Courts and Elites (History)

The character and reputation of Frederick, prince of Wales, have long divided historians. His apparently piecemeal efforts at opposition have been dismissed as lacking in focus, while his mercurial character and early demise have left him difficult to assess. The aim of this article is to attempt once more to reappraise the Prince both as a man at the head of a specific political interest but also more broadly as the symbolic figurehead of a wider patriot movement within society. Through analysis of the contemporary press, and of some of the key members of the Prince's own household, this essay will argue that Prince Frederick was more than just a figurehead for the patriots, if impeded by circumstances and occasionally distracted by his own protean tendencies.

The "bibliotheca electoralis" with its 1500 books, today located in the ThULB Jena, is the remnant of one of the most important early renaissance libraries in Germany.
The early history of the ducal/electoral library, originally located in the castle of Wittenberg, is strongly influenced by the later librarian Georg Spalatin, who started to collect books for the Saxon prince-elector in 1512. Spalatin, who was 1512 assigned to educate the nephews and an illegitimate son of the Elector, worked also on several chronicles for Frederic III. of Saxony. His works outshine his predecessors: e. g. Adam von Fulda.
This paper is collecting and interpreting several counting books as alternative source for the history of the Wittenberg library and at the same time for the history of books.
The paper is giving an example for the potential and boundaries of counting-book-sources. It contains new facts and dates for Adam von Fulda, Hermann Behm, Georg Spalatin, Johannes Walther also for several printings of Martin Luther and Johannes Bugenhagen.

The paper was written in 2011 and published 2014. The major work of Mecklnborg/Riecke, Spalatin-Chronik 2011 couldn't be involved and is recommended for consulted reading.

Le pagine che seguono non sono opera di storico, o biografo, ma il rendiconto di un lettore severo di antiche carte. La ricognizione è il frutto di fatica spesa nel tentare di conferire ordine alle notizie sparse che, nel corso di dieci secoli, sono state depositate nella memoria degli archivi o sono rintracciabili presso più o meno vetusti storiografi -non di rado con lacune, imprecisioni e, nei primi tempi almeno, partigianerie estensi -sull'importante casata dei Terzi di Parma.

During the reign of James II/VII Stuart (1685-1688), the political, diplomatic and cultural relations between the British court and the Italian states flourished as never before. This was due above all to the Roman-Catholic faith of the king and the lively personality of his consort Maria Beatrice d’Este («Mary of Modena»), while the growing English economic power was acquiring commercial dominance in the Mediterranean area. With the help of thousands of unpublished papers, the book by Alessandro Cont reconstructs the British diplomatic network in Italy during this period, the personalities and orientations of the ministers of Italian princes accredited to the court of Whitehall, the queen’s dynastic policy and the peculiar characteristics of her Italian entourage of chaplains, servants, artists and musicians.

Le pagine che seguono non sono opera di storico, o biografo, ma il rendiconto di un lettore severo di antiche carte. La ricognizione è il frutto di fatica spesa nel tentare di conferire ordine alle notizie sparse che, nel corso di dieci secoli, sono state depositate nella memoria degli archivi o sono rintracciabili presso più o meno vetusti storiografi -non di rado con lacune, imprecisioni e, nei primi tempi almeno, partigianerie estensi -sull'importante casata dei Terzi di Parma.

Turkic Soundscapes Edited by Razia Sultanova and Megan Rancier The Turkic soundscape is both geographically huge and culturally diverse (twenty-eight countries, republics and districts extending from Eastern Europe through the Caucasus and throughout Central Asia). Although the Turkic peoples of the world can trace their linguistic and genetic ancestries to common sources, their extensive geographical dispersion and widely varying historical and political experiences have generated a range of different expressive music forms. In addition, the break-up of the Soviet Union and increasing globalization have resulted in the emergence of new viewpoints on classical and folk traditions, Turkic versions of globalized popular culture, and re-workings of folk and religious practices to fit new social needs. In line with the opening up of many Turkic regions in the post-Soviet era, awareness of scholarship from these regions has also increased. Consisting of twelve individual contributions that reflect the geographical breadth of the area under study, the collection addresses animist and Islamic religious songs; the his¬torical development of Turkic musical instruments; ethnography and analysis of classical court music traditions; cross-cultural influences throughout the Turkic world; music and mass media; and popular music in traditional contexts. The result is a well-balanced survey of music in the Turkic-speaking world, representing folk, popular and classical traditions equally, as well as discussing how these traditions have changed in response to growing modernity and cosmopolitanism in Europe and Central Asia.

This essay analyzes the cultural activities of Isabella Boschetti, the amante of Federico II, and Agnese Argotta da Carretto and Felicita Guerrieri, two of the many lovers of Vincenzo I. The patronage patterns of these women mirrored or complemented those of Federico and Vincenzo: Isabella and Felicita contributed to the magnificence of established Gonzaga churches, while Agnese directed important musical and theatrical productions that enhanced Vincenzo’s status. In part, their patronage activities were self-aggrandizing, allowing these mistresses to maintain and expand their spheres of influence in Renaissance Mantua. Yet, I argue that these women also added to the cultural life and reputation of the court, thereby claiming a space for themselves amongst the members of the Gonzaga dynasty.

Se nourrir est une nécessité biologique qui se double au Moyen Age de valeurs symboliques particulières dans la culture chrétienne. Le christianisme a, en effet, placé au cœur de ses pratiques rituelles la commémoration d’un repas, la Cène. L’Eglise a également élaboré des normes de comportement alimentaire très précises, allant de l’invention du péché de gourmandise à la mise en place d’un calendrier établissant de façon rigoureuse les périodes de jeûne. Quels aliments peuvent être consommés pendant ces jours de restriction ?
Toute la création divine est même rassemblée par les philosophes médiévaux dans une «grande chaîne de l’être» qui ordonne hiérarchiquement les plantes et les animaux. Existe-t-il une correspondance entre l’échelle sociale des hommes et les aliments qu’ils consomment ?
Le XIIIe siècle marque un tournant dans les pratiques alimentaires médiévales. Le qualitatif prend le pas sur le quantitatif à la table des seigneurs. Comment s’exprime ce nouveau raffinement de la table noble ?
A cette même époque, les recettes de cuisine sont mises par écrit. Parmi ces ouvrages, le Du fait de cuisine – commandé en 1420 par le duc Amédée VIII de Savoie à son cuisinier Maître Chiquart – est tout à fait original parce qu’il présente la manière de réaliser un banquet. Quels sont les moyens mis en œuvre pour éblouir les convives et comment se décline un festin médiéval ?
Amédée VIII séjourne au château de Chillon en 1436 et 1442. Au-delà d’être une demeure seigneuriale, la place forte est, dès 1150, le siège d’un péage par lequel transitent de nombreuses denrées. Le châtelain savoyard y réside également. A ce titre, il perçoit des redevances en nature pour son seigneur. Il veille également aux vignes domaniales de la région.
Autant de raisons qui font du château de Chillon un écrin de choix pour accueillir l’exposition temporaire L’eau à la bouche-Boire et manger au Moyen Age du 14 septembre 2018 au 28 avril 2019.

Der Beitrag untersucht am Beispiel des Alabasters und Marmors in Mittel- und Ostmitteleuropa der 2. Hälfte des 16. Jahrhunderts die Rolle des künstlerisch verwendbaren Materials als Mittel der herrschaftlichen Selbstdarstellung wie auch der überterritorialen Kommunikation. Im Zentrum der Betrachtung steht eine urkundlich sehr gut dokumentierte „Werbekampagne“ des Herzogs Julius von Braunschweig-Lüneburg für die in seinem Land eingetroffenen bildhauerischen Materialien. In den Jahren 1572 bis 1586 richtete der Herzog einige Dutzend Briefe an die Räte der Hansestädte (Lübeck, Bremen, Danzig) und an Mittel- und Osteuropäische Fürsten und Fürstinnen (Sophia Jagiellonica, Elisabeth zu Sachsen, Wilhelm IV. von Hessen-Kassel, Adolf I. von Schleswig-Holstein-Gottorf, Anton I. von Oldenburg-Delmenhorst, Heinrich XI. von Liegnitz, Albrecht Friedrich von Preußen), in welchen er die Bodenschätze seines Landes lobte und ihre möglichen Anwendungen aufzählte. Überdies beschenkte er einige seiner Empfänger mit Materialproben sowie fertigen Produkten und stellte seine in Materialbearbeitung erfahrenen Hofkünstler zur Verfügung. Eine Analyse dieses Briefwechsels deckt die Beweggründe und Strategien des Protagonisten, die Ursachen unterschiedlicher Reaktionen der Adressaten wie auch die Rolle der Artefakte als Akteure in diesen Verhandlungen auf.

The Habsburgs and their Courts in Europe, 1400–1700: Between Cosmopolitism and Regionalism, ur. Herbert Karner, Ingrid Ciulisová, Bernardo J. García García, Palatium, Österreichische Akademie der Wissenschaften, KU Leuven, 2014, 349 str. in Historijski zbornik, LXVIII, Nr. 1, Zagreb 2015. (213-217) [language: Croatian]

В статье рассматривается предпринятый бургундским придворным Пьером Мишо своеобразный способ борьбы с ложью и обманом - тактиками, становящимися привычными при дворах на рубеже Средних веков и Нового времени. Он пишет сатирический «Трактат о нынешних временах» (1466), где резко высмеивает принятые придворными способы борьбы с конкурентами за продвижение по карьерной лестнице. Вместе с тем, его текст свидетельствует о процессах, происходящих в обществе в это время: о стекании людей ко двору в надежде на получение благ от правителя, о необходимости бороться с конкурентами в складывающихся условиях, выражающейся в разнообразных обманных практиках, а также о неприятии конкретным индивидом – автором – существующего положения.

The book introduces the reader to the time, place and participants of the tsar’s feasts, talks about ware, table setting, food and drink, reveals the subtleties of ceremonial and etiquette, indicates the changes that have occurred in this area during the XVII century. Simultaneously the book exposes complex mechanism of the feast, hidden from the eyes of its members and affiliated with the preparing king's feast and decorated banquet chamber. Special value of edition has publication of historical documents, describing the tsar’s feasts of the XVII century, and images of unique items from the collections of the Moscow State Integrated Museum-Reserve.
Книга знакомит читателя со временем, местом и участниками царских пиров, рассказывает о предметах посуды, сервировке стола, кушаньях и напитках, раскрывает тонкости церемониала и этикета, указывает на изменения, произошедшие в этой сфере на протяжении XVII века. Одновременно обнажается сложный «механизм» застолья, скрытый от глаз его участников и связанный с организацией царского пира, заготовкой продуктов и оформлением пиршественной палаты. Особую ценность изданию придают публикуемые в нем фрагменты исторических документов, характеризующие царские пиры XVII века, и изображения уникальных предметов из фондов Московского государственного объединенного музея-заповедника.

Serving the state. The regional officers of Holland and Zeeland in the Burgundian period (1425-1482).

This is a summary of my phd-thesis, a prosopographical study into the officers of the Council and Chambre des Comptes of Holland and Zeeland in the Burgundian period (1425-1482)

In de jaren 1425-1433 kreeg de Bourgondische hertog Filips de Goede via een diplomatiek en militair offensief de graafschappen Holland en Zeeland in handen. In dit boek beschrijf ik op welke manier de ambtenaren van de hoogste bestuurlijk-juridische en financiële instellingen van Holland en Zeeland, de Raad en de Rekenkamer, hebben bijgedragen aan de integratie van deze gewesten in de Bourgondische personele unie. In het eerste deel wordt onderzocht welke institutionele vernieuwingen het gewestelijk staatsapparaat onderging in de vijftiende eeuw en passeren alle ambtenaren de revue. In het tweede deel bekijk ik welke strategie de vorst volgde bij de recrutering van zijn ambtenaren en met welke middelen hij trachtte hun dienstbaarheid en loyaliteit te bevorderen. De intermediaire positie van de ambtenaren - ingeklemd tussen de belangen van de hertog en die van de onderdanen - is het onderwerp van het derde deel. In een bijlage zijn biografische notities van 170 ambtenaren opgenomen met gegevens over hun herkomst, familie, carrière en netwerk.

«Premier ministre de Louis XIII » et « fondateur de l’Académie française » : tels sont les titres associés à la figure d’Armand Jean du Plessis (1585-1642), cardinal-duc de Richelieu, sur les plaques de rue qui affichent son nom au coeur de Paris. Ce ne sont que les plus connus d’un grand nombre de titres acquis ou attribués à ce célèbre homme d’État et d’Église dont la vie, l’histoire et la légende se composent de mille et une facettes. Ce Dictionnaire invite le lecteur à les découvrir ou à les redécouvrir autrement à travers cent vingt notices rédigées par cinquante-sept spécialistes du Cardinal et de son époque. Replacé dans son contexte français, européen et, parfois même, mondial, chaque sujet abordé renvoie à plusieurs autres dont la lecture – complémentaire ou indépendante de celle d’une biographie de Richelieu – permettra à tout un chacun d’aborder, selon ses besoins et envies, la réflexion et l’action de celui qui avait largement contribué à l’avènement du Grand Siècle.

“Chief Minister of Louis XIII” and “founder of the Académie Française” are but the best-known titles held by Armand Jean du Plessis, Cardinal-Duke of Richelieu. The 120 entries in this dictionary offer an original exploration of the manifold facets of the statesman-cum-clergyman’s life and legend.

Ont participé à ce volume : Cécile d’Albis; Ghislaine André; Serge Aroles; Laurent Avezou; Marie-Noëlle Baudouin-Matuszek; Françoise Bayard; Claire Béchu; Yves-Marie Bercé; Joseph Bergin; Christophe Blanquie; François Boulêtreau; Michel Cassan; Alexandre Cojannot; Jonathan Dewald; Jean-François Dubost; Hélène Duccini; Fadi El Hage; Hélène Fernandez-Lacôte; Alexandre Gady; Barbara Gaehtgens; Pierre Gatulle; Madeleine Haehl; Dénes Harai; Philippe Henrat; Françoise Hildesheimer; Alain Hugon; Stéphane Jettot; Arlette Jouanna; Camille Lefauconnier-Ripoll; Yves Le Guillou; Brigitte Lozza; Caroline Maillet-Rao; Claire Martin; Jacqueline Martin-Bagnaudez; Fabrice Maurin; Claude Michaud; Stéphane-Marie Morgain; Pascale Mormiche; Alice Motte; Yannick Nexon; David Parrott; Jotham Parsons; François Pernot; Laurent Perrillat; Benoist Pierre; Olivier Poncet; Pascal Rambeaud; Orest Ranum; Isabelle Richefort; Jean-Marc Roger; Paul Sonnino; Sylvie Taussig; Arnaud Teyssier; Erik Thomson; Myriam Tsimbidy; Marie-Catherine Vignal-Souleyreau; Laurent Veyssière.

Este trabajo pretende analizar las distintas posturas adoptadas por la nobleza ante el Manifiesto de Lausana, hecho público por Juan de Borbón en marzo de 1945, y las consecuencias derivadas de éste. ¿En qué medida los miembros del grupo nobiliario apoyaron el texto? ¿Qué papel jugaron en la decisión del conde de Barcelona de hacer público el manifiesto? ¿Hubo oposición dentro de la aristocracia ante la decisión del conde de Barcelona de romper de forma pública con el general Franco?

Wybór Stefana Batorego na tron Rzeczypospolitej utorował drogę do kariery także członkom jego rodziny. Po niespodziewanej śmierci króla jego ambitne plany usiłowało zrealizować czterech bratanków, przede wszystkim zaś Andrzej, uważany za duchowego spadkobiercę stryja. Jako kardynał musiał wypełniać zadania stawiane przed nim przez Kościół, jednocześnie za pomocą zawiłych rozgrywek usiłował bronić interesów Batorych i jedności rodu, mając przeciw sobie Habsburgów, Szwecję i Moskwę.

Considering ‘Cities Beyond the Plan’ helps us substantiate territory beyond being just a passive setting contingent to meta-forces. To do so, requires us look at logics and conceptual frame drawing from legal pluralism, that of space and territory, and Power. I explore this argument via the case of ‘Mayestripalya Kere’ a ‘wetland’ in one of Bangalore most elite neighborhoods. Here its wealthy residents co-join cartographic frames and singular perspectives of ‘the’ law to rationalize exclusive regimes. The chapter concludes with a wider question of substantiating territory and move beyond a perspective of the sacred as ‘minor’ religiosities as ‘local or tradition’ and see them as political spaces practiced that constitute the ‘urban’.

La nobleza austriaca (Österreichischer Adel) presenta en su formación similitudes con la nobleza germánica del Sacro Romano Imperio, al que Austria perteneció durante largos siglos (1273/1806). Sin embargo, se diferencia esencialmente de ella en que en Austria solo hubo un ente soberano, el Duque y después Archiduque, en el que durante siglos recayó también la corona imperial. El Archiduque era la máxima autoridad y a él debía lealtad toda la nobleza austriaca, ya que no existieron nunca dentro de sus tierras entes dotados de soberanía propia, como era frecuente en otras partes del Imperio.La antigua nobleza de cuño feudal dependía de él por un pacto de vasallaje, mientras que él tenía la exclusividad de crear nuevos nobles mediante una Adelsbrief (Carta de Nobleza). Así se sucedieron los ennoblecimientos desde 1453 a 1918

This lengthy book publishes a PhD dissertation defended in 1993, in the University of Porto, for the doctoral degree in History (specialization in Portuguese Culture), centered in the study of queen Leonor (1458-1515), key territorial power, patron of Renaissance arts and letter as well as leading figure in religious monastic reforms widely based in the reception of a "devotio moderna". Thus, the first chapter researches the territorial and economic power of the queen, rebuilding her administration, house and court famous through the production of the first dramatic plays by Gil Vicente. A second chapter researches the role of the queen in the creation and diffusion of a new confraternity of royal patronage - the Holy House of Mercy or "Misericordias" - that spread throuhgout the Portuguese colonial empire to become a key institution of social and economic power. A third chapter researches the leading role of Leonor in the monastic and conventual reforms in Portugal, particularly addressing the important reform of the feminine Franciscan Order of St. Claire.

The Prince and the Lady. Josef Colloredo-Mannsfeld and Lucy Sophie de Jonquet

Colloredo-Mannsfelds are one of the oldest European noble families. Their family dominions are situated mainly in Bohemia and at the beginning of the 20th century covered an area of more than 58,000 hectares. The ruling Prince thus belonged to the most affluent aristocrats of the Austrian-Hungarian Monarchy and it may not come as a surprise that he was also considered a good match. It is no surprise that the marriage of Prince Joseph to a naturalized Englishwoman Lucy Sophia Graham, born de Jonquet, whose origin was rather mysterious, caused quite a stir that shattered the prestige of the entire family. Their marriage was without a child and finally divorced in 1925.

L'image de la Maison de Savoie, dynastie alpine par excellence, a été longtemps liée strictement à la montagne, comme le témoignent les expressions « roi des Alpes » ou « roi des Marmottes », utilisées pendant plusieurs siècles pour désigner les souverains de cette lignée. Dans les pages suivantes, je chercherai à reconstruire l'évolution de ces représentations, en m'arrêtant notamment sur leur caractère politique. Ces deux épithètes apparaissent radicalement différentes, voire opposées : alors que l'expression « roi des Alpes » possède un caractère positif et fut voulue par la cour de Savoie, « roi des Marmottes » avait de toute évidence une signification ironique. D'ailleurs, ce n'est pas par hasard si elle fut créée dans la France des Bourbons et utilisée surtout à l'époque révolutionnaire. Cela dit, une certaine ambiguïté plana toujours – surtout en France – sur ces deux appellations, à tel point que la première prit parfois un accent péjoratif et la seconde s'adapta à des situations très différentes les unes des autres. « Roi des Alpes » : les montagnes comme remparts

This article aims to analyse how the Burgundian dukes managed to control the political process in Holland and Zeeland and get a grip on the noble elites of the counties in the period 1425-1477. During the fourteenth and fifteenth century, noble networks in Holland competed continuously for princely favours and official positions. In the Burgundian period, from 1425 onwards, some fundamental changes in this competition took place. In the Bavarian period princes normally favoured especially one of the competing networks. Moreover, the ruler was nearby and could be approached relatively easily. The Burgundian duke, however, hardly ever visited his northernmost territories. The rivalling noble networks were not integrated into the central institutions but were given material compensations and influence at a regional level in exchange for allegiance. Subsequently, in Holland and Zeeland the Burgundian court did not have a stabilising and integrating function.

Hoy no concebiríamos una dieta sin legumbres, tan nutritivas como arraigadas en la cultura popular, aunque se introdujeran por las cocinas del rey.

En el marco de la Semana de la Ciencia 2016, La Herencia de los Reales Sitios celebrará un seminario sobre la importancia de las Casas Reales y los Reales Sitios en el desarrollo de cultivos y la incorporación de nuevos alimentos a las dietas europeas.

This article is written on the subject of household ordinances and the question of cultural transfer in the period between 1515 and 1526, using as source looking at one of the topics of discussion on the Habsburg-Jagiellons royal summit of 1523 in Wiener Neustadt and Pressburg. The paper shows how household ordinances as sources reveal the practice of cultural transfer and theorizes on how the existence of this source type can be used to show the working of cultural transfer in the process.

In this article I examine a late medieval town book from the Upper Austrian market town of Grein using, among others, palaeographical and art historical methods. The lavishly decorated manuscript assembles the traditional privileges of the inhabitants of Grein, together with a register of the town's property. Previous scholarship has argued that the manuscript was compiled at the behest of the Grein burghers in order to secure their traditional rights and privileges when their lord, Emperor Frederick III, donated the town to two of his most important creditors from the noble Prüschenk family in 1489. Through a thorough examination of both the historical context and the manuscript itself, I come to the opposite conclusion and argue that it was in fact the Prüschenk brothers themselves who commissioned this prestigious object. As social climbers from the meddling nobility, they wanted to mark their social ascent with status symbols such as the acquisition of a prosperous town and the subsequent establishment of a princely residence in the same town. The manuscript must therefore be read in this context, rather than as a token of an alleged antagonism between noble town lords and their bourgeois subjects. The case study shows how urban history in Central Europe cannot be written without considering the town lords, and how an object from an urban context can be key to interpreting the social history of the late medieval noble family.