It usually involved a wistful young man ready to endure arduous adventures for the sake of the woman he loved, who was usually married to someone else. The lecture will explore the origins and development of Courtly Love, including extracts from medieval romances such as Tristan and Isolde and the Romance of the Rose and will be illustrated with slides of lavish Romance manuscripts, tapestries, ivories and pieces of goldsmiths’ work decorated with scenes of courtly romance.