She was the axis around which his art revolved (his poetry is divided into In vita di madonna Laura and In morte di madonna Laura). She was married and had 12 children, but Petrarca loved her ardently his whole life. But his love, and devotion and art - all that was only for Beatrice (even after her death).Īnother celebrated poet, Petrarca, was 3 years junior to his beloved Laura (he was 23 and she was 26 when they met in 1327 in Avignon). At the same time, Dante was married, had children and numerous lovers. Beatrice wasn't Dante’s lover, not even his friend or merely an acquaintance and yet, against those odds she was the ultimate love of his life (as you know if you have read his poetry). Once, when they were kids, and then three times more (including her wedding to Simon dei Bardi and one encounter on a street when she did not respond to his greeting). To give you a proper context: Dante Alighieri saw the love of his life, a woman named Beatrice, 4 times altogether (this is what you'll find in his biographies, however hard it is to ascertain the truth). With them, the ideals of court love, gallantry, poetry, tournaments, knights and dames and all the associated drama constitutes a backbone of this novel. Tigana had musicians, Sarantine duology a mosaicist as the main protagonist, in Arbonne, fashioned after the medieval Provence and Occitania, troubadours are in the middle of things (along with joglars and trobairitz, that is female performers). Artisans, it seems, are very important for Kay.

A Song for Arbonne by Guy Gavriel Kay