What is a Courtesan

[Lady Shaden Aramoire]

What Is A Courtesan

This is a question I have been asked several times in the past few days, along with what do they do.. I hope this provides some insight and answers.

A courtesan in usage referred to a mistress or trained artisan of dance and singing, especially one associated with wealthy, powerful, or upper-class men who provided luxuries and status in exchange for companionship. In Renaissance Europe, courtesans played an important role in upper-class society, sometimes taking the place of wives at social functions As it was customary during this time for royal couples to lead separate lives—commonly marrying simply to preserve bloodlines and to secure political alliances—men would often seek gratification and companionship from a courtesan.

Essentially, there were two types of courtesans. In one category was a type of courtesan known (in Italy) as the cortigiana onesta, or the honest courtesan, who was cast as an intellectual. In the other was the cortigiana di lume, a lower class of courtesan. Although the latter was still considered better than an average working-girl, the former was the sort most often romanticized and treated more-or-less equal to women of royalty. It is with this type of courtesan that the art of "courtisanerie" is best associated.

The cortigiane oneste were usually well-educated and worldly (sometimes even more so than the average upper-class woman), and often held simultaneous careers as performers or artists. They were typically chosen on the basis of their "breeding"—social and conversational skills, intelligence, common-sense, and companionship—as well as their physical attributes. It was usually their wit and personality that set them apart from regular women. They were prostitutes in the sense that sex was one of their obligations, but unlike the average prostitute, sex constituted only a facet of the courtesan's array of services. For example, they were expected to be well-dressed and ready to engage in a variety of topics ranging from art to music to politics.

In some cases, courtesans were from well-to-do backgrounds, and were even married – but to husbands lower on the social ladder than their clients. In these cases, their relationships with those of high social status had the potential to improve their spouses' status – and so, more often than not, the husband was aware of his wife's profession and dealings.

Differences in status

As primary employment

Courtesans from non-wealthy backgrounds were expected to provide charming companionship for extended periods, no matter what their own feelings or commitments might have been at the time, and had to be prepared to do so on short notice. They were also subject to lower social status, and often religious disapproval, because of the immoral aspects of their profession and their reliance upon courtisanerie as a primary source of income. In cases like this, a courtesan was solely dependent on her benefactor or benefactors financially, making her vulnerable.

Often, courtesans serving in this capacity began their career as a prostitute, or were passed from one benefactor to another, thereby resulting in them being viewed in society circles as lower than both their benefactor and those of wealth and power with whom they would socialize. Often, in instances of this sort, if the courtesan had satisfactorily served a benefactor, that benefactor would, when ending the affair, pass them on to another benefactor of wealth as a favor to the courtesan, or set them up in an arranged marriage to a semi-wealthy benefactor. In the event that the courtesan had angered or dissatisfied a benefactor, they would often find themselves cast out of wealthy circles, returning more often than not to street prostitution.

For social or political benefits

Those from wealthy backgrounds, either by birth or marriage, and who were only acting as courtesans for the social or political advancement of themselves and/or their spouses, were generally treated as equals. They were more respected by their extramarital companions, both placing one another's family obligations ahead of the relationship and planning their own liaisons or social engagements around the lovers' marital obligations.

Affairs of this sort would often be short-lived, ending when either the courtesan or the courtesan's spouse received the status or political position desired, or when the benefactor chose the company of another courtesan, and compensated the former companion financially. In instances like this, it was often viewed simply as a business agreement by both parties involved. The benefactor was aware of the political or social favors expected by the courtesan, the courtesan was aware of the price expected from them for those favors being carried out, and the two met one another's demands.
This was generally a safe affair, as both the benefactor's spouse and the courtesan's spouse usually were fully aware of the arrangement, and the courtesan was not solely dependent on the benefactor. It, rather, was simply an affair of benefits gained for both those involved.

Intrigues

Prior to the Victorian era, courtesans were sometimes limited in their apparel by various sumptuary laws and were restricted in where they could appear at social functions. Periods of overt religious piety in a city would often lead to persecution of the courtesans, up to and including accusations of witchcraft. In many cases prior to the 18th century, women leading the life of a courtesan in a royal court, with romantic relationships with kings, achieved wealth and status, but eventually it would lead to many of them being executed following very public trials that often left them appearing to have been evil, or power-hungry, when in fact they more often than not were nothing more than a lover and mistress to the king.

Very often, courtesans would betray one another in acts of political intrigue in attempts to climb into higher positions of power within royal courts. There are many cases throughout history where one courtesan would attempt (sometimes successfully) to supplant the mistress to a king or emperor. This was typically preceded by her discrediting the ruler's companion, often by divulging secrets that could lead to her rival being cast aside and replaced by her. However, this was a delicate process, and if a courtesan of lower status attempted to replace a courtesan who wielded a substantial amount of power within the court, it would often result in the lower courtesan being exiled from the royal court, or married off to a lesser noble in an arranged marriage, or even murdered. There are also many examples of courtesans who took advantage of their involvement with powerful individuals, which usually ended in their downfall.

[King Adam Aberdeen I]

Human history and the survival of nations are shaped by 'great' people and the passage of their genes, the acquisition of such genes controlling the inheritance and control of vast estates or empires. Sexual liaisons within circles of wealth and power have long been fraught with risk and intrigue. Such women have risen, manipulated, ruled and captured the popular imagination, inspiring fear, hatred and adoration alike. In nature, there is no greater power than the King’s bed chamber, and no closer confidant than the pillow.

The noble lady and the peasant woman appear to be worlds apart; indeed, in the dual vision of femininity. The noble lady was likely to be envisioned on the pedestal while the peasant woman adamantly attempted to evade the fires of hell.

A single word can sometimes embody a thousand images and ideas, and some words are so colorful that it would be impossible to attempt to seek a concise definition. Perhaps this is true of the evocative idea of a courtesan, a word which conjures images of intrigue, beauty, wealth, power, sex, and mystery, and to this day clouds the ancestry of wealth and nobility with a veil of mist.

Small elite group of women rose from poverty to social position, accumulating great power, wealth and notoriety. Such women had evolved away from being merely expensive mistresses, and achieved independence through intrigue and their courtly graces. They were sought after by men for their beauty and for their skills in the arts of seduction. Society men went to extremes both to gain and to retain a courtesan's worldly favors, but sex was only part of the bargain. During an era when the higher education of women was not generally affordable, the courtesan was often unusually educated in both language and literature, and was courted both for her conversation as well as for her sexual charms. Such courtesans were extremely accomplished and were influential leaders both in fashion and social custom.

The powerful influence of courtesans, who owe their existence largely to the strictures of the Catholic Church, has flowed unseen through the courts and commerce of Europe for centuries. In the Gaelic Renaissance, courtesans charmed powerful men within their wit and beauty, and used their sexuality and sensibility to fully enjoy male companionship, property and financial stability, without the imposition of the social and moral contracts of marriage. A courtesan would replace the society role of the wife, who was dutifully protected from the wicked ways of the world. Courtesans were companions of the nobility and merchant classes, leading social lights and entertainers within court circles. They were influential as writers and poets, as also played a key political function as they relayed important communications between bedrooms. Sex was their currency and it commanded abundant wealth and influence. Veronica Franco was perhaps the best known courtesan of the Renaissance, a woman of great influence who once smoothed relations between Venice and France by sleeping with the King of France. Whilst Italian courtesans enjoyed a busy life of servants and lavish purchases courtesy of their patrons, they enjoyed little companionship with other women. They competed with other courtesans for the wealthiest hands, and were avoided by the wives of noblemen who resented their sexual congress with their husbands. High-level courtesans would commonly have as many as six or seven patrons, each holding a different night of the week, each paying her a monthly "salary". These arrangements led a heady brew of intricacy, intrigue and clandestine activity.

The slow and inexorable rise of women’s rights, as forced forward by King Adam I and Queen Beathag I, revolutionized the way in which women of the Gaelic Nations and Europe could make their way in the world, and education was one such new avenue through which to escape domestic servitude or sexual slavery. Education, independent means, and changing attitudes towards unmarried women altered the landscape and sexual fabric of society beyond recognition. Female sexuality and beauty no longer lay hidden behind a veil or a bell-shaped dress, and the female form was openly advertised in ever more explicit imagery. In this brave new world, there were those who were quickest and most successful in exploiting the changes caused by the Renaissance. This brought new fashion hubs of wealth and beauty. The trade of the new courtesan or “diva” is far more diverse, commercialized, and openly lucrative, and many now amass vast fortunes.

The Christian concept of morality, with its rigid dichotomy of the spiritual and the physical realms, stigmatized any concession to the sensual nature of humankind. Sexual pleasure was considered a sin, sanctioned only by marriage, providing it was immediately connected with procreation. In practice, however, men excusably indulged in it, until the time came presumably to redirect their lives and submit all resources to the requirements of a career, which, more often than not, was being pursued within the ranks of church bureaucracy. Women's destiny and conduct were classified according to categories that reflected the practical and the moral obligations of men. Nuns, wives, and prostitutes were respectively pledged to religious discipline and abstention, to matrimonial duties and to the venal purveyance of sexual pleasure. It is not without significance that an extraordinarily large class of courtesans flourished in the cities, where greater possibilities of bureaucratic employment existed for men.

The Church began to impose on its members and on the faithful a code more consonant with its own principles of behavior. Courtesans, whose expectations and life-style had been fashioned in an earlier, more permissive society, attempted to resist the tide of restrictive regulations. Not only was their livelihood at risk, but their very sense of self, as a refined vendor of intellectual and sensual rewards, were seriously threatened. Their defense came in the form of a theory that calls for a radical revision of standard principles, for a morality of love that acknowledges the dichotomous nature of both women and men.