International Medieval Congress, Institute for Medieval Studies, University of Leeds, Großbritannien

Strand Definition – Language and Literature: Germanic

Brief introduction to the strand – why is it important to medievalists?

The strand “Language and Literature: Germanic”, its activities and aims, is largely determined by the geopolitical function of the Holy Roman Empire and its central importance for historical, literary and spiritual movements generated throughout the centuries within its boundaries. Amongst the considerable number of research areas within actual German studies there are especially four major fields of general interest for medievalists:
    1) the ‘Origins of Courtliness’ and the flowering of courtly literature in German vernacular, its major themes, its artistic achievements and its modern reception; with a special focus on such authors as Hartmann von Aue, Gottfried von Strassburg, Wolfram von Eschenbach, or such lyric poets as Walther von der Vogelweide, and Oswald von Wolkenstein;
    2) the ‘Nibelungen Tradition’, its mythical sources, the medieval heroic epics it generated in German and languages other than German, as well as its impact on the Western World from the heroic to the present age;
    3) famous German mystics such as Mechthild von Magdeburg, Meister Eckhart, Heinrich Seuse, and their outstanding contribution to reshaping the medieval mind;
    4) the outbreak of the Reformation, Martin Luther, his challenge to the unity of the medieval Church as well as to the supremacy of Church Latin, events which, amongst others, marked the end of the Middle Ages and the beginning of a new age in Western history.

Current research trends in German studies of general interest for medievalists include

  • relations between text and image, oral and literary culture;
  • new approaches to iconography and iconology and their impact on literary analysis;
  • perception of sensual and spiritual phenomena in the Middle Ages, its medieval theories, its representation in art and literature and its modern interpretation;
  • symbolic communication in medieval life and literature;
  • development and application of new narrative theories to medieval epics;
  • the creation of new interdisciplinary approaches to medieval literature by combining methods developed in the fields of gender studies, mental history or natural history e.g. with textual analysis;
  • to make accessible hitherto unknown or neglected works of German literature especially of the Late Middle Ages;
  • to develop new means of evaluating the processes of textual transmission and, in consequence, to elaborate new methods of editing medieval literature.

The papers given in the strand from the beginning to the present total more than 300, including artistic events and round–table discussions. Sessions have covered a wide range of subjects either related or unrelated to the special thematic strand at each Congress.
Medievalists interested in interdisciplinary debates as well as specialists of languages and literatures other than German are most welcome to co–operate.

Sieglinde Hartmann, Member of the Programming Committee
responsible for German Language and Literature as well as Comparative Literature /
verantwortlich für Deutsche Sprache und Literatur des Mittelalters und Vergleichende Literatur des Mittelalters

International Medieval Congress, University of Leeds – Sessions organised by the Oswald von Wolkenstein-Gesellschaft

Review of sessions / Bisher organisierte Sektionen

Performed by Salzburger Virgilschola. Directed by Stefan Engels. Concert organised In memory of Professor Ulrich Müller (Salzburg) by Sieglinde Hartmann on behalf of International Medieval Congress and the Oswald von Wolkenstein-Gesellschaft. A documentation of the concert will be published by Sibylle Jefferis in a volume dedicated to the memory of the late Ulrich Müller.

Session organised in memory of Ulrich Müller by Sieglinde Hartmann the Oswald von Wolkenstein-Gesellschaft. Paper 1) Earthly Pleasure vs. Spiritual Pleasure in the Jodo-styled Japanese Garden (11th century) and in the The Tale of Genji (Yuko Tagaya, Yokohama, Japan); Paper 2) Clerical Scholars’ Joy and Sorrow in the Love Lyrics of the Carmina Burana (Sabina Tuzzo, Lecce, Italy); Paper 3) Spiritual Pleasures versus Earthly Pleasure in Mechthild of Magdeburg’s Flowing Light of the Godhead (Paola Schulze-Belli, Trieste, Italy); Paper 4) The Gendered Compatibility of Sensual and Spiritual Pleasure in Wolfram von Eschenbach’s Willehalm and Ulrich von Türheim’s Rennewart (Karina Marie Ash, Munich, Germany). A choice of papers will be published by Sibylle Jefferis in a volume dedicated to the memory of the late Ulrich Müller.

Session organised by Sieglinde Hartmann on behalf of the University of Torun, Poland and the Oswald von Wolkenstein-Gesellschaft. Paper 1) Which Should be Obeyed, the Imperial Law or a Lord’s Command? A Special Japanese conflict of Rules to Follow (Yuko Tagaya, Yokohama, Japan); Paper 2) Ancient Warrior Ethics and its Transformation in Middle Indic Heroic Epics and Chronicles (Konrad Meisig, University of Mainz, Germany); Paper 3) At the threshold of Hell. Northern Crusaders on the way to Satan`s dominion (Jaroslaw Wenta, University of Torun, Poland).

Performed by Eberhard Kummer, Vienna. Concert organised by Sieglinde Hartmann on behalf of International Medieval Congress and the Oswald von Wolkenstein-Gesellschaft. A recording of the concert will be published by the Chaucer Studio, USA.

Session organized by Sieglinde Hartmann on behalf of the Oswald von Wolkenstein-Gesellschaft. Paper 1) Narrator Comments in the Heroic Epics of the European Middle Ages and of the Central Asian Turkic Peoples (Karl Reichl, Bonn); Paper 2) New Aspects of the Transition between Orality and Literacy in the Nibelungenlied. (Edward R. Haymes, Cleveland State University); Paper 3) Intertextuality of Cultural Paradigms in the ‘Kitab Dede Korqut’ and ‘Nibelungenlied’ (Rahilya Geybullayeva, Baku).

Session organised by Sieglinde Hartmann on behalf of the Oswald von Wolkenstein-Gesellschaft. Paper 1) Wolkenstein’s Explorer’s Curiosity and his Poetical Exploration of the World (Sieglinde Hartmann, Frankfurt/Main); Paper 2) Oswald von Wolkenstein: The Perception of the Iberian Peninsula and the Enactment of the Self (Juergen Rauter, Düsseldorf); Paper 3) The Surprising Adventures of Oswald von Wolkenstein (Tomas Tomasek, Münster); Paper 4) New Autobiographical Experience vs. New Autobiographical Identity (Paola Schulze-Belli, Trieste).

Session organised by Arnold Otto on behalf of the Erzbistum Paderborn and on behalf of the Oswald von Wolkenstein Gesellschaft.
Paper 1) A Tube Map Without the Tube. The Map of Westfalia in the Böddeken Cartulary (Arnold Otto); Paper 2) Between Imagination and Reality: Description of the Polish Kingdom in the Middle of the 15th century (Tomasz Weclawowicz, Krakow); Paper 3) Mapping and Analysing Commercial Ties in the Medieval Period (Marlous L. Craane, Tilburg); Paper 4) Finding Emo: Europe through the Eyes of a Travelling Abbot, 1211–12 (Dick E. H. de Boer, Groningen).

Session organised on behalf of the Oswald von Wolkenstein-Gesellschaft, by Sieglinde Hartmann; Paper 1) Syphilis – A Contemporary View on the Biology and Pathology of a Disease with Tremendous Individual and Historical Implications (Jan Kiesslich, Salzburg); Paper 2) Emperor Maximlian’s I Life and Death with Syphilis (Kaethe Sonnleitner, Graz); Paper 3) The Dying Emperor and the Destiny of Europe (Jaroslaw Wenta, Torun).

Session organised by Patrizia Mazzadi on behalf of the Oswald von Wolkenstein-Gesellschaft. Paper 1) It all began in the North? Origin and Development of the Bridal Quest Motive (Patrizia Mazzadi, Urbino); Paper 2) Conquering the Unknown: The Bridal Quest Motif in the Willehalm Trilogy (Cordula Böcking-Politis, Dublin); Paper 3) The Timing of Desire in Day Three of Boccaccio’s Decameron (Margarete Escher, City University of new York).

Session organised by Sieglinde Hartmann on behalf of the Oswald von Wolkenstein-Gesellschaft. Paper 1) Early Medieval Visionaries on Heretics in Hell (Paola Schulze-Belli, Trieste); Paper 2: Conceptions of Japanese Purgatory and Buddhist Heretics (YukoTagaya, Tokyo); Paper 3: Heretic Hussites, Oswald von Wolkenstein and his Song of Hell (Sieglinde Hartmann, Frankfurt); Paper 4) Heresy and Hell in Early Modern Religious Polemic: Jesuits as Heretics (Ursula Paintner, Münster, Germany). A choice of papers is published in: Heresy and the Making of European Culture. Medieval and Modern Perspectives. Andrew P. Roach and James R. Simpson (eds.). Farnham: Ashgate 2013.

Session organised by Sieglinde Hartmann on behalf of the Oswald von Wolkenstein-Gesellschaft. Paper a: Human Nature and Divine Nature: The Perception of Body and Soul in Mechthild of Magdeburg’s Book The Flowing Light of the Godhead (Paola Schulze-Belli, Trieste); Paper b): When Supernatural becomes Daily Life’ such as it is described in the Sisterbook of Adelhausen (Dagmar Gottschall, Lecce. Italy); Paper c) ‘Holy Communion and Bride Mysticism in ‘The Life of Marie d’Oignies’ and ‘The Book of Margery Kempe’ (Naoe Kukita Yoshikawa, Shizuoka University, Japan).

3 sessions organised by Sieglinde Hartmann on behalf of the Oswald von Wolkenstein-Gesellschaft, focus: to find new connections between ancient myths, historical relevance and medieval constructions of (real or imagined) cities in literature. The papers are published in: Islands and Cities in Medieval Myth, Literature, and History. Papers Delivered at the International Medieval Congress, University of Leeds, in 2005, 2006 and 2007. Andrea Grafetstätter, Sieglinde Hartmann, James Ogier (eds.). Frankfurt am Main 2011 (= Beihefte zur ‘MEDIAEVISTIK’, Bd. 14).

Organiser: Sieglinde Hartmann and Jaroslaw Wenta; Life in Teutonic convents between Statues and Practice (Piotr Olinski, Torun), Art and Liturgy in Teutonic Castle Churches ( Michal Wozniak, Torun), The Teutonic Order and its Musical Culture in the 15th Century (Pawel Gancarczyk, Warszawa).
The papers will be published in a new series edited by Jaroslaw Wenta at the University of Torun.

Organiser: Sieglinde Hartmann and Jaroslaw Wenta; Chances and Risks of a Regional History of Literature. The Example of the Teutonic Order (Freimut Löser, Augsburg), The Use of the Bible in Convents of the TeutonicOrder (Klaus Vogelgsang, Augsburg), The End of History? Johannes Renner Bremensis and the ‘Livonian Rhymed Chronicle’ (Michael Neecke, Regensburg).
The papers will be published in a new series edited by Jaroslaw Wenta at the University of Torun.

Organiser: Sieglinde Hartmann and Jaroslaw Wenta; Style and Iconology of Visual Arts in Teutonic Prussia (Monika Jakubek-Raczkowska, Torun), The Myth of Gog and Magog in Pictorial Art of the Teutonic Order (Marcin Osowski, Torun), The Influence of Teutonic Castle Architecture on Polish Neighbours in the 15th Century (Wieslaw Sieradzan, Torun), Military Architecture and Military Medical Surgery in Prussia (Bernhard Schnell, Göttingen).
The papers will be published in a new series edited by Jaroslaw Wenta at the University of Torun.

Organiser: Sieglinde Hartmann and Jaroslaw Wenta; Chinggis Khan and his Image in Western Literature (Romesh Gyaram-Molle, Wuerzburg), The Battle of Liegnitz (1241) and its Aftermath (Aleksander Paron, Wroclaw, Poland), Het’um the Armenian: A Historiographer between the Mongol Empire and the Latin West (Wilhelm Baum, Klagenfurt, Austria).
The papers will be published in a new series edited by Jaroslaw Wenta at the University of Torun.

mit folgenden Beiträgen:
Islands in Celtic Myths and Medieval Literature: Avalon (Paola Schulze-Belli, Trieste),
Cyprus in Medieval and Early Modern Travel Accounts (Maria E. Dorninger, Salzburg),
Far Eastern Islands and its Myths: Japan (Yuko Tagaya, Kanto Gakuin University, Tokyo). Die Drucklegung der Vorträge ist unter dem Titel “Islands in Medieval Myths and History”, in: Beihefte zur MEDIAEVISTIK, Frankfurt am Main geplant.

mit folgenden Beiträgen: Insular Myths in the ‘Nibelungenlied’: Was Siegfried slain on an Island? (Sieglinde Hartmann), Holy Islands and their Christianisation in Medieval Prussia (Jaroslaw Wenta, Torun, Poland), Insulae: Misses, Myths, and Mexico (James Ogier, Roanoke College, Salem, Virginia).

mit Beiträgen von Paola Schulze-Belli (Triest), Sieglinde Hartmann (Frankfurt am Main), James Ogier (Salem, USA), Richard F. Byrn (Leeds), Aleks Pluskowski (Cambridge), Albrecht Classen (Tucson, USA), Patrizia Mazzadi (Vicenza).
Die Drucklegung der Vorträge ist unter dem Titel “Islands in Medieval Myths and History”, in: Beihefte zur MEDIAEVISTIK, Frankfurt am Main 2008 geplant.

mit Beiträgen von Claudia Brinker–von der Heyde (Kassel), Cordula Politis (Dublin), Käthe Sonnleitner (Graz), Edward Haymes (Cleveland), Neil Thomas (Durham).

mit Beiträgen von Wilhelm Baum (Klagenfurt), Cora Dietl (Tübingen), Maria Dorninger (Salzburg) und Reinhard Strohm (Oxford).

mit Beiträgen von Martin Przybilski, Trier, Manuela Niesner, Heidelberg und Winfried Frey, Frankfurt am Main.

mit Beiträgen von Patrizia Mazzadi, München, Edward R. Haymes und Cleveland State University, Ohio, und Cordula Politis, Trinity College Dublin.

mit Beiträgen von Otto Arnold, Marburg, Cora Dietl, Tuebingen, Maria E. Dorninger, Salzburg, und Patrizia Mazzadi, Vicenza.
Drucklegung der Vorträge in Jahrbuch der Oswald von Wolkenstein Gesellschaft, Band 16, 2006/2007.

mit Beiträgen von Bettina Bildhauer, Cambridge, Alan Robertshaw und Richard Hitchcock, Exeter.

mit Beiträgen von Alice Chapman, Clare College, University of Cambridge, Claudia Wich-Reif, Freie Universät, Berlin, Franz Simmler, Freie Universität, Berlin.

mit Beiträgen von Aleksander Grzegorz Pluskowski, Cambridge, Siegrid Schmidt, Salzburg und Silvia Ranawake, London.

mit Beiträgen von Ricarda Bauschke, Berlin, John Greenfield, Porto, und Anette Volfing, Oxford.
Drucklegung der Vorträge in: Die Burg im Minnesang und als Allegorie im deutschen Mittelalter. Hrsg. von Ricarda Bauschke. Frankfurt am Main 2006 (= Kultur, Wissenschaft, Literatur. Beiträge zur Mittelalterforschung, Bd. 10.).

mit Beiträgen von Paola Schulze-Belli, Käthe Sonnleitner und Siegrid Schmidt.

mit Beiträgen von Malcolm H. Jones, Sheffield, und Albrecht Classen, Tucson, Arizona.

mit Beiträgen von Paola Schulze-Belli, Triest, Anja Grebe, Nürnberg, und Marlu Kühn, Basel.

mit Beiträgen von Gerhardt Helmstaedter, Köln, Gertrud Blaschitz, Krems, Marlu Kühn, Basel, und Sieglinde Hartmann.

mit Beiträgen von Nigel W. Harris, Florida, Malcolm Jones, Sheffield, und Peter Dinzelbacher, Princeton, USA.
Selected papers of these sessions are published in: MEDIAEVISTIK, Beihefte Band 8, “Fauna and Flora”, Frankfurt am Main 2007.

mit Beiträgen von Paola Schulze-Belli, Triest, Arnold Otto, Düsseldorf, und Richard Byrn, Leeds.

mit Beiträgen von Alan Robertshaw, Exeter, Paola Schulze-Belli, Triest, und Martin Schubert, Köln.
Drucklegung der Vorträge in Jahrbuch der Oswald von Wolkenstein Gesellschaft, Band 13, 2000/2001.

mit Beiträgen von Paola Schulze-Belli, Triest, Margarete Hubrath, Chemnitz, und Gabriella Del Lungo, Florenz.
Drucklegung der Vorträge in Jahrbuch der Oswald von Wolkenstein Gesellschaft, Band 11, 1999.

mit Beiträgen von Wolfgang Schild, Bielefeld, Dagmar Hüpper, Münster, und Gernot Kocher, Graz.
Drucklegung der Vorträge in Jahrbuch der Oswald von Wolkenstein Gesellschaft, Band 11, 1999.

mit Beiträgen von Martin Schubert, Köln, Frank Fürbeth, Frankfurt/M. und Max Schiendorfer, Zürich.
Drucklegung der Vorträge in Jahrbuch der Oswald von Wolkenstein Gesellschaft, Band 11, 1999.

mit Beiträgen von Rebecca J. Davies, Leeds, Henriette Straub, Amsterdam, und Reinhard Strohm, Oxford.
Drucklegung der Vorträge in Jahrbuch der Oswald von Wolkenstein Gesellschaft, Band 9, 1996/1997.

mit Beiträgen von Sieglinde Hartmann, Alan Robertshaw, Exeter, und Albrecht Classen, Tucson, USA.
Drucklegung der Vorträge in Jahrbuch der Oswald von Wolkenstein Gesellschaft, Band 8, 1994/1995.