Palästinalied

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The Palästinalied ("Palestine Song") is a Medieval song written in the early 13th century by Walther von der Vogelweide, the most celebrated lyric poet of Middle High German literature. It is one of the few songs by Walther for which a melody has survived. The melody has been suggested to be a contrafactum of 12th-century troubadour Jaufre Rudel's song Lanquan li jorn. The Palästinalied was written at the time of the Fifth Crusade (1217–1221). Its oldest attestation is in the Kleine Heidelberger Liederhandschrift (ms. A, ca. 1270), in seven stanzas. The oldest source for the melody is the so-called "Münster fragment" (ms. Z, 14th century). The subject of the song is the Christian gospel told from the perspective of a pilgrim setting foot in the Holy Land. The song's conclusion refers to the crusades themselves, asserting that, in view of the claim of Christians, Jews and "heathens" (Muslims) to the Holy Land, the Christian claim is the just one (Al diu werlt diu strîtet her / Wir sîn...

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