This study isan analysis of the facets of compassion in Wolfram's Parzival, which was written at the beginning of the thirteenth century. In order to grasp the actual meaning of compassio during this time, the analysis of the epic poem is preceded by additional examples from the High Middle Ages. These examples consist of excerpts taken from clerical Latin literature of the twelfth and early thirteenth centuries as well as from the "Elisabeth Psalter", which contains numerous illustrations and was prepared during this time for the court of Hermann I of Thuringia (1190–1217).