Named for Oswald von Wolkenstein (?1377–1445), one of the last minstrels. We know much about his life and times from his own songs, which have been preserved. At the age of ten he became shield-bearer for a knight and traveled throughout the world as a groom, cook and singer, eventually returning to his home castle of Wolkenstein in the Grödner valley in Tirol. He was also ambassador to the emperor Sigismund and traveled to England and the Iberian peninsula in his name. Especially interesting are his financial documents, which have all been saved and show the difficult position of knights around 1400. (M 31791) _ _.