Neidhart (Middle High German ) (later often called Neidhart von Reuental) was one of the most famous . With around 1500 documented strophes of his songs surviving, Neidhart has the largest corpus of surviving lyrics of any , suggesting the great popularity of the songs. In addition, and quite unlike any of his contemporaries, many melodies to his songs have been preserved: manuscripts have almost 70 melodies to 55 of his songs. Neidhart's lyrics are highly innovative: into the courtly genre of Minnesang, he introduced peasant characters, who are often shown in conflict with the knightly class. Both classes are sometimes treated as objects of satire. His songs are traditionally divided into summer and winter songs (), each group opening with a piece of seasonal description of nature. But there are also songs which fall outside these categories and which in the past were often regarded as the work of later imitators. Neidhart's works continued to enjoy great popularity long after his death. He was transformed into the legendary, peasant-hating "Neidhart Fuchs" in late 15th century comical stories (German ), and he also had a legacy in the visual arts, with woodcuts, frescos and carved reliefs portraying scenes from his songs. Life In spite of the enduring popularity of his songs, there are no documentary sources for Neidhart's life. While the songs seem to offer a great deal of biographical, geographical, and historical information, this material relates to a poetic persona — a biographical basis cannot be assumed. The song collections consistently give his name as Nîthart or, in its later Early New High German form, Neidhart. While the songs mention a knight von Riuwental , the identification of the poet with this knight is not found until the 15th century, and then in texts geographically remote from Neidhart's sphere of activity in Bavaria and Austria. However, this identification of the poet as "Neidhart von Reuental" was adopted by Moriz Haupt in his first critical edition of the songs in 1858 and was widely taken up until recently. Attempts to locate a geographically plausible Reuental have not succeeded, and the name has in any case an emblematic quality — it means literally "Vale of Regret" — which supports the conclusion that it is a fictional location appropriate for songs of the unsuccessful pursuit of love. Indeed, the name Neidhart might be a pen name, as it was also used as