Middle Ages/Bürger und Bauern

Michel Beheim (1416 or 1421 Sulzbach bei Heilbronn - 1474 or 1478) was one of the most important singers and song publishers of the Late Middle Ages. His Buch von den Wienern is the oldest of his thre chronologies in strophic form and was written in the days when he was in the service of Emperor Friedrich III. Beheim describes the events of the years 1462 to 1465 and accuses the Viennese bourgeoisie of fecklessness and perfidy over and over again. Obviously this was no way to endear himself to the Viennese. In the end he too lost the imperial favor and moved to Heidelberg. That is the purported autograph copy of his book is still kept in the University Library. The illustration shows the first page of the manuscript and you can listen to the analagous musical example too. (E. Stadler)