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Leopold von Ranke (21 December 1795 – 23 May 1886) was a German historian. Modern history writing is greatly influenced by him. He made focusing on primary sources and international relations in history writing, popular.
Life
[change | change source]Ranke was born in Wiehe in Electoral Saxony, to a Lutheran family. In 1814 he went to the University of Leipzig. He studied Classics and Lutheran theology. From 1817-1825 he was a Classics teacher. While teaching he became interested in history. In 1824 he released his first book: Geschichte der romanischen und germanischen Völker von 1494 bis 1514 (History of the Latin and Teutonic Peoples from 1494 to 1514). He used more primary sources in his book, than most historians did at the time.[1] In the preface of the book, Ranke famously said his aim was to just show "how things actually were (wie es eigentlich gewesen)."[2]
Because of the success of his book, Ranke was given a position in the University of Berlin. He was a professor there for almost 50 years. While there he criticized the historical theories of Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel. He also advised his students to go to archives in search of sources. Because of this many think of him as the founder of a historical social science.[3] Ranke thought primary sources were more useful than secondary sources.[4]
References
[change | change source]- ↑ Ranke, "Preface to the First Edition of Histories of the Latin and German Nations" in "The Modern Historiography Reader, Western Sources", pp172
- ↑ Ranke, "Preface: Histories of the Latin and Germanic Nations from 1494-1514", in Stern, The Varieties of History, p.57.
- ↑ Ernst Breisach, Historiography: Ancient, Medieval, and Modern, Third Edition (Chicago: University Of Chicago Press, 2007).233.
- ↑ Ranke, Leopold von (1905). History of the Reformation in Germany. New York: E. P. Dutton & Co. pp. xi.