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Social imagery during the Late Middle Ages was typically considered to be dominated by the three orders - 'oratores', 'bellatores', 'laboratores' - as the most common way of describing social order, along with body metaphors and comprehensive lists of professions as known from the 'Danse macabre' tradition. None of these actually dominates within the vast genre of lay didactical literature. This book comprises the first systematic investigation of social imagery from a specific late medieval linguistic context. It methodically catalogues images of the social that were used in a particular cultural/literary sphere, and it separates late medieval efforts at catechization in print from the social and religious ruptures that are conventionally thought to have occurred after 1517. The investigation thus compliments recent scholarship on late medieval vernacular literature in Germany, most of which has concentrated on southern urban centres of production. The author fills a major lacuna in this field by concentrating for the first time on the entire extant corpus of vernacular print production in the northern region dominated by the Hanseatic cities and the Middle Low German dialect.
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Social Imagery in Middle Low German Studies in Medieval and Reformation Traditions Edited by Andrew Colin Gow Edmonton, Alberta In cooperation with Sylvia Brown, Edmonton, Alberta Falk Eisermann, Berlin Berndt Hamm, Erlangen Johannes Heil, Heidelberg Susan C. Karant-Nunn, Tucson, Arizona Martin Kaufhold, Augsburg Erik Kwakkel, Leiden Jürgen Miethke, Heidelberg Christopher Ocker, San Anselmo and Berkeley, California Founding Editor Heiko A. Oberman † VOLUME 167 The titles published in this series are listed at brill.com/smrt Social Imagery in Middle Low German Didactical Literature and Metaphorical Representation (1470–1517) By Cordelia Heß Leiden • boston 2013 Cover illustration: Lucidarius [Low German]. Lübeck: Matthaeus Brandis, 1485. Det Kongelige Bibliotek Copenhagen, Inc. Haun. 2537. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Hess, Cordelia. Social imagery in Middle Low German : didactical literature and metaphorical representation (1470–1517) / by Cordelia Hess. pages cm. — (Studies in Medieval and Reformation Traditions ; Volume 167) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-90-04-24775-8 (hardback : acid-free paper) — ISBN 978-90-04-20495-9 (e-book) 1. Low German language—To 1500—Social aspects. 2. Didactic literature, German—History and criticism. 3. Metaphor in literature. I. Title. PF5633.H47 2013 439’.4—dc23 2013018031 This publication has been typeset in the multilingual “Brill” typeface. With over 5,100 characters covering Latin, IPA, Greek, and Cyrillic, this typeface is especially suitable for use in the humanities. For more information, please see www.brill.com/brill-typeface. ISSN 1573-4188 ISBN 978-90-04-24775-8 (hardback) ISBN 978-90-04-20495-9 (e-book) Copyright 2013 by Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, The Netherlands. Koninklijke Brill NV incorporates the imprints Brill, Global Oriental, Hotei Publishing, IDC Publishers and Martinus Nijhoff Publishers. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, translated, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior written permission from the publisher. Authorization to photocopy items for internal or personal use is granted by Koninklijke Brill NV provided that the appropriate fees are paid directly to The Copyright Clearance Center, 222 Rosewood Drive, Suite 910, Danvers, MA 01923, USA. Fees are subject to change. This book is printed on acid-free paper. CONTENTS Acknowledgements ..........................