Edition, commentary and companion: >Huge Scheppel< and >Königin Sibille< (composed in the environment of Elisabeth of Lorraine and Nassau-Saarbrücken)

• Applicants: Professor Dr. Bernd Bastert; Professorin Dr. Ute von Bloh-Völker
• Subject Area: German Medieval Studies (Medieval German Literature)
• Term: from 2014 to 2019
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 258745513

In the first half of the 15th century, four French Chansons de Geste were transposed into German prose: >Die Historie von Herzog Herpin<,>Loher und Maller<, >Huge Scheppel< and >Königin Sibille<. These texts were composed in the vicinity of Elisabeth of Lorraine and Nassau-Saarbrücken. They are the earliest examples of secular German epics in prose. They represent an important link between the medieval epics in rhyming couplets and the early modern prose romances. With the support of the DFG, the applicants have already edited two of these epics: >Die Historie von Herzog Herpin< and >Loher und Maller<. Currently, commentaries and studies on material philology regarding the two epics are being prepared. This continuation of the collaborative project is likewise supported by the DFG. The commentary volumes will be published in 2015 in the same series (Texte des späten Mittelalters und der frühen Neuzeit).  The aim of the new collaborative project is to publish the two remaining epics (>Huge Scheppel<, >Königin Sibille<) in one volume as both epics are accessible only in an obsolete - and therefore insufficient - edition (>Huge Scheppel<) or in an unreliable edition (>Königin Sibille<) respectively. The new editions will also be complemented - in the same volume - by a companion (including a commentary as well as studies on the materiality of the transmission, on the relationship between illustrations and texts, and on the aspect of cyclicity). This combination will offer not only a new edition in accordance with contemporary standards but also userfriendliness and concise information. In addition to this, a homepage on the prose epics (>Elisabeth-Prosa-Portal<) will be set up to provide research and teaching materials. It will contain links to digitalised manuscripts and early printed books as well as bibliographies and further relevant materials.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants