Communalism (historical research)
Communalism (not to be confused with libertarian communalism , a state theory of anarchism ) is an approach to historical research and describes the development of communities in the transition period from the late Middle Ages to the modern era. The core of the research is the Holy Roman Empire between the 14th and 16th centuries. It is less about imperial princes or kings , but about the development of urban and rural society. Communalism therefore looks at history “from below” .
In recent research, communalism is seen as an important prerequisite for the success of the Reformation . This is especially true for community building in cities.
Origins
The society of the Middle Ages was hierarchically structured by the feudal system . In the late Middle Ages this system was in crisis. The reasons for this included the upswing in the cities (combined with the rise of the bourgeoisie ) and the changes in rural society (dissolution of the villication system , see also Section 3 of this article ). This was the prerequisite for church formation.
Communalism in the cities
The economic rise of many cities resulted in numerous conflicts within the municipality, which resulted in disputes between the emerging bourgeoisie and the “old” urban upper class (also known as the patriciate ). This process is also known as guild revolution or civil struggle. It was about civil rights, participation in community decisions or simply the distribution of power within the city.
A uniform assessment of the events is not possible because the disputes developed very differently from city to city. The status of a city (e.g. imperial cities , cities with a bishopric or country towns ), the influence of the sovereigns in the area and the economic importance played a role . In numerous cities, the bourgeoisie and also the craftsmen took part in the city regiment, while elsewhere the “old” order was maintained.
Examples of locally organized cities are the European city states of Augsburg , Florence , Cologne , Venice and Strasbourg .
Communalism in the "country"
In rural society, the dissolution of the villication associations was of great importance. This means that the land of the landlord was given to the farmer for independent cultivation. The landlord no longer cultivated the land himself, but instead demanded a money levy. It was now necessary for the farmers or the rural community to organize themselves in order to be able to cultivate the land. Thus were formed municipal assemblies were community letters set (with the consent of landlords) or rural courts formed. It is important that there was no development comparable to that in the cities. The land belonged to the landlord, serfdom continued to exist as before. Nevertheless, a certain self-image developed among the peasants, which formed the basis for the German Peasants' War between 1524 and 1526. After the Peasants' War, however, the principalities and oligarchic city governments predominated in Germany and communalism could only be applied locally.
Examples of communally organized farming communities were widespread in Europe, but can be found mainly in southern Germany and in the canton of Graubünden ( Drei Bünde ).
From communalism to a democratic free state
In Europe, in addition to city-states and peasant communities within the principalities, the Swiss Confederation and its individual towns and the Republic of the Netherlands also invoked communal values to justify their independence.
The only amalgamation of municipalities to form a federal state of municipalities that confidently resisted feudal violence developed in the course of the 16th century in the Rhaetian Free State of the Three Leagues , today's Graubünden. After the de facto separation of the Rhaetian Free State from the Holy Roman Empire in 1499 , it developed into a political entity that was unique in early modern Europe. In the early 17th century it was the only territorial state in Europe that made communalism the only principle of justification. The Bünder communities founded, governed and defended their Free State based on the principle of the commune as a cooperative.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Reemda Tieben: The Research Concept of "Communalism"
literature
(The work of Peter Blickle offers a good introduction to the subject.)
- Peter Blickle: Community Reformation . The people of the 16th century on the way to salvation , Oldenburg 1987. ISBN 978-3486528152
- Peter Blickle: Unrest in the corporate society (Lothar Gall (Ed.), Encyclopedia of German History Volume 1), Munich 1988; updated and expanded edition Oldenburg 2012, ISBN 978-3486714135
- Peter Blickle (ed.): Theories of communal order in Europe (= writings of the Historisches Kolleg . Colloquia, Vol. 36). Oldenbourg, Munich 1996, ISBN 978-3-486-56192-0 ( full text as PDF ).
- Peter Blickle: Reformation and the communal spirit. The answer of the theologians to the constitutional change in the late Middle Ages (= writings of the historical college. Lectures. Vol. 44). Historisches Kolleg Foundation, Munich 1996 ( digitized version ).
- Peter Blickle (Hrsg.): Rural community and urban community in Central Europe. A structural comparison . Munich 1991
- Peter Blickle: The Reformation in the Reich , Stuttgart ²1992; 3rd revised edition Stuttgart 2000. ISBN 978-3825211813
- Peter Blickle: Communalism. Sketches of a form of social organization: Communalism , Bd. 1 Upper Germany. Oldenburg 2000, ISBN 978-3486564617
- Bernd Moeller : Imperial City and Reformation , Berlin 1987.
- Randolph C. Head: Democracy in early modern Graubünden. Social Order and Political Language in an Alpine State, 1470-1620 . Zurich 2001. ISBN 3-0340-0529-6