Southern German Monasteries and Convents in the Baroque Era – Studies in Administrative, Agricultural and Consumer History (Süddeutsche Klöster und Stifte im Barockzeitalter – Studien zur Verwaltungs-, Agrar- und Konsumgeschichte)
Author : Wolfgang Wüst
Abstract :
It is legitimate to identify the characteristics of the Catholic-influenced European Baroque period with representative architectural monuments and the generations of architects, master builders and craftsmen who worked there in the long 17th century, but the circumstances of life and time were more complex. In this article, therefore, an attempt was made to open up an approach to the epoch beyond architecture and art. It was about an agrarian-state oriented epoch signature that was at the same time suitable for administration, market and consumption. Among the transfer issues still unresolved from a financial point of view was the military restraint shown for the prince bishopric (Hochstift) of Bamberg in Franconia that, like Würzburg, was an important commissioning center for Baroque master builders. Many of these secondary period specifics have not been the focus of research until today. What was difficult here was the search for suitable sources to contextualize often cited and historically attested baroque connotations such as overloaded, sweeping, contrived, artificial, bizarre, excessive or cranky. However, we found what we were looking for. The constructed case studies on the monastic kitchen- and cellar-accounts in Bamberg-Michelsberg, on the Würzburg market control of expensive tropical fruits, or on multi-governance and the accumulation of offices in the prince bishopric of Augsburg claim cross-border validity.
Keywords :
Baroque, Catholic, prince bishoprics, monasteries, architecture, agriculture, administration, account books, consumption
