courtly love
noun
: a late medieval conventionalized code prescribing conduct and emotions of ladies and their lovers
Examples of courtly love in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
This was due to the tradition of courtly love as a means for fulfilling emotional desires outside of arranged marriages, which were often coordinated for financial gain and sociopolitical advantage.
—
E.r. Zarevich, Smithsonian Magazine, 7 May 2025
The association of Valentine's Day with romantic love can be traced back to the Middle Ages when the notion of courtly love flourished.
—Maeghan Dolph, Fox News, 14 Feb. 2024
Based on several ancient saints (perhaps as many as four different religious people), the day came to be associated with courtly love in the Middle Ages, and still later came to be associated primarily with cards, chocolates and roses.
—Jeff Burkhart, The Mercury News, 14 Feb. 2024
All Iran was a garden in the poetry of its local hero Ferdowsi, Ali explained; the same man had laid down both the outlines of a legal system and a code of courtly love.
—Matthew Gavin Frank, Harper's Magazine, 14 Dec. 2022
The name for our modern holiday comes from St. Valentine of Terni, a third-century Roman saint, who has become linked with the idea of courtly love.
—Leada Gore | Lgore@al.com, al, 14 Feb. 2023
Ser Criston Cole could have walked right off the page of one of these tales, but his view of courtly love presents a more honest, uncomfortable reality: male entitlement, and the anger that swiftly comes when a woman steps off her pedestal and tries to exert her own will.
—Philip Ellis, Men's Health, 21 Sep. 2022
Indeed, the rituals of courtly love were used to break Anne.
—Tina Brown, New York Times, 15 Dec. 2022
Her insistence that Christian woo her with wit isn’t a coquette’s trick of putting her beau through the ritualized paces of courtly love but a smart woman’s search for a partner, a worthy match.
—Alexandra Schwartz, The New Yorker, 18 Apr. 2022
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E.r. Zarevich, Smithsonian Magazine, 7 May 2025
The association of Valentine's Day with romantic love can be traced back to the Middle Ages when the notion of courtly love flourished.
—Maeghan Dolph, Fox News, 14 Feb. 2024
Based on several ancient saints (perhaps as many as four different religious people), the day came to be associated with courtly love in the Middle Ages, and still later came to be associated primarily with cards, chocolates and roses.
—Jeff Burkhart, The Mercury News, 14 Feb. 2024
All Iran was a garden in the poetry of its local hero Ferdowsi, Ali explained; the same man had laid down both the outlines of a legal system and a code of courtly love.
—Matthew Gavin Frank, Harper's Magazine, 14 Dec. 2022
The name for our modern holiday comes from St. Valentine of Terni, a third-century Roman saint, who has become linked with the idea of courtly love.
—Leada Gore | Lgore@al.com, al, 14 Feb. 2023
Ser Criston Cole could have walked right off the page of one of these tales, but his view of courtly love presents a more honest, uncomfortable reality: male entitlement, and the anger that swiftly comes when a woman steps off her pedestal and tries to exert her own will.
—Philip Ellis, Men's Health, 21 Sep. 2022
Indeed, the rituals of courtly love were used to break Anne.
—Tina Brown, New York Times, 15 Dec. 2022
Her insistence that Christian woo her with wit isn’t a coquette’s trick of putting her beau through the ritualized paces of courtly love but a smart woman’s search for a partner, a worthy match.
—Alexandra Schwartz, The New Yorker, 18 Apr. 2022
Cite this Entry
“Courtly love.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/courtly%20love. Accessed 8 Jul. 2025.
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