Ulrich von Liechtenstein

Ulrich von Liechtenstein (ca. 1200 – 26 January 1275) was a German minnesinger and poet of the Middle Ages. He wrote poetry in Middle High German and was author of noted works about how knights and nobles may lead more virtuous lives. Ulrich was a member of a wealthy and influential ministerialis family from Liechtenstein in Styria. He was born about 1200 at Murau in the Duchy of Styria, located in the present-day country of Austria. Ulrich wrote his stories at a time when knightly ideals were just being promulgated from Western Europe. He outlines rules for knights, ministeriales, and free nobles to follow to lead honorable and courtly lives. There are several instances where he places the (unfree) ministerials and the free nobles in one category separate from the knights to point out the nobility of his own estate. Details of Ulrich's life are difficult to ascertain. Much of what scholars know relies heavily upon information gleaned from his often-fictional, self-styled autobiographical work the Frauendienst (trans. Service of Ladies). Separating fact from stylized hyperbole has proven difficult for historians. Life From the age of 12 onwards, Ulrich received training as a page to a lady of much higher station than his family followed by another four years as a squire to Margrave Henry of Istria, son of Duke Berthold IV of Merania, he was knighted by the Babenberg duke Leopold VI of Austria in 1222. Ulrich is documented as a Styrian Truchsess in 1244/45, from 1267 to 1272 Marshal and in year 1272 also a provincial judge.