Codex Manesse (Heidelberg University Library, Cod. Pal. germ. 848)

The Codex Manesse is a medieval songbook which contains a huge and comprehensive collection of love songs from the larger German speaking world in the 12th and 13th century. The songs have clearly been collected and arranged with the intention to provide and preserve a documented overview of this genre, that was usually transmitted orally. The Codex Manesse is illustrated with 137 colourful, high-quality portraits of poets, which have become equally popular. Both songs and portraits have shaped and defined the historic image of the medieval court culture in Western Europe up to the present day. Pictures from the Codex Manesse have been used in almost every illustrated handbook on European medieval court culture and courtly literature. The arrangement of the poems according to the social status of their authors shows a deliberate plan, which is quite exceptional for medieval collections of poetry.