This funky-faced individual was Oswald von Wolkenstein, a poet, musical composer, and diplomat in the Late Middle Ages (1376/7-1445). Von Wolkenstein’s adventurous life included episodes of warfare, daring military ventures, and captivity, but what I find most intriguing is the conflation of his Christian world-view with his open admission of enjoying appetites that he considered sinful.
In one poem, he writes about the twelve types of drunks, explaining that one sort feels eversomuch wiser with alcohol, whereas another feels guilty. Yet another craves sex with drink, while one sort wants to get into fights. Von Wolkenstein was quite snobby about his appraisal of those who consumed too much alcohol: “with ordinary people who are lacking in particular intellect I am not surprised when drinking confuses their lame minds. I am only distraught about the truly well-educated ones. . . ” Even though this statement seems more critical of elites, in fact, the low bar he holds for common folk is an even worse position.
Btw, von Wolkenstein’s eye isn’t droopy because of alcohol. It was a genetic defect. Also btw, his poems on sex are even more racy than the one about drunkards.
Source(s): Image portrait for Innsbrucker Handschrift on Wikipedia. P. 213, _The Poems if Oswald von Wolkenstein: an English Translation of the Complete Works_, Albrecht Classen, the New Middle Ages series, Palgrave 2008.
