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The theme of courtly love is central to the mythology surrounding King Arthur and his knights. But while the writings of Chrétien de Troyes were largely innocent, and dealt with matters of the heart, other events were unfolding in medieval Europe which would take the Arthurian Legend in a more sectarian direction.
Courtly love, a highly conventionalized code that prescribed the behavior of women of the nobility and their lovers during the later Middle Ages. It was also the theme of an extensive medieval literature.
Courtly love (Occitan: fin'amor; French: amour courtois [amuʁ kuʁtwa]) was a medieval European literary conception of love that emphasized nobility and chivalry. Medieval literature is filled with examples of knights setting out on adventures and performing various deeds or services for ladies because of their "courtly love".
The subject of love and adultery in Arthurian romances usually calls to mind the love triangle that unites King Arthur, his wife Queen Guinevere, and the knight Sir Lancelot.
29 lis 2023 · Courtly love prescribes certain characteristics befitting of a gentleman: seeking dignity, valor, and honor for those he admires. It was a social code that ensured knights behaved and refrained from causing trouble, lest it should compromise the dignity of their lady.
Chrétien is generally considered the father of courtly love literature with the Arthurian Romances for two reasons. Chrétien was one of the first to write what we know as fictional stories of King Arthur and his court and was also one of the first to make love the central theme of a serious work.
Deals with Arthurian and non-Arthurian romance, with sections devoted to origins and contexts, to issues for discussion (e.g., chivalry, courtly love, and questions of gender), and to romance in German, Italian, English, and Spanish literatures in addition to an emphasis on French works.
