Paper -a:
The Middle High German Kaiserchronik (Book of the Emperors) is the first extensive world history in the vernacular in Germany. The paper will show how 12th century theories of translatio imperii are re-shaped in the text in order to follow a didactic purpose as well as a political agenda: imparting the knowledge of the history of the empire in the light of good and bad rulers in order to stress the importance of a moral conduct to the reign for all Christendom. Moreover, integrating imperial history in salvation history (e.g. Daniel’s vision) emphasizes the responsibility of the emperor for the entire world in preventing the arrival of the antichrist.
The Kaiserchronik has been exceptionally succesfull and has clearly influenced German chronicles of the late Middle Ages. It will be shown how the interface between translatio imperii theories and didactic discourses in the vernacular were used to indicate the repercussions the rule of the empire has for the entire world.
Paper -b:
Bonaventure is widely studied as a theologian and as a spiritual doctor. He is rarely studied for his political thought, let alone his views of 'empire'. Yet, this paper will do exactly that. This paper will argue that this influential, minister-general of the Franciscans holds positions that modern historians of medieval political thought have identified as 'political Augustinianism', i.e., the tendency to assimilate the secular order into the sacred and to subordinate the 'state' to the church. In particular, it will be argued that he supports papal claims to the rule of Christendom against claims of emperor or king.
Paper -c:
This paper reconsiders secular rule in the Middle English alliterative poem Cleanness. Critics have tended to focus on the poet's treatment of the court, especially as a model for divine order. Yet Cleanness contains a much wider range of political entities, including the household, city, and empire, the last of which I argue is central to the poet's conception of human agency in a radically contingent world. Cleanness explores the complexities of agency through two distinct and even contradictory treatments of empire: as preeminent example of human rebellion and as efficient cause of divine justice. The alternation between these treatments allows the poet not only to develop the broadly penitential theme of the poem but also to work out more specific philosophical conceptions about the workings of a divinely ordered universe.
| 