MONUMENTA GERMANIAE HISTORICA. - It is the most important collection of sources for medieval history, particularly for Germany, but indirectly for all the countries that entered the orbit of the medieval Empire. It is published under the auspices of the "Reichsinstitut für ältere deutsche Geschichtskunde" (formerly "Gesellschaft für Deutschlands ältere Geschichtskunde"), founded in Frankfurt in Jan. 1818 by K. von Stein, indicated on the title page of the individual volumes by the Latin designation "Societas aperiendis fontibus rerum Germanicarum medii aevi". The character of the institution, which arose in conjunction with the affirmation in Germany of the ideals of political unity, is highlighted by the motto of the Society: "Sanctus amor patriae dat animus". In 1824 G. H. Pertz, who directed the publication of the M. G. H. until 1874, presented the definitive plan of the work, and two years later the first volume appeared. In 1875 the Society passed under the direction of the Prussian Academy of Sciences and in 1886 obtained official recognition from the State, which attached it to the Ministry of the Interior. Pertz was succeeded in the presidency of the directing committee by W. Waitz (1875-86), W. Wattenbach (1886-88), E. Dümmler (1888-1902), O. Holder-Egger (1902-1905), R. Koser (1906-19), P. F. Kehr (1919-36); then, after the commissarial regime of W. Engel, E. E. Stengel (1937-42), Th. Mayer (1942-47) and Fr. Baethgen (from 1947).
In Jan. 1944, because of the war, the Institute was transferred from Berlin to Weissenstein Castle at Pommerfelden, near Bamberg, and in 1948 to Munich. In the same year the statute of 1875 was modified and the body took the name "M. G. H. Deutsches Institut für Erforschung des Mittelalters". The generous intervention of Pius XII contributed notably to the rebirth of the Institute after the painful trials and financial disruptions caused by the Second World War.
The M. G. H., which represent the first collection of historical sources published with a truly critical intent, initially appeared in large folio volumes, to which the in-4° and in-8° formats were later added. The edition was at first curated by the Weidmann house of Berlin, joined later by the Hier-
tions were distinguished precisely according to format.
1st series: SCRIPTORES. - It comprises the historical and chronicle works of late antiquity and the Middle Ages, divided into 10 sections:
1. Auctores antiquissimi: 15 vols. in-4° (vols. I, III, IV, V, VI in 2 parts each, XIII in 4), published by the Weidmann house between 1877 (vol. I) and 1919 (vol. XV). Vol. V, part 1, was reprinted in 1925.
2. Scriptores rerum Merovingicarum: 7 vols. in-4° (I and VII in 2 parts), published by the Hahn house between 1884 (vol. I, part 1) and 1920 (vol. VII). A 2nd ed. of vol. I, part 1, was prepared in 1937.
3. Scriptores rerum Langobardicarum et Italicarum saec. VI-IX: 1 vol. in-4°, published by the Hahn house in 1898.
4. Gesta Pontificum Romanorum: 1 vol. in-4°, published by the Weidmann house in 1898.
5. Scriptores (in general): 30 vols. in-fol. (vol. XXX in 2 parts), published by the Hiersemann house, and 2 in-4° (the second [XXXII] in 3 parts) published by the Hahn house, between the years 1826 (vol. I) and 1926-34 (vol. XXX, part 2). Vols. I-XII and XVI-XXI were reprinted in 1925, XXII in 1928, XXIII in 1929.
6. Scriptores rerum Germanicarum. Nova series: 9 vols. in-8° small, published by the Weidmann house between 1922 (vol. I) and 1935 (vol. IX).
7. Scriptores rerum Germanicarum in usum scholarum separatim editi: 61 vols. in-8° small, published by the Hahn house, except vols. XXVI, XXXIX, XL and XLIX by the Weidmann house (some volumes of this section, although containing texts that already appear in others, represent an improved edition; others appear only here). The oldest (vol. I) is from 1871, the most recent (XXIV) from 1935; of vols. VI, XIV, XLVIII a reprint was made in 1930; a 2nd ed. was prepared for vols. XV (1880), XVI (1916) and XLV (1912); a 3rd for vols. II (1917), XXXII (1937), XLI (1915), XLIV (1907), XLVI (1912), LVIII (1899) and LXI (1915); a 5th for LX (1935); a 6th for XXV (1911).
8. Deutsche Chroniken (Scriptores qui vernacula lingua usi sunt): 6 vols. in-4° (vols. I, III and IV in 2 parts), published by the Weidmann house between 1877 (vol. II) and 1923 (vol. IV, part 2).
9. Libelli de lite imperatorum et pontificum saec. XI et XII conscripti: 3 vols. in-4°, published by the Hahn house between 1891 (vol. I) and 1897 (vol. III).
10. Staatsschriften des späteren Mittelalters: of the 3 vols. in-8° large (I in 2 parts) announced by the Hiersemann house, only vol. I has appeared, which however passed to the 3rd section of the Antiquitates (vol. IV).
2nd series: LEGES. - It comprises the collections of laws, the capitularies of the Frankish kings, the conciliar provisions, and legal sources in general relating to the Middle Ages, divided into 4 sections:
1. Leges in-fol.: 5 vols. (II in 2 parts), published by the Hiersemann house between 1835 (vol. I) and 1875-89 (V). Vols. I-IV were reprinted in 1925.
2. Leges in-4°, divided into 5 groups: a) Legum sectio I: Leges nationum Germanicarum: 3 vols. (I, II and V: the latter in 2 parts), published by the Hahn house between 1892 (vol. II) and 1927 (vol. III, part 2); b) Legum sectio II: Capitularia regum Francorum: 2 vols. (I in 2 parts, II in 3), published by the Hahn house in 1883 and 1897; c) Legum sectio III: Concilia: 2 vols. (II with a supplement), published by the Hahn house between 1893 (vol. I) and 1924 (vol. II, suppl.); d) Legum sectio IV: Constitutiones et acta publica imperatorum et regum: 7 vols. (I-VI and VIII: IV and V in 2 parts, VIII in 3), published by the Hahn house between 1893 (vol. I) and 1927 (vol. VI, fascicle 3); e) Legum sectio V: Formulae Merovingici et Karolini aevi: 1 vol., published by the Hahn house in 1886.
3. Fontes iuris Germanici antiqui Nova series: 2 vols. (I and III) in-8° small, published by the Hahn house in 1933.
4. Fontes iuris Germanici antiqui in usum scholarum separatim editi: 9 vols. in-8° small, published by the Hahn house (as with the Scriptores, this section comprises, besides new texts, also the two texts that appear in the preceding section, improved from the standpoint of philological criticism). They range between 1869 (vol. III) and 1933 (vol. IX). In 1933 the 2nd ed. of vol. II was also prepared.
3rd series: DIPLOMATA. - It comprises the public acts issued by the chanceries of the kings and emperors of France and Germany, divided into 4 sections:
1. Diplomata in-fol. [Merovingorum]: 1 vol., published by the Hiersemann house in 1872.
2. Die Urkunden der Karolinger (Diplomata Karolinorum): 1 vol. in-4°, published by the Weidmann house in 1906.
3. Die Urkunden der deutschen Karolinger (Diplomata regum Germaniae ex stirpe Karolinorum): 3 vols. in-4° (I in 3 parts, II in 2), published by the Weidmann house between 1932 (vol. I) and 1940 (vol. III).
4. Die Urkunden der deutschen Könige und Kaiser (Diplomata regum et imperatorum Germaniae): 7 vols. in-4° (I-VI and VIII; II in 2 parts), published by the Weidmann house between 1879-84 (vol. I) and 1927 (vol. VIII).
Belonging to the series of the Diplomata, although not forming part of any of the aforementioned sections, is the vol. Die Urkunden Heinrichs des Löwen, Herzogs von Sachsen und Bayern, in 2 tomes, published in part by the Hiersemann house (vol. I, part 1 and vol. II, part 1), and in part by the Böhlau house (vol. I, part 2) in 1941.
4th series: EPISTOLAE. - It comprises letters of the pontifical and imperial chanceries, as well as of the Merovingian and Carolingian kings and of other leading figures in the history of the Middle Ages, divided into 4 sections:
1. Epistolae in-4°: 8 vols. (I, V, VI and VII in 2 parts), published by the Weidmann house between 1887 (vol. I, part 1) and 1939 (vol. VIII, fascicle 1).
2. Die Briefe der deutschen Kaiserzeit: 3 vols. in-8° large (I, III and V), published by the Böhlau house, I and III in 1949, V in 1950.
3. Epistolae saec. XIII e regestis Pontificum Romanorum selectae: 3 vols. in-4°, published by the Weidmann house between 1883 (vol. I) and 1894 (vol. III).
4. Epistolae selectae: 4 vols. in-8° small (II in 2 parts), published by the Weidmann house between 1916 (vol. I) and 1926 (vol. IV).
5th series: ANTIQUITATES. - It comprises poetic texts, necrologies and literary writings of various kinds (philosophical, political, biographical, etc.) of historical interest for the medieval period, divided into 3 sections:
1. Poetae latini medii aevi: 5 vols. in-4° (IV in 2 parts) published by the Weidmann house between 1880-81 (vol. I) and 1937-39 (vol. V).
2. Necrologia Germaniae: 5 vols. in-4°, besides one outside the series (published in 1884), published by the Weidmann house between 1886-88 (vol. I) and 1920 (vol. IV).
3. Deutsches Mittelalter: kritische Studientexte: 4 vols. in-8° small, the first 5 published by the Hiersemann house in 1937, the last by the Böhlau house in 1949.
In 1890 a volume of indexes was also published by the publishers Hahn and Weidmann, edited by O. Holder-Egger and K. Zeumer.
From 1938 the «Reichsinstitut für ältere deutsche Geschichtskunde» has also published 9 vols. (the last is from 1944), entrusted to the Hiersemann house, of critical studies on various subjects of medieval history, which, although not forming part of the M. G. H., constitute almost a complement to them and a useful aid. The same purpose is also served by the Institute's journal, begun in 1820, which, having interrupted publication in 1944 owing to the fortunes of war, resumed it in 1949, varying several times in periodicity and title (Archiv der Gesellschaft für ältere deutsche Geschichtshunde from 1820 to 1872; Neues Archiv der Gesellschaft für ältere deutsche Geschichtshunde from 1875 to 1935; Deutsches Archiv für Geschichte des Mittelalters from 1937 to 1944, and then again from 1949).
Bibliography4 works
Alessandro Pratesi