FREIDANK

flourished 13th century German didactic poet whose work became regarded as a standard repository of moral precepts. The poet was a wandering minstrel of burgher origin, born probably in Alemannic or Swabian territory. He took part in the crusade of Frederick II in 122829. Several of the impressions left by these experiences are recorded in the one work by which he is known, Bescheidenheit (Moderation), a collection of gnomic verse, which seems to have been written about 1230. The fables, proverbs, and other sources on which Freidank drew were common property. His achievement lay in the formulation of aphorisms that have the authority of proverbs.