leibniz

History of the Guelphs

Leibniz's investigations of the history of the Guelphs surpassed from the outset the boundaries of a mainly politically-relevant dynastic history. Later, in the wake of his research tour of 1687-1690, he continually pursued the collection of material and made use of his widespread correspondence network for assembling source material and the elucidation of special historical questions. Since it was already evident to Leibniz in 1692 that his intended portrayal of "Brunswickian History", in the context of German and European history from Charlemagne, would surpass the capabilities of a single individual, limitation to the period up to 1235 (foundation of the duchy Brunswick-Lüneburg) seemed appropriate to him, especially in view of the fact that the importance of the ruling house outside the region was most evidently apparent for this period. Although he had believed at the outset that he could complete this historical opus in just a few years, at the end of his life he had advanced only to the year 1005 with the commitment to writing of the Annales Imperii occidentis Brunsvicenses (first published in 1843-46 by Georg Heinrich Pertz). Preliminary works and provisional results (Lettre sur la connexion des maisons de Brunsvic et d'Este, 1695), but above all publication of sources (in Leibniz's view a necessary foundation for historical writing that would be scholarly-based and subject to critical scrutiny), were published in advance (Codex juris gentium diplomaticus, 1693, with a Mantissa, 1700; Specimen historiae arcanae sive anecdotae de vita Alexandri VI. Papae, 1696; Accessiones historicae, T. 1-2, 1698; Scriptores rerum Brunsvicensium, T. 1-3, 1707-1711). From the stock of historical source material, assembled by Leibniz and his collaborators, eighteenth-century successors in the position of Hanoverian librarian were able to compile even more extensive publications (Johann Georg Eckhart, Corpus historicum medii aevi, T. 1-2, 1723; Christian Ludwig Scheidt, Origines Guelficae, T. 1-5,1750-1753).

Leibniz's historiographical interest far surpassed the terms of reference of a historiographer of the House of Guelphs. Scholarly papers and correspondence concerning the theory and didactics of history, as well as the methodology of historiography, are as much a part of his collective work as studies concerning numismatics, diplomatics and archaeology. Historical authoritative reports concerning medieval legal relationships (hunting rights, 1698; foundation of towns, 1709/11) and Imperial law (history of the Imperial vicariate, 1711) touch on both questions of general historiography and public law. This double aspect of historical research in the baroque era - purpose-free striving for a better cognizance of the past on the one hand and the utilization of historical knowledge in matters of state on the other - also finds expression in Leibniz's efforts over years to establish a German Historical Society that would provide the organizational context for a German national history while at the same time also establishing politically valuable legal claims of the Emperor.

Further Reading:   Louis Davillé, Leibniz Historien. Essai sur l’activité et la méthode historiques de Leibniz. Paris 1909
Werner Conze, Leibniz als Historiker. Berlin 1951 (Leibniz zu seinem 300. Geburtstag 1646-1946, Lieferung 6)

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