Medieval Transculturality in the Mediterranean from a Literary-Historical Perspective. The Case of Rudolf von Ems’ <i>Der guote Gêrhart</i> (ca. 1220–1225)
Albrecht Classen
Abstract Most scholars working on the concept of transculturality consider it a modern phenomenon, but we can discover forms already in Middle Ages, and this terms political, scholarly, artistic, medical literary exchanges. Within framework Mediterranean Studies, article examines extraordinary case Rudolf von Ems’ Der guote Gêrhart (ca. 1220 – 1225) which illustrates how much world proved to be highly useful backdrop for description transcultural exchanges between protagonist Moroccan castellan, Stranmûr. The verse narrative is based experiences wealthy Cologne merchant who proves extraordinarily open other cultures, languages religions encounters an equally minded Muslim lord. We would not far off by describing poet’s projections as medieval tolerance.
Journal of transcultural medieval studies