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"The truth is that they all have the Spanish cortesia," says Frederick A. Ober, in the Century Magazine, when commenting upon the above opinions, "and are more like the polite Andalusians of the south of Spain than the boorish Catalans of the northeast.
Galen, the cunning old physician, recommended to his nervous patients what would now be termed a “rest cure” in these favoured regions; whilst the grateful Bernardo Tasso, father of the immortal Torquato, speaks of the capital of this district as “l’Albergo della Cortesia,” and in an ecstasy of delighted appreciation, goes on to add: “l’aere e si sereno, si temperato, si salutifero, si vitale, che gli uomini che senza provar altero cielo ci vivono sono quasi immortali.” And though praise from Torquato’s courtly sire must not be taken too seriously, yet few will deny that the beautiful plain deserves many of the eulogies that have been showered upon it.
Alas for the beautiful city! Alas for the wit and the learning, the genius and the love! "Le donne, e i cavalier, gli affanni, e gli agi, Che ne 'nvogliava amore e cortesia La dove i cuor son fatti si malvagi."
He recalls him in the repetition of the words gentile and cortesia, in the personification of Amor, in the tendency to dwell minutely on the physical effects of the presence of a beloved object on the pulses and the heart.
Other virtues are produced by the influence of this affection: the lover must have valor, that is, he must be worthy of his lady; this worth implies the possession of cortesia, pleasure in the pleasure of another and the desire to please; this quality is acquired by the observance of mesura, wisdom and self-restraint in word and deed.
Tutti li cibi son con pope e canna, Di amomo e d' altri aromati, che tutti Come nocivi il medico mi danna." is Ariosto's commencement; Ladies, and cavaliers, and loves, and arms, And courtesies, and daring deeds, I sing. "Le donne, i cavalier, gli affanni e gli agi, Che inspiravano amore e cortesia." He said, "Porvi le pietre e porvi le parole non è il medesimo." Pigna, p. 119.
At sixteen degrees east from the northern end of Cuba, a large island is placed in the Oceanus Magnus or Atlantic, called Terra Cortesia; which the cosmographer seems to have intended to represent the kingdom of Mexico, recently discovered by Cortez; though placed almost in lat. 50° N. Perhaps this may be an error for Corterealis, an early navigator, who is said to have made discoveries on the eastern coast of North America.
In that Venetian alley which bears the friendly name of "Bella Cortesia", there was, in the middle of the past century, the simple, one-story house of a common family; over its low portal, framed by two wooden spiral columns and a baroque ledge, resided an image of the Madonna in a niche, and an eternal flame flickered humbly behind its red glass.
Marcabrun knows the technical terms cortesia and mesura, which he defines: mesura, self-control or moderation, "consists in nicety of speech, courtesy in loving. He may boast of courtesy who can maintain moderation." The poem concludes with a dedication to Jaufre Rudel Lo vers e·l son vueill envier A'n Jaufre Rudel outra mar. "The words and the tune I wish to send to Jaufre Rudel beyond the sea."
"E cortesia fù, lui esser villano" and it is undeniable that a too intense consciousness of one's kinship with all frailties and vices undermines the active heroism which battles against wrong.
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