protected them by castles, erected on steep cliffs and mountains.

The custody of these strongholds was entrusted to the most efficient warriors, who in time formed a separate class, the nobility, from which the heads of the whole nation, the princes, kings and emperors were chosen. The inhabitants of the cities formed the class of burghers, who devoted themselves to the trades and handicrafts. There was a third class, made up of the people remaining in the rural districts, the peasants.

Of course the positions of the women of these various classes differed widely. While the women of the peasants and craftsmen were busy with the functions of their every day's work, the women-folk of the rich merchants and the nobility had ample time to cultivate everything that makes life worth while. With blissful hearts they took part in all pleasures and festivals. And with the same feeling they accepted the tokens of respect and admiration, extended to them by the knights as well as by the many minstrels and troubadours, who travelled throughout the country to entertain with their songs of love, adventure and heroism all who liked to listen.

Many songs of the 12th and the 13th Century express the high esteem of their authors for women. They also prove

that the so-called "Minnedienst" of the German and French knights was to a great extent an ideal tribute and consisted chiefly in a restrained longing of the heart, in a pure remembrance of the beloved one.

One of the best known rhymes dates from 1120 and reads as follows:

Du bist min, ih bin din:
des solt du gewis sin.
du bist beslozzen

in minem herzen;

verlorn ist das sluzzelin:

du musst immer darinne sin.

Thou art mine, I am thine!

Pray, what could be just as fine?

Thou art enclosed

Within my heart;

The key is lost, so, as it were

Thou must now stay forever there.

Among the most beautiful poems, written in praise of women, we also find the "May-song" of Walter von der Vogelweide. In modern German it reads as follows:

"Wenn die Blumen aus dem Grase dringen,
Gleich als lachten sie hinauf zur Sonne
Des Morgens früh an einem Maientag,
Und die kleinen Vöglein lieblich singen
Ihre schönsten Weisen, welche Wonne
Böt' wohl die Welt, die mehr ergötzen mag,
Ist's doch wie im Himmelreiche.

Fragt ihr, was sich dem vergleiche,

So sag' ich was viel wohler noch

Des öftern meinen Augen tat,

Und immer tut, erschau ich's noch:

Denkt ein edles schönes Fräulein schreite

Wohlgekleidet und bekränzt hernieder

Unter Leuten froh sich zu ergehen,

Hochgemut im höfischen Geleite.

Züchtig um sich blickend und durch Anmut glänzend,
Wie Sonne unter Sternen anzusehen.

Welche Wonne käme gleich

Solchen Weibes Huldgestalt?

Der Mai mit allen Wundergaben

Kann doch nichts so wonnigliches haben

Als ihren minniglichen Leib.

Wir lassen alle Blumen steh'n

Und blicken nach dem werten Weib.”

When from the sod the flowerets spring,
And smile to meet the sun's bright ray,
When birds their sweetest carols sing,
In all the morning pride of May,
What lovelier than the prospects there?
Can earth boast anything more fair?

To me it seems an almost heaven,

So beauteous to my eyes that vision bright is given.

But when a lady chaste and fair,

Noble, and clad in rich attire,

Walks through the throng with gracious air,

As sun that bids the stars retire,

Then where are all thy boastings, May?

What hast thou beautiful and gay,

Compared with that supreme delight?

We leave the loveliest flowers, and watch that lady bright.

Another German poet of the 13th Century was Heinrich von Meissen, better known under the name "Frauenlob.' This sobriquet he received because he sang much in praise of women, as for instance:

"O Frau, du selten reicher Hort,

Dass ich zu dir hie sprech' aus reinem Munde.
Ich lob' sie in des Himmels Pfort';

Ihr Lob zu End' ich nimmer bringen kunnte.
Dess lob' ich hier die Frauen zart mit Rechten,
Und wo im Land ich immer fahr'

Muss stets mein Herz für holde Frauen fechten."

And at another time he sings:

"Ich lob' die Frau für des Spiegel's Wonne:
Dem Manne bringt sie grosse Freud';
Recht als die klare Sonne

Durchleucht' den Tag zu dieser Zeit,

Also erfreut die Frau des Mann's Gemüte"

When in 1318 he died, in Mayence, the women of that city, in appreciation of his devotion to their cause, carried his coffin solemnly to the cathedral, in the cloisters of which he was buried.

One of the most beautiful love-songs ever written dates from 1350. Having outlasted the centuries it is still sung and appreciated to-day wherever German is spoken.

Ach wie ist's möglich dann
Dass ich dich lassen kann,
Hab dich von Herzen lieb,
Das glaube mir.

Du hast die Seele mein

So ganz genommen ein

Dass ich kein' and're lieb'

Als dich allein.

Blau blüht ein Blümelein,

Das heisst Vergiss-nicht-mein;

Dies Blümlein leg' an's Herz

Und denk' an mich.

Wär ich ein Vögelein,

Bald wollt' ich bei dir sein;

Fürcht' Falk' und Habicht nicht,
Flög' gleich zu dir.