The Leibniz-Institut für Europäische Geschichte (Leibniz Institute of European History, IEG) is an independent research institute and a member of the Leibniz Association since 2012. The IEG conducts research into the religious, cultural, and political foundations of Europe since c. 1500. The interdisciplinary nature of research is ensured by the cooperation of the IEG's departments for religious history and for general history. The epoch-spanning approach is reflected in the longue durée orientation of research. It extends from the beginning of religious and confessional pluralisation in the early modern period to contemporary social and political transformations effected by processes of internationalization and globalization. The transnational orientation of research is guided by a concept of Europe as a space of communication whose internal and external boundaries have been subject to redefinition throughout the centuries.

The central theme of the present research agenda at the IEG is "negotiating differences in modern Europe". Three research areas analyse the various forms of establishing, overcoming and enabling differences, i.e. the regulation and limitation – but also the production and maintenance – of otherness and inequality within Europe and in its relations with the wider world. Amongst the IEG's current research focuses are the reformation in a European perspective, religious conflict and peace-making in the early modern period as well as mission, humanitarianism and modes of reconciliation in the 19th and 20th century. Complementary to its research programme, the IEG hosts an international fellowship programme for doctoral and postdoctoral researchers.

The IEG has established a range of open access publications in the field of European religious and general history (like EGO | European History Online) and produces a number of digital resources and editions enriched with controlled vocabulary on historical persons and places. Amongst its key national partners are the Herzog August Library in Wolfenbüttel and the Academy of Sciences and Literature in Mainz. On a European level, the IEG takes part in DARIAH-DE, the German node of DARIAH-ERIC. The IEG's international research fellowship programme for early stage researchers in religious and general history will function as a testing ground for the research results of RETOPEA.

In RETOPEA, the IEG will take the lead in work package 2 (Research on Historical Peace Settlements), bringing in its expertise in historical research on European peace treaties and representations of peace in early modern Europe. The IEG will also lead work package 4 (Digital Management and Curation), drawing on its experience in digital publications including editions and virtual research environments (via DARIAH).

Key Personnel

Irene Dingel, Principal Investigator, Director of the IEG Department of Religious History and Professor of church history at the University of Mainz, Faculty of Protestant Theology. Her research focuses are reformation and confessionalisation as well as the early enlightenment in its western European context. Dingel's recent books include The Oxford Handbook of Martin Luther’s Theology (2014, co-ed.) and Reformation (2016). She directs the research projects ‘Digital Edition of Early Modern religious Peace Treaties’ and ‘Controversia et Confessio’ (see below) and is acting as spokesperson of the Research Training Group The Christian Churches face the Challenge of Europe (jointly run by the IEG and Mainz University). Irene Dingel is editor of the series Veröffentlichungen des Instituts für Europäische Geschichte (VIEG) and Quellen und Forschungen zur Reformationsgeschichte (QFRG) and a member of the editorial boards of the Zeitschrift für Kirchengeschichte and the Revue d’Histoire et de Philosophie Religieuses. Since 2013, she is a member of the German Council of Science and Humanities (Wissenschaftsrat).

Henning P. Jürgens, Member of the Academic Staff at the IEG Department of Religious History. His current research focuses on peace sermons, delivered on the occasion of peace treaties. At the IEG he is responsible for coordinating the international research project "Representations of Peace in Early Modern Europe", which is funded by the Leibniz Association and brings together historians, theologians, art historians, musicologists and from five European research institutions (see below). He has holds a PhD in History, Theology and Philosophy from the University of Göttingen.

Relevant publications and/or other products and services

Irene Dingel (2008-2016), Controversia et confessio: theologische Kontroversen 1548–1577/80, ed. for the Akademie der Wissenschaften und der Literatur, Mainz, vols. 1–4, 8–9, Göttingen. Digital edition of vol. 1: URL: http://diglib.hab.de/edoc/ed000211/start.htm.

Joachim Berger, Irene Dingel and Johannes Paulman (2016), On site, in time. Negotiating differences in Europe, ed. for the Leibniz Institute of European History, Mainz. URL: http://en.ieg-differences.eu.

Irene Dingel (ed.) (2013), Religiöse Friedenswahrung und Friedensstiftung in Europa (1500–1800): Digitale Quellenedition frühneuzeitlicher Religionsfrieden, Wolfenbüttel. URL: http://diglib.hab.de/edoc/ed000227/start.htm.

Henning Jürgens and Thomas Weller (2010), Religion und Mobilität. Zum Verhältnis von raumbezogener Mobilität und religiöser Identitätsbildung im frühneuzeitlichen Europa, ed. for the Leibniz Institute of European History, Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht. URL: http://www.ieg-mainz.de/Uebersicht------_site.site..ls_dir._nav.20_pub.175_likecms.html

European History Online = Europäische Geschichte Online (EGO), published by the Leibniz Institute of European History (IEG), Mainz 2010–2017(ff.). URL: http://www.ieg-ego.eu.

Relevant previous projects or activities

The IEG is involved in DARIAH-ERIC via its German leg DARIAH-DE since 2011 being the only partner providing expertise in the areas of digital history and theology. The IEG's subproject Sustainable Research Infrastructures in European Historical Research focuses on developing and describing methods of quantitative analysis in biographies of religious and "secular" actors (see infrastructural tools and components) (http://www.ieg-mainz.de/en/research-projects/Dariah_DE).

A transcultural history of Europe: EGO | European History Online is published open access in both German and English. It examines processes of intercultural exchange in European history that had an impact beyond religious, political, national, and cultural boundaries. EGO has been conceived and implemented by the IEG in collaboration with the Trier Center for Digital Humanities. It is being realized in international and interdisciplinary collaboration (http://www.ieg-ego.eu).

Religious Perseveration of Peace and Peace-making in Europe (1500–1800): Digital Edition of Early Modern religious Peace Treaties. The digital edition provides for the first time the textual basis for comparative research on Early Modern religious peace making in Europe. While the more than 2.000 political "intergovernmental" peace treaties concluded between 1450 and 1789 have already been collected and made available to the public by the IEG (http://www.ieg-friedensvertraege.de), the early modern religious peace treaties were to date neither systematically catalogued nor edited and analysed. The project is funded by the German Research Foundation and carried out at the IEG in cooperation with the Herzog August Library Wolfenbüttel (http://religionsfrieden.de/).

The Culture of Controversy in the Sixteenth Century: Controversia et Confessio digital (hosted by the Academy of Science and Literature, Mainz, in cooperation with the IEG). The fully annotated collection of sources and supplementary material will document in nine volumes the Europe-wide theological controversies between 1548 and 1580. Research with digital tools is facilitated by a digital edition of the printed volumes (subsequently published) and a database covering the extensive corpus of controversy literature as well as a biographical collection of authors and printers (http://www.controversia-et-confessio.de/cc-digital.html). The project contributes to the Deutsche Biographie (https://www.deutsche-biographie.de/partner).

"Righteousness and Peace Kiss Each Other" – Representations of Peace in Early Modern Europe funded by the Leibniz Association. The transdisciplinary project joins scholars from Italy, Poland and Germany and focuses on the multitude of media representing Peace in art and architecture, music, sermons, and literature. It collects a sample of peace representations from the 1550s to 1800 using a semantic web approach. In 2018, the research team will present its findings in a web database and a virtual exhibition.