Lotharingia and the Papacy. Interaction, Integration and Transformation between Central Directing and Regional Internal Dynamics (from the 11th to the beginning of the 13th century) [INTERLOR]

• Applicant: Professor Dr. Harald Müller
• Subject Area: Medieval History
• Term: since 2020
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 449161444

The establishment of a Latin Church characterised by an internal uniformity under the leadership of the Roman bishop is certainly a crucial issue of the history of integration of medieval Europe. A key feature of this development is the gradual establishment of a central norm-setting authority resulting from interactions between Rome and the regions. So far, research devoted to the logic of this binary process, involving the instruments of power used by the papacy, has mainly concentrated on the peripheries of Latin Christendom. However, by focussing on Lotharingia, a core region of the former Carolingian Empire from which decisive impulses for church reform are said to have emanated is for the first time the centre of interest of a research project. Due to its location between the Holy German Empire and France, Lotharingia is indeed a zone of contact and transfers retaining a distinct dynamic of its own, characterised by changing political and cultural influences. The aim of the project is to study the interactions and mutual influences between Lotharingia and the papacy from the middle of the 11th to the beginning of the 13th century. It will examine which specific changes were initiated on a regional level during this period through intensifying contacts with Rome and, in turn, assess the impact of regional impulses on the Latin Church under the Roman authority. The originality and strength of the project lies not only in the analysis of the process of integration of the medieval papal Church in a "European" perspective consciously transcending current national boundaries, but also in interpreting papal interventions as responses to regional impulses or resistance. Therefore, we will provide a comparative analysis of two episcopal cities (Liège and Metz), reassess the establishment of the new orders of the 12th century, the effect of contacts with the papacy on the region’s secular elites, as well as the reception and (re-)use of interactions with the papacy in their long-term effect. In this way, the institutional, power and identity changes resulting from interaction with the papacy at a regional level can be described more accurately, especially against the background of the current broader understanding of the "Gregorian reform" with its wide-ranging social implications. The cooperation of the locations Aachen and Luxembourg is necessary with regard to the area of investigation and the state of the documentation. The connection to international research on the history of the Papacy, especially in the fields of fundamental research, of digital editing and analysis of the primary sources as well as of comparative approach is ensured by a close cooperation with the Regesta Pontificum Romanorum, a research enterprise with a global vocation, based at Erlangen-Nuremberg and Göttingen.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants
• International Connection: Luxembourg
• Partner Organisation: Fonds National de la Recherche
• Cooperation Partner: Professor Dr. Michel Margue