The Registers of Pope Innocent III - 9th year

The chancery-registers of pope Innocent III (1198-1216) are the first of the continuous series of papal registers preserved in the Vatican archive, containing (selected) copies of papal letters, mandates, legal decisions and theological matters. The edition of Innocent`s registers, hitherto only insufficiently printed, is prepared by Prof. O. Hageneder at the Institut für Österreichische Geschichtsforschung in co-operation with the Historisches Institut at the "Österreichische Kulturinstitut" in Rome and the Österreichische Akademie der Wissenschaften. The FWF-project is to supply basic work for commenting the letters of the ninth year of Innocent`s pontificate and to complete this commentary as far as possible. It will serve as key to the meanings and contents of the texts and as starting-point for further research. Textual parallels and quotations from the Bible, canon and Roman law, theological, liturgical and classical texts will be indicated and identified, so that the user may interprete the letters from a reliable base and gain knowledge and understanding of the pope`s personality, actions and motives, the intellectual and cultural background of his time and the development of bureaucratic rule in the Middle Ages. By comparing the letters with Innocent`s theological writings his part in composing them can be investigated. The use of legal quotations shows how the expanding ecclesiastical law-system was built up, organized, transmitted and diffused over the then known Christian world, and how the Roman heritage was incorporated in medieval European legal System. Apart of this the identifications of the names of places and persons and the necessary dates and explications of the historical, political, legal and theological context will be supplied. The field to work on is wide: regarding space the whole of Europe, regarding matter widely different disciplines - apart of history proper and its auxiliary sciences especially legal history, canon law and theology. The staff is collecting, completing and making accessible bibliographical material with help of the computer and building up several auxiliary card indices which also will serve further editorial work.

The first of all the original papal chancery registers to have survived in a continuous and more or less complete series are those of Pope Innocent III (1198-1216). These registers, preserved in the Vatican Archives, are significant for the selected copies of letters, mandates and legal decisions that they contain, hence the urgent need to replace the previous nineteenth-century printed edition by J.-P. Migne, itself so prone to error, with a new critical edition. The team of researchers undertaking this important task is led by Professor Othmar Hageneder and Associate Professor Andrea Sommerlechner from the Institut für Österreichische Geschichtsforschung in Vienna, collaborating closely with the Historisches Institut beim österreichischen Kulturforum (formerly the Kulturinstitut) in Rome, and the Österreichische Akademie der Wissenschaften. The FWF project has entailed the preparation of all necessary groundwork for a commentary to accompany the text of the letters of the ninth year of Innocent`s pontificate (1206-07). This commentary is both the key to a deeper understanding of the pontificate and the starting point for further research. Not only are places and persons mentioned in the letters identified but essential dates supplied, and the significance of their historical, political, legal and theological backgrounds also brought to the fore. Textual parallels are highlighted and Biblical quotations identified, while citations from Roman and Canon law, theological, liturgical and classical texts facilitate a scholarly interpretation of the pope`s personality, actions and motives, his intellectual and cultural background, and evidence the astonishing growth and development of a medieval papal bureaucracy. With the pope as a medieval "global player", all of Europe (and parts of the Middle East) is under review. The editors` application of computing techniques to these commentaries will allow access to additional bibliographical material, while the creation of several auxiliary card indexes promises to enhance future editorial work. This provision reinforces the commentaries which are such an important element in each volume. The FWF project has thus greatly assisted in bringing closer to completion this new edition of Pope Innocent`s registers, which are already regarded as the corner stone of international historical research in this field.