200 cosmetics and beauty aids
Horn (Budapest: Corvina Press, 1964); Marianna D. Birn-
baum, The Orb and the Pen: Janus Pannonius, Matthias
Corvinus and the Buda Court(Budapest: Balassi, 1996);
Rózsa Feuer-Tóth, Art and Humanism in Hungary in the
Age of Matthias Corvinus,trans. Györgyi Jakobi and ed.
Péter Farbaky (Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, 1990).
cosmetics and beauty aids In the Middle Ages and
early Renaissance cosmetic preparations were used to alter
natural appearance. These included many preparations
such as breath deodorizers, tooth-cleaning preparations,
shampoo, soap, hair bleaches and dyes, preparations for
hair growth, preparations for the skin or removal or skin
defects, nail coloring, lice removers, eye liner and shadow,
powder, and perfume. There were also implements such
as razors, combs, scissors, tweezers, false teeth, mirrors,
toothpicks, toothbrushes, false hair, wigs, curling irons,
hairpins, and ornaments for hairnets and braids. Perfumes
were widely used, made from aromatic woods, gums,
resins, oils, frankincense, myrrh, cassia, spikenard, cedar
and cypress wood, sesame, olive, and almond oils.
Further reading:Sharon Romm, The Changing Face
of Beauty (St. Louis: Mosby Year Book, 1992); John
Woodforde, The History of Vanity(New York: St. Martin’s
Press, 1992).
costume SeeCLOTHING AND COSTUME.
councils, general and ecumenical(oecumenical)
Seven ecumenical or universal church councils have been
accepted by the Eastern Church and Roman Catholicism
(325–787). We know little about the debates and proce-
dures of most of them. Many councils were convened to
deal with attacks on orthodoxy. Their decisions and defi-
nitions often became part of canon law. Among the many
issues that concerned the church, the First Ecumenical
Council at NICAEAin 325 condemned ARIANISM. The Sec-
ond Ecumenical Council at CONSTANTINOPLEin 381 con-
demned those who believed that the HOLYSPIRITwas a
created being. The Third Ecumenical Council at EPHESUS
in 431 condemned NESTORIANISM. The Council of CHAL-
CEDON in 451 condemned MONOPHYSITISM. The Fifth
Ecumenical Council at Constantinople in 553 con-
demned the Three Chapters. The Sixth Ecumenical
Council at Constantinople at 680–81 condemned
monotheletism. The Seventh Ecumenical Council at
Nicaea in 787 condemned ICONOCLASMand restored the
veneration of icons.
The Roman Catholic Church had accepted 14 addition
councils, from that of Constantinople in 869–70 to the
Second Vatican Council (1962–65). These include the four
Lateran councils, those at LYON, and those in the 15th cen-
tury at CONSTANCEand BASEL/FLORENCE. There were also
smaller meetings at the diocesan and provincial levels.
Further reading:Norman P. Tanner, ed. Decrees of the
Ecumenical Councils,Vol. 1, Nicaea I to Lateran V.(Lon-
don: Sheed and Ward, 1990); Norman P. Tanner, The
Councils of the Church: A Short History(New York: Cross-
road, 2001).Courson, Robert of (Robert Courçon) (d. 1219)English
theologian, cardinal
Of English origin, Robert of Courson was a pupil of Peter
the Chanter at the University of Paris, between 1190 and- From 1204 he taught there and often acted as a
judge delegate. Promoted to a cardinalate in 1212 by
Pope INNOCENTIII, he was charged with promoting a
CRUSADE. He presided over the councils held at Paris in
1213, Bordeaux in 1214, and ROUENin 1214. He con-
firmed SIMON DEMONTFORT THEELDER’Sconquests of the
Albigensians. He reorganized the course of studies at
Paris and issued a prohibition on teaching the Meta-
physicsof ARISTOTLEbut gave authorization to use the
Ethics.He was present at the Fourth Lateran Council in - He died on February 6, 1219, on crusade before
Damietta in EGYPT, where he was the adjutant of Cardinal
PELAGIUS, the spiritual leader of the Fifth Crusade. Writ-
ten between 1204 and 1210, his Summa theologicahas
not been edited. His commentary on PETERLOMBARD’s
Sentenceshas been lost.
Further reading:John W. Baldwin, Master, Princes
and Merchants: The Social Views of Peter the Chanter and
His Circle,2 vols. (Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University
Press, 1970).
courtesy books and literature Courtesy books were
primarily written to inform the uncultivated about proper
comportment, especially at courts and among groups of
people. They were read by the ambitious and opportunis-
tic and were perceived to reflect aspects of aristocratic
codes of conduct, even CHIVALRY. Knights, ladies, pages,
squires, court servants, and aspiring gentlemen could
learn from them numerous points of etiquette and be
properly socialized. They appeared in English and Anglo-
Norman in the 12th and 13th centuries and soon were
written in German, Italian, French, and Castilian.
See alsoCAXTON,WILLIAM;KNIGHTS AND KNIGHTHOOD;
PISAN,CHRISTINE DE; SOCIAL STATUS AND STRUCTURE.
Further reading:F. J. Furnivall, ed., The Babees Book
(New York: The Greenwood Press, 1969); Diane Born-
stein, The Lady in the Tower: Medieval Courtesy Literature
for Women(Hamden, Conn.: Archon Books, 1983); J. D.
Burnley, Courtliness and Literature in Medieval England
(London: Longman, 1998).courtly love(amour courtois, höfische Minne) Mod-
ern scholarship coined this term in 1883 for a set of
social, erotic, religious, and philosophical conventions