Volume 7 of the Motif Index of German Secular Narratives from the Beginning to 1400 is an index of cultural keywords encompassing all terms and motifs relevant to cultural science and history in German literature up to the year 1400. Along with keywords related to the social, religious and intellectual history such as man and society, gender roles, education, war, health care, religion, superstition, time, etc., motifs from the material culture are included (e.g. materials, clothing, heraldry and festivals). With the aid of this systematic keyword index, the world of medieval life as it is represented in German literature up to the year 1400 can be grasped in all its facets for the first time. Thus, the corpus of medieval texts is opened up for cultural studies in a completely new way.

Helmut Birkhan, University of Vienna, Austria.