BOOK: Beat A. KÜMIN, Imperial Villages : Cultures of Political Freedom in the German Lands, c. 1300-1800 [Studies in Central European Histories] (Leiden-New York: Brill, 2019). ISBN 978-90-04-39660-9, €121.00

(Source: Brill)

Brill has published a new book on rural self-government in the Holy Roman Empire between 1300-1800.

ABOUT THE BOOK

Hundreds of rural communities tasted political freedom in the Holy Roman Empire. For shorter or longer periods, villagers managed local affairs without subjection to territorial overlords. In this first book-length study, Beat Kümin focuses on the five case studies of Gochsheim and Sennfeld (in present-day Bavaria), Sulzbach and Soden (Hesse) and Gersau (Switzerland). Adopting a comparative perspective across the late medieval and early modern periods, the analysis of multiple sources reveals distinct extents of rural self-government, the forging of communalized confessions and an enduring attachment to the empire. Negotiating inner tensions as well as mounting centralization pressures, Reichsdörferprovide privileged insights into rural micro-political cultures while their stories resonate with resurgent desires for greater local autonomy in Europe today.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Beat Kümin obtained his Ph.D. at Cambridge (1993) and a higher doctorate at Bern (2005). He is Professor of Early Modern European History at the University of Warwick, U.K. His publications include Drinking Matters(2007) and The European World (3rd edn, 2018).

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Contents
Preface
Notes on the Text
List of Figures and Acknowledgements
AbbreviationsV 

Part 1: Approaches
1 Polities without a Prince: an Introduction

2 Origins, Evolutions and Settings 

Part 2: Regimes
3 Domestic Affairs: Co-Operation and Conflict

4 External Relations: Protectors and Predators

5 Religious Life – Heaven and Earth 

Part 3: Perspectives
6 Representations and Perceptions
7 Conclusions 

Appendix 1: Communities Possessing, Claiming or Attributed Imperial Village Status (Pre-1803)
Appendix 2: Senior Officials and Clergymen in Five Imperial Villages c. 1300–1800
Bibliography
Index 

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