Una rilettura della tradizione boccacciana: lo Spruchgedicht Der ermört lorenz di Hans Sachs

Ein kleglich geschichte von zweyen liebhabenden. Der ermört Lorenz is the first Spruchgedicht of Hans Sachs. Written when the poet was in Munich for his Wanderjahre, the poem is based on the Italian novel of Lisabetta and Lorenzo (Decameron IV.5). The Spruchgedicht is an early example of Sachs’s relationship with Boccaccio’s Decameron: rewritten by the poet, the story of Lisabetta and Lorenzo reveals a deep Christian meaning. Innovations as Lorenzo’s prayer to the Virgin Mary or the common burial of the lovers are significant proofs of a moral reworking of the Italian tale. Tragic example of not-consecrated love, the death of Lisabetta is used by Sachs as an exhortation to prudence, virtue and Christian marriage. The moral interpretation of the Italian tale will be deeply modified by the poet in a Lutheran and secular way in the next thirty years, as shown by the three different re-elaborations of the novel produced by Sachs between 1519 and 1548. Der Ermört Lorenz and the other three works provide an interesting picture of the complex relationship between Sachs and his sources.