as courtly love. It defined the relationships between knights and ladies of the court and was a written code of rules that outlined the proper behavior of relationship between aristocratic lovers in Western Europe during the Middle Ages. There are twelve chief rules of courtly love, as stated by Andreas Capellanus in De Arte Honeste Amandi:I. Thou shalt avoid avarice like the deadly pestilence and shalt embrace its opposite.II. Thou shalt keep thyself chaste for the sake of her whom thou lovest. III. Thou shalt not knowingly strive to break up a correct love affair that someone else is engaged in.IV. Thou shalt not choose for thy love anyone whom a natural sense of shame forbids thee to marry.V. Be mindful completely to avoid falsehood. VI. Thou shalt not have many who know of thy love affair. VII. Being obedient in all things to the commands of ladies, thou shalt ever strive to ally thyself to the service of Love.VIII. In giving and receiving love's solaces let modesty be ever present. IX. Thou shalt speak no evil. X. Thou shalt not reveal love affairs. XI. Thou shalt be in all things polite and courteous.XII. In practising the solaces of love, thou shalt not exceed the desires of thy lover.(qtd. in Barber 136)In addition to the twelve, there is another set of thirty-one rules for engaging in the Art of Courtly Love(qtd. in Barber 133). According to these conventions, a knight, in love with a married woman, who was of the same station or higher, had to prove his devotion to her through heroic deeds and anonymous writings of his love for her. Once the lovers had consummated their passions, complete secrecy had to be maintained. Since most noble marriages in the Middle Ages were mainly business contracts, courtly love was a form of permitted adultery. It was allowed because it did not threaten the marriage contract or the religious bond of marriage. In fact it was considered more sinful to be unfaithful to your lover than to your marria...
