Bill Weis Travels to Vienna to Research Codices at the Austrian National Library

Bill Weis Travelled to Vienna to Research Codices 451 & 473 in the Austrian National Library

Introduction

The generosity of Wayne State's Undergraduate Research Opportunity Program (UROP) and the subsequent Sterne-Lion Scholarship enabled history major Bill Weis to travel to Vienna, Austria, for two weeks over the summer. His project focused on two Carolingian-era manuscripts and their implications for medieval history writing.

What I discovered

In the Austrian National Library, I examined codex 451 and the more famous manuscript, the St. Amand History Book, to try to gain greater insight into the political facets of early medieval history writing. Both of these manuscripts were compilations of famous medieval documents copied by medieval scribes in the middle and late ninth century. Ultimately, I discovered that codex 451 legitimated Carolingian rule by tracing back the roots of imperial power to the Roman Empire, linking the present political structure with the past. The other manuscript, however, was used to celebrate the coronation of a famous Carolingian king, Charles the Bald, and stressed the legitimacy of the line of Carolingian kings and placed Frankish history into a larger framework of salvific history.

Tips for future researchers

The best tip I have for future recipients of these awards is that living in a foreign country, especially for the first time, is extraordinarily stressful: nevertheless, it is imperative to force yourself to explore the city that you are in as much as possible and get to experience the people and culture. Some of the best memories I have from this trip are of the medieval and renaissance architecture I found, and of the conversations I had with random people in the streets.