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18.07.2025 | Entangled with Maximilian – The Writing Maximilian team at the CEH Convention’s Premiere 2025 | by S. Lessacher & R. K. Salzer


From 17 to 19 July 2025, the University of Vienna and the Institute of Austrian Historical Research hosted the first Central European History Convention (CEH-C) dedicated to the history of Central Europe from the late medieval period to the mid-20th century. The conference theme was “Shared pasts, entangled future”. Focusing on the lands of the former Habsburg Empire and its neighbouring and successor states, the convention also explored the history of the territories of the former Ottoman Empire or the transcontinental movement of migrants and ideas to South America and China.

The Writing Maximilian team – Sonja Lessacher, Iris Palenik, and Ronald Kurt Salzer – presented the (sub)project and their individual papers in the convention’s first research lab “Writing Maximilian – Different Methodological Approaches to an Emperor, His Staff, and His Policies.” on 18 July:

  • Sonja Lessacher: There and Back Again – Maximilian I’s Chancery Staff and their Links to Further Austria
  • Iris Palenik: The Prince and his Chancery – Working Through War, Plague, Inflation and Other Crises
  • Ronald Kurt Salzer: Of Lords and Loans. A Study of Maximilian I’s Politics Through His Pledged Dominions

Judit Majorossy from the Gendering Maximilian team was kind enough to be the research lab’s chair while other team members and colleagues from the Institute for Medieval Research at the Austrian Academy of Sciences were also present to support the speakers.

The speakers of the Writing Team in good spirits at the conference

Despite the vast chronological scope covered and the virtually unlimited range of possible subjects for contributions, the conference’s organizers succeeded in creating coherent and engaging panels with papers ranging from more traditional subjects, such as the history of empires and military history, to current and emerging topics, including animal history, mental health or gender studies. In addition to the traditional conference sessions, a poster exhibition offered young scholars – whose proposals had not been accepted for the panels – an opportunity to present their research results to a wider audience.

Considering the huge number of proposals and the limited representation of the late medieval period at CEH-C – there was not a single session with papers on this period on Saturday, nor were there any posters relating to the Middle Ages– the Writing Maximilian team was fortunate enough to be among the few chosen medievalists to present their latest research results. The conference of course provided valuable opportunities to connect with scholars from other countries and research fields too.

If you are interested in more, see Sonja Lessachers’s blog report on the CEH-C with the provoking question “Is it worthwhile for a medievalist to participate in the CEH-C?”.


Credits of the header image: CEH-C


OpenEdition suggests that you cite this post as follows:
Ronald Salzer (August 21, 2025). 18.07.2025 | Entangled with Maximilian – The Writing Maximilian team at the CEH Convention’s Premiere 2025 | by S. Lessacher & R. K. Salzer. Managing Maximilian (1493-1519) - A blog on Persona, Politics, and Personnel through the Lens of Digital Prosopography at the time of Maximilian of Habsburg. Retrieved February 8, 2026 from https://doi.org/10.58079/14hoc


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