HISTORIOGRAPHY IN THE MIDDLE AGES - Julian Emperor

162 ROLF SPRANDELwill be described later. While a world-historical character can beattested in both the Saxon world chronicle and the Fourth BavarianSupplement, such a character is lacking in the First BavarianSupplement. The latter contains more of a listing of emperor-gesta,“briefly sketched portraits of rulers” from 1273–1314. 19 “The emphasison the emperor profiles prevents the writing of an imperial historythat maintains continuity by neglecting individual history”. 20 WhenRudolf von Habsburg’s decision against relocation to Italy is praised,one could even interpret this as a statement against the traditionalworld-historical role of the German empire. Other emperor-gesta of theperiod can be similarly interpreted, such as those in Ellenhard’schronicle, which remind one of a history of the Habsburg dynasty.Similarly, the Gesta of Henry VII and Adolf, published by K. U.Jäschke, 21 also should be categorized as serving various dynastic, notworld-historical, interests.Thus the emperor-gesta introduced here are not to be taken, on thewhole, as world histories but, rather, are to be compared to dynastichistories or gesta of public officials, as modeled primarily in churchhistory. Despite dynastic approaches, no dynastic history can arisefrom these due to the character of the German kingdom. Nor dothey allow the formation of a national history, as cultivated in WesternEurope. We will bracket them in the following investigation.On that note, we turn to that which can be termed world historyin Germany of the late Middle Ages. The number of works isstill relatively large, and since we are concerned with typical motifsand conceptions, we will be selective and limit ourselves to prominentexamples.The motifs and conceptions already mentioned can either influencethe content or, over and above that, can shape the formal arrangementof the chronicle. It was advisable for the one resuming thechronicle to use the arrangement of the original. Andreas of Regensburgwrites in the foreword to his world chronicle that he is writing “admodum figure scolastice hystorie”. 22 It is all the more conspicuouswhen this does not occur. The chronological interest allows for the19Herkommer (1991), col. 491.20Sprandel (1994), 146.21Jäschke (1988).22Andreas von Regensberg, Chronica, ed. Leidinger, 4.