Mariendichtung

Marian Prose and Poetry, spiritual literature in praise of the Virgin Mary. Early texts in the vernacular from the 12th century onwards. The veneration of the Virgin is a standard part of Evangeliendichtung (Gospel poetry - Marienlob ("praise of the Virgin") in the Vorau Manuscript). Typical of medieval Marian literature are, in particular, songs, sequences and hymns dedicated to the Virgin. The most outstanding example of these is the Melker Marienlied (around 1140). Along with poems, there were also epic works, the so-called "Marienleben". Examples of Austrian literature dedicated to the Virgin Mary are the Holy Virgin Sequence from St. Lamprecht (originally Vorau) and the Songs to the Virgin by the "Monk of Salzburg", das Graz Marienleben and the Marienleben by Brother Philipp the Carthusian (Seitz, Styria).