History Main / CourtlyLove

* ''ComicBook/Valhalla'': Heimdall spends most of "Freya's Necklace" having a "romantic ideal" type of crush on Freya and is actually offended when she propositions him sexually.

** UsefulNotes/HenryVIII is often remembered as a {{Flanderized}} version of his older self, but in his youth he had a romantic fondness for stories. There's one account from during the happy part of his first marriage where he burst into his wife's chambers to surprise her while cosplaying as Myth/RobinHood. In light of stories like that, it's less jarring to hear that in the love letters Henry wrote to UsefulNotes/AnneBoleyn during their courtship, he used the language and tropes of courtly love, calling himself (a king) Anne's "servant".

%%* It was rumored that a British ambassador had this for UsefulNotes/MariaTheresa, and it's entirely probable.
* The conventions of courtly love were UsefulNotes/ElizabethI's major strategy for keeping her court of restless, power-hungry men well under her thumb. It worked quite well for her.
%%* [[Literature/TheDivineComedy Dante Alighieri]] had this for his crush and muse, Beatrice.

* ''Literature/LastHeraldMageTrilogy'': Vanyel's mother Lady Treesa adores a variant of CourtlyLove -- she greatly enjoys light flirtation, having love songs addressed to her, and just getting a chance to give and receive compliments, all with no actual intention behind them. Her actual husband disdains all of that. When Van was a child Treesa encouraged her son's [[InTouchWithHisFeminineSide unmanly interests in fashion and music]] and made him the "pet of the bower", smothering him in this kind of affection and expecting it back. Her ladies were often annoyed by the sense that any adoration from the LongHairedPrettyBoy was performative and had no actual desire involved. Visiting home as an adult, Van plays along with a lighter heart and once has to tell his boyfriend that no, his mother doesn't actually mean anything by this other than enjoying attention.

* ''Literature/TheShipWhoWon'': [[BrainsAndBrawn Carialle and her brawn Keff]] have a relationship like this. [[WetwareCPU Shellpeople]] like Carialle CantHaveSexEver but are often [[MayflyDecemberFriendship very close]] with their [[HandyHelper brawns]], and a PseudoRomanticFriendship is quite common. Carialle and Keff enjoy {{LARP}}ing together, though, with him playing the dashing KnightInShiningArmor and her being the GameMaster setting up hologram-enhanced adventures and playing all kinds of characters, including Keff's Lady Fair. Even outside of the game, Keff likes to playfully address her as his liege and lady-love. He's protective of her and they're very close but have no sensual desire for one another, with Carialle cheerfully nudging him towards potential lovers who can understand that his tie to her is his top priority.

* ''Literature/TortallUniverse'': The young knight Nealan of Queenscove had a habit of loving lovely ladies of the court from afar and writing songs and poetry about them that irritated his friends to no end in the early ''Literature/ProtectorOfTheSmall'' series (including Daine the Wildmage and Queen Thayet herself), but when he met Yukimi, the woman he would eventually marry and love for the rest of his life, none of his friends had a clue there was anything between them until his stoic future wife broke down with worry during Neal's ordeal [[note]]Knights of Tortall must enter the [[PsychologicalTormentZone Chamber of the Ordeal]] before being knighted and it can kill them or break their minds.[[/note]]

* ''WesternAnimation/StarWarsTheCloneWars'': Obi-Wan Kenobi and Duchess Satine Kryze of Mandalore met when they were young and he was assigned to protect her from political enemies. He was noble enough to be willing to leave the Jedi Order for her; she was noble enough not to require that of him. The result, years down the line, is a MasochismTango in which the participants are TwiceShy, as Anakin looks on in amusement and subtly takes his revenge for Obi-Wan's snark against his relationship with Padme.
* ''WesternAnimation/StevenUniverse'' features [[HeartbrokenBadass Pearl]], who was deeply in love with her leader [[FriendToAllLivingThings Rose Quartz]]. In one episode she talks about the way of a knight, "completely dedicating yourself to a person and a cause", and makes it clear she was willing to give up anything and everything to follow and protect Rose. Unfortunately, the relationship did not end well, as Rose fell in love with [[BigFun Greg Universe]] and ultimately had a child with him, [[HalfHumanHybrid Steven]]. Due to the BizarreAlienBiology involved, Rose [[DeathByChildbirth sacrificed her life to give birth]] (or ''became'' Steven in a way? it's hard to understand or explain) and Pearl has been [[TheMourningAfter missing her]] ever since, sometimes to an unhealthy degree. Even after Rose's death Pearl still dedicates herself to following Rose's ideals and protecting Steven. Worth noting is that Pearl is a [[SiliconBasedLife Gem]] designed to be part of a ServantRace, and the reason she fell for Rose is Rose [[BecauseYouWereNiceToMe respected her as a person and gave her a choice]] instead of just giving orders.

** Within their world, the peak archetype of courtly love is embodied by the historical {{Posthumous Character}}s, Queen Naerys and her champion Prince Aemon the Dragonknight, whom there are songs about. Some suggest they may have gotten physical as well, but it's widely suspected that that's just MaliciousSlander that Naerys' husband helped spread so that he could claim that her son was illegitimate and disinherit him when that was convenient.
** Brienne of Tarth and Renly Baratheon are a {{gender inverted|trope}} example. Renly is king-claimant, and Brienne is one of the loyal knights in his bodyguard. They could never be together for several reasons: the gap in social status between a king and the daughter of a lesser noble house; Renly being one of the most handsome men in the realm and Brienne being one of the most homely women; and IncompatibleOrientation, with Renly being gay and in a long-term relationship with Ser Loras Tyrell. Regardless, Brienne puts on the armor of a knight, wins a tourney, is awarded a spot in Renly's personal bodyguard, and pledges to fight and die for him, all because it's the only way for her to be close to him.

Later on, this trope helped make the era look far more romantic than it already was. Thus we have KnightInShiningArmor, PrinceCharming, and PrincessClassic.

Compare TheLadysFavour, LadyAndKnight.

* ''Fanfic/TheGhostsOfTheOldCastle'': An evil version thereof is present here. Nushrok keeps his interactions with Anidag strictly platonic and respectful, not that it fools anyone as to the nature of his feelings.

* Takeo will do anything for Yamato in ''Manga/MyLoveStory'', and tells her that he won't lay a finger on her until they're older. He doesn't even allow himself to hold hands with her until Yamato voices her desire to.
* The romance between Marie Antoinette and the dashing Hans Axel von Fersen in ''Manga/TheRoseOfVersailles''. Her husband, Louis XVI was aware of it but [[IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy wanted her to be happy]] and trusted that they would never consummate the relationship.
* It's strongly implied in ''Manga/SaintSeiya'' that this is the actual nature of Seiya and Saori's relationship. They're all but stated to be in love, but know they can't go much further than LadyAndKnight due to her being the Goddess Athena and him being [[BodyguardCrush one of her bodyguards]].
* Ryota Miyagi of ''Manga/SlamDunk'' loves Ayako and even states he's satisfied as long as he can make her happy.
* Hak from ''Manga/YonaOfTheDawn'' is completely and utterly undyingly loyal to Yona, having a longstanding childhood BodyguardCrush on her. He repeatedly places his life on the line to keep her happy and safe, and though tries to make his romantic interest in her clear early on, he remains fully willing to stay by her side even when he comes to the conclusion that it'll always be unrequited--ironically, he comes to said conclusion ''right'' [[DramaticIrony about the time]] [[UnrequitedLoveSwitcheroo when she starts to actually requite his feelings]].

* In ''Fanfic/ChildOfTheStorm'' and its sequel ''Ghosts of the Past'', Harry and Carol's evolves becoming an AnchoredShip, with TheFourLoves being explicitly discussed by the Avengers. [[{{UST}} However, there's the ever-present suggestion that it could get more than platonic at a moment's notice]], leaving the door open for them to become MindLinkMates. Interestingly, their psychic connection formed accidentally fuels both sides of their relationship. However, they acknowledge that both of them have too many issues to date -- hers with trust (Harry is definitely in love with her by the sequel, but also utterly scrupulous about abiding by her wishes, stating repeatedly and sincerely that their friendship comes before anything else -- [[SingleWomanSeeksGoodMan this, it is suspected, is why she loves him]]), his with [[ShellShockedVeteran trauma.]] Either way, they're generally accepted [[TrueCompanions to be completely devoted to each other]]. [[spoiler: And they eventually get together in chapter 46.]]
* In the ''Manga/DeathNote'' SlashFic ''FanFic/FeverDreams'' when [[spoiler: L dumps him and refuses to see him anymore]] Light pursues "the Lovesick Moron Plan" sending L sappy poetry and spending all his money on sending him flowers and candy that he knew would be immediately rerouted to forensics.
* In the ''Film/{{Maleficent}}'' fanfic ''Fanfic/YourServantMistress'', Maleficent and Diaval have this kind of relationship at the beginning. As they're both into BDSM and Diaval is submissive, he finds this quite satisfying.
* In a LighterAndSofter ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire'' fanfic ''[[https://archiveofourown.org/works/13994679/chapters/53745544 Sweetrobin's Upbringing]]'', Maester Colemon and Myrcella Baratheon settle for this. They care deeply for each other but Myrcella has been forced to marry Robert Arryn and Colemon, as a maester, is supposed to be celibate, and both of them intend to honor their vows. That's why, except for the actual confession of their feelings, their affair is limited to silent musings and exchanged [[LongingLook Longing Looks]]. [[spoiler:Thanks to a happy turn of events, they are freed from their respective vows and get together]].

%%* Spoofed in ''Film/TheCourtJester''.
* Defied in ''Film/AttackOfTheClones'' because the whole point of the Anakin/Padmé relationship was that he was not satisfied with Courtly Love so when she professed her love to him they consummated their romance. This resulted in them getting married secretly and conceiving Luke and Leia.
* Rick in ''Film/{{Casablanca}}'' is a rather complex zigzag of this. In a flashback, he met her in Paris and presumably did French things with her, though of course the movie doesn't say directly. Later Rick is understandably angry at not being told she was married (though at the time of their romp she believed her husband to be dead). In the final scene, he settles on being satisfied with CourtlyLove because [[IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy he wants his beloved to be happy]].
* Bryce and Julie in ''Film/{{Flipped}}'' never even kiss although they are only in seventh grade when the story ends.

%%* Dante's love for Beatrice in ''Literature/TheDivineComedy''. And in RealLife.

%%* Kate Chopin's ''Literature/TheAwakening'' is also a (relatively) modern example of courtly love.
%%* James Branch Cabell's ''Domnei''.
%%* Mocked without mercy in ''Literature/TheSquiresTales'', particularly in ''The Ballad of Sir Dinadan''.
%%* The second mate in ''Literature/TheCaptainsWife''.

* In ''Literature/TheShipWho Won'', [[BrainsAndBrawn Carialle and her brawn Keff]] have a relationship like this. [[WetwareCPU Shellpeople]] like Carialle CantHaveSexEver but are often [[MayflyDecemberFriendship very close]] with their [[HandyHelper brawns]], and a PseudoRomanticFriendship is quite common. Carialle and Keff enjoy {{LARP}}ing together, though, with him playing the dashing KnightInShiningArmor and her being the GameMaster setting up hologram-enhanced adventures and playing all kinds of characters, including Keff's Lady Fair. Even outside of the game, Keff likes to playfully address her as his liege and lady-love. He's protective of her and they're very close but have no sensual desire for one another, with Carialle cheerfully nudging him towards potential lovers who can understand that his tie to her is his top priority.

** Within their world, the peak archetype of courtly love is embodied by the historical {{Posthumous Character}}s, Queen Naerys and her champion Prince Aemon the Dragonknight, who there are songs about. Some suggest they may have gotten physical as well, but it's widely suspected that's just MaliciousSlander Naerys's husband helped spread so that he could claim her son was illegitimate and disinherit him when that was convenient.
** Brienne of Tarth and Renly Baratheon are a {{gender inverted|trope}} example. Renly is king-claimant, and Brienne is one of the loyal knights in his bodyguard. They could never be together for several reasons: the gap in social status between a king and the daughter of a lesser noble house; Renly being one of the most handsome men in the realm and Brienne being one of the most homely women; IncompatibleOrientation, with Renly being gay and in a long-term relationship with Ser Loras. Regardless, Brienne puts on the armor of a knight, wins a tourney, is awarded a spot in Renly's personal bodyguard, and pledges to fight and die for him, all because it's the only way for her to be close to him.
** Played with by Sandor Clegane and Sansa Stark. Sandor would scoff at the notion, and he first takes pleasure in mocking [[TheIngenue Sansa's naivete]] and then plans to ''rape'' her, but at the last minute offers to place himself at her service and protect her instead. When she refuses, frightened, he is overcome with her IncorruptiblePurePureness and leaves in (relative) peace, which makes it all sound rather more courtly and genteel than it actually was.

* In the novel ''The Widow of the South'' Carrie [=McGavock=] develops this with wounded soldier Zachariah Cashwell, and interestingly, Carrie's husband ''knows'' full well what's going on and supports her.

Take holy water—he, who is afeared\\

* In Music/GioachinoRossini’s ''Il viaggio a Reims'', Lord Sidney and Corinna quietly adore each other without declaring their feelings aloud: at most, Lord Sidney leaves her anonymous flowers, though she is aware they are from him. They don’t even get to sing a duet together (while two other couples do).
* ''Theatre/RomeoAndJuliet'': Romeo has a nice, conventional courtly love interest in Rosaline. After their breakup, he gets together with Juliet, who is willing to put out within ''hours'' of meeting him under a wedding sanctioned by nobody but a local clergyman (while she's betrothed!) and thus practically out of wedlock.

* In the setting of ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVIII'', the idea of a chivalrous romance between a Sorceress (a witch-queen) and her Knight is considered to be the romantic ideal, and teenagers strive to emulate the dynamic in their relationships. It differs slightly from the medieval concept in that the Knight is expected to be monogamous, though their love is still chaste. Squall declares to Rinoa his intention to 'be her Knight' and they form a functional pair. Seifer, on the other hand, ends up involved with a much older PresidentEvil Sorceress and spends the rest of the game descending slowly into evil and fanaticism.

%%[[folder:Web Comics]]

%% * ''Webcomic/AlfdisAndGunnora'' puts the title characters into a Courtly Love scenario which quickly becomes more romantic. %% ZCE
%%* [[http://harkavagrant.com/index.php?id=282 Mocked]] at ''Webcomic/HarkAVagrant''. %% ZCE
%%[[/folder]]

* ''WesternAnimation/StarWarsTheCloneWars'' has the romance between Obi-Wan Kenobi and Duchess Satine Kryze of Mandalore. They met when they were young and he was assigned to protect her from political enemies. He was noble enough to be willing to leave the Jedi Order for her; she was noble enough not to require that of him. The result, years down the line, is a MasochismTango in which the participants are TwiceShy, as Anakin looks on in amusement and subtly takes his revenge for Obi-Wan's snark against his relationship with Padme.

* ''Manga/MagicKnightRayearth'': Ascot's love for Umi concluded with him stating that the most important was to love her, without expecting retribution.

Courtly Love was a medieval European idea of noble, pure love dating back to the aristocratic courts of the eleventh century and widely celebrated in UsefulNotes/MedievalMusic. In essence, Courtly Love was a contradictory experience between erotic desire and spiritual attainment. Courtly Love is having a romantic affair without ever imagining it will be consummated -- a type of RomanceAndSexualitySeparation. The man in question will be in love with his lady -- who is normally his social superior, a distant princess -- and will do almost anything for her and in her name. She may love the fella back, if he's fortunate -- though that's not expected, and not really the point. The lady in question (and, indeed, the man in question) will almost certainly be married or engaged to somebody else: when Courtly Love happens, marriage isn't for love, but [[MarriageOfConvenience for more pragmatic reasons]]. In periods where Courtly Love is popular, it may be the only form of affair that doesn't get condemned as evil, simply because nothing more intimate than kisses, handkerchiefs, flowers and sonnets get exchanged. In modern times it might happen just because the characters are too young, such as a ChildhoodFriendRomance.

->''"I say William Shakespeare had the right idea--\\
Put your passion in a poem she won't hear.''"
-->-- Honest Bob and the Factory-to-Dealer Incentives, "I Get By"

* 12th century troubadour Bernart de Ventadorn's song "Lo temps vai e ven e vire" is about a man in a courtly love relationship. She's the only one for him and he's not leaving, but he's also not finding the relationship very enjoyable. The lyrics have been preserved; the melody was not. In 1995, Jan-Mari Carlotti wrote a new melody for it.

** The Arthurian Legend'a first mention of anything resembling courtly love--the love of women inspiring knights to engage in valorous quests--is in ''Literature/HistoriaRegumBritanniae'' (circa 1136).

** The TropeNamer for courtly love is "Études sur les romans de la table ronde: Lancelot du Lac", a 1883 paper by Gaston Paris that's a treatise on the relationship between Lancelot and Guinevere as depicted in ''Literature/LancelotTheKnightOfTheCart'' (circa 1176 to 1181), the very first text their relationship appears in. That's the TropeCodifier--or at least the TropeNamer thought it was. And in many ways, it ''is''. Most of what we now associate with the trope can be seen there: LadyAndKnight; a married woman and an unmarried man; she's his social superior; his exaltation and idealization of her; pining; a quest fueled by his desire to serve her. No task is too great (a quest to rescue her) or too small (an arbitrary request that he loose a tourney), as long as it's for her sake. However, it's an UnbuiltTrope in that it's missing the chaste, unconsummated thing which is often thought of as the defining feature of the trope today (although not part of Paris's original definition). Lancelot and Guinevere ''do'' spend one night of passion together in ''The Knight of the Cart''.

** Brienne of Tarth and Renly Baratheon are a {{gender inverted|trope}} example. Renly is king-claimant, and Brienne is one of the loyal knights in his bodyguard. They could never be together for several reasons: the gap in social status between a king and the daughter of a lesser noble house; Renly being one of the most handsome men in the realm and Brienne being one of the most homely women; IncompatibleOrientation, with Renly being in a long-term relationship with Ser Loras. Regardless, Brienne puts on the armor of a knight, wins a tourney, is awarded a spot in Renly's personal bodyguard, and pledges to fight and die for him, all because it's the only way for her to be close to him.

* ''Series/HouseOfTheDragon'': The relationship between LadyAndKnight Queen Alicent Hightower and her sworn sword Ser Criston Cole is only a ShipTease, but this is an ImpliedTrope in it. It's also a {{Reconstruction}}. How can divorcing sexuality from desire be emotionally satisfying for the people involved? Well, if both people are sexually damaged, such a relationship might actually be a good fit for them. Both Alicent and Criston come to this relationship with recent experiences of being sexually exploited in {{Unequal Pairing}}s with members of the royal family [[LeonineContract who they cannot turn down]]. With that background of being used and hurt sexually, it makes sense that they'd be relieved by the chastity of this relationship, experiencing it as safe, respectful, or even romantic.
* Plays out between Lancelot and Guinevere in ''Series/{{Merlin|2008}}''. Lancelot will do anything for her (up to and including a [[spoiler:HeroicSacrifice]] without any expectation that she'll love him in return.

* The central ideological conflict in ''Theatre/{{Tannhauser}}'' is between the chaste, spiritual, courtly love espoused by Wolfram von Eschenbach and the sensual, worldly, pagan love of Heinrich. Appropriately enough, they both sing a poetic ode to their own version.

* ''Theatre/RomeoAndJuliet''. Romeo has a nice, conventional courtly love interest in Rosaline, but after their breakup, he gets together with Juliet, who is willing to put out within ''hours'' of meeting him under a wedding sanctioned by nobody but a local clergyman (while she's betrothed!) and thus practically out of wedlock.

* In ''VideoGame/BaldursGateII'', Anomen's romance path seems [[TheDulcineaEffect to start with this]], but actually shows in a number of ways how this trope is [[SubvertedTrope seriously at odds with reality]]. [[PlayerCharacter CHARNAME]] is not a [[HeroicBastard noblewoman]] [[ActionGirl by any stretch]]; they can ditch the NoHuggingNoKissing part early; he might never actually become a KnightInShiningArmor. Becomes a DiscussedTrope in ''Throne of Bhaal'':

* Pursued in ''VideoGame/{{Guenevere}}'' by (of course) Lancelot towards Queen Guenevere. She can choose to encourage these sentiments or not.
* Referenced and Deconstructed in ''VideoGame/PathfinderKingmaker'' in [[StoneWall Valerie's]] backstory. From a very young age, she was so naturally beautiful that she was sent to be raised as a paladin in the church of Shelyn, goddess of beauty and art. There, she was constantly put on a pedestal and received adoration and declarations of love from countless suitors in this vein, starting with a [[DirtyOldMan much older man]]... when she was [[{{Squick}} nine]]. Being someone who values more practical things and having to put up with this treatment for years, she eventually got so fed up with it that she tore up the poem one of her suitors wrote, [[NayTheist gave up on religion altogether]], and went off to focus entirely on her martial skills. However, this did little to stop others from constantly sending her unwanted love letters. [[spoiler:Not until her face got scarred after a duel with her former mentor.]]
* Ukyo Tachibana and Kei Odagiri from ''VideoGame/SamuraiShodown'' can't get together since she's a noblewoman and he's a wandering swordsman, but they always remember each other fondly and whenever she needs his help, he will go to her aid without hesitation.

* Defied in ''VisualNovel/DoubleHomework'' by [[spoiler:Amy]] in an unusual way. She shows up in her summer school class as [[spoiler:a Twitch streamer in a hoodie, not a princess,]] and she openly hits on the protagonist, hoping to get seduced. On her romantic path, he even tells her to “slow down” because she’s so eager for anal sex.
* In ''VisualNovel/War13thDay'', Arsenik respects, admires, and loves Ambrosia with all the etiquette of a gentleman and the passion of a man. When she's propositioned to and later blackmailed by a HandsomeLech, he begins a fight to defend her honor.

[[folder:Web Comics]]
* Two prominent examples in ''Webcomic/TheInexplicableAdventuresOfBob:'' [[spoiler:Voluptua]] feels this way toward [[spoiler:Bob]] and [[spoiler:Hibachi]] feels it for [[spoiler:Voluptua.]]
* ''Webcomic/AlfdisAndGunnora'' puts the title characters into a Courtly Love scenario which quickly becomes more romantic.
%%* [[http://harkavagrant.com/index.php?id=282 Mocked]] at ''Webcomic/HarkAVagrant''.
[[/folder]]