The deeds and letters of the counts of Cilli (1341-1456)

In the late medieval times the Counts of Cilli were one of the most significant noble families in central and southeastern Europe. Since their elevation to counts in 1341 they increased their territories along the rivers of Drau and Save, their economic power and their political position in Hungary and the German Empire. With the death of Ulrich II. of Cilli in 1456 the family extincted. After some struggles the House of Habsburg inherited the Cilli`s territories and thus they could build up a united territory under their rule. The goal of this project is to work on the unnoticed history of this noble family. Since autumn 1999 copies of 2124 records have been collected in 79 archives in central and southeastern Europe. Now it is possible to work on these collected documents in Klagenfurt. The records have to be prepared due to academic historical criteria and the collection has to be completed. Collaborators in Budapest, Vienna, Udine and Ljubljana, involved in this project, work in the archives. They form the basis for a further international research cooperation. After finalizing the project, the documents will be published in the series of Fontes Rerum Austriacarum. In this project the documents are transcribed and registered in a database, which was especially designed for this project. The support of this electronic data collection with interactive links enables a new view of the sources and the work of historians will be easier. The output of the project is to prepare the records for publishing. After that basic research it is possible to work reasonably on the history of the Counts of Cilli and the history of the European nobility as a whole.