Medieval, fictional text culture consists largely of lyrical texts of various kinds. Anyone wishing to engage with medieval poetry must pay special attention to the lyricism of this era. This book introduces readers to this genre in two ways. In a larger systematic section, theoretical and formal aspects are discussed, including genre issues, metrics, performance, and research perspectives. The subsequent historical part of the introduction illustrates, through carefully selected examples—always accompanied by modern German translations—the historical development of German-language lyric poetry from the 9th/10th century to the later 14th century, taking into account all significant authors. The historical overview is divided into the three basic types: 'Minnesang', 'Sangspruchdichtung', and 'Leich'.