Hans von Aachen, court artist to the Habsburg Holy Roman Emperor Rudolf II in Prague, created a series of small painting called the Allegories on the Long Turkish War. Von Aachen made the Allegories between 1604 and 1606 and Rudolf II kept them bound in a red book in his Kunstkammer. This series selects events and battles from the Long War against the Ottoman Empire, 1593-1606, to create a flattering propagandistic image of the emperor in order to strengthen his support. Rudolf’s brother, Archduke Matthias of Austria, began plotting against the emperor beginning in 1600. By 1606 he was actively usurping Rudolf’s political power. I examine von Aachen’s visual description of imperial power, the alternate history the Allegories present, and the ways they engage with Neo-Platonic theories to convey validity to viewers. In my thesis, I outline the events of the Long War in order to compare them to von Aachen’s portrayals and to understand how he restructures chronological history to convey his message about Rudolf’s rulership. I briefly analyze each painting but I focus primarily on the eighth scene, the Conquest of Székesfehérvár. Sultan Mehmed III sits opposite Rudolf II in dignified defeat in this painting. I investigate the visual treatment of the sultan through the historical interactions between the Ottoman and Holy Roman Empires and propose the political function served by depicting him as a noble enemy. I finally discuss the way von Aachen uses symbols and allegory to convey a potent message and convince the viewer of its validity. Ultimately, these works should be seen as political propaganda used to combat Rudolf’s brother Archduke Matthias’ political takeover and not as Rudolf’s fantastical escapism from his losing battle against his brother. / text

Zugl.: Wien, Univ., Diss.

Silesia greatly differed from other lands of the Bohemian Crown with regard to its specific political, administrative, religious and cultural development. This situation was caused partly due to the fragmentation of Silesian territory. In the Middle Ages, Silesia was divided among many independent principalities ruled by the members of the Piast Dynasty. During the 14th century the Silesian princes accepted the sovereignty of the Bohemian king. When the ruling dynasties died out, these principalities were inherited by the Crown. The king could then grant the principality to the members of noble families. At the same time as the Habsburgs entered the Bohemian throne, reformation began to spread in Silesia. By the end of 16th century most of the Silesian princes had converted to lutheranism. The only Catholic prince was the bishop of Wrocław as a master of Nysa principality. Approximately 90 percent of the Silesian inhabitants had become Lutheran by the end of 16th century. Confesinal tensions were simmering throughout the Habsburg Monarchy. With the help of Bohemian estates, the protestant Silesian princes received the letter of majesty containing religious rights (1609). Due to the violations of religious freedom, the Silesian princes and estates joined the Bohemian revolt (1619) After the defeat...

This dissertation addresses the development of the costume book in the rapidly globalising world of the sixteenth century, concentrating on two costume albums produced in the second quarter of the sixteenth century and whose owners and creators shared close ties to the imperial court of Habsburg ruler and Holy Roman Emperor Charles V (r. 1519-56). These richly illustrated albums were among the first known and surviving attempts to make sense of cultural difference by compiling visual information about regional clothing customs in and around Europe and further abroad. Their method of codifying sartorial customs through representative costume figures became a prevailing method through which to examine human difference on an increasingly vast and complex geo-political stage. Yet to have been satisfactorily investigated is the significant role that Habsburg networks and relationships played in shaping these costume albums and their ethnographic interests. The Trachtenbuch, or costume album, of Augsburg portrait medallist Christoph Weiditz (c. 1500-59) is a primary example, constituting a work of keen ethnographic observation which depicts customs and cultures largely witnessed first-hand when the artist travelled to Charles V’s Spanish court in 1529. Of equal interest is the second primary example of this dissertation, the costume album of Christoph von Sternsee (d. 1560) the captain of Charles V’s German Guard. Sternsee’s album, introduced to scholarship for the first time in this study, illustrates diverse cultures and costumes encountered across the imperial Habsburg lands and its neighbours. The emperor’s far-reaching sovereignty propelled Christoph Weiditz and Christoph von Sternsee across the Habsburg lands as they each attempted to benefit their careers and gain prestige from imperial patronage. Their costume albums testify to an empire that encouraged interactions between ambassadors, agents, merchants, military officers, and courtly elite of diverse cultural backgrounds, against a backdrop of shared political, religious, commercial, and military interests. This milieu facilitated the transfer of knowledge and developed methods of visual communication and human representation that were shared and reciprocally recognised.

Esta tese busca refletir sobre a configuração fragmentária da produção do escritor Franz Kafka (1883-1924). Procura-se mostrar como a partir do final de 1916 ocorre na produção kafkiana uma inflexão formal decorrente de uma mudança no modo do escritor conceber o caráter danificado de sua escrita. / This thesis reflects upon the fragmentary configuration of Franz Kafka´s production. It aims to show how, from the end of 1916, occurs an formal inflection in the Kafkaesque production due to a change in the way the writer conceives the \"damaged\" character of his writing.

Marie de Bourgogne (1457–1482), fille unique de Charles le Téméraire et de ce fait « la plus grande héritière qui fust de son temps », a jusqu’ici attiré assez peu d’attention de la part des spécialistes du XVe siècle. Une figure ambiguë, dont l’image oscille entre deux concepts opposés : une duchesse faible et inexpérimentée, qui ne joua qu'un rôle de pion dans la grande partie diplomatique entre l’Empire et la France, – ou bien une princesse résolue et indépendante qui savait ce qu'elle voulait et réussit à imposer sa volonté, Marie reste généralement dans l'ombre de ses proches parents. Il semble bien que cette attitude envers la duchesse est surtout le fait de la politique de ses descendants et successeurs, qui employaient son image dans leurs propres intérêts. Désireux de légitimer la transition du pouvoir de la Maison de Valois à celle des Habsbourg, ils ont opté pour la représentation de Marie comme héritière de Bourgogne, dame noble et pieuse dévouée à son mari et à sa famille, et non comme une femme de pouvoir. Cette image de la princesse semble être si puissante que souvent les historiens furent amenés à croire que l’œuvre politique sous le règne de Marie était principalement l'affaire de son époux. Ils concentrèrent alors leur attention sur Maximilien, le faisant ainsi – volontairement ou non – le héros principal de l'épopée bourguignonne pendant les années de crise qui ont suivi la mort du Téméraire. Or la réalité fut plus complexe. Jamais réellement retirée de la vie politique, ne cessant de voyager à travers ses pays afin d'assurer et affirmer l'omniprésence de l'autorité ducale, suivant de près les affaires politiques, Marie prit aussi un soin tout particulier à la création et la promotion de son image. La jeune duchesse qui, dès son accès inattendu au pouvoir en janvier 1477, dut affronter les attaques et les intrigues de Louis XI ainsi que les émeutes de ses sujets, fut de toute évidence parfaitement consciente, non seulement d’être la dernière héritière de la glorieuse maison de Bourgogne-Valois, mais encore d’être en position de faiblesse de par sa condition de femme. Elle chercha alors des réponses adéquates à ses défis – réponses militaires et diplomatiques ainsi qu’« iconographiques ». Ses ambitions, de souligner les liens dynastiques, d’appuyer la légitimité de sa succession et de son pouvoir suo jure, d’affirmer ses droits aux pays bourguignons, ainsi que d’asseoir son autorité sur les sujets indociles, ont influencé considérablement sa conséquente politique de représentation. Une étude de cette politique, fondée sur le regroupement inédit d’œuvres littéraires, historiographiques et iconographiques, et leur analyse, nous permettra d’abord de souligner la construction et l’évolution symbolique de l’image de Marie de Bourgogne en tant que femme régnante, mais aussi de reconsidérer une période de l’histoire de l’État bourguignon, celle de la transmission du pouvoir de la maison de Valois de Bourgogne à la dynastie des Habsbourg. / Mary of Burgundy (1457-1482) as ruler seems to be rather a non sequitur topic for a study as her short reign – sandwiched between those more important of her belligerent father, Charles the Bold, and her imposing spouse, Maximilian of Austria – is often marginalized by researchers. A somewhat ambiguous figure, whose image hovers somewhere in the space limited by two opposing concepts – an inexperienced and weak duchess, a mere pawn in the great political game played between France and the Holy Roman Empire, and a self-determined young princess who knew what she wanted and managed to dictate her will, praised by her biographers, Mary still remains generally in the shade of her nearest kinsmen despite the abundant publications concerning the Duchy of Burgundy.This attitude towards Mary was mainly formed by the politics of her successors and descendants, who employed her image in their own interests; eager to legitimize the transition of power from the House of Valois to that of the Habsburgs, they opted for the representation of Mary as the heiress of Burgundy, a noble and pious lady devoted to her family, and not as an independent sovereign. This image of “Mary the Rich” appears to be so powerful that often historians focus their attention primarily on Maximilian, thus – involuntarily or not – making him the main hero of the Burgundian epic of the crisis years. The real situation was, however, more complex. Never in fact retired from political life, never ceasing to travel across her lands in order to ensure and state the ubiquity of ducal authority, Mary was taking great care in creating and promoting her image, sending out to her contemporaries easily recognizable signs communicating her strong sense of who she was and how she wished to be seen. Recollected and examined with closer attention, these symbolic messages could depict a different image of this “lady of the country”, who was “revered and feared more than her husband”, according to the omniscient Philippe de Commynes, and reveal the clear political and cultural intentions she wanted to convey. Based on a number of important works of literature, history and iconography associated with the duchess as well as on various accounts on her, provided either by her contemporaries or – in a certain manner – by herself, principally through performing highly symbolic acts or through artistic commissions, the present research aims thus to reassess the person and the actual role of Mary of Burgundy in the history of the Burgundian state.

In the course of the long 19th century, the Eastern Carpathians – as a borderland of two imperial and several national projects – became a contested landscape through the conjunctures of ethnic thinking. Political ideologies approaching the multilateral contact zone facilitated different approaches to the production of knowledge, which led to highly complex knowledge topographies. Thereby, the Ruthenian-Ukrainian population of the borderland appears as a plaything of surrounding ideological projects, which instrumentalized ideas of ethnic diversity and/or uniformity according to their own ideological perceptions. This article examines these topographies in a synthetic approach to uncover the regional co-production of knowledge, which led to several interconnections of these ideological projects. However, knowledge as a circulating good could be instrumentalized by actors not belonging such networks, as the problem of circulating type photographs illustrates. Thereby, the author argues that frontier sciences were not solely tools of national enmities, even in one of the more contested spaces of East-Central Europe. Rather, cooperations which allowed involved actors to pursue their self-interests are observed. Methodologically, the paper argues that approaches of imperial histories, borderland studies, and transcultural contact zones should be seen as loose concepts, which can greatly enrich one another.

My dissertation examines radical Protestant propaganda of the Thirty Years’ War (1618-1648). It investigates the radicals’ depiction of foreign allies of the German Protestants as well as the presentation of German Catholic leaders in pamphlets and broadsheets of the war. Through analysis of representative sources portraying Prince Bethlen Gabor of Transylvania and King Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden, it examines the arguments used to gain support for foreign Protestant figureheads among the moderates of the Protestant camp. The dissertation also investigates the presentation of Emperor Ferdinand II and Duke Maximilian of Bavaria in order to determine how propagandists denounced German Catholic rulers as no longer worthy of German Protestant allegiance or tolerance. My conclusion demonstrates how radical propagandists sought to change moderate Protestant attitudes towards German Catholic rulers and foreign allies through a cohesive and sophisticated campaign.

L’Empire austro-hongrois (1867-1918) est l’un des derniers empires d’Europe à s’être effondré avec la fin de la Première Guerre mondiale. Cas particulièrement en accord avec les conditions internes de la politique et de l’économie austro-hongroise, l’apparition du phénomène social du dandysme à Vienne au début du XXe siècle est le centre de ce travail de mémoire. La figure sociale du dandy, remarquablement moderne, est étudiée en suivant la conceptualisation idéal-typique, héritage de Max Weber. En suivant les écrits sociologiques de Karl Marx, Max Weber et Robert Michels, le portrait typique des quatre figures socio-économiques que sont tour à tour la figure du bourgeois, du prolétaire, du bohème et de l’aristocrate, permettent, dans une première partie du mémoire (chapitre deux), de délinéer conceptuellement la figure du dandy. Une fois cet outil forgé, il est possible d’y comparer la réalité viennoise, avec le cas de Stefan Zweig, pour en montrer les particularités. L’apparition du dandy à la fin de la monarchie des Habsbourg n’est pas étrangère à plusieurs conditions externes que portent en soi cette première partie du XXe siècle, marquée notamment par le nationalisme et la Première Guerre mondiale. Les conditions économiques que permettent aussi l’expression littéraire et journalistique témoigne de cette phénoménalisation sociale à laquelle participe le dandy et sont discutées dans la deuxième partie du mémoire (chapitre trois). En basant cette étude sur le phénomène du dandy, le présent travail s’emploie à appréhender ce phénomène au travers d’une biographie sociologique de l’écrivain et poète Stefan Zweig. Au cours des chapitres quatre et cinq, la mise en relief de la biographie de Stefan Zweig rencontrera son écho social, entre l’étude de l’homme, de l’œuvre, de la vie et des différentes caractéristiques propres au dandy. Enfin, il sera présenté au cinquième chapitre, l’influence de l’esthétique et de la philosophie sur la conduite de vie du dandy, guidé notamment par la philosophie de Friedrich Nietzsche, et l’importance des valeurs du pacifisme et du cosmopolitisme, sous l’influence de la religion juive. En conclusion, je reviens sur l’idéal-type du dandy et m’interroge son utilité pour appréhender des phénomènes contemporains. / The Austro-Hungarian Empire (1867-1918) is one of the last European Empire to collapse with the end of World War One. Tightly linked with internal conditions such as Austro- Hungarian politics and economics, the central theme of this work concerns the emergence of the social phenomenon of dandysm in Vienna at the beginning of the XXth century. Remarquably modern, the social figure of the dandy is studied following the ideal-typical method, a legacy of Max Weber. Following the sociological writings of Karl Marx, Max Weber, and Robert Michels, the typical portrait of the four socio-economic figures such as the bourgeois, the proletarian, the bohemian and the aristocrat allows, in the first part of the thesis (chapter two), to show the features and to conceptually delineate the figure of the dandy. Once this portrait is forged, it is possible to compare the Viennese reality with the case of the poet Stefan Zweig. The appearance of the dandy, at the end of the Habsburg monarchy, is not alien to many external conditions that are themselves particularly linked to this first part of the XXth century, marked notably by nationalism and World War I. Discussed in the second part of the thesis (chapter three), the economic conditions, that are expressed with either literature or journalism, reflect this social phenomenalization in which the dandy takes part. The study of the social appearance of the dandy being at the very center of this study, the present thesis seeks to understand this phenomenon through a sociological biography of the writer and poet Stefan Zweig. In the fourth and fifth chapter, highlights of his biography meet its social resonance with dandysm through the man itself, his work, his life and the way he lived it. Finally, the influence of aesthetics and philosophy on dandy’s life, especially following Friedrich Nietzsche’s very own word and ideas, will be presented as well as the importance of values of pacifism and cosmopolitism, as influences of Jewish religion. In conclusion, I return to the ideal- type of dandy by questioning its usefulness in understanding contemporary phenomena. / Die Österreichisch-Ungarische Monarchie (1867-1918) war eines der letzten europäischen Reiche, welches mit dem Ende des Ersten Weltkrieges kollabierte. Eng verbunden mit wirtschaftlichen und politischen Bedingungen des k.u.k. Österreichs, handelt das zentrale Thema dieser Arbeit von der Entstehung der sozialen Phänomene rund um den Dandyismus in Wien zu Beginn des zwanzigsten Jahrhunderts. Die soziale Figur des Dandy wird nach dem idealtypis- chen Konzept Max Webers untersucht. Anlehnend an die soziologischen Schriften von Karl Marx, Max Weber und Robert Michels, dem typischen Porträt der vier sozioökonomischen Zahlen, wie der Bürger, der Proletarier, die Boheme und der Aristokrat gestatten, dass im ersten Teil der Abschlussarbeit (Kapitel zwei) die Figur des Dandys konzeptionell beschrieben wird. Auf dieses Porträt aufbauend wird es möglich, die herausgearbeiteten Merkmale mit der Wiener Realität zu vergleichen. Die Texte des Dichters Stefan Zweig geben dazu genug Material. Das Aussehen des Dandys am Ende der Habsburgermonarchie ist passend zu vielen äußeren Bedin- gungen, die besonders mit dem ersten Teil des zwanzigsten Jahrhunderts verbunden sind. Speziell werden diese vom Nationalismus und dem Ersten Weltkrieg beeinflusst. Im zweiten Teil der Abschlussarbeit (Kapitel drei) werden die wirtschaftlichen Bedingungen, die entweder mit Literatur oder Journalismus zum Ausdruck kommen, und die die soziale phenomenalization vom Dandy wiederspiegeln, beleuchtet. Die Untersuchung der sozialen Erscheinung des Dandy dient als Basis dieser Studie. Die vorliegende Arbeit versucht, das Phänomen des Dandyismus durch eine soziologische Biographie des Schriftstellers und Dramatikers Stefan Zweig zu verstehen. In den Kapiteln vier und fünf treffen die Höhepunkte seiner Biographie die gesellschaftliche Reso- nanz des Dandyismus auf den Mensch selbst, seine Arbeit, sein Leben und seine Lebensart. Schlussendlich wird der Einfluss von Ästhetik und Philosophie auf das Leben eines Dandy vor allem nach den Worten und Ideen von Friedrich Nietzsche präsentiert, sowie die Bedeutung der Werte des Pazifismus und Kosmopolitismus, als auch Einflüsse der jüdischen Religion. Ich kehre zum Idealtyp des Dandys zurück, indem ich seine Nützlichkeit in gegenwärtigen Phänomenen in Frage stelle.

Au tout début du XXIe siècle, une équipe d’archéologues plonge sur l’épave d’un petit navire de guerre du XVIIIe siècle, au nord de l’actuelle République Dominicaine. Sa coque est de fabrication américaine, ses canons sont écossais et les boutons d’uniformes sont français. Après avoir suivi quelques fausses pistes, la recherche aux Archives nationales permet de résoudre l’énigme : il s’agit de la corvette française Dragon du chevalier de l’Espine, détruite en janvier 1783 à l’issue d’un court combat contre des vaisseaux britanniques assurant le blocus nord de Saint-Domingue. Cette identification sert de catalyseur à une recherche historique dont le chevalier Joseph de L’Espine du Puy (1759-1826) constitue le personnage central. L’enquête révèle le destin de l’officier de la Marine L’Espine, en amont puis en aval de son fait d’armes de janvier 1783. Jeune chevalier de Malte et officier de la Marine de Louis XVI, L’Espine participe à la guerre de l’Indépendance américaine, effectue un passage obligé dans la Marine de Malte, et participe à des missions secrètes françaises de renseignement naval. La Révolution française vient briser ses espérances et l’oblige à l’exil. En Autriche, il gagne la confiance des hautes autorités autrichiennes en s’engageant sans ambiguïté contre les armées de la France à partir de 1795. L’Espine devient rapidement l’un des cerveaux d’une Marine de guerre autrichienne remise en question à chaque traité signé entre la France et l’Autriche. Promu Feldmarschall-Leutnant en 1813, L’Espine décide de ne pas rentrer en France à la Restauration. Nommé Gouverneur de Milan en novembre 1825, il y meurt le 31 décembre 1826. / At the very beginning of the 21st century, a team of archaeologists dived on the wreck of a small 18th century warship in the north of the current Dominican Republic. Its hull is of American manufacture, its guns are Scottish and the buttons of uniforms are French. After having followed some false leads, the research in the National Archives makes it possible to solve this enigma: it concerns the French corvette Dragon of Chevalier de L’Espine, destroyed in January 1783 after a short action against British vessels ensuring the northern blockade of Santo Domingo. This identification serves as a catalyst for a historical research of which Chevalier Joseph de L'Espine du Puy (1759-1826) constitutes the central character. The investigation reveals the fate of the Navy officer L'Espine upstream and downstream of his gallant action in January 1783. Young Knight of Malta and officer of the Navy of Louis XVI, L'Espine participated in the American Revolution, did a mandatory service in the Navy of Malta, and took part in French naval intelligence secret missions. The French Revolution ruined his hopes and forced him into exile. In Austria, he won the confidence of the high Austrian authorities by unambiguously engaging with the armies of France from 1795. L'Espine quickly became one of the brains of an Austrian Navy questioned at each treaty signed between France and Austria. Promoted to Feldmarschall-Leutnant in 1813, L'Espine decided not to return to France at the Restauration. Appointed Governor of Milan in November 1825, he died there on December 31, 1826.