Skip to main content

IMC 2014: Sessions

Session 612: Three Different Views of Empire in Forthcoming Monumenta Editions: Annals, Universal Chronicles, and Charters

Tuesday 8 July 2014, 11.15-12.45

Sponsor:Monumenta Germaniae Historica, München
Organiser:Karoline Dominika Döring, Historisches Seminar, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München
Moderator/Chair:Karl Borchardt, Monumenta Germaniae Historica, München
Paper 612-aGubernacula regni suscepit: The Vocabulary of Power in Early Medieval Annals from Lake Constance
(Language: English)
Roland Zingg, Historisches Seminar, Universität Zürich
Index terms: Historiography - Medieval, Local History, Manuscripts and Palaeography, Monasticism
Paper 612-bDifferent Roles of Empire(s) in the Universal Chronicle of Frutolf of Michelsberg, 1103: Historical Functions, 'Contemporary' Observations, Philosophical, and Theological Implications
(Language: English)
Christian Lohmer, _Monumenta Germaniae Historica_, München
Index terms: Historiography - Medieval, Manuscripts and Palaeography, Monasticism, Religious Life
Paper 612-cTo Be King of an Empire: The Notion of 'Empire' in the Charters and Letters of the Hohenstaufen King Philip, 1198-1208
(Language: English)
Andrea Rzihacek-Bedö, Institut für Mittelalterforschung, Österreichische Akademie der Wissenschaften, Wien
Index terms: Administration, Charters and Diplomatics, Manuscripts and Palaeography, Politics and Diplomacy
Abstract

Paper -a: Annals are the written sources that are most characteristic of the early Middle Ages. They are not known for their eloquence and usually don't tell us much about the background of the 'facts' they report. But events concerning the realm or the empire were so important that there is a good chance to find a short report of them in the annals. Even with their reduced vocabulary the writers of early medieval annals could express their opinion. What terms did they use to speak about the empire (or realm) and its rulers? What can we learn about the way empire, emperors and reign were understood at that time?

Paper -b: The birth and vanishing of subsequent empires form the framework of the universal chronicle of the Franconian monk, Frutolf (1103). This paper wants to follow Frutolf's dealing with and commenting on this traditional presentation of historic changes. This first middle European world chronicle offers insights in the philosophy of historical traditions and their transmission into pre-scholastic views of the role of empires.

Paper -c: In 1198 the major part of the nobles of the Holy Roman Empire elected Philip, younger brother of the late Henry VI, king. As the Pope rejected his election and denied him to be crowned emperor in Rome, Philip found himself in a tedious and violent struggle for the throne against the Guelph Otto. This paper aims at investigating if and in what way the divergence between Philip's claims to the imperial throne and the political reality becomes apparent when taking a closer look at the use and absence of the notion of 'imperium' in Philip's charters and letters.