Courtly Love

Fin amour, or courtly love, originated in France in the 12th Century. It is

the practise of aristocratic lovers becoming members of the ‘court of
love’ which had routines and rituals.

Andreas Capellanus, a monk at the court of Countess Marie of Champagne

codified these rules in De Arts Honeste Amandi (On The Art of
Honourable Loving).

Stages of courtly love

• Attraction to the lady, usually via eyes/glance - love at first sight
• Worship of the lady from afar – the lover suffers and wishes to be worthy
• Declaration of passionate devotion
• Virtuous rejection by the lady
• Renewed wooing with oaths of virtue and eternal fidelity
• Moans of approaching death from unsatisfied desire (and other physical
manifestations of lovesickness)
• Heroic deeds of valor which win the lady's heart
• Consummation of the secret love – must be secret as the love is often
adulterous
• Endless adventures and subterfuges avoiding detection

Within courtly love there is ambiguity as to whether or not it is based on sexual desire.
Certainly, the ideal love that is expressed is much more than platonic but it also
implies that true love can only exist outside of marriage. Very controversial!

Troubadours
Troubadours were 12th and 13th century poets who
were influential in the development of love poetry.
They were the celebrities of their day. The lyrics of
their poems were set to music and they performed at
courts. The troubadours personified love as female.

Key authors and texts

Andreas Capellanus: De Arts Honeste Amandi
Key words Thomas Malory: Le Morte D’Arthur
Unrequited Chretien de Troyes: Arthurian Romances
Chivalry Chaucer: The Canterbury Tales
Adulterous : Troilus and Crisyede
Troubadours
Allegory Petrarch: Sonnets