Color plates scanned from the Taschen Facsimile of Maximilian I's Theuerdank, 1517.
Written in the style of a medieval epic poem, Theuerdank is a fanciful and allegorical autobiography of Emperor Maximilian I.
Chapters are loosely based on events from the Emperor's life and tell the story of his alter ego "Theuerdank" and the various perils he overcomes on his journey to marry "Erenreich", Maximilian's fictional character for Mary of Burgundy.
The descriptions I give for each chapter are paraphrased from Stephen Fussel's "Emperor Maximilian and the Media of His Day, The Theuerdank of 1517, a Cultural-Historical Introduction".
A messanger presents Queen Ehrenreich's letter to Theuerdank
Chapter 8 tells of the messenger's journey eastwards into the land of the rising sun in search of Theuerdank. After being shown the way by a pious man the messenger finds the hero and presents to him the letter from the Queen. Theuerdank is delighted and accepts the invitation with enthusiasm; but as he has learned from the old chronicles and histories, he wants to first earn the Queen's favour through knightly and virtuous deeds. The messenger heads home with Theuerdank's positive reply and many generous gifts and delivers the good news to the queen. The queen is delighted by Theuerdank's reply and awaits her hero.