biography
pronunciation:
[roodolf fon ems]
| sex:
| male
|
| lived:
| (c.1200–c.54)
|
| biography:
| Poet, born in Hohenems, Vorarlberg. He served the Herren (Lords) von Montfort, dying on an Italian campaign. While his learned epics Willehalm von Orlens (after 1235) and Alexander (c.1245) were in the courtly tradition of Gottfried von Straßburg and Wolfram von Eschenbach, other works proved innovatory: Der guote Gêrhart (1215–25) features for the first time - in the figure of a Cologne merchant - a member of the bourgeoisie as exemplary epic hero, and the Legende Barlaam und Josaphat (c.1225) presents an episode from the life of Buddha in Christian terms. His Weltchronik (1250–4), undertaken at the wish of Konrad IV, remained unfinished, but served as a model for many later chronicles. |
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