De Amore was written at the request of Marie de Champagne, daughter of King Louis VII of France and of Eleanor of Aquitaine. Little is known of Andreas Capellanus's life, but he is presumed to have been a courtier of Marie de Champagne. In his book, the author informs a young pupil, Walter, of the pitfalls of love. De Amore is made up of three books. The first book covers the etymology and definition of love and is written in the manner of an academic lecture. The second book consists of sample dialogues between members of different social classes; it outlines how the romantic process between the classes should work. Book three is made of stories from actual courts of love presided over by noble women. In the years immediately following its release many people took Andreas' opinions concerning Courtly Love seriously. In more recent times, however, many scholars now agree that Andreas was commenting on the materialistic, superficial nature of medieval nobles. Andreas seems to have been warning young Walter, his protégé, about love in the Middle Ages.