Publications by Mario Damen
Research Project by Mario Damen
Pas d'armes and Late Medieval Chivalry, 2023
This website (https://pasdarmes.org/), aimed at students and a more general audience, offers a ga... more This website (https://pasdarmes.org/), aimed at students and a more general audience, offers a gateway into the world of the pas d’armes (English: passage of arms). This was a highly ritualised form of tournament, that was very popular in Anjou, the Burgundian lands, France, Iberia, and Savoy, even reaching as far as Scotland, in the fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries. The website includes a virtual exhibition and a research database which seek to promote a better understanding of the important place of pas d’armes in late medieval society. The website is the result of the work of an international, interdisciplinary Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) Research Network entitled The Joust as Performance: Pas d’armes and Late Medieval Chivalry. The principal investigators of the project are Rosalind Brown-Grant (University of Leeds) and Mario Damen (University of Amsterdam).
This NWO funded project (2016-2020) analyses how the interaction between prince, nobles and urban... more This NWO funded project (2016-2020) analyses how the interaction between prince, nobles and urban elites influenced the construction, perception, and representation of a territory. The test case will be the late medieval Duchy of Brabant, which still has historical and territorial significance for many people in present-day Belgium and the Netherlands. To underscore the fluidity and multiplicity of the concept of territory, this project sets out to disentangle the divergent, though sometimes overlapping, conceptions of what exactly Brabant was (or should be) in the eyes of different political actors, in this time before the availability of reliable scale maps. To answer the main research question the project takes a twofold approach. On the one hand, we will define ducal, noble, and urban conceptions of Brabant mainly through administrative sources, particularly those of the fourteenth century that reflect a turning point in the capturing of territory (PhD project: Arend Elias Oostindiër). On the other hand, we will explicate how differently political actors envisaged and visualized territory in a wide range of relevant sources: architectural, heraldic, cartographic, narrative, and administrative (Postdoc project: Kim Overlaet). In this way, the project provides a completely new perspective on the concept of territory before cartography and state formation turned boundaries and territories into more fixed (but still changeable) geographical entities.
Books by Mario Damen
A Chivalric Life. The Book of the Deeds of Messire Jacques de Lalaing, 2022
Jacques de Lalaing (c.1421–53) was undoubtedly the most famous knight at the court of the Burgund... more Jacques de Lalaing (c.1421–53) was undoubtedly the most famous knight at the court of the Burgundian duke, Philip the Good, one who was celebrated in his own lifetime for the dazzling feats of arms that he performed in jousts across Europe during the 1440s. Serving the duke first as a councillor and ambassador to launch a new crusade and then as a fearless military leader on a campaign to put down a revolt by the town of Ghent, Lalaing tragically met his death at the siege of Poeke at relatively young age.
The chivalric biography of Lalaing, written in the early 1470s, offers an entertaining and informative account of the life of a late medieval knight. Drawing on a variety of sources, it was designed not only to commemorate Jacques’s deeds for posterity but also to reflect glory onto his kin and to encourage other young noblemen to imitate his shining example, with lavishly illuminated copies being made for members of his own family and other noble readers.
This first English translation of the text, accompanied by an introduction and extensive notes based on new research into both archival and literary sources, aims to offer the reader an in-depth portrayal of Lalaing in the context of the chivalric, dynastic and political culture of his day.
Constructing and Representing Territory in Late Medieval and Early Modern Europe, 2022
https://library.oapen.org/handle/20.500.12657/52143
, 2018
Political Representation: Communities, Ideas and Institutions in Europe
(c. 1200 - c. 1690), a s... more Political Representation: Communities, Ideas and Institutions in Europe
(c. 1200 - c. 1690), a scholarly collection on representation in medieval
and early modern Europe, opens up the field of institutional and
parliamentary history to new paradigms of representation across a wide
geography and chronology – as testified by the volume’s studies on
assemblies ranging from Burgundy and Brabant to Ireland and Italy.
The focus is on three areas: institutional developments of
representative institutions in Western Europe; the composition of these
institutions concerning interest groups and individual participants; and
the ideological environment of representatives in time and space. By
analysing the balance between bottom-up and top-down approaches to
the functioning of institutions of representation; by studying the actors
behind the representative institutions linking prosopographical
research with changes in political dialogue; and by exploring the
ideological world of representation, this volume makes a key
contribution to the historiography of pre-modern government and
political culture.
Handelingen van de Koninklijke Commissie voor Geschiedenis, 2016
Prelates, nobles and towns. The composition of the Estates of Brabant in the fifteenth century
... more Prelates, nobles and towns. The composition of the Estates of Brabant in the fifteenth century
Who were the members of the Estates of Brabant and could receive a summons letter for an assembly in the fifteenth century? In this study, I give an overview and an analysis of the composition of this representative institution on the basis of four undated summons lists. Given the importance of these lists for the political-institutional and social history of the Duchy of Brabant, a complete critical edition of the lists is the backbone of this study. Moreover, all listed persons are identified in brief biographical notes. New lists were composed by the ducal chancery on the occasion of major political events when the presence and participation of the (most powerful) representatives of the citizens was required. A closer examination showed that these summons lists were compiled on the occasion of the inauguration of Duke Anthony of Burgundy in 1406, the inauguration of Duke John IV in 1415 and to celebrate the peace concluded between Archduke Maximilian and the rebellious cities of Brabant in August 1489. These lists, together with the Brabantine part of the convocation list for the Estates General of 1464, offer an overview of the persons who were considered by their contemporaries as the political representatives of the three Estates: the clergy, the nobility and the Third Estate. This overview is then compared with the attendance at several important meetings of the Estates in the first quarter of the fifteenth century. To make the process of convocation yet more transparent, the lists are followed by a critical edition of some summons letters for the abbot of Park, Engelbert I of Nassau, lord of Breda, and the city of Antwerp.
Serving the state. The regional officers of Holland and Zeeland in the Burgundian period (1425-14... more Serving the state. The regional officers of Holland and Zeeland in the Burgundian period (1425-1482).
This is a summary of my phd-thesis, a prosopographical study into the officers of the Council and Chambre des Comptes of Holland and Zeeland in the Burgundian period (1425-1482)
In de jaren 1425-1433 kreeg de Bourgondische hertog Filips de Goede via een diplomatiek en militair offensief de graafschappen Holland en Zeeland in handen. In dit boek beschrijf ik op welke manier de ambtenaren van de hoogste bestuurlijk-juridische en financiële instellingen van Holland en Zeeland, de Raad en de Rekenkamer, hebben bijgedragen aan de integratie van deze gewesten in de Bourgondische personele unie. In het eerste deel wordt onderzocht welke institutionele vernieuwingen het gewestelijk staatsapparaat onderging in de vijftiende eeuw en passeren alle ambtenaren de revue. In het tweede deel bekijk ik welke strategie de vorst volgde bij de recrutering van zijn ambtenaren en met welke middelen hij trachtte hun dienstbaarheid en loyaliteit te bevorderen. De intermediaire positie van de ambtenaren - ingeklemd tussen de belangen van de hertog en die van de onderdanen - is het onderwerp van het derde deel. In een bijlage zijn biografische notities van 170 ambtenaren opgenomen met gegevens over hun herkomst, familie, carrière en netwerk.
De hertogen van Bourgondië hebben een onmiskenbaar stempel gedrukt op de geschiedenis van de Nede... more De hertogen van Bourgondië hebben een onmiskenbaar stempel gedrukt op de geschiedenis van de Nederlanden. Onder hun bewind, van 1384 tot 1477, integreerden de vorstendommen binnen de grenzen van het huidige Nederland, België en Luxemburg tot een nieuwe staat. Dit boek belicht verschillende aspecten van de staatkundige, economische en sociale integratie van de Bourgondische en Habsburgse Nederlanden en de hieruit voortvloeiende conflicten en culturele uitingen. Alle bijdragen zijn geschreven door voormalige promovendi van Wim Blockmans, die van 1987 tot 2010 hoogleraar middeleeuwse geschiedenis was aan de Universiteit Leiden. De artikelen zijn gegroepeerd rondom vier verschillende thema's: vorsten en hoven; edelen en ambtenaren; mensen en markten; recht, oorlog en Opstand. Dankzij de ruime opvatting van de 'Bourgondische' gescheidenis levert dit boek een vernieuwende bijdrage aan de geschiedenis van een land dat zijn verleden maar al te vaak reduceert tot de Gouden Eeuw en daarna.
Articles and book chapters by Mario Damen
Renaissance Quarterly, 2023
This article examines the chivalric encounters organized on the occasion of the Joyous Entry of P... more This article examines the chivalric encounters organized on the occasion of the Joyous Entry of Prince Philip in the Low Countries in 1549–50. It poses the question as to how they functioned as a performative tool to enhance cohesion among the nobles of the Habsburg composite state. The tournaments served as a regulated outlet for noble violence, controlled by the prince and his closest collaborators. In this way, they both created and cemented the bonds of knightly brotherhood within the entourage of the household, while at the same time reaching out to others who did not (yet) belong to the new prince's circle.
Constructing and Representing Territory in Late Medieval and Early Modern Europe , 2022
In this chapter we analyse coats of arms as a powerful and versatile tool of late medieval commun... more In this chapter we analyse coats of arms as a powerful and versatile tool of late medieval communication. We explore how territorial titles and claims of kings, princes, nobles, and urban elites alike were translated into heraldic signs and communicated to socially diverse audiences. The ubiquity of territorial heraldry is demonstrated in manuscript sources, including armorials, chronicles, illuminations and account books, as well as for visual and material sources such as heraldically decorated objects such as banners, painted walls, and stained glass in town halls, churches, and noble palaces. We examine the interplay of heraldry and territory in its textual, visual, material, and performative dimensions in order to show how heraldic communication was used to represent and (re)construct complex territorial structures in the Late Middle Ages.
This article analyses the Joyous Entry of Maximilian of Austria into Antwerp on 13 January 1478 a... more This article analyses the Joyous Entry of Maximilian of Austria into Antwerp on 13 January 1478 and provides an edition of the text probably written by a rhetorician from Antwerp, in which this event was described in detail. Using a range of narrative and administrative sources we provide the entry with a political and social context and situate it within the negotiating process between a new prince and his subjects on the one hand, and between the different interest groups both on a local and regional level, on the other hand. The manifold tableaux vivants staged in Antwerp, as well as the actual entry procession, were far more than instruments of ‘political communication’ or vehicles for princely or urban ‘propaganda’. Although the prince in the end had his financial wishes in the form of new subsidies granted, there were many meetings between the Estates of Brabant, which were dominated by the towns, and Maximilian’s officers, in which the demands of the subjects were put on the table. Even though the Antwerp guilds and rhetoricians who were in charge of the entry were maybe not directly involved in these negotiations, they knew exactly what was at stake. This becomes clear from the themes they addressed in their tableaux, in which they showed they were able to integrate a myriad of knowledge traditions, ranging from the Bible to decretals of the pope, and from imperial to Carolingian history, into a meaningful message which fitted into the contemporary political context.
BMGN - Low Countries Historical Review, 2019
This article analyses the Joyous Entry of Maximilian of Austria into Antwerp on 13 January 1478 a... more This article analyses the Joyous Entry of Maximilian of Austria into Antwerp on 13 January 1478 and provides an edition of the text probably written by a rhetorician from Antwerp, in which this event was described in detail. Using a range of narrative and administrative sources we provide the entry with a political and social context and situate it within the negotiating process between a new prince and his subjects on the one hand, and between the different interest groups both on a local and regional level, on the other hand. The manifold tableaux vivants staged in Antwerp, as well as the actual entry procession, were far more than instruments of 'political communication' or vehicles for princely or urban 'propaganda'. Although the prince in the end had his financial wishes in the form of new subsidies granted, there were many meetings between the Estates of Brabant, which were dominated by the towns, and Maximilian's officers, in which the demands of the subjects were put on the table. Even though the Antwerp guilds and rhetoricians who were in charge of the entry were maybe not directly involved in these negotiations, they knew exactly what was at stake. This becomes clear from the themes they addressed in their tableaux, in which they showed they were able to integrate a myriad of knowledge traditions, ranging from the Bible to decretals of the pope, and from imperial to Carolingian history, into a meaningful message which fitted into the contemporary political context.
English Historical Review, 2018
Click here for the article: https://academic.oup.com/ehr/article/133/563/777/5043263 If you don't... more Click here for the article: https://academic.oup.com/ehr/article/133/563/777/5043263 If you don't have access to the website of OUP please send us an e-mail. Abstract The fourteenth century was an age of transition in the recruitment of armies in the Low Countries. In the princely host, the traditional feudal ties remained important, but they underwent a process of multiplication and diversification. In this article, we explore the changing nature of these feudal relations and other bonds, and the consequences for the power relationships between princes and their vassals in the later Middle Ages. It discusses the implications of five types of ties between a prince and the men who fought in his army. These five forms of military recruitment were triggered by the increasingly businesslike way in which princes raised their armies, and mark the transition from a feudal host to a contract army. For a long time the feudal host remained the core of the army, but the underlying feudal relations became increasingly monetarised through the granting of fief-rentes and fief-rentes de reprise. In this, the feudal ties and military contracts in the Low Countries show striking similarities to bastard feudalism in England, although there are also important differences.
Anuario de Estudios Medievales, 2018
This paper analyses the hierarchy and ranking of the towns of the Duchy of Brabant within the Est... more This paper analyses the hierarchy and ranking of the towns of the Duchy of Brabant within the Estates, the principality's representative political institution. It seeks to answer the question why social and economic changes in the urban landscape were not, or only partly, refl ected in the political sphere. An analysis of a series of convocation lists of the Estates on the one hand, and subscription lists of charters on the other, make it clear that a distinction can be made between the towns and the so-called liberties, and that a neat territorial hierarchy is applied between these two categories. Although the four " capitals " and three other important towns headed the urban hierarchy, both as regards attendance and the order in which they were placed, there was certainly space for other minor towns, both ducal and seigniorial, to participate in the political arena. The ranking of a town implied certain rights and (fi nancial) obligations and was also expressed symbolically, for example in wine gifts and in seating arrangements at the meetings of the Estates. Whereas the formal political hierarchy within the Estates was quite rigid, other rankings of a military and fi scal character were subject to change.
Resumen: Este artículo analiza la jerarquía y el ranking de las ciudades del ducado de Brabante en su principal institución política representativa, los llamados Estados de Brabante El objetivo de este artículo es intentar buscar una respuesta a la pregunta de por qué los cambios sociales y económicos en las ciudades no se manifi estan de forma total o parcial en el ámbito político. El análisis de una serie de listas de convocatoria de los Estados demuestra que había una diferenciación entre las ciudades y las llamadas " libertades " , y que además dentro de estas dos categorías se aplicaba una jerarquía territorial. Aunque las cuatro 'capitales' y otras tres ciudades importantes están en la cabeza de la jerarquía urbana, tanto en lo que se refi ere a la parti-cipación como en el orden en el que están mencionadas, había espacio también para que otras ciudades más pequeñas participaran en el escenario político. El ranking de una ciudad llevaba consigo no sólo el disfrute de algunos derechos sino también el cumplimiento de algunas obligaciones, sobre todo de índole fi nanciera, y que se expresaban simbólicamente, como por ejemplo en las donaciones de vino y en el orden de prece-dencia durante las reuniones de los Estados. Aunque la jerarquía política dentro de los Estados por lo general era bastante rígida, otros rankings como por ejemplo los militares y fi scales sí estaban sujetos a cambios.
Lisa Kuitert, Paul Dijstelberge, and Marjolein Hogenbirk (eds), Schriftgeheimen. Opstellen over schrift en schriftcultuur (Amsterdam, 2017), 2017
This paper analyses two late sixteenth-century armorials with the coats of arms of the 235 partic... more This paper analyses two late sixteenth-century armorials with the coats of arms of the 235 participants of a tournament organized in May 1439 on the central market square, the Grote Markt, of Brussels. The armorials, trustworthy copies of a now lost original, record the performance of an exclusive social category in public space, and express in a distinctive visual way the internal hierarchy of the tourneying society: team leaders, leaders of large companies, leaders of of small companies, and 'ordinary' participants. The heraldic elements that were essential to this hierarchic arrangement - banners, pennons, shields – were actually used during the tournament, as well as the depicted helmets and crests.
It goes without saying that these occasional rolls were important for the nobility of the Low Countries, both at the time of the tournament and at the time of their creation in the last decades of the sixteenth century. Inclusion of their coats of arms in the armorials ensured the participants of a place in the collective memory. The compilers of the armorials played an essential role in defining the nobility as a social category since participating in a tournament meant that you lived nobly and that your peers considered you as a nobleman. The two copies of the original armorial in the last decades of the sixteenth century reproduced the social classification within the nobility in the second quarter of the fifteenth century. It shows that the same mechanisms of social distinction still played a role at that time.
This article focuses on the social and political features of the knighthood in one of the most de... more This article focuses on the social and political features of the knighthood in one of the most densely populated areas of the Low Countries, the administrative district of Brussels, known as the ammanie, in the fifteenth century. A systematic identification of all knights (rather than a selection) enables us to correct Huizinga’s picture and that of other, more recent, historians of the late medieval nobility as a social group in decay. Moreover, this case study contributes to ongoing debates on the position and status of late medieval knighthood. First, the data make it possible to assess the impact of Burgundian policies on the social, political and military relevance of the knighthood of Brabant. Second, special attention is given to their feudal possessions, in particular lordships and fortified residences, in order to establish stratification within the knighthood. Finally, the status and position of bannerets within the Brabantine knighthood is highlighted since they played a crucial role as intermediaries between the duke of Brabant and the urban elites of Brussels.
https://doi.org/10.1080/03044181.2017.1303624
Urban history, 2015
This article discusses the material and spatial features of the tournaments on the Grote Markt, t... more This article discusses the material and spatial features of the tournaments on the Grote Markt, the central market square in Brussels, in the fifteenth and first half of the sixteenth century. It investigates how the tournament acquired meaning in the urban space where it was organized, and how the chivalric event in its turn altered that urban space. These Brussels tournaments, for which both archival, iconographical and narrative sources are available, show us the dynamics of an inherently courtly festival within an urban setting. Recent historiography has stressed that these tournaments, just like other urban festivals, for example joyous entries, demonstrate the submission of the town to the ruler. Indeed, the prince and his household used the public space of the GroteMarkt and the facilities of the town hall to organize tournaments and festivities. However, they could not do this on their own. They needed the town government for the organization and logistics of the tournament and for its hospitality. Moreover, the town managed to put its own stamp on the architecture, both permanent and ephemeral, emphasizing the responsibilities that the duke had towards his town, as well as the long tradition of subservience and loyalty of the town to the duke.
P. Stabel, T. Soens en V. Lambert ed., Gouden tijden. Rijkdom en status in de middeleeuwen in de Zuidelijke Nederlanden
Cultuurgeschiedenis van de middeleeuwen, eds. R Meens and C. van Rhijn, 2015
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Publications by Mario Damen
Research Project by Mario Damen
Books by Mario Damen
The chivalric biography of Lalaing, written in the early 1470s, offers an entertaining and informative account of the life of a late medieval knight. Drawing on a variety of sources, it was designed not only to commemorate Jacques’s deeds for posterity but also to reflect glory onto his kin and to encourage other young noblemen to imitate his shining example, with lavishly illuminated copies being made for members of his own family and other noble readers.
This first English translation of the text, accompanied by an introduction and extensive notes based on new research into both archival and literary sources, aims to offer the reader an in-depth portrayal of Lalaing in the context of the chivalric, dynastic and political culture of his day.
(c. 1200 - c. 1690), a scholarly collection on representation in medieval
and early modern Europe, opens up the field of institutional and
parliamentary history to new paradigms of representation across a wide
geography and chronology – as testified by the volume’s studies on
assemblies ranging from Burgundy and Brabant to Ireland and Italy.
The focus is on three areas: institutional developments of
representative institutions in Western Europe; the composition of these
institutions concerning interest groups and individual participants; and
the ideological environment of representatives in time and space. By
analysing the balance between bottom-up and top-down approaches to
the functioning of institutions of representation; by studying the actors
behind the representative institutions linking prosopographical
research with changes in political dialogue; and by exploring the
ideological world of representation, this volume makes a key
contribution to the historiography of pre-modern government and
political culture.
Who were the members of the Estates of Brabant and could receive a summons letter for an assembly in the fifteenth century? In this study, I give an overview and an analysis of the composition of this representative institution on the basis of four undated summons lists. Given the importance of these lists for the political-institutional and social history of the Duchy of Brabant, a complete critical edition of the lists is the backbone of this study. Moreover, all listed persons are identified in brief biographical notes. New lists were composed by the ducal chancery on the occasion of major political events when the presence and participation of the (most powerful) representatives of the citizens was required. A closer examination showed that these summons lists were compiled on the occasion of the inauguration of Duke Anthony of Burgundy in 1406, the inauguration of Duke John IV in 1415 and to celebrate the peace concluded between Archduke Maximilian and the rebellious cities of Brabant in August 1489. These lists, together with the Brabantine part of the convocation list for the Estates General of 1464, offer an overview of the persons who were considered by their contemporaries as the political representatives of the three Estates: the clergy, the nobility and the Third Estate. This overview is then compared with the attendance at several important meetings of the Estates in the first quarter of the fifteenth century. To make the process of convocation yet more transparent, the lists are followed by a critical edition of some summons letters for the abbot of Park, Engelbert I of Nassau, lord of Breda, and the city of Antwerp.
This is a summary of my phd-thesis, a prosopographical study into the officers of the Council and Chambre des Comptes of Holland and Zeeland in the Burgundian period (1425-1482)
In de jaren 1425-1433 kreeg de Bourgondische hertog Filips de Goede via een diplomatiek en militair offensief de graafschappen Holland en Zeeland in handen. In dit boek beschrijf ik op welke manier de ambtenaren van de hoogste bestuurlijk-juridische en financiële instellingen van Holland en Zeeland, de Raad en de Rekenkamer, hebben bijgedragen aan de integratie van deze gewesten in de Bourgondische personele unie. In het eerste deel wordt onderzocht welke institutionele vernieuwingen het gewestelijk staatsapparaat onderging in de vijftiende eeuw en passeren alle ambtenaren de revue. In het tweede deel bekijk ik welke strategie de vorst volgde bij de recrutering van zijn ambtenaren en met welke middelen hij trachtte hun dienstbaarheid en loyaliteit te bevorderen. De intermediaire positie van de ambtenaren - ingeklemd tussen de belangen van de hertog en die van de onderdanen - is het onderwerp van het derde deel. In een bijlage zijn biografische notities van 170 ambtenaren opgenomen met gegevens over hun herkomst, familie, carrière en netwerk.
Articles and book chapters by Mario Damen
Resumen: Este artículo analiza la jerarquía y el ranking de las ciudades del ducado de Brabante en su principal institución política representativa, los llamados Estados de Brabante El objetivo de este artículo es intentar buscar una respuesta a la pregunta de por qué los cambios sociales y económicos en las ciudades no se manifi estan de forma total o parcial en el ámbito político. El análisis de una serie de listas de convocatoria de los Estados demuestra que había una diferenciación entre las ciudades y las llamadas " libertades " , y que además dentro de estas dos categorías se aplicaba una jerarquía territorial. Aunque las cuatro 'capitales' y otras tres ciudades importantes están en la cabeza de la jerarquía urbana, tanto en lo que se refi ere a la parti-cipación como en el orden en el que están mencionadas, había espacio también para que otras ciudades más pequeñas participaran en el escenario político. El ranking de una ciudad llevaba consigo no sólo el disfrute de algunos derechos sino también el cumplimiento de algunas obligaciones, sobre todo de índole fi nanciera, y que se expresaban simbólicamente, como por ejemplo en las donaciones de vino y en el orden de prece-dencia durante las reuniones de los Estados. Aunque la jerarquía política dentro de los Estados por lo general era bastante rígida, otros rankings como por ejemplo los militares y fi scales sí estaban sujetos a cambios.
It goes without saying that these occasional rolls were important for the nobility of the Low Countries, both at the time of the tournament and at the time of their creation in the last decades of the sixteenth century. Inclusion of their coats of arms in the armorials ensured the participants of a place in the collective memory. The compilers of the armorials played an essential role in defining the nobility as a social category since participating in a tournament meant that you lived nobly and that your peers considered you as a nobleman. The two copies of the original armorial in the last decades of the sixteenth century reproduced the social classification within the nobility in the second quarter of the fifteenth century. It shows that the same mechanisms of social distinction still played a role at that time.
https://doi.org/10.1080/03044181.2017.1303624
The chivalric biography of Lalaing, written in the early 1470s, offers an entertaining and informative account of the life of a late medieval knight. Drawing on a variety of sources, it was designed not only to commemorate Jacques’s deeds for posterity but also to reflect glory onto his kin and to encourage other young noblemen to imitate his shining example, with lavishly illuminated copies being made for members of his own family and other noble readers.
This first English translation of the text, accompanied by an introduction and extensive notes based on new research into both archival and literary sources, aims to offer the reader an in-depth portrayal of Lalaing in the context of the chivalric, dynastic and political culture of his day.
(c. 1200 - c. 1690), a scholarly collection on representation in medieval
and early modern Europe, opens up the field of institutional and
parliamentary history to new paradigms of representation across a wide
geography and chronology – as testified by the volume’s studies on
assemblies ranging from Burgundy and Brabant to Ireland and Italy.
The focus is on three areas: institutional developments of
representative institutions in Western Europe; the composition of these
institutions concerning interest groups and individual participants; and
the ideological environment of representatives in time and space. By
analysing the balance between bottom-up and top-down approaches to
the functioning of institutions of representation; by studying the actors
behind the representative institutions linking prosopographical
research with changes in political dialogue; and by exploring the
ideological world of representation, this volume makes a key
contribution to the historiography of pre-modern government and
political culture.
Who were the members of the Estates of Brabant and could receive a summons letter for an assembly in the fifteenth century? In this study, I give an overview and an analysis of the composition of this representative institution on the basis of four undated summons lists. Given the importance of these lists for the political-institutional and social history of the Duchy of Brabant, a complete critical edition of the lists is the backbone of this study. Moreover, all listed persons are identified in brief biographical notes. New lists were composed by the ducal chancery on the occasion of major political events when the presence and participation of the (most powerful) representatives of the citizens was required. A closer examination showed that these summons lists were compiled on the occasion of the inauguration of Duke Anthony of Burgundy in 1406, the inauguration of Duke John IV in 1415 and to celebrate the peace concluded between Archduke Maximilian and the rebellious cities of Brabant in August 1489. These lists, together with the Brabantine part of the convocation list for the Estates General of 1464, offer an overview of the persons who were considered by their contemporaries as the political representatives of the three Estates: the clergy, the nobility and the Third Estate. This overview is then compared with the attendance at several important meetings of the Estates in the first quarter of the fifteenth century. To make the process of convocation yet more transparent, the lists are followed by a critical edition of some summons letters for the abbot of Park, Engelbert I of Nassau, lord of Breda, and the city of Antwerp.
This is a summary of my phd-thesis, a prosopographical study into the officers of the Council and Chambre des Comptes of Holland and Zeeland in the Burgundian period (1425-1482)
In de jaren 1425-1433 kreeg de Bourgondische hertog Filips de Goede via een diplomatiek en militair offensief de graafschappen Holland en Zeeland in handen. In dit boek beschrijf ik op welke manier de ambtenaren van de hoogste bestuurlijk-juridische en financiële instellingen van Holland en Zeeland, de Raad en de Rekenkamer, hebben bijgedragen aan de integratie van deze gewesten in de Bourgondische personele unie. In het eerste deel wordt onderzocht welke institutionele vernieuwingen het gewestelijk staatsapparaat onderging in de vijftiende eeuw en passeren alle ambtenaren de revue. In het tweede deel bekijk ik welke strategie de vorst volgde bij de recrutering van zijn ambtenaren en met welke middelen hij trachtte hun dienstbaarheid en loyaliteit te bevorderen. De intermediaire positie van de ambtenaren - ingeklemd tussen de belangen van de hertog en die van de onderdanen - is het onderwerp van het derde deel. In een bijlage zijn biografische notities van 170 ambtenaren opgenomen met gegevens over hun herkomst, familie, carrière en netwerk.
Resumen: Este artículo analiza la jerarquía y el ranking de las ciudades del ducado de Brabante en su principal institución política representativa, los llamados Estados de Brabante El objetivo de este artículo es intentar buscar una respuesta a la pregunta de por qué los cambios sociales y económicos en las ciudades no se manifi estan de forma total o parcial en el ámbito político. El análisis de una serie de listas de convocatoria de los Estados demuestra que había una diferenciación entre las ciudades y las llamadas " libertades " , y que además dentro de estas dos categorías se aplicaba una jerarquía territorial. Aunque las cuatro 'capitales' y otras tres ciudades importantes están en la cabeza de la jerarquía urbana, tanto en lo que se refi ere a la parti-cipación como en el orden en el que están mencionadas, había espacio también para que otras ciudades más pequeñas participaran en el escenario político. El ranking de una ciudad llevaba consigo no sólo el disfrute de algunos derechos sino también el cumplimiento de algunas obligaciones, sobre todo de índole fi nanciera, y que se expresaban simbólicamente, como por ejemplo en las donaciones de vino y en el orden de prece-dencia durante las reuniones de los Estados. Aunque la jerarquía política dentro de los Estados por lo general era bastante rígida, otros rankings como por ejemplo los militares y fi scales sí estaban sujetos a cambios.
It goes without saying that these occasional rolls were important for the nobility of the Low Countries, both at the time of the tournament and at the time of their creation in the last decades of the sixteenth century. Inclusion of their coats of arms in the armorials ensured the participants of a place in the collective memory. The compilers of the armorials played an essential role in defining the nobility as a social category since participating in a tournament meant that you lived nobly and that your peers considered you as a nobleman. The two copies of the original armorial in the last decades of the sixteenth century reproduced the social classification within the nobility in the second quarter of the fifteenth century. It shows that the same mechanisms of social distinction still played a role at that time.
https://doi.org/10.1080/03044181.2017.1303624
glazen aan kerken en kloosters in Holland? Of exacter uitgedrukt: waarom deden zij geldelijke giften voor het aanbrengen van gebrandschilderde glazen in Godshuizen? Van wie ging het initiatief uit van de schenkingen en welke rol speelden intermediairs bij dergelijke
transacties?
This relationship is further explored in the second part. We explain how a second memorial layer was created by courtiers and patricians, who wished to be remembered by the local monks and devout visitors. Especially the officers of the Burgundian and (later Habsburg) state were eager to become associated with the monastery, through a personalised memorial. Some of these officers were instrumental in establishing links between the monastery and its high-ranking, noble patrons, most of whom had feudal possessions in the duchy of Brabant. They played a crucial role during the three periods in which stained glass windows needed to be financed for the decoration of the new buildings, for the chapel, cloister and the new church respectively.
For the practical summoning of the representatives, the duchy was divided into separate geographical units, which were manageable for messengers since they had to bring all the letters of convocation within a short period of time. In every district the classical hierarchy of the three orders is present: the clergy (the First Estate), the nobility (the Second Estate) and finally the cities and freedoms (the Third Estate). Although in the fourteenth century regular meetings of the two secular estates were more frequent, the clergy was involved from an early stage onwards. The lists and the surviving convocation letters make clear that the members of the First and Second Estate received a personal invitation, whereas in the case of the Third Estate the invitation was directed at the administrative bodies of the towns and freedoms to send deputies to the meetings. So whereas the prelates and nobles represented above all themselves, within the third Estate there was maybe a stronger representative consciousness.
The summons list of 1406 symbolizes a crucial point in the formation of the Estates of Brabant. I consider it as a pivoting point between two eras. On the one hand it was the end of an institutional development of the Brabantine Estates which already began in the thirteenth century. The intention was to integrate the entire duchy, socially speaking, in the political process. At the same time it was the beginning of a new era. For the first time the members of the three Estates are mentioned by name in one document. The list proved to be the basis of the summons of the Estates throughout the Burgundian period, during which the balance of power between the prince and his subjects changed.