The system of patronage was one of the most significant social and cultural structures in the Middle Ages. The relationships forged between patrons and their clients were based not only on financial support, but also political and personal influence. Men and women from a wide variety of social backgrounds participated in the patronage system; their important contributions to this system included endowing medieval colleges, commissioning individual translations or artworks, and supporting writers and artists for many years.
This article explores the interdependent and mutually beneficial relationships between the late medieval Breton lay Emaré and its courtesy-text companions in the fifteenth-century manuscript London, British Library MS Cotton Caligula A. ii. It suggests that the conjoining of these two types of text demonstrates how lessons found in the conduct manuals can be made more palatable and exciting for young readers by being placed in a romance setting. Moreover, the romance's incorporation of the courtesy material suggests that the path to chivalric success may be forged solely through polite conduct rather than through the traditional performance of knightly prowess.
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