Stephan Kuttner in Amerika 1940–1964: Grundlegung der modernen historisch-kanonistischen Forschung (review)

Those who suspect that German historical scholarship is typically a cumbersome affair will find ample confirmation of their views in this doctoral dissertation on Stephan Kuttner (1907–96), the founding father of the study of medieval canon law in America. Before completing the book, the author, Andreas Hetzenecker, had spent much time in Munich preparing a catalog of Kuttner’s professional correspondence, now available at the Stephan Kuttner Institute (see p. 38n65). The experience provided Hetzenecker with rich materials for a monographic treatment of Kuttner’s years as a professor of canon law at The Catholic University in Washington, D.C. (1940–64), after he had fled Nazi Germany. The period was marked throughout by difficulties, which continued unabated well beyond the realization of Kuttner’s most cherished scholarly project: the foundation of his institute in 1955. Poor funding and a troubled relationship with his superiors at The Catholic University of America are constant themes in the letters (mostly addressed to Kuttner; see pp. 38–41), which also document his exchanges with a formidable array of students and colleagues. Hetzenecker’s investigations provide a treasure trove of prosopographical information (esp. pp. 347–98) about leading medieval historians (particularly American), who received (part of) their training during the 1950s and 1960s. Among them were eminent figures such as Gaines Post, Brian Tierney, and John W. Baldwin, none of whom, however, considered Kuttner to be a principal mentor or adviser.

Hetzenecker’s treatment offers a rich mosaic of Kuttner’s academic routine and challenges. His life as a university teacher (pp. 53–115); his scholarly pursuits, notably as the first reviewer of learned periodicals for The Jurist (pp. 116–23) and one of the original editors of Traditio (pp. 143–80); and his tireless promotion of the institute (pp. 180–257) receive extensive coverage. What the underlying sources scarcely reveal, on the other hand, is Kuttner’s personality, much of which remains enigmatic and at best presented between the lines. Readers are thus informed (pp. 16–28) that Kuttner’s father, a respected law professor at the newly established University of Frankfurt, committed suicide in 1916; that Kuttner, born as a Jew, converted to Catholicism in 1933 yet developed into an ardent critic of the pope’s stance on homosexuality; that Kuttner regularly remained in his office until late at night and through weekends (p. 216), while his wife, Eva, was at home raising their nine children; that everyone who conferred with him was in awe of his conceptual and philological genius, although very few who worked in his proximity for extended periods seem to have progressed in their careers as much as those who maintained a certain distance; and finally, that in the face of a continuously difficult relationship with administrators at The Catholic University of America, Kuttner never swayed from the research agenda he had already defined (somewhat narrowly) during his European years in the 1930s as the historical study of the Corpus iuris canonici, its sources and medieval commentaries. Such single-mindedness eventually prevailed against multiple odds, many of which Hetzenecker has recorded with remarkable accuracy.