Fragile Fürstenherrschaft im spätmittelalterlichen Europa
| Title in English | Fragile princely rule in late medieval Europe |
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| Authors | |
| Year of publication | 2026 |
| Type | Monograph |
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| Citation | |
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| Description | How can one explain structural weaknesses in governance without immediately falling back on traditional patterns of weak or incompetent kings? How can one shed more light on periods of royal uncertainty that have often been overlooked, not only in historiography? The interpretation offered by ‘Fragile Princely Rule’ attempts to free structural weaknesses of rule from the constraints of success assessment by focusing on key moments of political decision-making and the structural and human resources of princely rule. This makes the influence of other actors from the court environment more visible. The long-term impact of the administrative and financial resources of rulers and courts becomes apparent, and the results of political negotiation processes that are less influential at first glance are also given greater consideration. This multi-perspective approach ultimately takes into account the physical aptitude of the ruler or specific obstacles related to gender and age. The state of the historical record means that this holistic view of rule ‘in the making’ is only possible in many places in the late Middle Ages. Geographically, the contributions in this volume cover the perspective of an expanded Central European area, which includes not only the Holy Roman Empire, France, Bohemia and Austria, but also territories in the Baltic region, Scandinavia and the city-states of northern Italy. |
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