Governance, transition management, and the memory of an ecclesiastical corporation: The literacy of the Bamberg cathedral chapter in the early modern period

• Applicants: Privatdozent Dr. Andreas Flurschütz da Cruz; Professor Dr. Mark Häberlein
• Subject Area: Early Modern History
• Term: since 2020
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 438678725

So far, research on the ecclesiastical territories of the Holy Roman Empire has largely focused on the bishops as their secular and spiritual rulers. In the case of the bishopric of Bamberg, moreover, the concentration on bishops who hailed from the house of Schönborn is particularly noticeable. This state of the research contrasts with the hitherto neglected or underestimated role of the cathedral chapters, which are frequently considered as retarding moments and impediments to ecclesiastical reforms and modern statehood. Due to the relatively minor scholarly interest in the cathedral chapters, their often exceptional archival records, which allow researchers to close gaps in the records of the episcopal chancelleries (in early modern Bamberg as elsewhere), have hardly been explored. Against this background, the current project aims at exploring central periods in the history of the Bamberg cathedral chapter (1520–1622, 1753–1806) in two dissertations which employ innovative praxeological methods of the history of government and administration.On the basis of intensive preliminary research, we put forward the hypothesis that the cathedral chapter not only served to control the bishops and share their governing powers, but used its manifold jurisdictional rights to develop its own tradition of literacy, which eventually formed the genuine memory of the bishopric – a memory which transcended the rules of individual bishops and provided for continuity. This role as an agency of continuity is particularly evident during the periods in which the cathedral chapter managed the transition from one episcopate to the next.After the completion of the two dissertations, the applicants plan a comprehensive modern survey of the Bamberg cathedral chapter in cooperation with the "Germania Sacra."

• DFG Programme: Research Grants