ABSTRACT
In modern usage, the term Fachliteratur refers to specialized literature written for experts, and medieval German texts on scientific, medical, and technical subjects were neither exclusively nor even predominantly written for experts, hence the more inclusive term Sachliteratur is preferable. Magicians and conjurors were not necessarily distinguished from cheaters and swindlers by members of the late medieval elite, and texts describing their practices are often classified together as the "forbidden arts." Three salient features of medieval hagiography are the handling of the saintly ego, the experiences of the saints, and the conception of saintly time as paradoxical. Grace and virtue, in the medieval mind, are perceived as gifts from God. Medieval German dramatic conventions stem directly from hagiographic conventions contemporary to these miracle plays. The new understanding of Sammmelhandschriften has provided powerful tools for the study of single medieval texts diachronically, during their period of active transmission.
