Rudolf von Ems (c. 1200 – 1254) was 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. Hig ...

narrative poet.

Life

Rudolf von Ems was born in the

Vorarlberg Vorarlberg ( , ; gsw, label= Vorarlbergisch, Vorarlbearg, , or ) is the westernmost state () of Austria. It has the second-smallest geographical area after Vienna and, although it also has the second-smallest population, it is the state with the ...

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

. He took his name from the castle of

Hohenems Hohenems (High Alemannic: ''Ems'') is a town in the Austrian state of Vorarlberg in the Dornbirn district. It lies in the middle of the Austrian part of the Rhine valley. With a population of 15,200, it is the fifth largest municipality in Vorarlb ...

near

Bregenz Bregenz (; gsw, label= Vorarlbergian, Breagaz ) is the capital of Vorarlberg, the westernmost state of Austria. The city lies on the east and southeast shores of Lake Constance, the third-largest freshwater lake in Central Europe, between Switze ...

, and was a knight in the service of the

Counts of Montfort The counts of Montfort were a German noble dynasty from Swabia. They belonged to high nobility of the Holy Roman Empire and enjoyed the privileged status of imperial immediacy. The influential and wealthy counts of Montfort took their name from a ...

. His works were written between 1220 and 1254. He is thought to have died whilst accompanying King

Conrad IV Conrad (25 April 1228 – 21 May 1254), a member of the Hohenstaufen dynasty, was the only son of Emperor Frederick II from his second marriage with Queen Isabella II of Jerusalem. He inherited the title of King of Jerusalem (as Conrad II) up ...

on his advance into Italy. He was one of the most learned and also most productive poets of his time, although not all his works are preserved. Those that are, were distinguished by grace and sincerity in the narration, strict morality and technical mastery. He himself describes

Gottfried von Strassburg Gottfried von Strassburg (died c. 1210) is the author of the Middle High German courtly romance ', an adaptation of the 12th-century ''Tristan and Iseult'' legend. Gottfried's work is regarded, alongside the ''Nibelungenlied'' and Wolfram von Esc ...

as his ideal; this is quite credible, as he sometimes quotes literally from "

Tristan Tristan (Latin/ Brythonic: ''Drustanus''; cy, Trystan), also known as Tristram or Tristain and similar names, is the hero of the legend of Tristan and Iseult. In the legend, he is tasked with escorting the Irish princess Iseult to we ...

". He also adopted Gottfried's technique of making literary excursuses in which he names works of contemporaries and of his own. He is thought to have died in Italy in 1254.

Works

Wilhelm von Orlens has a conversation with Princess Amelie

Of his surviving works, the tale ''Der gute Gerhard'' (''Gerhard the Good'') is the oldest and also the best regarded, a depiction of

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...

humility, probably based on a

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

source. This was followed by a German version of ''

Barlaam and Josaphat Barlaam and Josaphat, also known as Bilawhar and Budhasaf, are legendary Christian saints. Their life story was based on the life of the Gautama Buddha, and tells of the conversion of Josaphat to Christianity. According to the legend, an Indian ...

'', dating from approximately 1225 to 1230, taken from a Latin translation of a

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

version of the story of the conversion of an

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

n prince to

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global pop ...

(a story which is believed in fact to be that of the

Buddha Siddhartha Gautama, most commonly referred to as the Buddha, was a śramaṇa, wandering ascetic and religious teacher who lived in South Asia during the 6th or 5th century BCE and founded Buddhism. According to Buddhist tradition, he was ...

, at many removes); and by ''Willehalm von Orlens'', the story of the childhood love of Willehalm and Amelie, who are among the most famous lovers of the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...

. The latter was commissioned by

Conrad of Winterstetten Conrad of Winterstetten ( – February 1243) was a German royal official during the reign of the Emperor Frederick II. He held the court title of butler and was active mainly in Swabia. From 1221 until 1234, he was a close associate, originally ...

. His ''Alexanderroman'' (a version of the '' Romance of Alexander''), written about 1240, is a fragment. In 21,000 verses the upbringing and battles of

Alexander Alexander is a male given name. The most prominent bearer of the name is Alexander the Great, the king of the Ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia who created one of the largest empires in ancient history. Variants listed here are Aleksandar, Al ...

are depicted, in which the hero is a model of knightly virtue. Rudolf's sources for this work were principally the ''

Historia de preliis Leo of Naples (floruit, fl. 950s), also called Leo the Archpriest ( it, Leone Arciprete), was a diplomat and translator in the service of Dukes John III of Naples, John III and Marinus II of Naples, Marinus II of Duchy of Naples, Naples. He underto ...

'' of

Leo of Naples Leo of Naples ( fl. 950s), also called Leo the Archpriest ( it, Leone Arciprete), was a diplomat and translator in the service of Dukes John III and Marinus II of Naples. He undertook a diplomatic mission to Constantinople, the capital of the Byza ...

and the ''

Historiae Alexandri Magni The ''Histories of Alexander the Great'' ( la, Historiae Alexandri Magni) is the only surviving extant Latin biography of Alexander the Great. It was written by the Roman historian Quintus Curtius Rufus in the 1st-century AD, but the earliest sur ...

'' of

Curtius Rufus Curtius Rufus () was a Roman professional magistrate of senatorial rank mentioned by Tacitus and Pliny the Younger for life events occurring during the reigns of the emperors Tiberius and Claudius. In all probability, he is to be equated with the ...

. The ''Chronicle of the World'' (''Weltchronik'') is Rudolf's last work, dedicated to King Conrad IV. It narrates, as an addition to the

Bible The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity, Judaism, Samaritanism, and many other religions. The Bible is an anthologya compilation of texts of a ...

, the ''

Historia scholastica The ''Historia Scholastica'' is a twelfth-century Biblical paraphrase written in Medieval Latin by Petrus Comestor. Sometimes called the "Medieval Popular Bible", it draws on the Bible and other sources, including the works of classical scholars an ...

'' of

Petrus Comestor Petrus Comestor, also called Pierre le Mangeur (died 22 October 1178), was a twelfth-century French theological writer and university teacher. Life Petrus Comestor was born in Troyes. Although the name ''Comestor'' (Latin for 'eater', ''le M ...

and the ''Pantheon'' of

Godfrey of Viterbo Godfrey of ViterboAlso called Geoffrey of Viterbo, in Italian ''Goffredo da Viterbo'' and in German ''Gottfried von Viterbo'', from Latin ''Gaufridus'', ''Godefridus'' or ''Gotefredus Viterbensis''. (c. 1120 – c. 1196) was a Roman Catholic chronic ...

, the history of the world from the

creation Creation may refer to: Religion *''Creatio ex nihilo'', the concept that matter was created by God out of nothing * Creation myth, a religious story of the origin of the world and how people first came to inhabit it * Creationism, the belief tha ...

up to the death of

King Solomon King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen, which title is also given to the consort of a king. *In the context of prehistory, antiquity and contemporary indigenous peoples, the tit ...

, with the added motive of legitimizing the rule of the

Hohenstaufen dynasty The Hohenstaufen dynasty (, , ), also known as the Staufer, was a noble family of unclear origin that rose to rule the Duchy of Swabia from 1079, and to royal rule in the Holy Roman Empire during the Middle Ages from 1138 until 1254. The dynast ...

. As early as the 13th century this work was combined in many manuscripts with the ''

Christherre-Chronik The ''Christherre-Chronik'' (named after its opening words, "Christ the Lord") is a 13th-century world chronicle from Thüringen, written in Middle High German rhyming couplets. It was written by a churchman in the service of Henry III, Margrave ...

.'' A further work, ''Eustachius'', is lost.

Editions of works

*Anon, 1967. ''Rudolf von Ems: Weltchronik. Aus der Wernigeroder Handschrift herausgegeben von Gustav Ehrismann''. 2nd ed., Dublin: Weidmann: Deutsche Texte des Mittelalters 20. *Asher, John, 1989. ''Rudolf von Ems, Der guote Gêrhart''. 3rd ed., Tübingen: Altdeutsche Textbibliothek 56. *Junk, Victor, 1928-29 repr. 1970. ''Rudolf von Ems, Alexander. Ein höfischer Versroman des 13. Jahrhunderts'', 2 vols. Darmstadt: Wiss. Buchgesellschaft (unaltered reissue of the Leipzig edition of 1928-29). *Pfeiffer, 1843 repr. 1965.
Barlaam und Josaphat'
. Leipzig.

References

*''Meyers Konversationslexikon''. 1888-90, 4th edition, Bd. 14, S. 15 (see also external link below) *Becker, Peter Jörg. 2003. ''Rudolf von Ems: Willehalm von Orlens at.Nr. 40', in: Peter Jörg Becker and Eef Overgaauw (eds.): ''Aderlass und Seelentrost. Die Überlieferung deutscher Texte im Spiegel Berliner Handschriften und Inkunabeln'', Mainz 2003, pp. 94–96. *Brackert, Helmut, 1968. ''Rudolf von Ems. Dichtung und Geschichte''. Heidelberg. *Dunphy, Graeme (ed.), 2003. ''History as Literature. German World Chronicles of the Thirteenth Century in Verse''. Kalamazoo. *Klingenböck, Ursula, 1994. ''doch weiz ich es von wârheit niht. Fiktionalisierung und Historisierung im "Alexander" Rudolfs von Ems''. Dissertation, Vienna University. *Schumacher, Meinolf, 2010. "Toleranz, Kaufmannsgeist und Heiligkeit im Kulturkontakt mit den 'Heiden': Die mittelhochdeutsche Erzählung 'Der guote Gêrhart' von Rudolf von Ems". In ''Zeitschrift für interkulturelle Germanistik'' 1:49-5
PDF
*Vilmar, 1839. ''Die zwei Rezensionen und die Handschriftenfamilien der Weltchronik Rudolfs von Ems''. Marburg.

External links

* *
Heidelberg MS of "Willehalm von Orlens"
* ''This article is largely translated from that in the German Wikipedia'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Rudolf von Ems 1200s births 1254 deaths People from Hohenems Austrian male poets German male poets 13th-century Austrian poets Middle High German literature 13th-century German poets