''Peter von Staufenberg'' is a

Middle High German Middle High German (MHG; german: Mittelhochdeutsch (Mhd.)) is the term for the form of German spoken in the High Middle Ages. It is conventionally dated between 1050 and 1350, developing from Old High German and into Early New High German. High ...

verse novel A verse novel is a type of narrative poetry in which a novel-length narrative is told through the medium of poetry rather than prose. Either simple or complex stanzaic verse-forms may be used, but there will usually be a large cast, multiple voice ...

la in 1,192 lines. It was written around 1310 by Egenolf von Staufenberg. Egenolf was a member of an Alsatian noble family. Egenolf can be traced in documents from 1273, 1285 and 1320. He was dead by 1324. The prototype for the hero of his novella was probably a relative of his, the Peter von Staufenberg who is mentioned in documents of 1274 and 1287. Their name came from the castle of near

Durbach Durbach is a municipality in the district of Ortenau in Baden-Württemberg in Germany. It is situated on the verge of the northern Black Forest Mountains six kilometers north east of the town of Offenburg. Main branches of commerce are agricultur ...

in the

Ortenau The Ortenau, originally called Mortenau, is a historic region in the present-day German state of Baden-Württemberg. It is located on the right bank of the river Rhine, stretching from the Upper Rhine Plain to the foothill zone of the Black Fore ...

. In the poem, Peter is said to have become a knight at the

Holy Sepulchre The Church of the Holy Sepulchre, hy, Սուրբ Հարության տաճար, la, Ecclesia Sancti Sepulchri, am, የቅዱስ መቃብር ቤተክርስቲያን, he, כנסיית הקבר, ar, كنيسة القيامة is a church i ...

, perhaps in reference to the historical Peter's participation 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 ...

, where some are known to have been

knighted A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the Christian denomination, church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood ...

there. The hero of the story is Peter Diemringer, a virtuous knight of Staufenberg castle. He meets a beautiful woman with the supernatural ability to appear and disappear at will. He moves in with her, receiving sexual and material rewards on the condition that he marry no one else. If he does, he will die three days after the wedding. His family insists that he marry a niece of the

Emperor An emperor (from la, imperator, via fro, empereor) is a monarch, and usually the sovereignty, sovereign ruler of an empire or another type of imperial realm. Empress, the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife (empress consort), ...

and the clergy conclude that his lover is an emissary of

Satan Satan,, ; grc, ὁ σατανᾶς or , ; ar, شيطانالخَنَّاس , also known as Devil in Christianity, the Devil, and sometimes also called Lucifer in Christianity, is an non-physical entity, entity in the Abrahamic religions ...

. He eventually gives in to social pressure to marry, but on his wedding day a woman's leg thrusts itself through the ceiling of the church and shoots out a bolt of lightning. Nevertheless, Peter is given three days as promised to prepare piously for his death. Thematically, ''Peter von Staufenberg'' may be classed as a variation of the legend of Melusine or as belonging to the

Knight of the Swan The story of the Knight of the Swan, or Swan Knight, is a medieval tale about a mysterious rescuer who comes in a swan-drawn boat to defend a damsel, his only condition being that he must never be asked his name. The earliest versions (preserved ...

tradition. In terms of values and style, it belongs to the

courtly Courtesy (from the word ''courteis'', from the 12th century) is gentle politeness and courtly manners. In the Middle Ages in Europe, the behaviour expected of the nobility was compiled in courtesy books. History The apex of European courtly c ...

tradition. It is also a moralizing tale in the genre of the

mirror of princes Mirrors for princes ( la, specula principum) or mirrors of princes, are an educational literary genre, in a loose sense of the word, of political writings during the Early Middle Ages, the High Middle Ages, the late middle ages and the Renaissance. ...

, possessing a clear message to young men of Egenolf's social class: a rash promise in the pursuit of sexual pleasure ends tragically through female vindictiveness. ''Peter von Staufenberg'' draws on

Celtic folklore Celtic folklore may refer to: The Folklore in the modern Celtic nations: * Hebridean mythology and folklore * Irish folklore * Scottish folklore * Welsh folklore Or the mythologies of ancient and modern Celtic peoples: * Celtic mythology * Irish ...

mediated through works in

Old French Old French (, , ; Modern French: ) was the language spoken in most of the northern half of France from approximately the 8th to the 14th centuries. Rather than a unified language, Old French was a linkage of Romance dialects, mutually intelligib ...

. It shares themes and folkloric motifs with the anonymous

lay Lay may refer to: Places *Lay Range, a subrange of mountains in British Columbia, Canada *Lay, Loire, a French commune *Lay (river), France *Lay, Iran, a village *Lay, Kansas, United States, an unincorporated community People * Lay (surname) * ...

Guingamor ''Guingamor'' is an anonymous medieval lai about a knight who leaves the court of his uncle, a king, because the queen has sent him off to hunt for a white boar. By offering a reward for the boar's head, she hopes to get rid of the protagonist Gui ...

'', Marie de France's ''Guigemer'' and the anonymous ''

Roman de Dolopathos Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...

''. In German literature, it is part of the same tradition as Konrad von Würzburg's ''Partonopier und Meliur'' and Gottfried von Strassburg's ''Tristan''. In 1588, an adaptation of ''Peter von Staufenberg'' by Bernhard Schmidt was published with an introduction by Johann Fischart.

Notes

Sources

* * * * {{refend 14th-century poems Medieval German poems Middle High German literature Medieval legends