ew. "Social life" began to grow and more importance was placed upon literature and the fine arts, skills that women had long been schooled in. In the past, it was the women and clergy who had been taught to read and write, as there had not been much importance for it during the days of wars and political unrest. "For the master of the court, his function as knight and military leader was still the primary one; his education too was that of a warrior centered upon the wielding of arms. For just this reason the women surpassed him in the sphere of peaceful society." (Page 326-7.) At the end of the Middle Ages, women became assets to their families. The battlefield for power had changed from bloodshed to skill. A daughter who possessed great social graces could bring a family closer to the monarchy and insure it's members a greater ranking in court life.Emphasis began to be placed on beauty and love, an emotion virtually void in the warrior society. Troubadour poetry and minnesang rose, creating a social elite of women. They became figures of lust and desire, and men of lower social status admired those of high ranking. This was important for women because they had previously been regarded as inferior to men. "There is little talk of 'love' in this warrior society. And one has the impression that a man in love would have appeared ridiculous among these warriors. Women were generally regarded by these men as inferior beings. There were enough of them available. They serve to gratify drives in their simplest form." (Page 327.) When society changed from the warrior class to a court system, this love poetry and admittance of love to society made women seem difficult to attain and thus placed importance and status on them. "This is the situation, this the emotional setting of minnesang, in which henceforth down the centuries lovers recognize something of their own feelings." (Page 328.) Society became more refined and this cen...
