Hugo von Montfort - Poems and Songs

Hugo VII von Monfort was the head of an ancient and powerful Swabian noble family and was related to the House of Hapsburg through his mother. As the second son of his family, he had educated to become a clergyman but ended up spending his life in the service of the Hapsburgs both politically and militarily. When he was not expanding his territory, Hugo was one of the last of the courtly Minnesänger who wrote songs and poems as well as speeches of a political, educational, and moralizing nature. This collection of 40 poems was adorned by Heinrich Aurhaym ca. 1414/15, an illuminator at the court of Duke Ernest the Iron, with 37 decorative initials, five of them historiated, as well as intricate floral bordures, and a full-page miniature of the von Montfort coat of arms. The color palette of this illumination ranges from deep opaque to light pastel and is highlighted with gold, which is sometimes embossed with patterns. What is more, the manuscript marks the transition from modal to mensural notation during the Late Middle Ages.