Ideal of Courtly Love

The ideal of courtly love was practiced in the Middle Ages. This formal method of courting a member of the opposite sex, often involved a relationship between the courting individual and someone who was married. According to Thompson (1998), the ideal of courtly love includes three main aspects: 1) the ennobling force of human love, 2) the elevation of the beloved above the lover, and 3) love as ever unsatisfied, an ever increasing desire (1).

One of these aspects, "love as ever unsatisfied," may help to explain why the ideal of courtly love emerged during the Middle Ages. Ironically, adultery was a taboo in Middle Ages cultures, so the fact that an admirer often cour

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Category: History - I