The so-called Chronicles of popes and emperors were widespread in the High and Late Middle Ages. The innumerable manuscripts that carry such historical works still bear witness to this. These historiographical writings offer historical knowledge in a compact format, but are by no means merely sober, compiled compendia, but hold a considerable variety in form, design, and content. Although they are well known, they have not yet been duly examined by research. In addition to editorial efforts, interest has so far focused primarily on the widely copied and used works such as the Chronicon of the Dominican Martin of Troppau (d. 1278) or the Flores temporum of a Franciscan from the South-West of the Empire (see, e.g., the studies of Anna Dorothee von den Brincken and Heike Johanna Mierau). The older Chronica pontificum et imperatorum, however, still await a detailed appraisal, as Martin’s chronicle has overshadowed them.
The conference, therefore, aims to focus on the contexts of origin, contents and transmission of these chronicles in order to work out the commonalities and differences and thus open up the genre more comprehensively than hitherto. Contributions on a single or a bundle of chronicles of popes and emperors, evaluating the manuscript tradition, are therefore welcome. How productive such a recourse to the material legacies can be (within the framework of interdisciplinary undertakings) has recently been demonstrated for universal chronicles.
Regarding the contexts of production and the contents of the works, the authors, their motivations, and intentions, but also their sources come into view. For example, the “Martinschronik” and the Flores temporum originate from a Mendicant milieu, but other chronicles of this genre were not only written by mendicants. Thus, they were already written even before St. Dominic and St. Francis walked the earth. Moreover, subsequently, works can be attributed to other environments. So, who put such a chronicon on parchment or on paper? Were clerics the only or primary authors of this historiographical genre, or did laymen also compose such writings? Is it possible to determine—for example, based on text-immanent indications, the choice of language or the tradition—what motivated them and for which audience they wrote? The historical knowledge transported is also of interest: What is reported beyond the framework of popes and emperors? Is it possible to identify concrete models despite similarities in content, which often make clear identification difficult? Usually, older works of this genre were used for new adaptations.
Another focus should be on the manuscript tradition, i.e. the layout of the chronicles, their embedding in the codices and their transmission. The appearance of the Chronica pontificum et imperatorum varies. Frequent use was made of the synchronistic tabular form. While early tabular testimonies placed the parallel series of popes and emperors next to each other on one page, Martin of Troppau used a double-page layout. Numerous codices also hand down mixed strands that only loosely follow or lift the chronology. Not infrequently, various graphic elements were used for quicker orientation. What does the respective mise en page and mise en texte look like? What does this in turn reveal about the intentions and skills of the producers? It also needs to be clarified whether the chronicles were conceived as stand-alone texts or as part of miscellanies and what purpose they served in the overall structure of a miscellany codex. Are they handed down as autographs or copies, in one or more codices? What can be said about reception and circulation of such a chronicle?
The conference is organised by the Department of Medieval and Early Modern History at University of Siegen. It will take place on 7-8 June 2024 as a hybrid conference (on site in Siegen and online via Webex). Interested researchers from the historical sciences and other disciplines such as literary studies or art history are encouraged to submit an abstract of max. 250 words for a presentation of approx. 25-minute on a single or a bundle of chronicles of popes and emperors (or works with only one of the two strands) in German, English, Italian, French or Spanish to giuseppe.cusa(at)uni-siegen.de by 30 September 2023. The papers will be selected by mid-October 2023. The costs for travel and accommodation most probably can be covered only in part. A publication of the conference papers is planned—subject to the positive evaluation of the conference.