The Art of Courtly Love

Andreas enumerates “the rules of love” (177) and tells the story of the rules’ provenance. A knight rides through a forest on his way to see King Arthur when he encounters a young woman. She tells him that she knows that he seeks the love of a beautiful woman and that he can only obtain it by securing the hawk from Arthur’s court. To do this, the knight will have to beat “two mighty knights in double combat” (178). He asks for the woman’s help, and she gives him “the kiss of love” (178) and her horse.

The knight continues on his way and encounters a bridge running low across a stream. A ferocious knight guards the bridge, and the knight fights and beats him. The ferocious knight asks for mercy, and the knight complies. On the other side of the bridge, the knight battles and defeats the bridge keeper. Continuing on his journey, he discovers a beautiful castle in which a large table is set with food and drink. The knight helps himself until a giant discovers and rebukes him. The giant warns the knight that he will have to fight his way through the castle. They battle, and the knight again wins and again shows mercy. The knight secures the gauntlet he needs for the hawk and continues his journey.

The next palace he comes to is King Arthur’s, which is protected by 12 strong knights who inform the knight that he can only enter by showing them the gauntlet or fighting his way through them. He shows them the gauntlet, and they grant him passage but warn him that the road is not safe. The knight ignores them and proceeds into the castle. In Arthur’s court, the knight salutes the king and declares that he has come for the hawk, which he can only take if he beats another knight in battle. The knight wins again and seizes the hawk. Attached to its perch is a parchment on which the rules of love are written, composed by the King of Love himself.

The knight returns to the woman in the wood. She rejoices over his victory and gives him permission to return home. The knight looks over the 31 rules listed, including “Marriage is no real excuse for not loving”; “He who is not jealous cannot love”; “When made public love rarely endures”; “He whom the thought of love vexes eats and sleeps very little”; “Good character alone makes any man worthy of love”; and “A true lover is constantly and without intermission possessed by the thought of his beloved” (184-86). The knight brings the rules back to the woman whose love he desires, and she rewards him with her love. She calls an assembly of ladies and knights, provides each with their own written copy of the rules, and orders them to share them far and wide.