Courtly love is a concept that emerged in southern france (called the "fin'amor" in oc language, the language then spoken in the region) in the XIth century. It could have been strongly influenced by muslim litterature though it is not certain. William IX, duke of Aquitaine was a great "troubadour" (he composed poems ) and he launched this movement that then spred to northern France and other regions.

Courtly love emerged in a context where a class of knights was...

The French state has its origin in the middle ages. Before the 13th century, the king of France had very little power. He had to deal with many other feudal lords, some of which were more powerful than him. He had, however a model : the Roman catholic Church who had just reorganized itself. The pope was surrounded by jurists as advisors. Roman law had been rediscovered too : the corpus iuris civilis of Justinian. Canon law had been codified according to this model with the decree of Gratien. ...