Quotes About Courtly love

Courtly love-poetry may first have been written during long periods of abstinence on the Crusades, but it would not have flourished in the cold of northern Europe without some help from the chimney.

Chrétien de Troyes is said to have used this court as the model for his Arthurian romance Érec and Énide (c.1170), which is set

I love this medieval stuff," Archie announced to whatever assembly was there, "don't you?" And with that, he slapped her happily on the rump—to the accompaniment of more horrified gasps—and continued on his way.

The chambermaid believed in courtly love. A book's physical self was sacrosanct to her, its form inseparable from its content; her duty as a lover was Platonic adoration, a noble but doomed attempt to conserve forever the state of perfect chastity in which it had left the bookseller.

Love rules the court, the camp, the grove, and men below, and the saints above, for love is heaven, and heaven is love.

Nunca hubo caballero que salvase a dama con tanta gallardía y discreción.» Es de Chrétien de Troyes.

Note how stereotypical the traits are that he assigns to her – she could be almost any woman celebrated in courtly love poetry.

As you probably know, the Vikings invaded France, were bought off with Normandy, settled there, then used it as a base for invading Britain and many other places. The most bad-ass Normans crossed the Channel with William the Conqueror; the ones that stayed behind in Normandy spawned the generations who mostly enjoyed jousting and courtly love, etc. . .

yield the lady, or prepare to maintain his right by arms.

Mi señora -dijo Marco, inclinándose ante ella-, vuestra radiante belleza ha sido para mí una brillante estrella que me ha guiado hasta la victoria. Os suplico que vuestros luminosos rayos consientan rozar mi oscuro y triste corazón, arrancándolo de las profundas tinieblas en las que se halla sin vuestro favor. Os ruego aceptéis que os ofrezca mi esfuerzo de hoy, y perdonéis mi atrevimiento al solicitaros que me admitaís como vuestro caballero.

What does a female knight do? What all knights do. She goes out and slays dragons. When she's back at the castle, she's wooing fair maidens or handsome men.

Middle Ages

The adept of courtly love, fresh from sighing at his unapproachable lady's feet, could pause on his homeward journey to tumble a shepherdess in her meadow, a fresh-faced village girl under a hedge. The Muslims in Spain and Syria were shocked by the licentiousness of the French.