New lecture series: The Middle Ages go digital
10/13/2026From Frederick Barbarossa to the enigmatic Voynich Manuscript and on to digital city tours of Würzburg: the range of topics covered in the medieval history lecture series at the University of Würzburg is vast.
Whether it’s TikTok, Instagram or AI: the technological changes taking place in our world are also reshaping our view of the Middle Ages. New areas of research, new ways of accessing sources such as documents and seals, as well as new possibilities for manipulation and entertainment through digital tools and platforms, are the focus of this lecture series. A varied programme invites you to come and listen.
Topics and dates
20 October 2026
From the banks of the Saleph to TikTok? The reception of Barbarossa as a guide through a digital Middle Ages
Manuel Kamenzin / Würzburg
27 October 2026
All plague, mud and violence? Imaginations of the Middle Ages in the context of digital games
Aurelia Brandenburg / Bern
3 November 2026
Discovering and researching medieval history: digital, integrated, networked. The example of the Hesse Regional History Information System (LAGIS)
Stefan Aumann and Ulrich Ritzerfeld / Marburg
10 November 2026
Frankfurt – Braunschweig – Würzburg. Digital walks through medieval towns
Regina Toepfer / University of Würzburg
Please note change of venue: University at Sanderring, Lecture Theatre 318
17 November 2026
Digital Papal Regesta. A new research platform on the Alexandrian Schism (1159–1177)
Julia Becker / Würzburg
24 November 2026
Between magic and mathematics – digital approaches to historical ciphers
Jürgen Hermes / Cologne
1 December 2026
Digital research into coats of arms: the Digital Heraldry Research Environment and the construction of female identity
Noah Baumann and Vivien Baumert / Berlin
8 December 2026
Digitisation in libraries – joys and frustrations from the practice at the University Library of Würzburg
Hans-Günter Schmidt / Würzburg
15 December 2026
From parchment to pixels. OCR and the Middle High German Christmas story
Stefan Tomasek / Würzburg
12 January 2027
Crowdsourcing, sword fighting, videography: Towards a dynamic approach to medieval studies, combining performative source interpretation, digital text editing and public history
Eric Burkart / Trier
19 January 2027
Deceptively real – The staging of the Middle Ages in AI-generated videos on TikTok
Miriam Montag-Erlwein / Würzburg
26 January 2027
Between Facts and Fiction – When Artificial Intelligence Writes History
Miriam Weiss / Saarbrücken
Time and venue
The lecture series takes place every Tuesday at 7.00 pm at the Burkardushaus (Am Bruderhof 1). The exception is the lecture on 10 November, which will take place in Lecture Theatre 318 at the Neue Universität (Sanderring 2).
No registration is required. Admission is free. It is possible to attend the lecture series online.
