Ulrich von Zatzikhoven was the author of the

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 ...

Arthurian King Arthur ( cy, Brenin Arthur, kw, Arthur Gernow, br, Roue Arzhur) is a legendary king of Britain, and a central figure in the medieval literary tradition known as the Matter of Britain. In the earliest traditions, Arthur appears as a ...

romance Romance (from Vulgar Latin , "in the Roman language", i.e., "Latin") may refer to: Common meanings * Romance (love), emotional attraction towards another person and the courtship behaviors undertaken to express the feelings * Romance languages, ...

Lanzelet ''Lanzelet'' is a medieval romance written by Ulrich von Zatzikhoven after 1194. It is the first treatment of the Lancelot tradition in German, and contains the earliest known account of the hero's childhood with the Lady of the Lake-like fig ...

''. Ulrich's name and his place of origin (''Zezikon'' in

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

) are only known definitively from the work itself. However, it is generally accepted that Ulrich is the same person as a lay priest (''"Leutpriester"'') from

Lommis Lommis is a municipality in the district of Münchwilen in the canton of Thurgau in Switzerland. History Lommis is first mentioned in 824 as ''Loubmeissa'' and Kalthäusern is first mentioned in 1296 as ''Kalthusiren''. In 854 St. Gallen rece ...

in the

canton Canton may refer to: Administrative division terminology * Canton (administrative division), territorial/administrative division in some countries, notably Switzerland * Township (Canada), known as ''canton'' in Canadian French Arts and ente ...

Thurgau Thurgau (; french: Thurgovie; it, Turgovia), anglicized as Thurgovia, more formally the Canton of Thurgau, is one of the 26 cantons forming the Swiss Confederation. It is composed of five districts and its capital is Frauenfeld. Thurgau is par ...

by the name of ''Uolricus de Cecinchoven'', who occurs as a witness to a deed of gift dated March 29, 1214, executed by the family of the

Counts of Toggenburg Count (feminine: countess) is a historical title of nobility in certain European countries, varying in relative status, generally of middling rank in the hierarchy of nobility. Pine, L. G. ''Titles: How the King Became His Majesty''. New York: ...

in favor of the monastery of St. Peterzell. The Middle High German verse romance ''Lanzelet'' is Ulrich's only known work, and is an imitation of an unknown

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 intel ...

Arthurian romance. The hero of the work is

Sir Lancelot Lancelot du Lac (French for Lancelot of the Lake), also written as Launcelot and other variants (such as early German ''Lanzelet'', early French ''Lanselos'', early Welsh ''Lanslod Lak'', Italian ''Lancillotto'', Spanish ''Lanzarote del Lago' ...

, whose story had also been told a little earlier by

Chrétien de Troyes Chrétien de Troyes (Modern ; fro, Crestien de Troies ; 1160–1191) was a French poet and trouvère known for his writing on Arthurian subjects, and for first writing of Lancelot, Percival and the Holy Grail. Chrétien's works, including ...

in his ''

Le Chevalier de la Charrette , original_title_lang = fro , translator = , written = between 1177 and 1181 , country = , language = Old French , subject = Arthurian legend , genre = Chivalric romance , fo ...

'' (''Knight of the Cart''). However, the content of Ulrich's Lancelot romance differs considerably from that of Chrétien's. Ulrich himself calls his model ''daz welsche buoch von Lanzelete'' (''"the Welsh book of Lancelot"''), and claims that it came to Germany in the luggage of the

Anglo-Norman Anglo-Norman may refer to: *Anglo-Normans, the medieval ruling class in England following the Norman conquest of 1066 *Anglo-Norman language **Anglo-Norman literature *Anglo-Norman England, or Norman England, the period in English history from 1066 ...

nobleman Hugh de Morville, one of the hostages for

King Richard the Lionheart Richard I (8 September 1157 – 6 April 1199) was King of England from 1189 until his death in 1199. He also ruled as Duke of Normandy, Aquitaine and Gascony, Lord of Cyprus, and Count of Poitiers, Anjou, Maine, and Nantes, and was overl ...

. Richard was imprisoned by the

Staufen Staufen refers to: * Hohenstaufen, a dynasty of German emperors *Staufen im Breisgau, a town in Baden-Württemberg, Germany *Staufen, Aargau, in Switzerland *Staufen (protein) Staufen is a protein product of a maternally expressed gene first iden ...

Emperor Henry VI Henry VI (German: ''Heinrich VI.''; November 1165 – 28 September 1197), a member of the Hohenstaufen dynasty, was King of Germany (King of the Romans) from 1169 and Holy Roman Emperor from 1191 until his death. From 1194 he was also King of Sic ...

from December 21, 1192 to February 4, 1194, and Ulrich would have had to become acquainted with the book in this period. By extension, it is presumed that ''Lanzelet'' was produced not long after 1193 in an unknown place. Ulrich was less well known to subsequent German writers than his contemporaries

Hartmann von Aue Hartmann von Aue, also known as Hartmann von Ouwe, (born ''c.'' 1160–70, died ''c.'' 1210–20) was a German knight and poet. With his works including ''Erec'', ''Iwein'', '' Gregorius'', and ''Der arme Heinrich'', he introduced the Arthuria ...

and

Wolfram von Eschenbach Wolfram von Eschenbach (; – ) was a German knight, poet and composer, regarded as one of the greatest epic poets of medieval German literature. As a Minnesinger, he also wrote lyric poetry. Life Little is known of Wolfram's life. There ar ...

. However, Heinrich von dem Türlin incorporated material from ''Lanzelet'' into his romance ''

Diu Crône ''Diu Crône'' ( en, The Crown) is a Middle High German poem of about 30,000 lines treating of King Arthur and the Matter of Britain, dating from around the 1220s and attributed to the epic poet Heinrich von dem Türlin. Little is known of the ...

'', and

Rudolf von Ems Rudolf von Ems (c. 1200 – 1254) was a Middle High German narrative poet. Life Rudolf von Ems was born in the Vorarlberg in Austria. He took his name from the castle of Hohenems near Bregenz, and was a knight in the service of the Counts of Mon ...

praised Ulrich in two of his works, ''Willehalm'' and the '' Alexanderroman''.Line 3,199

Notes

References

*Schultz, James A. (1991). "Ulrich von Zatzikhoven". In Norris J. Lacy, The New Arthurian Encyclopedia, pp. 481–482. New York: Garland. . *Ulrich von Zatzikhoven; Kerth, Thomas Kirth (translator) (2005). ''Lanzelet''.

Columbia University Press Columbia University Press is a university press based in New York City, and affiliated with Columbia University. It is currently directed by Jennifer Crewe (2014–present) and publishes titles in the humanities and sciences, including the fie ...

. .

External links

*
E-Text in the Bibliotheca AugustanaCod. Pal. germ. 371: Ulrich von Zatzikhoven, ''Lanzelet''
(the late mediaeval illuminated Heidelberg Lanzelet MS) {{DEFAULTSORT:Ulrich von Zatzikhoven Writers of Arthurian literature 12th-century German poets 13th-century German poets Medieval German writers German Catholic poets German male poets