Curriculum Vitae:
| 1981 | born in Landshut |
| 2002 – 2008 | Studies of Modern History, Medieval History and English Linguistics at the Universities of Munich and Edinburgh, final degree: Magister Artium (M. A.) |
| 2004 – 2008 | Student research assistant at the Department of Early Modern History (Prof. Dr. Sigrid Jahns), University of Munich |
| April – July 2008 | Ph. D. student at the Department of Early Modern History, University of Munich (Dissertation supervised by Prof. Dr. Sigrid Jahns) |
| April – July 2008 | Temporary employee at the Bavarian Central Archives in Munich |
| since August 2008 | Ph. D. student at the Graduate School of the Cluster of Excellence “Religion and Politics”, WWU Münster |
Ph. D. Project
Between dynastic unity and religious division. Imperial Counts in Early Modern Germany (working title)
The religious antagonism which was characteristic for the Holy Roman Empire since the days of the reformation also became manifest (with a certain delay) within the families of the immediate high nobility, foremost the Imperial Counts (Reichsgrafen).
Therefore the Counts (and later Princes) of Hohenlohe, Löwenstein-Wertheim and Nassau (- Siegen) make up the centre of my study – noble dynasties which were, after the conversions of family members in the course of the seventeenth century, not only split in different branches but also religiously divided, and thus had to deal permanently with the problem of religious plurality (“biconfessionality”) from then on. The “break up” of the religious consensus increasingly developed into a grave burden for the unity of the family because from now on the bulk of dynastic decisions, attitudes and political options was permeated by religious antagonism – a fact that was determining for the actions of the Imperial Counts and Princes until well into the eighteenth century.
This became apparent in a number of conflicts, which I will structure systematically within the framework of my thesis. On the one hand the religious coding of the comital existence materialised in controversies concerning the succession, rank, status and marriage patterns of these noble families. On the other hand conflicts concerning time and space were also preprogrammed because of the narrow boundaries of most of the territories. The spectrum here could range from conflicts about the right calendar to disputes about the use of the churches in common residences (Simultankirchen) and to politically highly explosive conflicts about the exercise of the ius reformandi.
Besides the analysis of these family quarrels I will also show what possibilities the Counts of Hohenlohe, Löwenstein-Wertheim and Nassau had to solve these conflicts. Here I am especially interested in the choice, role and strategies of the respective mediators, who could be members of the dynasty concerned or princes from other houses of the Holy Roman Empire. In this context I will also analyse the importance of family conferences as a medium of inner-dynastic communication and conflict regulation. Furthermore I will look at possible invocations of the Imperial Chamber Court or the Imperial Aulic Council in case the inner-familial mediation had failed.
My intention is not only to analyse conflicts within families of the high Imperial nobility from a chronological and dynastic perspective on a broad archival basis but also to depict through that example the complex religious reality of the Holy Roman Empire after 1648.
Research Interests:
- Nobility and princely courts in Early Modern Europe
- Constitutional, social and religious history of the Holy Roman Empire
- History of Western Europe (c. 1500 – 1800)
- New Cultural History (esp. pre-modern symbolic communication)
Function within the Cluster/membership in projects and groups:
- Coordination of the study group Konversion (with Manja Quakatz)
- Member of the study group Conflicts in the Area of Religion and Politics
Publications:
Article
- Konversion und Sukzession. Die Grafen von Nassau-Siegen zwischen dynastischer Einheit und konfessioneller Spaltung, in: Hartwin Brandt, Katrin Köhler u. Ulrike Siewert (Hg.), Genealogisches Bewusstsein als Legitimation. Inter- und intragenerationelle Auseinandersetzungen sowie die Bedeutung von Verwandtschaft bei Amtswechseln (Bamberger Historische Studien, Bd. 4), Bamberg 2009, pp. 285-306.
Conference proceedings
- Konversionen zum Katholizismus in der Frühen Neuzeit. Institutionen, Interaktionen und Internationalisierung, Weingarten (Oberschwaben), 8.10.-11.10.2009, in H-Soz-u-Kult, 27.5.2010.
Courses:
- at the University of Munich (summer term 2008): Tutorial for Undergraduate students of Modern History
Contact
Lorenz Baibl M. A.History Department
Domplatz 20-22
Room 322
D-48143 Münster
Germany
Tel.: +49 251 83-23202
Fax: +49 251 83-23247
lorenz.baibl@uni-muenster.de
Supervisor
Prof. Dr. Barbara Stollberg-RilingerHistory Department
Domplatz 20-22
Room 141
D-48143 Münster
Germany
Tel.: +49 251 83-24315
Fax: +49 251 83-24332
stollb@uni-muenster.de
Supervisor
Prof. Dr. Sigrid JahnsLudwig-Maximilians-Universität München
History Department
Schellingstraße 12
Room 321
D-80799 München
Germany
Tel.: +49 89 2180-5560
Fax: +49 89 2180-5663
Sigrid.Jahns@lrz.uni-muenchen.de
