The Art of Courtly Love -

Andreas Capellanus

W W Norton & Company

1969

218 páginas

7h 16m

ISBN-10: 0393098488

De arte honeste amandi has been described as "one of those capital works which reflect the thought of a great epoch, which explain the secret of a civilization." Written by Andreas Capellanus (André the Chaplain) at the direction of Countess Marie of Troyes, daugther of Eleanor of Aquitaine, the book portrays life at Queen Eleanor's court at Poitiers between 1170 and 1174. Its thesis is that love is an art and has an elaborate system of rules governing the conduct of lovers: who may love whom, and the way love may be acquired, kept, decreased, and so on.
Wether it is viewed as principally didatic, descriptive, or mocking, The Art of Courtly Love codified the conventions and attitudes that became the groundwork of a long tradition in English literature, from Chaucer on through Spenser, Sidney, and countless other writers, and preserves a unique picture of 12th century French court life.