Codex Manesse
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The Manesse Codex or Grosse Heidelberger Liederhandschrift (Heidelberg, University of Heidelberg Library, Cod. Pal. germ. 848) is a codex copied and illustrated between 1305-1340 in Zürich, compiled at the request of the Manesse family of Zurich, possibly by Johannes Hadlaub. It contains the texts of love songs in Middle High German by important poets, several of whom were famous rulers. The term for these poets, Minnesänger, combines the words for "romantic love" and "singer", reflecting the content of the poetry, which adapted the Provençal troubador tradition to German.
The manuscript has 137 portraits, which depict each poet, some of them as idealized knights, dressed in their own heraldic colors and devices. Most designs draw for their motifs on the names of the poets (Dietmar is shown riding a mule, since his name can be interpereted as meaning people's horse) or on imagery from their lyrics (Walther is shown in a thoughful pose which exactly matches the decription of himself in one of his most famous songs). Since the manuscript was compiled up to 100 years after the deaths of some of the poets, neither the liknesses nor the heraldry can be regarded as authentic.
The entries are ordered approximately by the social status of the poets, starting with the Holy Roman Emperor Henry VI, and King Conradin, down through dukes, counts and knights, to the commoners.
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