The Emperor's Old Clothes : : Constitutional History and the Symbolic Language of the Holy Roman Empire / / Barbara Stollberg-Rilinger.

• Superior document: Title is part of eBook package: De Gruyter Berghahn Books Complete eBook-Package 2014-2015
• VerfasserIn: Stollberg-Rilinger, Barbara,
• Place / Publishing House: New York; , Oxford : : Berghahn Books, , [2015]; ©2015
• Year of Publication: 2015
• Language: English
• Series: Spektrum: Publications of the German Studies Association ; 10
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (356 p.)
• Other title: Frontmatter --; CONTENTS --; List of Illustrations --; Acknowledgments --; List of Abbreviations --; Introduction --; Chapter 1. Creation and Presentation of the Empire: Worms, 1495 --; Chapter 2. Cleavage of the Sacral Community: Augsburg, 1530 --; Chapter 3. More Strife than Ever Before: Regensburg, 1653/54 --; Chapter 4. Parallel Worlds: Frankfurt-Regensburg-Vienna, 1764/65 --; Conclusion. The Symbolic Logic of the Empire --; Bibliography --; Index
• Format: Mode of access: Internet via World Wide Web.
• ISBN: 9781782388067; 9783110998238
• DOI: 10.1515/9781782388067?locatt=mode:legacy
• Access: restricted access
• Hierarchical level: Monograph
• Statement of Responsibility: Barbara Stollberg-Rilinger.

For many years, scholars struggled to write the history of the constitution and political structure of the Holy Roman Empire. This book argues that this was because the political and social order could not be understood without considering the rituals and symbols that held the Empire together. What determined the rules (and whether they were followed) depended on complex symbolic-ritual actions. By examining key moments in the political history of the Empire, the author shows that it was a vocabulary of symbols, not the actual written laws, that formed a political language indispensable in maintaining the common order.