ENRICO of MEISSEN. - Nicknamed «Frauenlob» because, in a lyrical contest with the poet Regenbogen, he gave preference to the term Frau, as opposed to the term Weib, to designate woman.
A wandering minstrel from Carinthia, born c. 1256, died at Mainz in 1318, where he founded a school of singing, he was one of the first and most important master singers, and the most famous among authors of Sprüche (aphorisms) in Germany. In his lays, songs, and Sprüche one notes correctness of form and depth of thought, but not spontaneity of inspiration or feeling, nor—owing to too many quotations—clarity. Among his love poems, ample space is given to songs in praise of the Virgin and of woman in general: typical of his artificial and learnedly bombastic manner of poetry are the long Leich dedicated to the Mother of the Lord (with references to the Cantico dei Cantici, which he applies to Mary), and that on the Holy Cross and the Most Holy Trinity.