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Charlemagne in Medieval German and Dutch Literature

Professor Albrecht Classen author

Format:Hardback

Publisher:Boydell & Brewer Ltd

Published:15th Jan '21

Currently unavailable, and unfortunately no date known when it will be back

Charlemagne in Medieval German and Dutch Literature cover

Comprehensive survey of the legend of Charlemagne in the medieval German-speaking world. The legend of the Frankish emperor Charlemagne is widespread through the literature of the European Middle Ages. This book offers a detailed and critical analysis of how this myth emerged and developed in medieval German and Dutch literatures, bringing to light the vast array of narratives either idealizing, if not glorifying, Charlemagne as a political and religious leader, or, at times, criticizing or even ridiculing him as a pompous and ineffectual ruler. The motif is traced from its earliest origins in chronicles, in the Kaiserchronik, through the Rolandslied and Der Stricker's Karl der Große, to his recasting as a saint in the Zürcher Buch vom Heiligen Karl.

This useful and fluently written book fulfills its purpose very well: namely to acquaint English-speaking recipients with this part of the far-reaching medieval European literary tradition of Charlemagne, which is sometimes unfamiliar even to Germanists. -- Bernd Bastert * GERMANISTIK *

ISBN: 9781843845836

Dimensions: unknown

Weight: 510g

259 pages