"Ditz buoch sæt nu von der frawen werdikeit [This book speaks of women’s dignity]: The Construction of Virtue in Die Winsbeckin in Berlin, Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin–Preussischer Kulturbesitz, mgf 474.”
Presentation
Overview
Overview
Description
The didactic poem commonly known as Die Winsbeckin belongs to a large set of medieval German texts that debate about the benefits and justness of huote, the practice of the guardianship or surveillance of women by men. Well known texts in this tradition include Gottfried’s Tristan, with its famous excursus on huote, as well as Freidank’s Bescheidenheit and the poetry of Morungen and Veldeke. In these texts, the surveillance of women is condemned as what Annette Volfing calls “male folly” which unnecessarily ruins the reputations of both the male guardian and the guarded woman. However, this seeming defense of women has a sinister side since it is based on the view of female nature as inherently flawed and prone to disobedience. The mother-daughter discussion of huote in the standard edition of Die Winsbeckin by Leitzmann/Reiffenstein already objects to such unjust stereotyping of women. However, this criticism is much stronger in the version found in Berlin, Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin Preussischer Kulturbesitz, mgf 474. This manuscript omits the lengthy praise of courtly love and its rules with which the Leitzmann/Reiffenstein edition of Die Winsbeckin closes. Further, it opens with two unique stanzas in the collective female voice (“we women”), which have traditionally been dismissed as inauthentic. These two strophes introduce the theme of huote and set a tone of criticism which is absent in other versions of Die Winsbeckin. They shift the focus of the work from the external and public aspects of courtly love to a poignant discussion about the importance of moral virtue for both men and women.
