poet would be
on the index to-day, for, following his own intuition and ignoring her
rigid dogma, he introduced his beloved Beatrice into the Catholic
heaven.

The new spiritual love was not without its caricatures. Famous in
Provence for many strange exploits, committed in order to please his
lady, was the talented Peire Vidal. On one occasion he caused himself to
be sewn into a wolfskin and ran about the fields; but he was set upon by
dogs and so badly mangled that he nearly succumbed to his wounds. He was
an insufferable braggart, but never had any success in love. The prince
of caricatures, however, was the German knight and minnesinger, Ulrich
of Lichtenstein. He is responsible for a novel in prose, entitled _The
Service of Woman_, which is faintly reminiscent of Goethe's _Werther_.
As a page he commenced his glorious career by drinking the water in
which his lady had washed her hands; later on he caused his upper lip to
be amputated because it displeased his mistress, for "whatever she
dislikes in me, I, too, hate." On another occasion he cut off one of his
fingers and used it, set in gold, as a clasp for a volume of his poems
which he sent to her. One of his most famous exploits was a journey
through nearly the whole of Austria, disguised as Venus, jousting,
dressed in women's clothes, with every knight he met. But in spite of
his eccentricities, the tendency of his mind was not at all
metaphysical; he craved very obvious favours, but as a rule contented
himself with a kind, or even an unkind word. Incidentally, we learn that
he was married; but he devoted his whole life to "deeds of heroism" in
honour of his lady. Not the great book of Cervantes, as is commonly
believed, held up mediaeval court life to ridicule and destroyed it as
an ideal, but the life and exploits of this knight and minnesinger. The
same spirit animated Guilhem of Balaun. At the command of his lady he
had a finger-nail extracted and sent to her, after which he was
re-admitted to her favour.

Spiritual love was discovered by the Provencals, but the greater and
profounder Italian poets developed it and brought it to perfection. What
had been a naive sentiment with the troubadours, became in Dante's
circle a system of the universe and a religion. The Italian poet,
Sordello, who wrote in Provencal, may be regarded as the connecting
link, and the forerunner of the great Italians. He died in the year of
grace 1270, and Dante, who was almost a cont