Chair of Medieval History

The Chair of Medieval History covers the full breadth of the Middle Ages in its teaching. Research focuses on intellectual, legal, and constitutional history, and on the cultural history of the fourteenth to sixteenth centuries, including the age of Humanism and the Renaissance. Geographically, the emphasis is particularly on Italy, France, and Germany. The team's projects are characterized by a commitment to fundamental research, the combination of diverse methodological approaches, and the grounding of twenty-first-century questions in historical depth. We discuss and contextualize themes such as justice/equality, normality/exception, authority/obedience, faith/trust, self-interest/common good, and reform. Petra Schulte, Aline Fries, and Noah Weissmüller are involved, alongside their teaching and research, in university governance bodies and external scholarly institutions, such as the Academy of Sciences and Literature in Mainz. The team is completed by Fabian Korinth, a student research assistant, and Michelle Roß, who heads the administrative office.

Closely affiliated with the professorship is the Cusanus Institute, directed by Petra Schulte, which is dedicated to education, reform, and dialogue in the fifteenth century. A central focus is Nicholas of Cusa, born in 1401 in Kues as the son of a merchant, who pursued a career first as a jurist and then as a papal legate, bishop, and cardinal, engaging with the intellectual developments of his time and reflecting on the relationship between humanity and God. Making the renowned book collection of Nicholas of Cusa digitally accessible, cataloguing it, and evaluating it as regional and international cultural heritage are among the Cusanus Institute's current endeavours.

Science communication and public engagement are of particular importance to both the professorship and the Cusanus Institute. Our activities in this area, along with new publications, lectures by guests and team members, excursions, and more, are announced under News, where they are organized by research field. We would also like to draw attention to the projects of Eric Burkart, who was a research associate at the professorship from 2015 to 2022 and during this time established an internationally recognized research focus on medieval martial culture.