The Vienna School of History is an influential school of historical thinking based at the

University of Vienna The University of Vienna (german: Universität Wien) is a public research university located in Vienna, Austria. It was founded by Duke Rudolph IV in 1365 and is the oldest university in the German-speaking world. With its long and rich histor ...

. It is closely associated with Reinhard Wenskus,

Herwig Wolfram Herwig Wolfram (born 14 February 1934) is an Austrian historian who is Professor Emeritus of Medieval History and Auxiliary Sciences of History at the University of Vienna and the former Director of the . He is a leading member of the Vienna Scho ...

and

Walter Pohl Walter Pohl (born 27 December 1953, in Vienna) is an Austrian historian who is Professor of Auxiliary Sciences of History and Medieval History at the University of Vienna. He is a leading member of the Vienna School of History. Biography Walter ...

. Partly drawing upon ideas from

sociology Sociology is a social science that focuses on society, human social behavior, patterns of Interpersonal ties, social relationships, social interaction, and aspects of culture associated with everyday life. It uses various methods of Empirical ...

and

critical theory A critical theory is any approach to social philosophy that focuses on society and culture to reveal, critique and challenge power structures. With roots in sociology and literary criticism, it argues that social problems stem more from soci ...

, scholars of the Vienna School have utilized the concept of

ethnogenesis Ethnogenesis (; ) is "the formation and development of an ethnic group". This can originate by group self-identification or by outside identification. The term ''ethnogenesis'' was originally a mid-19th century neologism that was later introdu ...

to reassess the notion of ethnicity as it applies to historical groups of peoples such as the Germanic tribes. Focusing on

Late Antiquity Late antiquity is the time of transition from classical antiquity to the Middle Ages, generally spanning the 3rd–7th century in Europe and adjacent areas bordering the Mediterranean Basin. The popularization of this periodization in English ha ...

and the

Early Middle Ages The Early Middle Ages (or early medieval period), sometimes controversially referred to as the Dark Ages, is typically regarded by historians as lasting from the late 5th or early 6th century to the 10th century. They marked the start of the Mi ...

, the Vienna School has a large publishing output, and has had a major influence on the modern analysis of

barbarian A barbarian (or savage) is someone who is perceived to be either Civilization, uncivilized or primitive. The designation is usually applied as a generalization based on a popular stereotype; barbarians can be members of any nation judged by som ...

identity.

Theories

The origins of the Vienna School of History can be traced to the works of the German historian Reinhard Wenskus. During the 1960s, there was as reaction against previous scholarship on

Germanic tribes The Germanic peoples were historical groups of people that once occupied Central Europe and Scandinavia during antiquity and into the early Middle Ages. Since the 19th century, they have traditionally been defined by the use of ancient and ear ...

. Drawing upon studies on modern tribes, Wenskus posited that the Germanic tribes of antiquity did not constitute distinct ethnicities, but were rather diverse alliances led by a dominant elite continuing "core-traditions" (). Wenskus argued that members of the Germanic tribes were not actually related to each other by kin; this was rather a figment of their own imagination. Though Wenskus' pioneering book has been immensely influential, "it is not an easy read". More recent scholars associated with Wenskus in the Vienna School are

and

. The Vienna School is associated with the

European Science Foundation The European Science Foundation (ESF) is an association of 11 member organizations devoted to scientific research in 8 European countries. ESF is an independent, non-governmental, non-profit organisation that promotes the highest quality science ...

and the ''

Transformation of the Roman World Transformation of the Roman World was a 5-year scientific programme, during the years 1992 to 1997, founded via the European Science Foundation. The research project was to investigate the societal transformation taking place in Europe in the perio ...

'' project. The support given by the European Science Foundation to this project has been given with the ambitious aim of correcting previous theories on the

fall of the Western Roman Empire The fall of the Western Roman Empire (also called the fall of the Roman Empire or the fall of Ancient Rome, Rome) was the loss of central political control in the Western Roman Empire, a process in which the Empire failed to enforce its rul ...

, particularly through downplaying the role ethnic identity, migration and imperial decline played in this process. According to certain observers, this support is politically aimed at furthering

European integration European integration is the process of industrial, economic integration, economic, political, legal, social integration, social, and cultural Regional integration, integration of states wholly or partially in Europe or nearby. European integrat ...

. Drawing on theories drawn from

and

, scholars of the Vienna School introduced the concept of

() to deconstruct the ethnicity of Germanic tribes, proceeding from a "strongly politicized concept of ethnicity" and emphasizing the situationality of tribal ethnicities centered around a core of tradition. These scholars also emphasize that the influence of Germanic history extends beyond northern and western Europe. Wolfram points out the contribution of Germanic tribes to the histories of regions such as the Balkans and southern Europe in general, extending even to

North Africa North Africa, or Northern Africa is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region, and it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of Mauritania in ...

, in order to counter the view that Germanic history ought to be identified only with the Germans. The ethnogenesis theories of the Vienna School have initiated a "revolution in historical approaches to early medieval ethnicity" and "overturned the foundations of earlier research into the ethnic groups of the early medieval period". It has since become the model with which "barbarian" ethnicity is analyzed. They have had an immense publication output. English-language scholars that have been influenced by the Vienna School include

Patrick J. Geary Patrick J. Geary (born September 26, 1948) is an American medieval historian. He is Professor Emeritus of Western Medieval History at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, New Jersey. From 2004 to 2011, he also held the title of Disting ...

, Ian N. Wood and

Patrick Amory Patrick Amory (born 1965) is a historian and an executive in the recorded music industry. Early life Patrick Amory was born in New York City on July 10, 1965, to literary parents. His father, the late Hugh Amory, was noted as the most "rigorous ...

. However, Geary, Wood and Pohl approach the theories in "a more flexible manner" than Wenskus and Wolfram.

Guy Halsall Guy Halsall (born 1964) is an English historian and academic, specialising in Early Medieval Europe. He is currently based at the University of York, and has published a number of books, essays, and articles on the subject of early medieval histo ...

notes the favorable effect of these approaches on the study of late antique ethnicity, pointing out that Pohl's views on the mutability of ethnic identity run counter to prewar notions of ethnic essentialism which survive in some other modern scholarship.

Criticism

Pohl's theories of the Germanic tribes have been criticized by

Wolf Liebeschuetz John Hugo Wolfgang Gideon Liebeschuetz (22 June 1927 - 11 July 2022) was a German-born British historian who specialized in late antiquity. Early life John Hugo Wolfgang Gideon Liebeschuetz was born in Hamburg on 22 June 1927, the son of histo ...

as "extraordinarily one-sided" and a form of ideological "dogmatism" evincing "a closed mind". He further suggests that according to the Vienna School view represented by Pohl, the Germanic tribes had no institutions or values of their own, and therefore made no contribution to medieval Europe.

Shami Ghosh Shami Ghosh is an Indian-born historian who is Associate Professor at the Centre for Medieval Studies and Department of History at the University of Toronto. He researches Marxist history and the history of Germanic-speaking Europe. Biography Sh ...

accuses Vienna School scholars of occasionally resorting to "rather dubious sorts of evidence" to push their interpretation of the sources in a particular manner, while conceding that this school has contributed greatly to our understanding of late antique and early medieval history.

Toronto School

The Vienna School has been contrasted with the Toronto School, of whom

Walter Goffart Walter Goffart (born February 22, 1934) is a German-born American historian who specializes in Late Antiquity and the European Middle Ages. He taught for many years in the History Department and Centre for Medieval Studies of the University of Tor ...

is a leading member. Like the Vienna School, members Toronto School have received "a great boost" from the European Science Foundation, which some critics claim reflects a "multicultural" and "relativist" political agenda on part of the European Union. While the Vienna School considers

Old Norse literature Old Norse literature refers to the vernacular literature of the Scandinavian peoples up to c. 1350. It chiefly consists of Icelandic writings. In Britain From the 8th to the 15th centuries, Vikings and Norse settlers and their descendants colon ...

and works such as ''

Getica ''De origine actibusque Getarum'' (''The Origin and Deeds of the Getae oths'), commonly abbreviated ''Getica'', written in Late Latin by Jordanes in or shortly after 551 AD, claims to be a summary of a voluminous account by Cassiodorus of th ...

'' by

Jordanes Jordanes (), also written as Jordanis or Jornandes, was a 6th-century Eastern Roman bureaucrat widely believed to be of Goths, Gothic descent who became a historian later in life. Late in life he wrote two works, one on Roman history (''Romana ...

to be of some value, this is completely rejected by the Toronto School. They consider these works to be artificial constructions entirely devoid from oral tradition. While neither of the schools are entirely homogeneous in their approach, discussions between the two schools are characterized by an unusually intense passion and highly

polemic Polemic () is contentious rhetoric intended to support a specific position by forthright claims and to undermine the opposing position. The practice of such argumentation is called ''polemics'', which are seen in arguments on controversial topics ...

dialogue. In 2002, ''On Barbarian Identity'', a work by scholars associated with the Toronto School and edited by

Andrew Gillett Andrew Gillett is an Australian historian who is associate professor of history at the Department of Ancient History at Macquarie University. A protégé of Walter Goffart of the Toronto School of History, Gillett researches and teaches the field ...

, was published. In this work, the Vienna School was accused of being composed of "crypto-

nationalists Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, nationalism tends to promote the interests of a particular nation (as in a group of people), Smith, Anthony. ''Nationalism: The ...

", and of enforcing "a new historical orthodoxy". These critics deny that the various Germanic-speaking peoples had a single set of core traditions. They consider Old Norse literature, Roman literature and other primary sources unreliable for the study of Germanic history and culture. Previous scholarship on Germanic tribes is considered by them to be politically unreliable. In their view,

Germanic culture Germanic culture is a term referring to the culture of Germanic peoples, and can be used to refer to a range of time periods and nationalities, but is most commonly used in either a historical or contemporary context to denote groups that derive fro ...

was a creation of the

Roman Empire The Roman Empire ( la, Imperium Romanum ; grc-gre, Βασιλεία τῶν Ῥωμαίων, Basileía tôn Rhōmaíōn) was the post-Republican period of ancient Rome. As a polity, it included large territorial holdings around the Mediterr ...

. Wolf Liebeschuetz has criticized these theories as "very strongly ideological, deriving from the rejection of nationalism and the acceptance of multiculturalism", and "flawed because they depend on a dogmatic and selective use of the evidence". Liebeschuetz contends that the proponents of these theories are motivated by a political agenda, which revolves around

pan-European identity Pan-European identity is the sense of personal identification with Europe, in a cultural or political sense. The concept is discussed in the context of European integration, historically in connection with hypothetical proposals, but since th ...

Oxford historians

In recent years, scholars associated with

University of Oxford , mottoeng = The Lord is my light , established = , endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019) , budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20) , chancellor ...

have been leading what

describes as a "counter-revisionist offensive" against the more "subtle ways of thinking" of the Vienna School and Toronto School. Historian

Peter Heather Peter John Heather (born 8 June 1960) is a British historian of late antiquity and the Early Middle Ages. Heather is Chair of the Medieval History Department and Professor of Medieval History at King's College London. He specialises in the fall ...

is considered the senior figure among them. Heather disagrees with both the core-tradition theory pioneered by the Vienna School, and the theories of the Toronto School. Heather contends that it was a freemen class between slaves and nobles who constituted the backbone of Germanic tribes, and that the ethnic identity of tribes such as the Goths was stable for centuries, being held together by these freemen. He traces the

Fall of the Western Roman Empire The fall of the Western Roman Empire (also called the fall of the Roman Empire or the fall of Ancient Rome, Rome) was the loss of central political control in the Western Roman Empire, a process in which the Empire failed to enforce its rul ...

to external migration triggered by the

Huns The Huns were a nomadic people who lived in Central Asia, the Caucasus, and Eastern Europe between the 4th and 6th century AD. According to European tradition, they were first reported living east of the Volga River, in an area that was part ...

in the late 4th century. Proposals that the barbarian armies who took over parts of the western empire had been managed by, and absorbed into, the

Western Roman Empire The Western Roman Empire comprised the western provinces of the Roman Empire at any time during which they were administered by a separate independent Imperial court; in particular, this term is used in historiography to describe the period fr ...

, according to policies which had been used for centuries, have been described by Heather as something which "smells more of wishful thinking than likely reality". He argues in a more traditional way that the changes were due to unprecedented violence from outside the Roman empire, which had otherwise been peaceful and highly effective. Like Liebeschuetz, Heather claims that such theories have been boosted through "huge" support from the European Science Foundation, which, in order to advance a

pan-European Pan-European can refer to: * Pan-European identity * Pan-European corridors ** Pan-European Corridor X ** Pan-European Corridor Xa * Pan European Game Information * Pan-European Institute * Pan-European nationalism * Pan-European Oil Pipeline ...

ideal, has sought to minimize the importance of migration and ethnic identity in the Migration Period. Heather notes that despite such tremendous efforts, these "revisionist" theories are yet to be generally accepted. Heather has been criticized for his views by

Michael Kulikowski Michael Kulikowski (born September 3, 1970) is an American historian. He is Professor of History and Classics and Head of the History Department at Pennsylvania State University. Kulikowski specializes in the history of the western Mediterranean w ...

, a member of the Toronto School, who accuses him of neo-romanticism and of wishing "to revive a biological approach to ethnicity". Halsall has accused Heather and his associates of "bizarre reasoning" and of purveying a "deeply irresponsible history". According to Halsall, the Oxford historians have been responsible for "an academic counter-revolution" of wide importance, and accuses them of carelessly providing assistance to the rise of "

far-right extremists Far-right politics, also referred to as the extreme right or right-wing extremism, are political beliefs and actions further to the right of the left–right political spectrum than the standard political right, particularly in terms of being ...

Notes

References

Sources

* * * * * * * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Vienna School of History Critical theory Germanic studies Historical revisionism Historical schools Sociological theories University of Vienna