Germany: Tannhauser in the robes of a teutonic knight, from the Codex Manesse, c. 1310

Tannhauser (died after 1265) was a German songwriter and poet. Historically, his biography is obscure beyond the poetry, which dates between 1245 and 1265. Socially, he presumed familial lineage with the old nobles, the Lords of Thannhausen, residents in their castle at Tannhausen, near Ellwangen and Dinkelsuhl; moreover, the historical Tannhausen castle, is at Neumarkt in der Oberpfalz. Tannhauser was an active courtier at the court of Frederick II of Austria (1230-1246), and the Codex Manesse (1340) depicts him clad in the Teutonic Order habit, suggesting he might have fought the Fifth Crusade (1213-21).