COURTLY LOVE The Ideal of Pure Love
LOVE DEFINED: a certain inborn suffering derived from the signt of and excessive meditation upon the beauty of the opposite sex. --Andreas Capellanus
ORIGINS OF COURTLY LOVE Some people think it came from the matriarchal society of the Celtic people The Celts worshipped goddesses; Women were the superior gender Thats why the woman is so exalted in courtly love!
The woman was put on a pedestalshe was the beloved. The man or lover spent his time serving his beloved and wasting away thinking about her. COURTLY LOVE WAS VERY IDEALISTIC.
COURTLY LOVE INVOLVED Arranged marriages Paramours Unrequited love (unreturned) Very high emotions sometimes.
COURTLY LOVE WAS VIEWED AS AN ART WITH RULES When a lover dies, a widowhood of two years is required for the survivor. Every act of the lover ends in the thought of his beloved. A true lover considers nothing good unless he thinks it will please his lover. Nothing forbids one woman being loved by two men or one man by two women. **See 31 Rules for Lovers by Andreaus Cappelanus