History of English Literature
Lecture IX 1st of December MMX
Courtly Love - continued
Courtly Love (fin amor [fr. Fine love])
Important in European culture in and beyond Middle Ages. Courtly Love had the same effect on
transformation of warriors (Bella Tores) into knights (Le Chevaliers) as crusades.
One other reason why fin amor is worth remembering nowadays. Our contemporary perceptions on
love are largely based on the ideas on fin amor. The rules of Romantic Comedy and the rules of
courtly love are similar. The word romantic comes from the middle ages.
Origins of Fin Amor can be located in what is now France (it's southern parts  Languedoc and
Aquitaine).
The court of Eleanor of Aquitaine was a very important centre for creation of fin amor poetry and
art.
The culture would relatively quickly begin to spread across Europe for several reasons.:
- the arranging of marriages.
-(...)???
The culture of love was not only a culture of sophisticated and pure love. It often used humorous
and erotic elements.
Courtly Love and Marriage were completely different thing. Courtly Love was seen as adulterous
and condemned by the church. It added one of the most important features to it : danger.
Sometimes priests were also involved in courtly love. The most famous was Andreas Capellanus at
the court of Marie of Champagne (Daughter of Eleanor). He wrote a treatise called De arte honeste
amande ( a sort of instruction on courtly love).
The other important texts are
- Jean de Mang (first part), Girllaine de Lorris(Second part forty parts later)- Romance of the Rose-
13th century in France -philosophy of Love -defines the language of love for several generations.