23-26.02.25, SYMPOSIUM | MANMAX AT THE 20. SYMPOSIUM DES MEDIÄVISTENVERBANDES AN DER UNIVERSITÄT SALZBURG

From 23-26 February 2025, several members of Managing Maximilian will be taking part in the symposium In nomine – Name und Benennung im Mittelalter. 20. Symposium des Mediävistenverbandes an der Universität Salzburg.

They will take part in the session 8.3. organised by Dennis Wegener and focusing on Naming Maximilian – Maximilians Naming? Namen und ihre Funktionen in den Werken aus dem Umfeld Kaiser Maximilians I.

The basic function of a name is to assign a value to an entity – be it an object, a figure or an empirical person – that allows it to be identified. Going back to the saying nomen est omen, names not only served to distinguish an alterity, but the chosen name should also characterise the named entity. This can go so far that names also take on functions of mythification, accentuation and anonymisation.

The fact that these functions can be grasped in the works of Emperor Maximilian I (1459-1519) and his courtly environment and that these are strategic naming practices is something that three sub-disciplines (Classics, Art History, German Studies) of the CRC F 92 “Managing Maximilian”, which began in March 2023, would like to analyse. Maximilian’s work on his gedechtnus gave rise to a network of artists whose time was characterised by the spread of book printing and publicists.

By means of self-reference, the humanist epic poets staged themselves as narrators of their Latin texts and placed themselves in the tradition of their ancient idols, avoiding the use of both their own and Maximilian’s real names in order to mythologise them. For the audience, narrator and hero become two figures whose identification is encountered as an artificial part of the overall composition.

This goes hand in hand with anonymisation in the German-language gedechtnus works, where speaking names tie in with literary traditions of the High Middle Ages. At first glance, they take on the function of characterising the figures and the historical persons behind them. However, they also have other functions, such as structurally relevant ones, which can be recognised in the interplay between Freydal, Theuerdank and Weißkunig.

This systematisation of names and their functions is continued in the production of art and ordnance. Artistic decorations make names visible and lead to a classification, whereby the intended nature of the weapon is projected onto the object in the sense of the saying nomen est omen.

The aim of the section is to examine the similarities and differences in the selection and function of names in works from Maximilian’s circle, which differ in terms of genre, language and material.

The programme of the session will include:

Dennis Wegener, Namen für gedechtnus? Praktiken der Namensnennung und ihre Funktionen in den deutschsprachigen Werken aus dem Umfeld Kaiser Maximilians I.

Lukas Ebert, Der Verfasser und sein Protagonist. Self-Naming des Poeten und Titulierung der Figur Maximilians in der lateinischen Epik für Kaiser Maximilian I.

Alexandra Burger, Waffen mit Charakter – Die Geschütznamen in den Zeugbüchern Kaiser Maximilians I.

The full programme is available here

Header Image Credits: Gilgengart Stuttgart, WLB., R 16 Gil 3