Gelehrtennetzwerke an der Universität Basel und ihre Verbindungen nach Ostmitteleuropa 1460–1550. Perspektiven zu Forschungsdaten aus dem Repertorium Academicum Germanicum (RAG)

Abstract

This study uses the example of data from the Repertorium Academicum Germanicum (RAG) to highlight various aspects of dealing with research data in historical research. The RAG is a project focused on scholars from the Old German Empire (1250–1550), whose lives and studies are collected and evaluated in a prosopographical database. The database combines quantitative and qualitative methods for the collection, analysis, and interpretation of research data. Using the example of scholars included in the RAG who stayed at the Basel University in 1460–1550, the author presents the basic approaches to network analysis used in the project. The example of Basel scholars in the RAG shows how students and scholars from Eastern and Central Europe can be identified in this network. Although their numbers by mid-sixteenth century were not high, a qualitative examination of their biographies shows that they had a variety of contacts in Basel prior to their arrival and that they played an important role in early relations with Eastern and Central Europe. In addition to personal encounters linked to studies and related activities, correspondence and general references in written works are also taken into account.