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PIERRE BOAISTUAU - eTheses Repository - University of Birmingham

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aueuglante c’est l’amour, et la personne plus aueuglée c’est la femme, qui n’a pas la<br />

force de conduire sagement vn si grand fais’. 447 It was an example <strong>of</strong> the ‘malheurs<br />

d’amour’, a burden endured by so many unfortunate lovers. 448<br />

Another manifestation <strong>of</strong> love was associated with revenge, as shown in the third<br />

nouvelle. During carnival festivities, Alfonso II <strong>of</strong> Naples fell in love with a beautiful<br />

married lady. By constant courtship and engineering the frequent absences <strong>of</strong> her<br />

husband, he persuaded her to become his mistress. The cuckolded husband, fearful <strong>of</strong><br />

the king’s power, revealed his concerns to the Queen and also expressed his feelings<br />

for her. The Queen, wishing to take revenge on Alfonso and at the same time flattered<br />

by the cheated husband’s confession, took him as her lover: ‘Et se trouuans tous deux<br />

d’vn consentement iouerent la vengeance, dont la passion auoit esté importable’. 449<br />

Thus, a love quartet was formed <strong>of</strong> which the errant king and the unfaithful wife were<br />

completely unaware. Erotic desire, adultery and betrayal were amongst the topics <strong>of</strong><br />

this story. 450 The reciprocal infidelity shown by all the main characters created the<br />

framework for the manifestation <strong>of</strong> an undesirable side to love. This was not virtuous<br />

love but a corruption, which put aside all moral restraints in its search for revenge.<br />

Such stories portrayed not only the problematic relationships at the time, but also the<br />

infringements <strong>of</strong> marriage codes in aristocratic Europe.<br />

447<br />

Boaistuau, P., Histoires des amans fortunez, p. 159v. Bold font is mine.<br />

448<br />

See Baker, M. J., ‘Aspects <strong>of</strong> the Psychology <strong>of</strong> Love in the Heptameron’, The Sixteenth Century<br />

Journal, vol. 19 (1988), pp. 81-87.<br />

449<br />

Boaistuau, P., Histoires des amans fortunez, p. 14v. Bold font is mine.<br />

450<br />

See Febvre, L., Amour sacré, amour pr<strong>of</strong>ane: autour de l’Heptaméron (Paris, repr., 1971).<br />

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