Heinrich Frauenlob

Meister Frauenlob in the Codex Manesse

Heinrich Frauenlob (between 1250-1260 – 29 November 1318), sometimes known as Henry of Meissen (Heinrich von Meißen), was a Middle High German poet and minnesinger. The nickname Frauenlob (MHG Frouwenlop) means "praise of women" or "praise of Our Lady".^[1]

Biography

He was born in Meissen. He had great musical talents, and he held court positions in Prague. After several years wandering as a minstrel, he established the first school of the meistersingers at Mainz.

The women of Mainz are said to have carried his bier to the cathedral in appreciation of his lifelong chivalrous devotion to their sex. His tomb was restored in 1783 by women during the Werther period of German literature, and the women of Mainz erected a monument to his memory near his tomb in 1842.

Works

Around 1290 Frauenlob wrote Frauenleich, a song about the Woman of the Apocalypse, and the final song of songs. He also wrote Alle Freude verlässt mich, which was later adopted by Záviš von Zap. One of his works, the Cantica Canticorum, has appeared in English. Ettmüller published an edition of his poems in 1843.

Notes

References

• Barbara Newman, Frauenlob's Song of Songs: A Medieval German Poet and His Masterpiece. University Park, PA: Penn State University Press, 2006.
•  This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Rines, George Edwin, ed. (1920). "Frauenlob". Encyclopedia Americana.