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For many of us, the most familiar female medieval writers were mystics and in Germany very few other women were permitted a voice. Classen also notes that German literary scholarship has not been interested in seeking out the identities and work of those few women. This study aims to `provide new stimulation for renewed efforts in this direction' by presenting a selection of precise translations of both religious and secular verse written during the 15th and 16th centuries by German women. The first part presents numerous, largely anonymous, love poems and songs from eleven sources, each of which is introduced. The religious songs in the second part were composed by ten aristocratic women, including Mary, Queen of Hungary, and Agnes, Duchess of Saxony. The book concludes with an interpretive essay in which Classen examines the rediscovery of lost female voices and asks whether late medieval German women actually did compose love poetry. Perhaps there are no voices to be found?
