Féminisme au XIIe siècle? Le traité médiéval “De Amore” d’André le Chapelain
Feminism in the XII-th Century? The Medieval Treaty “De Amore” of Andreas Capellanus

Summary/Abstract: The medieval treaty “De amore” of Andreas Capellanus, written in the twelfth century (1185) captures the attention of the literary exegesis by his antithetical structure (the first part is a plea for love, the second is a deconstruction of the first part), and especially by the description of the so-called “courts of love”, presided by some ladies of the high society who judged the love problems that seemed without solution. Besides these “courts of love”, seen as a literary expression of proto-feminist movement in the twelfth century, the Treaty also contains several dialogues between men and women belonging to different social groups, dialogues which show a picture of practices and principles of a more refined era than it might seem at a superficial reading. Among the books of literature of the Middle Age, this book has a characteristic: it is the only book of literature condemned by the Roman Catholic Church (in 1277, by the Bishop of Paris, Etienne Tempier). The reasons of this condemnation are related to the theses on the love that the book asserts. Indeed, within the framework of the judgments presented by the women of the high society in the “courts of love”, the marriage as a social and religious institution is condemned, and the free love, as adulterous relation, is considered the only desirable love.

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