Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume VII.djvu/779

 and the latter (Heliand, first published in Munich, 1830-'40) preserving the ancient alliterations. A translation of the Psalms by Notker, which dates from about the same period, is regarded as one of the best specimens of old High German literature. The Ludwigslied, a pæan in honor of the victory of the Frankish king Louis III. over the Normans about 880, which Herder extols as one of the best specimens of early German poetry, was composed in the old High German dialect by a Frankish churchman. The preservation of the song of Hildebrand, which is associated with the legends of Theodoric and Attila, is also due to churchmen, who transmitted it partly in the old High German and partly in the Low German dialect. Several Latin poems were also based upon Hunnish and Burgundian legends, but with these exceptions the priesthood were generally opposed to the national poetry on account of its pagan associations. Many Latin chroniclers and poets flourished in this and the following period; there was also a Latin poetess, Roswitha, or Helena von Rossow, who wrote Latin religious plays. The learning which flourished under the Saxon emperors was superior to that of the times of Charlemagne. The study of mathematics was next in importance to that of theology and Latin. The Greek language, although it was but little cultivated, was not unknown. From the 10th to the 13th century Germany probably possessed a higher mental cultivation than any other country in Europe, but on the whole it was of a Latin and ecclesiastical cast, and the people had no share in it. In the 12th century appeared a hymn in praise of Hanno, archbishop of Cologne, which Herder calls a truly Pindaric song. Among the last poems which appeared in this era from the pen of churchmen were the Rolandslied and the Alexanderlied.—In the 12th century poetry passed from the monasteries and ecclesiastical schools to the palaces of princes and the castles of nobles. Most of the poets who then came forward were nobles by birth, some of them princes. Heinrich von Veldeke was the first to introduce into his heroic poem Eneit, which he is said to have composed after a French version of Virgil, the spirit of devotion to woman, or Minne (an old German word for love, whence the name Minnesänger). Veldeke is regarded as the originator of the heroic minstrel song, although he is far surpassed in genius, elevation of thought, and depth of feeling by Wolfram von Eschenbach. The other masters of the heroic muse were Gottfried of Strasburg, Hartmann von der Aue, and Konrad of Würzburg. Their longer heroic poems treat chiefly of the exploits of Charlemagne and of the story of Arthur and the round table. At the same time they composed many songs. Love was their principal theme, but from a sense of delicacy the name of the lady who was the special object of adoration was never mentioned. Respect for womanhood, which was reckoned among the virtues of the ancient

Germans even in the days of the deepest barbarism, contributed to make the German love songs more reverential than those of the French troubadours. A species peculiar to the bards was called the watch song, consisting in a dialogue between a lover and the sentinel who guards his mistress. Walther von der Vogelweide was the most gifted of these lyric poets. Next to him rank Heinrich von Ofterdingen, Reimar der Alte, Heinrich von Morungen, Gottfried von Neifen, and the Austrian bards Nithard and Tanhäuser. Several hundred of these poets were engaged in wandering from palace to palace and from castle to castle. The minstrels constituted what is called the Swabian school of poetry; the songs were mostly in the Swabian dialect. The accession of the Swabian emperors of the house of Hohenstaufen to the throne of Germany was the signal for the rise of the bardic art (1138). Its golden age was shortly before the fall of that dynasty (1254). The crowning event of the minstrel era was the appearance of the lay of the Nibelungen. It was followed by the “Book of Heroes” (Heldenbuch), consisting of a collection of fragmentary pieces treating of the same legends as the Nibelungen, but mixed up with traditions of the crusades.—Didactic poetry began to be cultivated with some success in the 13th century. The dawn of historical works is heralded by several local chronicles; that of writings on natural history in the so-called Meinauer Naturlehre; of popular religious literature in the sermons of David of Augsburg and Berthold of Winterthur; and of works on jurisprudence in compilations of Saxon and Swabian laws (Sachsenspiegel and Schwabenspiegel). Ulrich von Lichtenstein deplores, in 1275, in his famous poem on Frauendienst (devotion to woman), the decline of chivalry, but his attempt to revive its spirit was hopeless. Poetry now passed from the abodes of princes and knights to the homes of burghers and the workshops of artisans; and instead of Minnesänger we hear of Meistersänger, as the plebeian songsters were called. The 13th century, the greater part of which was so rich in poetical productions, was one of the most unfruitful for the cause of learning. Leibnitz says that the 10th century in Germany was a golden age in that respect compared with the 13th.—In the 14th century Germany possessed several mystic theologians, followers of Meister Eckart, the principal of whom was Johann Tauler (1290-1361), whose sermons and writings contributed to pave the way for the reformation. An important event of this century, in its general influence upon the future development of German literature, was the establishment of the university of Prague in 1348, soon followed by universities in almost all parts of Germany. The last echoes of the period of chivalric poetry were two allegorical romances, Teuerdank in verse, and Weisskunig in prose (first published at the beginning of the 16th century), of which the emperor