Hawart ( 13th century) was a

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

poet in the tradition of ''

Minnesang (; "love song") was a tradition of lyric- and song-writing in Germany and Austria that flourished in the Middle High German period. This period of medieval German literature began in the 12th century and continued into the 14th. People who wr ...

'' (love lyric). His surviving works focus on both love and politics. His reference in one poem to the

Holy Places Sacred space, sacred ground, sacred place, sacred temple, holy ground, or holy place refers to a location which is deemed to be sacred or hallowed. The sacredness of a natural feature may accrue through tradition or be granted through a bless ...

being in the hands of the heathen places it after the fall of Jerusalem in 1244.. In another song he laments the failure of the

princes of the Holy Roman Empire Prince of the Holy Roman Empire ( la, princeps imperii, german: Reichsfürst, cf. ''Fürst'') was a title attributed to a hereditary ruler, nobleman or prelate recognised as such by the Holy Roman Emperor. Definition Originally, possessors o ...

to unite behind one emperor, a clear reference to the

Great Interregnum In the Holy Roman Empire, the Great Interregnum (so-called to distinguish it from the shorter period between 924 and 962) was a period of time following the death of Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor, Frederick II where the succession of the Holy Rom ...

(1254–1273).. The identity of the poet named Hawart is uncertain. In the 19th century he was identified with the

Tyrol Tyrol (; historically the Tyrole; de-AT, Tirol ; it, Tirolo) is a historical region in the Alps - in Northern Italy and western Austria. The area was historically the core of the County of Tyrol, part of the Holy Roman Empire, Austrian Emp ...

ean knight Hawart von Antholz., pp. 291–293. More recently he has been identified with Johannes Hawart the Elder of

Strasbourg Strasbourg (, , ; german: Straßburg ; gsw, label=Bas Rhin Alsatian, Strossburi , gsw, label=Haut Rhin Alsatian, Strossburig ) is the prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est region of eastern France and the official seat of the Eu ...

, who is mentioned in texts of 1289 and 1292 and died in 1302 in old age. Where in

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

the ''Minnesinger'' was active is also unknown. Reinhard Bleck suggests, on the basis of his crusade songs and his possible identification with Hawart of Strasbourg, that he was most likely from

Alsace Alsace (, ; ; Low Alemannic German/ gsw-FR, Elsàss ; german: Elsass ; la, Alsatia) is a cultural region and a territorial collectivity in eastern France, on the west bank of the upper Rhine next to Germany and Switzerland. In 2020, it had ...

, the only part of Germany to see a major crusading movement in his time, culminating in the

Crusade of 1267 The Crusade of 1267 was a military expedition from the Upper Rhenish regions of the Holy Roman Empire for the defence of the Kingdom of Jerusalem. It was one of several minor crusades of the 1260s that resulted from a period of Papally-sponsore ...

. If Hawart's crusade songs were part of the propaganda and recruitment efforts surrounding this event, that puts their composition in 1266. Hawart wrote a ''

Tagelied The Tagelied (''dawn song'') is a particular form of mediaeval German-language lyric, taken and adapted from the Provençal troubadour tradition (in which it was known as the alba) by the German Minnesinger. Often in three verses, it depicts the s ...

'' (dawn song) about the parting of lovers who spent the night together with the coming of dawn:

References

Further reading