Hartmann von Aue

Der arme Heinrich is a Middle High German narrative poem by Hartmann von Aue. It was probably written in the 1190s and was the second to last of Hartmann's four epic works. The poem combines courtly and religious narrative patterns to tell the story of a noble knight who has been stricken by God with leprosy; he can …

As the earliest Arthurian verse-novel in the German language, Hartmann von Aue's Erec was highly influential, not only on the many Arthurian works that followed, but also on courtly narrative verse in general. However, his tale is of more than antiquarian interest. Its subjects—the individual in conflict with society …