Disrupted Festivities in Medieval Courtly Literature: Poetic Reflections on the Social and Ethical Decline in Mauritius von Craûn, The Stricker’s Daniel von dem Blühenden Tal, and Heinrich Wittenwiler’s Ring

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

As much as courtly life in the Middle Ages was determined by the royal and aristocratic celebrations and festivities, as much disruptions and dangerous tensions also emerged easily, as reflected by numerous late medieval poets. In the course of time, the ideals and the theatricality of courtly life seem to have become increasingly fragile and deceptive, which finds powerful expression in such works as the anonymous Mauritius von Craûn, Der Stricker’s Daniel von dem Blühenden Tal, and Heinrich Wittenwiler’s Der Ring. This paper presents the way how those poets utilized the concept of the courtly festivity and its radical disruption as subtle criticism of an ever more duplicitous and untrustworthy courtly existence.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)87-104
Number of pages18
JournalNeophilologus
Volume100
Issue number1
DOIs
StatePublished - Jan 1 2016

Keywords

  • Collapse of the courtly ideals
  • Court festivals
  • Der Stricker’s Daniel von dem Blühenden Tal
  • Disruptions of the court
  • Heinrich Wittenwiler’s Ring
  • Mauritius von Craûn

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Linguistics and Language
  • Literature and Literary Theory

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Disrupted Festivities in Medieval Courtly Literature: Poetic Reflections on the Social and Ethical Decline in Mauritius von Craûn, The Stricker’s Daniel von dem Blühenden Tal, and Heinrich Wittenwiler’s Ring'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this