl and expects food, shelter and sex from her because that's what he got from the other mountain girls. After the first girl, the others don't react so well to his expectation that they bring him home with them, however, they all do it. When he meets the girl who is hideously ugly he still flatters her to get what he wants, but she refuses him unless he actually has what she asks for. So, what the reader and the arch priest must learn from this, is that one cannot make assumptions about the reactions one person based on the reactions of another to the same situation.

The battle between Carnal and Lent symbolizes the fight against temptation. When people are asked to give up things they enjoy (food) for a greater purpose, like religion and Lent they struggle. The literal "food fight" in the text, comically,  represents the internal struggle that people have during Lent.

The Arch Priest sees love as a deceitful, lying force, with the potential to drive men crazy. The Arch Priest goes on for  a long time, insulting and yelling at Love for all his perceived mean-spirited ways.
Finally, Love answers back that the reason that the Arch Priest has been so unsuccessful is that he never came to Love for help. Love then goes on to give the Arch Priest detailed instructions for how to behave around women and how to choose a good woman. So, in many regards Love acts as a mentor or a teacher to the Arch Priest.   
The instructions that Love gives to the Arch Priest are very similar, in many regards, to the "code of love" that many people live by today. Love describes the right woman to court as having a "good figure and a small head, blonde hair, but not died with henna"(113). Love also says to find a  "woman you can see without her shirt on, to tell if her figure suits you"(113) I'm not sure if that is meant to be mean a woman who the man can "mentally undress" or actually see without her shirt. But, if it's the second, that doesn't say much for her moral character, considering that they are still talking about choosing woman.  But it does seem that men still judge with their eyes before anything else, as Love instructs.
The advise Love gives about how to behave around the "chosen woman"still seems applicable today. He says "Don't speak of other women to her, just praise her" because it will make her jealous to see her man is interested in other women. He also says not to gossip about her. He gives a lot more advise that seems applicable to the modern rules of socially acceptable dating behavior.

Both Bernart De Ventadorn and the Countess of Dia write about love and betrayal. Both start their poems with description of how wonderful love is. The countess writes, "I'm very happy, for the man/ whose love I seek's so fine." While Bernart De Ventadorn writes, " Of course it's no wonder I sing/ better than any troubadour: my heart draws me more towards love, and I am made better for his command."
Then both poets go on to write about the depression and betrayal they felt after love lost. Bernart De Ventadorn writes, "And when she took herself away from me, she left me/ nothing/ but desire and a heart still wanting." The countess describes her betrayal, "...so bitter I do feel toward him/ whom I love more than anything. With him my mercy and fine manners are in vain, my beauty, virtue and intelligence. For I've been tricked and cheated/ as if I were completely lothesome."

In each poem, the gender of the poet is clear to me as a reader. However, the emotions that both the men and the women expressed were the same. The difference is in the way the men and women respond to the love and loss. The poems written by the women tended to be shorter, more florid, and I would say more reserved. Whereas, the poems written by men went into much greater emotional detail. I found that to be interesting because in modern stereotypes, being overly emotional about love and loss is a feminine trait. I would say that these poems display the men's emotions at least as thoroughly, if not more thoroughly than the women's.