Courtesy book

A courtesy book (also book of manners) was a didactic manual of knowledge for courtiers to handle matters of

royal court; the genre of courtesy literature dates from the 13th century.^[1]

Medieval

Courtesy books formed part of the didactic literature of the Middle Ages, covering topics from religion and ethics to social awareness and social conduct.^[2] While firmly normative in their bent, they also showed an awareness of the human realities that did not fit neatly under the rubric of their precepts.^[3] Such books appealed both to an aristocratic readership and to aspiring urban middle classes.^[4]

The oldest known courtesy book from Germany is the mid-thirteenth century Tannhäuser Book of Manners.^[5]

Another of the oldest known courtesy books of Germany, is the learning-poems of "Winsbecke" and "Winsbeckin", written around 1220 by an anonymous author.

The oldest known courtesy book from Italy around 1215/16 is the Der Wälsche Gast by Thomasin von Zirclaere, speaking to a German audience.

The oldest known courtesy book from England is

Liber Urbani

, from the beginning of the 13th century – possibly 1190AD.

Renaissance

The Renaissance saw the re-emergence of urban civilisation in the Italian city-states, drawing on the earlier urban civilizations of ancient Greece and Rome, but developing new ideals of manners and courtesy. Three sixteenth century Italian texts on courtly manners and morals –

Il Cortegiano (The Courtier ).^[6] Through Castiglione's writings, the Italian ideals of Neo-Platonism, beauty and symmetry, and the amateur author, reached a wide humanist audience,^[7] as did the new Italianate emphasis on the self in society and the importance of social appearances.^[8]

The norms for personal boundaries and social proxemics established by figures such as della Casa still influence the Western world almost a half millennium later.^[9]

English translations and developments

In 1561,

Bartholomew Yonge

.

A well-known English example of the genre is Henry Peacham's The Compleat Gentleman of 1622.^[10]

Later developments

Courtesy books continued to be written into the 1700s, the last traditional English one being

Sir Charles Grandison) filling a similar normative role.^[13]

References

^ "courtesy literature", Encyclopædia Britannica Online, 2008.
^ D. T. Kline ed., Medieval Literature for Children (2012) p. 83–94
^ D. T. Kline ed., Medieval Literature for Children (2012) p. 98
^ K. M. Ashley/M. D. Johnston eds., Medieval Conduct Books (2009) p. xxxii
^ Bumke,2000
^ Kenneth Clark, Civilisation (1969) p. 111
^ B. Ford ed., The Age of Shakespeare (1973) pp. 23, 91, and 131
^ K. A. Wolberg, "All Possible Art" (2008) p. 101
^ Erving Goffman, Relations in Public (1971) p. 72
^ See the articles "Courtesy Literature" and "Hoby" in Drabble, Margaret, ed. (1985), The Oxford Companion to English Literature, Oxford University Press.
^ I. Ousby ed., The Cambridge Guide to Literature in English (1995) p. 212
^ James Boswell, Life of Johnson (Penguin 1984) p. 77
^ S. K. Marks, Sir Charles Grandison (1986) p. 14