Curriculum Vitae:
| 9. July 1943 | Born in Hamburg |
| 1963 | Abitur (German university entrance qualification) at Amtsgymnasium Ibbenbüren (classical track) |
| 1965-1970 | Study of History/German Studies at the universities of Münster and Heidelberg |
| 1974 | PhD at the University of Münster |
| 1974-1980 | Assistant lecturer at the University of Freiburg/Breisgau |
| 1981 | Postdoctoral lecture qualification at the University of Freiburg/Breisgau (venia legendi for Medieval and Recent History) |
| 1986 | Professor of Medieval History in Münster |
| 1988-1991 | Project head at SFB (collaborative research centre) 231: “Träger, Felder, Formen pragmatischer Schriftlichkeit im Mittelalter” (Mediums, Domains, Forms of Pragmatic Script in the Middle Ages), Münster |
| 1990 | Professor of Medieval History in Gießen |
| 1991-1998 | Peer reviewer of the DFG (German Research Foundation) |
| 1991-1995 | Co-initiator and supervisor of the graduate school “Mittelalterliche und Neuzeitliche Staatlichkeit” (Medieval and Modern Statehood), Gießen; subsequently associate member |
| 1995 | Professor of Medieval History in Bonn |
| 1995 | Berkeley/California (Distinguished Visiting Professor) |
| since 1997 | Professor of Medieval History in Münster |
| since 1997 | Head of the Institute for Early Medieval Studies, Münster; supervisor (until 1999) of the graduate school "Schriftkultur und Gesellschaft im Mittelalter" (Written Culture and Society in the Middle Ages); subsequently supervisor of the graduate school “Gesellschaftliche Symbolik im Mittelalter” (Social Symbolism in the Middle Ages) |
| 1997-2003 | Co-initiator and speaker of SFB (collaborative research centre) 496 "Symbolic Communication and Social Value Systems from the Middle Ages to the French Revolution"; subsequently deputy speaker |
| 1998 | Paris, École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales (Professeur invité/visiting professor) |
| 2007-2011 | Speaker of the cluster of excellence “Religion and Politics on Modern and Pre-Modern Cultures” |
Research Interests:
- Functionalities of Medieval statehood
- Rituals of Conflict and Peace in the Late Middle Ages
- Formen und Rahmenbedingungen öffentlicher Kommunikation (Forms and Frameworks of Public Communication in the Middle Ages)
- Group cohesions
Participation in the Cluster of Excellence:
- Advisor to the Board of Directors
- Head of project D2-1 The Papacy and Violence in the Middle Ages: On the Justification of New Papal Claims to Authority
- Head of project D5 “Blessed Are Those Who Practice Persecution for the Sake of Righteousness”: On the Uses of Tradition in the Era of Gregory VII (until 2012)
- Head of the cultural project "Goldene Pracht"
Memberships and Honours:
- Member of the Mediävistischer Arbeitskreis an der Herzog-August-Bibliothek Wolfenbüttel (medieval study group at the Wolfenbüttel library, Herzog August Bibliothek)
- Member of the Vereinigung für Verfassungsgeschichte (constitutional history association)
- Member of the Konstanzer Arbeitskreis für mittelalterliche Geschichte e.V. (Constance study group of Medieval history)
- Research award of the Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität Münster 2005
Contact
Prof. Dr. phil. Gerd AlthoffHistory Department
Chair II for Medieval History
Domplatz 20-22
Room 316
D-48143 Münster
Germany
Tel.: +49 251 83-23233
Fax: +49 251 83-24306
althofg@uni-muenster.de
