Skip to main content

IMC 2013: Sessions

Session 1619: Pleasure in Everyday Life of German Noblemen and Noblewomen in the Late Middle Ages

Thursday 4 July 2013, 11.15-12.45

Organiser:Benjamin Müsegades, Historisches Institut, Universität Greifswald
Moderator/Chair:Mark Whelan, Department of History, Royal Holloway, University of London
Paper 1619-aEnjoying and Curbing the Pleasures of Life: The Education of German Princes in the Late Middle Ages
(Language: English)
Benjamin Müsegades, Historisches Institut, Universität Greifswald
Index terms: Education, Literacy and Orality
Paper 1619-bFighting, Drinking, and Whoring: Noble Pleasures at Late Medieval Universities?
(Language: English)
Maximilian Schuh, Heidelberg Center for the Environment, Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg
Index terms: Education, Social History
Paper 1619-cPeace Negotiations During the Reign of Maximilian I and the Pleasant Sides of Diplomacy
(Language: English)
Gesa Wilangowski, Historisches Seminar, Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität Münster
Index terms: Administration, Charters and Diplomatics
Abstract

The concept of pleasure is of prime importance to late medieval German noble life. In tournaments, the arts or everyday conversation it played a significant role. However, the idea of princes, courtiers, and their family members leading a life of pleasures also attracted a great deal of criticism. Outsiders as well as members of the courts propagated means to curb what they saw as excessive behaviour such as drinking, disrespect towards elders, and a self-referential system of behavioural manners, portraying other ways of medieval life as being supposedly superior to court life.