Spielmann

medieval entertainer
Share
Share to social media
URL
https://mainten.top/art/Spielmann
Feedback
Corrections? Updates? Omissions? Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login).
Thank you for your feedback

Our editors will review what you’ve submitted and determine whether to revise the article.

External Websites
Also known as: Spielleute
German:
“player” or “entertainer”
Plural:
Spielleute

Spielmann, wandering entertainer of the European Middle Ages who performed at fairs, markets, and castles. The Spielleute included singers, mimics, and sword swallowers. Also among them were the storytellers credited with keeping alive the native Germanic vernacular legends at a time when nearly all written literature was religious and when the court poets, under foreign influence, were concerned chiefly with love lyrics and Arthurian legend. A number of carefree adventure tales, such as the 12th-century König Rother (“King Rother”), are evidence of a highly developed underground literature, presumably propagated by the Spielleute, and characterized by its humour, amoral tone, and ...(100 of 103 words)