This poet is mentioned in numerous historical
documents between 1212 and 1242 as a member of
a south German family of lower nobility (ministeriales) from the area of Lake Constance. He seems
to have been in the service of Emperor Frederick
II (1216) first and then of King Henry VII between
1222 and 1228. The famous manuscript Grosse
Heidelberger Liederhandschrift (Manessische Liederhandschrift) contains a fictional portrait of the
poet (fol. 110r) who is conversing with a courtly
lady and passes a manuscript scroll to her.
Burkhart composed 18 COURTLY LOVE songs that
are characterized by highly unusual imagery and
motifs derived from hunting, falconry, bird-snaring, bestiary, warfare, and feudalism. In four dance
songs the poet specifically reflects the influence of
NEIDHART by adapting and also modifying the
summer and winter motifs. But Burkhart does not
allow the peasant theme to enter his poetry, as Neidhart does. The experience of winter only means
that the courtly dance has to take place indoors
(song no. I). If birds could properly perceive the
beauty and virtues of his lady, they would declare
her the mistress of the entire summer (no. III). In
no. V, the poet describes his symbolic attempt to
escape the snares of love by fleeing into a foreign
country because his lady denies him her favor, but
then he consigns himself to the noble power of her
virtues and courtly honor. Burkhart here also envisions what he would do if he were a woman and
were wooed by a lover, namely, open his heart and
give the gift of love to him. As Neidhart does, the
poet also has two young women discuss with each
other the meaning of love in its social context (no.
VII), but again without Neidhart’s aggressive and
satirical tone.
Burkhart obviously enjoyed developing innovative nature images to reflect upon love (no. XI),
and he also created a remarkable woman’s song
(no. XIII) where the female voice ponders how she
can pursue a virtuous life and at the same time follow her heart’s desires. In no. XII the poet describes the effect of love in terms of personal
bondage (“nu bin ich eigen,” 4, 5). His lady’s love
is so powerful that it chases all other thoughts out
of his heart, but if only once he could be allowed to
enter her heart chamber, all his worries and doubts
would disappear (no. XVI). Subsequently Burkhart
describes his innermost feelings of love as a desire
to enter a feudal contract with his lady (no. XVII).
Finally, the poet states that no falcon returned
faster to his master than his thoughts of love would
fly to his lady (no. XVIII).
Bibliography
Goldin, Frederick, ed. and trans. German and Italian
Lyrics of the Middle Ages: An Anthology and History. Garden City, N.Y.: Anchor Press, 1973.
Kornrumpf, Gisela, ed. Texte, 2nd ed. Vol. 1, Deutsche
Liederdichter des 13 Jahrhunderts, edited by Carl
von Kraus, 33–51. Tübïngen, Germany: Niemeyer,
1978.
Sayce, Olive. The Medieval German Lyric 1150–1300:
The Development of Its Themes and Forms in Their
European Context. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1982,
299–302.
Worstbrock, Franz Joseph. “Verdeckte Schichten und
Typen im deutschen Minnesang um 1210–1230.”
In Fragen der Liedinterpretation, edited by Hedda
Ragotzky, Gisela Vollmann-Profe, and Gerhard
Wolf, 75–90. Stuttgart, Germany: S. Hirzel, 2001.
Albrecht Classen