THE GREATEST LOVERS OF THE MIDDLE AGES

Who were the most romantic couple in medieval history?

In her eyes, my lady carries Love;
For this, she makes gentle all that she looks upon:
Wherever she passes, every man turns to look at her,
And he whom she greets feels his heart tremble.

So wrote Dante Alighieri in his late thirteenth century poem/prose text La Vita Nuova, a meditation on his lifelong love for a woman called Beatrice - usually identified as Beatrice Portinari.

Dante adored Beatrice from childhood until his death, and made her the Muse whose beauty and grace inspired the greatest of his works. That he did so at a distance - they may only have met in person twice, and she married someone else - only added to the intensity of his passion. Dante devoted his whole artistic soul to her worship - and through this, to the worship of Christ’s divine love. As Mallory Knox once said: ‘it’s very romantic, baby.’

Dante and Beatrice have in that sense a good claim to be what we might call the cutest couple of the Middle Ages: a time when the highest forms of romantic love were often distant and unrequited. But there are other good contenders for that title too. So as we approach Valentine’s Day, here are my top five others. Who would be on your list? Let me know in the comments below.

Petrarch and Laura