Engelbert Mühlbacher (4 October 1843 – 17 July 1903) was an
Austria
Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...
n
historian
A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human species; as well as the ...
.
Born in
Gresten, he received his classical education in
Linz
Linz (Pronunciation: , ; ) is the capital of Upper Austria and List of cities and towns in Austria, third-largest city in Austria. Located on the river Danube, the city is in the far north of Austria, south of the border with the Czech Repub ...
, Upper Austria being his family's home region. In 1862 he became a novice among the
Austin Canons
The Canons Regular of St. Augustine are Catholic priests who live in community under a rule ( and κανών, ''kanon'', in Greek) and are generally organised into religious orders, differing from both secular canons and other forms of religious ...
in
Sankt Florian
Sankt Florian (also ''Florian'' or ''St. Florian'') is a town in the Austrian state of Upper Austria. It is 10 miles (16 km) from Linz.
Sankt Florian is the home of St. Florian Monastery, a community of Canons Regular named after Saint F ...
. After completing his theological studies there, he was ordained priest in 1867. As
Alfred Ritter von Arneth relates in his memoirs, historical studies had been successfully cultivated at St. Florian's since Provost Arneth's time, and Mühlbacher was soon active in this domain. Among his writings are articles on St. Florian's
Gerhoh von Reichersberg, and the literary productions of St. Florian's.
In 1872 he was studying history under
Julius von Ficker
Julius Ficker or Julius von Ficker or Johann Kaspar Julius Ficker von Feldhaus (30 April 1826 – 10 June 1902) was a Roman Catholic Germans, German historian. In 1898 he was awarded the Pour le Mérite for Sciences and Arts.Innsbruck
Innsbruck (; ) is the capital of Tyrol (federal state), Tyrol and the List of cities and towns in Austria, fifth-largest city in Austria. On the Inn (river), River Inn, at its junction with the Wipptal, Wipp Valley, which provides access to the ...
, where after two years he received the degree of
Doctor of Philosophy
A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of Postgraduate education, graduate study and original resear ...
. He then hastened to Vienna to finish his historical training under
Theodor von Sickel's guidance. When Ficker entrusted the youthful scholar with the revision of the
Carolingian
The Carolingian dynasty ( ; known variously as the Carlovingians, Carolingus, Carolings, Karolinger or Karlings) was a Frankish noble family named after Charles Martel and his grandson Charlemagne, descendants of the Arnulfing and Pippinid c ...
period of
Böhmer's "Regesta", he was directing him to a domain in which he was to do much work. In 1878 he was formally received as academical lecturer into the philosophical faculty of the
University of Innsbruck
The University of Innsbruck (; ) is a public research university in Innsbruck, the capital of the Austrian federal state of Tyrol (state), Tyrol, founded on October 15, 1669.
It is the largest education facility in the Austrian States of Austria, ...
, and between 1880 and 1889 published his edition of the imperial "Regesta" of the Carolingian period. As
Oswald Redlich says, "the technique of compiling regesta received exemplary development at Mühlbacher's hands, and his work served as a model for the entire new edition of the imperial ''Regesta''".
In 1892 Mühlbacher was entrusted with the editing of the Carolingian charters for the ''Monumenta Germaniæ Historica''. At the same time it became necessary to bring out a new edition of his Carolingian "Regesta". The two works proved of mutual assistance. He was able to see only the first part of each work through the press, but left considerable material for the use of his successors. No other German scholar was so well qualified to write the ''Deutsche Geschichte unter den Karolingern'', which appeared in 1896. After 1879 Mühlbacher edited the ''
Mitteilungen des Instituts für österreichische Geschichtsforschung'' (Publications of the Institute for Austrian Historical Research). In 1881 he was appointed extraordinary, and in 1896 ordinary professor at Vienna. In 1895 Ficker turned over to him the management of the ''Regesta Imperii''. He took in hand the arrangement of the Austrian State Archives, and the preparation of the more recent history of Austria. He was chosen an active member of the
Imperial Academy of Sciences
The Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS; ''Rossíyskaya akadémiya naúk'') consists of the national academy of Russia; a network of scientific research institutes from across the Russian Federation; and additional scientific and social units such ...
in Vienna.
When Mühlbacher died in Vienna at age 59 of pneumonia, he left the almost completed manuscript of his edition of the charters of
Pepin the Short
the Short (; ; ; – 24 September 768), was King of the Franks from 751 until his death in 768. He was the first Carolingian dynasty, Carolingian to become king.
Pepin was the son of the Frankish prince Charles Martel and his wife Rotrude of H ...
,
Carloman I
Carloman I (28 June 751 – 4 December 771), German Karlmann, Karlomann, was king of the Franks from 768 until his death in 771. He was the second surviving son of Pepin the Short and Bertrada of Laon and was a younger brother of Charlemagne. ...
and
Charlemagne
Charlemagne ( ; 2 April 748 – 28 January 814) was List of Frankish kings, King of the Franks from 768, List of kings of the Lombards, King of the Lombards from 774, and Holy Roman Emperor, Emperor of what is now known as the Carolingian ...
. This volume was published posthumously in 1906 (''Die Urkunden Pippins, Karlmanns und Karls des Großen'', MGH Diplomata Karolinorum I
book in digital form and is the authoritative edition of the charters of these three kings until today.
References
;Attribution
* Cites:
**
Oswald Redlich, Obituary ''Engelbert Mühlbacher'', in ''Mitteilungen des Institutes für österreichische Geschichtsforschung'' 25 (1904), pp. 201–207, with portrait.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Muhlbacher, Engelbert
1843 births
1903 deaths
People from Scheibbs District
19th-century Austrian historians
Academic staff of the University of Innsbruck
Academic staff of the University of Vienna
Burials at Döbling Cemetery
Historians from Austria-Hungary