Reinmar von Zweter was one of the most highly praised didactic poets in the period between Walther von der Vogelweide and Heinrich Frauenlob. The Meistersinger of the fourteenth century idealized him as one of the Twelve Old Masters (who allegedly laid the foundation for their art) because of the sophistication of his melodies and meters (among those were counted Walther, Wolfram von Eschenbach, Der tugendhafte Schreiber, Biterolf, Heinrich von Ofterdingen, Regenbogen, and especially Heinrich Frauenlob). As a professional goliard in southern Germany he frequently participated in public disputes and openly expressed his opinions on religious and political issues in many of his Sprüche (didactic poems). He attacked the pope for assuming worldly power and meddling in German politics, criticized the clergy for immorality and greediness, and mocked traditional courtly love poetry for its hollowness and formality. He strongly advocated a centralized empire on German soil, headed...