Gerd Tellenbach
Encyclopedia
Gerd Tellenbach was a German
historian
and scholar of medieval
social and religious history, particularly of the Papacy and German church during the Investiture Controversy
and reform movements of the eleventh and twelfth centuries. Tellenbach also made groundbreaking contributions to the study of the medieval nobility and helped establish a new field of research dedicated to mapping social networks and familial ties among medieval elites (Personenforschung). After studying history at the universities of Freiburg
and Heidelberg
, he taught in Gießen
, Münster
, and finally the Albert-Ludwigs-Universität in Freiburg, where he served as Rektor (chancellor) in 1949–1950 and again in 1957–1958. From 1962 to 1971, he was director of the German Historical Institute in Rome, a state-sponsored research center dedicated to German-Italian studies and the history of the Papacy in the Middle Ages.
(1923–1993), who further developed Tellenbach's research on medieval noble families and pioneered important new techniques in prosopography
and source criticism using monastic necrologies and memorial books. Tellenbach's intellectual formation before World War I
, and his scholarly maturation following the catastrophe of the Second World War
, also lent his scholarship a unique perspective. Tellenbach's research in church history, as well as in political and social history, broke with long-standing nationalistic and highly confessional and politicized accounts and instead stressed long-term structural changes as well as intellectual and cultural forces in society. His conception of the Investiture Controversy as an epochal clash of opposing ideologies about "right order in the world," (hierocratic vs. monarchic) was certainly formed as a young scholar witnessing the vicious political conflicts that engulfed the universities in the 1930s and 1940s. Throughout his career, and particularly in his publicly visible role as university Rektor, he remained a thoughtful and forceful advocate of academic and intellectual freedom as critical components of liberal democracy. His brother, Reinhard Tellenbach, a very successful surgeon in Munich, has created a wonderful exhibition about his brothers' life and work. He lives in Munich with his wife and their three children Christina, Stefan and Anna.
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
historian
Historian
A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the study of all history in time. If the individual is...
and scholar of medieval
Middle Ages
The Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...
social and religious history, particularly of the Papacy and German church during the Investiture Controversy
Investiture Controversy
The Investiture Controversy or Investiture Contest was the most significant conflict between Church and state in medieval Europe. In the 11th and 12th centuries, a series of Popes challenged the authority of European monarchies over control of appointments, or investitures, of church officials such...
and reform movements of the eleventh and twelfth centuries. Tellenbach also made groundbreaking contributions to the study of the medieval nobility and helped establish a new field of research dedicated to mapping social networks and familial ties among medieval elites (Personenforschung). After studying history at the universities of Freiburg
Freiburg
Freiburg im Breisgau is a city in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. In the extreme south-west of the country, it straddles the Dreisam river, at the foot of the Schlossberg. Historically, the city has acted as the hub of the Breisgau region on the western edge of the Black Forest in the Upper Rhine Plain...
and Heidelberg
Heidelberg
-Early history:Between 600,000 and 200,000 years ago, "Heidelberg Man" died at nearby Mauer. His jaw bone was discovered in 1907; with scientific dating, his remains were determined to be the earliest evidence of human life in Europe. In the 5th century BC, a Celtic fortress of refuge and place of...
, he taught in Gießen
Gießen
Gießen, also spelt Giessen is a town in the German federal state of Hesse, capital of both the district of Gießen and the administrative region of Gießen...
, Münster
Münster
Münster is an independent city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located in the northern part of the state and is considered to be the cultural centre of the Westphalia region. It is also capital of the local government region Münsterland...
, and finally the Albert-Ludwigs-Universität in Freiburg, where he served as Rektor (chancellor) in 1949–1950 and again in 1957–1958. From 1962 to 1971, he was director of the German Historical Institute in Rome, a state-sponsored research center dedicated to German-Italian studies and the history of the Papacy in the Middle Ages.
Scholarly influence
Given his extraordinarily long and productive career, Tellenbach ranks as one of the most influential German historians of the twentieth century. At Freiburg, as well as during his tenure as director of the German Historical Institute in Rome, he trained and served as a mentor to a large number of students of medieval history who went on to receive important academic chairs throughout Germany. His most famous student was Karl SchmidKarl Schmid
Karl Schmid was a Swiss rower who competed in the 1936 Summer Olympics.In 1936 he was a crew member of the Swiss boat which won the silver medal in the coxed fours event. As part of the Swiss boat in the coxless fours competition he won the bronze medal...
(1923–1993), who further developed Tellenbach's research on medieval noble families and pioneered important new techniques in prosopography
Prosopography
In historical studies, prosopography is an investigation of the common characteristics of a historical group, whose individual biographies may be largely untraceable, by means of a collective study of their lives, in multiple career-line analysis...
and source criticism using monastic necrologies and memorial books. Tellenbach's intellectual formation before World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, and his scholarly maturation following the catastrophe of the Second World War
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, also lent his scholarship a unique perspective. Tellenbach's research in church history, as well as in political and social history, broke with long-standing nationalistic and highly confessional and politicized accounts and instead stressed long-term structural changes as well as intellectual and cultural forces in society. His conception of the Investiture Controversy as an epochal clash of opposing ideologies about "right order in the world," (hierocratic vs. monarchic) was certainly formed as a young scholar witnessing the vicious political conflicts that engulfed the universities in the 1930s and 1940s. Throughout his career, and particularly in his publicly visible role as university Rektor, he remained a thoughtful and forceful advocate of academic and intellectual freedom as critical components of liberal democracy. His brother, Reinhard Tellenbach, a very successful surgeon in Munich, has created a wonderful exhibition about his brothers' life and work. He lives in Munich with his wife and their three children Christina, Stefan and Anna.
Selected works
- Libertas. Kirche und Weltordnung im Zeitalter des Investiturstreits (Stuttgart, 1936); English trans.: Church, State and Christian Society at the Time of the Investiture Controversy (Oxford, 1938)
- "Vom karolingischen Reichsadel zum deutschen Reichsfürstenstand," in Adel und Bauer im deutschen Staat des Mittelalters, ed. Theodor Mayer (Leipzig, 1943)
- "Zur Erforschung des hochmittelalterlichen Adels (IX-XII Jh.), in XIIme Congres internationale des sciences historiques. Rapports I (Vienna, 1965)
- Die Westliche Kirche vom 10. bis frühen 12. Jahrhundert (Göttingen, 1988); English trans.: The church in western Europe from the tenth to the early twelfth century (Cambridge, 1993)