Finke, Heinrich

FINKE, HEINRICH. [- Eminent medievalist, b. at Krechling in Westphalia on 13 June 1855, d. at Freiburg in Brisgau on 14 Dec. 1938. Having taken his degree at the University of Tübingen, he devoted himself to historical studies, especially of the late Middle Ages, in which he became a master of international repute. His studies on the Council of Constance led him to the Archive of the Crown of Aragon in Barcelona, where he found an inexhaustible mine of documents for the political, religious, ecclesiastical and cultural history of Europe in the 13th-15th centuries, which he in part made accessible with his powerful publications. A professor at the University of Freiburg (1899-1928), he trained a host of students who continued the master's work. A Catholic layman, of the strictest integrity, he took part in all the manifestations of the cultural world; he was president of the Görresgesellschaft from 1924 until his death, and as such he entitled the section for Spain.

His works of general interest are: Forschungen und Quellen zur Geschichte des Konstanzer Kanzils (Paderborn 1889); Acta Concilii Constantensis (4 vols., Münster in Vest. 1896-28); Aus den Tagen Bonifaz VIII (iv. 1902); Publizum und Untergang des Templeverdens (2 vols., iv. 1907); Acta Aragonesis (3 vols., Berlin-Leipzig 1908-22, with supplement published in 1933).