Variations on the Theme of Romantic Love in the Middle Ages

The Tale of Genji

Columbia University professors talk about key elements in The Tale of Genji, with illustrations and excellent supporting material.
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A rich Web site that provides a summary of each chapter in The Tale of Genji, with a full series of illustrative woodcuts by a seventeenth-century artist, Harumasa Yamamoto.
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A helpful list of characters and their names.
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A short essay on the history of illustrations of The Tale of Genji that charts their progress from the twelfth-century Genji scroll to the manga, or comic book, versions so popular today.
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Another useful introduction to the Genji illustrations.
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A page from the National Museum of Australia with a beautiful illustration from Chapter 8.
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A course site with excellent suggestions for further exploration of historical and cultural topics relevant to the study of medieval Japan.
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This scroll painting illustrates the importance of the supernatural in Japan.
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Illustrated summary of a No play about the jealousy of the Rokujo lady.
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This illustrated essay gives a good diagram of a Heian mansion. It comes from an interesting commercial site developed in support of a contemporary novel by Liza Dalby, The Tale of Murasaki.
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Medieval European Romance

A very rich academic site, with a valuable and well-documented section on Arthurian legends, with many links.
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The Rules of Courtly Love, as formulated by Andreas Capellanus.
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Larry Benson, "Courtly Love and Chivalry in the Later Middle Ages." A lively review of the debates surrounding this topic.
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A course site from Virginia that outlines the relationship between the Marian cult and the development of courtly love.
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The Metropolitan Museum of New York's illustrated discussion of the Cult of the Virgin.
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A summary of the story of Tristan and Iseut, with links to many other useful sources.
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From the Office of Tourism of St. Malo in Brittany, a contemporary photograph of a courtyard not unlike the site of Marie de France's Laustic, with the intersection of fortified homes.
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The evolution of the medieval castle and the creation of private chambers.
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Another extended discussion of the medieval castle, noting the development of the bedroom when the development of fireplaces, chimneys, and other refinements made it possible to section off private chambers.
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A well-documented overview of the nature of Western medieval romantic attachments by Piper L. Bringhurst.
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A marvelous site devoted to the Decameron, with links and illustrations.
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Three of the four panels painted by Botticelli to illustrate the story of Nastagio Degli Onesti, the eighth story of the fifth day in Boccaccio's Decameron.
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A very useful study guide for medieval Love Songs in their musical settings, with valuable comments on the poetic traditions represented. Note the reference to the "Lamento di Tristano" and its connection to Marie de France's Chevrefoil.
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Bhakti Poetry

A wide-ranging academic bibliography, with links to critical sources for a variety of Asian texts by women.
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A brief summary of the contexts out of which the Bhakti movement developed, emphasizing the egalitarian nature of this devotional mode.
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A biographical sketch and appreciation of Mahadeviyakka.
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A reliable biographical note on Mirabai, from a valuable site on South Asian materials organized by faculty at UCLA.
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