Completed Book Projects

[Translate to Englisch:] Edition Loos Cover gerahmt

Edition Cornelius Loos: De vera et falsa magia (1592) (Edited by Deitz/ Franz/ Voltmer)

The manuscript De vera et falsa magia by the Catholic controversial theologian and Counter-Reformation agitator Cornelius Loos—who fled from Gouda—was discovered in 1886 by George Lincoln Burr in the City Library of Trier. The surviving text, limited to the first two books, contains radical criticism of beliefs in the devil, witchcraft, and magic, as well as witch trials. The treatise was banned, and Loos was forced to recant his theses during a heresy trial at St. Maximin. This important testimony of resistance, preserved in only a single manuscript, is now available in a Latin-German critical edition, based on the preliminary work of Othon Scholer and edited by Luc Deitz, Gunther Franz, and Rita Voltmer. In the extensive introduction, Rita Voltmer presents the life and work of Cornelius Loos, the context of the treatise—written during the Trier and St. Maximin witch persecutions (1582–1596)—and its reception history. This editio princeps makes a significant contribution to the study of European witch persecutions and their critics.

[Translate to Englisch:] Cover Quellenpublikationen GRhG II

Quellenpublikationen der Gesellschaft für Rheinische Geschichtskunde (Edited by Laux, 2025)

This volume presents the results of a 2022 conference marking the anniversary of the founding of the Society for Rhenish History (GRhG). It examines the conditions surrounding the creation, development, and reception of the GRhG’s source publications. Nine individual work analyses and two overarching essays offer insights into the broad thematic and methodological spectrum of the GRhG’s editorial work. The volume also contributes to historiography by placing selected editions, their editors, and the GRhG itself in their historical contexts. It raises awareness of the historicity of source publications and critically examines them in relation to broader scholarly and societal frameworks..

 

[Translate to Englisch:] Pabst-Cover

Die Gesellschaft für Rheinische Geschichtskunde (1881–1981) (Pabst / Edited by Laux, 2022)

This book explores the history of the “Society for Rhenish History,” founded in 1881—effectively a historical commission dedicated primarily to the publication of historical sources from the Prussian Rhine Province.
A notable feature of the Society, especially in its early years, was its sponsorship by a group of upper-middle-class and sometimes noble dignitaries who maintained cautious distance from the Prussian and national governments.
The publication is based on a manuscript written up to around 1980 by Klaus Pabst, a Cologne-based historian of science and contemporary history. It has been significantly revised and updated editorially and in terms of content.

„Die gescheiterte Universitätsgründung in Trier 1945–1948“ (Laux, 2022)

This monograph reconstructs the post-WWII efforts to establish a university in Trier, based on French administrative records and a private archive. Driven primarily—but not exclusively—by conservative ideals, the initiative aimed to rival the University of Mainz, which opened in May 1946. Planning had progressed surprisingly far by around 1948, including recruitment efforts, but ultimately failed due to resistance from the French occupation administration and the independent actions of the local Trier actors.

Quellen zur Geschichte der Stadt Trier (1815–1850) (Blazejewski / Laux / Schweisthal)

Compiled by three authors, this source collection presents 250 documents over nearly 1,000 pages related to Trier's urban history during the early decades of Prussian rule in the region.
Modeled as an anthology, the volume prints mostly archival sources grouped into 20 thematic sections, each briefly introduced. Created for the 2018 Karl Marx exhibition in Trier, it correlates with the Trier “poverty map” (Armenkarte). It is the first in a new series. A second volume by Dr. Jort Blazejewski, titled „Quellen zur Geschichte der Stadt Trier im Zeitalter der Französischen Revolution und Napoleons (1789–1814)", followed in 2024.

Herren und Hexen in der Nordeifel. Darstellung – Edition – Vergleiche (Voltmer)

This publication on the witch persecutions in Schmidtheim (Eifel) from 1597 to 1635 combines a monographic analytical section with an edition of court records and various appendices. The edition is intended for interdisciplinary use and seeks not only to document the regional historical context of early modern witch trials but also to meet linguistic and philological standards.