Commentary Par XV 48

This is the last appearance in the poem of the adjective cortese (literally, 'courtly' [i.e., of the court], and hence 'courteous' [i.e., behaving as a courtier does -- or should do]).  It transforms the usual sense of the word, which often associates it with 'courtly love,' into heavenly affection, a rather pronounced Nietzschean 'transvaluation of values.'  Dante had already availed himself of a similar strategic displacement at the end of the Vita nuova, when he refers to God as the 'sire de la cortesia' (the Lord of graciousness [tr. M. Musa]).  The first time we hear the noun for 'court' in Inferno ([Inf II 125]), it is used to indicate 'la corte del cielo' (the court of Heaven); human courts are characterized ([Inf XIII 66]), on the other hand, by invidia (envy), the 'whore' found, according to Pier della Vigna, at courts.  The 'court of heaven' is referred to three times in Purgatorio ([Purg XVI 41]; [Purg XXI 17]; [Purg XXXI 41]) and nine times in Paradiso ([Par III 45]; [Par VII 51]; [Par X 70]; [Par XXI 74]; [Par XXIV 112]; [Par XXV 43]; [Par XXVI 16]; [Par XXX 96]; [Par XXXII 98]).