A medieval German song in Middle High German from about 1275, as it is written down in the Codex Manesse from the early 14th century. The performing artists here are Michael Posch and Ensemble Unicorn.

The man who wrote this song was called Friedrich von Sonnenburg: he probably hailed from Sonnenburg Castle in the Puster Valley, nowadays Südtirol/South Tyrol, Italy. His family probably was assigned to the posts of the ministerialis class, lower nobles in service of higher nobles vaguely comparable to high-ranking bureaucrats. Nevertheless, reading his songs/poems reveals that he seems to have lived as a travelling artist. 73 surviving and relatively long stanzas are attributed to him, the largest parts of which can be found in the famed Codex Manesse (26 stanzas), the Kleine Heidelberger Liederhandschrift A (10) and above all in the Jenaer Liederhandschrift J (62). In addition, five of his stanzas have survived in the Codex Sangallensis 857, a South Tyrolean manuscript. Four long "Sangspruch" songs (elaborate songs dealing with complex issues) are attributed to him, which were also adopted by other well-known singers, such as Konrad von Würzburg. In his songs, he dealt with all topics typical for his age, including religion and politics, but his greatest passion seems to have been singing about the life and use of a travelling artist like himself for the sake of culture, education, and entertainment.

He is assumed to have been active from ~1245 to ~1275, with his estimated death being between 1275 and 1287. Some songs may give a hint that he participated at a battle against the Magyars/Hungarians, which was led by Ottokar II of Bohemia in 1271. He also wrote about the coronation of Ottokar's rival Rudolf von Habsburg in ~1273.
In his cover image in the Codex Manesse, he is seen with two young boys, as if he is some sort of educator/teacher. Fittingly, this song seems to combine this trope with his aforementioned passion for singing about the use of singing as an art: it is both a praise of art and a piece of criticism directed at the noble youth, whose passion for art (or rather lack thereof) doesn't seem to have pleased him. This song actually is only the last of four stanzas of a song that is titled/begins with "Got herre âne anegenge got und ouch âne ende gar" (God, Lord without beginning and also without end).

Despite not enjoying the fame of fellow artists like Walther von der Vogelweide or Konrad von Würzburg today, he remains respected especially in South Tyrol. He also enjoyed considerable fame during and after his life, as he was considered one of the "Twelve old masters" of the Meistersang period in the late 14th to 16th century, which followed the medieval courtly Minnesang tradition Friedrich himself was part of.

One more thing: Germans might have been confused about the use of "hübesch" here, as it is similar to modern "hübsch" (pretty, beautiful), but translated as "courtly" (which would be "höfisch" today). Well, that's precisely where the word comes from: it originally means "befitting to courtly standards". As you can imagine, these standards were high - and therefore, it was good if you could meet them. Medieval art was overwhelmingly a phenomenon of noble courts after all. So, in a way, that legacy lives on in an everyday word like "hübsch".

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●▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬♬❈ LYRICS ❈♬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬●
Ich sünge gerne hübeschen sang·
Und seit ouch guote mære·
Und hette ouch hübescher fuoge pfliht·
Swâ ich bî liuten bin·
Mîn munt iu allen des vergiht·
Daz ich wol hübescher wære·
Und hette ich hübeschen habedank·
Ich hette ouch wîsen sin·
Ich sünge ouch wol von minnen liet·
Und von des meien touwen·
Wie kûme sich lieb von liebe schied·
Ein friunt von sîner frowen·
Dis sünge ich alles und ouch mê·
Nu lasse ichs umbe daz·
Zuht tuot den edelen iungen wê·
Und hübescher sang
Und tuot in schelten wîb bî wîne bas·