The volumes of the third and final tranche of foundational research on 1542 to 1700 are in print. The completion of the Systematic Repertory on Book Censorship 1607 to 1700 - Congregation of the Index ("Systematisches Repertorium zur Buchzensur 1607-1700 - Indexkongregation"), which is more complex than expected, is being funded by the Fritz Thyssen Foundation.
The German Research Foundation (DFG) approved the final phase of the long-term project dedicated to the volumes "Basic Research 1542 to 1700" ("Grundlagenforschung 1542-1700"). In addition to the daily backup, the entire secure database was mirrored quarterly and will remain archived beyond the end of the project.
The volumes "Basic Research 1701 to 1813" ("Grundlagenforschung 1701-1813") were published. To mark the occasion, experts from different countries gathered in Münster from 1 to 3 December for an interdisciplinary symposium. The topic was "Inquisitions and Book Censorship in the Age of Enlightenment".
See the conference report on the information and communication platform H-Soz-Kult.
On the occasion of the tenth anniversary of the opening of the Archive of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Inquisition researchers assembled in Rome for a symposium (21-23 February) to take stock of what had been achieved. A two-part documentary on the Index of Forbidden Books was produced in Rome for the German public service broadcaster ZDF.
The film, hosted by Wolf von Lojewski, was based on the research findings of the Book Censorship Project (14-25 April).
The volumes"Basic Research 1814 to 1917" ("Grundlagenforschung 1814-1917") were presented to Pope Benedict XVI at a private audience with the project staff, a delegation from the DFG and Schöningh publishing house (15 March).
Professor Hubert Wolf received the Gutenberg Prize from the City of Mainz and the International Gutenberg Society (24 June). The jury acknowledged Wolf's research, and that of his staff, on Roman book censorship as a "milestone for transdisciplinary book studies".
The volumes "Basic Research 1814 to 1917" were presented during the course of an international symposium (29 November to 1 December). As at the symposium that had taken place in 2000, leading representatives from Church and politics participated alongside Inquisition and censorship researchers from all over Europe. The NRW Minister for Innovation, Technology and Research, Andreas Pinkwart, was one of the guest speakers. In total, several hundred visitors came to Münster for the symposium.
The Communicator Award, which recognizes the outstanding communication of academic research to a wider audience, was awarded to Professor Hubert Wolf (30 September).
Professor Hubert Wolf was awarded the DFG's Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Prize for his research on Roman book censorship and other topics (17 February).
Dominik Burkard, a research associate in the book censorship project, was awarded his Habilitation. He was subsequently appointed to the Chair of Church History of the Middle Ages and Modern Times at the University of Würzburg.
Claus Arnold, an assistant professor at the Department of Medieval and Modern Church History in Münster, was awarded his Habilitation for his thesis "The Roman Censorship of the Works of Cajetan and Contarini (1558-1601)". In 2004 he became Professor of Church History at the Goethe University in Frankfurt am Main.
The project’s international symposium was held in Frankfurt (15-18 May). The patron was the Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger. The Hessian Minister of Higher Education, Research and the Arts, Ruth Wagner, opened the conference.
Hubert Wolf accepted the position of Chair at the University of Münster. The book censorship project was transferred to Münster.
The book censorship project was housed at the Hansahof in Münster.
DFG funding began (1 January). The project was located in the Collaborative Research Centre "Culture of Knowledge and Social Change" in Frankfurt am Main (SFB/FK 435, Project B 4: Roman Inquisition, Congregation of the Index and Imprimatur in the Modern Era).
Hubert Wolf was appointed to the Academic Advisory Board of the Archive of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.
The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith officially announced the opening of the archives of the Inquisition and the Congregation of the Index for research at a symposium (22 January).
The German Research Foundation (DFG) approved Hubert Wolf's research project proposal for the exploration and description of sources on Roman book censorship from the Archive of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.
Hubert Wolf became one of the first scholars to receive special authorization from the Vatican to undertake archival studies in the "Archivio della Congregazione per la Dottrina della Fede". At the time, Wolf was Professor of Church History at the Goethe University in Frankfurt am Main.
