Iben Fonnesberg-Schmidt

Iben Fonnesberg-Schmidt serves as Professor in the Department of Politics and Society at Aalborg University's Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities, where she concurrently holds the position of Vice Head of Research at the Institute for Politics and Society since 2021 and previously directed the PhD program (2019-2021).

Her research centers on Medieval History with specialized focus on papal authority, political rhetoric, and emotional discourse during the Middle Ages. She investigates communication networks across medieval Scandinavia and the Baltic region, examining how papal mandates were received and interpreted in local contexts. Her work integrates gender studies with institutional analysis to reveal complex power dynamics within Christendom.

Recent publications demonstrate consistent thematic evolution toward analyzing emotional rhetoric in papal correspondence, particularly during Innocent III's reign (1198-1216), while expanding into comparative studies of medieval networks. The 2023-2025 output shows increased interdisciplinary engagement with cultural policy debates alongside core medieval scholarship.

Fonnesberg-Schmidt supervises PhD candidates and leads major research initiatives including the Horizon Europe-funded PapalEmotions project (2019-2021) and the ongoing 'The papacy in the Middle Ages: Anger and Political Rhetoric' (2024-). Her international collaborations include a Visiting Fellowship at UC Berkeley and coordination of the 'Fama in Medieval Denmark' research network.