Publications
The series “Studien zur Reichstagsgeschichte”, published by the Mühlhausen-based Working Group “History of the Free Imperial Cities” and the Friedrich Christian Lesser Foundation, collects the contributions to the annual conferences on the history of the Imperial Cities. The volumes are published by the Michael Imhof Verlag, Petersberg.
Soon available: Studien zur Reichsstadtgeschichte (SRG) – Volume 11
Kleine Reichsstädte (Small Imperial Cities)
Although small towns accounted for the vast majority of Europe’s urban phenomena in the Middle Ages and early modern Europe, they still play a subordinate role in urban history research. This very much also applies to Imperial Cities. The contributions in this volume therefore focus on the smaller Imperial Cities. In particular, their economic and social foundations are discussed, and on the basis of the production of written sources, it is examined how small Imperial Cities presented, organised and administered themselves in comparison to small country towns. Further studies elaborate on the role of small Imperial Cities in imperial and regional politics.
Content and Preface
The volume has been published by the Michael Imhof Verlag.
Price: 29.95 Euro
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Available: Studien zur Reichsstadtgeschichte (SRG) – Volume 9
Reichsstädtische Akteure (Protagonists of Imperial Cities)
Within the structure of an Imperial City different protagonists have varying degrees of agency. Actors might decide to deviate from typical career paths and seemingly stable relationships might be changed by conflicts. At the same time, protagonists of Imperial Cities position themselves within the urban society by enacting their status through representation and other means. The contributions of this volume examine different social groups: the clergy, artisans, merchants, councilmen and other urban elites. The setting of the Imperial City, specifically the imperial immediacy, offers all of them a larger degree of agency than other settings of medieval and early modern society.
Content and Preface
The volume has been published by the Michael Imhof Verlag.
Price: 29.95 Euro
For ordering please click here.
Available: Studien zur Reichsstadtgeschichte (SRG) – Volume 8
Reichsstadt und Gewalt (Imperial Cities and Violence)
Crowded housing, diverging interests, and struggles for power and status – the potential for violence seemed especially high in the cities of the early modern period. Again and again the city authorities reiterated bans and regulations, threatening with persecution and punishment, while practices of physical violence remained common, and in some instances even legitimised. The contributions in this volume consider forms of physical violence against humans as well as sanctions by legal authorities (the German “Gewalt” encompassing a wider spectrum of meanings than the English “violence”). Imperial Cities are a particular rich object of investigation since having the high jurisdiction each city could determine for itself which laws and rules to impose and how to enforce them.
Content and Preface
The volume has been published by the Michael Imhof Verlag.
Price: 29.95 Euro
For ordering please click here.
Available: Studien zur Reichsstadtgeschichte (SRG) – Volume 7
Reichsstadt und Landwirtschaft (Imperial Cities and Agriculture)
Until far into modern times the vast majority of the working population was employed in the agricultural sector as the growing cities relied on the surrounding lands to meet the demand for food and other resources. Agricultural production was determined to a great extend by urban demand, which opened up additional income opportunities for the rural society. Focussing on the perspective of the imperial cities, the contributions of this volume are dedicated to the closely intertwined structures of city and countryside. The contributions are spanning the period from the High Middle Ages until the dawn of the industrial age.
Content and Preface
The volume has been published by the Michael Imhof Verlag.
Price: 29.95 Euro
For ordering please click here.
Available: Studien zur Reichsstadtgeschichte (SRG) – Volume 6
Reichsstadt als Argument (Imperial Cities as an Argument)
Being an Imperial City did not only entail a legal status within the Holy Roman Empire, it also implied political questions, not least the question of how others were perceived, and of the city elite’s self-perception. Depending on specific power constellations the status of a city as Imperial City was not fixed but rather a result of continuing negotiation processes. The contributions of the sixth volume in the series “Studien zur Reichsstadtgeschichte (SRG)” examine specific and recurring arguments and negotiation contexts, offering a comparative perspective on the fundamental question of self-perception and the perception of others of Imperial Cities in the Middle Ages and the Early Modern Period.
Content and preface
The volume has been published by the Michael Imhof Verlag.
Price: 29.95 Euro
For ordering please click here.
Available: Studien zur Reichsstadtgeschichte (SRG) – Volume 5
Reichsstadt und Geld (Imperial Cities and Money)
Market and monetary economy belong to the founding narratives of urban history, as does the increasing separation of the city economy from agrarian production conditions and from the power relations of the manorial system. This is particularly true for the history of Imperial Cities. The fifth volume in the series “Studien zur Reichsstadtgeschichte“ encompasses a breadth of topics, ranging from payment arrangements between lords and Imperial Cities, the royal and Imperial-City tax policy, mintage, monetary and credit transactions, the accounting system, to the foundation system for the destitute – documenting the wealth of Imperial Cities, but also deficit-ridden budgets. These subjects are situated in cities between Bern and Deventer, and between Mühlhausen in Thuringia and Mulhouse in Alsace Lorraine.
Content and Preface
The volume has been published by the Michael Imhof Verlag.
Price: 29.90 Euro
For ordering please click here.
Available: Studien zur Reichsstadtgeschichte (SRG) – Volume 4
Reichsstadt im Religionskonflikt (Imperial Cities and Religious Conflict)
The contributions of the forth conference of the Working Group “History of the Free Imperial Cities” examine how religious dissonances in the Imperial Cities, with their particular constitutional status, lead to inner and internal and external conflicts. A chronological approach underlines that the epochal event of the Reformation was neither the first nor the last religious movement, which intensified fractures within the city, leading to crises and new political and social orders. Hence, the Reformation has to be viewed within a long tradition of performative statements of dissatisfaction, sacred self-empowerment of oppositional groups and hegemonial counter-concepts of religious plurality.
Content and Preface
The book has been published by the Michael Imhof Verlag.
Price: 29.90 Euro
For ordering please click here.
Available: Studien zur Reichsstadtgeschichte (SRG) – Volume 3
Kaiser, Reich und Reichsstadtin der Interaktion (Interactions between Emperor, Realm and Imperial Cities)
Documenting its third academic conference, the “Mühlhäuser Arbeitskreis für Reichsstadtgeschichte” presents a collection of essays dedicated to various occasions and forms of interaction between the institutions of the Realm and the Free Imperial Cities. The various roles of the Imperial Cities become apparent as they acted in their respective local context and at the same time in different arenas of the Realm. On the one hand, Imperial Cities strived to expand their agency vis-à-vis their patron, on the other hand they depended on Emperor and Realm as warrantors of their privileges. Thus, the Imperial Cities present themselves as mirrors for the multifarious faces of the Realm and its overlaying spaces and orders.
Contents and Preface
The book has been published by the Michael Imhof Verlag.
Price: 29.90 Euro
For ordering please click here.
Available: Studien zur Reichsstadtgeschichte (SRG) – Volume 2
Reichszeichen: Darstellungen und Symbole des Reichs in Reichsstädten (Imperial Insignia – Representations and Symbols of the Empire in Imperial Cities)
Until the present day there exist various symbols and representations of the Empire in the public spaces of former Imperial Cities, lending a specific iconographic profile to these cities. The wide spectrum of architectural, material and pictorial and traditions is the topic of the Working Group’s second conference. Using examples from Augsburg, Dortmund, Frankfurt a. M., Hagenau/Haguenau, Hamburg, Mühlhausen/Thür., Nuremberg, Reutlingen, Speyer, Stans, Wetzlar and other cities we will discuss symbols of the Empire from a variety of perspectives, such their origins, changing functions, loss of significance and destruction.
Contents and Preface
The book has been published by the Michael Imhof Verlag.
Price: 29.90 Euro
For ordering please click here.
Available: Studien zur Reichsstadtgeschichte (SRG) – Volume 1
Tempi passati: Die Reichstadt in der Erinnerung (Tempi passati – Commemoration of Imperial Cities)
The Research Working Group “History of the Free Imperial Cities” proudly presents “Tempi passati – Commemoration of Imperial Cities,” documenting its first academic conference. The volume explores conditions, functions and effects of the remembrance of Imperial Cities in past times. It contains case studies on Bad Wimpfen, Dortmund, Eger/Cheb, Frankfurt a. M., Hamburg, Lübeck, Mühlhausen/Thür., Nordhausen, Ulm und Wetzlar, Speyer and Worms on the left banks of the Rhine, as well as former Imperial Cities in present-day Switzerland.
Contents and Preface
The books has been published by the Michael Imhof Verlag.
Price: 29.90 Euro
For ordering please click here