Courtly love : loving and respecting the loved one in the Middle Ages Courtly love was an aspect of love that existed during the Middles Ages. Many troubadours wrote poems about this way of loving Courtly love mainly existed in the upper classes and it was based on some specific aspects : courtesy, fidelity, honesty, politeness towards the loved one. This love had nothing to do with marriage and the feelings expressed in courtly love were made between two persons who were not married. Generally, this kind of love was expressed between a man to a married woman. The woman often showed some distance towards her "pretender" trying to make him understand she was unattainable Courtly love was often an idealized love that led to a lot of frustration and sorrow for the person who was deeply in love. The particularity of this love was to express and not express the feeling of love knowing that in the end, both of the partners may never be a couple. It was close to an impossible love and this love was also very secretive (secret?). In a way, it was a sort of adultary without any physical consumption. When a man had to express his feelings, he had to do it in a courteous way paying attention to always respecting the woman he was in love in. If ever the woman fell in love too with this man, the man had to do everything she wanted to show he was totally hers. This way of loving may have not existed for real. It may have existed in some aspects during the Middle Ages. Many troubadours wrote famous courtly love stories. For example, Tristan and Iseult or even the impossible love story between king Arthur and Gueniver. The poems often described what real love was, how a powerful and pure feeling of love could impact someone. It showed how people had to handle their feelings, emotions and body language when they were deeply in love. If this love was shared, then they reached a "fin'amor" that was a real, sincere and deep love shared between two persons. The lovers followed their instincts more than their reason. The poems showed how the love relationships between two persons evolved sometimes for the best or for the worst. Courtly love ended around the 13th century. Summary of Tristan and Iseult Tristan falls in love with Iseult when both of them drank a love potion by accident and they can't but love each other. However, Iseult has to marry Tristan's uncle who tries to separate the lovers. Tristan gets married but can't forget Iseult. He will be poisoned during a trip. Iseult dies of sorrow when she sees Tristan's dead body