Andreas Capellanus

Andreas Capellanus lived as a clergyman and author in the 12th century.

Some sources name him as Andreas Cambellanus the chaplain at the court of the King of France Philip II. An Andreas Capellanus is mentioned in seven documents from the 1180s at the court of Marie de Champagne , who was considered a patron of courtly literature. Between 1174 and 1186 Andreas Capellanus wrote his three-volume treatise De amore libri tres ( On love ), in which he mentions Marie de Champagne several times, so that a connection with her court is likely. Andreas Capellanus lived in France, including Paris.

De amore

De amore deals with love in three volumes. The first book deals with the attainment of love and its definition, followed by dialogues between men and women of different social classes. The second book is about maintaining love and giving examples of relationships. The third book depicts the struggle against love and thus most likely the spiritual position of the author. Andreas Capellanus orientates himself on philosophical, spiritual and misogynistic views. The books are designed as instruction to the probably fictional friend Gualterius, who hopes for advice on love from Andreas Capellanus.

The Latin work was widespread and was translated into French (by Drouart la Vaches , 1290), German (by Eberhard von Cersne , 1404) and Italian (14th century) , among others . The English title The Art of Courtly Love, on the other hand, is misleading, precisely because, according to more recent findings, De amore can also be understood as a parody of the courtly conception of Minneck.

Work editions

• Andreae Capellani regii Francorum de amore libri tres. Edited by Emil Trojel. Gadianana, Copenhagen 1892 (2nd edition = 2nd, unchanged reprint. Fink, Munich 1972).
• Andreas Capellanus. De Amore . Latin - German. Translated, with an afterword and notes by Florian Neumann. Dieterich'sche publishing bookstore . Mainz 2003, ISBN 978-3-87162-060-7
• Andreas Capellanus: About love. = De amore. (A medieval textbook on sexuality, eroticism and the relationships between the sexes) (= Library of Medieval Latin Literature. Vol. 1). Introduced, translated and annotated by Fidel Rädle . Hiersemann, Stuttgart 2006, ISBN 3-7772-0600-8
• Andreas aulae regiae capellanus: De amore libri tres. = Andreas royal court chaplain: Three books about love. Text based on the edition by E. Trojel. Translated and provided with notes and an afterword by Fritz Peter Knapp. Walter de Gruyter, Berlin / New York NY 2006, ISBN 3-11-017915-6 .

literature

• Max Manitius : History of Latin Literature in the Middle Ages. Volume 3: From the outbreak of the church dispute up to the end of the twelfth century (= Handbook of Classical Studies . Department 9, Part 2, Volume 3). Beck, Munich 1931, pp. 282–285 (Unchanged reprint. Ibid 1973, ISBN 3-406-01404-6 ).
• W. Maurice Sprague:  Andreas Capellanus. In: Biographisch-Bibliographisches Kirchenlexikon (BBKL). Volume 26, Bautz, Nordhausen 2006, ISBN 3-88309-354-8 , Sp. 31-42.

Web links

• Full Latin text by De Amore, in The Latin Library
• Literature by and about Andreas Capellanus in the catalog of the German National Library