Courtly Love in the High Middle Ages

Courtly Love is a literary genre of poetry that began in the south of France in the 12th century during the period known as the High Middle Ages. In this new genre of poetry, motifs were established that are still commonly used today in the romance genre and it also elevated the position of women in society during this time. The historicity of this genre of literature is still hotly debated as to whether it was simply a fanciful metaphor or if it actually reflected the relationships of the upper class at the time. Scholars have also suggested the genre was a religious allegory relating to the heresy of Catharism whilst others claim that it simply represented the superficial games of the medieval French court. As one of the most powerful women of the Middle Ages, Eleanor of Aquitaine’s role in developing the genre of courtly love is still controversial. Throughout her life, she lived as she wanted, regardless that she was first queen of France and then queen of England, and during her life she was an av