influence affected it. Austria undoubtedly
came into touch with this influence at an early date. The Danube valley
was a high road for the armies of crusaders; another route led from
Northern Italy to Vienna, by which Peire Vidal probably found his way to
Hungary. At the same time, though Provencal influence was strong, the [128]
Middle High German lyric rarely relapsed into mere imitation or
translation of troubadour productions. Dietmar von Aist, one of the
earliest minnesingers, who flourished in the latter half of the twelfth
century has, for instance, the Provencal _alba_ theme. Two lovers part
at daybreak, when awakened by a bird on the linden: if the theme is
Provencal, the simplicity of the poet's treatment is extremely fresh and
natural. This difference is further apparent in the attitude of
minnesingers and troubadours towards the conception of "love." The
minnesong is the literary expression of the social convention known as
"Frauendienst," the term "minne" connoting the code which prescribed the
nature of the relation existing between the lover and his lady; the
dominant principle was a reverence for womanhood as such, and in this
respect the German minnesang is inspired by a less selfish spirit than
the Provencal troubadour poetry. Typical of the difference is Walter von
der Vogelweide's--

Swer guotes wibes minne hat,
der schamt sich aller missetat.

("He who has a good woman's love is ashamed of every ill deed"),
compared with Bernart de Ventadour's--

Non es meravilha s'ieu chan [129]
Melhs de nul autre chantador
Car plus trai mos cors ves Amor
E melhs sui faitz a son coman.

("It is no wonder if I sing better than any other singer, for my heart
draws nearer to love and I am better made for love's command.") The
troubadour _amor_, especially in its Italian development, eventually
attained the moral power of the _minne_; but in its early stages, it was
a personal and selfish influence. The stanza form and rime distribution
of the minnesinger poems continually betray Provencal influence: the
principle of tripartition is constantly followed and the arrangement of
rimes is often a repetition of that adopted in troubadour stanzas.
Friedrich von Hausen, the Count Rudolf von Fenis, Heinrich von Morungen
and others sometimes translate almost literally from troubadour poetry,
though these imitations do not justify the lines of Uhland.

In den Thae