The new spiritual love was not without its caricatures. Famous in
Provence for many strange exploits, committed in order to please his
lady, was the talented Peire Vidal. On one occasion he caused himself to
be sewn into a wolfskin and ran about the fields; but he was set upon by
dogs and so badly mangled that he nearly succumbed to his wounds. He was
an insufferable braggart, but never had any success in love. The prince
of caricatures, however, was the German knight and minnesinger, Ulrich
of Lichtenstein. He is responsible for a novel in prose, entitled _The
Service of Woman_, which is faintly reminiscent of Goethe's _Werther_.
As a page he commenced his glorious career by drinking the water in
which his lady had washed her hands; later on he caused his upper lip to
be amputated because it displeased his mistress, for "whatever she
dislikes in me, I, too, hate." On another occasion he cut off one of his
fingers and used it, set in gold, as a clasp for a volume of his poems
which he sent to her.
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