Project
Monasterium – Upper Austria
Many centuries ago the monasteries and abbeys of Austria were important shaping forces in historical development. The contents of the monastery archives mirrored the history and development of the respective monastic institutions. They permit as well a look at a wider spectrum. Research in the names of families, towns and fields are made possible by these historical documents, as well as new knowledge of the legal and property history. The scope of the material often covers entire millenniums without gaps. It is therefore also the basis in the ancillary sciences for posing questions on diplomacy, heraldry, and paleography. These facts show the great potential of monastery archives. They enrich historical research in many fields and widen our understanding of the general history of the country.
Project „Corpus Austriae Superioris diplomatum“
Das Oberösterreichische Urkundenbuch (Upper Austrian Book of Primary Documents) is still today the only large printed collection of this region’s primary documents. It is made up of eleven volumes. The first volume appeared in 1855. The most recent edition was completed in 1983. A collection was published of sources up to 1399 from various origins.
These documents were collected into a chronological series and every two to three series provided with a short description. Where the original documents were no longer available, the publishers referred back to the still older editions of “Monumenta Boica”. With exception of the Schlägl Monastery, whose documents were first published in collection in the Modern Era by Isfried Pichler, there exist hardly any editions or descriptive collections from existing or extinct monasteries covering materials younger than 1399.
The presentation of material from this time period in the Oberösterreichisches Urkundenbuch is therefore a very important account of the country’s history. 5000 documents from the 15th and 16th century were preserved only in the seven great monasteries of Upper Austria. These must first be developed and prepared by modern methods for scholarship, research, and teaching.
The project aims to prepare the religious documents (from monastic archives, as in the Dioceses of Passau and Linz), inside the framework of the „Corpus Austriae Superioris Diplomatum“. The existing editions and summaries in the Oberösterreichisches Urkundenbuch will be addressed in this project. Also, complete texts and summaries for the period between 1400 and 1600 will be addressed for the first time. These documents will be made available in an online databank. Images of the originals will also be included. Collectively a virtual archive for Upper Austrian monasteries will take final form in the context of the „Corpus Austriae Superioris Diplomatum”
For now, the data will be integrated into the virtual archive of middle European monasteries and dioceses (Monasterium.net). Through this, the documents can be researched as a greater collective work. Also, documents located outside of Upper Austria which have some relation to the Upper Austrian documents can be inquired into. For example, the Baumgartenberg Archive and the Mondsee Tradition Codex, which were dispersed between the Upper Austrian Archives as well as House, Court, and State Archives, will be reunited in the virtual archive.
New Possibilities and Perspectives
The databank compiled for the goals of this project will continue to have many uses after its completion.
1. Scholarship and Regional Research: The availability of sources online opens relative clarification and completely new research perspectives for various fields of cultural studies. The databank can be applicable across a broad field of research related to its contents. For the first time these works can completed with the help digital support. By completing the index of the Upper Austrian data and connecting it with other databanks (such as www.monasterium.net), this project makes possible complex, transregional research inquiries at the touch of a button. Furthermore, the virtual archive makes it possible to collect and even reconstruct a virtual archive based on individual, freely alterable criteria. For example, it would be possible to collect and analyze the widely strewn primary documents of certain petty nobles by script and external form of the document.
Aside from the broad possibilities for research, there is also a broad spectrum of wider fields of usage. In addition to the simple search function, there stands a series of external helping tools at the ready. These address the historical ancillary sciences (paleography, chronology, etc), the identity of place names, (ie, Orbis latinus), and diverse dictionaries as well as links to useful online secondary sources, such as library catalogues. Through these greater possibilities, the search results can be narrowed to a certain degree.
2. Education: The sources in text and pictures are applicable to grammar school, university and adult education, as well as interdisciplinary forums. Grammar students can use the texts for practice for Latin and Middle High German. They could also use the types of handwriting to study the development of script.
Both primary schools and universities can claim the offerings of this database for free. The data is stands open and accessible for all these purposes around the clock. They can use them, among other resources, to insure primary students’ education in state history. The primary sources from the Upper Austrian monasteries have a great meaning for the history of the state and they are a valuable addition to teaching tools for history classes. They make clear and accessible what could before only be learned through theory.
3. Culture and Tourism: As part of the general cultural heritage, the original sources of state history call up a great deal of interest. The project contributes on a broad level to the wider consciousness of the meaning of this cultural heritage.
The project is being completed by the Institut zur Erschließung und Erforschung kirchlicher Quellen (IEEkQ) in close cooperation with the Upper Austrian State Archive. IEEkQ has already completed a similar project for Lower Austria.
Information:
Institut zur Erschließung und Erforschung kirchlicher Quellen
A-3100 St. Pölten, Domplatz 1
Tel.: +43 2742 324 321
Fax: +43 2742 324 325
Email: info@monasterium.net
