‚Flos unde Blankeflos‘. Edition, Commentary and Translation of an European Narrative in the Low German region (with an Appendix Containing the Fragments of the 'Trier [Rheno-Mosan] Floyris' and the Ripuarian fragment of 'Flors inde Blanzeflors').

• Applicant: Professor Dr. Bernd Bastert
• Subject Area: German Medieval Studies (Medieval German Literature)
• Term: from 2020 to 2024
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 444584391

The romance of ‚Floire et Blanchefleur‘, probably written in the Southwest of France around 1150/1160, proved to be an extraordinary success. The textual tradition shows that the romance, translated into many vernaculars – was known throughout the whole of Europe during the Middle Ages and beyond. Six different versions are known from the German-speaking territories. Whereas the Middle High German texts, first and foremost Konrad Flecks ‚Flore und Blanscheflur‘, have received quite extensive scholarly attention – especially since the publication of the modern reedition in 2015 – remarkably few studies have for decades been devoted to the three versions originating from the border region between the German and Dutch linguistic and cultural areas, as well as in the Low German region. Despite their considerable research potential, the Low German ‚Flos unde Blankeflos‘, the Ripuarian fragment of ‚Flors inde Blanzeflors‘ and the equally fragmentary ‚Trier (Rheno-Mosan) Floyris‘, suffered from a lack of attention that my partly be attributable to the lack of modern, accessible editions. This project therefore envisages an edition that does not only consider the textual tradition of the Low German, Ripuarian and Rheno-Mosan adaptations of ‚Floire et Blanchefleur‘, but also responds to the need for an understandable text. To this end, the texts will be edited in their original textual form as well as in a user-friendly way, offering modern German translations, commentaries and additional interpretations. The edition thus allows for academic teaching as well as for comparative research.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants