The theme of this year's palaeographical-editorial Summer Academy: "The Edition of High and Late Medieval Royal Charters", hosted by the MGH in cooperation with the Universities of Aachen, Düsseldorf, and Wuppertal, drew an international class of 16 graduate and doctoral students from Germany, Hungary, France and Italy to Munich in the hottest week of summer 2018.
Escaping the heat in the relative coolness of the rooms at the Monumenta, the participants were introduced to various aspects of the edition of royal charters under the guidance of experienced MGH editors. The Summer Academy programme was packed with three-hour practice sections on editing the charters of Otto IV, Henry VI, Frederick II, Richard of Cornwall, Conradin of Hohenstaufen and Henry V. A highlight was the excursion to the Bavarian State Archive, where the up- and coming scholars could apply their skills in working with original charters. As one participant later commented: "Visiting the archive was a real inspiration for me. That was where the fascination for the topic and the charters really got a hold of me." In the public evening lecture, Mark Mersiowsky, professor of Medieval History at the University of Stuttgart, discussed the charters of King Henry (VII) to illustrate the importance of thoroughly studying textual transmission - in his case, it even turned out to be helpful in gaining research funding. The next Summer Academy is being planned for 2020.