Die zehn innerhalb des Bandes versammelten Beiträge beschäftigen sich mit der in der Forschung lange vernachlässigten städtischen Ausprägung von Außenpolitik während des Spätmittelalters und der frühen Neuzeit. Sowohl die auswärtige Politik der Städte als auch die Kompetenzen und Handlungsspielräume der städtischen Gesandten wurden dabei insbesondere innerhalb der traditionsreichen Diplomatiegeschichte maßlos unterschätzt, wofür etwa die bekannte und lange Zeit als Standardwerk geltende Studie Viktor Menzels aus dem Jahre 1892 ein besonders augenfälliges Beispiel bietet.
Erst in jüngerer Zeit setzt ein langsamer Wandel in der Wahrnehmung und Bewertung des städtischen Gesandtschaftswesens ein, der etwa durch eine stärkere Fokussierung auf die nachweisbaren Maximen städtischer Diplomatie den Notwendigkeiten der nach außen gerichteten Politik urbaner Zentren Rechnung trägt. Hier setzen auch die Beiträge des vorliegenden Bandes an, der sich in drei Teile gliedert. Insgesamt dokumentiert die Vielfalt der in den Beiträgen aufgezeigten Befunde die Notwendigkeit einer weiteren multiperspektivischen Erforschung des bis dahin wenig untersuchten Themas der städtischen Außenpolitik.
The volume documents the findings of an international conference held in Trier in cooperation with the "Historisch-Kulturwissenschaftliches Forschungszentrum" and the A 9 project "Visualität der Diplomatie im europäischen Spätmittelalter. Die symbolische Inszenierung in der internationalen politischen Kommunikation" of the Sonderforschungsbereich 496 at the University of Münster.
The ten essays included in this volume deal with the civic characteristics of foreign policy during the Later Middle Ages and the Early Modern period, a topic long neglected in research. Not only has the foreign policy of cities been thoroughly ignored, so too has been the evaluation of the competence and scope of action of civic envoys and their relevant institutions. Indeed, that the well known study by Viktor Menzel from 1892 has been considered authoritative work in the field for a long time is a striking example of this.
Recently, however, the evaluation of the nature of urban diplomacy has begun to attract attention once again: there is a stronger focus on the maxims of civic diplomacy, which accommodate the urban centres’ need for foreign policy. This is also the starting point for the present volume, which is divided into three parts.
In the first section, essential fields of research are presented in the light of civic foreign policy. The essays of the following section attend, via a series of case studies, to the intensification of communication and to the tendency of an institutionalisation of foreign policy in the context of federal ties. Finally, the third section addresses, again via a series of case studies, the personal and bearers of urban foreign policy and focuses on aspects of specialisation and professionalisation in this field during the Late Middle Ages and Early Modern Times.
All in all, the variety of the observations in the articles bear witness to the need for further multiperspective research of civic foreign policy, a topic largely neglected prior to this volume.
About this series:
The new publication series entitled „Trierer Beiträge zu den historischen Kulturwissenschaften“ (Trier Papers in Historical Cultural Studies) aims at being a forum for papers in the area of Cultural Studies, which focus on historical and interdisciplinary research. In addition to essay collections and conference volumes, the series also covers monographic studies as well as exhibition catalogues.
The editor of the book series is the Executive Board of the „Historisch-Kulturwissenschaftliche Forschungszentrum“ (HKFZ) Trier (Trier Historical Cultural Research Centre) at Trier University. The Research Centre is financed in line with the research initiative of Rhineland-Palatinate. HKFZ’s current research topic is called „Räume des Wissens – Orte, Ordnungen, Oszillationen“ (“Spaces of Knowledge – Places, Orders, Oscillations”). In collaboration with national and international partners, groups of linked projects work on this topic at Trier University.
“This collection of essays deals with the diplomacy of imperial and free cities in the Middle Ages and the early modern period. Christian Jörg writes about envoys from imperial cities. He argues that they were not just ciphers of city councils but were important members of city government and knew the affairs of their cities expertly. To demonstrate their expertise and importance, he looks at a meeting in Mainz in July 1400 to discuss efforts by the Rhenish electors to depose King Wenceslaus. At Mainz, the envoys drew up a plan which was followed by their cities. Michael Jucker examines skullduggery in Swiss politics during the 15th and 16th centuries. Bernhard Kreutz, Stefanie Rüther and Stephan Selzer deal with urban leagues. Kreutz discusses the Rhine League and a disagreement within the league over new custom duties collected by Worms and Speyer from 1382-1384. Rüther examines the Swabian Urban League which formed in 1376 and ended up including Nuremberg. Nuremberg as one of the most important imperial cities had a difficult time accepting league leadership. Selzer illustrates some of the problems in the diplomacy of the Prussian League in dealing with the emperor. Michael Rothmann presents 3 biographies of important politicians for the imperial city of Frankfurt: Siegfried zum Paradies, Walther von Schwarzenberg, and Ludwig zum Paradies. Bastian Walter offers us a biography of Nikolaus and Wilhelm von Diesbach and discusses the rise of the Diesbach family and its importance for Bern. Klare Hübner illustrates the difference between lesser envoys and mailmen and demonstrates that the distinction could be important. André Krischer emphasizes that early modern diplomacy was heavily influenced by the nobility which made it tough for imperial cities. The development of the office of syndic became a strategy for dealing with this problem.”
In: Archiv für Reformationsgeschichte. 41 (2012). Nr. 4.
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“Considéré dans son ensemble, ce recueil révèle donc plusieurs phénomènes de spécialisation à l’oeuvre dans des configurations politiques où coexistent diverses conceptions de la souveraineté. La notion de « professionnalisation » s’avère en revanche d’une pertinence limitée pour analyser l’action extérieure des villes. Elle demeure finalement peu visible dans les études portant sur les XIIIe-XVe siècles, plutôt dominés par des « spécialistes non professionnels » ; A. Krischer souligne pour la période postérieure sa nécessaire historicisation, son caractère non linéaire ; et M. Kintzinger relève en conclusion les désaccords sur l’emploi du terme.”
Stéphane Péquignot
In: Revue de l’institut Français d’histoire en Allemagne. 2012, No. 4. s. 370-372.
The new publication series entitled “Trierer Beiträge zu den historischen Kulturwissenschaften” (Trier Papers in Historical Cultural Studies) aims at being a forum for papers in the area of Cultural Studies, which focus on historical and interdisciplinary research. In addition to essay collections and conference proceedings, the series also covers monographic studies as well as exhibition catalogues.
The editor of the book series is the Executive Board of the “Historisch-Kulturwissenschaftliche Forschungszentrum” (HKFZ) Trier (Trier Historical Cultural Research Centre) at Trier University. The Research Centre is financed in line with the research initiative of Rhineland-Palatinate. The HKFZ’s current research topic is called “Räume des Wissens – Orte, Ordnungen, Oszillationen” (“Spaces of Knowledge – Places, Orders, Oscillations”). In collaboration with national and international partners, groups of linked projects work on this topic at Trier University.
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