Written by Andreas Capellanus (Andrew the Chaplain) in Latin, between 1174 & 1186, to a young Walter. It was written at the court of Marie de Champaigne, influential patroness of the arts.
It is divided into three parts:
- Part One: The Types of Love and Its Attainment (Between a knight and a lady; between two people of equal rank; etc. However, he says there cannot be love between peasants, only lust, and that there cannot be love with someone who is blind, as love is the result of sight. Not exactly an inclusive system.)
- Part Two: The Rules of Love
Part Three: The Argument Against Love
This section is basically an attack on women as being drunk, greedy sluts. It is meant to argue against the first two parts.
This was a very influential book, setting much of the standards of Western ideas on love up to the present (yes, some people still believe much of the above).