Books by Anne Huijbers
Reviews: https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110540291
"this is a treasure trove ... which has much to... more Reviews: https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110540291
"this is a treasure trove ... which has much to offer any historian interested in late medieval and early renaissance religious communities, historiography and religious reform."
Gregory Schnakenberg OP, The English Historical Review, 24.08.2019
"ein gelungenes Überblickswerk über die dominikanische Identitätsfindung im späten Mittelalter auf der Grundlage ausgewählter Beispiele aus der Geschichtsschreibung."
Stefanie Neidhardt, Sehepunkte 18, 2018, nr. 7/8, 15.7.2018
„œuvre magistrale... consacrée à une période et à un type de littérature peu etudiés jusqu'à présent."
Paul-Bernard Hodel OP, Gregorianum 101:3 (2020), 742-744.
"a veritable gold mine"... "this work demands further research into late medieval historiography, and everyone interested in the literary cultures of the long fifteenth century among men and women on both sides of the Alps should read this book."
Claire Taylor Jones, The Medieval Review, 25.08.2019
"another valued contribution to our recent efforts to recover the complexity, vitality, and energy of fifteenth-century culture through the lens of its religious orders."
James Mixson, Church History, 88:2, June 2019, pp. 499-502.
„ein gelungenes Werk..., das durch seine Quellennähe besticht, eine großteils überzeugende Einordnung dominikanischer Selbstdarstellung in historiographischen Texten bietet und darüber hinaus zahlreiche nützliche Hinweise für weiterführende Forschungen gibt.“
Adrian Kammerer, Quellen und Forschungen aus italienischen Archiven und Bibliotheken 100 (2020), 702–703.
Other reviews that are not available online follow in this document, among others: "[...] another... more Other reviews that are not available online follow in this document, among others: "[...] another valued contribution to our recent efforts to recover the complexity, vitality, and energy of fifteenth-century culture through the lens of its religious orders."
Edited volume by Anne Huijbers
In this document you find the links to 5 online reviews (Sehepunkte, The Medieval Review, Francia... more In this document you find the links to 5 online reviews (Sehepunkte, The Medieval Review, Francia Recensio, Reti Medievali Rivista, Hémecht) and copies of reviews that appeared in 4 journals (Historische Zeitschrift, Archivio Storico Italiano, Zeitschrift für Historische Forschung, Mitteilungen des Instituts für Österreichische Geschichtsforschung)
"How could these foreigners, on the far side of the Alps, claim to be emperors of Rome and the Ro... more "How could these foreigners, on the far side of the Alps, claim to be emperors of Rome and the Romans? And what did those inhabitants of Italy think and say about such claims? This historical problem is explored with erudition and ingenuity in a new volume edited by Anne Huijbers, emerging from a conference held in Rome in 2018."
Nathanael Aschenbrenner (Bard College) in The Medieval Review, https://scholarworks.iu.edu/journals/index.php/tmr/article/view/36607/39306
More reviews online:
https://www.sehepunkte.de/2023/06/37394.html
https://journals.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/index.php/frrec/article/view/96755
https://doi.org/10.6093/1593-2214/2023/2
https://www.recensio.net/r/8e34a97a7a904e249d10aacf42af9330
(more reviews will be uploaded soon)
Volume online here:
https://books.openedition.org/efr/39550
Description:
Describing the Holy Roman Empire after 1250 as a hopeless dream or an empty formula only Roman in name, historians have long minimized the impact of the imperial presence in late-medieval Italy. The nationalist historiography, on which we still largely depend, presented the Empire as alien to the very essence of humanism and modernity. Associating humanism with republicanism, scholars silently suggested that the belief in the peace-bringing emperor faded away as the Renaissance unfolded. No real humanist, so it was believed, could genuinely support the medieval construct that was the Holy Roman Empire.
Only recently has this historiographical framework really been challenged. The present volume builds further on the thesis that humanism was perfectly compatible with imperialist political ideals. It aims to bring together new perspectives on empire and emperors in Italy and to highlight the continuing importance of the imperial ideal throughout the fourteenth and fifteenth century. It focuses on imperial discourses in the writings of Italian historians, humanists, poets, jurists and notaries.
The imitation of Roman emperors is both a sign of the Renaissance and a central aspect in medieval political thought. It may, therefore, not surprise that the descent of the “king of the Romans” into Italy attracted the attention of Italians with humanist tastes. The name of empire aroused high expectations. Orations, histories, treatises, and letters show that many still generally accepted the legitimacy of the empire and considered the contemporary Holy Roman Emperor as the lawful leader of the Christian world.
Papers by Anne Huijbers
Le couronnement impérial de Sigismond de Luxembourg à Rome (1433) : entre rite papal et perception humaniste, in Sacres et couronnements en Europe: Rite, politique et société, du Moyen Âge à nos jours, J.-F. Gicquel, B. Maes, C. Guyon (eds.), Presses universitaires de Rennes, 2023, p. 207-220.
https://books.openedition.org/pur/191476
The fortune of imperial history: Giovanni Mansionario’s Historie Imperiales and Benvenuto da Imola’s Augustalis Libellus’, in: Emperors and Imperial Discourse in Italy, 1300-1500, Anne Huijbers (ed.), Rome, Collection de l’École Française de Rome, 2022
According to traditional handbooks, all forms of imperial historiography were in decline in late-... more According to traditional handbooks, all forms of imperial historiography were in decline in late-medieval Italy. As a consequence, imperial histories by Italian authors in this period have often been overlooked. Both in the vernacular and in Latin, Italians produced texts that presented the Holy Roman Emperors in one continuous line with their ancient predecessors. This contribution focuses on two Latin examples by fourteenth-century authors known as proto-humanists: Giovanni Mansionario’s Ystorie imperiales and Benvenuto da Imola’s Libellus augustalis. It shows, first, how these authors professionalised the genre of imperial history by building on ancient sources, and, second, how their histories legitimized the imperial ambitions of the Holy Roman Emperors in the Italian peninsula. Whereas Mansionario’s monumental work survives in three manuscripts only, Benvenuto’s short handbook of imperial lives had a considerable success in the fifteenth century and beyond: It survives in more than 100 manuscripts, several early editions, and was regularly attributed to Francesco Petrarch.
open access here: https://books.openedition.org/efr/42283
De barmhartige Augusta. Margareta van Brabant als raadgever, bemiddelaar en heilige in Italië (1310-1311), in Tijdschrift voor Geschiedenis, Vol. 134, Issue 1, Jan 2021, p. 7 - 25.
Tijdschrift voor Geschiedenis, 2021
Open access and pdf download here: https://doi.org/10.5117/TVG2021.1.002.HUIJ
Merciful Augusta. M... more Open access and pdf download here: https://doi.org/10.5117/TVG2021.1.002.HUIJ
Merciful Augusta. Margaret of Brabant as counselor, mediator and saint in Italy (1310-1311)
This article shows that Margaret of Brabant (1276-1311), Queen of the Romans, played an influential diplomatic and moral role on the international stage and had great influence on her husband, the Holy Roman Emperor Henry VII, in the perception of her contemporaries, who glorified the love between the two. A study of several letters addressed to her shows how Margaret helped her spouse to build a stable political network based on personal relations. This article then discusses the perception of Margaret in contemporary historiography and it demonstrates that early humanists Albertino Mussato and Giovanni de Cermenate both acknowledge her importance as a political counselor and mediator crucial to Henry’s reign. This view contrasts with other accounts of her life, in which she is solely remembered for her piety and holiness. Indeed, these aspects came to dominate the memory of Margaret soon after her death, as the Franciscans promoted her cult as ‘Holy Empress’.
Keywords:
Holy Roman Empire, queenship, historiography, intercession, holiness.
Three emperors were crowned in Rome, while the pope was residing in Avignon: Henry VII (1312), Lo... more Three emperors were crowned in Rome, while the pope was residing in Avignon: Henry VII (1312), Louis IV (1328) and Charles IV (1355). This contribution suggests that these emperors did not simply enter into an insurmountable “conflict of Empire and city-state”. Many Italians perceived the transalpine rulers as carriers of justice and order. Instead of criticizing the idea of empire, fourteenth-century (proto-)humanists reinforced the imperial myth by applying a classical language to discuss the contemporary Holy Roman Emperors. With their imperial histories, authors such as Albertino Mussato and Ferreto de’ Ferreti wanted to imitate the ancients. As a consequence, they focused on the triumphal aspects of the imperial coronations. Not the coronation in Saint Peter’s Basilica but the adventus into the city and the interaction with the SPQR drew special interest. Because of the papal absence, Henry VII and the excommunicated Louis the Bavarian could indeed act independently in the Eternal City. They both gathered assemblies with the SPQR on the Capitoline Hill. Charles IV, however, kept his promise to the pope and stayed only one day in Rome for his coronation in 1355. The letters of Francesco Petrarch and Niccolò Beccari nevertheless provided him with a classical discourse that could have supported his claims of independence vis-à-vis the pope. The Holy Roman Emperors were presented as the restorers of the res publica. It seems that the imperial presence in a popeless Rome increased the awareness of (and interest in) the city’s ancient past.
https://www.romaaeterna.nl/
This article presents an unpublished and largely unexplored source written in Basel during the in... more This article presents an unpublished and largely unexplored source written in Basel during the international church council, the Vita fratrum predicatorum conventus Basiliensis (1442–1444). It deals with the reform of the Dominican friary, which was effectuated just before the start of the council to prevent scandals. Johannes of Mainz, its author, was the first lector of the reformed friary and wrote the text to corroborate the reformed religious identity of his community. He presented the reform of the Basel friary—which aroused fervent opposition of the original inhabitants—as a new episode in the history of salvation. A second part of the Vita fratrum eulogized the characteristics that Observant friars have in common. By “othering” Conventual friars and by depicting their horrible deaths, Johannes tried both to convince the Observant Basel friars of their superiority over Conventuals and to exhort them to stick to an Observant lifestyle. Unfaithful friars, the narrative warned, were eradicated from the celestial vineyard. For the last part of the Vita fratrum, which presents “the most fruitful plants” of the vineyard, Johannes of Mainz drew up personal and original biographies of contemporary Dominicans, such as Johannes Nider (d. 1438), who is presented as a “mirror of observance” and a “doctor of souls.”
http://www.sismel.it/tidetails.asp
This contribution analyses the narrative strategies used by order historians in the period of Obs... more This contribution analyses the narrative strategies used by order historians in the period of Observant reforms and argues that modern historians should be much more aware of the deliberate dichotomies in reform narratives and of the partisan way in which Observant chroniclers tried to promote and vindicate Observant reform. Observant authors employed rhetorical instruments to sharpen the narrative dichotomy of decline and reform and presented their protagonists as martyrs for Observant reform. Moreover, they wanted to demonstrate that only Observant religious were useful to society.
Debile principium, melior fortuna sequetur. Observante hervormingen binnen de dominicaanse orde
Groniek, 200 (2014), 267-278
Ontwikkelingen in het geschiedbedrijf anno nu
Strategies of Catholic Identity Formation c. 1510–1560 (Chronicle)
Franciscan Studies, 2012
Conference announcements by Anne Huijbers
Emperors and Imperial Discourse in Italy, c. 1300-1500: New perspectives
5-7 November 2018, Roya... more Emperors and Imperial Discourse in Italy, c. 1300-1500: New perspectives
5-7 November 2018, Royal Dutch Institute in Rome, Istituto Storico Italiano per il Medio Evo, École Française de Rome
Describing the Holy Roman Empire after the death of Frederick II as an empty formula in a changed world, historians have long obscured the impact of the imperial presence in late medieval Italy. However, orations, histories, treatises, and letters show that many Italian intellectuals, including important humanists, remained fascinated by the medieval continuation of the Roman empire. The contemporary Holy Roman Emperor was still generally considered as the lawful leader of the Christian world and the supreme defender of peace. Contrary to what is commonly thought, humanists added to the imperial myth by applying a classicizing vocabulary to the Holy Roman Emperor.
This conference sheds light on contemporary discourses on the imperial presence in Italy in a period that saw the breakthrough of the humanist movement: 1300-1500. It aims to increase our understanding of the perception of the contemporary Holy Roman Emperors in Italy and pays special attention to humanists who imitated a classical vocabulary. The imitation of Roman emperors is both a sign of the Renaissance and a central aspect in medieval political thought. The two came together when the German rex Romanorum descended into Italy for his imperial coronation. How is this described by contemporaries, especially by those with humanist tastes? To what extent did they break with medieval modes of imperial representation?
NWO Rubicon research project by Anne Huijbers
Historians commonly describe the Holy Roman Empire after 1250 as a hopeless dream or an empty for... more Historians commonly describe the Holy Roman Empire after 1250 as a hopeless dream or an empty formula that is only Roman in name. By doing so, they have long obscured the ongoing tradition of imperial coronations in Rome. These public spectacles with a European-wide impact unified the representatives of the highest temporary and spiritual authorities of Western-Europe in one symbolic ceremony, giving expression to a central idea in medieval political thought, namely that Rome is the center of the universal empire and that only there an emperor can be made.
Book Reviews by Anne Huijbers
review for Quellen und Forschungen aus italienischen Archiven und Bibliotheken, vol. 104 (2024)
Review in Francia Recensio
Uploads
Books by Anne Huijbers
"this is a treasure trove ... which has much to offer any historian interested in late medieval and early renaissance religious communities, historiography and religious reform."
Gregory Schnakenberg OP, The English Historical Review, 24.08.2019
"ein gelungenes Überblickswerk über die dominikanische Identitätsfindung im späten Mittelalter auf der Grundlage ausgewählter Beispiele aus der Geschichtsschreibung."
Stefanie Neidhardt, Sehepunkte 18, 2018, nr. 7/8, 15.7.2018
„œuvre magistrale... consacrée à une période et à un type de littérature peu etudiés jusqu'à présent."
Paul-Bernard Hodel OP, Gregorianum 101:3 (2020), 742-744.
"a veritable gold mine"... "this work demands further research into late medieval historiography, and everyone interested in the literary cultures of the long fifteenth century among men and women on both sides of the Alps should read this book."
Claire Taylor Jones, The Medieval Review, 25.08.2019
"another valued contribution to our recent efforts to recover the complexity, vitality, and energy of fifteenth-century culture through the lens of its religious orders."
James Mixson, Church History, 88:2, June 2019, pp. 499-502.
„ein gelungenes Werk..., das durch seine Quellennähe besticht, eine großteils überzeugende Einordnung dominikanischer Selbstdarstellung in historiographischen Texten bietet und darüber hinaus zahlreiche nützliche Hinweise für weiterführende Forschungen gibt.“
Adrian Kammerer, Quellen und Forschungen aus italienischen Archiven und Bibliotheken 100 (2020), 702–703.
Edited volume by Anne Huijbers
Nathanael Aschenbrenner (Bard College) in The Medieval Review, https://scholarworks.iu.edu/journals/index.php/tmr/article/view/36607/39306
More reviews online:
https://www.sehepunkte.de/2023/06/37394.html
https://journals.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/index.php/frrec/article/view/96755
https://doi.org/10.6093/1593-2214/2023/2
https://www.recensio.net/r/8e34a97a7a904e249d10aacf42af9330
(more reviews will be uploaded soon)
Volume online here:
https://books.openedition.org/efr/39550
Description:
Describing the Holy Roman Empire after 1250 as a hopeless dream or an empty formula only Roman in name, historians have long minimized the impact of the imperial presence in late-medieval Italy. The nationalist historiography, on which we still largely depend, presented the Empire as alien to the very essence of humanism and modernity. Associating humanism with republicanism, scholars silently suggested that the belief in the peace-bringing emperor faded away as the Renaissance unfolded. No real humanist, so it was believed, could genuinely support the medieval construct that was the Holy Roman Empire.
Only recently has this historiographical framework really been challenged. The present volume builds further on the thesis that humanism was perfectly compatible with imperialist political ideals. It aims to bring together new perspectives on empire and emperors in Italy and to highlight the continuing importance of the imperial ideal throughout the fourteenth and fifteenth century. It focuses on imperial discourses in the writings of Italian historians, humanists, poets, jurists and notaries.
The imitation of Roman emperors is both a sign of the Renaissance and a central aspect in medieval political thought. It may, therefore, not surprise that the descent of the “king of the Romans” into Italy attracted the attention of Italians with humanist tastes. The name of empire aroused high expectations. Orations, histories, treatises, and letters show that many still generally accepted the legitimacy of the empire and considered the contemporary Holy Roman Emperor as the lawful leader of the Christian world.
Papers by Anne Huijbers
open access here: https://books.openedition.org/efr/42283
Merciful Augusta. Margaret of Brabant as counselor, mediator and saint in Italy (1310-1311)
This article shows that Margaret of Brabant (1276-1311), Queen of the Romans, played an influential diplomatic and moral role on the international stage and had great influence on her husband, the Holy Roman Emperor Henry VII, in the perception of her contemporaries, who glorified the love between the two. A study of several letters addressed to her shows how Margaret helped her spouse to build a stable political network based on personal relations. This article then discusses the perception of Margaret in contemporary historiography and it demonstrates that early humanists Albertino Mussato and Giovanni de Cermenate both acknowledge her importance as a political counselor and mediator crucial to Henry’s reign. This view contrasts with other accounts of her life, in which she is solely remembered for her piety and holiness. Indeed, these aspects came to dominate the memory of Margaret soon after her death, as the Franciscans promoted her cult as ‘Holy Empress’.
Keywords:
Holy Roman Empire, queenship, historiography, intercession, holiness.
Conference announcements by Anne Huijbers
5-7 November 2018, Royal Dutch Institute in Rome, Istituto Storico Italiano per il Medio Evo, École Française de Rome
Describing the Holy Roman Empire after the death of Frederick II as an empty formula in a changed world, historians have long obscured the impact of the imperial presence in late medieval Italy. However, orations, histories, treatises, and letters show that many Italian intellectuals, including important humanists, remained fascinated by the medieval continuation of the Roman empire. The contemporary Holy Roman Emperor was still generally considered as the lawful leader of the Christian world and the supreme defender of peace. Contrary to what is commonly thought, humanists added to the imperial myth by applying a classicizing vocabulary to the Holy Roman Emperor.
This conference sheds light on contemporary discourses on the imperial presence in Italy in a period that saw the breakthrough of the humanist movement: 1300-1500. It aims to increase our understanding of the perception of the contemporary Holy Roman Emperors in Italy and pays special attention to humanists who imitated a classical vocabulary. The imitation of Roman emperors is both a sign of the Renaissance and a central aspect in medieval political thought. The two came together when the German rex Romanorum descended into Italy for his imperial coronation. How is this described by contemporaries, especially by those with humanist tastes? To what extent did they break with medieval modes of imperial representation?
NWO Rubicon research project by Anne Huijbers
Book Reviews by Anne Huijbers