Three other texts have been attributed to Flores
with reasonable certainty: (1) La coronación de la
señora Gracisla, (2) a short epistolary exchange be-
tween Tristan and Isolde, and (3) a fragmentary royal
chronicle, the Crónica incompleta de los Reyes Católi-
cos. Once thought to be artistically fl awed, Gracisla is in
fact a subtle consolatio written for Leonor de Acuña, the
eldest daughter of Juan de Acuña, the second count of
Valencia de don Juan, after the failure of her engagement
to Pedro Álvarez Osorio, the third marquis of Astorga
(April 1475). The work’s plot, which relates the experi-
ences of Gracisla, a Castilian maiden, at a beauty contest
sponsored by the king of France, closely follows that of
Grisel, and incorporates a number of allusions to actual
events and individuals from the 1470s.
The Crónica incompleta represents Flores’s offi cial
production as chronicler to the Catholic Monarchs. It
is the most important source of information on his life
and personal attitudes, since it contains circumstantial
evidence of his activities in support of Isabel, most of
which take place around Salamanca between 1475 and
- The extant text of the chronicle is evidently the
copy of a working draft and has numerous gaps and
inconsistencies. Nonetheless, it contains detailed in-
formation found in no other contemporary sources and
has attracted the attention of historians. As a literary
document it has hardly been studied.
Flores’s works are known for their imagination, viv-
idness of expression, and narrative complexity. He is a
representative of a class of humanist knights dedicated to
the ideals of the chivalric lifestyle, including the pursuit
of literature as entertainment for the social elite. He is
indisputably one of late medieval Spain’s most prolifi c
and versatile writers.
Further Reading
Gwara, J.J. “A Study of the Works of Juan de Flores, with a Criti-
cal Edition of La historia de Grisel y Mirabella.” Ph.D. diss.,
Westfi eld College, University of London, 1988.
Matulka, B. The Novels of Juan de Flores and Their European
Diffusion: A Study in Comparative Literature. New York,
- Repr. Geneva, 1974.
Joseph J. Gwara
FOLZ, HANS (ca. 1450–1515)
Hans Folz is generally known in literary history as a
master craftsman, Meistersinger, and carnival play-
wright, and as Hans Sachs’s predecessor in the Nurem-
berg Meistersang and carnival play tradition.
Folz’s first recorded residence was Worms. His
profession as a barber/wound dresser, or barbierer, is
apparent from the signature, or impressum (hans von
wurms bar-wirer), that typically appears in his writ-
ings. In 1459 Folz applied for citizenship in the city of
Nuremberg, and in a Nuremberg council document of
i486 he is referred to as a Meister, a master artisan or
craftsman. In his works, Folz demonstrates an unusual
amount of formal knowledge for an artisan. He shows
a relatively developed understanding of Latin and also
reveals knowledge of academic medicine, alchemy, and
theology in his written work. Folz was one of the most
multifaceted writers of his time. Scholars identify as his
extant work approximately one hundred Meisterlieder,
from twelve to thirty-fi ve carnival plays, forty-eight
fabliaux (poems), and two prose works.
Folz published almost all his work on his own print-
ing press between 1479 and 1488. Most of the surviving
prints are accompanied by woodcuts. He was prob-
ably the earliest Meistersinger to print his own songs,
although only ten survive in print; the others exist in
manuscript. It is possible that Folz intended his press
as a means to a second income.
Folz’s work varies widely in genre and theme, but
was consistently popular at several levels of Nuremberg
society. Records of personal libraries and Folz’s own
dedications reveal that he aspired to, and achieved, an
elite readership in certain works. He addressed other
works directly to lower levels of Nuremberg society.
Folz was one of the earliest authors in the Nuremberg
carnival play tradition, writing plays and participating in
their performance. Scholars have described his uniquely
vehement use of carnival obscenity and scatological
themes, and have described how Folz used the carnival
play medium for an anti-Jewish agenda, revealing a
strategic and political mindset that is apparent in much
of his work.
Folz may have chosen the simple fabliau form (a
rhyme-pair poem of varying length) to express himself
most easily politically, humorously, or didactically. As
his fabliaux are so varied thematically—they include
religious, worldly, political, and traditional themes—one
may deduce that Folz was giving free range to his every
interest in this particular form.
The Meisterlieder (songs created within a guildlike
group, for which Nuremberg was particularly well
known) are primarily on spiritual-religious themes,
especially the Virgin Mary, the Trinity, and the Incarna-
tion. Also noteworthy is a series of songs in which Folz
criticizes his fellow Meistersingers. Early scholarship
identifi es Folz as the author of a far-reaching Meister-
sangsreform “reform” through these songs, but later
scholars deny this and convincingly characterize them
simply as complaints against overregulation by the
Nuremberg Meistersinger society. Other songs form
thematic series as well.
Folz wrote six texts in his capacity as a wound
dresser. The existence of subsequent editions shows that
Folz succeeded in fi nding a popular audience for these
instructional works.FOLZ, HANS