Episcopal Lifestyle in Early Modern Times – Inventories and Estates in the Principality of Augsburg (Fürstbischöflicher Lifestyle in der Frühmoderne – Inventare und Nachlässe im Augsburger Hochstift)
Author : Wolfgang Wüst
Abstract :
Inventories and auction lists from the years of reformation, upheaval, war and secularization, in combination with the estates of ruling bishops, co-ruling cathedral canons and court nobles, are unique media for reconstructing a culture of prince-bishops' representation that faded and was forgotten in the 19th and 20th centuries at the latest. Inventories are indispensable sources for shedding light on the inner life of residences, palaces and castles. For the prince-bishopric of Augsburg with its main and secondary residences in Dillingen, Augsburg, Füssen, Oberdorf (today's Marktoberdorf) and Hindelang, we reflected this chapter of the prince-bishops' display of power mainly through a comprehensive inventory dated October 15, 1768. There, we were informed of the property acquired on the death "deß hochwürdigsten Fürsten und herrn herrn Josephi Bischoffen zu Augsburg P[ost] M[ortem] vor gefundene Pretiosa, Meubles und anderes" (Augsburg State Archives, Hochstift Augsburg, MüB, Lit.514). Although the official and palace inventories provide ample evidence of the representative everyday life of Augsburg's prince-bishops, the question remains to what extent luxury and precious objects – they undoubtedly stabilized the hierarchy of the imperial nobility – had an effect from the inside to the outside. Did the interior decoration of the chambers and houses contribute to astonishing citizens and travelers?
Keywords :
Inventories, prince-bishoprics (Hochstifte), castles, palaces, early modern rule, bishops, secularization, Augsburg, Dillingen, Füssen, Southern Germany
