Kaiserchronik: Literature and History in the German Middle Ages

The Kaiserchronik (Chronicle of Emperors) is one of the great monuments of medieval literature. Chronicling the reigns of Roman and German kings and emperors, from the earliest times to the twelfth century, it projects a magnificent historical sweep in which the German-speaking peoples and their rulers feature as actors on the stage of ancient history and heirs to the legacy of Rome as capital of the Christian West.
Completed around 1150 in Germany, the Kaiserchronik was written at the same time as two works of dynastically inspired history from Britain and the Anglo-Norman world: Geoffrey of Monmouth's History of the Kings of Britain, famous for sparking off the medieval fascination with the figure of King Arthur, and the Roman de Brut, an adaptation of Geoffrey's history by Jersey-born poet Wace. Like the Kaiserchronik, these histories recount the exploits of kings and rulers in chronological order, and use the past to justify contemporary political arrangements and foster a sense of cultural identity. Yet the Kaiserchronik is nothing like as well known as Geoffrey and Wace, despite the fact that it is the first verse chronicle to have been written in any European language and despite its importance for literary, linguistic and historical studies alike. This project will secure for the work the profile it deserves.
The project team is based in Cambridge and assembles internationally outstanding experts in the fields of medieval literature, language and history from the UK and Germany. Over five years, they will produce the first-ever complete edition of the Kaiserchronik: not just the original, twelfth-century version, but also the two major reworkings of it that were made around 1200 and 1250 - testimony to the work's continuing relevance for a medieval readership. The three versions will be printed side by side, and in order to make the German text accessible to scholars worldwide, it will be accompanied by an English translation, plus full introduction and commentary (also in English). As well as the scholarly edition in three volumes, totalling around 1800 pages, the project will produce an inexpensive single-volume edition for student use.
In addition to the editorial work, the project team will research the literary and historical background to the chronicle: the twelfth-century context from which it emerged, and the reasons for its enduring appeal over the following four and a half centuries (the last known manuscript dates from 1594). The results will flow into the introduction and commentary of the edition, and will also be presented to a wider medieval research community at international conferences and in special issues of academic journals. Taken together, the team's research findings will yield a complete understanding of the extraordinary cultural resonance of the Kaiserchronik over such a long period of time, and offer a transformative reassessment of the place of history-writing in the development of German literature in the Middle Ages.
Fifty original manuscripts of the Kaiserchronik - an unusually high number for a work of this kind - have survived. Because of their geographical and chronological spread, they constitute a precious data source in particular for literary and linguistic scholars. To make them fully exploitable, the project will digitize all the manuscripts and place them on open access via the Digital Library of Medieval Manuscripts, Sheridan Libraries, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore. This site, which (in collaboration with the Bibliothèque Nationale de France) already hosts the digital manuscripts of the most famous medieval love allegory, the Roman de la Rose, will guarantee sustained international exposure for the Kaiserchronik and the project.

Who will benefit from this research?

The most immediate impact will be on researchers in medieval German studies, medieval history and linguistic history, who will benefit from (almost fully) open access to the project's primary outputs. Beyond the academic community, we envisage benefit for (a) UK schools; (b) UK publics; (c) UK media; (d) publics and media in the German-speaking world.

How will these constituencies benefit?

(a) Schools. We intend to enrich the teaching of German, French, Classics and History, primarily in years 12 and 13, and to expand the horizons of those studying these subjects by showing the connections between them. A variety of school formats will aim to spark interest in philology, interpretation and comparative literature and history. The English-language apparatus of the project and the availablity of other relevant texts in translation should make the project immediately accessible. Beyond the imparting of direct content, exposure to the Kaiserchronik will help pupils appreciate at an early stage the rich (inter-)cultural capital of learning languages (beyond mere service skills) and open perspectives on German culture well beyond the familiar and infamous twentieth century. We will run special day-long workshops, and contribute to a variety of Cambridge admissions initiatives with national reach.

(b) UK Publics. Placed in the wider context of popular history-writing in the European twelfth century (namely beside British and Anglo-Norman works such as Geoffrey of Monmouth's Historia Regum Britanniae and Wace's Roman de Brut), the Kaiserchronik can be used (a) as a way of informing the public about the peculiarities of medieval history and history-writing; (b) as a form of cultural entertainment; and (c) as a means to present a key German text within a European setting, and in so doing spark a broader public debate about the nature, construction and ideology of popular as well as scholarly history-writing in the Middle Ages. Such contextualization can be used to reflect on the nature of national histories and myth-making in present-day Europe. We will present at the Cambridge alumni weekend and Festival of Ideas; and run a public event around one of Germany's leading post-war film directors, Alexander Kluge, who has a passion for the Middle Ages.

(c) UK Media. Quality programme content is always at a premium, and the wide range of topics covered in the project - from Roman antiquity and Imperial history to religious polemic, apostasy, sainthood, Charlemagne, and German / European identity - will present the media with excellent opportunities for interviews, features, and full-length shows. Popular history of all varieties sells, and as a text that itself was intended for popular consumption and can, moreover, be presented alongside Britain's own production of fable, history and myth, the Kaiserchronik has much to contribute to the undoubted marketability of the Middle Ages. We will work with BBC Radio 3's Nightwaves, Smooth Operations production company, and BBC producer Simon Nelson.

(d) In Germany and Austria, there is voracious consumption of culture of all epochs and a particular appetite for products of local provenance. Thus the importance of the general public and media (as outined for the UK in 2 and 3) is equally, if not more, compelling for the German-speaking world. Beyond national coverage, the state of Bavaria and the cities of Regensburg (the most likely place of origin) and Vienna (which houses a significant number of manuscripts) will prove especially receptive to the project's outputs and public appearances. Exhibitions will take place in Regensburg and at the Austrian National Library, Vienna; Alexander Kluge will make a television programme, as will Bavarian television.

All individuals and institutions have already agreed. Detailed plans can be found in the 'Pathways' attachment.