Heinrich von Veldeke
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![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/91/Van-Veldeke-Denkmal.jpg/220px-Van-Veldeke-Denkmal.jpg)
Heinrich von Veldeke (aka: He(y)nric van Veldeke(n),
Veldeke's years of birth and death are uncertain. He must have been born before or around 1150, as he was writing in the early 1170s. There is no evidence that Veldeke was born in 1128, as is often suggested. He certainly died after 1184 because he mentions in his Eneas that he was present at the court day that Emperor
Name
There are two forms of the poet's name that are commonly encountered in modern scholarship, Hendrik van Veldeke or Heinrich von Veldeke. The choice is usually indicative of whether Veldeke is (anachronistically) thought of writing in a "Dutch" or a "German" literary tradition. The Servatius gives his name as "Heynric van Veldeken", whereas the Berlin manuscript of the Eneasroman calls him "uon Ueldiche Heinreich", with the first name also variously spelled "Hainrich" or "Hainreich".[1] Other manuscripts give the place name "Veldeke" variously as "Veldekin" "Veltkilchen" or "Waldecke".[2] The Belgian scholar Jan Goossens has proposed using the form "Heinric van Veldeken" as a compromise in the introduction to his bilingual Old Limburgs/German edition of the Servatius,[3] however this suggestion does not appear to have gained much traction, with German scholars continuing overwhelmingly to use "Heinrich von Veldeke" and Dutch scholars preferring "Hendrik van". The choice by English language writers varies according to discipline, but as more Germanists work on Veldeke than Netherlandists, the form "Heinrich von" is more commonly encountered in English. Sometimes the poet's place of origin "Veldeke" is also used to denote the author without taking a side in the dispute[4] (though it primarily serves to differentiate Heinrich/Hendrik from others with his name, e.g. Heinrich von Morungen).
The Life of Saint Servatius
Veldeke wrote the Life of
Servatius is an Armenian who travels to Lorraine and becomes
Maastricht was situated on an important crossroads: the road from Cologne from the west, the Meuse river as north-south axis. In Veldeke's day, the canons of the Servatius chapter tried their hardest to promote pilgrimages to the grave of the saint. It is in this context that the origin of Veldeke's Servatius must be situated. Dating back to the same period are the current Servatius church and the reliquary (Distress Case) that contains the remains of Saint Servatius. In times of great distress and disasters, the Case is carried through the town. Veldeke's Servatius is a liberal adaptation of the Actus Sancti Servatii by Jocundus (written between 1066 and 1088) and the Vita Sancti Servatii, that is indirectly inspired by the Actus. The Servatius has been preserved completely in a manuscript from 1470 (Leiden, Universiteitsbibliotheek, BPL 1215). Also, several fragments have been found in various book bindings that all originate from a manuscript that may have been written while the poet was still alive (ca. 1200).
Eneas romance
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Veldeke's most sizable work is the Eneas Romance, which he based on the Old French
Veldeke’s Eneas is the first
That the Eneas Romance has only been preserved in Middle High German versions has given rise to the question whether the part of the romance Veldeke showed to the countess of Cleves was originally written in Maaslandic (Middle Dutch) or Middle High German. Germanists such as Otto Behaghel (in his 1882 edition) and Theodor Frings and Gabriele Schieb (in their edition of 1964-1970) believed Veldeke wrote the Eneas in his mother tongue, Maaslandic. They have attempted to reconstruct such a lost version. This reconstruction is considered too hypothetical by many modern philologists. Usually, Ludwig Etmüller's critical edition of 1852 or Hans Fromm's diplomatic edition of the beautifully illustrated Berlin manuscript (Berlin, Staatsbibliothek Preußischer Kulturbesitz, germ. fol. 282) from 1992 get preference.
According to the Germanist Thomas Klein (Bonn), Veldeke used neutral rhymes. This means Veldeke consciously selected rhyme couples that were possible both in Maaslandic and Middle High German. Wapen / slapen in Maaslandic becomes wafen / slafen in Middle High German; the Maaslandic rhyme couple jare / mare on the other hand becomes jâre / mære in Middle High German. Klein believes Veldeke applied the same technique in his Servatius. Apparently, he hoped to reach as large an audience as possible with as little an effort on the part of a scribe as possible.
Lyric poetry
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Some thirty romantic lyrics by Veldeke have been preserved. He is therefore one of the first generation of minnesangers that put the Roman courtly romantic poetry in a Germanic language. In comparison to his contemporaries, his lyrics stand out by their humour and even irony. He also likes to play with sounds and adapts the rhyme to his liking. Veldeke uses the conventional description of nature (Natureingang) to open his lyrics, and then usually parallels it – as in the example below – or contrasts it with the lover's feelings:
Ez sint guotiu niuwe maere,
daz die vogel offenbaere
singent, dâ man bluomen siht.
zén zîten in dem jâre
stüende wol, daz man vrô waere,
leider des enbin ich niht:
Mîn tumbez herze mich verriet,
daz muoz unsanfte unde swaere
tragen daz leit, das mir beschiht. (MF I)
(It is good news that the birds sing out loud where one sees flowers. In this time of year, one ought to be happy, but alas, I am not: my foolish heart has betrayed me, and must now, sad and sombre, suffer the hardship that is imparted on me.)
In contrast to what he does in his Eneas Romance and his Servatius, he does not use neutral rhyme in his lyrics, as this technique limits the number of rhyme words available to the poet too drastically. Middle High German and Maaslandic rhymes are used indifferently. Undoubtedly this is because the rhyme scheme in the lyric has higher demands than the coupled rhyme in story texts such as the Servatius and the Eneas Romance; in one strophe, more than two rhyming words must be found. Veldekes lyrics have been preserved in three Middle High German manuscripts from the late thirteenth and early fourteenth century: the Kleine Heidelberger Liederenhandschrift (Heidelberg, Universitätsbibliothek, Codex Palatinus Germanicus 357), the Weingartner Liederhandschrift (Stuttgart, Württembergische Landesbibliothek, Codex HB XIII 1) and the Groβe Heidelberger Liederenhandschrift, better known as the Codex Manesse (Heidelberg, Universitätsbibliothek, Codex Palatinus Germanicus 848).
Influence
The significance of Heinrich von Veldeke on German literary history is exceptionally large. This is proven by the fact that his lyrics and the Eneas Romance have solely been preserved in Middle High German manuscripts. Heinrich von Veldeke is also named as a great example by many thirteenth-century writers (
Veldeke today
Both in Maastricht and Hasselt a statue has been erected for the poet. Also, in various municipalities streets, places, schools and associations have been named after him. The provincial association that occupies itself with the popular culture of Limburg is called Veldeke. In 2007 an exposition took place about Veldeke and his time.
Editions
- Behaghel 1882: Otto Behaghel (ed.), Heinrich von Veldeke. Eneide, mit Einleitung und Anmerkungen, Heilbronn, 1882.
- Goossens 1991: Jan Goossens, ‘Die Servatiusbruchstücke. Mit einer Untersuchung und Edition der Fragmente Cgm 5249/18, 1b der Bayerischen Staatsbibliothek München’, in: Zeitschrift für deutsches Altertum und deutsche Literatur 120 (1991), 1-65.
- Iven, Joris, ed. (2010). Minneliederen Hendrik van Veldeke Hertaald. Lulu.com. ISBN 978-1445748887.
- Ettmüller, Ludwig, ed. (2004). Eneasroman. Translated by ISBN 3150083036.
- Lachmann, Karl; Haupt, Moritz; Vogt, Friedrich, eds. (1888). "IX: Her Heinrich von Veldegge". Des Minnesangs Frühling (4 ed.). Leipzig: Hirzel. pp. 56–68. Retrieved 7 February 2016.
- Moser, Hugo; Tervooren, Helmut, eds. (1988). "XI: Heinrich von Veldeke". Des Minnesangs Frühling. Vol. I: Texts (38 ed.). Stuttgart: Hirzel. pp. 97–149. ISBN 3777604488.
Further reading
- Janssens 2007: Jozef Janssens, In de schaduw van de keizer. Hendrik van Veldeke en zijn tijd (1130–1230). Zutphen, 2007.
- Klein 1985: Thomas Klein, ‘Heinrich von Veldeke und die mitteldeutschen Literatursprachen. Untersuchungen zum Veldekeproblem’, in: Th. Klein en C. Milis, Zwei Studien zu Veldeke und zum Strassburger Alexander, (Amsterdamer Publikationen zur Sprache und Literatur, 61), Amsterdam, 1985, 1-121.
- Schieb and Frings 1964-1970: Gabriele Schieb and Theodor Frings, Henric van Veldeken. Eneide, Berlin, 1964-1970.
- Schieb, Gabriele (1969), "Heinrich von Veldeke (Henric van Veldeken)", Neue Deutsche Biographie (in German), vol. 8, Berlin: Duncker & Humblot, pp. 428–429; (full text online)
- Schumacher 2010: Meinolf Schumacher, Einführung in die deutsche Literatur des Mittelalters, Darmstadt, 2010, ISBN 978-3-534-19603-6, 65-69.
- Oostrom, Frits van 2006, Stemmen op schrift. Geschiedenis van de Nederlandse literatuur vanaf het begin tot 1300. Amsterdam: Bert Bakker, 2006
References
- ^ Heinrich von Veldeke. Eneasroman. Die Berliner Bilderhandschrift mit Uebersetzung und Kommentar, ed. Hans Fromm. Berlin: Deutscher Klassiker Verlag, 1992, ll. 13429-13528
- ^ Heinrich von Veldeke. Eneasroman, Mittelhochdeutsch/Neuhochdeutsch, ed. Dieter Kartschoke. Stuttgart: Reclam, 1986, p. 845
- ^ Heinric van Veldeke. Sente Servas, ed. Jan van Goossens, Rita Schlusemann and Norbert Voorwinden. Muenster: Agenda-Verlag, 2008
- ^ Thus, for instance, by Ray Wakefield. "In Search of the Lost Archetype. The Strange Case of Veldeke's Eneide." In: Nu lon' ich iu der gabe. Festschrift for Francis G. Gentry, ed. Ernst Ralf Hintz. Goeppingen: Kuemmerle Verlag, 2003, pp. 273-284
- ISBN 3110135353.
External links
- "Hendrik van Veldeke", Literatuurgeschiedenis.org
- "Hendrik van Veldeke", DBNL
- Manuscript facsimiles
- NN (2011-12-23). "Kleine Heidelberger Liederhandschrift A und Anhang a (Elsaß (Straßburg?), 1270-1280 (Nachtr. bis 3. V. 14. Jh.)) (Cod. Pal. germ. 357)". Digi.ub.uni-heidelberg.de. doi:10.11588/DIGLIT.164. Retrieved 2012-04-18.)
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(help - NN (2011-12-24). "Große Heidelberger Liederhandschrift (Codex Manesse) (Zürich, ca. 1300 bis ca. 1340) (Cod. Pal. germ. 848)". Digi.ub.uni-heidelberg.de. doi:10.11588/DIGLIT.2222. Retrieved 2012-04-18.)
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- NN (2011-12-23). "Kleine Heidelberger Liederhandschrift A und Anhang a (Elsaß (Straßburg?), 1270-1280 (Nachtr. bis 3. V. 14. Jh.)) (Cod. Pal. germ. 357)". Digi.ub.uni-heidelberg.de.