Inheriting among the Upper Nobility in the Empire (1150-1250). Law, practices, negotiations, ed. by Jürgen Dendorfer and Jörg Peltzer

• Applicant: Professor Dr. Jürgen Dendorfer
• Subject Area: Medieval History
• Term: Funded in 2025
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 554684812

This volume is the result of a conference organised by the Konstanzer Arbeitskreis für Mittelalterliche Geschichte. Thanks to their long lead time and structured preparation, these conferences make it possible to produce anthologies of high quality and thematic coherence. In preparation for this volume, the contributors were given the thematic outline and a set of questions well in advance with the aim to produce a work of fundamental research of enduring value as a handbook. The history of the lordships of the upper aristocracy in the Empire in the high Middle Ages (1150-1250) is characterised by the fact that their existence was threatened in the absence of a male heir. As a rule, it was impossible to pass on fiefs and allods in their entirety to daughters. As a consequence, even relatively well-established lordships could be dissolved. Up to now, these ruptures have been viewed either from the perspective of the extinct dynasties, and thus interpreted as the failure of the establishment of long-lasting lordships, or from that of the winners, who succeeded in integrating the inheritance into their lordships. The normative basis for these inheritances, namely the separation of personal property and fiefs and a strong claim of dukes and bishops to receive back fiefs from deceased vassals, seemed undisputed. In contrast, the volume focusses on the process of the inheritance itself. We assume that the legal basis was not as clear as previously thought. The distinction between allod and fief, for example, is questioned by scholars, and it was only in the period in question that new normative ideas (feudal law, separation of property and possession) emerged as a result of the discussion of these questions in the schools. We consider, therefore, the inheritance cases as open situations in which ‘rights’ could be an argument with which claims were established, but whose fulfilment was not guaranteed. Conflicts of succession thus provide a variety of insights into the political culture of the 12th and 13th centuries. They reveal forms of conflict management and negotiation processes; they provide crucial information about the varied roles played by widows and daughters and hence the room of manoeuvre of aristocratic women. Finally, differentiations in inheritance law, for example between imperial princes and counts, offer a window into the formation of aristocratic ranks. The contributions in this volume thus examine major changes in political culture in the transition from the 12th to the 13th century from a new angle. Ten in-depth studies, covering various regions of the Empire and following the questions provided at the out-set, provide a truly comparative picture allowing us to identify regional variants and their entanglements. The case studies are framed by a methodological and historiographical setting developed in the first two chapters and a concise summary highlighting the main results and future avenues of research.

• DFG Programme: Publication Grants