Late Medieval German Literature Research Articles

A New Focus on Cityscapes in Late Medieval German Literature: Rudolf von Ems and Heinrich Kaufringer

Historians have studied the medieval city from many different perspectives already, and even literary historians have endeavoured to identify the evidence in fictional texts pertaining to urban spaces and figures. In many cases, however, the cities as they emerge before our eyes are rather imaginary or dream-like, and lack in historical specificity. This situation changed, as this article demonstrates, with the case of Rudolf von Ems’s Der guote Gêrhart (ca. 1220) and the verse narratives by Heinrich Kaufringer (ca. 1400). This study examines the data we can cull from both sides and presents it as the crucial indicator for the emergence of a new literary discourse dedicated to the world of late medieval cities. We begin to discover, though not yet in any consistent way, the formation of urban protagonists and of narrative contexts that are predicated on urban settings.

Ulrich Bonerius - A Swiss-German Boccaccio?

The Dominican Priest from Bern, Ulrich Bonerius, composed his collection of fables, Der Edelstein, at exactly the same time when Boccaccio created his collection of tales, Decameron, 1350. Even though there is no direct evidence of any kind of personal contacts between these two poets, the strong similarities between both works in formal and conceptual terms prove to be striking. This article illustrates the reasons why we would be justified to call Bonerius, more than just playfully, a German-language Boccaccio, since he created the first major compilation of narratives (in verse), framed by a prologue and an epilogue, in the history of late medieval German literature. While Boccaccio has ten story-tellers entertain each other over ten days (ten stories per day = 100) reflecting on eroticism, love, adventures, or anti-clericalism, Bonerius offers one hundred didactic fables illustrating human failings, shortcomings, and vices. Both contemporaries thus aimed at criticizing and improving their society through surprisingly similar literary means. Bonerius thus emerges as one of the most important fourteenth-century poets in the German tongue who deserves to be placed close to Boccaccio.

German-Italian Literary Connections in the Late Middle Ages: Boccaccio’sThe Decameronin Light of Some Late Medieval German Narrative Precedents

AbstractComparative research focused on medieval literature continues to be characterized by many desiderata, especially with regard to the fruitful relationships between late medieval verse narratives,mæren, and the famous Italian storyteller Boccaccio and hisDecameron. This paper brings to light four significant Middle High German verse narratives from the 13thor early-14thcentury that demonstrate remarkable similarities with stories contained in Boccaccio’sDecameron. While the study of Boccaccio’s sources has traditionally been focused primarily on Old French (fabliaux) or Latin sources, here I introduce a number of texts that were composed just a few decades earlier and which express, in surprising parallel, strikingly similar themes that could be straight from the textbook the Italian poet might have drawn from. We have, of course, no specific evidence as to Boccaccio’s direct familiarity with late-medieval German literature, but the motif analysis reveals major parallels between the examples inThe Decameronand in thosemæren.

Masculinity and Prostitution in Late Medieval German Literature

Masculinity and Prostitution in Late Medieval German Literature

Punishment and Penitential Practices in Medieval German Writing by Sarah Bowden Annette Volfing

 Reviews decades-old data does not help here (e.g. pp. , , , ). While the inevitable misrepresentations are compounded by factual errors, there are not enough of these to be too off-putting. e linguistic issues are more niggling. No clear rationale is offered for the selection of historical forms of names, for example. Sanders’s provision of cross-language tables of comparative examples is commendable, but when illustrating Icelandic and Faroese, does it really make sense to use passages of Bible editions from different centuries ( and : p. ) or to compare relatively contemporary registers of Norwegian with English from the deliberately archaic King James Bible of  (p. )? To summarize, this short book is packed full of information, much of which is relevant, well presented, and entertaining. e ‘intersections’ chosen to illustrate the interplay and cross-fertilization of (some of) the languages of the Nordic countries are broadly representative of the topic as a whole. And their presentation, using relatable, family-based metaphors and Romantic imagery, will no doubt enhance their appeal to the intended audience. e book is not without its issues. To the lay reader, very few of these, beyond the lack of explanatory detail and up-to-the minute statistics, will be apparent. From an academic perspective, however, even if intended for consumption in general or non-advanced studies, it must reluctantly be considered an opportunity missed. U  E A M Punishment and Penitential Practices in Medieval German Writing. Ed. by S B and A V. (King’s College London Medieval Studies, ) London:Boydell&Brewer. . pp. £. ISBN ––––. at the medieval period was one of torture, dungeons, hanging, drawing, quartering , and burning at the stake is a popular view of our past. e scholarly version of this foundational myth of modernity is Michel Foucault’s Surveiller et punir: naissance de la prison (), which argues that by overcoming this pre-modern era of violence and replacing it with state-controlled discipline, the modern legal system and more peaceful society was born. As with all grand narratives, its success is based on the fact that it is not only flattering to our modern age and memorable, but also that despite its huge simplifications and generalizations, it captures a lot of truth. is is at least the impression that comes out of this collection on punishment and penitence in medieval German writing, edited by Sarah Bowden and Annette Volfing on the basis of a conference at King’s College London in . e Middle Ages does seem to be ‘a deeply penitential period’, as Bowden writes in her Introduction (p. ), however much nuancing this needs, and a time in which punishment was a ‘phenomenon deeply embedded in everyday life’, as Jamie Page puts it (p. ). e collection takes the innovative and eye-opening approach of discussing legal punishment and Christian penitential practices together. Religiously motivated self-inflicted harm, Bowden rightly points out, has much in common with legal MLR, .,   or social punishment, as both aim at absolving humans of wrongdoing through physical and psychological pain. More precisely, this book focuses on written, predominantly literary descriptions of punishment and penitence in German in the twelh to sixteenth centuries, rather than on actual practices, on law or theology, or on a broader context beyond German-speaking lands. is means that the volume provides a good complement to existing studies that focus on legal practices or on visual representations. Bowden’s Introduction elegantly summarizes the state of research and the rationale for the volume along such lines. e ten chapters together give a sense of the surprisingly wide range of contexts in which punishment and penitential practices are discussed in late medieval German literature. Henrike Manuwald shows that the Middle High German term for revenge, râche, in its literary uses, especially in Rudolf of Ems’s Alexander romance, is much less clear-cut and encompasses controlled punishment by the king rather than just referring to the personal tit-for-tat violence oen assumed, thus further undermining the narrative of linear development from a society of personal revenge to one of state-controlled punishment. e significant gendered aspects of punishment are investigated in Wolfram’s Parzival by Annette Volfing as...

Storms, Shipwrecks, and Life-Changing Experiences in Late Medieval German Literature: From Oswald von Wolkenstein to Emperor Maximilian

While the experience of shipwreck can almost be called archetypal, and while poets throughout time have placed their protagonists in such dangerous and life-threatening situations, we do not know much about how late-medieval German writers reflected on it. This article examines the motif of shipwreck and personal disaster in a number of heretofore little considered works, especially the poems by Oswald von Wolkenstein, those by Michel Beheim, Heinrich von Neustadt’s ‘Apollonius’, and Emperor Maximilian’s ‘Theuerdank’.

Mauritius von Craûnand Otto von Freising'sThe Two Cities:12th‐ and 13th‐Century Scepticism about Historical Progress and the Metaphor of the Ship1

One of the most enigmatic verse narratives of the entire Middle Ages, the Middle High German novella Mauritius von Craun, continues to challenge and intrigue modern scholarship.2 Although composed either around 1180 or as late as 1220/1230, the text was copied apparently only once by the Tyrolese toll official Hans Ried in the famous Ambraser Heldenbuch between 1504 and 1515 on behalf of Emperor Maximilian (1486-1519) (Wierschin; Janota). There are no indications that any other author was familiar with this text since there are no references to Mauritius in contemporary and late-medieval German literature.3 However, the anonymous author seems to have been deeply influenced by Andreas Capellanus's Latin treatise on love, De amore (ca. 1190), which would make the early date of Mauritius von Craun impossible (Thomas 1984; id. 1987). We also know that he based his account of Mauritius to some extent on the short Old French fable Du chevalier qui recovra l'amor de sa dame (The Knight Who Regained his Lady's Love, 254 verses). This almost satirical narrative in turn obviously drew its material from a historically more or less verifiable account of an adulterous love affair between Maurice II of Craon and Isabelle, the wife of his neighbor, Count Richard of Beaumont. Maurice ruled over Maine and Anjou-east of the Bretagne-during the latter half of the 12th century.4 As the historical documents confirm, he was a highly acclaimed knight and also composer of courtly love poetry who had close contacts with the famous troubadour Bertran de Born (Kokott 370). The Middle High German verse narrative adopted the basic account of the illicit love affair, but vastly expanded its philosophical and-if we may use the anachronistic term in this context-psychological content, offering a multiplicity of almost contradictory perspectives regarding courtly love and the course of human history (Harvey 50-52). Although modern research has often focused on this fascinating narrative,5 a number of critical questions concerning its significance in literary-historical, ethical, philosophical, and aesthetic terms have remained unresolved.6 In the introductory section, for instance, the anonymous author reflects upon the historical development of knighthood and argues that it had experienced dramatic ups and downs in Greece, Rome, and finally in the world of the Carolingians where it experienced a new, but probably also unsteady flowering under the rule of Charlemagne and his Paladins Oliver and Roland (231-46). One purpose of this paper is to discuss the historical perspective in this verse narrative in light of 12th-century historiography, especially Otto von Freising's Chronicle of the Two Cities, with its profound messages about the consequences of past events for the world of chivalry, and hence to postulate a new possible source for Mauritius von Craun. In the prologue, for instance, the narrator specifically refers to Emperor Nero and his evil deeds that became symptomatic of the moral decline affecting the entire Roman society. I will argue that the discussion and characterization of Nero, deeply influenced by Otto's account, provide the crucial backdrop to a proper interpretation of Mauritius and his behavior in his love affair. Moreover, the most unusual motif of the ship allows for an innovative interpretation which will take into account the peculiar shape and construction of the ship that may be viewed as a reflection of the protagonist's shallow character.7 Once the actual love story has begun, the protagonist initially gains the promise of his beloved, the Countess of Beamunt,8 that she would soon await him for a night of love. But as a precondition she asks him to organize a tournament for her sake because she has never witnessed one and would like to observe her lover perform his knightly skills in jousts with other knights (598-603). As part of the preparations for the tournament, Mauritius creates one of the most unusual objects in the history of German literature with which he intends to impress the countess. …

The Fourteenth-Century Verse Novella Dis ist von dem Heselin: Eroticism, Social Discourse, and Ethical Criticism

Late-medieval German literature offers many highly intriguing examples of erotic narratives structured and motivated in the manner of the fabliaux and novelle. One of these maeren, Dis ist von dem Heselin, composed sometime around 1300, presents an account of a tryst between a naive peasant maid and a young knight who barters a hare for her love. The narrative lives from the charming contrast between this young woman's ignorance of the true meaning of the word minne, or ‘courtly love,’ and the moral decline of the nobility. Whereas she freely and openly grants her love to the knight and later tells everything to her mother, who severely punishes her for her seeming stupidity, the knight's noble fiancee proves to be highly cynical and morally untrustworthy. Mocking the peasant maid during the wedding celebration and emphasizing her own intelligent behavior in hiding her numerous sexual contacts with the family's chaplain, she deeply shocks her fiance, who then quickly changes the marriage arrangements and takes the peasant maid as his wife. The maid triumphs over the noble lady because of her simplicity, trustworthiness, and true love for the knight. Her moral infraction is easily forgiven because of her ignorance and naivete, whereas her highly respected competitor for the knight's hand loses because she knows nothing of true love and morality.

Gendered Knowledge and Eavesdropping in the Late-Medieval Minnerede

Previous articleNext article No AccessGendered Knowledge and Eavesdropping in the Late-Medieval MinneredeAnn Marie RasmussenAnn Marie Rasmussen Search for more articles by this author PDFPDF PLUS Add to favoritesDownload CitationTrack CitationsPermissionsReprints Share onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail SectionsMoreDetailsFiguresReferencesCited by Speculum Volume 77, Number 4Oct., 2002 The journal of the Medieval Academy of America Article DOIhttps://doi.org/10.2307/3301216 Views: 16Total views on this site Citations: 3Citations are reported from Crossref Copyright 2002 Medieval Academy of AmericaPDF download Crossref reports the following articles citing this article: Bibliography, (Feb 2022): 215–244.https://doi.org/10.14220/9783737001199.215Jamie Page Masculinity and Prostitution in Late Medieval German Literature, Speculum 94, no.33 (Jun 2019): 739–773.https://doi.org/10.1086/703557Kathryn Starkey Tristan Slippers, (Jan 2004): 35–53.https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-137-09675-3_3

Till Eulenspiegel. His Adventures ed. by Paúl Oppenheimer (review)

h6arthuriana seen as false consciousness.' One ofthe many virtues ofthis book is that Newcomb shows that the reader ofromances—typically and dismissively presented as a female servant, as she points out—may be as sophisticated and politically aware a reader as anyone else. STEPHEN GUY-BRAY University ofCalgary paúl oppenheimer, ed. and trans., Till Eulenspiegel. His Adventures. New York: Routledge, 2001. Pp. xcv, 214. isbn: 0-415-93762-0. $16.95. The anonymous collection of tales dealing with the jester, social critic, clownish figure, fool, sarcastic observer, or rogue Till Eulenspiegel, first published in 1510, and many times thereafter, is one ofthe most fascinating literary enterprises in the history of late-medieval German literature. The author, as some scholars have suggested, might have been the Brunswick toll official Hermen Bote, but the evidence for this thesis is not yet fully established. In 1991, Paul Oppenheimer published a revised version of his English translation of Till Eulenspiegel (1972), which was accompanied by an extensive research report and an excellent introduction. The present volume, published ten years later, appears to be a completely new book, as the translator's foreword indicates, dated with 'March 2001.' In reality, it is, apart from very small additions, exactly the same book. Some years ago Routledge purchased Garland, and so also the rights to the titles published by the latter. Oppenheimers discussion ofthe key aspects in Eulenspiegelresearch still represents an excellent overview, though it is now outdated by ten years. In his bibliography he adds three titles from 1988, 1991, and 1999, but their findings are not incorporated in his examination of the historical and literary significance of the tales. The translations also prove to be of high quality and leave very little to wish for. Nevertheless, this book is a reprint, and to use the date of2001 at the bottom ofthe preface is simply misleading. Consequently, there is not much to say about this 'new' book, or reprint, but for the reader's sake some ofthe more important studies on TillEulenspiegel, published since 1991, but not included in Oppenheimer's bibliography, are listed below: —Albrecht Classen, 'Der vertrackte, widerspenstige Held Till Eulenspiegel: Sexualituät, der Korper, Transgression,' Euphorion 92, 2 (1998): 249-70. —Albrecht Classen, The German Volksbuch. A Critical History ofa Late-Medieval Genre (Lewiston-Queenston-Lampetcr: The Edwin Mellen Press, 1995). —Priscilla Roy Hayden, 'Till Eulenspiegd's Transgressions against Convention. Interpreting the Parasite,' Lynne Tatlock, ed., Writing on the Une. Transgression in Early Modern Literature (Amsterdam-Atlanta: Editions Rodopi, 1991), 7-31. —William C. McDonald, 'Mythos Eulenspiegel—Sieg eines zwitterhaften Listreichen,' Ulrich Müller, Werner Wunderlich, eds., Verfuhrer, Schurken, Magier. Mittehlter-Mythen, 3 (St. Gallen: UVK, 2001), 227-41. —Hermann Josef Müller, 'Eulenspiegel bei den Juden. Zur Überlieferung der jiddischen Eulenspiegel-Fassungen,' Eulenspiegel-Jahrbuch 30 (1990): 33-50. REVIEWS147 —Heinz-Gunter Schmitz, 'Der wiedererstandene Eulenspiegel: Zur Druck und Textgeschichte des Eulenspiegelbuchs,' NiederdeutschesJahrbuch 118 (1995): 57-98. Many more studies can be found in the journal Eulenspiegel-Jahrbuch. The reprint by itself is a welcome contribution and, considering its low price, might make it into the academic classroom. ALBRECHT CLASSEN University ofArizona caroline palmer, compiler, TheArthurian Bibliography: III, 1978—1992. Arthurian Studies 31. Cambridge: D. S. Brewer, 1998. Pp. xxiii, 761. isbn: 0-85991-399-6. $200. The first volume in this series, published in 1981, consisted of an author listing which consolidated the data published in twenty-four years ofannual bibliographies ofcritical Arthurian literature in theModern Language Quarterly, from thirtyvolumes ofthe BibliographicalBulletin ofthe InternationalArthurian Society, and from other sources extending back to 1923. The editors, C. E. Pickford and R. W. Last, began the task ofcompiling their 10,000 entries in 1969, and they devoted much oftheir introduction to describing the complex chores involved in building a computerized database during a period when 'user-friendliness' was still far from reality. At the time of publication, the announced intention was to issue an updating volume every five years. Although a second volume, consisting ofa subject index to the first, followed in 1983, the third volume, covering Arthurian studies for the years 1978 to 1992, did not reach print until eighteen years later (although the fourth, extending the coverage through 1998, is scheduled...

DRAMATIZED DISPUTATIONS: LATE MEDIEVAL GERMAN DRAMATIZATIONS OF JEWISH-CHRISTIAN RELIGIOUS DISPUTATIONS, CHURCH POLICY, AND LOCAL SOCIAL CLIMATES

AbstractA comparison of the two Frankfurt Passion play manuscripts with two major dramatic works of Nuremberg dramatist Hans Folz reveals the impact of local social conditions on attitudes toward Christian-Jewish religious disputation between lay people. Though such debate was officially condemned by the Church from the thirteenth century onward, local attitudes determined whether the official condemnation would be respected or ignored. Further, dramatic engagement with theological issues produced, in Folz's work, toward a more benign depiction of Jews than commonly seen in late medieval German literature.

The Nobility of Soul: Uncharted Echoes of the Peraldean Tradition in Late Medieval German Literature

This study traces the concept of the “nobility of soul” in the late Middle Ages, with special reference to Geoffrey Chaucer, Heinrich von Langenstein and Michel Beheim. The chief ideas were transmitted by the French Dominican Guillelmus Peraldus (Guillaume Peyraut).