Romantic Love as Natural Right in Béroul’s Romance of Tristan

This essay reconsiders Béroul’s justification of the adulterous affair of Tristan and Iseut in The Romance of Tristan. By examining the interplay between literature, philosophy, and law in the twelfth century, it compares contemporary theories of natural law and natural right with Béroul’s idea of romantic love. It shows not only that romantic love for Béroul had many attributes of natural right, but that based on these similarities, Béroul views romantic love as a new standard of morality, outside and above the conventions of religion and society. On this basis he justifies Tristan and Iseut’s adultery and exonerates them from their illicit affair. Like Peter Abelard’s Intentionalist ethics, with which Béroul’s subjective morality is compared, his position shows just how radical romantic love was in the twelfth century. Although fiction, The Romance of Tristan challenged the feudal, social, and religious conventions of medieval society in Béroul’s day.