The Art Of Courtly Love (records Of Civilization) [Paperback]

Andreas Capellanus (Andre the Chaplain) wrote The Art of Courtly Love at the request of Countess Marie of Troyes, daughter of Eleanor of Aquitaine. The book is believed to have been intended to portray conditions at Queen Eleanor's court at Poitiers between 1170 and 1174, but Capellanus wrote it most likely several years later.After becoming popularized by the troubadours of southern France in the twelfth century, the social system of 'courtly love' soon spread. Evidence of the influence of courtly love in the culture and literature of most of western Europe spans centuries. This unabridged edition of codifies life at Queen Eleanor's court at Poitiers between 1170 and 1174 into 'one of those capital works which reflect the thought of a great epoch, which explain the secret of a civilization.' This translation of a work that may be viewed as didactic, mocking, or merely descriptive, preserves the attitudes and practices that were the foundation of a long and significant tradition in English literature.Editor's Introduction
Author's Preface
Book One: Introduction to the Treatise on Love
I. What Love Is
II. Between What Persons Love May Exist
III. Where Love Gets Its Name
IV. What the Effect of Love Is
V. What Persons Are Fit for Love
VI. In What Manner Love May Be Acquired and in How Many Ways
VII. The Love of the Clergy
VIII. The Love of Nuns
IX. Love Got With Money
X. The Easy Attainment of One's Object
XI. The Love of Peasants
XII. The Love of Prostitutes
Book Two: How Love May Be Retained
I. How Love, When It Has Been Acquired, May Be Kept
II. How a Love, Once Consummated, May Be Increased
III. In What Ways Love May Be Decreased
IV. How Love May Come to an End