Andreas Capellanus

Twelfth century

Author of De Amore (Latin prose, ca. 1185). This important (if not entirely serious) treatise on courtly love includes a brief story about a young knight who must win the prize hawk from Arthur's court for his lady - but first he must slay two knights in double combat, obtain the hawk's gauntlet, and finally prove his lady's greater beauty in jousts at Arthur's court. When the knight finally achieves the hawk, he finds a parchment tied to it on which are written the rules of love.