published the diplomas of the House of Babenberg. In a series of studies entitled Arenga: Spätantike und Mittelalter im Spiegel von Urkundenformeln (Cologne & Vienna, 1957), Fichtenau traced shifts in the self-representation of medieval rulers in the rhetoric of the introductory clauses of their diplomas. In 1971, he published Das Urkundenwesen in Österreich vom 8. bis zum frühen 13. Jahrhundert (Cologne & Vienna), a still unsurpassed analysis of the various forms, and—more importantly—social and cultural significance, of medieval charters from institutions and collections in southern Germany and Austria. Fichtenau's landmark monographic study, Lebensordnungen des 10. Jahrhunderts, appeared in 1984 and was later translated into English by the American medievalist Patrick J. Geary as Living in the Tenth Century: Mentalities and Social Orders (Chicago & London, 1991). In it, Fichtenau explored the political, religious and social value systems of a period that many (including historians) still characterize as primitive, violent, and mostly unknown—the so-called "Dark Ages." In focusing on perceptions of order, rather than traditional political narratives, Fichtenau's work resonated more with the interdisciplinary Anglo-French approaches to medieval social history than the traditions of legal and institutional history characteristic of much German-language historiography at the time. Retirement and Later Work In 1983, Fichtenau retired and passed the directorship of the Viennese Institute on to his pupil and protégé, Herwig Wolfram. In retirement throughout the 80's and 90's, he remained an active scholar. In 1991, he produced a wide-ranging intellectual/religious study of the concomitant emergence of heretical movements and scholasticism in medieval Europe after the eleventh century, translated into English as Heretics and Scholars in the High Middle Ages, 1000-1200 (Philadelphia, 1998). He fell suddenly ill in the spring of 2000 and died several days later at the age of 88. Fichtenau is buried at his family's crypt in the town of Baden, near Vienna. Decorations and awards 1965: Grand Decoration of Honour in Gold for Services to the Republic of Austria 1979: Wilhelm Hartel Prize 1986: Cultural Prize of the Province of Upper Austria 1989: Austrian Decoration for Science and Art References External links Eulogy for Heinrich Fichtenau by Herwig Wolfram 1912 births 2000 deaths University of Vienna alumni 20th-century Austrian historians Austrian medievalists Recipients of the Grand Decoration for Services to the Republic of Austria Recipients of the Austrian Decoration for Science and Art Corresponding Fellows of the Medieval Academy of America Corresponding Fellows of the British Academy