| Name: |
Walther von der Vogelweide |
| Birth Date: |
|
| Death Date: |
|
| Place of Birth: |
|
| Nationality: |
|
| Gender: |
|
| Occupations: |
|
Walther von der Vogelweide was the most important medieval lyric poet in the German language. His songs include religious, moral-didactic, political, and erotic themes. References in his songs show him repeatedly seeking acceptance at the Viennese court, where, he says, he learned to sing and express himself (L.32,14--although many editors have attempted to replace the cumbersome method of citing Walther's songs according to the page and line number in Karl Lachmann's 1827 first edition of them, no alternative manner of citation has superseded it). In presenting his persona as a quarrelsome and demanding petitioner for favor and an arbiter of proper courtly behavior, he also demonstrates a peripatetic acquaintance with a wide variety of rulers and areas within the German-speaking realm. Uncertainty reigns about his birthplace and social status. A document of 1203 refers to him as a cantor (singer) richly rewarded by Bishop Wolfger of Erla. An early consensus that he was of noble birth gave way in the third quarter of the twentieth century to the assumption that he was a professional performer with no claim to nobility.
This is a free page. This page contains 151 words. This
biography contains 4,403 words (approx. 15 pages at 300
words per page).
Read the rest of this Biography with our Walther don der Vogelweide Access Pass.
