Courtly love as a very real medieval social institution is described in the Treatise on Love by Andreas Capellanus in which the French Court life of the late twelfth century is depicted. The author shows how Freud, in referring to a special type of object choice made by certain men, described exactly the same conditions necessary to these men as were present in the social reality portrayed by Capellanus: the woman must belong to another man, and jealousy must be present to inflame the sexual passion of the male rescuer. The author points out that courtly love is useful despite its overidealization of the lady and masochistic submission by the man. It prevents less desirable solutions to the Oedipal problem, such as attitudes that women are dangerous or degraded, leading to homosexuality or sadomasochistic asceticism. Courtly love permitted men to fall in love without shame.