Introduction to
A Mystery Play
Every new generation has a
strong will and desire to drive out the ghost of their forefathers. This was
true during the hippie revolution in 1967-73, as in the French revolution
1789-99. By suppressing the living memory of the past, young intellectuals and
artists may shine for a while, until they themselves become the past.
During another revolution in the 12th century
Germany, a whole generation of poets, monks and other intellectual workers
broke with the violent past of their nations and became peacemakers and
sentimental lovers in the spirit. This was the revolution named “the
Renaissance of the 12th Century”.
It
began with a number of outstanding poets like Heinrich von Veldeke and Heinrich
von Morungen, shone with the unmatched beauty of Walter von der Vogelweide’s
poems and ended with the Catholic revolution led by St. Francis of Assisi, who
challenged the Vatican and saved the Christian Church.
A knight who knew how to read and write in
German, Latin and French became an important player in this revolution of the
Spirit, Hartmann von Aue. The poet worked as a civil servant as most educated
knights did at that time. He represented the new civilized nobility of Germany.
He translated a number of French epic poems, wrote Minne love songs and crusade
hymns, and participated himself in the “secret” crusade 1196-1197.
Hartmann was a contemporary of Robin Hood (J) and King Richard the Lionheart. But
Hartmann was not part of a legend or fairytale – he was a real man in flesh and
blood. His simple, expressive language and his profound knowledge of human
psychology were admired throughout the middle ages. His extremely popular epic
poem “Der arme Heinrich” was and is a classic Christian legend of true love and
humility.
Hartmann von Aue became the ideal poet for over 300 years, and his style
and compassion still echo through the literature up to the present days, be it
directly or indirectly.
H.W. Gade, Copenhagen 17th
June A.D. 2006
Table of
Contents
Introduction to A Mystery Play
The Poet Hartmann von Aue (1160-1210)
The Making of “A Mystery Play”
Daily Life in the 12th
Century
General Websites on the Middle Ages
Der arme Heinrich in English (Excerpts)
The Poet Hartmann von Aue
(1160-1210)
“cristalînen wortelîn”
[The crystal
clear words of Hartmann von Aue]
A Quote from another master, Gottfried von Straßburg
Hartmann
von Aue was born around 1160 or 1170. He was educated by monks and learned
Latin and French, which became his tools and entrance key to literature. The
previous description is probably true, but no one knows; the only information
on Hartmann’s life is contained in the short – and famous – introduction to
“Der arme Heinrich”. He was obviously proud of his education, which was rather
unusual for a knight these days. When comparing Hartmann’s poems and historical
sources from the time, we are almost certain that he was a civil servant
employed by the lords of Aue maybe near Freiburg in Swabia; the lord may have
been Berthold IV. Hartmann went on a crusade either in 1189 or 1196. Or he did
not. From contemporary authors, we know that he was alive in 1210 and deceased
in 1220. All guesswork. But one of the finest German poets ever, that is a
fact.
The first major work by Hartmann von Aue was a translation of Chrétien de Troyes’ Arthurian romance “Erec et Enide”, probably written around 1192. Hartmann elaborated and changed the original French text (no copyright restrains in 1192). It was not only his breakthrough, but also the first Arthurian text in German. The novel is a discussion on Minne (courtly love) and the duties of the knight’s.
Hartmann was also a proficient songwriter in the Minne tradition. 60 songs have been preserved, although without Hartmann’s original music.
Other works by Hartmann are “Gregorius”, which is the cruel story of a medieval Oedipus, who marries his own mother, but after tremendous suffering becomes the Pope. “Gregorius” is based on an unknown French poem. “Der arme Heinrich“ (Henry the Leper) is the book on which “A Mystery Play “ is based. The last work by Hartmann was another translation of an Arthurian romance “Iwain”, also by Chrétien de Troyes. This time – around 1204 – Hartmann was so sure of himself and the French style, that he did not elaborate or “improve” de Troyes verses. Beside the four major works, Hartmann has written two small works “Klage” (complaint) and maybe another small book, which is disputed.
Erec (Middle High German original in PDF format) Erec et Enide (French original in text format)
Lieder (Middle High German in text format) All lyrical poems by Hartmann von Aue
Gregorius (no text available yet, the contents of the story is also controversial)
Der
arme Heinrich (Middle
High German original in PDF format)
Iwain (Middle High German original in text format) A beautiful mural painting with illustrations from Iwain.
Hartmann
von Aue became a role model in his own lifetime. His simple and clear language
influenced not only the next generations of Minne and romance poets, but also
many later writers in Medieval Germany up to the advent of modern High German.
In the 18th century, he was rediscovered and in the 19th century, his epic
poems fitted nicely into the symbolist back to the Middle Ages movement. Around
1900, a number of symbolist writers and dramatist made stage versions of “Der
arme Heinrich”, and today there is still focus on the knight who could read and
write.
Walter von der Vogelweide and other poets from the 13th century wrote in a style close to Hartmann. Later, the poets adapted other styles, but still tried to keep the ideals of the old master. When the German language changed, the old Middle High German slowly disappeared and finally even educated persons could hardly read the old verses. Then he was forgotten for a long time together with most of the old poets, until the 19th century, where the Grimm brothers made the first commented edition of “Der arme Heinrich” in 1815.
“Der arme Heinrich” was and is Hartmann von Aue’s most popular work. A number of German writers have dramatized the poem including Adalbert von Chamisso (1839) and Gerhart Hauptmann (1905). The composer Hans Pfitzners made an opera version in 1895. The Erec and Iwein romances are still popular and are used for “knight fact finding” by the many medieval enthusiasts in Europe. The dramatist Tankred Dorst made his version of “Der arme Heinrich” as late as 1997 with E. A. Klötzke as composer, so it would be untrue to claim that Hartmann is completely unknown in our time.
Besides the German versions, the English pre-Raphaelite painter and writer Date Gabriel Rossetti made an English translation of “Der arme Heinrich”, “Henry the Leper”. See parts of the text at the end of this introduction for the benefit of non-German speakers.
The
plot in “Der arme Heinrich” resembles a legend or a mystery, hence the Danish title
“A Mystery Play” (Et Mysteriespil). But besides the knight and the maiden,
which we should remember were every day figures in the 12th century, the poem
has a much broader aim than telling a moral story. It is an amazingly modern
psychological thriller between a dethroned prince and the farmer’s daughter –
most of the time with the girl as the hyperactive main character. Throughout
the beautiful, seemingly simple poem, are hidden streams and springs of
religious themes, heresy and the crusades. The poem is maybe a political
statement, at least this author thinks so, as the inner core of “Der arme
Heinrich” might be a discussion between the heretic Cathars and the true
Christian faith, with the girl as the Cathar voice and Heinrich as the voice of
a weak human who finally finds the true God at the end of his trials. The
Cathar heresies are wiped from the girl’s mind, when she sees Heinrich’s
miraculous cure.
Until Heinrich and the nameless girl are married, the couple goes through a series of obstructions including the arrogance of Heinrich and his punishment, the heretic thoughts of the girl, the farmer couple’s deep sorrow and the cynical doctor in Salerno; all leading to the final proof of Heinrich’s noble mind when he frees the girl. The blood sacrifice shows a brutal trait also seen in other works by Hartmann, especially the Gregorius poem. Luckily for the readers of “Der arme Heinrich”, the girl is saved from having her heart cut out alive through the goodness of the fallen knight. The blood sacrifice was, alas a common superstition in the middle ages.
Let us go in details for a while. First a study in the threatened Christian ideals in the 12th century, then the Cathars and finally a look into a music dramatist’s work.
The Christian unity was broken in 1054 in the so-called schism; the Catholic Europe against the orthodox church of Constantinople. During the crusades, the aggression between the two wings of the Christian faith escalated, sometimes even with collaboration between Catholics and Saracens against the Greek Church. In the late 12th century, the moral standards of the Christian church were low, in spite of the good will of the clergy. Bribing and nepotism, not to mention priests and monks with mistresses, led to a great concern amidst the common people. A demand for higher standards and a pious life inside and outside the Church eventually led to St. Francis of Assisi’s reform of the Catholic church in the 13th century. But at the time of Hartmann von Aue, all educated persons were searching for the lost faith and Christian virtues. Superstition and heresy were widespread and threatened the Christian church as such.
The heretic Arianism of the fourth century were long dead, except for the – even today – mysterious remnants of Arian Christianity in the Celtic and Slavic areas. But in the 11th century, a new heresy resembling Arianism spread in France and other parts of Europe, the Cathars. This new pseudo-religion claimed that the world was created by an evil God, actually the guy who wrote the Old Testament. Only by forsaking the evil life, forced upon them by an evil God, the believers could hope for an eternal life with the “real” God. To put it short, life was misery and death was the only way to salvation according to the Cathar baptism shortly before the death. This strange heresy had an enormous influence among common people in France. The Catholic Church, for very good reasons, tried to stop the Cathar teaching in France, but unfortunately the Cathars had a protector in Duke William in Languedoc, where they were able to prosper and consolidate their believes. It came to an abrupt end in 1209, when a Christian army slaughtered the Cathar leaders, the so-called Perfects and civilians in great numbers. The Christian General was asked how ythe soldiers were supposed to see the difference between the Cathars and the Catholic inhabitants in the cities. The general answered: ”Kill them all. God will know his own.” And as can be expected, the conquering knights took over all properties and land of the Cathars.
There is an unlucky link between the troubadours and the Cathars as the courtly love ideal of the troubadours are close to the ascetic ideals of the Cathars. Furthermore, the travelling troubadours often came in contact with Cathars on their journeys through the European countries. So the ideas of the Cathars became mixed with the pure love of the troubadours. And the ideas of an evil world were a welcome idea for the poor population in Southern France. It was not a co-incidence that Hartmann let the girl preach the Cathar gospel to her parents. The heretics were a huge movement partly due to the low moral standards of the Catholic Church in the 12th century. Through the later reform of the Catholic Church, the Christian Church was saved in the early 13th century.
By convincing the girl of the real God’s mercy in the end of the poem, she is also converted into a believing Catholic Christian.
The Making of “A Mystery Play”
In 1977, I discovered “Der arme Heinrich“ in a collection of medieval poems. I immediately fell in love with the work and decided to dramatize the text into a chamber opera. I was 23 years old at the time, and this was my second opera. I had a dislike of singing actors in the 1970-ies, so I let two singers sing the emotional parts of the text, while the actors played / spoke the conversational parts of the poem.
I had a serious problem with the final scene, as I could not come to terms with the blood sacrifice. When the opera was first published in 1985, the ending was left open by purpose, which was a really bad solution to a huge problem.
2006 came, and I started to make the final digital version of my 1977 chamber opera. I was worried whether the music had survived the 30 years, but it clearly had. The text of Hartmann was still as overwhelming as the first time I read it. And suddenly, I realized that the only thing I had to do to mend the missing ending was to use Hartmann’s own text. It worked. How can one miss the point for almost 30 years?
Hartmann von Aue was enthusiastic over the new invention, the rhymes. He uses the rhymes in pairs, which unfortunately leads to a certain monotony, when you have around 1400 verses. I immediately decided in 1977, that the spoken passages should be without rhymes. The power of Hartmann’s favourite effect was saved for the songs.
The road towards understanding medieval German is not an easy trip. Often the words are not what they seem. Even if the Middle High German language has a surprising similarity to Old Danish, I have made several huge blunders through my 15 years with Middle High German texts by Heinrich von Morungen and Hartmann von Aue. Hopefully, they will all be corrected over time.
The new text about the happy marriage is translated directly from Middle High German and a relatively recent (1968) German translation by Helmut de Boor. The old parts were translated into Danish from a Swedish version. Which was later translated back into Swedish by Irene Linton for a Swedish-Finnish stage version, that never came. Strange.
Making music to medieval subjects most often turns the composers’ mind into embarrassing clichés of hollow 5th intervals and triple trumpets. I wanted to have a delicate orchestra sound, which I achieved by combining an oboe, a bass recorder (!), a French horn, a trombone and a cello. Only the cello is occasionally allowed to play two simultaneous notes. All the other instruments – naturally – play one note at a time. As my harmonies are very complicated, modern chords, it was necessary to work hard on reproducing the original piano score. 90% of the score was written in 1985.
In June 2006, I managed to finish the text and music to the final version of “A Mystery Play”. Let’s have a great hand for Hartmann von Aue!
The
history of Europe in the middle ages are the story of small kingdoms turning
into larger and larger states. It is both the times of the crusades with all
the unhappy wars and the times of the first European philosophers since the
Roman age. The young Europe was also hit by the plague, leprosy and other epidemics,
leaving hitherto prosperous regions in desperate poverty from Spain to
Greenland. Only in the 15th century, the economy and the birth rate began to
flourish again. But that was the time of Dante and the Italian heydays. Now
look at a short timeline over Europe from 960 (the Vikings) to 1226 (the death
of St. Francis).
960 Muslim universities in Cordoba and Cairo.
980 Growth of trading cities: Venice, Genoa, London, Antwerpen, Paris, Marseilles and Mainz.
983 Slav rebellion against German rule.
989 Russians convert to Orthodox Christianity.
994 London besieged by Vikings.
996 Civil war in Rome.
1000 Scandinavian Vikings settle in York.
The whole population of the earth are around 200 million.
1003 Danish army lands in England.
1009 The Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem is burned by Muslims.
1013 Danes overthrow Saxons, becoming rulers of England.
1014 Pope Benedict VIII (1012-24) crowns Heinrich II German King.
1016 Knut the Great, Danish King (1016-35) of England, Denmark and Norway.
1029 Growth of the cult of the Virgin Mary in the Catholic Church.
1032 Konrad
II seizes France.
1033 The 1000th anniversary of the crucifixion of Christ. Many pilgrims travel to Jerusalem.
1036 Heinrich III rules the Holy Roman Empire covering great parts of Europe.
1054 The Great Schism between the Catholic and Orthodox Churches.
1062 End of the Viking age.
1065 The Norman Robert Guiscard seizes the last Byzantine city in Southern Italy, Bari.
1066 William the Conqueror invades England. He becomes king.
1071 A Turkish army besieges the Byzantine Emperor Romanus.
1076 Pope Gregorius VII (1073-85) excommunicates Heinrich IV.
1077 Pope Gregorius VII pardons Heinrich IV.
1083 Heinrich IV conquers Rome.
1084 The “Anti-pope” Clemens crowned by Heinrich IV.
1090 Bernard of Clairvaux born.
1091 Normans conquer an Arabic manuscript with the decimal system.
1095 Pope Urban starts the first Crusade.
1st Crusade 1095-1101 led by Peter the Hermit. Jerusalem conquered.
1096 Crusaders start pogroms against Jews in Worms and other cities in Germany.
Seljuk Turks kills thousands of German crusaders.
1097 Crusaders defeat the Turks at Dorylaeum.
1098 Crusaders seize Antioch in Turkey.
1099 The Crusader attack Jerusalem, murder all Muslims and force the Jews of Jerusalem into a synagogue and burn down the building.
Only 60,000 crusaders are still alive out of the originally 300,000 men.
1100 Building of castles all over Europe.
1101 William IX, the Duke of Aquitaine, becomes the first troubadour.
1106 Heinrich IV dies to the relief of the pope.
1109 Crusaders seize Tripoli.
1110 Crusaders enter Beirut. Sidon in Syria taken by the Crusaders.
1111 Heinrich V takes Pope Paschal II prisoner as the Pope refuses to crown him.
1115 Seljuk Turks threaten Constantinople.
1118 Boudouin
I the king of Jerusalem dies. Pope
Gelasius II
excommunicates Heinrich V.
1119 The Templar knights protect pilgrims.
1125 King
Heinrich V dies.
1126 The climate in Europe becomes 1-2 degrees warmer for 2 hundred years.
Arti Averroes (Ibn Rushd) was born, the Arab translator of Aristotle from Greek to Arabic.
Reinmar der Alte German poet (? – before 1210).
1135 Maimonides was born, a Jewish scholar and rabbi.
1140 Heinrich von Veldeke
Dutch poet (before 1140 – after 1190).
Bertran
de Born French poet
(1140-1210).
Chrétien
de Troyes French poet
(before 1140 - ?).
Gottfried
von Strassburg German
writer (?-1210).
1144 Saracens capture crusader castles in Palestine.
1145 Pope Blessed Eugene III (1145-53).
2nd Crusade 1145-47 Konrad III of Germany, total disaster.
1147 Arabs beat the crusaders of Konrad III. 500,000 crusaders die due to diseases and famine.
1148 Crusaders attack Damascus.
1152 Friedrich Barbarossa is elected emperor of Germany.
1154 Pope
Adrian IV (1154-59).
1156 King William of Sicily beats a Byzantine fleet.
1157 Richard
the Lion Heart was born. Creation of Austria by Barbarossa
Waldemar I the Great, King of Denmark, rise of Denmark to major power status.
1158 Emperor Friedrich Barbarossa declares himself ruler of North Italy.
1159 Pope Lucius
III (1181-85).
1160 A medical school is founded in Montpellier, France.
Hartmann von Aue German poet (1160-1210).
1161 First German Hansa trading ports at Wisby, Gotland and Lübeck.
1165 Byzantium expands into Balkans, alliance with Venice.
1170 Thomas Becket murdered in Canterbury Cathedral.
Heinrich von Morungen German poet (? – after 1217).
Wolfram
von Eschenbach German
poet (1170-1220).
Walter
von der Vogelweide German
poet (1170-1230).
1173 Pope Alexander III canonizes Thomas Becket.
1174 Friedrich Barbarossa buys Sardinia, Corsica, Tuscany and Spoleto.
1179 Hildegard von Bingen, nun and composer dies.
1182 St. Francis of Assisi was born.
The people revolt against the rulers in Constantinople.
Jews expelled from France. The Jews settle in Germany.
1184 The pope declares certain “Christian” groups heretical (Cathars and Waldensians).
1185 Andronicus I Comnenus, the Byzantine emperor is lynched.
1187 Pope Clement III (1187-91). Saladin captures Jerusalem.
1188 Saladin destroys the Crusader kingdoms in Syria and Palestine.
1189 3rd
Crusade 1188-92 Philip Augustus, Henry II of England and Friedrich
Barbarossa start the third Crusade. Richard Lionheart becomes king of England.
The crusaders take Jerusalem back.
1190 The Crusades hold new pogroms against the Jews in England.
Friedrich Barbarossa drowns during the third crusade.
Matthaeus Platerius, a doctor from Salerno, writes about the medicinal properties of plants.
1191 Pope Celestine III (1191-98)
Richard
Heart of Lion and the Crusaders defeated in Acre.
About 3,000 Muslim prisoners executed in Acre.
1192 Saladin and Richard the Lion Heart sign ceasefire.
King Richard is kidnapped by a rival in Austria.
1193 Saladin dies.
1194 King Richard escapes his prison through a huge ransom.
1197 Emperor
Heinrich VI dies in Messina.
Civil war in Germany.
1198 The “secret” Crusade led by Enrico Dandolo of Venice.
King Richard dies.
1199 Prince John becomes king of England.
1202 4th Crusade 1202-04 The Venetians trick the crusaders into conquering new land for the city.
Crusaders murder 100,000 orthodox Christians.
1204 Crusaders take Byzantium, founding Latin Empire.
1206 St. Francis of Assisi renounces his worldly possessions.
1208 St. Francis of Assisi decides to become a priest.
1209 Pope Innocent III (1198-1216) calls for a crusade against the Cathars. A huge number of Cathar leaders and believers are killed.
The Franciscan brotherhood receives papal approval.
1210 Hartmann
von Aue dies.
1212 Children's crusade. The children were later sold as slaves.
1216 Pope Honorius III (1216-27).
5th Crusade 1217-19 Once again a catastrophe.
1219 St. Francis of Assisi sails to Egypt and talks to the sultan to work for peace.
1225 Massive German colonisation of towns and lands in Eastern Europe.
1226 St. Francis of Assisi dies. He is canonized in 1228.
Source: http://timelines.ws,
other timelines and various books
Daily Life in the 12th Century
In
the middle ages, society was built on the feudal system, i.e. the emperor ruled
the kings, the kings ruled the dukes, the dukes ruled the princes, and so on
down to the thralls who had no rights whatsoever. Most of the population,
actually, were thralls and not born free. In the 13th century, the thralls
eventually became freeborn farmers, but in the 12th century, they were still
enslaved. The laws were incomplete and unfair with death penalty for stealing a
pair of shoes for thralls and a small fine for murder for the nobility, unless
of course the diseased was a friend of the king.
But
even the highest leaders of the many small countries and regions led a tough,
boring life with death by the sword, plague or leprosy as the norm. Most people
died before their 40th year. Almost everyone was illiterate, including the
knights and kings, so the cultural level was generally low with room for
superstition and heathen customs galore. So much for the romantic “Age of the
knights”.
The crusades changed all these conditions over time, as the hundred thousands of knights and soldiers met the rich Arab cultures in the Middle East. Courtly manners were introduced even to the highwaymen in the small castles conveniently located along the roads all over Europe. The classic Greek literature on medicine and science were rediscovered via the Arab philosophers and scientists. A national literature and music prospered. The Christian Church was finally reformed and the slaves became free citizens. A new age of prosperity and peace emerged out of the chaotic early middle ages.
In the late 1100’ies, the reputation of the church was not optimal. Reform movements and heretic priests were on the move against the Catholic Church and threatened the Christian faith. The Popes were attacked from many sides and had to react, and so they did.
In the late 11th century, there was an important fight between the Church and the Emperor of Germany, Heinrich IV. In Germany, the election of bishops and other high-ranking clericals was normally shared between the German Emperor and the Church. Now Heinrich IV suddenly insisted that he had the right to choose and elect the bishops himself. The Pope was not amused, and a long war of words and excommunications followed. In 1122, the struggle was settled, and the right to elect bishops remained with the Church.
During the turbulent years in the late 12th century, the Popes and kings still fought verbal and physical wars against each other, but this time over “normal” matters such as power, land and titles. At the time of Hartmann von Aue, the Church had sunken to very low moral standards and was beginning to loose sight of the original Christian virtues.
Then came a little friar from Assisi, Italy, St. Francis..
St. Francis of Assisi was the most important Christian figure in the 13th century. He was born in Assisi, Italy in 1181 or 1182, the son of a wealthy cloth merchant. After a wild youth, which included learning the art of the new Troubadours, non-stop partying and being a soldier, he renounced his earthly wealth, left his father and founded a new order, The Friars Minor (the small brothers) in 1209. St. Francis was a simple man whose ardent faith and love of all living creatures instantly made him the symbol of a new pure Church in Italy and the rest of Europe. He was also famous for his sermons to the birds and his fearless work with lepers.
His sermons attracted many of those who had been tempted by the ideas of the Cathars, thus leading the lost souls back to the Christian faith. As mentioned before, the troubadour tradition of courtly love indeed had some elements, which could be confused with the diehard chastity and poverty of the Cathar “Perfects”. St. Francis was taught to write songs, and the Troubadour style was always a part of the saint’s sermons and songs, especially in his masterpiece “Canticle of Brother Sun”. The social aspects of the Cathar movement were brilliantly transferred to the Christian Church, when St. Francis founded “The third Order”; an order for laymen and laywomen, with rules similar to the rules of the “imperfect” Cathars. The order preached peace, no use of weapons, they are vegetarians etc.
After the restoration of the Catholic Church, St. Francis died in 1226. He is still one of the most beloved saints. St. Francis managed to “convert” the lost Christians into devoted believers, and he sat new moral standard in the demoralized church of the 13th century.
Read more in the official Catholic Article on St. Francis of Assisi.
Last Verse of Canticle of Brother Sun
[Italian original by St. Francis of Assisi, written
September 1225]
Laudato si mi signore per sora nostra morte
corporale.
da la quale nulla
homo uiuente po skappare.
guai a cquelli ke
morrano ne le peccata mortali.
Beati quelli ke
trouara ne le tue sanctissime uoluntati
ka la morte
secunda nol farra male.
[English prose translation by the author 2006]
Praised be You, My Lord, for Sister Death, the bodily Death,
Which no human can ever escape.
Alas, the ones dieing in mortal sin.
Blessed are the ones dieing while doing your Holy Will,
For the second Death cannot harm them.
Hartmann von Aue was probably taught Latin in a Monastery School, where the children were taught writing, singing and the Scriptures.
Medieval German poetry had a Godfather and a Godmother; the ancient oral German tradition of songs and epic tales and the French troubadours. The German counties and regions were entwined and the languages of their French neighbours became popular through trade and art. French, Provencal, Languedoc and other southern languages were picked up by poor German knights and clerks. Many of them had a knowledge of Latin from the church.
In the early 12th century, the troubadour movement reached over the whole of Europe and even faraway Scandinavia and the heathen Vikings began to write their versions of the new European songs. With the songs of the Troubadours, the style and the courtly philosophy spread from Spain to Norway. Only the rock revolution of the 1960-ies comes close to the popularity of the exciting new troubadour tradition 800 years ago, the lays and the love songs.
Hartmann von Aue, our man, could read French rather well compared to certain other contemporary writers. He could also read in a time where even the princes and dukes let their servants write their memories for them. In “A Mystery Play”, he boasts with a little Latin phrase “Cordis speculator”, the watcher of the heart, another name for the all-seeing God. Due to the translations of Hartmann and Wolfram von Eschenbach of French masterpieces, the troubadour tradition became German, Spanish, Danish, Icelandic etc. and became international.
In the 13th century the troubadours were already wandering from town to town, from country to country. The popular medieval song fragment Carmina Burana in Middle High German and Latin is a great example of the worldly style of the wandering poets.
Bertran de Born was the most famous French troubadour. He was not only a knight, but a warlord and loved to make trouble. He sang mostly about political issues. Dante later wrote about him with utter dislike. The Frenchmen did not agree.
A romance is a novel in the form of courtly verses with rhymes in pairs.
Gottfried von Strassburg lived in the French / German city Strassburg. Gottfried, who was not a knight but a scholar, is the author of the most famous Tristan romance, the story behind Wagner’s opera, about 700 years later. Gottfried died about the same time as Hartmann in 1210.
Wolfram von Eschenbach lived between 1170 and 1220, probably in Bavaria. He was a knight and Like Hartmann; he translated his most famous work Parzival after the French Master Chrétien de Troyes based on the legendary Holy Grail.
Heinrich von Veldeke was born around 1140 and died 1190 or later. He was the first Dutch / Belgian troubadour and famous for his Eneide after a French version of the Aneas story by the Roman poet Vergilius. He was an important idol for the new German Poetry Wave in the 12th century.
A Minne poem is a love song based on a set of very strict rules. The tradition originated from the first French and Italian troubadours in the early 12th century. The tradition lasted for over 400 years in Germany. All the Minne songs was both written and composed by the poets, but only a few of the melodies have survived, mostly the tunes of Walter von der Vogelweide.
Heinrich von morungen was a knight and civil servant, like Hartmann, employed by the lords at the Morungen castle in Thüringen. He wrote a number of fantastic courtly love songs, which have influenced both Walter and Hartmann.
Reinmar der Alte was the archenemy and predecessor of Walter. He is regarded as one of the finest classic Minne singers, and lived at the Viennese court, where he and Walter fought against each other, with Walter as the eternal looser.
Walter von der Vogelweide was the greatest German songwriter ever. His most famous poem “Unter den Linden”, still lives after 800 years. He wrote Minne poems, political epic songs and a number of his beautiful melodies are preserved until these days. The last song in A Mystery Play has a melody by Walter.
A Minne Song by Hartmann
(Original Middle High German text)
Mîn dienst der ist alze lanc
bî ungewisseme
wâne.
nâch der ie mîn
herze ranc,
diu lât mich
trôstes âne.
Ich mohte ir
klagen
und undersagen
von maniger
swæren zît,
sît ich erkande
ir strît.
sît ist mir
gewesen vür wâr
ein stunde ein
tac, ein tac ein woche, eine woche ein ganzez jâr.
English Draft Translation:
My service is all too long,
And the uncertainty wears me down.
But in my heart, I am fearless,
And in that, I will be comforted,
I want to complain to her,
To let her know for sure,
That the hard time,
Since I started fighting her,
Sums up, I swear,
To an hour, a day, a day and a week, a week and a whole year.
[A draft translation by the H.W. Gade, 2006]
Hartmann von Aue was an administrator and entertainer at the same time. He was supposed to entertain the local nobility and be an educated secretary to his illiterate Lords and their wives. The poet was expected to write new songs admiring the lord or soft love songs to the Duke’s wife, all in the style of Courtly love. He should also be able to sing and play an instrument. And of course recite Latin and French poems and Romances. No wonder, if Hartmann was tired.
The original manuscripts from the 12th Century were written on parchment, which was very expensive. The monks who copied the texts by hand often used and reused old pieces of parchment (on both sides of course), where they could scrape off the old text. This early reuse of resources destroyed most of the original texts from the early middle ages.
In the 14th century, however, the old texts were written down anew; full of spelling mistakes and sloppy editing, but these were the originals that survived. 3-4 generations of linguists and literature researchers have worked on the copies, and tried to restore the language and form of Hartmann von Aue’s own text. This is not easy, and the scientists are still fighting.
In the High Middle Ages, the knights as a class within the army had risen from being simple soldiers on horses to being rich and feared fighters for Christianity. The nobility began to send their sons to the knights to learn to fight and behave well.
The roots of feudalism can be traced back to ancient Rome, where a system of patrons and clients existed. The clients received protection from the patron, who in turn expected support and votes during elections. The German tribes had a similar system between lords and vassals. In the 7th century, formal agreements between a landowning lord and a noble vassal became common. The vassal received a piece of land, called a fief from the lord in return for supporting the lord with military assistance including soldiers (normally peasants), arms and other supplies. The lord offered protection, too. The lords could be the king, a nobleman or a bishop.
The system was used all over Europe in the 12th century. The Poor Henry is a vassal of the king, administrating the castle and the farms. The peasant family belongs to the vassal. The feudal system was abandoned in the 14th century, when the citizens grew richer and more independent, and the kings lost a great deal of their former power.
The great shift in the moral standards of the old heathen knights, now turned Christians in the 12th century, appeared during the fi
