Decision-making at the Imperial Chamber Court. Personal notes of the judges in the long 16th century

• Applicant: Professorin Dr. Anette Baumann
• Subject Area: Early Modern History ; Principles of Law and Jurisprudence
• Term: since 2022
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 504451569

The project aims to investigate for the first time the decision-making of the judges at the Imperial Chamber Court based on personal notes of the judges, newly found by the applicant. Due to a lack of sources, this type of investigation has not been possible until now, as the corresponding official protocols were burned in 1689/90. The goal is to develop a more comprehensive understanding of the political function of the law in the formative and high stages of the court in the 16th century, by looking at the decision-making process of its judges. Firstly, the judge’s personal records in relation to the most frequently mentioned and then most topical points of discussion (Procedures, Religion, Subjects and Jews) will be analyzed in combination with other sources. The projects second intention is to make the difficult category of sources, the “judge notes”, more easily accessible to future generations of researchers. To this end the exceptional protocol book by Mathias Neser (judge from 1536-1543) is published as an example in a synoptic presentation, which offers detailed descriptions of the extrajudicial proceedings of the court due to the close connection between the judge and the emperor and his councilors during the time of the Schmalkaldic League.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants