Luise Margarete Jansen

Luise Margarete Jansen is a doctoral researcher and Research Associate at the Department of Medieval History within the Institute of History at the University of Bonn. Since 2020, she has been pursuing her doctoral project on female rulership in East and West Frankish historiography, and since 2022 has served as Research Associate in the DFG project 'Pillars of Royal Rule. Queens and Intermediate Powers in the East Frankish-German Empire (9th to the beginning of the 12th century)'. As of 2024, she holds the position of Managing Director of the Bonn Center for Premodern Orders and their Forms of Communication: Power and Domination.

Her research focuses on the History of the East and West Frankish Empire in the Early and High Middle Ages, Women's and gender history, the History of power and domination, Medieval Art History, and Writing and book culture of the Middle Ages. Her doctoral project examines 'Regina cum fidelibus suis. Representation and Function of the Female Ruler in East and West Frankish Historiography of the Early 10th to Early 12th Centuries,' building on her award-winning master's thesis about Gerberga of West Franconia.

Her recent publications reveal a strong focus on female political agency within medieval power structures, particularly examining communication strategies of queens, the role of female rulers during transitions of power, and the relationship between queens and intermediate powers in the Frankish empire. Her work combines textual analysis with material culture studies, as evidenced by her review of the Cologne Empress Gospel Book and her encyclopedia entries on book materials.

• Prix de la République Française for her master's thesis (2021)
• Mentee in the MeTra Mentoring and Training Program of the University of Bonn (since 2025)

Her academic trajectory shows steady progression from student assistant roles at various institutions to her current research leadership positions. She has served as a student and research assistant at the Chair of Medieval History and the DFG Collaborative Research Centre 1167, as assistant to the German Rectors' Conference, and in various internship positions at cultural institutions including the Zoological Research Museum Koenig Bonn and the Institute for Contemporary History Berlin.