The picture above is a sample of what one may think of when asked to describe the Middle Ages. An image of a knight and princess evokes the idea of romance and courtly love. Courtly love is characterized by the chase that a man undertook to win his "love."
Courtly Love evovled from the early Middle Ages to the later Middle Ages. In the early Middle Ages, abduction was an acceptable practice for fulfilling sexual desire. Young men went out in search of women with whom they could do as they wished. There was a complete lack of respect for a woman's status as married, single, cloistered, or otherwise. This early practice reveals an objectified view of women, in which they were treated as property. Romance does not fit into this description of "courtship," but as time progressed these practices gave way to the ideals which are traditionally associated with courtly love.
In the practice of courtly love that emerged in the later Middle Ages, men approached the sexual conquest of women using different techniques. "Abduction was replaced by courtly love, which had the same object, but pursued it by an elegant process of seduction" (Speed, Peter ed. Those Who Fought: An Anthology of Medieval Sources. New York: Italica Press, 1996. 135). This is to say that women were still objectified, but rather than being tortured were wooed. Elevated from her status as victim, a female was now in limited control of her sexual destiny.
Courtly love was governed by an elaborate set of rules defining when and how this "love" could exist. Distinctions are made between who can love, as well as how to retain it. Andreas Capellanus developed these rules in The Art of Courtly Love, and his ideals are frequently reflected in Medieval poetry. His writing was both didactic and cautionary, in that it was meant to educate people in the ways of love and to warn against common impediments.