Heinrich Frauenlob (between 1250 and 1260 – November 29, 1318) -sometimes known as Henry of Meissen (Heinrich von Meißen) - was a Middle High German poet, a representative of both the Sangspruchdichtung and Minnesang genres.
He was one of the most celebrated poets of the late medieval period, venerated and imitated well into the 15th century.
Frauenlob was born in the town of Meissen in Saxony.
He had great musical talents and probably held a court position in Prague at the beginning of his career.
After several years wandering as a minstrel in the service of various patrons, he is said to have established the first school of the meistersingers at Mainz, although no documentary evidence confirms that early tradition.
The stage name Frauenlob (Middle High German Vrowenlop), meaning "praise of ladies", is said to have been given to him as the result of a poetic contest with the poet-minstrel Regenbogen, in which he maintained that the term frau "lady, high-born woman" was superior to the term weib "woman, adult female.”
But it has been shown that he already had the nickname when quite young, before the contest could have taken place.
Before Frauenlob was born, Walther von der Vogelweide wrote an important poem/song arguing that "woman" was to be preferred over "lady":
"Wîp muoz iemer sîn der wîbe hôhste name"
"Woman must always be woman's highest name/appelation" since, he said, "lady" is often used as a subtle insult.
The women of Mainz are said to have carried his bier to the cathedral in appreciation of his lifelong, chivalrous devotion to their sex.
His tomb was restored in 1783 by women during the "Werther" period of German literature, and the women of Mainz erected a monument to his memory near his tomb in 1842.
In 1892, German composer Reinhold Becker (1842–1924) wrote an opera about an episode in the poet's life.
The Background Story:
Heinrich Frauenlob ~ Anckelwyse (13th Century)