Courtesan

[2] In European feudal society, the court was the centre of government as well as the residence of the monarch, and social and political life were often completely mixed together.

As it was customary during this time for royal couples to lead separate lives—commonly marrying simply to preserve bloodlines and to secure political alliances—men and women would often seek gratification and companionship from people living at court.

In Renaissance usage, the Italian word cortigiana, feminine of cortigiano ("courtier"), came to refer to a person who attends the court, and then to a well-educated and independent woman, eventually a trained artist or artisan of dance and singing, especially one associated with wealthy, powerful, or upper-class society who was given luxuries and status in exchange for entertainment and companionship.

[citation needed] The cortigiane oneste were usually well-educated and worldly (sometimes even more so than the average upper-class woman), and often held simultaneous careers as performers or artists.

[6] Courtesans from non-wealthy backgrounds provided charming companionship for extended periods, no matter what their own feelings or commitments might have been at the time, and sometimes had to be prepared to do so on short notice.

They were also subject to lower social status, and often religious disapproval, because of the perceived immoral aspects of their profession and their reliance upon courtisanerie as a primary source of income.

Those from wealthy backgrounds, either by birth or marriage, and who were acting as courtesans only for the social or political advancement of themselves and/or their spouses were generally treated as equals.

When referring to those who made their service as a courtesan as their main source of income, success was based solely on financial management and longevity.

Pietro Aretino, an Italian Renaissance writer, wrote a series of dialogues (Capricciosi ragionamenti) in which a mother teaches her daughter what options are available to women and how to be an effective courtesan.

In eighteenth-century French literature, the courtesan tends to be idealised as a beautiful and intellectually refined figure of classical antiquity, who invariably enjoys excellent health and is untouched by the contemporary societal scourge of syphilis (often politely referred to as "smallpox") and other sexually transmitted diseases.

Separately from this list, the term "courtesan" has been used in a political context in an attempt to damage the reputation of a powerful woman or disparage her importance.

For example, the title was applied to the Byzantine empress Theodora, who had started life as an erotic actress but later became the wife of the Emperor Justinian and, after her death, an Orthodox saint.