HISTORIOGRAPHY IN THE MIDDLE AGES - Julian Emperor

CHAPTER FIVEWORLD HISTORIOGRAPHY IN THELATE MIDDLE AGESRolf Sprandel(Translated by Kristin E. Thomas)Introduction and DelineationThis article concentrates on world history writing in late medievalGermany, the particular field of research of the author. Mentionsare also made of neighboring lands and periods. Using Martin ofTroppau and his influence as a point of departure, fundamentalquestions are addressed which are also valid for other countries.Martin of Troppau’s Pope-Emperor-Chronicle, which extends intothe middle of the thirteenth century, marks the end of the historiographyof the High Middle Ages. 1 Its object is the world and thecrowning figures of that world: pope and emperor. Martin of Troppaurelies mainly on sources from Italy and France. Noteworthy is thealignment of the German king and emperor as one of the two polesof world history. (In what follows ‘emperor’ should be understoodas including both king and emperor.)Additionally, there is a Latin-language world history in Germany,in which a two-pole portrayal is not attested. In this Latin worldhistory, the history of the world extends from Creation to the Germanempire of the High Middle Ages. This world historiography is writtenby a series of authors, ranging from Frutolf of Michelsberg toEkkehard of Aura and Otto of Freising to Burchard of Ursperg.While Martin of Troppau delivers only a short survey of Romanhistory and otherwise limits himself to Christian times, the aforementionedauthors reach further back. Since traditionally two worldhistory models competed with one another, namely that of the six1Martin von Troppau, Chronicon pontificum et imperatorum, ed. L. Weiland, MGHSS 22 (1872), 377–475.