Albrecht Classen is University Distinguished Professor of German Studies at the University of Arizona, USA. He researches German and European literature, religion, and philosophy from approximately 800 to 1600. He has published 140 books, 890 articles, approximately 450 lexicon entries, and over 3,000 book reviews. His latest book, Miracles and Wonders in the Middle Ages and the Early Modern Period, appeared in 2025. In 2004, he received the Bundesverdienstkreuz am Band from the German government, and in 2017, the rank of Grand Knight Commander of the Most Noble Order of the Three Lions. He is the editor of three major journals: Mediaevistik, Humanities, and Current Research Journal of Social Sciences and Humanities. As part of his research, he has translated numerous Middle High German texts into English

Abstract Title : Battleground Marriage: High Medieval Power Struggles Through a Literary LensAbstract : Historians have recently recognized how much marriage in the high and late Middle Ages was a very complex institution where many powerful factors easily clashed with each other. Despite typical patriarchal features, twelfth- and thirteenth-century societies witnessed countless negotiations and political and economic struggles with respect to marriage. This was also reflected in contemporary literature, such as The Stricker's short verse narratives. In some, husbands are described and criticized as brutal violators, in others, they are the victims of powerful and strong wives. The poet makes us cry and laugh about the many arguments and conflicts between the genders, which allows us to recognize much more than in the past how much marriage was not simply a medium of male dominance but a platform where the gender balance was negotiated in a complex manner