Late-Medieval German Women's Poetry: Secular and Religious Songs (Library of Medieval Women)

Although there were a number of outstanding women writers of the late middle ages, it was not thought that women composed lyric poetry. Albrecht Classen's careful investigation of archival material, however, proves this to be a misconception, and in this volume he presents a selection of secular love songs and religious hymns composed by fifteenth- and sixteenth-century German women poets, here translated for the first time, based on his two-volume edition in the original language. Many women seem to have left their works anonymously, or hid their names in their texts using acrostics; in these and other cases, applying appropriate research tools, Classen has identified a considerable corpus of women's poetry which now promises to fill the gap previously supposed to exist in the history of medieval and early-modern German women's poetry. Albrecht Classen translated the poems from the original German, composed the Introduction, the notes, and the final annotated bibliography. Besides this, he wrote an interpretive essay after the translations and before the bibliography, Medieval And Early-modern German Women's Literature : An Introductory Essay -- Recent Scholarship -- The Current Situation In Medieval Feminism -- New Avenues? -- The Selection Of Texts And Translation -- Structure -- About The Translation -- Women's Secular Songs. Selection From The Ambraser Liederbuch, 1582 ; Selection From The Heidelberger Liederhandschrift ; Selection From The Liederbuch Der Ottilia Fenchlerin, 1592 ; Selection From Clara Hätzlerin's Songbook ; Selections Taken From The Züricher Liederbuch And The Berner Liederbuch ; Selection From Humanist Songbooks: Johannes Heer Von Glarus ; Ludwig Iselin ; Selections From The Bergliederbüchlein ; Selection From Miscellany Manuscripts ; Georg Forster's Songbooks ; Selection From Wolfgang Strizer's Songbook, 1588 ; Selection From Jacob Regnart's And Leonard Lechner's Songbook, 1579 -- Women's Religious Songs. Elisabeth Creutzigerin Or Crucigerin ; Mary Queen Of Hungary ; Agnes, Herzogin Von Sachsen ; Annelein Of Freiburg ; Elisabeth, Duchess Of Brunswick-calenberg ; Magdalena Bekin ; Magdalena Heymairin ; Margaretha, Duchess Of Anhalt ; Marie Cleopha, Countess Of Sultz ; Klara, Duchess Of Pommerania -- Conclusion. Interpretive Essay: The Rediscovery Of Women's Voices Through The Investigation Of Hitherto Ignored Sources. Did Late Medieval Women Actually Compose Love Poetry? ; The History Of Late Medieval And Early Modern Popular Poetry ; The Female Voice In Late-medieval And Early-modern Popular Poetry ; Religious Poetry ; Outlook. Albrecht Classen. Includes Bibliographical References (p. [141]-154) And Index. A considerable collection of German women's poetry in translation, results of ingenious archival research.Although there were a number of outstanding women writers of the late middle ages, it was not thought that women composed lyric poetry. Albrecht Classen's careful investigation of archival material, however, proves this to be a misconception, and in this volume he presents a selection of secular love songs and religious hymns composed by fifteenth- and sixteenth-century German women poets, here translated for the first time, based on his two-volume editionin the original language. Many women seem to have left their works anonymously, or hid their names in their texts using acrostics; in these and other cases, applying appropriate research tools, Classen has identified a considerable corpus of women's poetry which now promises to fill the gap previously supposed to exist in the history of medieval and early-modern German women's poetry.