Author: Frank Carr Nicholson

Publisher: Forgotten Books

Published: 2018-02-27

Total Pages: 260

ISBN-13: 9780666535894

Excerpt from Old German Love Songs: Translated From the Minnesingers of the 12th to 14th Centuries Together with the refinement in manners there appears a spiritual transformation. That ardent, imagi native ideal Of love, religion, and patriotism which more than anything else distinguishes the age from any that preceded it, is now established in theory if not in practice. The change is most strikingly seen in the new conception Of woman as a thing enskied and sainted, a sovereign to whom unquestioning homage is due. The woman, or rather the lady, - for the women Of humble birth scarcely come into the question here, is no longer regarded as inferior to and dependent upon man, but is exalted high above him and made to occupy the centre Of social life. It is worthy Of note that she did not herself take an active part in the intellectual life Of the time; she did not, that is to say, directly engage in art, literature, or politics. But indirectly her influence was very great, and made itself felt in every department Of knightly activity. The knight looked to her approval as the final aim Of all his undertakings for her he learned to sing and sweeten talk, in her honour he did battle in the lists, and to her be dedicated his new and engaging art Of Minnesong. We have now to consider from what source the knightly poets drew this art and how they developed it, and this is a difficult and much debated question. The main problem is this: Is the origin Of the courtly Minnesong to be sought for in an Older national love-song. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.