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15-555: Along with the Codex Manesse (MS. C) and the Kleine Heidelberger Liederhandschrift (MS. A) it is one of the major sources of Minnesang texts from the beginnings (around 1150) to the end of the "golden age" (around 1230). The manuscript comprises 158 folios and is 15cm×11.5cm in size, the small size suggesting that it was for private use. It contains collections of lyrics by 31 poets: 25 are named Minnesänger and

30-428: A family of merchants who prospered and became the most wealthy family of the medieval city of Zürich. Rüdiger I Manesse (d. 1253), the father of Rüdiger II, was the founder of the noble family, and sat in the city council for close to forty years. The fortunes of the family declined in the late 14th century, and the castle was sold in 1393, passing into the possession of Selnau abbey in 1400. It burned down in 1409 and

45-516: A poetic novella, Hadlaub (in the Züricher Novellen , 1878), by Gottfried Keller . Manesse family 47°20′13″N 8°30′37″E  /  47.336879°N 8.51028°E  / 47.336879; 8.51028 The ruins of the castle Manegg are situated on the eastern slopes of the Albis range in the canton of Zürich , near Leimbach . The castle had been constructed by 1303 as Zürich

60-465: Is shown in a thoughtful pose which exactly matches the description of himself in one of his most famous songs). The compilation of the codex was patronized by the Manesse family of Zürich , presumably by Rüdiger II Manesse (born before 1252, died after 1304). The house of Manesse declined in the late 14th century, selling their castle in 1393. The fate of the codex during the 15th century is unknown, but by

75-774: The Weingartner Liederhandschrift respectively). Two leaves of a 15th-century copy of the manuscript, called the Troßsche Fragment ( Tross Fragment ), which were held in the Berlin State Library but went missing in 1945, are now in the Jagiellonian Library in Kraków (Berol. mgq 1146). The possibility that the compiler was the Minnesinger Johannes Hadlaub provided the subject of

90-636: The Cathedral Library in Konstanz and the commissioning patron is commonly taken to be Heinrich von Klingenberg , Bishop of Konstanz 1293–1306. The manuscript includes the following Minnesänger: Codex Manesse The Codex Manesse (also Große Heidelberger Liederhandschrift or Pariser Handschrift ) is a Liederhandschrift (manuscript containing songs), the single most comprehensive source of Middle High German Minnesang poetry, written and illustrated between c.  1304 when

105-533: The 1590s it had passed into possession of baron Johann Philipp of Hohensax (two of whose forebears are portrayed in the codex, on foll. 48v and 59v). In 1604, Melchior Goldast published excerpts of its didactic texts. After 1657 it was in the French royal library, from which it passed to the Bibliothèque Nationale , where the manuscript was studied by Jacob Grimm in 1815. In 1888, after long bargaining, it

120-534: The World . The Codex Manesse is an anthology of the works of a total of about 135 minnesingers of the mid 12th to early 14th century. For each poet, a portrait is shown, followed by the text of their works. The entries are ordered approximately by the social status of the poets, starting with the Holy Roman Emperor Henry VI , Kings Conradin and Wenceslaus II , down through dukes, counts and knights, to

135-403: The commoners. Most of the poems are Minnesang , but there are also other genres, including fables and Spruchdichtung (didactic poems). The oldest poets represented in the manuscript had been dead for more than a century at the time of its compilations, while others were contemporaries, the latest even late additions of poems written during the early 14th century. In the portraits, some of

150-553: The main part was completed, and c.  1340 with the addenda. The codex was produced in Zürich ( Switzerland ), for the Manesse family . The manuscript is "the most beautifully illumined German manuscript in centuries"; its 137 miniatures are a series of "portraits" depicting each poet. It is currently housed in the Heidelberg University Library . In 2023, Codex Manesse was admitted to UNESCO's Memory of

165-544: The nobles are shown in full armour in their heraldic colors and devices (therefore with their faces hidden), often shown as taking part in a joust , or sometimes in single combat with sword and shield, and sometimes in actual battle. Some images are motivated by the biography of the person depicted, but some designs just draw their motif from the poet's name (thus, Dietmar is shown riding a mule, since his name can be interpreted as meaning people's horse ), while others draw on imagery from their lyrics ( Walther von der Vogelweide

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180-430: The other six are not named, but the authors are identifiable from texts preserved in other MSS. The MS. contains miniatures of the 25 named Minnesänger, two half-page, the rest full-page. Most of the poems are love lyrics but among the anonymous material are a poem in praise of the virgin ("Marienlob"), and the "Minnelehre" ("Art of Love") of Johann von Konstanz . The ordering of the poets broadly reflects their place in

195-620: The social hierarchy, starting with the Emperor Henry VI , followed by the counts and then other knights. The manuscript was written in the first quarter of the 14th Century, possibly in Konstanz . Similarities between the Weingarten MS. and the Codex Manesse in both the texts and the ordering of material imply that they share a common source, now lost. The MS. is thought to have belonged to

210-468: Was a part of the Holy Roman Empire . It was the family seat of the house of Manesse . It is unclear whether the family is named after the castle or vice versa. The family's name is best known for being eponymous of the Codex Manesse , patronized by Rüdiger II Manesse (b. before 1252, d. after 1304), the most important single source of medieval Minnesang poetry. The house of Manesse was in origin

225-620: Was sold to the Bibliotheca Palatina of Heidelberg , following a public subscription headed by William I and Otto von Bismarck . The first critical editions of the Codex Manesse appeared in the early nineteenth century. The codex is frequently referred to by Minnesang scholars and in editions simply by the abbreviation C , introduced by Karl Lachmann, who used A and B for the two main earlier Minnesang codices (the Kleine Heidelberger Liederhandschrift and

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