Reinmar von Brennenberg

Reinmar von Brennenberg was a German minnesinger of the thirteenth century, whose figure is known above all through his lyric output and the legend that soon grew up around his death. His identity is not entirely established, although it is considered possible that he came from a noble Bavarian family and that he was in the service of the Bishop of Regensburg, the city where he died.

According to the sources, he lost his life in a local dispute in Regensburg. His posthumous fame was enhanced by the rumour that he had paid with his life for a gesture of courtly homage towards a lady. His Minnelieder and Sprüche, rich in imagery and fancy, belong within the courtly tradition of the thirteenth-century minnesingers, alongside authors such as Ulrich von Singenberg, Reinmar von Hagenau, Heinrich von Morungen and Walther von der Vogelweide.

His output includes four Kanzonen and the Spruchton (Ton IV), with at least twelve stanzas. This melody was reused by other minnesingers of the same century and, in the fourteenth century, also for Latin cantiones. The manuscript transmission of his poems is unreliable, with errors of form and differences of style that cast doubt on some attributions.