Andreas Capellanus' De Amore:

Andreas Capellanus' De Amore: An Instructional Book for Men in the Ways to Treat Women

Andreas Capellanus was born between the years 1150-1160 and died sometime after 1186. Not much of his life is known besides that he is believed to have been a chaplain in the Court of Henry of Troy. Capellanus wrote a book named De Amore, which became the definitive work on the subject of courtly love throughout medieval times.

De Amore is a book stylized in the form of a letter to a fictitious friend, Walter, about the intricacies of love. However, De Amore is really a manual which teaches men how to seduce women. The whole book is written from a man's point of view and mentions the emotional experiences of women only incidentally. This is not to put a negative connotation on Capellanus's work. During this time period, every aspect of life - public and personal - was dominated by the male half of our species. But, this does not change the fact that our author's chief concern was to instruct his reader, a man, in the ways of winning a woman on whom he has set his heart. There are three major, honest ways of winning a woman's response - "a fine physique, manly behavior, and fluency and elegance of speech." (Brittanica). It is intention of De Amore to set out to teach the last.

In De Amore, Andreas casts his instructions in the matter of the speech between lovers in the same and in different social classes. To cover all the possibilities of interaction between classes there should have be nine different dialogues. However, Capellanus seems to never think of the possibility of a man of gentry talking to a lady of the high nobility (Hermann). These dialogues develop into a give and take of argument and persuasion. Eventually, the women in each case in persuaded by the eloquent way in which the young man speaks.

In the Art of Courtly Love, Capellanus gives several absolutes that he considers essential to any relationship where love will be involved. Not least of these rules is the axiom that jealousy is a must for a couple to love one another.