bavarikon4UDie Erlösung (Redemption)
"Die Erlösung" is a history of salvation epic by an unknown spiritual author from the beginning of the 14th century and deals with the history of creation up to the Last Judgement, with Christ's life and deed of redemption taking centre stage. Warnings about the seven deadly sins and the ten commandments complete the work. The poetry's intentions are defined in the strophic prologue (v. 1-104): the flowery style of the courtly love novel is to be avoided, nevertheless Gottfried of Strasbourg (about 1210, Cgm 51) is to be recognized as a role model (division into verses, repetition of the "miracle" motto). "Therefore, with all due caution, one could describe Die Erlösung as a work which, in conscious contrast to the courtly novel, recites its subject matter, the history of salvation, with the means of this courtly poetry. Christ becomes the hero of the spiritual epic as a result" (Ursula Hennig).
This manuscript is a fragment but one of the oldest preserved text evidence; red chapter headings and simple initials subdivide the text. In terms of language, the manuscript is based in the Rhine-Hessian region.