DBQ Courtly Love

1. According to Andreas Capellanus, what is love? (give examples) Love is a feeling that every man wants to have. Andreas says, “Just as a shrewd fisherman tries to attract fish with his bait and to catch them on with his curved hook, so he who is truly captured by love tries to attract another with his blandishments and with all his power tries to hold two hearts together with one spiritual chain or, if they be already united, to hold them always together. . . .” Love can only bring out the best in people, as stated, “…the true lover cannot be corrupted by avarice; love makes an ugly rude person shine with all beauty…” For as many positive things Andreas has to say about love he also has bad things to say. He says blindness affects love, stating that a blind man cannot experience love drawing a connection love to the sight and not just human interaction. However, he follows this by saying, “But I recognize that this is true only of the moment in which love is acquired…” Sticking with he cannot love when the blind man is blind but saying that if he loved before he went blind love can endure in him through his life. So, love to Andreas is a feeling in which every man wants and can get that starts with sight and can grow when talking to others. 2. Are there restrictions about who may love whom? Why do you think Capellanus would include such restrictions? What do you think about such restrictions? There are a couple of restrictions on who can love who. Age plays a huge role in who can fall in love with who. Andreas says girls must be at least 12 years old and boy 14. He goes on saying to be truly in love men will have to be between the ages of 18 and 60. Women can also not be over the age of 50. There are quite a few age restrictions there is also restrictions within class. A plebian (lower class gentlemen) can talk to a woman of higher status, such as one in the nobility. However, he must, “be filled with innumerable good qualities, and an infinite number of good deeds should extol him…” Than man in the third dialogue as to beg the noble woman to accept him and she can deny him just based on his class. Some more rules include, peasants and nuns should not love, and prostitutes should be shunned in general. 3. Do any of his “Rules of Love” apply today? Please tell why and which ones? Although this document is something most people would be considered dated and some would not see as rules that should be followed or advice for their relationships, all I will say to that is the United States is following a document that hasn’t been updated since 1776. I do see some rules that I would consider apply today. Today in 2022, love is more complicated than ever so I will be talking on rules that I personally believe in. Some that stood out to me are rules 3, 4, 6, 8, 10, 13, 14, 15, and 16. I will try to touch on each of those in brief detail. I personally don’t believe in polygamy and do not think I personally can have a relationship with many people. I think monogamy is good in it’s just me and one other person I get to enjoy. I think love is fluid in going up and down depending on the relationship, the surrounding environment, and how each respond to it. Boys think they know love but they don’t, saying they love someone in elementary school isn’t real. They have no idea what they want that young. I think everyone deserves love and should be able to attain love from any where and anyone. As a person who once got so obsessed with money and how much I made each week, wealth can mess up a relationship and make it hard for you as a person to love other people. I don’t have personal experience with a public relationships because I made it a rule my relationships would be private. I’ve never seen them turn out well because everyone knows and talks about you and it makes you feel watched. Those who go around getting into many relationships don’t find love in many of them and I see that is devaluing themselves because you’re just going around sleeping with anyone and you shouldn’t because you’re a human that should be valued. When I was dating I would always get butterflies in my stomach because I was nervous. We dated for a while and even over 6 months later I would get nervous around her because of how much I loved her. I felt like I was turning pale and my heart would start to race. 4. Was this work meant to be taken seriously or is it satire? During the time I feel like this can be taken as satire but more seriously. Social status was taken very seriously back in the Middle Ages. No one of higher status would want to date anyone of lower status. We see it all the time in media and even now we have the same ideas that a person isn’t good enough for someone because they aren’t seen as the same because of social media or financially. I’ve seen boys rejected at my high school because they weren’t popular when I knew the guy was really nice and would be a great boyfriend. I feel it’s taken more seriously today than it was back when this was written. Social status was a big deal back then but now it’s an even bigger deal and if you don’t have “x” amount of followers it doesn’t matte if you’re even a good person they won’t talk to you because you aren’t “in their league.” It’s extremely elitist and the biggest narcissistic, god complex I’ve ever seen and I see it mostly in especially in girls.