Otfried von Weissenburg
Otfried von Weissenburg was a notable German poet from the ninth century, recognized as the oldest poet known by name in German literature. He likely received his early education in Weissenburg, Alsace, before taking monastic vows between 812 and 819. Otfried studied under the influential teacher Rabanus Maurus at the Benedictine Abbey of Fulda and later returned to serve as the prefect of the abbey school. His most significant work, the "Evangelienbuch," is a monumental poem consisting of fifteen thousand lines, written in five books, which he dedicated to King Louis the German and Bishop Salomo of Constance.
Otfried's "Evangelienbuch" aimed to present the Gospels in a form accessible to those unfamiliar with Latin, responding to the desires of his contemporaries for religious poetry. This work is particularly notable for being the earliest extant German text to employ end rhyme, a departure from traditional alliterative verse, and Otfried may have contributed to the development of this new poetic form. Although his literary contributions are significant, little is known about the specifics of his life, including the circumstances surrounding his death, which remains unrecorded.
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Otfried von Weissenburg
Monk
- Born: c. 800
- Died: c. 875
Biography
Ninth century German poet Otfried von Weissenburg is the oldest of the German poets known by name. He probably engaged in his early schooling near Weissenburg in Alsace, and he took monastic vows sometime between 812 and 819. After studying under Rabanus Maurus at Fulda, Otfried returned to Weissenburg and joined the Benedictine Abbey, where he served as the abbey- school’s prefect and became notary in 851.
While at Weissenburg, Otfried began work on his substantial poem Evangelienbuch, on which he worked for most of his life and which he dedicated to King Louis the German and to Bishop Salomo of Constance. He also honored Bishop Liutbert of Mainz in his writings to secure approval for his work, and the poem was finished sometime between 863 and 871. Otfried wrote that he began the poem at the request of contemporaries and a lady who wished for Otfried’s style of religious poetry to replace the poetry in public favor at the time.
Otfried used the fifteen thousand-line, five-book poem as a vehicle for his desire to make the Gospels accessible to readers not familiar with Latin. His writings were influenced by Vulgate, Rabanus, Bede, Alcuin, St. Jerome, and St. Augustine. Evangelienbuch is the first extant German work that uses end rhyme rather than the traditional alliteration, and Otfriend possibly even invented the new form of verse. Little else is known about the details of Otfried’s life, and not even his death seems to have been recorded.