BOHMER

bohmer, johann friedrich (1795-1863), german historian, son of karl ludwig bohmer (d. 1817), was born at frankfort-on-main on the 22nd of april 1795. educated at the universities of heidelberg and gottingen, he showed an interest in art and visited italy; but returning to frankfort he turned his attention to the study of history, and became secretary of the _gesellschaft fur altere deutsche geschichtskunde_. he was also archivist and then librarian of the city of frankfort. bohmer had a great dislike of prussia and the protestant faith, and a corresponding affection for austria and the roman catholic church, to which, however, he did not belong. his critical sense was, perhaps, somewhat warped; but his researches are of great value to students. he died unmarried, at frankfort, on the 22nd of october 1863. bohmer's historical work was chiefly concerned with collecting and tabulating charters and other imperial documents of the middle ages. first appeared an abstract, the _regesta chronologico-diplomatica regum atque imperatorum romanorum 911-1313_ (frankfort, 1831), which was followed by the _regesta chronologico-diplomatica karolorum. die urkunden samtlicher karolinger in kurzen auszugen_ (frankfort, 1833), and a series of _regesta imperii_. for the period 1314-1347 (frankfort, 1839) the _regesta_ was followed by three, and for the period 1246-1313 (frankfort, 1844) by two supplementary volumes. the remaining period of the _regesta_, as edited by bohmer, is 1198-1254 (stuttgart, 1849). these collections contain introductions and explanatory passages by the author. very valuable also is the _fontes rerum germanicarum_ (stuttgart, 1843-1868), a collection of original authorities for german history during the 13th and 14th centuries. the fourth and last volume of this work was edited by a. huber after the author's death. other collections edited by bohmer are: _die reichsgesetze 900-1400_ (frankfort, 1832); _wittelsbachische regesten von der erwerbung des herzogtums bayern bis zu 1340_ (stuttgart, 1854); and _codex diplomaticus moeno-francofurtanus. urkundenbuch der reichsstadt frankfurt_ (frankfort, 1836; new edition by f. law, 1901). other volumes and editions of the _regesta imperii_, edited by j. ficker, e. muhlbacher, e. winkelmann and others, are largely based on bohmer's work. bohmer left a great amount of unpublished material, and after his death two other works were published from his papers: _acta imperii selecta_, edited by j. ficker (innsbruck, 1870); and _regesta archiepiscoporum maguntinensium_, edited by c. will (innsbruck, 1877-1886). see j. janssen, _j.f. bohmers leben, briefe und kleinere schriften_ (freiburg, 1868).