CARMINA BURANA. - A collection of poems mostly in Latin (some in German, others mixed in the two languages) compiled in the 12th-13th centuries, rediscovered at Benediktbeuren, whence the name.

Frequent reminiscences and parodies of biblical passages, of classics known to the Middle Ages, of the grammatical tradition, subtle rhetorical and rhythmic forms (v. INNOGRAFIA), the few names of authors handed down, Augustinianism and anti-Roman satire all point back to the milieu of the great universities and the cloisters in the French and German area where this poetry lived, through many reworkings, at the hands of "clerici vagantes" (v. GOLIARDI) and of minor cultural circles. The subjects are those proper to the era and the milieu; more than in the "moralities" and in the satire, generally directed against the corruption of the clergy, bitter more often than profound, personal and warm accents are found in the delicate feeling for nature, partly akin to the tone of the Minnesinger - themselves also represented in the collection - in the love poetry, not murky though often violent, and in the bacchic songs.

Bibliography2 works

BIBL.: J. A. Schmeller, C. B., 2nd ed., Breslau 1883; A. Hilka-O. Schumann, C. B., Heidelberg 1930 ff.

Gastone Pettenati

@incollection{ec3_carmina_burana, author = {Gastone Pettenati}, title = {Carmina Burana}, booktitle = {Enciclopedia Cattolica}, volume = {III}, pages = {901}, note = {Cited by column}, publisher = {Ente per l’Enciclopedia Cattolica e per il Libro Cattolico}, address = {Città del Vaticano}, year = {1949}, url = {https://azioneromana.com/article/carmina-burana} }

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