Heinrich von Mügeln, "Der Meide Kranz"

This monograph offers a translation and literary commentary on Heinrich von Mügeln's allegorical poem „Der meide kranz“, based on Jahr's edition. The translation aims to clarify the meaning of specific passages and broaden the poem's accessibility to English-speaking readers. The commentary has three main objectives: first, to elucidate the content of technical passages, such as the liberal arts' speeches and the discourse on the Trinity, while examining Mügeln's intellectual vocabulary; second, to provide stylistic and thematic parallels from Latin and German literature, highlighting various types of paradigmatic material; and third, to offer an overall interpretation of the poem. This interpretation involves reassessing the structure, focusing on the narratorial figure's role, and presenting an alternative view to Jahr's unfavourable opinion regarding the poem's unity and cohesion. It will be argued that the allegory's sections are unified by the theme contrasting God's greatness with his creatures' limitations, termed 'the humilitation of Natura'. This concept addresses the apparent shift from Mary to Natura during the poem. The commentary employs rhetorical analysis patterns suggested by Stackmann and Kibelka's approach of identifying intellectual Denkstile rather than specific sources, while also examining the significance of models from Latin philosophical allegory and the Fürstenspiegel tradition.