MINNESINGERS MINOT. 



835 



the M. vison of naturalists, and is generally to be 

 found on the banks of streams, especially near farm- 

 houses and mills. It swims and dives well, and can 

 remain under water for a considerable time. It 

 preys upon small fish, muscles, &c.,but also commits 

 depredations on the poultry yard, and will devour 

 rats, mice, &c. The mink, when irritated, exhales 

 a very fetid smell, almost equal to that of the skunk. 

 It is easily tamed, and is capable of strong attach- 

 ment, but, like the cat kind, is readily offended, and 

 will bite on a sudden provocation. The fur is of little 

 value. 



MINNESINGERS. The ancient German word 

 minne was used originally to denote love and friend- 

 ship, even divine love. At a later period the Ger- 

 man poets of the middle ages expressed by it 

 particularly a pure, faithful, and generally happy 

 love between the two sexes. Walther von der 

 Vogelweide distinguishes the high from the low 

 minne (a distinction similar to that of the ancients), 

 and defines the former to be the happiness of two 

 hearts which give and receive equal bliss. Love, 

 the vital element of chivalry, was with the German 

 poets something purer, more ideal, more deep, than 

 with the French. The name minnesingers is given 

 to the lyric German poets of the middle ages in 

 general, on account of love being the chief subject 

 of their poems. They are also called Suabian poets, 

 because the Suabian dialect prevails in their poems. 

 At the beginning of the twelfth century, when the 

 art of poetry came from the south of France to Ger- 

 many, it found a welcome reception at the court of 

 the Hohenstatifen (q. v.), the Suabian emperors of 

 Germany. The minnesingers were knights, or at 

 least men of noble descent, who lived and sang at 

 the courts of princes who loved and protected the 

 arts, such as the emperor Frederic II., the duke 

 Leopold IV. of Austria, king Wenceslaus of Bo- 

 hemia, duke Henry of Breslau, and others. After 

 the fashion of the Provengal Troubadours, the minne- 

 singers engaged in poetical contests for the gratifi- 

 cation of princes and ladies of the court. Some 

 among them were poor, and earned their living by 

 reciting their songs from court to court ; but most of 

 them sang merely for pleasure when their swords 

 were unemployed. Not a few princes took part in 

 these songs. This poetry was essentially chivalric, 

 and breathes the romantic spirit of that extraordinary 

 age. Glowing devotion to the virgin Mary and the 

 Catholic religion ; ideal love for a chosen lady ; the 

 charms of spring, always so intimately connected 

 with romantic and lyric poetry ; these formed the 

 constant subjects of the verse. Every poet sung his 

 compositions and accompanied them himself. The 

 most extensive collection of these smaller poems 

 which we possess, and which contains from 1400 to 

 1500 pieces by 140 poets, was collected by the burgo- 

 master of Zurich, Riidiger von Manesse, in the be- 

 ginning of the fourteenth century ; at the close, 

 therefore, of the flourishing period of this species of 

 poetry. (See Manesse) L. Tieck has published 

 220 poems, modernized from that great collection, 

 under the title of Minnelieder aus dem Schwdbischen 

 Zeitalter (Berlin, 1803). There is a new critical 

 million by Von der Hagen. The earliest of the min- 

 nesingers now known is Henry of Veldeck, who flour- 

 ished about 1 180. Most of the distinguished ones lived 

 towards the end of the twelfth and at the beginning 

 of the thirteenth centuries. Towards the end of the 

 thirteenth century, after the close of which they gra- 

 Jually became silent, lived Conrad of Wurzburg and 

 John Hadloub. (For the epic poetry of Germany in 

 the same age, see Nibeluneen, Heldenbuch, and Ger- 

 man Poetry.) The knights sank once more back to 

 almost total barbarism, and poetry fled into the cities, 



where it was cultivated by mechanics in a mechani- 

 cal way. See Master singers, also Chivalry, and Min- 

 strels. 



MINNOW ; the name applied to several species of 

 small fresh-water fish, and even to the young of lar- 

 ger kinds. The minnow of England, is a small 

 Cyprinus. Taking these fish is one of the favourite 

 amusements of children. This first essay in angling 

 is generally performed with a bended pin, baited 

 with a small earth-worm. The word minnow is de- 

 rived from the French menu, small. 



MINOR ; the Latin for less, used in contradistinc- 

 tion to major, as Asia Minor, minor excommunication, 

 minor offences. 



MINOR, in logic. See Syllogism. 



MINORATE ; the contrary of majorate, i. e. the 

 privilege of the youngest son to inherit the real estate 

 of the father, with the obligation, however, to pay 

 a certain sum to his brothers and sisters. This is 

 actually the custom in some places of Germany. 



MINORCA; an island in the Mediterranean, be- 

 longing to Spain, one of those anciently called Bal- 

 eares (q. v.), about thirty miles in length, and about 

 ten in breadth ; 30 E. N. E. Majorca, (q. v.) The 

 surface is uneven, the soil not generally fertile, the 

 water scarce and hard, the air moist. Some wine is 

 exported, but the quantity of grain is not sufficient 

 for the inhabitants. The island owes its political im- 

 portance to the valuable harbour of Port Mahon. 

 (q. v.) One of the most profitable commodities of 

 the country is salt. Population, 44,167; square miles, 

 240 ; Ion. 4 10' E. ; lat. 39 59' N. 



MINORITES. See Franciscans. 



MINORITY, in law ; the age of minors. Accord- 

 ing to the Roman law, full age takes place, with both 

 sexes, at the 25th year ; in Prussia, at the 24th ; in 

 France, Saxony, England, and the United States of 

 America, at the 21st. Monarchs, in almost all coun- 

 tries, come of age much sooner than other persons, 

 very often in their 18th year. The golden bull de- 

 clares the German electors of age at 18. See Age; 

 and, for minority in the English law, see Infant. 



MINOS : 



1. A king of the island of Crete, who lived about 

 1406 B. C., and is not to be confounded with his 

 grandson of the same name. He is celebrated as a wise 

 lawgiver, and for his strict love of justice. To make 

 the Cretans formidable and powerful, by union and 

 military spirit, he obliged them often to eat in com- 

 mon, and constantly exercised them in military duties. 

 Tradition has adorned the history of this king with 

 various additions. According to it, he was a son of 

 Europa and Jupiter, from whom, every nine years, 

 he received his laws in a cavern on mount Ida. After 

 his death, Minos was made with ^Kacus and Rhada- 

 manthus, a judge in the infernal world. All three 

 sat at the entrance to the kingdom of shades. Min- 

 os, as the chief justice, delivered the sentence. 



2. A grandson of the preceding, who also ruled 

 over Crete, and was the husband of Pasiphae, 

 whose unnatural passion gave birth to the Minotaur. 



(q. v.) 



MINOT, GEORGE RICHARD, an American histo- 

 rian, was born at Boston, in December, 1758, and 

 completed his studies at Harvard college. He 

 embraced the profession of the law, which he prac- 

 tised with much credit. In 1792, he was appointed 

 judge of probate for the county of Suffolk, Massa- 

 chusetts. Judge Minot cultivated, successfully, 

 literature and science. He was one of the founders 

 of the Massachusetts historical society. He pub- 

 lished a very interesting narrative of the insurrection 

 in Massachusetts in 1785, and various orations whicli 

 he pronounced in public ; but his chief production is 

 a valuable Continuation (in 2 vols.) of Hutchinson's 

 3 o 2 



