October 10, 2025
One of the greatest intellectual accomplishments is The Story of Civilization by Will and Ariel Durant. It is a monumental work of 11 volumes and spans human civilization from ancient times through the Napoleonic Era. The Durants worked on the series for over 40 years, and its accessible tone and comprehensive treatment has made it a beloved achievement, still in print after 90 years.
I am reading it because it fills in all the big gaps I have in my historical knowledge, including obscure areas like the Assyrian Empire.
I have been plowing through it for two years and given that each volume can exceed 1000 pages, when you read one volume, it’s the equivalent of 3-4 normally sized books.
I’m currently 2/3 of the way through The Age of Faith which covers the Dark Ages and early Medieval years including the Crusades and the rules and laws of Feudalism.
Quoted are the 31 Rules of Love from Andreas Capellanus’s medieval work “The Art of Courtly Love” (De Amore), written around 1184-1186. Andreas Capellanus (Andrew the Chaplain) was a 12th-century writer and cleric at the court of Champagne in France
Keep in mind this was generated during the hey day of courtly love, knights in shining armor. Lots of oathing and swearing and kneeling and the last uses of words like “fealty.” They took all of this stuff very seriously.
As an example, you and I have become used to a sanitized version of jousting. Two guys mount their horses; their lances are lifted up to them. They thunder toward each other, maybe one guy gets knocked off the horse, game/set/match. He salutes his Lady, maybe she throws him a small bouquet of flowers, much applause.
So, what was true is that each knight did have his Lady. Might not be a wife or girlfriend, might be the Queen or a woman he hardly knew. And she was his inspiration and his dedication. Helped him get on the horse. Don’t know about you, but I’m not sure how many guys today would get on that horse at his wife’s urging? If Michael wanted me to joust Sir Blackguard Of the 300 Pound Knights of the Dinner Table, I might be, like, “Uhhh, maybe some pickleball instead?”
Anyway, the truth was that jousting was exceedingly violent. If you survived the knock off your horse, then you fought on foot with swords or maces until someone was dead. Or the fight stopped from sheer exhaustion…they were wearing 50 pounds of chain mail and that slowed them down.
The Tournament of Neuss in 1240-1241 (held near Cologne) is cited by the Durants as one of the deadliest tournaments in medieval history, with reports claiming around 60 knights died during the events. Another notably deadly tournament was at Chalons-sur-Marne in 1274, where multiple knights reportedly died in the melees (group combat events, not individual jousting).
It’s important to note that most tournament deaths didn’t occur during jousting specifically, but during melees…chaotic mock battles involving multiple knights fighting simultaneously. These were far more dangerous than the one-on-one jousting matches we typically picture.
So, what ended the popularity of jousting? Probably the death of King Henry II of France in 1559. During a celebratory joust, a splinter from his opponent’s lance pierced through his helmet’s visor and into his eye/brain. He died 10 days later. This effectively ended the popularity of jousting in France. I believe it also caused the rise of pickleball, but I have no proof. Henry Two Ball, good name.
Well, with your Lady’s name on your lips, you had to have a strong sense of the rules of love, kind of keep you in the right frame of mind.
From those long-ago courtly rituals, Capellanus (kind of an Ann Landers of his era) lists the 31 Rules of Love, considered then to be a “complete” list.
Kind of fun…but also good for contemplation, sharing with your significant other.
31 Rules of Love from Andreas Capellanus’s “The Art of Courtly Love”
Marriage is no excuse for not loving.
He who is not jealous cannot love.
No one can be bound by two loves.
Love is always growing or diminishing.
It is not good for one lover to take anything against the will of the other.
A male cannot love until he has fully reached puberty.
Two years of mourning for a dead lover are prescribed for surviving lovers.
No one should be deprived of love without a valid reason.
No one can love who is not driven to do so by the power of love.
Love always departs from the dwelling place of avarice.
It is not proper to love one whom one would be ashamed to marry.
The true lover never desires the embraces of any save his lover.
Love rarely lasts when it is revealed.
An easy attainment makes love contemptible; a difficult one makes it more dear.
Every lover turns pale in the presence of his beloved.
When a lover suddenly has sight of his beloved, his heart beats wildly.
A new love expels an old one.
Moral integrity alone makes one worthy of love.
If love diminishes, it quickly leaves and rarely revives.
A lover is always fearful.
True jealousy always increases the effects of love.
If a lover suspects another, jealousy and the effects of love increase.
He who is vexed by the thoughts of love eats little and seldom sleeps.
Every action of a lover ends in the thought of his beloved.
The true lover believes only that which he thinks will please his beloved.
Love can deny nothing to love.
A lover can never have enough of the embraces of his beloved.
The slightest suspicion incites the lover to suspect the worst of his beloved.
He who suffers from an excess of passion is not suited to love.
The true lover is continuously obsessed with the image of his beloved.
Nothing prevents a woman from being loved by two men, or a man from being loved by two women.
Thoughts, questions, or reflections? I’d love to hear them. You can reach me anytime at anthony@workingprofit.com
