von Schwaben, one line sums up the entire poem in the command

"Set the crown on Philip's head!"

That chafing under the Papal claims which prepared the German states for the repudiation of the Pope's authority long before the time of Luther, also finds expression in Walther von der Vogelweide with dramatic picturesqueness, for his many-sided genius applied itself to all the burning questions of the times. Walther von der Vogelweide is the greatest of all the Minnesingers, and Minnegesang, having in him reached its culminating excellence, begins after him to decline. The degeneration of "Minne had already begun before the death of its greatest representative in 1227.

Decline of Minnegesang.-The ever-recurring plaint of the Minor Minnesingers is the degeneracy of the times, and the avarice of men who should be the patrons of poets. A few names only can be mentioned here :

Heinrich von Meissen, died 1318, called "Frauenlob" from the subject of one of his poems. There had been a discussion as to the relative value of the two words, "Weib" and "Frau." Walther had declared himself in favour of "Weib," Heinrich von Meissen preferred "Frau," hence his sobriquet. His "praise of women "reaches its climax in his laudation of the Blessed Virgin.

Ulrich von Lichtenstein wrote his own memoirs from 1222-1255, entitled "Frauendienst." He was one of those men who prepared the way for Cervantes' ridicule of knight-errantry. Although a married man with a family —a circumstance which appeared to him an insignificant detail he served two ladies, and for them performed the wildest and most extravagant feats. On one occasion he struck off his own finger, and sent it to his lady, because she expressed anger that the finger had only been wounded, not

lost, in her service. At another time he had an operation performed on his mouth because she expressed herself dissatisfied with the shape.

Ulrich von Lichtenstein's lyrics, which are interspersed in " Frauendienst," deserve to be classed after those of Walther von der Vogelweide.

One of the writers of this period, whose songs show the enmity existing betweed the rich peasants and the poor nobility in Austria and Bavaria, was

Neidhart von Reuenthal (died about 1240), whose special claim to popularity consisted in charmingly witty and graceful dancing-songs, partly to be sung in the open air in the summer dances, partly for winter dancing under cover. He mingled village poetry with the courtly style, and was often sarcastic as well as humorous.

During the decline of Minnegesang the Streitgedicht, relating the minstrel-war in the Wartburg, was written by an unknown poet about 1260.

Landgrave Hermann of Thuringia was an enthusiastic patron of minstrels, and so freely hospitable that Walther von der Vogelweide warned those who were "Ohrenkrank" not to come to that assemblage of " Böse und Gute." The three principal minstrels who, in the poem, take part in the "Sängerkrieg" are: Heinrich von Ofterdingen, a poet only mentioned here, Wolfram von Eschenbach and Walther von der Vogelweide. Heinrich von Ofterdingen sings the praises of the Archduke of Austria, Wolfram and Walther urge the superiority of Hermann of Thuringia. The poem is in reality a kind of apotheosis of Wolfram von Eschenbach, who is made to overcome an enchanter by the power of his universal knowledge, and unconquerable eloquence.

When, however, this poem was written, the glory of Minnegesang had passed away, and the years of scarcity which, in all literatures, seem to follow the years of fatness, had begun.

Didactic Poetry. Fables.-As early as the twelfth century didactic poetry had begun to be in vogue. In the beginning of the thirteenth a Herr von Windsbach, called "Winsbeke," earned himself the honour of being the only nobleman of the Middle High German period who wrote a didactic poem, the

Winsbeke, counsels of a knight to his son.

The Winsbekin, advice of a mother to her daughter, is a pendant to the "Winsbeke," written by an unknown author.

Thomasin von Zirclaria, an Italian ecclesiastic, who seems to have adopted German as his own language, wrote a long work entitled Der welsche Gast, 1215-1216. He gives,

among other things, systematic teaching in etiquette: not to speak while eating; not to move one's hands while speaking, etc.; and he holds with King Lear that a voice soft, gentle and low" is an "excellent thing in woman." "Beharrlichkeit," by which he understands steadfastness in well-doing, is the chief aim of his teaching.

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Freidank, who accompanied Friedrich Barbarossa to the Crusade in 1228, wrote a more popular work than that of Zirclaria, which he named "Bescheidenheit." The word was not used at all in its modern signification-modestybut appears to have meant worldly wisdom.

Freidank was a warm supporter of the Emperor. He allows three classes only a place in the social systemPeasants, Nobles, Clergy. Traders he considers the outcome of evil.

Hugo von Trimberg wrote, about 1300, a satirical poem called the "Renner" against the deceit and flattery of chivalry.

Fables and "Beispiele," i.e. parables, were also numerous. Stricker, who has been referred to as the author of "Pfaffe Amis," wrote largely in those styles.

Ulrich Bonar, a preaching monk, was the author of a

hundred fables, called collectively the "Edelstein." This was the first German book printed.

Latin remained the language of science during the Middle High German period, but it is to be noticed that two friars, Brother David von Augsberg and Brother Berthold von Regensburg-both died in 1272-preached in German.

CHAPTER V.

I. PERIOD OF DECADENCE, 1300-1500. II. REFORMATION AND REVIVAL OF LITERATURE.

A VARIETY of causes contributed to the literary dearth of the two centuries, 1300-1500. The German Empire was in itself too much distracted for literature to flourish. The Emperors, far from extending encouragement to letters, had their hands full enough in the attempt to maintain their own power. The clergy had degenerated; prosperity had spoilt them, and they were in need of that persecution which acts as the refiner's fire. The people, left to their own devices, were wild and lawless, and quickly lost the power of appreciation of poetic ideals which had distinguished them in the first Blütezeit. What writers there were, at this time, were of such inferior order that their mediocrity scarcely merits casual mention in what is only intended to be an introduction to the study of German Literature. This period will, therefore, be treated as cursorily as possible.

The "Mystiker" (Mystics), the first philosophers in the German language, of whom the chief was

Meister Eckart, died in 1327, at Cologne, were the sole opponents of the universal lawlessness. They taught that everything earthly is vanity, and that the one worthy aim of life is the striving after perfect union of the soul with God. Their influence was probably felt chiefly, though not solely, in monasteries.