Romedio Schmitz-Esser

Romedio Schmitz-Esser (* 1978 in Hamburg ) is a German historian and cultural scientist . From 2017 to 2020 he was professor for general history of the Middle Ages and historical auxiliary sciences at the University of Graz and from 2018 head of the institute for history at this university. In October 2020 he will take over the W3 professorship for Medieval History with a focus on the Late Middle Ages at the Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg .

Life

After graduating from the Sankt-Ansgar-Schule in Hamburg, Schmitz-Esser studied history and art history at the University of Innsbruck from 1998 to 2005 . Schmitz-Esser has been a freelancer at the Austrian Academy of Sciences since 2002 and, together with Werner Köfler, published the first edition volume of the Tyrolean inscriptions in the Vienna series of German inscriptions . In 2004 he received a scholarship from the Austrian Historical Institute in Rome. In 2005, with a work supervised by Josef Riedmann and Klaus Brandstätter on the subject of Arnold von Brescia in the mirror of eight centuries of reception. An example of Europe's handling of the medieval story of humanism today doctorate . From 2005 to 2008 he headed one of the largest municipal archives in western Austria as a town historian for the town of Hall in Tirol . In 2006/2007 he taught epigraphy at the University of Innsbruck.

From 2008 to 2014 he was a research assistant or senior assistant to Knut Görich at the History Department of the University of Munich . In 2010/11 he received a grant from the Fritz Thyssen Foundation for research stays in Paris ( German Historical Institute and École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales ) and London ( German Historical Institute ). From 2011 to 2012 he was a Feodor Lynen Fellow of the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation at Duke University in North Carolina . In 2013 he completed his habilitation and received the license to teach the subjects of medieval history and historical auxiliary sciences at the University of Munich. In March 2014 Romedio Schmitz-Esser taught as a short time lecturer at Jinan University in Guangzhou, China .

From September 2014 to December 2016 he was director of the German Study Center in Venice and visiting researcher at the Università Ca 'Foscari in Venice. From January 2017 to 2020 he was professor for general history of the Middle Ages and historical auxiliary sciences at the Institute for History at the University of Graz, which he headed from 2018 to 2020. October 1, 2020, it has to succeed Bernd Schneidmüller a W3 Professorship of Medieval History with emphasis Late Middle Ages at the Ruprecht-Karls-University of Heidelberg adopted

He is married to the Austrian artist and writer Claudia Schmitz-Esser .

Research priorities

His research focuses on the cultural and mental history of the Middle Ages (body history, heresies ), the history of Italy and the Roman commune ( Arnold von Brescia ), the epigraphy of the Alpine region and the material culture of the Middle Ages.

His dissertation on the reception of the high medieval schismatist Arnold von Brescia historicized the standpoint of historical scholarship vis-à-vis the Middle Ages and showed how judgments about the 12th century were subject to a change that extends to the present due to the controversies in historiography , in theater and in art which was only partially influenced by the sources preserved. The work pays particular attention to the discussions about Arnold von Brescia in the Risorgimento . In addition to the history of the Roman commune, it is particularly the Venetian history that Schmitz-Esser researched. Among other things, he proposed a new reading of the Peace of Venice in 1177. At the German Study Center, Schmitz-Esser initiated the research focus "kinesis - city and movement", which critically examines the role of Venice in the context of global history .

Schmitz-Esser's habilitation thesis was published in 2014 under the title Der Leichnam im Mittelalter. Embalming, cremation and the cultural construction of the dead body in the series Medieval Research at Thorbecke-Verlag. In it he combines the knowledge of medieval archeology with the written sources on dealing with the dead body in the Middle Ages. The work was received extensively due to its extensive elaboration of medieval embalming , medieval burial and the treatment of the cremation penalty. It will be published in English by Harvey Miller at the end of 2019.

The interdisciplinary work of Schmitz-Esser also includes several contributions on significant subjects of medieval history. Together with Roman Deutinger, he questioned the identification of a figure on the portal of Freising Cathedral with Emperor Friedrich Barbarossa and offered a new interpretation of the iconography. A critical examination of the mummified hand and the grave slab of Rudolf von Rheinfelden in Merseburg resulted in the proposal that the monument should be built in the early 12th century, i.e. much later than previously assumed.

In 2007 he curated the exhibition Der Taler um 1500. A Hall coin between rich and poor in the Hall in Tirol mint, since 2019 he has been on the scientific advisory board for the new Schlossberg Museum in Graz . Together with Jan Keupp , he initiated the international DFG network "New old objectivity: Reality in the Middle Ages from a cultural-historical perspective".

Honors

In 2003 Schmitz-Esser was awarded the “Richard & Emmy Bahr Foundation in Schaffhausen” scholarship awards. In 2005 he received the Theodor Körner Prize for Science and Art for his dissertation . For his habilitation thesis, Schmitz-Esser was awarded the Carl Erdmann Prize in 2016 by the Association of Historians in Germany and the International Humanities Translation Prize from the German Book Trade Association.

Fonts (selection)

Romedio Schmitz-Esser is co-editor of the series Supplements to Mediaevistics , Forum for Historical Research. Middle Ages , gave the ranks Venetiana and Forum Hall in Tirol. News about the history of the city . He is on the scientific advisory board of the magazines Mediaevistik and MEMO - Medieval and Early Modern Material Culture Online .

• The corpse in the Middle Ages. Embalming, cremation and the cultural construction of the dead body (= Medieval Research. Vol. 48), Thorbecke, Ostfildern 2014, ISBN 978-3-7995-4367-5 .
• with Knut Görich (Ed.): BarbarossaBilder. Contexts of origin, horizons of expectation, contexts of use. Schnell & Steiner, Regensburg 2014, ISBN 978-3-7954-2901-0 .
• Venezia nel contesto global. Venice in a global context. Viella, Rome 2018, ISBN 978-8-8672-8760-4 .
• with Werner Köfler: The inscriptions of the political districts of Imst, Landeck and Reutte (= The German inscriptions . Vol. 82 = The German inscriptions. Vienna series. Vol. 7 = The inscriptions of the federal state of Tyrol. Vol. 1). Publishing house of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, Vienna 2013, ISBN 978-3-7001-7068-6 .
• Arnold von Brescia in the mirror of eight centuries of reception. An example of Europe's handling of medieval history from humanism to today (= history. Vol. 74). Lit, Vienna et al. 2007, ISBN 978-3-8258-9469-6 .
• The taler around 1500. A Hall coin between rich and poor. Catalog. With contributions by Alexander Zanesco and George McGlynn. In: Haller Münzblätter. Vol. 7, No. 9/10/11, 2007, ZDB -ID 519329-1 , pp. 207-284.
• with Verena Friedrich: Parish Church of St. Nicholas and chapels. City of Hall in Tirol - political district Innsbruck Land - Diocese of Innsbruck - Dean's office Hall in Tirol. = Hall in Tirol, parish church St. Nikolaus (= Peda art guide. No. 665). Kunstverlag Peda, Passau 2007, ISBN 978-3-89643-665-8 .
• Hall in Tirol. Then and now. Com'era e Com'è. Past and Present. Ayer y Hoy. Published by the Hall in Tirol Photo Club. Ablinger.Garber, Hall in Tirol 2006, ISBN 3-9501945-9-2 .
• with Alexander Zanesco (ed.): Forum Hall in Tirol: News on the history of the city. 3 volumes. Ablinger.Garber, Hall in Tirol 2006–2012;
  • Volume 1 (= Nearchos. Special issue 14). 2006, ISBN 3-9501945-8-4 ;
  • Volume 2 (= Nearchos. Special issue 16). 2008, ISBN 978-3-9502285-4-0 ;
  • Volume 3 (= Nearchos. Special issue 19). 2012, ISBN 978-3-9502728-9-5 .

Web links

• Literature by and about Romedio Schmitz-Esser in the catalog of the German National Library
• Site by Romedio Schmitz-Esser at the University of Graz
• List of publications by Romedio Schmitz-Esser

Remarks

1. ↑ Review by Jörg Schwarz, sehepunkte 10,2010 ; Review by Jens Bunkert, QFiAB 88, 2008
2. ^ Romedio Schmitz-Esser: Friedrich Barbarossa on a visit: Between guest list and perception of the peace of Venice. In: Romedio Schmitz-Esser, Knut Görich and Jochen Johrendt (eds.): Venice as a stage. Organization, staging and perception of visits to European rulers. Regensburg 2017, pp. 79–97.
3. ^ Romedio Schmitz-Esser (ed.): Venezia nel contesto global. Venice in a global context. Rome 2018.
4. ^ Review by Jörg Rogge, HSozKult ; Review by Katharina Koitz, sehepunkte 17, 2017 ; Review by Joachim Whaley, German History 33, 2015 ; Review by Alexander Berner, ZHF 43, 2016 Review by Michail Bojcov, MIÖG 124, 2016 ; Review by Jean-Claude Schmitt, Francia-Recensio 3, 2016 ; Review by Benjamin van der Linde, Mitteilungen der DGAMN 28, 2015
5. ^ Barbarossa pictures. Creation contexts, expectation horizons, contexts of use , ed. by Knut Görich and Romedio Schmitz-Esser, Regensburg 2014, pp. 238–259.
6. ^ Romedio Schmitz-Esser: The severed hand of Rudolf von Rheinfelden. In: Robert Jütte, Romedio Schmitz-Esser (ed.): Hand use. Stories by hand from the Middle Ages and early modern times. Paderborn 2019, pp. 23–38. Report on the conference portrait - memorial - representation on artist with Schmitz-Esser's lecture on the grave slab.