Minnesinger. A friend of the Archbishop of Mainz and secretary to the Emporer Frederick I; he died in the Third Crusade. One of the early minnesingers, he did much to extend French influence on German song by writing German texts that fit the music perfectly (contrafacta) to songs by troubadours such as Guiot de Provins and Bernart de Ventadour. None of his own melodies survives.