Andreas Capellanus's The Art of Courtly Love

Andreas Capellanus, chaplain at the court of Countess Marie de Champagne, daughter of Eleanor of Aquitaine, wrote this treatise on courtly love in the 12th century--ostensibly to educate a friend--and thus set a new standard for lovers. Capellanus' work may have been intended as a satirical reworking of Ovid's Ars Amatoria, or it might have been influenced by the Arabic views of love in The Dove's Neck-Ring by Ibn Hazm a Mozarabic writer of the 11th century. Whatever his intent, his work, The Art of Courtly Love, influenced the aristocracy's ideas of social relationships, and the portrayal of male-female roles in romantic literature, well into the Renaissance.

In a series of conversational examples between men and women of various classes together with a list of rules of love, Capellanus draws distinctions between the relationship of marriage and the relations between true lovers. Within the context of courtly love the true lover is required to pay homage to and do the bidding of his ladylove above all else. True love according to Capellanus does not exist between husband and wife, but is a state sought by all outside of the marriage bed. He states, attributing the sentiment to "M., Countess of Champagne", that "Love cannot acknowledge any rights of his between husband and wife". This attitude is understandable in a society where marriages were contracted for position and fortune.

In one of the sets of rules for lovers set forth by Capellanus he states that "No one should be deprived of love without the very best of reasons". This would justify romantic relationships of which women were otherwise deprived. Before modern times, love was rarely a factor in choosing a spouse, and yet it is perhaps the strongest force that drives mankind. Capellanus both acknowledges and rationalizes the power love holds over men and women alike.

The path to true love is never easy, and the rules of courtly love would have it that where there is love there, too, is suffering. It is by his great distress that the beloved can see how greatly the lover loves. Although love that suffers chastely and from afar is held in esteem, Capellanus also says that kisses and embraces are "indications that love is to follow" and should not be overdone if the lover is not sincere. This seems to acknowledge the human need for sexual action to follow seduction. Appropriate action with gifts and flattery is described by Capellanus in his dialogs for seducing the beloved. Care must be taken in the choice of gifts, since by the rules of courtly love exchange of valuable objects debases the relationship and lovers may only accept those "little gifts" "useful for the care of the person" or "pleasing to look at" as long as there is no "avarice" involved.

This rule led to the carrying by knights of tokens or "favors"--gifts of their ladies--in tournaments throughout the Middle Ages. Seduction has four steps according to Capellanus: first should come ...