!!!Legende

Legends, form of hagiography. Legends tell of the exemplary lives of 
the saints or incidents therefrom. Originally readings for church 
services and meals in abbeys on feast days of saints. In legends the 
emphasis is less on historical facts or (as in the stories of 
miracles) the influence of celestial powers than on the leading of a 
life that is pleasing in the sight of God. There are various types of 
legends: those dealing with the lives of Christ, Maria, the saints and 
martyrs, simple, traditional legends, and literary legends. Well-known 
are the legends of St. Barbara, St. Dorothea, 
St. Margaret, Pontius Pilate, and Saint Veronica. Many legends 
have been recorded in collections of  manuscripts: Klosterneuburger 
Legende, Kreuzensteiner Legendar. Authors of the Middle Ages who set 
down legends in their works included  Gundacker von Judenburg,  Konrad 
von Fussesbrunnen, and  Rudolf von Ems. Other literary works of the 
Middle Ages devoted to legends are "Marienleben" ("The 
Life of Mary"), "Kindheit Jesu" ("The childhood of 
Jesus") and "Barlaam und Josaphat" ("Barlaam and 
Josaphat"). Examples of historical legends from the Austrian 
region are the legend of the veil of Margravine Agnes, the creation of 
the Austrian striped shield at Acre, the rescue of Emperor Maximilian 
I from the Martinswand rock face, and the legend of Lieber  Augustin 
in the pit full of plague victims.

!Literature
H. Rosenfeld, Legenden, %%sup 3/%1972; A. Masser, Bibel- 
und Legenden-Epik des deutschen Mittelalters, 1976; W. Zitzenbacher, 
Oesterreich, Historische Legenden, 1978.


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