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Dr. Christian Alexander Neumann

Temporary academic council

Coordinator of the MA Medieval Studies programme

 

Address:

Dr. Christian Alexander Neumann

Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg

Zentrum für Europäische Geschichts- und Kulturwissenschaften (ZEGK)

Historisches Seminar

Grabengasse 3-5

69117 Heidelberg

 

Contact:

Room 221

Phone: 06221-54-2294

E-Mail: christian.neumann@zegk.uni-heidelberg.de

Office hours (Winter term 24/25): Mondays, 11:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. and on arrangement

 

Staff website: Staff members at the Chair of Medieval History (Jaspert)

 

Postal address:

Neumann, Christian Alexander, Dr., Akademischer Rat a. Z., Grabengasse 3-5, R 221, 06221-542294

 

Research foci:

Habilitation project

  • Alter und Altern: historische Alter(n)sforschung; Gerontologie; Königtum; Papsttum; Dogat (Venedig); England; Kulturgeschichte; Ideengeschichte.

Dissertation project

  • Venedig; Krone Aragon und Iberische Halbinsel; Mediterranistik; Politik und Diplomatie; Handel- und Wirtschaft; Piraterie; Mediterranistik; Soziale Netzwerkanalyse (SNA).

Curriculum Vitae:

From 2004 to 2010 studies of History (focus on the Middle Ages) and Romance Studies (focus on Italian) at the Ruhr-Universität Bochum with the degrees B.A. and M.A.. ; while studying abroad at the Università degli Studi di Padova (from 2007 to 2008); scholarship holder of the German National Academic Foundation (from 2005 to 2010); from 2010 to 2011 employment as research assistant and research associate at the Center for Mediterranean Studies (ZMS) of the Ruhr-Universität Bochum; From 2011 to 2014, doctoral fellow of the Studienstiftung des deutschen Volkes (during that time also scholarship of the Centro Tedesco di Studi Veneziani); from 2014 to September 2017, employment as research assistant at the Department of Medieval History of the Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg with Prof. Dr. Nikolas Jaspert; 2015 PhD with a thesis on the relations between the Republic of Venice and the Crown of Aragon in the Late Middle Ages (fields of investigation: diplomacy, trade, piracy), published in 2017 with the title "Venedig und Aragon im Spätmittelalter (1280-1410). Eine Verflechtungsgeschichte" in the series "Mittelmeerstudien"; from October 2017 to June 2023 research associate at the DHI in Rome in the field of medieval history on the topic "Ancient Rulers of the Middle Ages. Kings, Doges and Popes. A Contribution to Gerontological Medieval Studies"; since July 2023 research associate at the University of Heidelberg in the framework of the Max Weber Foundation Cooperation Center.

 

Memberships:

 

Habilitation project:

Alte Herrscher des Mittelalters: Könige, Dogen und Päpste. Ein Beitrag zu einer gerontologischen Mediävistik

The project examines the ageing phase of medieval rulers of the high and late Middle Ages comparatively from a "gerontomedieval" perspective as well as discourses on age and power, which form the contemporary context of the history of ideas. “Gerontomedieval studies" is understood as a specifically medieval approach to the scientific field of gerontology. Gerontological theories, approaches, concepts and questions are applied critically and reflectively to historical topics and sources. Using the example of the bearers of political power, the fundamental question of the relevance of the factor "age" for the dispositions of human action is examined. Three hitherto largely separate research traditions are brought together: medieval research on old age, medieval research on the Venetian dogate, papacy and (English) kingship, and modern gerontological research. Case studies will be ruler personalities from the ranks of the Doges, Popes and English kings who reached a high chronological age and ruled for a long time at the same time. With regard to Venice and the papacy, as for the Kingdom of England, the focus will be on the individual rulers, but questions will also be asked about the anchoring of old age in the political structures of these secular and ecclesiastical electoral systems. Three research perspectives will be pursued: a discursive one (1), a discursive-praxeological one (2) and a praxeological one (3). There is a specific list of questions for each perspective. The analysis of the discursive perspective focuses on reflections on age and power, representations of ancient rulers as well as references of the works and their authors to rulers that go beyond the texts themselves. The object of study of the discursive-praxeological perspective is narratives about concrete ruler personalities, which are shaped by discourses. The praxeological perspective focuses on the concrete actions of rulers and relates them to discourses and narratives.

 

Finished dissertation project (monograp published at Wilhelm Fink/Ferdinand Schöning, 2017):

„Venedig und Aragon im Spätmittelalter (1280-1410): Eine Verflechtungsgeschichte"

Although Venice and Aragon determined the fate of large parts of the late medieval Mediterranean, comparatively little work has been done so far on Venetian-Catalan relations. In only a small number of contributions do relations constitute an autonomous topic of study. Moreover, many findings are disparate. Due to the research tradition, "diplomacy" and "trade" appear to be the essential aspects. However, the result is that "piracy" must be placed on an equal footing with these two. Therefore, the dissertation is primarily a contribution to the late medieval history of politics, diplomacy, trade and piracy. Since the late 13th century is characterised only by sporadically intensive contacts between Venetians and Catalans, only the 14th century can be regarded as the actual period of the genesis of relations. Because of this and in view of other aspects, a period of investigation is chosen that extends from about 1280 to 1410. Due to the deficient state of research, special emphasis was placed on intensive source work and above all archival work. So far, neither the published nor the archival sources have been systematically sifted through and evaluated over longer periods of time with regard to Venetian-Catalan contacts. The material base mainly includes administrative documents. The second important group of sources consists mainly of contemporary chronicles.

Based on the above-mentioned observation that politics, trade and piracy form the essential fields of Venetian-Catalan relations, they will be subjected to an in-depth analysis. The intertwining and disentanglement of the three thematic fields will be examined. The diachronically broadly conceived examination should reveal dynamics and make periodisations possible. In order to achieve the necessary depth dimension, episodes of condensed interaction will be reconstructed micro-historically. If diplomacy, trade and piracy are considered from a network perspective, a multitude of possible aspects of investigation opens up. Due to their particular relevance, the focus will be on actors, places and institutions. For the analysis of the actors, a prosopographical approach is chosen. The Venetian trade on the Balearic Islands between 1326 and 1343/44 will be examined using the methods of social network analysis.

In the following, some relevant results of the work will be presented. The periodisation of Venetian-Catalan relations makes it possible to differentiate three striking political turning points that mark the beginnings of phases of growing interdependence and also had an impact on trade contacts: the "First Sicilian Turn of 1282", the "Mallorcan Turn of 1343/44" and the "Second Sicilian Turn of 1392". For Venetian-Catalan trade, the Balearic Islands represented the central emporium in the "long 14th century". The network analysis of the Venetian Mallorcan trade reveals that although the Venetians dominated, Mallorcans were also involved in it. Furthermore, the establishment of consulates strengthened the interdependence of both powers. Venice and Aragon were primarily linked in "friendship", "amiciciaˮ, until the time of Alfonsoʼ V. The analysis of this study reveals that four Venetian and Mallorcan consulates were involved. Their analysis reveals that four political-economic factors contributed significantly to their continuity: the common antagonism to Genoa, different main economic interests, economic cooperation for mutual benefit and mutual respect for the respective spheres of influence. Although interdependence and consensus characterised relations, phases of disentanglement or reduced interdependence can also be identified. Striking examples of moments of disentanglement and dissent are, for example, the conflict between Venice and the Catalan Company, which lasted for several decades, and the protectionism dispute around 1400. During the Venetian-Genoese and Catalan-Genoese wars, not only did attacks occur among the war opponents, but Venetians and Catalans also carried out attacks on each other. Since every attack also had political implications, phases of increased piracy regularly triggered interstate crisis situations.

The study of Venetian-Catalan relations shows that they not only have a high potential for knowledge of late medieval political, trade and piracy history in the Mediterranean region, but in some aspects also point beyond this space.

 

Courses:

  • Winter term 23/24: Reading Class in Primary Sources: Mirrors for princes in the Early and High Middle Ages
  • Summer term 20: Class, Theory a. Methods: Age(ing) in the Middle Ages
  • Summer term 17: Class, Theory a. Methods: Theorien und Methoden der Analyse sozialer Netzwerke
  • Winter term 16/17: Class, Theory a. Methods: Generations in the Middle Ages
  • Summer term 16: Reading Class in Primary Sources: Catalans in the Mediterranean
  • Summer term 15: Class, Theory a. Methods: Social network analysis: Theory, Methods, Examples
  • Winter term 14/15: Proseminar: Venice in the Middle Ages

 

Publications:

Monographs

Editorships

Essays

Further contributions

Reviews

  • Virtus Zallot, Sulle teste nel Medioevo. Storie e immagini di capelli, Bologna (Il Mulino) 2021 (Biblioteca storica), in: QFIAB 102 (2022), pp. 583–584.
  • Dieter Girgensohn (ed.), La fortuna dei Foscari. Silloge di documenti 1281–1530, 2 Bde., in Zusammenarbeit mit Donato Gallo und Andreas Hillerbrandt, Venezia (La Malcontenta) 2019–2020, in: QFIAB 102 (2022), pp. 662–664.
  • Chiara Frugoni, Paradiso vista Inferno. Buon governo e tirannide nel Medioevo di Ambrogio Lorenzetti, Bologna (Il Mulino) 2019 (Grandi illustrati), in: QFIAB 101 (2021), pp. 708–710.
  • Thijs Porck, Old Age in Early Medieval England. A Cultural History, Westbridge, Suffolk (Boydell & Brewer Ltd) 2019 (Anglo-Saxon Studies 33), in: QFIAB 100 (2020), pp. 651–652.
  • Sauro Gelichi/Stefano Gasparri (ed.), Venice and Its Neighbors from the 8th to 11th Century. Through Renovation and Continuity, Leiden-Boston (Brill) 2018 (The Medieval Mediterranean 111), in: QFIAB 100 (2020), pp. 658–659.
  • Ignacio Czeghun/Cosima Möller/Yolanda María Quesada Morillas/José Antonio Pérez Juan (ed.), Wasser ‒ Wege ‒ Wissen auf der iberischen Halbinsel.
  • Longevity and Immortality. Europa – Islam – Asia, Firenze (SISMEL. Edizioni del Galluzzo) 2018 (= Micrologus. Nature, Sciences and Medieval Societies 26), in: QFIAB 99 (2019), pp. 574–575.
  • Christian Scholl/Torben R. Gebhardt/Jan Clauß (ed.), Transcultural Approaches to the Concept of Imperial Rule in the Middle Ages, Frankfurt/M. 2017, in: QFIAB 98 (2018), pp. 496‒497.
  • Matthias Becher (ed.), Die mittelalterliche Thronfolge im europäischen Vergleich, Ostfildern: Thorbecke 2017 (Vorträge und Forschungen/Konstanzer Arbeitskreis für Mittelalterliche Geschichte 84), in: QFIAB 98 (2018), pp. 499‒500.
  • Allegra Iafrate, The Wandering Throne of Solomon. Objects and Tales of Kingship in the Medieval Mediterranean, Leiden-Boston: Brill 2016 (Mediterranean art histories 2), in: QFIAB 98 (2018), pp. 522‒523.
  • Giorgio Ravegnani, Il traditore di Venezia. Vita di Marino Falier doge, Roma-Bari: Laterza 2017 (Storia e società), in: QFIAB 98 (2018), pp. 576‒577.
  • Stéphane Boissellier/Bernard Darbord/Denis Menjot u.a., Langues médiévales ibériques. Domaines espagnol et portuguais, Turnhout 2012 (L’atelier du médiéviste 12), in: Francia-Recensio 2016,2. 
  • Kerstin Hitzbleck/Klara Hübner (ed.), Die Grenzen des Netzwerks 1200–1600, Ostfildern 2014, in: ZHF 43,3 (2016), pp. 531–532.
  • Nikolas Jaspert/Sebastian Kolditz (ed.), Seeraub im Mittelmeerraum. Piraterie, Korsarentum und maritime Gewalt von der Antike bis zur Neuzeit, München u.a. 2013, in: AEM 44,2 (2014), pp. 1052–1054.
  • Helmut Engelhart, Lexikon zur Buchmalerei, Stuttgart 2012 (Bibliothek des Buchwesens 19), in: AEM 42,2 (2012), p. 890 (bibliographical note).

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