courtly love in medieval romance courtly love was a system of romance practiced in the Middle Ages courtly love had nothing to do with marriage your spouse was the person you had sex with to bring children into the world courtly love was outside of marriage and did not involve any sexual contact your lover was the person with whom you talked giggled danced and showered with your affection sexual acts with your lover were forbidden but when has that stopped anyone why did courtly love exist many marriages in the Middle Ages were arranged so love had nothing to do with them typically they were formed for political or economic reasons courtly love owed Nobles to have romantic relationships in addition to marital relationships most often courtly loved involved a lady of the court and a knight courtly love was also closely related to chivalry a code of honor that told Knights how to behave Knights were to be generous Brave Pious and honest today chivalry refers refers only to how men treat women based on how the knights were supposed to treat the noble ladies one of the most famous examples of courtly love is Lady gwy and Sir Lancelot of Arthurian [Music] Legend medieval romances were stories of Adventure Gallant love chivalry and heroism these represented the social order and ideals of the Middle Ages Tales of King Arthur Merlin and the Knights of the Round Table were very idealized and not like the reality of medieval England at all the real King Arthur was not of the Middle Ages little is actually known about him he was a Britain named artorius who helped fight off the Anglo-Saxon Invaders around 1135 a monk produced a history based on Legends the history became a basis for further Legends of King Arthur and his court