Wolfram von Eschenbach (Wolfram von Eschenbach)

(ca. 1170 - ca. 1220)
It belonged to an impoverished family of the Bavarian nobility was born, possibly in Volframs-Eschenbach near Ansbach in Central Franconia. From his texts, it follows that, despite the continuing need, he traveled extensively in southern and central Germany and enjoyed the hospitality of Landgraf Hermann Thuringian.
Masterpiece Wolfram - romance in verse Percival (Parzival, 1195-1210, ed. 1793; rus. translated 1974). The novel tells of a young man whose father was killed in a tournament. Mother Hertseloida, brought him away from peers and in ignorance of chivalry, that he did not follow the example of his father and did not become a knight. However, the calculation of the mother is not justified. To her great dismay, Percival leaves to the court of King Arthur. Pure heart, but foolishly, commits a blunder, he finally finds a mentor in the rules of true chivalry - the old knight Gurnemanz, rescues in trouble Kondviramur beautiful princess and marries her. Soon after the wedding Percival leaves a young wife for the sake of further adventures, but remains faithful to the very day of their final reunion.

Traveling, he falls into the castle Munsalveshe, where the Holy Grail and King Anfortas. Despite numerous hints, the young Parzival does not ask questions about the significance of the Grail (which is described as a stone) and does not show mercy to the ailing king, who brought his mother's uncle (Percival did not recognize him). This is followed by many years of wandering, during which he razuverivaetsya in God's mercy, until he met a hermit Trevritsent brother Anfortasa did not strengthen his faith and does not reveal to him the meaning of the Grail. Among the further adventures described Percival battle with Havana, the second hero of the novel, the representative of the more secular knighthood. Finally Percival again travels to the castle of the Grail and heals his compassion ailing king, he becomes king of the Grail and is reunited with his wife, who during this time bore him two sons

. Perhaps, . search for the Grail reflect the aspirations of the Teutonic Knights Order, . based in the Holy Land in 1190, . and the poem contains a fusion of Western and Middle Eastern ideals, . Exported to Europe by crusaders, . and muffled discernible theme of the English King Richard I the Lionheart,
. Percival certainly applies to books of chivalry Arturovskogo cycle - important scenes in it occur in the court of King Arthur. However Arturovskaya themes in the plot of the novel is of secondary importance compared with the theme of the Kingdom of the Grail, Parzival finds that after years of testing. Poem written by traditional couplet (usually iambic), characteristic of the German courtly romance mature period.

He started his Wolfram, apparently, as the author of love songs, to our time they reached nine (two doubtful authorship). Basically this 'morning' (Wchtlieder) or 'day' (Tagelieder) songs, in which the keeper of secret lovers, warns that the dawn begins to break. This form bears the stamp album, genre Provencal lyric. In addition, we have issued from the pen of Wolfram passages of the poem entitled Titurel (Titurel), which describes the lovers Sigunov and Shianatulander, appears in Parzival. These fragments are written in a kind of four-line stanza. And finally, Wolfram belongs to an unfinished poem Villehalm (Willehalm, between 1212-1218, remained approximately. 14 000 lines in nine books), which describes the exploits of the Duke of Aquitaine, William of Orange, a former vassal of King Louis I the Pious, in the war against the Saracens (9.)