During the Middle Ages, courtly love was a code that prescribed conduct between a lady and her lover (Britannica). The relationship of courtly love was very similar to the feudal relationship between a knight and his lord. The lover serves his beloved, as a servant would. He owes her his devotion and loyalty, and she inspires him to perform noble acts of valor (Schwartz). Capellanus writes, in The Art of Courtly Love: “A true lover considers nothing good except what he thinks his beloved will like.” The stories of Marie de France and Chrétien de Troyes illustrate the conventions of courtly love. According to Capellanus, "Only good character makes every man worthy of love." In Lanval, the fairy lover chooses Lanval because he is “worthy and courteous” (Lawall 1319). Lanval willingly accepts the fairy's love. He promises to “forsake all others for [her]” (Lawall 1319). Capellanus also says that “a true lover does not wish to lovingly embrace anyone except his beloved.” Therefore, Lanval loves his fairy mistress exclusively. When the queen offers her love to Lanval, he rejects her because his heart is devoted to his fairy lover. His beloved is someone he “valued above all others” (Lawall 1320). Lanval desires no one more than his fairy lover. It provides him with “great joy and pleasure” through which he can renounce the other pleasures of the world (Lawall 1320). The right he has over him is like that of a king. A good chivalrous knight should hold women in esteem. She should do everything in her power to serve and protect women. Perceval's mother orders him to never “refuse [her] help” to a woman or “maiden in distress” (Lawall 1333). He says that "he who does not yield honor to women, loses his honor" (Lawall 1333)....... middle of paper... this is secret. Lanval also enjoys a secret love. In fact, if he ever revealed his love, “he would lose her forever” (Lawall 1319). Indeed, when Lanval tells the queen that he is loved by a woman more worthy than the queen, Lanval loses his beloved. He calls “his beloved repeatedly, but in vain” (Lawall 1321). She leaves him once their love is made public. Court love defines the love story between a knight and his beloved. A knight must be worthy of love. A knight must swear complete devotion to his beloved. He must hold her in high esteem and do everything he can to protect her. A knight must desire no one above his beloved, and the thought of her must be continually in his mind. Furthermore, courtly love must be a secret love; it does not exist within marriage. The conventions of medieval courtly love directed the knight towards servitude towards his beloved.