Vigener, Fritz

Historian

born: 26.07.1876 in Biebrich

died: 02.05.1925 in Gießen

Vigener, son of the pharmacist Anton Vigener, studied history, German studies, economics and philosophy in Leipzig, Heidelberg and Berlin. He completed his doctorate with a thesis on the "Name for the German people and country from the 10th to the 13th century". He habilitated in Freiburg in 1908. From 1918, he taught as a full professor of medieval history in Giessen.

He devoted over a decade to editing the records of the archbishops of Mainz in the late Middle Ages. As a result of this intensive work, he published works on the archbishops Gerlach and Kuno and the Mainz cathedral provostry in the 14th century. His preoccupation with territorial history sharpened his view of late medieval imperial history. As a result, he intended to write a comprehensive biography of Emperor Charles IV. However, the project got stuck in the preliminary stages due to his early death.

Vigener also focused his attention on the history of the Catholic Church after the profound upheaval of the Reformation. He was particularly interested in the relationship between church and state. His main work is entitled: "Gallicanism and Episcopalian currents in German Catholicism between Tridentine and Vaticanum." This study led to his interest in the social bishop of Mainz, Wilhelm Emanuel von Ketteler, to whose life and work he dedicated a monograph.