Bio-bibliography

Germany

Arno Borst

1996 Balzan Prize for History: Medieval Cultures

Through his diversified studies of great originality and depth, Arno Borst has given an enormous stimulus to research on medieval culture. His extraordinary ability to interpret the source material has enabled specialists as well as a wider range of readers to broaden their knowledge of a great period in the history of Europe.

Arno Borst, born on May 8, 1925 in Alzenau (Unterfranken) (†2007), is a German citizen; he has taught Medieval History at the Universities of Erlangen (1962-68) and Constance (1968-90), where he is Honorary Professor since 1990.

Among his distinguished and numerous awards, we have the Sigmund-Freud-Preis für wissenschaftliche Prosa of the Deutsche Akademie für Sprache und Dichtung, Darmstadt (1982) and the Prize of the Historical College of Munich (1986).

Among his most important works, of which some have been translated into Italian, French, English, Japanese, we mention:

— Die Katharer, Stuttgart 1953 (1986, 1995);

— Der Turmbau von Babel, Stuttgart 1957-63 (1995);

— Die Sebaldslegenden in der mittelalterlichen Geschichte Nürnberg, Neustadt/Aisch 1967;

— Lebensformen im Mittelalter, Berlin 1973 (1995);

— Mönche am Bodensee, Sigmaringen 1978 (1991);

— Reden über die Staufer, Frankfurt-Berlin 1978;

— Das mittelalterliche Zahlenkampfspiel, Heidelberg 1986;

— Barbaren, Ketzer und Artisten – Welten des Mittelalters, München 1988;

— Astrolab und Klosterreform an der Jahrtausendwende, Heidelberg 1989;

— Computus – Zeit und Zahl in der Geschichte Europas, Berlin 1990 (1991);

— Ritte über den Bodensee – Rückblick auf mittelalterliche Bewegungen, Bottighofen 1992 (1992);

—Das Buch der Naturgeschichte – Plinius und seine Leser im Zeitalter des Pergaments, Heidelberg 1994 (1995).

(October 1996)