A quest for his lady's love: Sir Ulrich von Lichtenstein. The real knight's tale

In 2001 Director Brian Helgeland brought his version of A Knight’s Tale to the big screen. The story was part of The Canterbury Tales, written by Geoffrey Chaucer (played by Paul Bettany in the film).  In Hollywood’s take of the classic medieval story, a tradesman’s son, William Thatcher (Heath Ledger) is apprenticed as a squire by his father to a knight. When the knight dies during a tournament, William takes his master’s place. He wins and assumes a new identity: ‘Sir Ulrich von Liechtenstein’. As he and his companions travel the mainland, ‘Ulrich’ keeps gaining experience and winning accolades. At one event, he runs into Jocelyn (Shannyn Sossamon), a noblewoman and his nemesis – Count Adhemar (Rufus Sewell). Through adversity, and some compassion from Prince Edward, the Black Prince, William earns his true spurs and his love. All this takes place with hip music and great jousting scenes (even if the continuity messed up by allowing a horse to magically change colors in the middle of a joust run).

Of course, that not what really happened.

Ulrich von Liechtenstein was born around 1200 in Austria. He wasn’t a commoner as Hollywood wanted us to believe. How do we know that? Austrian nobility added ‘von’ to their names. Ulrich was educated – most likely in Latin and the language of his birthplace, German. As befitted a son of a high-ranking person, he would have learned the many knightly arts, court etiquette, possibly music, and poetry.

The time of von Liechtenstein was one of peace. For men like Ulrich, the chance to practice the skills they had been learning since childhood was limited. One could take up the Cross and journey to the Holy Lands, but that meant leaving a comfortable life. How else could a young man work off his energies and show off his prowess with his weapons and earn fame & fortune without starting a blood feud? The answer was tournaments. Men like William Marshall had made fortunes travelling from event to event.

Ulrich started out as a page and then moved up to a squire to the Markgraf (Marquis) Heinrich von Istria. In 1222, Ulrich was knighted, along with 199 other men, as part of the wedding celebration of Duke Leopold of Austria’s daughter’s marriage. Tournaments could be of different types: a melee (two ‘armies’ fighting in a mock-battle) or a joust (also called a tilt). The knight wrote about his success in a popular poem called Frauendienst (The Service of Women). In the poem, Ulrich is twelve. He talks about falling in love and this amour is the basis for the love portion of A Knight’s Tale. However, the movie leaves most of the juicy bits out of the story.

First of all, for most of his life, Ulrich was married and had several children. His son, Ulrich II, married Cunegunde of Goldegg, the daughter of Conrad of Goldegg. His daughter, Diemut, married Wulfing of Trennstein.  He did manage to spend some time with his wife between his duties and travels.  Ulrich had a brother called Hartnid. Hartnid served as the Bishop of Gurk from 1283 to 1298^. Another brother of Ulrich, Dietmar IV of Liechtenstein-Offenburg, had a son named Gundaker, so our knight had plenty of family to cheer him on.  

What the name of his love was, we don’t know but it was written that she rejected the young Ulrich. The woman lived at von Heinrich’s home when Ulrich arrived to begin his service. The knight actually wrote of his feeble attempts at trying to attract the object of his affection. When that failed, he would sneak into her room and touch her clothes or wash his hands in her used bath water (yuck). He was born with hare-lip and went through surgery to repair it so he could sing for the woman. He entered tournaments (jousts and melees); dedicating his efforts to her asking to carry her favor or colors (she refused). He sent letters begging for a moment of her time.

At one point he severed part of his finger and sent it to his lady love. She relented and said she’d think of him by looking at the part every day. That inspired Ulrich to map out a series of jousts from Venice to the orders of Bohemia. He called the series of fights, Venusfahrt (Venus Journey). He claimed he would dress up as Lady Venus during his events – although there is no record if he actually had a costume or just added some decoration to his armor. Ulrich boasted to have broken 307 lances over the five week period of this endeavor.  He awarded ring to those who broke lances when riding against him and supposedly 271 rings were handed out. As a result, his lady agreed to meet with him but only if he dressed as a leper and waited with a group of lepers outside her door (in the rain). She didn’t follow through and instead the following day asked him to climb up a rope hanging from her bedroom. He didn’t hesitate and started the climb. The upstart female cut the rope, causing Ulrich to fall into the moat. She then said she’d offer him her love if he’d promise to go on Crusade. It is not written if she followed through with her word.

One of Ulrich more famous events was the Artusfahrt (Journey for Arthur). This was a tournament in which he offered to fight any man entered. What was the catch? All entrants would fight an alias of one of King Arthur’s knights. Any man breaking three lances against Ulrich won the right to join Ulrich’s Round Table. For same reason, Duke Frederick of Austria banned the final match.

Sir Ulrich passed away of unknown causes on 26 January 1275 and was buried in Seckau, which is in modern-day Austria. 

Lady Beauteous, Lady Pure - Poem by Ulrich von Liechtenstein

'Lady beauteous, lady pure,
Lady happy, lady kind,
Love, methinks, has little power,
So proud thy bearing, o'er thy mind.
Didst thou feel the power of love
Then would those fair lips unclose,
And be taught in sighs to move.'

'What is love, then, good sir knight?
Is it man or woman? say;
Tell me, if I know it not,
How it comes to pass, I pray.
Thou should'st tell me all its story,
Whence, and where, it cometh here,
That my heart may yet be wary.'

'Lady, love so mighty is,
All things living to her bow;
Various is her power, but I
Will tell thee what of her I know.
Love is good, and love is ill,
Joy and woe she can bestow,
Spreading life and spirit still.'

'Can love banish, courteous knight,
Pining grief and wasting woe?
Pour gay spirits on the heart,
Polish, grace, and ease bestow?
If in her these powers may meet,
Great is she, and thus shall be
Her praise and honour great.'

'Lady, I will say yet more;
Lovely are her gifts, her hand
Joy bestows, and honour too;
The virtues come at her command,
Joys of sight and joys of heart
She bestows as she may choose,
And splendid fortune doth impart.'

'How shall I obtain, sir knight,
All these gifts of lady love?
Must I bear a load of care?
Much too weak my frame would prove.
Grief and care I cannot bear;
Can I then the boon obtain;
Tell me, sir knight, then, how and where.'

'Lady, thou should'st think of me
As I of thee think,- heartily.
Thus shall we together blend
Firm in love's sweet harmony,
Thou still mine, I still thine.'

'It cannot be, sir knight, with me;
Be your own, I'll still be mine.

To learn more about Ulrich, see:

“The Real Ulrich von Liechtenstein” by Kelly DeVries

Medieval History magazine, issue one, Sept. 2003

Stay safe out there!