Academy funding
Documentation of the Medieval Imperial Era
The Regesta imperii project documents the deeds of emperors and popes from the year 800 to the early 16th century.
In the year 800, Charlemagne, one of the most important rulers of the Middle Ages, was crowned emperor. The Regesta imperii project focuses on his deeds and those of subsequent rulers up to the early 16th century. Researchers in eleven subprojects at seven locations in Germany, including Ruhr University Bochum, are documenting the deeds of the emperors and their entourage. They are collecting all sources that provide information about the rulers’ activities, arranging the information in chronological order, and recording how research has dealt with it. In addition to the secular rulers from the Carolingians to Maximilian I, the popes of the early and high Middle Ages are also part of the collection.
To this end, a form established in the 19th century is used: the regesta, i.e., a summary of sources describing the deeds of the rulers and including all persons and places mentioned in connection.
This ancient method has developed new effectiveness in the age of digital access. Regesta are now research data that enable direct access to sources and available scientific publications. The Regesta Imperii thus provide a unique research tool for scientists worldwide. In addition, the more than three million titles of specialist literature used to date have been recorded in a digital library catalog, which in turn is linked to the Karlsruhe virtual catalog, which can be used to determine the locations of books in German libraries. The project has thus developed the largest medieval OPAC worldwide, which is considered international standard.
In the current funding period, the project team is pushing ahead with new evaluations and the digitization of the information gathered so far. The work has been funded by the Academies’ Program since the 1990s. Most recently, in 2015, funding was extended for 18 years with a total funding volume of around 20 million euros. The project is embedded in the Academy of Sciences and Literature in Mainz, the Union of Academies, and the international academy association Union Académique Internationale. Coordination is based in Mainz.
