At the Styrian Benedictine Monastery Admont a breviary was made for the local nunnery in 1180. Its exceptionally rich initial furnishing that presumably was created with the cooperation of the nuns contains an enlightening treasure of iconographical and devout imagery relating themes like Unio Mystica, coronation of the Virgin and threat by the devil or evil, as well as early forms of devotional pictures.

›Wahnsinn‹ (insanity) is an enigmatic term with a huge variety of meanings. This variety ranges from labelling mental illnesses or behaviour which is incomprehensible, unreliable or dangerous, to positive attributes (»wahnsinnig gut« i.e. »extremely great«). In case studies, this volume examines the pre-history of ›Wahnsinn‹ before the age of reason (»Zeitalter der Vernunft«, Foucault). It does so by looking at how texts from the Christian Ancient World and the Middle Ages stage abnormal behavior which can be traced back to perception disorder or mental disorientation, or how this behavior is attributed to certain characters. Thus, the prime focus of this examination tackles the question how ›Wahnsinn‹ is functionalised, and also analyses the role which is played by the socio-cultural backgrounds as well as the philosophical and theological context, and the context of medical history.

Ulrich of Etzenbach's "Wilhelm von Wenden", Heinrich von Neustadt's "Apollonius von Tyrland", Johann von Würzburg's "Wilhelm von Österreich", and the anonymous "Reinfried von Braunschweig", and "Lohengrin" exemplify the tradition of medieval German romantic verse around 1300. The book seeks to define the position of these five major novels in their historical context from the perspective of hybrid, historicizing, and particularly encyclopedic narrative detail. The five texts are thereby measured as a literary series that in the wake of the two leading novelists of the later 13th Century, Rudolf von Ems and Konrad von Würzburg, and in the context of neighboring genres such as ancient novels and verse chronicles, stake out the relationship between fiction and history. An important role is played by the often presented "planning games" coming out of dynastic and royal rule, which often massively undermine the apparent idealism of the protagonists.

This volume of conference proceedings brings the “Kitab Dede Korkut” into the spotlight of intercultural comparative studies of medieval heroic epic poetry. The oldest and only complete manuscript version of this pre-Osman epic is preserved in the Saxon State Library (Dresden). The most recent German translation is by Mainz Turkologist Hendrik Boeschoten. Thus ideal opportunities for academic cooperation between Azerbaijan and Germany are presented, aiming to bring Eastern and Western academic discourses together. Topics from areas such as syntax, lexis, word formation, onomastics and speech act theory are examined from the different linguistic perspectives of the two traditions. This represents not just a bridging of the gap between East and West, but it is also new territory for German research on the “Nibelungenlied”.

Niederadlige Autoren des 15. und frühen 16. Jahrhunderts präsentieren den Krieg als das vornehmliche Betätigungsfeld des Adels – eine Sichtweise, die angesichts der Veränderungen im Kriegswesen des ausgehenden Mittelalters nur noch bedingt der Realität entspricht. Anhand von Fallstudien sucht der Verfasser nach den Motiven und subjektiven Sehweisen niederadliger Autoren, die sich dem Thema Krieg widmen: Warum schreiben sie über Kriege? Welche Kriege werden dargestellt, welche Quellen und Kommunikationswege nutzen die Schreiber, welche Perspektive nehmen sie ein? Dabei wird deutlich, auf welche kollektiven Einstellungen und Interessen die Ausführungen und Argumentationsstrategien verweisen, inwieweit sie also repräsentativ für den Adel als gesellschaftliche Gruppe stehen.

The „Book of proven arts“ was written in 1535 by the gunmaster Franz Helm as a detailed and comprehensive introduction to the art of artillery. The lengthy working procedures deal with the production of gunpowder and the operation of the typical renaissance ordnance park. Helms circulated standard work contains also about 65 instructive illustrations of the technology of warfare. More than 70 manuscripts and transcriptions owned by gunmasters, commanders, cities and sovereigns have come down to us.

In einer ausführlichen paläographischen und kunsthistorischen Untersuchung werden hier die Handschriften gesichert und ausführlich beschrieben, die im Kloster Salem unter Abt Eberhard von Rohrdorf entstanden sind. Mehr als 40 Manuskripte spiegeln das kulturelle Interesse der Zisterzienser im 13. Jahrhundert, aber auch den Einfluss des bedeutenden Abtes wider, der sogar eine klostereigene literarische Produktion förderte. Die Handschriften zeigen, in welchem Kommunikations- und Beziehungsgeflecht das Kloster sowohl innerhalb der Kulturlandschaft des Bodenseeraums als auch im Zisterzienserorden stand.