ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Courtly love

Courtly love is a way of talking about how people used to show their love for each other in olden days. It was a fancy and poetic way of expressing feelings between men and women, especially in stories and poems.

Imagine going back to a time that's far away and magical, when there were knights and kings and queens. You might hear stories of a knight who was in love with a lady, but he didn't tell her. Instead, he wrote her letters full of kind words and poetry. He also tried to impress her by being brave and doing heroic deeds.

The idea of courtly love was all about showing your love in a very special and refined way. People wrote poems, stories, and songs that were all about love and romance. Lovers would exchange gifts, like flowers or tokens, and try to impress each other with their elegant manners.

In those days, it was very hard to show your love, especially if you were a nobleman or noblewoman. They weren't allowed to express their feelings and emotions openly. That's why courtly love was a way to get around those rules, to show how much they cared for each other.

Overall, courtly love is just an old fashioned way of talking about love and romance, and how people expressed their feelings in a more refined and elegant way than today.
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