Rudolf von Ems
From the Weltchronik: King David with
scribe and musicians
(illumination from a manuscript in the
Zentralbibliothek Zürich).
born c. 1200, Hohenems, Swabia [now
in Austria]
died c. 1254, Italy
prolific and versatile Middle High
German poet. Between about 1220 and 1254
he wrote five epic poems, totaling more
than 93,000 lines.
Though the influence of earlier
masters of the courtly epic is evident
in his work—his style is modeled on
Gottfried von Strassburg, while his
moral outlook derives from Hartmann von
Aue—Rudolf’s poems show considerable
originality in subject matter. His
earliest preserved poem, Der guote
Gerhart (“Gerhard the Good”), is the
story of a Cologne merchant who, despite
his unaristocratic calling, has all the
courtly qualities of an Arthurian
knight. His charity and humility result
in his being offered the crown of
England, which he rejects. The charm and
realism of this poem were not equaled in
Rudolf’s other works: Barlaam und
Josaphat, a Christian version of the
legend of Buddha; and the three
historical epics, Alexander, Willehalm
von Orlens, and Weltchronik, an
ambitious, uncompleted world chronicle
that ends with the death of Solomon. The
popularity of Rudolf’s writings can be
gauged by the fact that there are more
than 80 extant manuscripts and
manuscript fragments of the Weltchronik
alone.
