“History of Heralds” Workshop Part II (25-27 March 2015, Münster)

The extent to which heralds contributed to the political and cultural life of the medieval and early modern periods has been underestimated, even neglected by historical scholarship so far. In 2014, the first part of the workshop series “History of Heralds” set out to change this, aiming to establish the foundation towards a renewed study of the function, importance and habitus of heralds from the twelfth to the eighteenth centuries, which has remained untapped until now. Scholars from all over Europe gathered in Münster and worked towards a history of the historical phenomenon of the herald. (See the conference proceedings for detailed information.)

Now, the second part of the workshop is approaching. Scheduled for 25-27 March 2015, again in Münster, the aim is to further develop the approaches that were outlined before, and apply them to historical case studies. In this effort, the participants will again present papers of about 15 minutes that will subsequently be discussed in detail within workshop group sessions focusing on specific aspects of the heralds’ history. Among the participants that attended last year, many are returning in 2015, but there will also be new faces that just joined the “History of Heralds” project.

The workshop is the initial phase of a book project which unlike usual conference proceedings will not result in an essay collection, but instead tries to involve the participants in collaborative academic writing. At the end, there is meant to be a single volume, combining the expertise of all the participants, that shall constitute a seminal approach to the study of the heralds.

In this effort, working groups have been formed that will focus on individual book chapters, including the historical development of the heralds’ office, particularities of their office, their functions, duties and missions as well as their writings.

• Chapter 1: Introduction 
• Chapter 2: The Story of Heralds
• Chapter 3: Particularities of the Office and its History
• Chapter 4: Functions, Duties, and Missions
• Chapter 5: The Writing of Heralds 
• Chapter 6: Sources
• Chapter 7: Tracks for Research

As a means of collaborative writing, a combination of Google Docs and Google+ community will be used. Google Docs allows for multiple authors to edit the same document, i.e. a chapter of the book, at the same time, and to see the changes being done to the document as well as comments being made in real time. Google+ provides a platform for information and internal communication of the project, aiming to discuss the general outline of the project before writing and editing in Google Docs.

Due to this approach, the book project is also meant as an experiment in collaborative academic writing. It will be supported by a hands-on session at the second workshop to get all the participating authors started with these two platforms, and we intend to share our experiences regarding the advantages and disadvantages of this way of working with you as we progress.

If you are interested in contributing to the project or attending the conference, it is not too late! You are most welcome to contact me.