Jörg Sonntag

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Joerg (Jörg) Sonntag (born 1977 in Erlabrunn, Saxony)[1] is a German historian of medieval history.

Biography[edit]

Sonntag studied Medieval History, Saxon Regional History and Protestant Theology at the TU Dresden and Eastern Church History at the University of Marburg from 1997 to 2002.[2]

After receiving a doctoral scholarship from the Konrad Adenauer Foundation, he completed his doctorate in medieval history at Dresden in 2007 with a dissertation on the monastic ritual world of the high Middle Ages, for which he was awarded the Faculty Prize. From 2009 to 2012, he worked at the Research Center for the Comparative History of Religious Orders (FOVOG), first at the Catholic University of Eichstätt, then at Dresden.[2] In 2012, he was a George William Cottrell-Member at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton (New Jersey, USA).[3] Since 2013, he has been a research associate and, since 2021, a working group leader in the project “Monasteries in the High Middle Ages: Innovation Laboratories of European Life Designs and Models of Order” of the Saxon Academy and the Heidelberg Academy of Sciences.[4][5][6] From 2014 to 2021 he was head researcher and spokesperson of the international DFG Scientific Network: "Imitation. Mechanisms of a Cultural Principle in the Middle Ages".[2]

Sonntag completed his habilitation in 2021 with a cultural-historical thesis on “Playing God in the Middle Ages.” In the same year, he was appointed a private lecturer (Privatdozent) in Medieval History at the TU Dresden and was elected as a member of the Young Forum of the Saxon Academy of Sciences.[7]

In the summer semester of 2022, he was a professor of Medieval History at the University of Regensburg.[8]

Research[edit]

Sonntag focuses on medieval cultural studies. He has studied the comparative history of religious orders, including models, rituals and forms of symbolization as well as the cultural functions of games, of imitations, and of hair in medieval times.

Symbols and Monasteries[edit]

In his book Klosterleben im Spiegel des Zeichenhaften (Monastic Life in the Mirror of the Symbolic), Sonntag applied the case-study of the traditional Benedictine communities and the Cistercians to investigate the following aspects of monastic life: monastic vows, hierarchical structures, meal communion, foot washing, care of the sick and the dying, guest services, and travel.[9][10]

Games in Medieval Times[edit]

In Religiosus ludens, Sonntag was one of the first scholars to study the roles of games in medieval monasteries.[11][12]

The Rule Commentary of Pontigny[edit]

Sonntag critically edited a little known commentary on the Rule of Saint Benedict, which originates from Pontigny. Nicole Bériou wrote the preface to the edition. This work is actually an extensive collection of sermons.[13]

The Williamite and Caulite Orders[edit]

Sonntag led the publication of the scientific editions of the statutes of the Williamite Order (1251-1349) and the legal texts of the Caulite Order (1220-1300, the latter with a preface by Phillip Adamo, the grand seigneur of Caulite research). Both scientific editions are provided with a translation.[14]

Hair in History[edit]

Sonntag has studied the cultural meaning of human hair in the Middle Ages. He applied a new approach that analyzes the interrelations between the social, political, ethical and religious functions of hair, and reveals the overarching structures of its usage.[15]

Academic Books[edit]

Monographs[edit]

  • Die Gesetzgebung der Cauliten im 13. Jahrhundert Ausgewählte Zeugnisse ihrer Verfassung. Edition and Translation. Verlag Schnell & Steiner. Regensburg. 2022. ISBN 978-3-7954-3731-2. OCLC 1302591035
  • Die Statuten der Wilhelmiten (1251-1348) Zeugnisse der Verfassung eines europäischen Ordens : Edition and Translation. Verlag Schnell & Steiner (1. Auflage ed.). Regensburg. 2019. ISBN 978-3-7954-3421-2
  • Sermones in Regulam s. Benedicti: ein zisterziensischer Regelkommentar aus Pontigny. Berlin. ISBN 978-3-643-13428-8. OCLC 985099779
  • Klosterleben im Spiegel des Zeichenhaften : symbolisches Denken und Handeln hochmittelalterlicher Mönche zwischen Dauer und Wandel, Regel und Gewohnheit. Berlin. ISBN 978-3-8258-1033-7. OCLC 463662251

Other Volumes[edit]

  • Imitationen. Systematische Zugänge zu einem kulturellen Prinzip des Mittelalters (Münstersche Mittelalter-Schriften 83), Paderborn 2021, ed. together with Michael Grünbart and Gerald Schwedler.[16]
  • Disorder. Expressions of an Amorphous Phenomenon in Human History, ed. together with Mirko Breitenstein, Münster 2020.[17]
  • Nachahmen im Mittelalter. Dimensionen – Mechanismen – Funktionen (Archiv für Kulturgeschichte. Beihefte 82), Köln / Weimar / Wien 2018, ed. together with Andreas Büttner, Birgit Kynast and Gerald Schwedler.[18]
  • Geist und Gestalt. Monastische Raumkonzepte als Ausdrucksformen religiöser Leitideen im Mittelalter (Vita regularis. Abhandlungen 69), Berlin 2016.[19]
  • Loyalty in the Middle Ages. Ideal and Practice of a Cross-Social Value. (Brepols Collected Essays in European Culture 5), Turnhout 2015, ed. together with Coralie Zermatten).[20]
  • Identität und Gemeinschaft. Vier Zugänge zu Eigengeschichten und Selbstbildern institutioneller Ordnungen (Vita regularis. Abhandlungen 67), Berlin 2015, ed, together with Mirko Breitenstein, Julia Burkhardt and Stefan Burkhardt).[21]
  • Religiosus Ludens. Das Spiel als kulturelles Phänomen in mittelalterlichen Klöstern und Orden (Arbeiten zur Kirchengeschichte 122), Berlin / Boston 2013.[22]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Index entry: Sonntag, Jörg". Deutsche Biographie. Retrieved May 2, 2023.
  2. ^ a b c "Staff profile". TU Dresden. Retrieved 2023-01-11.
  3. ^ "Scholar profile". Institute for Advanced Study. Princeton University. 2019-12-09. Retrieved 2022-10-31.
  4. ^ "Monasteries in the High Middle Ages. Laboratories of Innovation for European Designs of Life and Models of Order". TU Dresden. Retrieved 2022-10-31.
  5. ^ "Klöster im Hochmittelalter: Innovationslabore europäischer Lebensentwürfe und Ordnungsmodelle — Sächsische Akademie der Wissenschaften". www.saw-leipzig.de. Retrieved 2022-10-31.
  6. ^ "Notes and comments". The Catholic Historical Review. 107 (3): 439. 2021.
  7. ^ "Staff profile". Sächsische Akademie der Wissenschaften. Retrieved 2022-10-31.
  8. ^ "Lecture series (full schedule and descriptions)". University of Regensburg. Retrieved 2023-01-11.
  9. ^ Judic, Bruno (2010-09-30). "Book review". Mittelalter – Moyen Âge (500–1500).
  10. ^ Rüffer, Jens (2010). "Book review". sehepunkte.de. Retrieved 2022-10-31.
  11. ^ Mixson, James D. (2014). "Book review". sehepunkte.de. Retrieved 2023-04-30.
  12. ^ Lutterbach, Hubertus (2013). "Book review". Analecta Cisterciensia. 63: 575–577.
  13. ^ Schachenmayr, Alkuin (2017). "Book review". Analecta Cisterciensia. 67: 367–368.
  14. ^ Eberl, Immo (2021). "Book review". Rottenburger Jahrbuch für Kirchengeschichte. 40: 242–243.
  15. ^ Sonntag, Jörg (2021). "Von langen Bärten und geschorenen Köpfen: das kulturelle Potenzial des menschlichen Haares im Frühmittelalter". Mittelalter: Interdisziplinäre Forschung und Rezeptionsgeschichte. 4: 77–102.
  16. ^ Imitationen : systematische Zugänge zu einem kulturellen Prinzip des Mittelalters. Michael Grünbart, Gerald Schwedler, Jörg Sonntag. Paderborn. 2021. ISBN 978-3-7705-6418-7. OCLC 1083629961.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) CS1 maint: others (link)
  17. ^ Disorder : expressions of an amorphous phenomenon in human history : essays in honour of Gert Melville. Gert Melville, Jörg Sonntag, Mirko Breitenstein. Münster. 2020. ISBN 978-3-402-24747-1. OCLC 1260438148.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) CS1 maint: others (link)
  18. ^ Nachahmen im Mittelalter Dimensionen - Mechanismen - Funktionen. Andeas Büttner, Jörg Sonntag, Gerald Schwedler, Birgit Kynast, Böhlau-Verlag Köln ([1. Auflage] ed.). Köln. 2018. ISBN 978-3-412-50908-8. OCLC 987571852.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) CS1 maint: others (link)
  19. ^ Geist und Gestalt monastische Raumkonzepte als Ausdrucksformen religiöser Leitideen im Mittelalter. Jörg Sonntag. Berlin. 2016. ISBN 978-3-643-13405-9. OCLC 953104498.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) CS1 maint: others (link)
  20. ^ Loyalty in the Middle Ages : Ideal and Practice of a Cross-Social Value. Jörg Sonntag, Coralie Zermatten. Turnhout, Belgium. 2015. ISBN 978-2-503-55103-6. OCLC 895713470.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) CS1 maint: others (link)
  21. ^ Identität und Gemeinschaft vier Zugänge zu Eigengeschichten und Selbstbildern institutioneller Ordnungen. Mirko Breitenstein, Julia Burkhardt, Stefan Burkhardt, Jörg Sonntag. Berlin. 2015. ISBN 978-3-643-13242-0. OCLC 946560321.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) CS1 maint: others (link)
  22. ^ Religiosus Ludens das Spiel als kulturelles Phänomen in mittelalterlichen Klöstern und Orden. Jörg Sonntag. Berlin. 2013. ISBN 978-3-11-030506-7. OCLC 816136875.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) CS1 maint: others (link)

External links[edit]