Wiktionary
n. A mediaeval European conception of noble and chivalrous love, generally secret and between members of the nobility.
WordNet
n. (Middle Ages) a highly conventionalized code of conduct for lovers
Wikipedia
Courtly love (or fin'amor in Occitan) was a medieval European literary conception of love that emphasized nobility and chivalry. Medieval literature is filled with examples of knights setting out on adventures and performing various services for ladies because of their "courtly love". This kind of love is originally a literary fiction created for the entertainment of the nobility, but as time passed, these ideas about love changed and attracted a larger audience. In the high Middle Ages, a "game of love" developed around these ideas as a set of social practices. "Loving nobly" was considered to be an enriching and improving practice.
Courtly love began in the ducal and princely courts of Aquitaine, Provence, Champagne, ducal Burgundy and the Norman Kingdom of Sicily at the end of the eleventh century. In essence, courtly love was an experience between erotic desire and spiritual attainment, "a love at once illicit and morally elevating, passionate and disciplined, humiliating and exalting, human and transcendent".
The term "courtly love" was first popularized by Gaston Paris and has since come under a wide variety of definitions and uses. Its interpretation, origins and influences continue to be a matter of critical debate.
Usage examples of "courtly love".
The French King's death, in the play, is a convenient device to end the developing and increasingly intense game of courtly love before it is forced to graduate into something else.
Other poets presented characters for moral purposes or to embody ideals such as courtly love.
I only did courtly love in a medieval survey course, and I know nothing about ancient religions.
Her literary tastes gave rise to troubadour poetry, the courtly love tradition, and whole libraries of interminable French romances that concentrated heavily on 'The Matter of Britain' (King Arthur et al) and 'The Matter of France' (Charlemagne and Co.
The twelfth-century troubadour poetry of courtly love was a protest against this supernaturally justified violation of life's joy in truth.
Gawyn's feelings of courtly love for Eliwys are apparently not disturbed by dalliances with the servants.