Brian Dunn and Dr. Johannes Evelein, German and Slavic Languages
Poets of the German high Middle Ages, the period around 1200 AD which represents the pinnacle of medieval achievement, were greatly influenced by the society around them. Politics, religion, and medieval culture all figure prominently in the works of these artists. The content of the great works of this period (for my study’s sake, I used Wolfram von Eschenbach’s Parzifal and Gottfried von Strassburg’s Tristan, arguably the two most noted works of the time) may have been very different if it were not for the outside societal influences.
The history during this height of the Middle Ages provides an intricate background for the German Poets. During this period, after the death of the beloved emperor Friedrich Barbarossa, the princes of the area feuded mightily. The papacy attempted to assert its power several times, usually not without opponents who at some point thwarted the church’s attempts. The German states during this period were never anywhere near unified.
Part of the reason politics play such a large role in these literary works is the system by which poets earned a living. All of the great, known medieval German poets, Wolfram and Gottfried included, were employed at various courts within the German kingdoms and principalities. Poets were completely reliant on their patrons in order to survive. Often, as was the case with another of Wolfram’s stories, Titurel, when a patron was no longer willing to sponsor a poet, a story sopped regardless of whether it had ended or not.
The works created during this period reflect that fact. At the time, with knighthood in an apparent decline, German princes and dukes saw the crisp dividing lines within their society beginning to crumble. As such, the German poets of the high Middle Ages made a point of not including any peasantry in their stories, and always praised chivalry and polite courtly virtues.
Additionally, the stories told were often requested directly by members of a noble’s court: if someone at court heard about a great story (for instance, a version of Parzifal by Chretien de Troyes had been circulating France for some time before Wolfram took to the story), that story was assigned the court poet. Life at court was at times tedious, which is reflected in the adventure and romance of the medieval court epics.
Religion also figures prominently in the stories of the German high Middle Ages. Wolfram, whose patron at the time was strongly aligned with the German emperor, a man who had several unpleasant dealings with the pope, never mentions the papacy or anything to do with the organized church in Parzifal, but rather indicates a sort of religion outside the pope-run institution in which even “heathens” can gain godly favor.
As his audience was very interested and well-versed in religion, Gottfried made several ovations to religion in Tristan. The basic conflict in the story, that a servant knight has a love affair with is master’s betrothed, is explained in a way to make the event fit with Christian teaching. Also, Gottfried fills Tristan with elaborate medieval Christian imagery: the love grotto, for instance, is completely round and without any comers in which sin could hide, a common belief of the time.
The contents of most works of the period, poetry included, can be connected with outside influences emanating from the politics, religion, or culture. Certainly the master artists of the time were able to flesh out highly skilled works within the framework given them, but there was still a framework in place within which they had to work or else lose their livelihood.