Matthias Becher

Prof. Dr. Matthias Becher holds a chair in Medieval and Modern History at the University of Bonn (since 1998). He serves as Spokesperson for the Bonn Center for Premodern Orders and Their Forms of Communication (since 2021) and Principal Investigator at the Bonn Center for Dependency and Slavery Studies (since 2019). His work focuses on power dynamics, political communication, and cultural legitimacy in premodern European kingdoms.

• Spokesperson for DFG Collaborative Research Center (2016-2021)
• Declined University of Zurich professorship (2006)
• Co-editor of multiple academic series

Research interests span:

• Transcultural analysis of medieval kingship
• Legitimization strategies in Carolingian/Ottonian eras
• Communication in premodern courts
• Historical contingency and crisis management
• Comparative ethnogenesis studies
• Material culture in power structures

Scientific achievements:

• Recipient of Ignaz-Theodor-Liborius-Meyer-Prize (1995)
• Chief editor for Bonner Historische Forschungen and Historische Studien series
• Academy membership: North Rhine-Westphalian Academy of Sciences
• Advisory roles for major medieval exhibitions

Media presence: Regular contributor to Terra X, Deutschlandfunk Nova, and other history documentaries, with notable appearances on Charlemagne's reign, Otto I's coronation, and medieval judicial practices.