Von der Liebe

Andreas Capellanus wrote De Amore, his famous Latin treatise on marriage, around 1186. Enhanced by theological, medical and legal wisdom, his book of the art of loving greatly influenced the literature of courtly love during the Middle Ages. For the first time, this new edition contains E. Trojel's 1892 Latin text alongside a modern German translation. In addition, it contains explanatory notes on the sources and a language commentary to aid comprehension of particular passages and the difficulties of translation. A bibliography, a postscript setting the work in its literary context and numerous illustrations from medieval manuscripts round off this new edition. In terms of the history of human thought and literature, this famous text is of great relevance to literary scholars, medievalists, historians, theologians and cultural historians, and serves as the basis for an understanding of courtly love poetry during the Middle Ages.

Fritz-Peter Knapp ist Ordinarius für Ältere Deutsche Philologie an der Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg.