Dissertation Project

„Weapons beyond the battlefield? The public sphere and communication in warlike conflicts of the Late Middle Ages“ (working title)

The project examines forms of political-public communication in warlike conflicts of the Late Middle Ages using three Westphalian feuds as examples: the “Great Dortmund Feud“ (1388/89), the “Soest Feud“ (1444–1449) and the “Münster Diocesan Feud” (1450–1457).

Whereas feuds between noblemen or during the so-called “Second Swabian Municipal War” have already been examined with regards to their communicative dimension, this is not the case for the three Cologne-Westphalian feuds in question, all of which – albeit experiencing different constellations of conflict – arose through tensions between the archbishop of Cologne on the one hand and local Westphalian cities and princes on the other. Furthermore, many of the relevant publications for these feuds are outdated.

An approach favouring perspectives on communication lends itself to a re-examination of the three feuds due to their high number of actors – individuals as well as groups – who are linked with each other through complex socio-economic relations, but also due to the ongoing relevance of the topic in current Medieval Studies research. The limitation to a time right before the establishment of the printing press as new communicative technology distinguishes the project from other research in the field of media history, that usually focuses exclusively on (printed) journalism and modern mass media. By contrast, this dissertation project asks, whether public communication in warlike conflicts existed under the conditions of a non-printing culture and how it worked.

The research project focuses (1) on the relevant public spheres participating in the conflicts, (2) on the media and communication forms being applied (whether systematically or due to a dynamic of their own) to reach the different public spheres, and (3) on the specific discourses and topics expressed through these communication forms. From a broader perspective, the dissertation asks, what impact certain communicative scenarios had on the conflict process. Existing research on the concepts of “the political public sphere” and “political communication” as well as research on medieval propaganda provide the theoretical basis for this project.

Supervisors: Carla Meyer-Schlenkrich / Gerhard Lubich (Bochum)