SiCProD – Sigmund of Tyrol’s Court. A Prosopographical Database

SiCProD is a collaborative project between the University of Innsbruck, the Tyrolean Regional Archive, and the ACDH-CH of the Austrian Academy of Sciences. The goal is to create a prosopographical database about the court of (Arch-)Duke Sigmund of Tyrol, known as “the Rich in Coin” (r. 1439/1446-1490).

Sigmund’s court is suitable for such a project for several reasons. The underlying source corpus is clearly defined and manageable, mostly well-documented, and largely available in the Tyrolean Regional Archive. However, while numerous studies exist for the courtly environment of Sigmund’s successor Maximilian I, these are largely absent for Sigmund despite the good availability of sources. Therefore, comprehensive personal research or even network analysis of the 15th-century Tyrolean court represents a significant desideratum.

The completed database will enable a detailed analysis of the composition of the court personnel and the group of officials. Additionally, it will provide insights into institutional structures and (informal) personal networks. It will also offer extensive possibilities for visualizing the data material. Biographical information such as life dates, origins, functions, and career paths of the courtly elite, as well as simple court servants, can support historians worldwide in their research on various questions.

Technically, SiCProD builds on APIS (Austrian Prosopographical Information System). By using a software solution established at ACDH-CH, the maintenance effort is minimized, and compatibility with other databases at ACDH-CH (e.g., VieCPro) is maximized.

Data and scans of the archival materials are made available under open licenses upon project completion.

ACDH-CH is responsible for the data modelling and the adaptation of an APIS instance to the requirements of SiCProD, creates a front end for the presentation of the data and takes over the archiving of the data. Birger Schacht is responsible for the technical realization of the project.