LAMPRECHT, known as 'Der Pfaffe' (The Priest). - German poet of the first half of the 12th century, author of a poem on the life of Alexander the Great, composed from the French original of Alberic of Besançon, which he freely and skillfully reworked.

In the two parts of which the poem consists, preserved in two redactions of differing length, there are fantastically narrated the youth and education of the Macedonian and the great wars he won, as well as the fabulous marvels of the East, whither he was driven by his unbridled pride as a conqueror, as far as the vain attempt to conquer Paradise; the latter enterprise has the effect of making Alexander withdraw into himself, teaching him that blessedness is won only through humility and that knowing how to moderate oneself is the supreme wisdom of life. L., whose work is the first secular epic composition in the German language dependent on a foreign source, and in which the influence of the style of popular epic is evident, may be counted among the first precursors of chivalric poetry in Germany.

Bibliography2 works

BIBL.: W. Krogmann, s. v. in Die deutsche Literatur der Mittelalters. Verfasserlexikon, III, Berlin 1943, coll. 4-17; J. Körner, Bibliographisches Handbuch des Deutschen Schrifttums, Bern 1949, pp. 94-95.

Bruno Vignola

@incollection{ec7_lamprecht_detto_der_pfaffe_il, author = {Vignola, Bruno}, title = {Lamprecht, detto «der pfaffe» (il prete)}, booktitle = {Enciclopedia Cattolica}, volume = {VII}, pages = {871--872}, note = {Cited by column}, publisher = {Ente per l’Enciclopedia Cattolica e per il Libro Cattolico}, address = {Città del Vaticano}, year = {1951}, url = {https://azioneromana.com/article/lamprecht-detto-der-pfaffe-il-prete} }

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Lamprecht, known as 'Der Pfaffe' (The Priest)

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