House-Destruction as a Ritual of Punishment in Early Modern Europe

2020 ◽  
Vol 50 (4) ◽  
pp. 599-624
Author(s):  
Christopher R. Friedrichs
Keyword(s):  
The Netherlands ◽  
Early Modern ◽  
European Society ◽  
Early Modern Europe ◽  
The Public ◽  
Public Execution ◽  
Medieval Europe ◽  
Modern Europe ◽  
Early Modern Era ◽  
Modern Era

The public execution of criminals was a familiar ritual of early modern European society. This article, however, examines the less frequent practice of ordering that a criminal’s house be ritually demolished following the execution. In many cases, the destroyed house was then replaced by a monument which was intended to simultaneously obliterate and perpetuate the criminal’s memory. Rare as it was, ritual house-destruction was a surprisingly widespread practice, undertaken at various times between 1520 and 1760 in France, Germany, Spain, Italy, Portugal and the Netherlands. Though punitive house-destructions had been undertaken in medieval Europe, the practice acquired new overtones in the early modern era. This article examines how and when this striking form of punishment was applied in early modern Europe and considers why authorities would order the destruction of property in order to enshrine the memory of particularly serious crimes.

OF LIVING LEGENDS AND AUTHENTIC TALES: HOW TO GET REMEMBERED IN EARLY MODERN EUROPE

2013 ◽  
Vol 23 ◽  
pp. 103-125 ◽  
Author(s):  
Judith Pollmann
Keyword(s):  
The Netherlands ◽  
Early Modern ◽  
Case Studies ◽  
Crucial Role ◽  
Early Modern Europe ◽  
Historical Evidence ◽  
Modern Germany ◽  
Modern Europe ◽  
Memory Practices ◽  
New Criteria

ABSTRACTFolklore experts have shown that for a legend to be remembered it is important that it is historicised. Focusing on three case-studies from early modern Germany and the Netherlands, this article explores how the historicisation of mythical narratives operated in early modern Europe, and argues that memory practices played a crucial role in the interplay between myth and history. The application of new criteria for historical evidence did not result in the decline of myths. By declaring such stories mythical, and by using the existence of memory practices as evidence for this, scholars could continue to take them seriously.

Picturing Global Conversion: Art and Diplomacy at the Court of Paul V (1605-1621)

2013 ◽  
Vol 17 (5-6) ◽  
pp. 525-559 ◽  
Author(s):  
Opher Mansour
Keyword(s):  
Early Modern ◽  
Significant Role ◽  
Visual Representation ◽  
Visual Representations ◽  
Early Modern Europe ◽  
Close Attention ◽  
The Public ◽  
Modern Europe ◽  
Papal Court

Abstract This article examines the progress of a series of ambassadorial visits to Rome by emissaries from the Kongo, Japan, and Safavid Persia as they unfolded over the reign of Pope Paul V. Close attention is paid to the visual representation of the ambassadors, and of their actions, in engravings and in the decoration of the Quirinal Palace. The author argues that the public aspects of diplomacy, and of the visual representations based on it, played a significant role in articulating the Papacy’s missionary ambitions and sense of its global position. Furthermore, it is argued that the diplomatic and courtly practices of the papal court played a significant role in mediating the representation of “other” cultures in early modern Europe.

Princes’ Justifications of War in Early Modern Europe: The Constitution of an International Community by Communication

2021 ◽  
pp. 65-80
Author(s):  
Anuschka Tischer
Keyword(s):  
Early Modern ◽  
International Law ◽  
Public Discourse ◽  
International Order ◽  
The Political ◽  
Early Modern Europe ◽  
Power Politics ◽  
Early Modernity ◽  
The Public ◽  
Modern Europe

Anuschka Tischer starts out with the historical analyses of the book by elaborating the dialectic of war discourses and international order in early modernity: according to Tischer, nearly every prince in early modern Europe came up with a ‘just reason’ when going to war. Whereas the theory of international law represented academic opinions, the political justifications offered the official view which fed into the public discourse. By referring to a general international law in their war declarations (and counter-declarations), the belligerent parties shaped the pattern of today’s modern international law. However, the early modern justifications represented the political and social values of pre-revolutionary Europe. While international law was regarded as universal, the European Christian powers distinguished between wars in and outside of Europe. The chapter reveals the contradictions inherent in this distinction by analysing how princes in early modern Europe justified their wars, which norms and orders were accepted, and how far international law was the result of elaborate discussions and power politics. Tischer’s findings are picked up by Hendrik Simon in his contribution on the nineteenth-century discourse of war and international order.

Maintaining the Common Peace: Security and the Religious Peace of 1578 during the Dutch Revolt

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 223-250
Author(s):  
Erik Swart
Keyword(s):  
Sixteenth Century ◽  
The Netherlands ◽  
Early Modern ◽  
Political Power ◽  
Collective Responsibility ◽  
Early Modern Europe ◽  
Dutch Revolt ◽  
The Common ◽  
Modern Europe ◽  
Religious War

Abstract This article analyses the failed Dutch Religious Peace of 1578 through the lens of security. As Wayne te Brake recently argued in Religious War and Religious Peace in Early Modern Europe, creating security for all parties is key for an effective religious peace. In the sixteenth century, communal security was deemed a collective responsibility. In practice this meant that religious peace – suppressing and preventing violence and threats between Protestants and Catholics – was framed as a matter of preserving the common peace. Theological questions were dissimulated or kept out of peace settlements. In 1578, the religious peace proposed that Catholics and Calvinists were to live in the Netherlands side by side, each allowed to worship publicly. Some 27 Dutch towns introduced this religious peace. Yet the municipal magistrates mostly did so reluctantly and generally declined to share political power, thus contributing to its failure. Moreover, there were different, conflicting conceptions at work concerning the common peace, as well as regarding how to keep it.

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