Albrecht Classen received his PhD from the University of Virginia, USA, in 1986. He has a broad range of research interests covering the history of German and European literature from about 800 to 1600. He has currently published 132 books and well over 810 articles dealing with comparative issues, gender topics, environmental concerns, and cultural historical themes. His most recent publications are Prostitution in Medieval and Early Modern Literature (2021), Charlemagne in Medieval German and Dutch Literature (2021), Tracing the Trails in the Medieval World (2021), Wisdom from the European Middle Ages (2022), The Secret in Medieval Literature (2022), Globalism in the Middle Ages and the Early Modern Age (ed., 2023), and Der Niederrheinische Orientbericht, c. 1350 (trans., 2024). A new book on court criticism and evil kings in medieval literature appeared in 2024. In 2017, he received the rank of Grand Knight Commander of the Most Noble Order of the Three Lions.