Representations of power in medieval Germany : 800-1500 / edited by Björn Weiler and Simon MacLean.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Weiler, Björn K. U.

MacLean, Simon.

Series:

International medieval research (Series)

International medieval research ; 16

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Power (Social sciences)--Germany--History--To 1500--Congresses.

Power (Social sciences).

Symbolism in politics--Congresses.

Symbolism in politics.

Kings and rulers.

Politics and government.

History.

Germany--Politics and government--To 1517--Congresses.

Germany.

Germany--Kings and rulers--Congresses.

Genre:

Conference papers and proceedings.

Physical Description:

xvi, 348 pages : illustrations ; 25 cm.

Place of Publication:

Turnhout : Brepols, 2006.

Summary:

This book brings together a group of leading experts on the political history of Germany and the medieval Empire from the Carolingian period to the end of the Middle Ages. Its purpose is to introduce and analyze key concepts in the study of medieval political culture. The representation of power by means of texts, buildings and images is a theme which has long interested historians. However, recent debates and methodological insights have fundamentally altered the way this subject is perceived, opening it up to perspectives unnoticed by its pioneers in the middle of the twentieth century. By taking account of these debates and insights, this volume explores a series of fundamental questions. How was power defined in a medieval context? How was it claimed, legitimized and disputed? What were the moral parameters against which its exercise was judged? How did different spheres of political power interact? What roles were played by texts, images and rituals in the maintenance of, and challenges to, the political order? The contributors bring varied and original approaches to these and other questions, illuminating the complex power relationships which determined the changing political history of medieval Germany.

Contents:

The Perception of 'Power' and 'State' in the Early Middle Ages: The Case of the Astronomer's 'Life of Louis the Pious' / Hans-Werner Goetz 15

The Idea of Empire in Carolingian Bavaria / Warren Brown 37

Regina nitens sanctissima Hemma: Queen Emma (827-876), Bishop Witgar of Augsburg, and the Witgar-Belt / Eric J. Goldberg 57

Ritual, Misunderstanding, and the Contest for Meaning: Representations of the Disrupted Royal Assembly at Frankfurt (873) / Simon Maclean 97

The Representation of Empire: Otto I at Ravenna / David A. Warner 121

Concepts and Practice of Empire in Ottonian Germany (950-1024) / John W. Bernhardt 141

German Historiography and the Twelfth-Century Renaissance / Sverre Bagge 165

The Creation of the Codex Falkensteinensis (1166): Self-Representation and Reality / John B. Freed 189

The Power of Love: Representations of Kingship in the Love-Songs of Henry VI and Frederick II, and in the Manesse Codex and the Liber ad honorem Augusti of Peter of Eboli / Jeffrey Ashcroft 211

Reasserting Power: Frederick II in Germany (1235-1236) / Bjorn Weiler 241

The Role of Frederick II in the Works of Guillaume de Nangis / Chris Jones 273

The Electors and Imperial Rule at the End of the Fifteenth Century / Henry J. Cohn 295

How One Archbishop of Trier Perambulated his Lands / Mikhail A. Bojcov 319.

Notes:

"This volume originated in a conference held in July 2003 at the University of Wales conference centre at Gregynog." -- Preface.

Includes bibliographical references.

ISBN:

250351815X

OCLC:

63137528