III.

Middle High German Period (1100-1370)

Although prose writing and drama were found primarily in the form of didactic religious works throughout the Middle High German period, poetry developed as a mode of secular expression, and epic, lyric, and satiric forms appeared, giving voice to the virtues of chivalry and courtly love. The Spielleute, or wandering minstrels, entertained their listeners with stories of adventure sometimes based on the experiences of warriors returning from the Crusades. Among the epic poems of the period, König Rother (King Rother, c. 1150) had the greatest success. Another important style was the court epic, which reached its highest form in the works of Hartmann von Aue (c. 1170-c. 1235), Gottfried von Strassburg, Wolfram von Eschenbach, and Heinrich von Veldeke. Although the works of such French writers as Chrétien de Troyes and others served as models for the German epics, the German writers expressed their own ideals, found their own form and style, and very often added depth to the stories. A variation of the court epic was the epic in which an animal was the central figure. Reineke Fuchs (c. 1180; Reynard the Fox, 1840) by Heinrich der Glîchezaere is the best example. The greatest of the German epics are Wolfram von Eschenbach’s Parzival, Tristan und Isold by Gottfried von Strassburg, and the Nibelungenlied, set down in the early 13th century by an unknown author.

Lyric poetry during the Middle High German period developed in the form of the Minnesang, or courtly lyric, composed by the lyric poets known as minnesingers. The great master of this type of poetry is Walther von der Vogelweide. His works, which include love songs, religious lyrics, and epigrams, express personal and political idealism and assert his independence of papal authority.

In the second half of the 13th century the nature of the epic began to change as characters from the middle class and the peasantry were introduced. The peasantry, once an object of derision, became increasingly important in literature, figuring prominently in such works as Meier Helmbrecht, a 13th-century tale of peasant life.