HENRY OF MELK. - The earliest German satirical poet (second half of the 12th century).

Disgusted with worldly life, he entered the monastery of Melk as a lay conversus, where he composed Von des Todes Erinnerung (1160), a poem whose opening section also bears the title: Vom gemeinen Leben. The other (incomplete) poem, Pfaffenleben, is perhaps also his. Both reveal the rigid moral temperament of the A., who, although less intransigent than the moralist Hartmann von Aue, a fellow dweller of the convent, spares neither the aberrations nor the faults of religious and laypeople, providing a most effective portrayal of the culture of the time. Through asceticism, he fostered respect for and appreciation of women in Germany.

Bibliography3 works

BIBL.: Works: L'Erinnerung was published in facsimile by R. A. Barack, in Zeitschrift f. deutsches Altertum, 23 (1878), and, together with the Priesterleben, by K. Kochendorffer, ibid., 35 (1890). Studies: O. Lorenz, H. v. M., der Juvenal der Ritterzeit, Halle 1886; G. Ebrismann, Geschichte der deutschen Literatur bis zum Ausgang des Mittelalters, II, 1, Munich 1922, p. 186 ff.; H. II. ibid. 1927, passim: H. Steinger, s. v. in Die deutsche Literatur des Mittelalters, Verfasserlexikon, II, coll. 299-304.

Giovanni Guerra

@incollection{ec5_enrico_di_melk, author = {Guerra, Giovanni}, title = {Enrico di Melk}, booktitle = {Enciclopedia Cattolica}, volume = {V}, pages = {391}, note = {Cited by column}, publisher = {Ente per l’Enciclopedia Cattolica e per il Libro Cattolico}, address = {Città del Vaticano}, year = {1950}, url = {https://azioneromana.com/article/enrico-di-melk} }

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Henry of Melk

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