Career
Almost nothing about his life can be deduced from Heinrich"s songs. Possibly he is identical with the Hendricus de Morungen who is documented in Thuringia. This Hendricus belonged to the class of minor knights and presumably originated from the castle of Morungen near Sangerhausen.
As a "retired knight" (miles emeritus) he received from his patron, Dietrich IV, Margrave of Meissen, a pension for his "high personal merits" (alta suae vitae merita).
He transferred this in 1213 to the monastery of Street Thomas in Leipzig, which he entered himself in 1217. According to 16th century sources, he died there in 1222 after a journey to India.
In the Late Middle Ages, there was extant a "Ballad of the Noble Moringer", which transferred onto Heinrich von Morungen the stock theme of the return of a husband believed lost. Des Minnesangs Frühling, Band 1: Texte, ed Hugo Moser und Helmut Tervooren, 38th revised edition, Stuttgart 1988
Heinrich von Morungen.
Lieder, text, translation and commentary by Helmut Tervooren, (=Reclams Universal-Bibliothek.
Nr 9797), 3rd edition, Stuttgart 2003.
