1.
Walther von der Vogelweide
–
Walther von der Vogelweide is the most celebrated Middle High German lyric poet. He wrote primarily in the Minnesang tradition, but also other poems in other genres. He is known for his innovative and unique style of poetry and his non-Minnesang poems often incorporate political messages, which reveal a great deal about their authors deep-held personal convictions. He was a patriot who proudly supported the dream of German unity. Although he was a devout Catholic, he was an ardent critic of papal authority and he supported the Crusades, but remained highly respectful towards Jews and Muslims. His most notable poems include Under der linden, Elegie, and he continues to have a profound impact on German literature and poetry even today. The main sources of information about him are his own poems and he was a knight, but probably not a wealthy or landed one. His surname, von der Vogelweide, suggests that he had no grant of land, since die Vogelweide seems to refer to a geographic feature. He probably was knighted for bravery and was a retainer in a wealthy. Walther’s birthplace remains unknown, and given the lack of documentary evidence, for this reason, it must be assumed that the singer did not obtain his name primarily for superregional communication, because it could not be used for an unambiguous assignment. Pen-names were usual for poets of the 12th and 13th century, in 1974, Helmut Hörner identified a farmhouse mentioned in 1556 as “Vogelweidhof” in the urbarium of the domain Rappottenstein. At this time it belonged to the Amt Traunstein, now within the municipality Schönbach in the Lower Austrian Waldviertel and its existence had already been mentioned without comment in 1911 by Alois Plesser, who also did not know its precise location. Hörner proved that the still-existing farmhouse Weid is indeed the mentioned Vogelweidhof and he published this in his 1974 book 800 Jahre Traunstein, pointing out that Walther says “Ze ôsterriche lernt ich singen unde sagen”. Powerful support for this theory was given in 1977 and 1981 by Bernd Thum and this is because the singer pours out his sorrows “Bereitet ist daz velt, verhouwen ist der walt” and suggests he no longer knows his people and land, applicable to the Waldviertel. Additionally in 1987, Walter Klomfar and the librarian Charlotte Ziegler came to the conclusion that Walther might have born in the Waldviertel. The starting point for their study is also the words of Walther. These were placed into doubt by research, but strictly speaking do not mention his birthplace, Klomfar points to a historical map which was drawn by monks of the Zwettl monastery in the 17th century, on the occasion of a legal dispute. This map shows a village Walthers and a field marked “Vogelwaidt”, the village became deserted, but a well marked on the map could be excavated and reconstructed to prove the accuracy of the map
Walther von der Vogelweide
–
Portrait of Walther von der Vogelweide. From the
Codex Manesse (Folio 124r)
Walther von der Vogelweide
–
Walther is one of the contestants in this depiction in the Codex Manesse of the Sängerkrieg
2.
Codex Manesse
–
The codex was produced in Zürich, for the Manesse family. The manuscript is the most beautifully illumined German manuscript in centuries, the Codex Manesse is an anthology of the works of a total of about 135 Minnesingers of the mid 12th to early 14th century. For each poet, a portrait is shown, followed by the text of their works, most of the poems are Minnesang, but there are also other genres, including fables and didactic poems. Some images are motivated by the biography of the person depicted, the house of Manesse declined in the late 14th century, selling their castle in 1393. The fate of the codex during the 15th century is unknown, in 1604, Melchior Goldast published excerpts of its didactic texts. After 1657 it was in the French royal library, from which it passed to the Bibliothèque Nationale, in 1888, after long bargaining, it was sold to the Bibliotheca Palatina of Heidelberg, following a public subscription headed by William I and Otto von Bismarck. The first critical editions of the Codex Manesse appeared in the nineteenth century. The codex is frequently referred to by Minnesang scholars and in editions simply by the abbreviation C, introduced by Karl Lachmann, two leaves of a 15th-century copy of the manuscript, called the Troßsche Fragment, were held in the Berlin State Library, but went missing in 1945. The possibility that the compiler was the Minnesinger Johannes Hadlaub provided the subject of a novella, Hadlaub. Walter Koschorreck and Wilfried Werner, editors, Kommentar zum Faksimile des Codex Manesse, commentary to the facsimile edition, with essays by Wilfried Werner, Ewald Vetter, Walter Koschorreck, Hugo Kuhn, Max Wehrli and Ewald Jammers
Codex Manesse
–
Folio 371r, Johannes Hadlaub
3.
Occitan language
–
Occitan, also known as lenga dòc by its native speakers, is a Romance language. It is spoken in southern France, Italys Occitan Valleys, Monaco, and Spains Val dAran, collectively, Occitan is also spoken in the linguistic enclave of Guardia Piemontese. However, there is controversy about the unity of the language, others include Catalan in this family, as the distance between this language and some Occitan dialects is similar to the distance among different Occitan dialects. In fact, Catalan was considered an Occitan dialect until the end of the 19th century, today, Occitan is an official language in Catalonia, where a subdialect of Gascon known as Aranese is spoken in the Val dAran. Since September 2010, the Parliament of Catalonia has considered Aranese Occitan to be the preferred language for use in the Val dAran. Unlike other Romance languages such as French or Spanish, there is no written standard language called Occitan. Instead, there are competing norms for writing Occitan, some of which attempt to be pan-dialectal, There are also significant lexical differences, where some dialects have words cognate with French, and others have Catalan and Spanish cognates. Nonetheless, there is a significant amount of mutual intelligibility, the long-term survival of Occitan is in grave doubt. According to the UNESCO Red Book of Endangered Languages, four of the six dialects of Occitan are considered severely endangered. The name Occitan comes from lenga dòc, òc being the Occitan word for yes and this was not, of course, the only defining characteristic of each group. The word òc came from Vulgar Latin hoc, while oïl originated from Latin hoc illud, Old Catalan, and now the Catalan of Northern Catalonia also have hoc. Other Romance languages derive their word for yes from the Latin sic, thus, etc. such as Spanish sí, Eastern Lombard sé, Sicilian and Italian sì, or Portuguese sim. French uses si to answer yes in response to questions that are asked in the negative sense, the name Occitan is sometimes considered a neologism, however, it was attested around 1300 as occitanus, a crossing of oc and aquitanus. For many centuries, the Occitan dialects were referred to as Limousin or Provençal, after Frédéric Mistrals Félibrige movement in the 19th century, Provençal achieved the greatest literary recognition and so became the most popular term for Occitan. The term first came into fashion in Italy, currently, linguists use the terms Provençal and Limousin strictly to refer to specific varieties within Occitania, keeping the name Occitan for the language as a whole. Many non-specialists, however, continue to refer to the language as Provençal, NO·L LI TOLRÀ NO·L LI DEVEDARÀ NI NO LEN DECEBRÀ. Nec societatem non AURÀ, si per castellum recuperare NON O FA, et si recuperare potuerit in potestate Froterio et Raimundo LO TORNARÀ, carolingian litanies, both written and sung in Latin, were answered to in Old Occitan by the audience. Occitan was the vehicle for the poetry of the medieval troubadours and trobairises, At that time
Occitan language
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Main cities of Occitania, written in the Occitan language
Occitan language
–
Occitan
Occitan language
–
"Speak French, Be Clean" written across the wall of a Southern French school
Occitan language
–
This bilingual street sign in
Toulouse, like many such signs found in historical parts of the city, is maintained primarily for its antique charm; it is typical of what little remains of the lenga d'òc in southern French cities.
4.
Troubadour
–
A troubadour was a composer and performer of Old Occitan lyric poetry during the High Middle Ages. Since the word troubadour is etymologically masculine, a female troubadour is usually called a trobairitz, the troubadour school or tradition began in the late 11th century in Occitania, but it subsequently spread into Italy and Spain. Under the influence of the troubadours, related movements sprang up throughout Europe, the Minnesang in Germany, trovadorismo in Galicia and Portugal, dante Alighieri in his De vulgari eloquentia defined the troubadour lyric as fictio rethorica musicaque poita, rhetorical, musical, and poetical fiction. The texts of troubadour songs deal mainly with themes of chivalry, most were metaphysical, intellectual, and formulaic. Many were humorous or vulgar satires, works can be grouped into three styles, the trobar leu, trobar ric, and trobar clus. The oldest mention of the word troubadour as trobadors is found in a 12th-century Occitan text by Cercamon. The English word troubadour is a rendition from a French word first recorded in 1575 in an historical context to mean langue doc poet at the court in the 12th and 13th century. The French word is borrowed itself from the Occitan word trobador and this recreated form is deduced from the Latin root tropus, meaning a trope and the various meanings of the Old Occitan related words. In turn, the Latin word derives ultimately from Greek τρόπος, meaning turn, B Intervocal Latin shifted regularly to in Occitan. The Latin suffix -ātor, -atōris explains the Occitan suffix, according to its declension and accentuation, Gallo-Romance *TROPĀTOR > Occitan trobaire, there is an alternative theory to explain the meaning of trobar as “to compose, to discuss, to invent. It has the support of some historians, specialists of literature, According to them, the Arabic word ṭaraba “song could partly be the etymon of the verb trobar. Another Arabic root had already been proposed before, Ḍ-R-B “strike and they entertain the possibility that the nearly homophonous Ḍ-R-B root may have contributed to the sense of the newly coined Romance verb trobar. In archaic and classical poetry, the word is only used in a mocking sense. Cercamon writes, Ist trobador, entre ver e mentir, Afollon drutz e molhers et espos, Peire dAlvernha also begins his famous mockery of contemporary authors cantarai daquest trobadors, after which he proceeds to explain why none of them is worth anything. When referring to themselves seriously, troubadours almost invariably use the word chantaire, the early study of the troubadours focused intensely on their origins. No academic consensus was achieved in the area. In his study, Lévi-Provençal is said to have found four Arabo-Hispanic verses nearly or completely recopied in Williams manuscript, trend admitted that the troubadours derived their sense of form and even the subject matter of their poetry from the Andalusian Muslims. Meg Bogin, American translator of the trobairitz, held this hypothesis, to such a strong and multi-faceted tradition of love literature and song nearby must be added the presence of the Toledo School of Translators starting in 1126
Troubadour
–
The troubadour
Perdigon playing his fiddle.
Troubadour
–
William IX of Aquitaine portrayed as a knight, who first composed poetry on returning from the
Crusade of 1101
Troubadour
–
Trobadours, 14th century
Troubadour
–
Late 16th-century Italian cursive on paper, recording a song of Perceval Doria
5.
French language
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French is a Romance language of the Indo-European family. It descended from the Vulgar Latin of the Roman Empire, as did all Romance languages, French has evolved from Gallo-Romance, the spoken Latin in Gaul, and more specifically in Northern Gaul. Its closest relatives are the other langues doïl—languages historically spoken in northern France and in southern Belgium, French was also influenced by native Celtic languages of Northern Roman Gaul like Gallia Belgica and by the Frankish language of the post-Roman Frankish invaders. Today, owing to Frances past overseas expansion, there are numerous French-based creole languages, a French-speaking person or nation may be referred to as Francophone in both English and French. French is a language in 29 countries, most of which are members of la francophonie. As of 2015, 40% of the population is in Europe, 35% in sub-Saharan Africa, 15% in North Africa and the Middle East, 8% in the Americas. French is the fourth-most widely spoken mother tongue in the European Union, 1/5 of Europeans who do not have French as a mother tongue speak French as a second language. As a result of French and Belgian colonialism from the 17th and 18th century onward, French was introduced to new territories in the Americas, Africa, most second-language speakers reside in Francophone Africa, in particular Gabon, Algeria, Mauritius, Senegal and Ivory Coast. In 2015, French was estimated to have 77 to 110 million native speakers, approximately 274 million people are able to speak the language. The Organisation internationale de la Francophonie estimates 700 million by 2050, in 2011, Bloomberg Businessweek ranked French the third most useful language for business, after English and Standard Mandarin Chinese. Under the Constitution of France, French has been the language of the Republic since 1992. France mandates the use of French in official government publications, public education except in specific cases, French is one of the four official languages of Switzerland and is spoken in the western part of Switzerland called Romandie, of which Geneva is the largest city. French is the language of about 23% of the Swiss population. French is also a language of Luxembourg, Monaco, and Aosta Valley, while French dialects remain spoken by minorities on the Channel Islands. A plurality of the worlds French-speaking population lives in Africa and this number does not include the people living in non-Francophone African countries who have learned French as a foreign language. Due to the rise of French in Africa, the total French-speaking population worldwide is expected to reach 700 million people in 2050, French is the fastest growing language on the continent. French is mostly a language in Africa, but it has become a first language in some urban areas, such as the region of Abidjan, Ivory Coast and in Libreville. There is not a single African French, but multiple forms that diverged through contact with various indigenous African languages, sub-Saharan Africa is the region where the French language is most likely to expand, because of the expansion of education and rapid population growth
French language
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The
"arrêt" signs (French for "stop") are used in
Canada while the international stop, which is also a valid French word, is used in France as well as other French-speaking countries and regions.
French language
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Regions where French is the main language
French language
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Town sign in
Standard Arabic and French at the entrance of
Rechmaya in
Lebanon.
French language
–
An obsolete 100
Lebanese pound note with the French language inscriptions "Banque du Liban" and "Cent livres".
6.
Courtly love
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Courtly love was a medieval European literary conception of love that emphasized nobility and chivalry. Medieval literature is filled with examples of knights setting out on adventures and this kind of love is originally a literary fiction created for the entertainment of the nobility, but as time passed, these ideas about love changed and attracted a larger audience. In the high Middle Ages, a game of love developed around these ideas as a set of social practices, loving nobly was considered to be an enriching and improving practice. Courtly love began in the ducal and princely courts of Aquitaine, Provence, Champagne, ducal Burgundy, the term courtly love was first popularized by Gaston Paris and has since come under a wide variety of definitions and uses. Its interpretation, origins and influences continue to be a matter of critical debate, Paris said amour courtois was an idolization and ennobling discipline. Sexual satisfaction, Paris said, may not have been a goal or even end result, the term and Pariss definition were soon widely accepted and adopted. In addition, other terms and phrases associated with courtliness and love are common throughout the Middle Ages and this presents a clear problem in the understanding of courtliness. The practice of love was developed in the castle life of four regions, Aquitaine, Provence, Champagne and ducal Burgundy. Eleanor of Aquitaine brought ideals of love from Aquitaine first to the court of France, then to England. Her daughter Marie, Countess of Champagne brought courtly behavior to the Count of Champagnes court, Courtly love found its expression in the lyric poems written by troubadours, such as William IX, Duke of Aquitaine, one of the first troubadour poets. The troubadours model of the lady was the wife of his employer or lord. When her husband was away on Crusade or other business she dominated the household and cultural affairs, the lady was rich and powerful and the poet gave voice to the aspirations of the courtier class, for only those who were noble could engage in courtly love. This new kind of love saw nobility not based on wealth and family history, lovers in the context of courtly love need not refer to sex, but rather the act of emotional loving. These lovers had short trysts in secret, which escalated mentally, the rules of courtly love were codified by the late 12th century in Andreas Capellanus highly influential work De Amore. De amore lists such rules as Marriage is no excuse for not loving, He who is not jealous cannot love, No one can be bound by a double love. Much of its structure and its sentiments were derived from Ovids Ars amatoria, given that practices similar to courtly love were already prevalent in Al-Andalus and elsewhere in the Islamic world, it is very likely that Islamic practices influenced the Christian Europeans. William of Aquitane, for example, was involved in the First Crusade, the notions of love for loves sake and exaltation of the beloved lady have been traced back to Arabic literature of the 9th and 10th centuries. The notion of the power of love was developed in the early 11th century by the Persian psychologist and philosopher, Ibn Sina
Courtly love
–
God Speed! by
Edmund Blair Leighton, 1900: a late Victorian view of a lady giving a favor to a knight about to do battle
Courtly love
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Courtly vignettes on an ivory mirror-case, first third of the 14th century (
Musée du Louvre)
Courtly love
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Courtly love comes in the basket. Image of the
Minnesinger Kristan von Hamle from the
Manesse Codex, ca. 1305
Courtly love
–
Warfare imagery: the
Siege of the Castle of Love on an ivory mirror-back, possibly Paris, ca. 1350–1370 (
Musée du Louvre)
7.
High Middle Ages
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The High Middle Ages or High Medieval Period was the period of European history around the 11th, 12th, and 13th centuries. The High Middle Ages were preceded by the Early Middle Ages and followed by the Late Middle Ages, by 1250 the robust population increase greatly benefited the European economy, reaching levels that would not be seen again in some areas until the 19th century. This trend was checked in the Late Middle Ages by a series of calamities, notably the Black Death but also including numerous wars, from about the year 780 onwards, Europe saw the last of the barbarian invasions and became more socially and politically organized. The Carolingian Renaissance led to scientific and philosophical revival of Europe, the first universities were established in Bologna, Paris, Oxford and Modena. The Vikings had settled in the British Isles, France and elsewhere, the Magyars had ceased their expansion in the 10th century, and by the year 1000, a Christian Kingdom of Hungary was recognized in Central Europe, forming alliances with regional powers. With the brief exception of the Mongol invasions in the 13th century, in the 11th century, populations north of the Alps began to settle new lands, some of which had reverted to wilderness after the end of the Roman Empire. In what is known as the clearances, vast forests. At the same time settlements moved beyond the boundaries of the Frankish Empire to new frontiers in Europe, beyond the Elbe River. The High Middle Ages produced many different forms of intellectual, spiritual, the rediscovery of the works of Aristotle led Thomas Aquinas and other thinkers of the period to develop Scholasticism, a combination of Catholicism and ancient philosophy. For much of the time period Constantinople remained Europes most populous city, in architecture, many of the most notable Gothic cathedrals were built or completed during this era. The Crisis of the Late Middle Ages, beginning at the start of the 14th century, in England, the Norman Conquest of 1066 resulted in a kingdom ruled by a Francophone nobility. The Normans invaded Ireland by force in 1169 and soon established throughout most of the country. Likewise, Scotland and Wales were subdued to vassalage at about the same time, the Exchequer was founded in the 12th century under King Henry I, and the first parliaments were convened. In 1215, after the loss of Normandy, King John signed the Magna Carta into law, from the mid-tenth to the mid-11th centuries, the Scandinavian kingdoms were unified and Christianized, resulting in an end of Viking raids, and greater involvement in European politics. King Cnut of Denmark ruled over both England and Norway, after Cnuts death in 1035, England and Norway were lost, and with the defeat of Valdemar II in 1227, Danish predominance in the region came to an end. Meanwhile, Norway extended its Atlantic possessions, ranging from Greenland to the Isle of Man, while Sweden, under Birger Jarl, however, the Norwegian influence started to decline already in the same period, marked by the Treaty of Perth of 1266. Also, civil wars raged in Norway between 1130 and 1240, by the time of the High Middle Ages, the Carolingian Empire had been divided and replaced by separate successor kingdoms called France and Germany, although not with their modern boundaries. Germany was under the banner of the Holy Roman Empire, which reached its mark of unity
High Middle Ages
–
Ireland
High Middle Ages
–
This article includes a
list of references, but its sources remain unclear because it has insufficient
inline citations. Please help to
improve this article by
introducing more precise citations. (March 2011)
High Middle Ages
–
Bayeux Tapestry depicting the
Battle of Hastings during the Norman invasion of England
High Middle Ages
–
King Saint
Stephen I of Hungary.
8.
Nobility
–
The privileges associated with nobility may constitute substantial advantages over or relative to non-nobles, or may be largely honorary, and vary from country to country and era to era. There is often a variety of ranks within the noble class. g, san Marino and the Vatican City in Europe. Hereditary titles often distinguish nobles from non-nobles, although in many nations most of the nobility have been un-titled, some countries have had non-hereditary nobility, such as the Empire of Brazil. The term derives from Latin nobilitas, the noun of the adjective nobilis. In modern usage, nobility is applied to the highest social class in pre-modern societies and it rapidly came to be seen as a hereditary caste, sometimes associated with a right to bear a hereditary title and, for example in pre-revolutionary France, enjoying fiscal and other privileges. Nobility is a historical, social and often legal notion, differing from high socio-economic status in that the latter is based on income. Being wealthy or influential cannot, ipso facto, make one noble, various republics, including former Iron Curtain countries, Greece, Mexico, and Austria have expressly abolished the conferral and use of titles of nobility for their citizens. Not all of the benefits of nobility derived from noble status per se, usually privileges were granted or recognised by the monarch in association with possession of a specific title, office or estate. Most nobles wealth derived from one or more estates, large or small and it also included infrastructure such as castle, well and mill to which local peasants were allowed some access, although often at a price. Nobles were expected to live nobly, that is, from the proceeds of these possessions, work involving manual labour or subordination to those of lower rank was either forbidden or frowned upon socially. In some countries, the lord could impose restrictions on such a commoners movements. Nobles exclusively enjoyed the privilege of hunting, in France, nobles were exempt from paying the taille, the major direct tax. In some parts of Europe the right of war long remained the privilege of every noble. During the early Renaissance, duelling established the status of a respectable gentleman, Nobility came to be associated with social rather than legal privilege, expressed in a general expectation of deference from those of lower rank. By the 21st century even that deference had become increasingly minimised, in France, a seigneurie might include one or more manors surrounded by land and villages subject to a nobles prerogatives and disposition. Seigneuries could be bought, sold or mortgaged, if erected by the crown into, e. g. a barony or countship, it became legally entailed for a specific family, which could use it as their title. Yet most French nobles were untitled, in other parts of Europe, sovereign rulers arrogated to themselves the exclusive prerogative to act as fons honorum within their realms. Nobility might be inherited or conferred by a fons honorum
Nobility
–
Detail from
Très Riches Heures du Duc de Berry (The Very Rich Hours of the Duke of Berry), c. 1410, month of April
Nobility
–
Nobility offered protection in exchange for service
Nobility
–
French aristocrats, c. 1774
Nobility
–
A French political cartoon of the three orders of
feudal society (1789). The rural third estate carries the clergy and the nobility.
9.
Henry VI, Holy Roman Emperor
–
Henry VI, a member of the Hohenstaufen dynasty, was King of Germany from 1190 and Holy Roman Emperor from 1191 until his death. From 1194 he was also King of Sicily and he was the second son of Emperor Frederick Barbarossa and his consort Beatrix of Burgundy. In 1186 he was married to Constance of Sicily, the daughter of the Norman king Roger II of Sicily. Henry, still stuck in the Hohenstaufen conflict with the House of Welf, had to enforce the claims by his wife against her nephew Count Tancred of Lecce. Based on a ransom for the release of King Richard I of England, he conquered Sicily in 1194, however. Henry was born in autumn 1165 at the Valkhof pfalz of Nijmegen to Emperor Frederick Barbarossa, at the age of four, his father had him elected King of the Romans during the Hoftag in Bamberg at Pentecost 1169, and Henry was crowned on 15 August at Aachen Cathedral. Henry was fluent in Latin and, according to the chronicler Alberic of Trois-Fontaines, was distinguished by gifts of knowledge, wreathed in flowers of eloquence, and learned in canon and Roman law. He was a patron of poets and poetry, and he almost certainly composed the song Kaiser Heinrich, in one of those he describes a romance that makes him forget all his earthly power, and neither riches nor royal dignity can outweigh his yearning for that lady. Having returned to Germany in 1178, Henry supported his father against insurgent Duke Henry the Lion and he and his younger brother Frederick received the knightly accolade at Mainz in 1184. The emperor had already entered negotiations with King William II of Sicily to betroth his son. He and Constance were married on 27 January 1186 in Milan, in the Hohenstaufen conflict with Pope Urban III, Henry moved to the March of Tuscany, and with the aid of his liensman Markward von Annweiler devastated the adjacent territory of the Papal States. Back in Germany, he took the reins of the Empire from his father, further difficulties arose when the exiled Welf duke Henry the Lion returned from England and began to subdue large estates in his former Duchy of Saxony. A Hohenstaufen campaign to Saxony had to be abandoned when King Henry received the message of the death of King William II of Sicily on 18 November 1189, the Sicilian vice-chancellor Matthew of Ajello pursued the succession of Count Tancred of Lecce and gained the support of the Roman Curia. To assert his own rights in the dispute, Henry initially supported Tancreds rival Count Roger of Andria. While he sent an Imperial army to Italy, Henry initially stayed in Germany to settle the succession of Louis III, Landgrave of Thuringia and he had planned to seize the Thuringian landgraviate as a reverted fief, but Louis brother Hermann was able to reach his enfeoffment. The next year, the king followed his army across the Alps, in Lodi he negotiated with Eleanor of Aquitaine, widow of King Henry II of England, to break the engagement of her son King Richard with Alys, a daughter of late King Louis VII of France. He hoped to deteriorate English-French relations and to isolate Richard, who had offended him by backing Count Tancred in Sicily, Henry entered into further negotiations with the Lombard League cities and with Pope Celestine III on his Imperial coronation, and ceded Tusculum to the Pope. At Easter Monday on 15 April 1191, in Rome, Henry and his consort Constance were crowned Emperor, the crown of Sicily, however, was harder to gain, as the Sicilian nobility had chosen Count Tancred of Lecce as their king
Henry VI, Holy Roman Emperor
–
Portrait from the
Codex Manesse, circa 1304, folio 6r
Henry VI, Holy Roman Emperor
–
Frederick Barbarossa with his sons Henry and Frederick, Historia Welforum, Weingarten Abbey, c. 1180
Henry VI, Holy Roman Emperor
–
Richard the Lionheart submits himself to Emperor Henry, Liber ad honorem Augusti, fol. 129R
Henry VI, Holy Roman Emperor
–
Siege of Naples,
Peter of Eboli,
Liber ad honorem Augusti,
Palermo, 1196
10.
Ministerialis
–
Ministerialis were people raised up from serfdom to be placed in positions of power and responsibility. What began as an arrangement of workers with a wide variety of duties and restrictions rose in status. The ministeriales were not legally free people, but held social rank, legally, their liege lord determined whom they could or could not marry, and they were not able to transfer their lords properties to heirs or spouses. They were, however, considered members of the nobility since that was a social designation, ministeriales were trained knights, held military responsibilities and surrounded themselves with the trappings of knighthood, and so were accepted as noblemen. Both women and men held the status, and the laws on ministeriales made no distinction between the sexes in how they were treated. The origin of the pedigree is obscure. A mediaeval chronicler reported that Julius Caesar defeated the Gauls and rewarded his Germanic allies with Roman rank, princes were awarded senatorial status and their lesser knights received Roman citizenship. He assigned these knights to princes but urged the princes to treat the knights not as slaves and servants but rather to receive their services as the knights lords and defenders. Hence it is, the chronicler explained, that German knights, unlike their counterparts in other nations, are called servants of the royal fisc, abbot Adalard of Corbie was Emperor Charlemagnes chief adviser, and described the running of the government in his work De ordine palatii. There he praises the merits of his imperial staff, made up of household servii proprii who were the first ministerials authoritatively recorded. His letters specify that not only were they considered exceptional by their superiors and this may be the origin of ministerials as individuals in a set position. It was Emperor Conrad II who first referred to ministerials as a distinct class and he had them organized into a staff of officials and administrators. In documents they are referred to as ministerialis vir, or ministerial men, kings placed military requirements upon their princes, who in turn, placed requirements upon their vassals. The free nobles under a prince may have a bond of vassalage that let them get out of serving, so kings, princes, such a body made up the group called ministeriales. They received fiefs, which to begin with were not heritable, Ministerials were found holding the four great offices necessary to run a great household, seneschal, butler, marshal and chamberlain. They were vidames or castellans, having military and administrative responsibilities. Conrad II of Kuchl was the adviser to four archbishops over the course of 40 years. From the reign of Archbishop Conrad II they were employed as stewards, castellans and judges in the administration of the imperial territories, as Imperial ministerials they upheld the Salian, and particularly the Hohenstaufen, imperial polity
Ministerialis
–
Charlemagne, Pippin, and a ministerial clerk; a 10th-century copy of the original
Ministerialis
–
The fortress of Hohensalzburg, overlooking Salzburg, Austria, was run by a ministerial castellan
Ministerialis
–
Portrait of the famous ministerial
Ulrich von Liechtenstein (1200–1275) from the
Codex Manesse
11.
Vassal
–
A vassal or feudatory is a person regarded as having a mutual obligation to a lord or monarch, in the context of the feudal system in medieval Europe. The obligations often included military support and mutual protection, in exchange for certain privileges, the term is applied to similar arrangements in other feudal societies. It is like a land lord some one who own and lets you live on it, in contrast, a fidelity, or fidelitas, was a sworn, unconditional loyalty to a monarch. Such refinements were not included from the outset when it was time of crisis, war, hunger, under feudalism, those who were weakest needed the protection of the knights who owned the weapons and knew how to fight. Feudal society was based on the concept of lordship, which was one of the distinguishing features of the Early Middle Ages and had evolved from times of Late Antiquity. In the time of Charlemagne, the connection slowly developed between vassalage and the grant of land, the form of wealth at that time. Contemporaneous social developments included agricultural manorialism and the social and legal structures labelled — and these developments proceeded at different rates in various regions. In Merovingian times, monarchs would reward only the greatest and most trusted vassals with lands, even at the most extreme devolution of any remnants of central power, in 10th-century France, the majority of vassals still had no fixed estates. The stratification of a band of vassals into distinct groups might roughly correlate with the new term fief that had started to supersede benefice in the 9th century. An upper group comprised great territorial magnates, who were strong enough to ensure the inheritance of their benefice to the heirs of their family, a lower group consisted of landless knights attached to a count or duke. This social settling process also received impetus in fundamental changes in the conduct of warfare, as co-ordinated cavalry superseded disorganized infantry, armies became more expensive to maintain. A vassal needed economic resources to equip the cavalry he was bound to contribute to his lord to fight his frequent wars. Such resources, in the absence of an economy, came only from land and its associated assets. Many empires have set up states, based on tribes, kingdoms, or city-states. In these cases a state has retained internal autonomy, but has lost independence in foreign policy, while and, in many instances. In this framework, a colony or junior ally might also be regarded as a vassal state in terms of international relations. The concept of a state uses the concept of personal vassalry to theorize formally hegemonic relationships between states – even those using non-personal forms of rule. Imperial states to which this terminology has been applied include, for instance, Ancient Rome, the Mongol Empire, and the British Empire
Vassal
–
Harold Sacramentum Fecit Willelmo Duci (
Bayeux Tapestry)
12.
Friedrich von Hausen
–
Friedrich von Hausen was a mediaeval German poet, one of the earliest of the Minnesingers, born some time between 1150–60, d.6 May 1190. His name is mentioned frequently in documents, for the first time in one from Mainz dated 1171 by Christian I. He was born in middle Rhenish territory, as is shown by his dialect, especially by his rhymes, but several towns claim to be his birthplace, in 1175 he was in Italy, and again in 1186 in the suite of Henry VI, Holy Roman Emperor. The next year he was present when Frederick I, Barbarossa and Philip Augustus met between Mouzon and Yvois, and in 1188 he was at Worms in the company of Baldwin V, Count of Hainaut. He accompanied the Emperor Frederick, by whom he was held in esteem, on the crusade of 1189, and met his death at the battle of Philomelium. We are told that the whole army mourned his death, Friedrich von Hausen is one of the earliest of the minnesingers who are known to have imitated French models, with which he became acquainted on his travels through Burgundy and Provence. Together with Heinrich von Veldeke he introduced the Romance element into the minnesong, the Provençal influence is especially evident in the dactylic rhythm of his verses, which resulted from the adoption into German of a Romance ten-syllable line with four or five stresses. His rhymes are still occasionally imperfect and his songs more than one strophe. Hausens poetry is rather artificial in form and often abstruse in spirit and he is fond of dallying with a word. Like most of the troubadours or minnesingers he sings chiefly of troubled love and he directly influenced Bernger von Horheim. Text, translation and commentary by Günther Schweikle ISBN 3-15-008023-1 Lachmann, Karl, Haupt, Moritz, Vogt, Friedrich, ISBN 0-521-07888-1 This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain, Herbermann, Charles, ed. Friedrich von Hausen. Jungbluth, Günther, Aarburg, Ursula, Friedrich von Hausen, Neue Deutsche Biographie,5, Berlin, Duncker & Humblot, p.599 CS1 maint, Multiple names, authors list
Friedrich von Hausen
–
Friedrich von Hausen (
Codex Manesse, 14th century)
13.
Friedrich Barbarossa
–
Frederick I, also known as Frederick Barbarossa, was the Holy Roman Emperor from 1155 until his death. He was elected King of Germany at Frankfurt on 4 March 1152 and he became King of Italy in 1155 and was crowned Roman Emperor by Pope Adrian IV on 18 June 1155. Two years later, the term sacrum first appeared in a document in connection with his Empire and he was later formally crowned King of Burgundy, at Arles on 30 June 1178. He was named Barbarossa by the northern Italian cities which he attempted to rule, Barbarossa means red beard in Italian, in German, he was known as Kaiser Rotbart, before his imperial election, Frederick was by inheritance Duke of Swabia. He was the son of Duke Frederick II of the Hohenstaufen dynasty and Judith, daughter of Henry IX, Duke of Bavaria, Frederick therefore descended from the two leading families in Germany, making him an acceptable choice for the Empires prince-electors. Historians consider him among the Holy Roman Empires greatest medieval emperors, in 1147 he became Duke of the southern German region of Swabia, and shortly afterwards made his first trip to the East, accompanied by his uncle, the German king Conrad III, on the Second Crusade. The expedition proved to be a disaster, but Frederick distinguished himself, when Conrad died in February 1152, only Frederick and the prince-bishop of Bamberg were at his deathbed. Frederick energetically pursued the crown and at Frankfurt on 4 March 1152 the kingdoms princely electors designated him as the next German king and he was crowned King of the Romans at Aachen several days later, on 9 March 1152. Fredericks father was from the Hohenstaufen family, and his mother was from the Welf family, the Hohenstaufens were often called Ghibellines, which derives from the Italianized name for Waiblingen castle, the family seat in Swabia, the Welfs, in a similar Italianization, were called Guelfs. The reigns of Henry IV and Henry V left the status of the German empire in disarray, for a quarter of a century following the death of Henry V in 1125, the German monarchy was largely a nominal title with no real power. The king was chosen by the princes, was given no resources outside those of his own duchy, the royal title was furthermore passed from one family to another to preclude the development of any dynastic interest in the German crown. When Frederick I of Hohenstaufen was chosen as king in 1152, royal power had been in abeyance for over twenty-five years. The only real claim to lay in the rich cities of northern Italy. The Salian line had died out with the death of Henry V in 1125, one of the Hohenstaufens gained the throne as Conrad III of Germany. When Frederick Barbarossa succeeded his uncle in 1152, there seemed to be excellent prospects for ending the feud, the Welf duke of Saxony, Henry the Lion, would not be appeased, however, remaining an implacable enemy of the Hohenstaufen monarchy. Barbarossa had the duchies of Swabia and Franconia, the force of his own personality, the Germany that Frederick tried to unite was a patchwork of more than 1600 individual states, each with its own prince. A few of these, such as Bavaria and Saxony, were large, many were too small to pinpoint on a map. The titles afforded to the German king were Caesar, Augustus, by the time Frederick would assume these, they were little more than propaganda slogans with little other meaning
Friedrich Barbarossa
–
A golden bust of Frederick I, given to his godfather Count Otto of Cappenberg in 1171. It was used as a reliquary in
Cappenberg Abbey and is said in the deed of the gift to have been made "in the likeness of the emperor".
Friedrich Barbarossa
–
Penny or denier with Emperor Frederick I Barbarossa, struck in
Nijmegen.
Friedrich Barbarossa
–
Frederick Barbarossa in a 13th-century chronicle
Friedrich Barbarossa
–
Frederick Barbarossa, middle, flanked by two of his children, King Henry VI (left) and Duke Frederick VI (right). From the Historia Welforum.
14.
Fief
–
The fees were often lands or revenue-producing real property held in feudal land tenure, these are typically known as fiefs or fiefdoms. However, not only land but anything of value could be held in fee, including office, rights of exploitation such as hunting or fishing, monopolies in trade. In ancient Rome a benefice was a gift of land for life as a reward for services rendered, originally, in medieval Latin European documents, a land grant in exchange for service continued to be called a beneficium. Later, the term feudum, or feodum, began to replace beneficium in the documents, the first attested instance of this is from 984, although more primitive forms were seen up to one hundred years earlier. The origin of the feudum and why it replaced beneficium has not been well established, but there are multiple theories, described below. The most widely held theory is put forth by Marc Bloch that it is related to the Frankish term *fehu-ôd, in which means cattle and -ôd means goods. When land replaced currency as the store of value, the Germanic word *fehu-ôd replaced the Latin word beneficium. This Germanic origin theory was also shared by William Stubbs in the nineteenth century, a theory put forward by Archibald R. Lewis that the origin of fief is not feudum, but rather foderum, the earliest attested use being in Astronomuss Vita Hludovici. In that text is a passage about Louis the Pious which says annona militaris quas vulgo foderum vocant, a theory by Alauddin Samarrai suggests an Arabic origin, from fuyū. Samarrais theory is that early forms of fief include feo, feu, feuz, feuum and others, Samarrai, however, also advises medieval and early modern Muslim scribes often used etymologically fanciful roots in order to claim the most outlandish things to be of Arabian or Muslim origin. It lacked a precise meaning until the middle of the 12th century, in English usage, the word fee is first attested around 1250–1300, the word fief from around 1605–15. In French, the fief is found from the middle of the 13th century. In French, one also finds seigneurie, which rise to the expression seigneurial system to describe feudalism. Originally, vassalage did not imply the giving or receiving of landholdings, by the middle of the 10th century, fee had largely become hereditary. The eldest son of a deceased vassal would inherit, but first he had to do homage and fealty to the lord, historically, the fees of the 11th and the 12th century derived from two separate sources. The first was land carved out of the estates of the upper nobility, the second source was allodial land transformed into dependent tenures. The process occurred later in Germany, and was going on in the 13th century. In England, Henry II transformed them into important sources of royal income, the discontent of barons with royal claims to arbitrarily assessed reliefs and other feudal payments under Henrys son King John resulted in Magna Carta of 1215
Fief
–
Harold Sacramentum Fecit Willelmo Duci (
Bayeux Tapestry)
Fief
–
Sigismund fees the
Margraviate of Brandenburg to
Frederik, April 30, 1415
15.
Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor
–
Frederick II was a Holy Roman Emperor and King of Sicily in the Middle Ages, a member of the House of Hohenstaufen. His political and cultural ambitions, based in Sicily and stretching through Italy to Germany, however, his enemies, especially the popes, prevailed, and his dynasty collapsed soon after his death. As such, he was King of Germany, of Italy, at the age of three, he was crowned King of Sicily as a co-ruler with his mother, Constance of Hauteville, the daughter of Roger II of Sicily. His other royal title was King of Jerusalem by virtue of marriage, Pope Gregory IX went so far as to call him an Antichrist. Speaking six languages, Frederick was a patron of science. He played a role in promoting literature through the Sicilian School of poetry. His Sicilian royal court in Palermo, from around 1220 to his death, saw the first use of a form of an Italo-Romance language. The poetry that emanated from the school had a significant influence on literature and he was also the first king who explicitly outlawed trials by ordeal as they were considered irrational. After his death, his line died out and the House of Hohenstaufen came to an end. Born in Iesi, near Ancona, Italy, Frederick was the son of the emperor Henry VI and he was known as the puer Apuliae. Some chronicles say that his mother, the forty-year-old Constance, gave birth to him in a square in order to forestall any doubt about his origin. In 1196 at Frankfurt am Main the infant Frederick was elected King of the Germans and his rights in Germany were disputed by Henrys brother Philip of Swabia and Otto of Brunswick. At the death of his father in 1197, Frederick was in Italy travelling towards Germany when the bad news reached his guardian, Conrad of Spoleto. Frederick was hastily brought back to his mother Constance in Palermo, Sicily, Constance of Sicily was in her own right queen of Sicily, and she established herself as regent. Upon Constances death in 1198, Pope Innocent III succeeded as Fredericks guardian, Fredericks tutor during this period was Cencio, who would become Pope Honorius III. However, Markward of Annweiler, with the support of Henrys brother, Philip of Swabia, reclaimed the regency for himself, in 1200, with the help of Genoese ships, he landed in Sicily and one year later seized the young Frederick. He thus ruled Sicily until 1202, when he was succeeded by another German captain, William of Capparone, Frederick was subsequently under tutor Walter of Palearia, until, in 1208, he was declared of age. His first task was to reassert his power over Sicily and southern Italy, Otto of Brunswick had been crowned Holy Roman Emperor by Pope Innocent III in 1209
Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor
–
Frederick II
Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor
–
The birth of Frederick II
Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor
–
Gold
augustale of Emperor Frederik II, as King of Sicily 1198–1250.
Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor
–
Frederick II (left) meets
Al-Kamil (right).
16.
Heinrich von Veldeke
–
Heinrich von Veldeke is the first writer in the Low Countries that we know by name who wrote in a European language other than Latin. He was born in Veldeke, a hamlet on the territory of Spalbeek, the ‘Velkermolen’, a water mill on the Demer river, is the only remainder of this hamlet. In Limburg he is celebrated as a writer of the Old Limburgish, Veldeke’s years of birth and death are uncertain. He must have been born before or around 1150, as he was writing in the early 1170s, there is no evidence that Veldeke was born in 1128, as is often suggested. He certainly died after 1184, because he mentions in his Eneas that he was present at the day that emperor Frederik Barbarossa organised in Mainz at Pentecost of that year. He must have died before Wolfram von Eschenbach wrote his Parzival, Wolfram mentions in that work that Veldeke died prematurely. Veldeke probably was a member of a ministerial class family, the existence of such a family is mentioned in deeds from the thirteenth century. It may be concluded that he received an education, as he used Latin sources in his works. There are two forms of the name that are commonly encountered in modern scholarship, Hendrik van Veldeke or Heinrich von Veldeke. The choice is usually indicative of whether Veldeke is thought of writing in a Dutch or a German literary tradition, other manuscripts give the place name Veldeke variously as Veldekin Veltkilchen or Waldecke. The choice by English language writers varies according to discipline, but as more Germanists work on Veldeke than Netherlandists, sometimes the poets place of origin Veldeke is also used to denote the author without taking a side in the dispute. Veldeke wrote the Life of Saint Servatius, which was likely his first work, for mister Hessel, sexton of the Maastricht Servatius chapter, the work consists of two parts. The first part is a biography of Servatius of Maastricht, the saint of that town. This part is dated around 1170. The second part treats the miracles of Servatius after his death and it is sometimes assumed that the second part of the opus was only written between 1174 and 1185. Servatius is an Armenian who travels to Lorraine and becomes bishop of Tongeren, the sinful citizens of Tongeren turn against him, causing him to flee to Maastricht. His prayers go unfulfilled, but Peter does give him a key with which Servatius can grant mercy. The citizens of Tongeren are all killed, but Servatius grants them mercy, Maastricht was situated on an important crossroads, the road from Cologne from the west, the Meuse river as north-south axis
Heinrich von Veldeke
–
Van Veldeke monument in
Hasselt,
Belgium
Heinrich von Veldeke
–
Eneas Romance illustration
Heinrich von Veldeke
–
Van Veldeke in the
Codex Manesse (14th century)
17.
Wolfram von Eschenbach
–
Wolfram von Eschenbach was a German knight and poet, regarded as one of the greatest epic poets of medieval German literature. As a Minnesinger, he also wrote lyric poetry, little is known of Wolframs life. There are no documents which mention him, and his works are the sole source of evidence. In Parzival he talks of wir Beier, the dialect of his works is East Franconian, the arms shown in the Manesse manuscript come from the imagination of a 14th-century artist, drawing on the figure of the Red Knight in Parzival, and have no heraldic connection with Wolfram. Wolframs work indicates a number of patrons, which suggests that he served at a number of courts during his life. In his Parzival he claims he is illiterate and recorded the work by dictation, Wolfram is best known today for his Parzival, sometimes regarded as the greatest of all German epics from that time. Based on Chrétien de Troyes Perceval, le Conte du Graal, in the poem, Wolframs narrator expresses disdain for Chrétiens version of the tale, and states that his source was a poet from Provence called Kyot. Some scholars believe Wolfram might have meant Guiot de Provins, however others believe Kyot was simply a device invented by Wolfram to explain his deviations from Chrétiens version. Wolfram is the author of two other works, the fragmentary Titurel and the unfinished Willehalm. These were both composed after Parzival, and Titurel mentions the death of Hermann I, which dates it firmly after 1217, Titurel consists of two fragments, which tell us the story of Schionatulander and Sigune. First fragment deals with the birth of love between main characters, the second one is quite different. Schionatulander and Sigune spend some time in the forest, when all of a sudden their peace is disturbed by the mysterious dog. Siguna eagers to read the story, but dog runs away from them, Schionatulander sets off to find him, but, as we already know from Parzival, he dies trying. Willehalm — the unfinished poem based on Old French chanson de geste Aliscans, Willehalm was quite a significant work, as survived 16 manuscripts in total. The plot goes like that, main character kidnaps a princess and, after turning her into christianity. Pegan king gathers an army to fight his daughter back, Wolframs nine surviving songs, five of which are dawn-songs, are regarded as masterpieces of Minnesang. Dawn-songs recount the story of a knight who spends the night with his beloved lady, mostly its the lady who wakes the knight up in the morning, but sometimes this mission is made by the watchman. The 84 surviving manuscripts of Parzival, both complete and fragmentary, indicate the popularity of Wolframs major work in the following two centuries
Wolfram von Eschenbach
–
Portrait of Wolfram from the
Codex Manesse, c. 1300
Wolfram von Eschenbach
Wolfram von Eschenbach
–
Statue of Wolfram at Burg Abenberg
18.
Hartmann von Aue
–
Hartmann von Aue was a Middle High German knight and poet. He introduced the romance into German literature and, with Wolfram von Eschenbach. He was also a Minnesänger, and 18 of his songs survive and he belonged to the lower nobility of Swabia, where he was born. After receiving an education, he became retainer of a nobleman whose domain. He also took part in the Crusade of 1196-97, Hartmann produced four narrative poems which are of importance for the evolution of the Middle High German court epic. The first of these, Erec, which may have written as early as 1191 or 1192. The source of this tale evidently came from the lore of the family whom Hartmann served. Translations have been made into modern German of all Hartmanns poems, while Der arme Heinrich has repeatedly attracted the attention of modern poets, tobin, Frank, Kim Vivian, and Richard H. Lawson, trans. Hartmann Von Aue, Erec, translated by J. W. Thomas,2001 and this article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain, Chisholm, Hugh, ed. Hartmann von Aue
Hartmann von Aue
–
Portrait of Hartmann von Aue from the
Codex Manesse (folio 184v)
19.
Dietmar von Aist
–
Dietmar von Aist was a Minnesinger from a baronial family in the Duchy of Austria, whose work is representative of the lyric poetry in the Danube region. One Dietmar von Aist is mentioned by name from about 1139 onwards in contemporary records from Salzburg, Regensburg, the surname probably refers to the Aist River, a left tributary of the Danube below the confluence with the Enns. Since about 1125 the noble family von Aist is evidenced in the Mühlviertel region, the Upper Austrian Aistersheim water castle was first mentioned in 1159 together with Freiherr Dietmar von Aist, a ministerialis of the Babenberg ruler Henry II of Austria. If he is identical with the poet is not completely certain on chronological grounds. A certain Ditmarus de Agasta mentioned in records, who died childless about 1171, is possibly the same as Dietmar von Aist. Dietmar is also referred to in the 1220s poem Diu Crône by Heinrich von dem Türlin, a whole series of songs is ascribed to Dietmar, but his authorship can be clearly decided in only a few cases. With those verses which can be attributed to him without any doubt, Dietmar von Aist and his work represent the link between the uncourtly and the courtly forms. He was one of the first poets to use the refrain, the woman takes a decidedly strong position, for example, she is to be able to choose her own partner freely - cf the poem Ez stuont ein frouwe alleine - There stood a woman alone. The first surviving Tagelied is also by Dietmar, Slâfest du, lachmann, Karl, Haupt, Moritz, Vogt, Friedrich, eds. Corrected edition Stuttgart 1995 ISBN 3-476-12244-1 Helmut Tervooren, Dietmar von Aist, in, Verfasserlexikon, vol 2, 2nd edition Berlin 1980, die Miniaturen der Großen Heidelberger Liederhandschrift, edited and explained by Ingo F. Walther, Frankfurt a
Dietmar von Aist
–
Dietmar von Aist pictured as a
peddler in the
Codex Manesse, f. 64r
Dietmar von Aist
–
Dietmar von Aste: Alternative names used in the early literature for Dietmar von Aist are Dietmar von Aste or von Ast, as depicted above in the "Konstanz-Weingartner Liederhandschrift" (written around 1310-1320 in the monastery St. Martin at Weingarten near Ravensburg). The unicorn served as heraldic animal for Dietmar.
20.
Strophic form
–
Strophic form is the term applied to songs in which all verses or stanzas of the text are sung to the same music. The opposite of strophic form, with new music written for every stanza, is called through-composed, the term is derived from the Greek word στροφή, strophē, meaning turn. It is the simplest and most durable of musical forms, extending a piece of music by repetition of a formal section. This may be analyzed as A A A, a modified strophic form varies the pattern in some stanzas somewhat like a rudimentary theme and variations. Contrasting verse-chorus form is a form that alternates between two sections of music, although this may also be interpreted as constituting a larger strophic verse-refrain form. Many folk and popular songs are strophic in form, including the twelve bar blues, ballads, hymns, examples include Barbara Allen, Erie Canal, and Michael Row the Boat Ashore. Many classical art songs are composed in strophic form, from the 17th century French air de cour to 19th century German lieder. Haydn used the variation form in many of his string quartets. Franz Schubert composed many important strophic lieder, including settings of both poems and simpler, folk-like texts, such as his Heidenröslein and Der Fischer. Several of the songs in his song cycle Die schöne Müllerin use strophic form, online Publikationen der Gesellschaft für Popularmusikforschung/German Society for Popular Music Studies e. V. Ed. by Ralf von Appen, André Doehring and Thomas Phleps
Strophic form
–
Das Wandern, the opening song in
Franz Schubert's song cycle Die schöne Müllerin, is a classic example of a strophic song.
21.
Albrecht von Johansdorf
–
Albrecht von Johansdorf was a Minnesänger and a minor noble in the service of Wolfger of Erla. Documents indicate that his life included the years 1185 to 1209 and he may have known Walther von der Vogelweide and is believed to have participated in a crusade. He is known to have written at least five recruitment songs in Middle High German and his Song 2 owes a debt to the structure and melody from a song in Old French by trouvère poet Conon de Béthune. His Song 5, which mentions the capture of Jerusalem, may suggest that he wrote around 1190 and his integrity and warmth of heart are most evident in poems referring to the departure for the crusade. The poetry of Albrecht von Johansdorf, by Hugo Bekker, ISBN 90-04-05657-2 Stammler, Wolfgang, Albrecht von Johansdorf, Neue Deutsche Biographie,1, Berlin, Duncker & Humblot, p.178
Albrecht von Johansdorf
–
Depiction of Albrecht von Johansdorf in the
Codex Manesse
22.
Heinrich von Morungen
–
Heinrich von Morungen or Henry of Morungen was a German Minnesinger. Almost nothing about his life can be deduced from Heinrichs songs, possibly he is identical with the Hendricus de Morungen who is documented in Thuringia. This Hendricus belonged to the class of knights and presumably originated from the castle of Morungen near Sangerhausen. As a retired knight he received from his patron, Dietrich IV, Margrave of Meissen and he transferred this in 1213 to the monastery of St Thomas in Leipzig, which he entered himself in 1217. According to 16th century sources, he died there in 1222 after a journey to India, in the Late Middle Ages, there was extant a Ballad of the Noble Moringer, which transferred onto Heinrich von Morungen the stock theme of the return of a husband believed lost. There survive 35 Minnelieder by Heinrich, with 115 verses, of which only 104 are to be found in the collection of the Codex Manesse. Heinrich is a very graphic lyricist, he often makes use of images of shining as comparisons by which to describe the lady who is being sung. Minne is experienced partly as a magical, pathological, even fatal power, in form and content the poems are influenced by the Provençal troubadour lyric, dactylic rhythms and through-rhymes occur frequently. An introduction often attributed to Heinrich is the Wechsel or exchange in the Tagelied, although the device may be found in the poems of Dietmar von Aist, who is believed to be earlier. Des Minnesangs Frühling, Band 1, Texte, ed Hugo Moser und Helmut Tervooren, 38th revised edition, Stuttgart 1988 ISBN 3-7776-0448-8 Heinrich von Morungen. Lieder, text, translation and commentary by Helmut Tervooren, 3rd edition, Stuttgart 2003 ISBN 3-15-009797-5 Helmut Tervooren, Heinrich von Morungen, in, verfasserlexikon, ed Kurt Ruh et al. 2nd edition, vol 3, Berlin, New York 1981, col
Heinrich von Morungen
–
Miniature of Heinrich von Morungen from the
Codex Manesse.
23.
Neidhart von Reuental
–
Neidhart von Reuental was one of the most famous German minnesingers. He was probably active in the Duchy of Bavaria and then is known to have been a singer at the court of Duke Frederick II of Austria in Vienna, as a minnesinger he was most active from 1210 to at least 1236. Neidhart is very known for being rather sarcastic and comical. More melodies survive by him than any other minnesinger. He was mentioned in a passage of Wolfram von Eschenbachs Willehalm poem written before 1217, all manuscript sources until the 15th century refer to him only as Nithart. The origin of the name it self is Nithard, Altniederfränkisch, with time and expanded geographical use, the spelling has changed and the meaning eventually being confused when interpreted in modern German. His name has before been believed to be an allegorical pseudonym and his earlier poetry referred to places in the Bavarian and Salzburg region, while later he called the Austrian duke Frederick II his patron. He mentions a residence at Lengbach near Tulln, west of Vienna and his tomb, probably erected at the behest of Duke Rudolf IV of Austria, is preserved on the south side of St. Stephens Cathedral. Neidharts poetry was handed down by the Codex Buranus and other medieval song manuscripts such as the Codex Manesse and his songs about the dreary rural life often stand in harsh contrast to the normal minnesinger topic, courtly or romantic love. His style has been referred to as Höfische Dorfpoesie by philologist Karl Lachmann and was imitated by composers called pseudo-Neidharts. Probably his best-known song is Meienzît in which Neidhart starts by describing a peaceful spring scenario, in about 1407, Viennese cloth merchant Michel Menschein commissioned a series of four murals for his private dance-hall based on songs by Neidhart. Each fresco depicts scenes from one of the four seasons of the year, the frescoes are remarkable as one of the few surviving works of the kind on a secular subject from so early a date. They were discovered during redevelopment in 1979 and are exhibited in situ by the City of Vienna Museum, michael Shields, Neidhart von Reuental in New Grove Music Dictionary of Music and Musicians,2001
Neidhart von Reuental
–
Neidhart portrayed in the
Codex Manesse, about 1300
24.
Musical notation
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Types and methods of notation have varied between cultures and throughout history, and much information about ancient music notation is fragmentary. Although many ancient cultures used symbols to represent melodies and rhythms, none of them were particularly comprehensive, the seeds of what would eventually become modern western notation were sown in medieval Europe, starting with the Catholic churchs goal for ecclesiastical uniformity. The church began notating plainchant melodies so that the same chants could be used throughout the church, Music notation developed in the Renaissance and Baroque music eras. The introduction of figured bass notation in the Baroque era marked the beginning of the first compositions based around chord progressions, in the classical period and the Romantic music era, notation continued to develop as new musical instrument technologies were developed. Music notation has been adapted to many kinds of music, including music, popular music. The earliest form of notation can be found in a cuneiform tablet that was created at Nippur, in Sumer. The tablet represents fragmentary instructions for performing music, that the music was composed in harmonies of thirds, a tablet from about 1250 BC shows a more developed form of notation. Although the interpretation of the system is still controversial, it is clear that the notation indicates the names of strings on a lyre. Although they are fragmentary, these represent the earliest notated melodies found anywhere in the world. The notation consists of symbols placed above text syllables, an example of a complete composition is the Seikilos epitaph, which has been variously dated between the 2nd century BC to the 1st century AD. Three hymns by Mesomedes of Crete exist in manuscript, the Delphic Hymns, dated to the 2nd century BC, also use this notation, but they are not completely preserved. Ancient Greek notation appears to have out of use around the time of the Decline of the Roman Empire. Byzantine music has survived as music for court ceremonies, including vocal religious music. It is not known if it is based on the monodic modal singing, unlike Western notation Byzantine neumes always indicate modal steps in relation to a clef or modal key. These step symbols themselves, or better phonic neumes, resemble brush strokes and are colloquially called gántzoi in Modern Greek, Notes as pitch classes or modal keys are represented in written form only between these neumes. In modern notation they simply serve as a reminder and modal and tempo directions have been added. In Papadic notation medial signatures usually meant a change into another echos. With exception of vú and zō they do correspond to Western solmization syllables as re, mi, fa, sol, la, si
Musical notation
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A photograph of the original stone at Delphi containing the second of the two
Delphic Hymns to
Apollo. The music notation is the line of occasional symbols above the main, uninterrupted line of Greek lettering.
Musical notation
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Hand-written musical notation by
J. S. Bach: beginning of the Prelude from the Suite for Lute in G minor BWV 995 (transcription of Cello Suite No. 5, BWV 1011) BR Bruxelles II. 4805.
Musical notation
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Music notation from an early 14th century English
Missal
Musical notation
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Early music notation
25.
Melody
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A melody, also tune, voice, or line, is a linear succession of musical tones that the listener perceives as a single entity. In its most literal sense, a melody is a combination of pitch and rhythm, while more figuratively and it may be considered the foreground to the background accompaniment. A line or part need not be a foreground melody, melodies often consist of one or more musical phrases or motifs, and are usually repeated throughout a composition in various forms. Melodies may also be described by their melodic motion or the pitches or the intervals between pitches, pitch range, tension and release, continuity and coherence, cadence, the true goal of music—its proper enterprise—is melody. All the parts of harmony have as their purpose only beautiful melody. Therefore, the question of which is the significant, melody or harmony, is futile. Beyond doubt, the means is subordinate to the end, given the many and varied elements and styles of melody many extant explanations confine us to specific stylistic models, and they are too exclusive. Paul Narveson claimed in 1984 that more than three-quarters of melodic topics had not been explored thoroughly, melodies in the 20th century utilized a greater variety of pitch resources than ha been the custom in any other historical period of Western music. While the diatonic scale was used, the chromatic scale became widely employed. Composers also allotted a structural role to the dimensions that previously had been almost exclusively reserved for pitch. Kliewer states, The essential elements of any melody are duration, pitch, and quality, texture, for example, Jazz musicians use the term lead or head to refer to the main melody, which is used as a starting point for improvisation. Rock music, melodic music, and other forms of popular music, indian classical music relies heavily on melody and rhythm, and not so much on harmony, as the music contains no chord changes. Balinese gamelan music often uses complicated variations and alterations of a melody played simultaneously. In western classical music, composers often introduce an initial melody, or theme, classical music often has several melodic layers, called polyphony, such as those in a fugue, a type of counterpoint. Often, melodies are constructed from motifs or short melodic fragments, richard Wagner popularized the concept of a leitmotif, a motif or melody associated with a certain idea, person or place. Appropriation Hocket Parsons code, a notation used to identify a piece of music through melodic motion—the motion of the pitch up. Harvard Dictionary of Music, 2nd ed. p. 517–19, the Art of Melody, p. xix–xxx. A Textbook of Melody, A course in functional melodic analysis, a History Of Melody, Barrie and Rockliff, London
Melody
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"
Pop Goes the Weasel " melody Play (
help ·
info)
Melody
26.
Rhythm
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Rhythm generally means a movement marked by the regulated succession of strong and weak elements, or of opposite or different conditions. In the performance arts, rhythm is the timing of events on a scale, of musical sounds and silences that occur over time, of the steps of a dance, or the meter of spoken language. In some performing arts, such as hip hop music, the delivery of the lyrics is one of the most important elements of the style. Rhythm may also refer to visual presentation, as timed movement through space, in recent years, rhythm and meter have become an important area of research among music scholars. Recent work in these areas includes books by Maury Yeston, Fred Lerdahl and Ray Jackendoff, Jonathan Kramer, Christopher Hasty, Godfried Toussaint, William Rothstein, and Joel Lester. In Thinking and Destiny, Harold W. Percival defined rhythm as the character and meaning of thought expressed through the measure or movement in sound or form, or by written signs or words. In his television series How Music Works, Howard Goodall presents theories that human rhythm recalls the regularity with which we walk, other research suggests that it does not relate to the heartbeat directly, but rather the speed of emotional affect, which also influences heartbeat. Yet other researchers suggest that certain features of human music are widespread. The perception and abstraction of rhythmic measure is the foundation of human instinctive musical participation, Joseph Jordania recently suggested that the sense of rhythm was developed in the early stages of hominid evolution by the forces of natural selection. Plenty of animals walk rhythmically and hear the sounds of the heartbeat in the womb, some types of parrots can know rhythm. There is not a report of an animal being trained to tap, peck. For this reason, the fast-transient sounds of percussion instruments lend themselves to the definition of rhythm, Musical cultures that rely upon such instruments may develop multi-layered polyrhythm and simultaneous rhythms in more than one time signature, called polymeter. Such are the cross-rhythms of Sub-Saharan Africa and the interlocking kotekan rhythms of the gamelan, for information on rhythm in Indian music see Tala. For other Asian approaches to rhythm see Rhythm in Persian music, Rhythm in Arabian music and Usul—Rhythm in Turkish music and this consists of a series of identical yet distinct periodic short-duration stimuli perceived as points in time. It is currently most often designated as a crotchet or quarter note in western notation, faster levels are division levels, and slower levels are multiple levels. Rhythms of recurrence arise from the interaction of two levels of motion, the faster providing the pulse and the slower organizing the beats into repetitive groups. Once a metric hierarchy has been established, we, as listeners, a durational pattern that synchronises with a pulse or pulses on the underlying metric level may be called a rhythmic unit. A rhythmic gesture is any pattern that, in contrast to the rhythmic unit
Rhythm
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Percussion instruments have clearly defined dynamics that aid the creation and perception of complex rhythms
Rhythm
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Rhythm, a sequence in time repeated, featured in dance: an
early moving picture demonstrates the
waltz.
27.
Ougenweide
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Ougenweide is a progressive rock band from Germany. They are notable for being pioneers of the folk rock subgenre. The name comes from Middle High German ougenweide, the predecessor band was formed in 1969, it was composed of Frank Wulff, Michael Steinbeck, Jürgen Isenbart, and Brigitte Blunck. Ougenweide was founded in spring 1970 in Hamburg as a rock band. The band is named after a song by Neidhart von Reuental, from the beginning the band wanted to set to music old poems and songs, but they never completely restricted themselves to the Medieval. The band was influenced by the Rock music scene of Hamburg of the 1960s, the second album of Ougenweide All die weil ich mag from 1974 used texts from the Merseburg Incantations. The music is incorrectly thought to originate in the Middle Ages. They also used texts or text-fragments by Walther von der Vogelweide, Heinrich von Mügeln,1975 Ougenweide appeared on stage with Fairport Convention, Steeleye Span, Planxty, Amazing Blondel, Alan Stivell and Konstantin Wecker. They worked together with Peter Rühmkorf for a film about the life of Walther von der Vogelweide,2007 Frÿheit / Ousflug,2007 Ja-Markt / Noch aber ist April,2007
Ougenweide
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Ougenweide live 2011
28.
Meistersinger
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A Meistersinger was a member of a German guild for lyric poetry, composition and unaccompanied art song of the 14th, 15th and 16th centuries. The Meistersingers were drawn from middle class males for the most part, the Meistersingers carried on and developed the traditions of the medieval Minnesingers. Frauenlob is said to have established the earliest Meistersinger school at Mainz, the schools were established first in the upper Rhine district, then elsewhere. In the 14th century there were schools at Mainz, Strasbourg, Frankfurt, Würzburg, Zurich, each guild had various classes of members, ranging from beginners, or Schüler, and Schulfreunde, to Meister. Meisters were poets who could both write new verses to existing melodies and invent new melodies, the poem was technically known as a Bar or Gesetz, the melody as a Ton or Weis. The songs were all sung without accompaniment, the rules of the art were set down in the so-called Tabulatur or law-book of the guild. Poetry was to them an art that could be learned through diligent study. More attention was paid to fitting the syllables to the melody than to the meaning, sentiment. The various songs were divided into three strophes, and each strophe was divided into two Stollen and a discant or Abgesang, the meetings took place either in the town hall or, more frequently, on Sundays in the church. Three times a year, at Easter, Pentecost, and Christmas, special festivals, at such competitions or Schulsingen, judges were appointed to criticize the competitors and note their offences against the rules of the Tabulatur. Prizes were awarded, and those who sang ill were fined, the prize was sometimes money, sometimes a crown, as at Nuremberg in the time of Hans Sachs. Flowers had also an important part in these competitions, often in the older days one singer would hang up a wreath as a challenge and as a reward for victory. The meistersinger often wore a costume which was not seldom motley, in Nuremberg, where the master singers flourished particularly, the special festivals were opened with free singing, in which anybody might sing, though not belonging to the corporation. In this the choice of the subjects was left comparatively uncontrolled, then followed the chief singing, when only those who belonged to the corporation were allowed to sing, and only on scriptural subjects. The judges sat behind a curtain, every fault was marked, and he who had fewest received the prize. Meistersinger poetry played a part in German town life of the 15th and 16th century. The tradition often reinforced German burgher values, as such, it was middle-class popular art rather than high art, the Meistergesang culminated in the 16th century and declined shortly thereafter. Meistersinger traditions lingered in southern Germany as late as the 19th century, a society in Ulm dissolved in 1839, the plot of Richard Wagners 1868 opera Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg revolves around the guild of Meistersingers and their singing contest
Meistersinger
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Hans Sachs, leader of a famous 16th-century Meistersinger school in Nuremberg
29.
Opera
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Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. In traditional opera, singers do two types of singing, recitative, a style and arias, a more melodic style. Opera incorporates many of the elements of theatre, such as acting, scenery. The performance is given in an opera house, accompanied by an orchestra or smaller musical ensemble. Opera is a key part of the Western classical music tradition, in the 18th century, Italian opera continued to dominate most of Europe, attracting foreign composers such as George Frideric Handel. Opera seria was the most prestigious form of Italian opera, until Christoph Willibald Gluck reacted against its artificiality with his operas in the 1760s. The first third of the 19th century saw the point of the bel canto style, with Gioachino Rossini, Gaetano Donizetti. It also saw the advent of Grand Opera typified by the works of Auber and Meyerbeer, the mid-to-late 19th century was a golden age of opera, led and dominated by Richard Wagner in Germany and Giuseppe Verdi in Italy. The popularity of opera continued through the era in Italy and contemporary French opera through to Giacomo Puccini. During the 19th century, parallel operatic traditions emerged in central and eastern Europe, the 20th century saw many experiments with modern styles, such as atonality and serialism, Neoclassicism, and Minimalism. With the rise of recording technology, singers such as Enrico Caruso, since the invention of radio and television, operas were also performed on these mediums. Beginning in 2006, a number of opera houses began to present live high-definition video transmissions of their performances in cinemas all over the world. In 2009, an opera company offered a download of a complete performance. The words of an opera are known as the libretto, some composers, notably Wagner, have written their own libretti, others have worked in close collaboration with their librettists, e. g. Mozart with Lorenzo Da Ponte. Vocal duets, trios and other ensembles often occur, and choruses are used to comment on the action, in some forms of opera, such as singspiel, opéra comique, operetta, and semi-opera, the recitative is mostly replaced by spoken dialogue. Melodic or semi-melodic passages occurring in the midst of, or instead of, the terminology of the various kinds of operatic voices is described in detail below. Over the 18th century, arias were accompanied by the orchestra. Subsequent composers have tended to follow Wagners example, though some, the changing role of the orchestra in opera is described in more detail below
Opera
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The performers from the Atlanta Opera sing the finale of
Lucia di Lammermoor. The
opera orchestra is visible in the lowered area in front of the stage.
Opera
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The
Palais Garnier of the
Paris Opéra, one of the world's most famous
opera houses.
Opera
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Claudio Monteverdi
Opera
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George Frideric Handel, 1733
30.
Richard Wagner
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Wilhelm Richard Wagner was a German composer, theatre director, polemicist, and conductor who is primarily known for his operas. Unlike most opera composers, Wagner wrote both the libretto and the music for each of his stage works and he described this vision in a series of essays published between 1849 and 1852. Wagner realised these ideas most fully in the first half of the four-opera cycle Der Ring des Nibelungen and his advances in musical language, such as extreme chromaticism and quickly shifting tonal centres, greatly influenced the development of classical music. His Tristan und Isolde is sometimes described as marking the start of modern music, Wagner had his own opera house built, the Bayreuth Festspielhaus, which embodied many novel design features. The Ring and Parsifal were premiered here and his most important stage works continue to be performed at the annual Bayreuth Festival, until his final years, Wagners life was characterised by political exile, turbulent love affairs, poverty and repeated flight from his creditors. His controversial writings on music, drama and politics have attracted extensive comment, notably, since the late 20th century, where they express antisemitic sentiments. The effect of his ideas can be traced in many of the arts throughout the 20th century, his influence spread beyond composition into conducting, philosophy, literature, Richard Wagner was born to an ethnic German family in Leipzig, where his family lived at No. 3, the Brühl in the Jewish quarter and he was baptized at St. Thomas Church. He was the child of Carl Friedrich Wagner, who was a clerk in the Leipzig police service, and his wife, Johanna Rosine. Wagners father Carl died of typhus six months after Richards birth, afterwards his mother Johanna lived with Carls friend, the actor and playwright Ludwig Geyer. In August 1814 Johanna and Geyer probably married—although no documentation of this has found in the Leipzig church registers. She and her family moved to Geyers residence in Dresden, until he was fourteen, Wagner was known as Wilhelm Richard Geyer. He almost certainly thought that Geyer was his biological father, Geyers love of the theatre came to be shared by his stepson, and Wagner took part in his performances. In his autobiography Mein Leben Wagner recalled once playing the part of an angel, in late 1820, Wagner was enrolled at Pastor Wetzels school at Possendorf, near Dresden, where he received some piano instruction from his Latin teacher. He struggled to play a scale at the keyboard and preferred playing theatre overtures by ear. Following Geyers death in 1821, Richard was sent to the Kreuzschule, at the age of nine he was hugely impressed by the Gothic elements of Carl Maria von Webers opera Der Freischütz, which he saw Weber conduct. At this period Wagner entertained ambitions as a playwright and his first creative effort, listed in the Wagner-Werk-Verzeichnis as WWV1, was a tragedy called Leubald. Begun when he was in school in 1826, the play was influenced by Shakespeare
Richard Wagner
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Richard Wagner in 1871
Richard Wagner
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Wagner's birthplace, at 3,
the Brühl, Leipzig
Richard Wagner
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Wilhelmine "Minna" Planer (1835), by Alexander von Otterstedt
Richard Wagner
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Wagner c. 1840, by Ernest Benedikt Kietz
Media related to Minnesang at Wikimedia Commons
"Minnesinger". New International Encyclopedia. 1905.
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