Myosotis is part of the borage family and there are various folk lore based stories for it’s name. One of them is based on courtly love. A knight was walking with his lady beside a river. Obviously when one goes courting it is essential to wear full armour – in this case the knight was very chivalrously carrying the lady’s flowers when he slipped and tumbled into the raging current – as he was swept away he threw her flowers to her crying “Forget me not!” And there you have it!
Courtly love is of course the medieval form of ritualised love expressed by a knight for a married lady who is outside his reach – so duty, honour, devotion and courtesy were all important as they were part of the chivalric code. Ideally a knight’s love should be unrequited. Lancelot and Guinevere became very popular at this time. For a more in-depth article about the literature of courtly love follow the link to the British Library:
https://www.bl.uk/medieval-literature/articles/love-and-chivalry-in-the-middle-ages
By 1190 the monks of Glastonbury had cashed in on the popular stories of the knights of the Round Table with the discovery of the graves of King Arthur and his queen.
Courtly love became the rage in the twelfth century at the point where tournaments also became the height of fashion. The use of courtly love as a motif in England grew when Eleanor of Aquitaine became queen. It was William IX of Aquitaine (Eleanor’s grandfather) who made it fashionable in 1101. Aquitainean troubadours carried songs of romance around Europe. It should be noted that William’s love was not unrequited – he appears to have been something of a serial seducer.
Henry of Bolingbroke adopted the forget-me-not as an emblem during his exile in 1398 when Richard II banished him from England for ten years. When his father John of Gaunt died the following year Richard turned the sentence into banishment for life – setting in motion the events that led to his usurpation.
Anyway, back to the forget-me-not, in medieval times if you got bitten by a dog or a snake you might be treated with forget-me-not. Gerard called it scorpion grass named due to the shape made by the curling bract of flowers.
Phillips, Stuart. (2012) An Encyclopaedia of Plants in Myth, Legend, Magic and Lore. London: Robert Hale
Swabey F. (2004) Eleanor of Aquitaine, Courtly Love and the Troubadours
Very interesting, thank you
I really enjoy the wide range of topics and excellent level of research of this site.
Thank you. You’re very kind.
Nice sad story about the knight river and plant. Never heard it before but now outside my study window are both creeping phlox and forgetmenot flowers making a blue crest over the stone walls at side of path to house. I had it that a Norman Knight sent it to his wife before battle of Falkirk by one of his staff as he was old and was called to arms against his will. Perhaps he perished as legends never say. I dare say if we look back to Greece ,where I have seen it growing too, tales will go back into the mists of time. Good read this time as always.
I like the regional flavour of your story.