n.
(German; " master singer ")
Any of certain German musicians and poets, chiefly of the artisan and trading classes, in the 14th to 16th centuries.
These amateur guilds spread throughout Germany until most towns had one. Their main activity was monthly singing contests. Because of their educational aims of fostering morality and religious belief, they came to be instrumental in promulgating the Protestant message during the Reformation , though their music is not regarded as highly distinguished. The most famous meistersinger, Hans Sachs (14941576), devoted his art exclusively to the Lutheran cause after 1530.