The Holy Roman Empire has seen both bullish and bearish periods, not only in history, but also in historiography. This conference aims to collect portraits of the Empire to facilitate a better understanding of its differing aspect as shaped by – and, in turn, shaping – different historiographical traditions.

Argument

The Holy Roman Empire (HRE, or simply: the Empire) has been equated with “A Thousand Years of Europe’s History” (Peter Wilson). It has seen both bullish and bearish periods: Not only in its history, which according to common periodization lasted from 962 CE to 1806 CE, but also in the historiography dedicated to understanding, explaining, and evaluating this political entity in the middle of the northwestern fringe of the Eurasian land mass. As, in the past, historians were often occupied to the point of blindness with the problem of state-building, the debate centered on questions like whether the HRE constituted that archaic irregulare corpus aliquod et monstro simile evoked by German philosopher Samuel von Pufendorf in 1667, or, in more recent times, whether it could be qualified as an inclusive multi-level system of governance. Its adversary seemed to be the nation-state, whereas the European Union, especially around the times of European enlargement, has been declared its progeny. We do not aim to reconcile these contradictory perspectives. Rather, we propose to seek a better understanding of different perspectives on the HRE as shaped by – and, in turn, shaping – different historiographical traditions.

Research on the HRE, in Medieval or Early Modern Studies, has recognized the challenges of pronouncing on such a multi-faceted and long-lived constellation of actors, regions, languages, faiths, economies, jurisdictions, and conflicts. Historians of the Empire most often work as historians of things in or components of the Empire. The usual aim is to build up, and to synthesize. As a complement, we would like to collect different “portraits” of the Empire – conceptions of this entity, as they exist in different historiographical traditions and inform our work as historians contributing to the HRE in history. Placing these portraits side by side will, we hope, enable us to become more aware of and make explicit the interplay of cycles of attention, uneven interest, and unquestioned assumptions that are also part of how “we”, as a diverse, international profession, view our subject. We have chosen the language of portraiture to emphasize the historiographical shaping and changeable aspect of the HRE, and to encourage characterization and analyses of atmosphere. As viewers of the imperial portrait, what are readers of different historiographical traditions being immersed in? To facilitate comparison, we would like contributions to address the following questions on the Holy Roman Empire’s likeness:

What it is –

• Where does it take place?
• What is its texture like?
• What are its fixtures?
• What drives it?

How it is situated –

• What function does it fulfill in the historiographical landscape?
• Is it an attractive subject? To whom?
• When has it been en vogue, and why?

Submission guidelines

• We invite contributions from/examining any historiographical tradition; “tradition” can be understood in terms of locale, nation, region, language, religion, school, or theory.
• The focus can be on any period of historiographical writing and is therefore not limited to Medieval and Early Modern
• Studies. Papers should be no more than 25-30 minutes in length. The conference will take place early in 2026 (11th–13th February).
• Subject to a positive funding decision, we will invite participants to meet in Basel; otherwise, we will meet online.

If you are interested in participating, please send an abstract of no more than 300 words, accompanied by a short biographical sketch, to portrait-hre-geschichte@unibas.ch

by 31st January 2025.

Contact

• Dr. des. Sabrina Rospert (sabrina.rospert@unibas.ch)
• Dr. Maximiliane Berger (maximiliane.berger@unibas.ch)