Biography of Meister Alexander (Part 1)

There are several ways of piecing together the biography of a particular Medieval composer. Thanks to literacy, written official documents remained to us from those times and sometimes their contemporaries mention them in their letters and so on (for example X heard that Y has a good working relationship with Z-nobleman, or anything like that, so we can trace back the name of the nobleman and try to figure out something about Y).

Unfortunately, we are not this lucky in Alexander's case. According to the most recent researches, we cannot find any of his names mentioned in official documents or contemporary literature. The only deductions can be made from his ouevre and his linguistic features; the last shows that he was probably from the Alemann regio, since he used that dialect. Little we know about his life, but there are certain allusions that he was active in the second half of the 13th-century (according to Oxford Music Online: events can be linked to his figure between 1247 and 1252 and between 1285 and 1288).
I would like to present here and example for the result of such deductions: one of the closest allusions is by F. Loewenthal mentioned in the article Die Lebenszeit de Wilden Alexander by Norbert Wagner, and there after citing the Strophe II 4 by Alexander:

Ein hirte enbant sín tobenden hunt.
des gét beschorn und ungesunt
manc schaf uf dürrer weide.
ein lieht erlasch ze Megenze sider;
do vlouc ein ar mit leide:
ze Pülle ein listic slange erstarp.
der Elbe minne der Rín erwarp;
daz vuogte ein tube ze Brunswíc.
sich vröute ein wolf der missetat
ze Swaben, daz in Beiern gat
ein staeter mul unrehten slíc.

Loewenthal indentifies 'hirte' (shepherd) and his 'tobenden hunt' (foolish dog) with Pope Honorius IV and his legate, Cardinal Bishop Johannes von Tusculum, who in 1286/87 became unpopular in Germany because of his arrogant financial claims and had to flee away from the country.

This was just an example how we can relate the content of his poems with the historical events of his time. He dresses up his criticism of the time in Biblical metaphores and pictures, which leads us to the conlusion that he might had got a good education for his time.

Capstone, cornerstone and keystone

The stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone.
(Psalms 118,22)

I would like to give a short explanation of the "capstone" which is mentioned in the first strophe:
"After that cry
for the capstone, for the only one
that would keep your walls firm."

At first glance one would never tell how comes the image of capstone into view in this case. To understand its important role among the symbols of this poem, we have to understand what is a capstone. A capstone or a cornerstone is an important element of buildings: this is the first stone, the first element they lay down when they begin to build a building. Laying this cornerstone always happens in ceremonial circumstances, showing: it is an important moment.

Also the cornerstone had a special significance in Israel back then, in the Biblical times: the way this stone was carved and laboured defined the how they built the building, the house or the temple afterwards. It was a huge and heavy stone, for example they used a prismatic, beautiful chalk as a cornerstone at building the Temple at Jerusalem. But the format of the cornerstone could be anything: square, cube, oblong, conical, etc. If they once laid the cornerstone they built and adapted the building exactly to its cornerstone.

The psalm verse I've mentioned above is from an important Psalm regarding the wait for the Messiah, as we can see it in Parabel of the Wicked Vinedressers (Matthew 21,33-46). Jesus Christ quotes Psalm 118: Jesus said to them: "Have you never read in the Scriptues: 'The stone which the builders rejected become the chief cornerstone. This was the Lord's doing and it was marvelous in our eyes.'? Therefore I say to you, the kingdom of God will be taken from you and given to a nation bearing the fruits of it. And whoever falls on this stone will be broken; but on whomever it falls, it will grind him to powder. (Matthew 21,42-43)
Jesus Christ is the cornerstone of the Christianity, and also the Peter in his first letter says: you also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. (1Peter 2,5). He is the fundament on which our salvation has been built and based; and at the same time he's also the keystone (the last stone they place when they finish to build any kind of building).
Also worths to mention the passage by Zechariah: Who are you, O great mountain? Before Zerubbabel you shall become a plain! And he shall bring forth the capstone with shouts of “Grace, grace to it! (Zechariah 4,7), in which he refers the Messiah, therefore Jesus Christ.

If the strophe would stand by itself, we could say that the image of the capstone refers to Jesus Christ, and Zion could be the Church, but I have a hunch that the capstone is rather a symbol for something that is as firm as the fundament of Christianity.

The fact that Alexander demands to cry for the capstone "that would keep your walls firm" indicates a sensitive state of mind or emotional state and - of course - some sort of danger. He also names the reason why the capstone weakened, he says: The wind took with pincers its solidity.

The question is: what does the wind (as symbol) stands for, and what kind of danger awaits Zion?