Urban community and aristocratic rule within the medieval urbanisation of selected regions in Central Europe

这个项目对中世纪城市化进程的研究做出了贡献，自12世纪以来，城市化进程发展了一种特殊的动力，从而在很大程度上塑造了整个现代欧洲的面貌。通过一个主要问题来考察中世纪都市化的形成、集聚和分化：城镇与城市群体、贵族或皇室城镇尺子、它们的地方代表以及其他社会群体(如地区贵族)之间的关系和互动是如何实现的？这个问题被应用于大约从公元1150年到1500年的三个案例研究：布伦斯韦格-L吕内堡公爵，伯爵。符腾堡公爵和泰罗尔伯爵。对它们与各自城镇的关系进行了示范和比较分析。因此，焦点集中在西欧和南欧高度城市化和相对成熟的景观之外的地区，以及城市规模有限的现象，即中小型城镇，甚至斯塔德德费尔(Stadtdörfer)(明显是农村的小城镇)。研究的重点是社会互动、各种形式的交流，以及社区结构和封建结构的合作与对抗之间的社会群体形成过程。特别关注城市精英及其作为调解人的功能，以及他们在贵族统治和城市社区之间的干预。这一方法也反映在该项目的方法中：历史比较法、人口学、社会性和空间概念(城市景观、城市网络、中心场所)。新开发的档案资料和重新解释的印刷资料构成了该项目的物质基础。

This project provides a contribution to the research on medieval processes of urbanisation which developped a particular dynamic since the 12th century and, thus, substantially shaped the appearance of Europe all through modern times. The formation, agglomeration and differentiation of medieval urbanity are examined by means of one primary question: How did the relations and interactions between towns and urban groups, baronial or princely town rulers, their local representatives as well as other social groups (e.g. the regional nobility) materialise? This question is applied to three case studies for the time from 1150 to 1500 AD approximately: the dukes of Braunschweig-Lüneburg, the counts resp. dukes of Württemberg, and the counts of Tirol. The relations to their respective towns are analysed exemplarily and comparatively. Thereby, the spotlight is cast on regions aside the highly urbanised and relatively well examined landscapes of Western and Southern Europe and on phenomenons of limited urban dimension, i.e. on small- to medium-sized towns or even Stadtdörfer (tiny and distinctly rural towns). The research focuses on social interactions, various forms of communication, and on processes of formation of social groups between cooperation and confrontation of communal and feudal structures. Particular attention is directed to urban elites and their function as mediators as well as their interventions between aristocratic rule and urban community. This approach is also reflected in the methodology of this project: historical comparatistics, prosopography, sociability and spatial concepts (urban landscapes, urban networks, central places). Newly tapped archival sources and re-interpreted sources in print constitute the material basis of the project.