On the basis of some Volksbücher, the author demonstrates how identity models of chivalric derivation enjoy a continuous hegemony, also in view of the radical transformations that interested European society in the mid-15th century. The privileged reference to the feudal/manorial environment fulfils a defensive function with regard to the overwhelming character of such transformations and to the turmoil that the political and territorial safety was experiencing because of the conflicts with the Ottoman Empire. The Volksbuch becomes the object of a conservative projection aimed at minimising the impact of economic and social changes, the effects of which extend throughout the 18th century and utterly influence the reception of this genre.
