German literature of the late Middle Ages

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The German-language literature of the late Middle Ages includes poetry and literature that was written between about 1250 and 1500. Like most epochs , this one is also quite arbitrary. The late Middle Ages did not form a distinctive literary epoch with a uniform style. It is not only socially and politically but also culturally such a diverse time that literature was often neglected as a transition and intermediate phase between the literature of the high Middle Ages and that of the early modern period.

The late Middle Ages were shaped by many changes that are also reflected in the history of literature: the cities and with them the bourgeoisie flourish, society is differentiating itself, the literacy generally increases, universities are founded, new religious orders (Franciscans, Dominicans, German Order ) emerge and gain influence. At the end of the late Middle Ages, there was a profound media revolution with the rapid replacement of handwritten books by book printing .

While in the high medieval literature almost all genres found their patrons , their authors and their public at the larger courts of the nobility , this connection is now slowly dissolving and different 'climates' of literary life develop: in addition to the courts, also in the rich urban nobility ( patriciate ) z. B. from Basel and Zurich, to bishops such as Mainz , Würzburg , Constance , among the academically trained and Latin-literate lawyers, registry lists and doctors, and among the religious active in pastoral care.

City literature

With the collapse of power and the reputation of the German Empire, the entertaining fairytale poetry experienced its great heyday. The numerous religious and didactic authors of the late Middle Ages proved to be quite productive, whose works were particularly well received when they were linked with fables and stories, such as Ulrich Boner ( The Gem ), Hugo von Trimberg ( The Renner ), Heinrich Wittenwiler ( The Ring ) and the chess allegories ( Schachzabel books ).

The late minstrelsy found in civil society folk and songs and in Meistersang some imitation.

The first city chronicle in German was written by the Viennese Jans der Enikel around 1280.

Spiritual literature

Spiritual literature includes biblical texts, legends, prayers and mysticism .

Early humanistic literature

Johannes von Tepl and Niklas von Wyle are counted among the important authors of German-speaking pre-humanism and early humanism .

See also

literature

  • Thomas Cramer: History of German Literature in the Late Middle Ages. dtv, Munich ³2000.
  • Joachim Heinzle : Changes and New Approaches in the 13th Century (History of German Literature from the Beginnings to the Beginning of Modern Times, Vol. 2/2). Koenigstein 1984.
  • Johannes Janota: From the late Middle Ages to the beginning of the modern era (history of German literature from the beginnings to the beginning of the modern era, vol. 3/1). Tuebingen 2004.
  • Dorothea Klein: When does the late Middle Ages end in the history of German literature? In: Research on German literature of the late Middle Ages. Festschrift for Johannes Janota, ed. by Horst Brunner and Werner Williams-Krapp, Tübingen 2003, pp. 299-316.
  • Hugo Kuhn : Drafts for a literature systematics of the late Middle Ages. 1980.