Emperor Sigismund (+ 1437), Hungarian and Bohemian King

The entry of Hungary and the Czech Republic into the EU will unite two countries which, in the late Middle Ages, stood under the personal union of one ruler and had an enterprising economic, cultural and personal exchange. Sigismund of Luxemburg (1368-1437), the most talented son of the Holy Roman Emperor Charles IV - Hungarian king since 1387, king of the Holy Roman empire since 1410/11, Bohemian king since 1420 and Holy Roman emperor since 1433 - reigned over a great, multiethnic empire and was faced with demands corresponding thereto. These caused Sigismund to be a rather active ruler. Several times he travelled throughout Europe, from east to west and north to south, visiting different kingdoms and intervening directly in the organization of the councils that took place in Basel and Constance. Sigismund`s chancellery produced ca. 20.000 charters, letters and mandates mainly in Latin, German or Czech, and these form the basics of all historical research about Sigismund; however, they are only available in antiquated or Hungarian editions. Unfortunaltely, for political reasons no international cooperation could be achieved to begin work on a new edition of these texts throughout the 20th century. Because of the large number of sources and the problems caused by texts written in different languages, a successful editor`s work can only truly be done with international cooperation. This project`s objective, therefore, is to eliminate, by working together, the much criticized lack of a modern edition of Sigismund`s charters. In an international cooperation between the `Institut für Mittelalterforschung` of the Austrian Academy of Sciences in Vienna, the `Centre for Medieval Studies` in Prague and the University of Pécs in Hungary, three historians will work on Hungarian, German und Czech sources/literature to produce scientific abstracts (`Regesta`) that will complete and replace parts of the old fundamental edition, `J. F. Böhmer, Regesta Imperii XI. Die Urkunden Kaiser Sigmunds (1410-1437) 1- 2, ed. Wilhelm Altmann, 1896-1900`. A focus is set on the reception of the `Zsigmondkori oklevéltr` 1-8, ed. Elemér Mlyusz, Ivn Borsa etc., 1951-2003. This edition, in Hungarian, offers ca. 7.000 abstracts of Sigismund`s charters. The project`s results will be published in short term groups in the `Regesta Imperii Online` (www.regesta- imperii.de), while a book-edition is planned at the end of the project. Moreover, each collaborator will work on a study about Sigismund`s charters or about a prosopographical subject.

The entry of Hungary and the Czech Republic into the EU will unite two countries which, in the late Middle Ages, stood under the personal union of one ruler and had an enterprising economic, cultural and personal exchange. Sigismund of Luxemburg (1368-1437), the most talented son of the Holy Roman Emperor Charles IV - Hungarian king since 1387, king of the Holy Roman empire since 1410/11, Bohemian king since 1420 and Holy Roman emperor since 1433 - reigned over a great, multiethnic empire and was faced with demands corresponding thereto. These caused Sigismund to be a rather active ruler. Several times he travelled throughout Europe, from east to west and north to south, visiting different kingdoms and intervening directly in the organization of the councils that took place in Basel and Constance. Sigismund`s chancellery produced ca. 20.000 charters, letters and mandates mainly in Latin, German or Czech, and these form the basics of all historical research about Sigismund; however, they are only available in antiquated or Hungarian editions. Unfortunaltely, for political reasons no international cooperation could be achieved to begin work on a new edition of these texts throughout the 20th century. Because of the large number of sources and the problems caused by texts written in different languages, a successful editor`s work can only truly be done with international cooperation. This project`s objective, therefore, is to eliminate, by working together, the much criticized lack of a modern edition of Sigismund`s charters. In an international cooperation between the `Institut für Mittelalterforschung` of the Austrian Academy of Sciences in Vienna, the `Centre for Medieval Studies` in Prague and the University of Pécs in Hungary, three historians will work on Hungarian, German und Czech sources/literature to produce scientific abstracts (`Regesta`) that will complete and replace parts of the old fundamental edition, `J. F. Böhmer, Regesta Imperii XI. Die Urkunden Kaiser Sigmunds (1410-1437) 1- 2, ed. Wilhelm Altmann, 1896-1900`. A focus is set on the reception of the `Zsigmondkori oklevéltr` 1-8, ed. Elemér Mlyusz, Ivn Borsa etc., 1951-2003. This edition, in Hungarian, offers ca. 7.000 abstracts of Sigismund`s charters. The project`s results will be published in short term groups in the `Regesta Imperii Online` (www.regesta- imperii.de), while a book-edition is planned at the end of the project. Moreover, each collaborator will work on a study about Sigismund`s charters or about a prosopographical subject.