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Heinrich von Veldeke (aka: He(y)nric van Veldeke(n), Dutch Hendrik van Veldeke, born before or around 1150 – died after 1184) is the first writer in the Low Countries that we know by name who wrote in a European language other than Latin. He was born in Veldeke, a hamlet on the territory of Spalbeek, which has been a community of Hasselt, Limburg, Belgium, since 1977. The ‘Vel(de)kermolen’, a water mill on the Demer river, is the only remainder of this hamlet. In Limburg he is celebrated as a writer of the Old Limburgish. Veldeke’s years of birth and death are uncertain. He must have been born before or around 1150, as he was writing in the early 1170s. There is no evidence that Veldeke was born in 1128, as is often suggested. He certainly died after 1184, because he mentions in his ''Eneas'' that he was present at the court day that emperor Frederik Barbarossa organised in Mainz at Pentecost of that year. He must have died before Wolfram von Eschenbach wrote his ''Parzival'', which was completed between 1205 and 1210. Wolfram mentions in that work that Veldeke died prematurely. Veldeke probably was a member of a ministerial class (unfree nobles) family. The existence of such a family is mentioned in deeds from the thirteenth century. It may be concluded that he received a thorough education, as he used Latin sources in his works. ==The Life of Saint Servatius== Veldeke wrote the Life of Saint Servatius, which was likely his first work, for mister Hessel, sexton of the Maastricht Servatius chapter, and for Agnes van Metz, countess of Loon. The work consists of two parts. The first part is a biography (''vita'') of Servatius of Maastricht, the patron saint of that town, who supposedly died on May 13 384. This part is usually dated around 1170. The second part treats the miracles of Servatius after his death. It is sometimes assumed that the second part of the opus was only written between 1174 and 1185. Servatius is an Armenian who travels to Lorraine and becomes bishop of Tongeren. The sinful citizens of Tongeren turn against him, causing him to flee to Maastricht. When Servatius becomes aware that God intends to punish the citizens of Tongeren by sending Atilla the Hun to them, he goes on a pilgrimage to Rome and prays on the grave of Peter to divert the disaster. His prayers go unfulfilled, but Peter does give him a silver key with which Servatius can grant mercy and impart punishment on sinners. The citizens of Tongeren are all killed, but Servatius grants them mercy and so they all go to heaven in the end. Maastricht was situated on an important crossroads: the road from Cologne from the west, the Meuse river as north-south axis. In Veldeke’s day, the canons of the Servatius chapter tried their hardest to promote pilgrimages to the grave of the saint. It is in this context that the origin of Veldeke’s Servatius must be situated. Dating back to the same period are the current Servatius church and the reliquary (Distress Case) that contains the remains of Saint Servatius. In times of great distress and disasters, the Case is carried through the town. Veldeke’s Servatius is a liberal adaptation of the ''Actus Sancti Servatii'' by Jocundus (written between 1066 and 1088) and the ''Vita Sancti Servatii'', that is indirectly inspired by the Actus. The Servatius has been preserved completely in a manuscript from 1470 (Leiden, Universiteitsbibliotheek, BPL 1215). Also, several fragments have been found in various book bindings that all originate from a manuscript that may have been written while the poet was still alive (ca. 1200). 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Heinrich von Veldeke」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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