protected them by castles, erected on steep cliffs and mountains.
The custody of these strongholds was entrusted to the most efficient warriors, who in time formed a separate class, the nobility, from which the heads of the whole nation, the princes, kings and emperors were chosen. The inhabitants of the cities formed the class of burghers, who devoted themselves to the trades and handicrafts. There was a third class, made up of the people remaining in the rural districts, the peasants.
Of course the positions of the women of these various classes differed widely. While the women of the peasants and craftsmen were busy with the functions of their every day's work, the women-folk of the rich merchants and the nobility had ample time to cultivate everything that makes life worth while. With blissful hearts they took part in all pleasures and festivals. And with the same feeling they accepted the tokens of respect and admiration, extended to them by the knights as well as by the many minstrels and troubadours, who travelled throughout the country to entertain with their songs of love, adventure and heroism all who liked to listen.
Many songs of the 12th and the 13th Century express the high esteem of their authors for women. They also prove that the so-called "Minnedienst" of the German and French knights was to a great extent an ideal tribute and consisted chiefly in a restrained longing of the heart, in a pure remembrance of the beloved one.
One of the best known rhymes dates from 1120 and reads as follows:
Du bist min, ih bin din:
dea solt du gewis sin.
du bist beslozzen
in minem herzen;
verlorn ist das sluzzelin:
du musst immer darinne sin.
Thou art mine, I am thine!
Pray, what could be just as fine?
Thou art enclosed
Within my heart;
The key is lost, so, as it were —
Thou must now stay forever there.
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