Dr. Maximilian Lang
The medievalist Maximilian Lang conducts research on the charters of Emperor Frederick II. In 2024, he won the Academy Prize of the Karl Thiemig Foundation for the Promotion of Young Scientists.
Why did you join the Bavarian Academy of Sciences and Humanities?
Even back when I was a history undergraduate majoring in medieval history and auxiliary sciences of history, I was fascinated by the transcription and editing of research sources. So when Christian Friedl, who is now my colleague, asked me during a course on diplomatics whether I would like to help create an edition of Frederick II’s charters as a research assistant, I jumped at the chance. I have been working on the edition as a research associate since my graduation in 2019. While working on my project dissertation and in the context of the project, I wrote a thesis on the chancery of Emperor Frederick II between 1236 and 1245.
What does your work involve?
My role in the project, and everyone’s role generally, is to create a critical edition of all known charters of the Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II. My main job as research associate right now is to analyse and edit the chancery-related aspects of every single charter issued by the Emperor. So for example, I would extensively analyse the handwriting and dictation of the individual charters and classify them by (chancery) notaries. This can be very laborious work for sure, but I also find it extremely interesting and fascinating.
What is it about your work that drives you?
By creating a critical edition of the charter texts, one of the main aims of our project, and my personal aim, is to provide a solid scientific basis for studying the renowned Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II, of the Hohenstaufen dynasty. We have taken a complex, controversial, and even mythologised figure in Frederick II, and we have looked at his charters to obtain a picture that is rarely possible from other contemporary sources, which are either strongly for or against the House of Hohenstaufen: an insight into the political and legal reality of the 13th century and in particular the exercising of imperial power. When you are dealing with charters at such an intensive level, however, you also need to be familiar with the chancery and its staff, i.e. the notaries who drafted, engrossed and dispatched these documents. So the aspects dealing with the history of the chancery are particularly interesting to me.
What role does the BAdW play in your life?
I regard my work at the BAdW as very meaningful, and it’s also something I greatly enjoy.
How do you explain what the BAdW does to your friends?
I mention in particular its contribution to basic research. I emphasise that our project, for example, is laying the foundation for further academic research as well as, more broadly, promoting public engagement with Frederick II. When talking to friends, I get a definite sense of the Emperor’s popularity. Everyone has their own associations: from Castel del Monte or the conflict between the Hohenstaufen dynasty and the papacy to the popular image of Frederick II as the first modern ruler. At any rate, the Emperor’s highly polarising personality and rule provide no shortage of talking points. I use the Emperor therefore as an example of the value of the Academy’s basic research.
How would you describe your working environment?
One aspect of it that I really enjoy is the collaboration between peers. In our edition project, we all have particular specialisms which complement each other. We are all pulling together to produce the best possible edition of the charters.
Which skills do you need day-to-day but did not learn during your qualification?
While I did have these two key skills before, I have certainly honed them by working on the project, and these are patience and perseverance. Since we usually only publish one volume of the edition every three to four years, I had to learn on the one hand to edit every single document with the utmost precision, but on the other to avoid losing sight of the big picture, whether that be particular sets of charters, the respective edition volume or the history of the chancery as a whole. Another skill that was valuable as a student but indispensable as an editor is very fine attention to detail. This plays an especially important role in the methodology of comparing handwriting, because the documents often look very similar at first glance and the notaries can only be identified through palaeographical microanalysis.
What do you count as your highlights of working at the BAdW?
As a staff member of the BAdW, my favourite moments are the opportunities to present our work on the edition. I love events like the open day, as well as events held within the university. I was for example able to present our project in the lecture series “Source editions in the digital age” at LMU Munich. Another highlight was a practical (reading) exercise with PhD students from the University of Innsbruck using Frederick II’s original documents. That took place at the Bavarian Main State Archives, and working with the originals, which were written on parchment 800 years ago and are almost in immaculate condition in some cases, never ceases to fascinate me. I also love to see others share or be inspired by this fascination.
I’ve had a good day at work if …
… I’ve been able to fully analyse a charter in all its many facets and ideally have also been able to identify the scribal hand.