09.10.2023

Recently published: RessourcenKulturen 24. Im Kreis des Elefanten

Jonas Froehlich, Im Kreis des Elefanten. Burgen als Ressourcen des Niederadels auf der Schwäbischen Alb 1250–1400. RessourcenKulturen 24 (Tübingen 2023).

The castle and nobility of the Middle Ages are not only thought of together in historical research. For the lower nobility in particular, the disposal of castles was decisive for the social positioning of the respective noble dynasty. To sharpen this connection, the dissertation looks at both together and asks about the concrete significance of castles in the formation phase of the lower nobility between 1250 and 1400. The focus of the regional and interdisciplinary study is on noble families and their castles from the circle of the counts of Helfenstein in the region between Geislingen an der Steige and Blaubeuren in the Swabian Alb.
The study examines aristocratic strategies of homemaking, of positioning oneself in the world. The centre of this positioning was the castle. It appears as a spatial and social point of reference that was important in almost every area of aristocratic life: it was the hub and nucleus of (the exercise of) power, the centre of social group membership as well as the stage and medium of cultural participation. A castle thus means much more than just the building stock that may have survived to the present day, but the overall social and spatial phenomenon of a centre with many functions. Access to this multifunctional phenomenon 'castle' opened up diverse possibilities for action for the lower nobility and thus opportunities for positioning in all areas of noble affiliation. In this way, castles can be described as socio-cultural resources in the sense of the concept of the Collaborative Research Centre 1070 ResourceCultures.

Book series RessourcenKulturen