Urban Elite Culture : : A Methodological Study of Aristocracy and Civic Elites in Sea-Trading Towns of the Southwestern Baltic (12th-14th c.) / / Luisa Radohs.

• Superior document: Quellen und Darstellungen zur Hansischen Geschichte
• VerfasserIn: Radohs, Luisa,
• Place / Publishing House: Göttingen, Germany : : Böhlau,, [2023]; ©2023
• Year of Publication: 2023
• Edition: First edition.
• Language: English
• Series: Quellen und Darstellungen zur hansischen Geschichte.
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (693 pages)

Table of Contents

• Intro
• Urban Elite Culture
• Cover
• Impressum
• ISBN 978-3-412-52861-4
• Contents
• Acknowledgements
• 1. Introduction
• 1.1 State of research
• 1.1.1 Urban encounter  : aristocracy and leading civic groups in medieval towns of the southwestern Baltic
• 1.1.2 Social differentiation in the archaeological record of towns
• 1.2 Aims and research questions
• 1.3 Scope
• 1.3.1 Space and time
• 1.3.2 Social groups  : the aristocracy and leading civic groups
• 1.3.3 Empirical material
• 2. Elites - The Theoretical Framework
• 2.1 Elite concept
• 2.2 Practices of identification, representation and distinction through material culture
• 2.2.1 Identity and identification through material culture
• 2.2.1.1 Material signatures of medieval spheres of life and social groups
• 2.2.1.2 Barometer objects
• 2.2.2 The town as a stage  ? Representation and distinction
• 3. Methodology: Approaching High and Late Medieval Urban Elites
• 3.1 A reflection on sources and source pluralism
• 3.1.1 Sources and reality
• 3.1.2 Source pluralism and interdisciplinarity
• 3.2 Approaching urban elites - modus operandi
• 3.2.1 Written sources  : frames, actors and interactions
• 3.2.2 Archaeological approaches
• 3.2.2.1 Archaeological approach 1  : urban courtly culture
• 3.2.2.1.1 Contexts of use
• 3.2.2.2 Archaeological approach 2  : living standards on medieval urban plots
• 3.2.2.3 Archaeological approach 3  : urban topography of power
• 3.2.2.4 Archaeological approach 4  : stamping identity - seal matrices as carriers of information about status and social conditions
• 3.2.2.5 Archaeological approach 5  : elite material culture in medieval Denmark
• Case Study I: Stralsund (Pomerania, Northern ­Germany)
• 4.1 Introduction
• 4.2 State of research and sources
• 4.3 Written sources
• 4.3.1 The aristocracy.
• 4.3.1.1 The Princes of Rügen
• 4.3.1.2 Aristocratic families
• 4.3.1.3 Aristocratic scopes of action
• 4.3.2 Civic elites
• 4.3.2.1 Council membership and burgenses in Stralsund
• 4.3.2.2 Tasks and social demarcation of the ruling elite
• 4.3.2.3 Extramural property and citizen fiefs
• 4.4 Archaeological sources
• 4.4.1 Urban courtly culture
• 4.4.1.1 Barometer objects from Stralsund
• 4.4.1.2 Spatial distribution
• 4.4.1.3 Barometer objects from primary deposits and their contexts of use
• 4.4.1.4 Social assignments by means of archaeological finds  ?
• 4.4.2 Living standards on medieval urban plots
• 4.4.2.1 The archaeological plot inventory
• 4.4.2.2 Methodological discussion and remarks
• 4.4.2.2.1 Site chronology, archaeological contexts and temporal frame
• 4.4.2.2.2 The identification of plots in the archaeological record
• 4.4.2.2.3 Quantification and classification of the find material
• 4.4.2.3 Analysis of the plots
• 4.4.2.3.1 NAT-analyses
• 4.4.2.3.2 Barometer objects
• 4.4.2.3.3 Building structures
• 4.5.2.4 Concluding remarks and outlook
• 4.4.3 Urban topography of power
• 4.4.3.1 From lordly dependence to communal freedom? Shifting power relations and their imprint on the townscape
• 4.4.3.1.1 Stralsund's earliest urban development
• 4.4.3.1.2 Seats of power  : the princely curia, urban aristocratic estates and the town hall
• 4.4.3.2 Built environment and elite expressions
• 4.4.3.2.1 At home with the elites in Stralsund
• 4.4.3.2.1.1 The curia of the family von Osten
• 4.4.3.2.1.2 The house of the councillor family Wulflam
• 4.4.3.2.2 Aristocratic or civic  ? Two elite dwellings in comparison
• 4.4.3.3 Elites and the urban space - summarising thoughts
• 4.4.4 Stamping identity - seal matrices as carriers of information about status and social conditions.
• 4.4.4.1 Seal matrices as an archaeological source
• 4.4.4.2 Seal matrices of the 13th and 14th centuries from Stralsund - sphragistic features and their social significance
• 4.4.4.3 Disposal practice
• 4.4.4.4 Seal matrices as a source for civic elite culture
• 4.4.4.5 The socio-informative value of seal matrices - a reflection
• Case Study II: Næstved (Zealand, Denmark)
• 5.1 Introduction
• 5.2 State of research and sources
• 5.3 Næstved - sea-trading town on the river Suså
• 5.4 Actors, scopes of action and power constellations in medieval Næstved
• 5.4.1 St. Peder's Abbey (Skovkloster)
• 5.4.2 The aristocracy and Næstved
• 5.4.2.1 The Danish kings - royal power in Næstved
• 5.4.2.1.1 Husvolden
• 5.4.2.1.2 Royal residence
• 5.4.2.2 Aristocratic property
• 5.4.2.3 Between journeys, administration, negotiation and last resting place
• 5.4.3 Næstved's civic elites
• 5.5 Archaeological evidence concerning social conditions
• 5.5.1 Barometer objects from Næstved
• 5.5.1.1 Ringstedgade 4  : an elite-home in Næstved  ?
• 5.5.1.2 Barometer objects from primary deposits and their contexts of use
• 5.5.2 Special finds and pottery as a starting point for a social topography
• 6. Case Study III: Elite Material Culture in Medieval Denmark - Objects from the National ­Museum of Denmark
• 6.1 Introduction and purpose
• 6.2 Data and source criticism
• 6.3 Analysis
• 6.4 On the trail of elite culture  ? Distribution patterns of "high-class" artefacts from medieval Denmark
• 7. Synthesis
• 7.1 Urban elite culture - a socio-historical perspective
• 7.2 Urban elite culture - a material culture perspective
• 7.3 Urban elite culture - a methodological perspective
• 8. Conclusion
• English Summary
• Dansk Resumé
• Deutsche Zusammenfassung
• Bibliography
• I. Unpublished sources and reports
• II. Printed sources
• III. Literature.
• List of Abbreviations
• List of Appendices
• Appendices 1 - 15
• Plates.