<P> Shumway also states that together with the growth of capitalism the older social relations dissolved, including marriage . Marriage meaning for women changed as they had more socially acceptable alternatives and were less willing to accept unhappy relations and, therefore, divorce rates substantially increased . </P> <P> The discourse of romance continues to exist today together with intimacy . Shumway states that on the one hand, romance is the part that offers adventure and intense emotions while offering the possibility to find the perfect mate . On the other hand, intimacy offers deep communication, friendship, and long lasting sharing . </P> <P> The conception of romantic love was popularized in Western culture by the concept of courtly love . Chevaliers, or knights in the Middle Ages, engaged in what were usually non-physical and non-marital relationships with women of nobility whom they served . These relations were highly elaborate and ritualized in a complexity that was steeped in a framework of tradition, which stemmed from theories of etiquette derived out of chivalry as a moral code of conduct . </P> <P> Courtly love and the notion of domnei were often the subjects of troubadours, and could be typically found in artistic endeavors such as lyrical narratives and poetic prose of the time . Since marriage was commonly nothing more than a formal arrangement, courtly love sometimes permitted expressions of emotional closeness that may have been lacking from the union between husband and wife . In terms of courtly love, "lovers" did not necessarily refer to those engaging in sexual acts, but rather, to the act of caring and to emotional intimacy . </P>

When did the concept of romantic love begin