Everyday Life and History of Mentality as Reflected in a Collection of Mzeren. the Evidence of the Codex Karlsruhe 408. Literary Comments on Social, Economic, and Religious Conflicts in the Late Middle Ages

Major editorial work in the last few years has made it possible for us to gain a much better understanding of the genre of mæren, that is, short verse narratives in late Middle High German, composed in a similar vein as the Old French fabliaux, the medieval Italian novelle, or the Middle English tales. Those narratives were consistently predicated on the literary strategy of providing erotic entertainment and comedy involving ordinary people, but also individuals from the upper classes, all of whom tended to commit social mistakes, transgress the standard norms and ideals, and make fools of themselves and others. The humor represented here was not necessarily unique for that time period, but these tales make it possible to perceive, through the lens of laughter, ordinary aspects of everyday life, both in the city and in the countryside, but then also in the Roman Catholic Church and at court. We still do not know enough about the composers, collectors, and the audiences, but focusing on one particular collection, the Codex Karlsruhe 408, promises to yield more information concerning the background and intention of this genre, the audience, and the intellectual and social-historical framework. Laughter, above all, appears to have transcended all social classes, which we can observe also in the late medieval and early modern Schwänke, or jest narratives, then in the increasingly popular Fastnachtspiele and didactic tales (Johannes Pauli, 1522). Examining this specific manuscript allows us to gain a better understanding of the literary production, the outreach to the audience, the book market, and, most importantly, the social, economic, and emotional conditions among people of the various social classes who lived relatively close to each other and were privy to people's private lives. Transgression was the key aspect everyone seems to have laughed about. This codex from the first third of the fifteenth century can serve as an epistemological window into everyday life, the history of mentality, and the history of emotions.