Microhistory: People and Conflicts in the Early Modern Age

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Micro History: People and Conflicts in the Early Modern Age is a book by Otto Ulbricht , published in May 2009 by Campus Verlag . Ulbricht advocates his idea of ​​a reorientation of German microhistory and promotes a critical discourse within the historical sciences . The work is considered to be one of the most comprehensive works in the still young research discipline of microhistory.

Concept of micro history as a human history

In this book, Otto Ulbricht establishes his concept of microhistory as human history. He cites it as a direct countermovement to the French Annales School , and with it the “quantification of history”. By combining sources and examining them in detail, you get the “inside of the facts” in view. Through traditional self-portrayals or dialogues, a glimpse into the emotional situation of those affected is also possible. According to Ulbricht, history keeps its human face through micro-history.

Synopsis

Ulbricht's book shows three different aspects of his conception of microhistory as human history. The reader receives a broad overview of the development of microhistory , the diverse empirical possibilities and new, future-oriented approaches to microhistory.

Micro history as human history

In a first section it offers a short introduction to microhistory and its international distribution. The author names microhistory as one of the most successful new directions in history. Ulbricht defines microhistory as a close look at small social units, which means that the smallest unit of observation can be the individual. This is in response to the fact that many mistake the focused view of detail for a microscopic object of investigation, such as the treatment of the legs of Louis XIV after viewing a painting or a statue. According to Ulbricht, a small object of investigation does not necessarily mean microhistory. Because this is characterized by a “good amount of theoretical reflection” and “diversity in practice” and try to pursue a larger, more general question with the microscopic view as far as possible. The diversity in practice is also reflected in the spread of micro-history. With this view, he puts himself in line with Carlo Ginzburg , who in his essay "Latitude, Slaves, and the Bible" from 2005 emphasizes right at the beginning that the approach that can be dubbed microhistory involves enlarging and reducing a Lens to compare. This is a cognitive change of perspective: by reducing the lens and focusing on a single person, a broad understanding of a higher-level topic is to be achieved.

Originating from the Italian microstoria , this historical discipline soon found international approval. According to Ulbricht, studies of the lives of individuals are primarily carried out in the USA in order to investigate “basic experiences and mentalities of ordinary people”. One of the most famous representatives is Natalie Zemon Davis . American microhistory is also often characterized by the use of a narrative style. The historical investigations are thus packaged in narratives suitable for the masses. Microhistory in China, on the other hand, is very much shaped by American China researchers. No specific style would have prevailed in England . There would be countless different variations of micro-history. In Germany finally Ulbricht provides for establishment of micro-history primarily as research on villages. He attributes the establishment of the same to a generation change. There is no (German) critical discourse about it.

Micro history as human history in concrete terms

In the second, most comprehensive part, Otto Ulbricht cites six of his own empirical, micro-historical studies. They all share a formative episode in the life of individual people as a starting point. Depending on the sources, Ulbricht also addresses more general questions in the examples. To this end, he selects six people from the 17th and 18th centuries as representatives of certain classes and different social situations. What all six have in common is a small area in today's Germany, in which they lived or at least passed by once in their lives, as well as a formative life event that generated more or less written sources.

The first is Clauss Paulsen, who achieved social advancement up to Vogt , one of the highest offices among the servants. Due to stricter laws and disagreements with the new landlord, Paulsen feared that he and his family could end up in bondage . Therefore he gave up his previous life, fled to the nearest town and sent petitions for his cause to the higher-ranking duke. Twenty letters of these petitions have survived. In addition to the life situation of a bailiff, the case of Clauss Paulsen also provides information on the relationship between the cities and the aristocracy, which had been in tension for a long time at that time. The source situation leaves open how the Paulsen case developed further. However, there are well-founded indications that Otto Paulsen, one of Clauss' sons, was able to take the citizenship oath in this city in 1621. Clauss Paulsen's descendants could have lived in freedom - and benefited from the tensions between the city and the nobility.

The second study concerns a young orphan, Margaretha Dalhusen, who opposed a marriage planned by her guardians . Their resistance was scandalized and caused quite a stir at the time. As a result, the case generated rich source material: case files, but also letters from those involved and a report by Dalhusen himself. Under the psychological pressure of her guardians, Dalhusen finally agrees to the engagement under certain conditions. Since she refused to enforce the marriage even after the engagement, the Dalhusen case ended up in court and divided public opinion. On one side stood the first mayor, who represented the fiancé and was able to gather more conservative circles behind him. He advocates - if it had to be - judicial enforcement of the inviolable institution of marriage. On the other side was the city's cathedral preacher, who defended consensus marriage . For example, marriage was required under current church law (since the High Middle Ages ) "the woman's free will". The cathedral preacher opposed an interpretation by Luther , who wrote that "parents should neither force nor prevent children to marry and children should not get engaged without their parents' sake", in practice to children on the basis of the fourth biblical commandment (according to Lutheran Counting method) recommended “suffering Christian obedience”. It was only due to a coincidence that the dispute finally ended in favor of Margaretha Dalhusen - and her further trace is lost again in oblivion.

Frantz Böckmann, a businessman, is at the center of the third study. To protect his city from Swedish pillage , he was sent to the Danish king as a negotiator. In order to persuade the king to leave his troops in the city, the merchant agreed to act as a spy for Denmark and to scout out the enemy troop movements. A few years later, Böckmann wrote a report about this espionage activity, the original of which has been preserved. With this example Ulbricht examines early manifestations of patriotism . Ulbricht argues that this certainly did not refer to the sovereign in the case of city dwellers, but was primarily geared towards the interests of the city.

The next study focuses on the young journeyman goldsmith Ehrenfriedt Andres Kien. Ten love letters have been received from him to a young widow, which illustrate his personal conflict between his love and the honoring of the craftsmen's guild. In the case of Kien, Ulbricht emphasizes the importance of including emotions for a better understanding of historical sources. Regarding the area of ​​tension between love, artisan honor and illegitimate paternity at the time of the journey of journeyman craftsmen, Ulbricht puts forward the following thesis: “It could be that“ romantic love has contributed its part to the decline of the old handicraft, by being in a considerable number of artisans led to the loss of honor. This seems all the more plausible in view of the reduced chance of becoming a master ”.

An interrogation protocol, a number of forged and genuine documents, routes and a cash register form the diverse sources for the next study on the invalid beggar Johann Gottfried Kestner. According to Ulbricht, the fact that he was able to travel relatively freely with his forged papers brought new insights into the administrative system prevailing at the time, which was characterized by weak, underpaid and at the same time overburdened public servants at the lower level.

In the sixth and last study, the healer Friedrich Franz Heinitz is presented, who had to fear for his practice due to changed laws and a new regulation for medical licenses. His struggle against the institutionalization of medicine at the time generated innumerable files, some of which have been preserved. Despite moving several times, with which he was able to buy a little more time, he finally began to study medicine as prescribed. Soon he tried unsuccessfully to obtain his license by means of petitions to the state authorities. He also tried in vain to complete the examination with purchased solutions. Nevertheless, he was able to continue his practice for a while - by means of tactically clever delay strategies and broad support for his work among the lower classes of the population.

With the studies mentioned, the author would like to give an impression of methods and possibilities of micro-historical work. Using the examples, Ulbricht shows how one can draw conclusions about general life situations at a certain time from individual persons: Like life in the early modern period of an orphaned young woman, a bailiff or a journeyman craftsman. At the same time, he always emphasizes the limits of the generalizations that the sources suggest.

Micro history as human history: look back and forward

In the last section, Otto Ulbricht presents his vision of a sustainable micro-history. He sees great potential in the field of investigating emotions, which, thanks to a micro-historical working method, can "make a fundamental contribution to a better understanding of social actions and processes". He also advocates breaking up the territorial focus when exploring space and increasingly examining - socially constructed - subjective scope for action. This plea could be understood with Hans Medick as one for the "global microhistory". In an essay on the future of microhistory, Medick wants to show how various methodological approaches aim towards a global microhistory. Finally, the author suggests that more micro-historical studies should be carried out in Germany in the field of political history and cultural contact , for example in connection with colonialism . Furthermore, he calls for the establishment of narration in Germany's micro-history and tries to take the label of unscientificness away from it.

reception

Microhistory: People and Conflicts in the Early Modern Age by Otto Ulbricht is one of the few comprehensive works on this branch of research. It offers an overview of historiography, of various empirical forms of microhistory in the past and present, as well as outlooks on possible future points of contact for this research discipline.

In addition, Ulbricht is attested to an “open and self-critical handling” of the sources for this book, which is “the real strength of the book”. It is a "committed and honest text and learning book" that is "required reading [...] especially recommended to all those who still encounter it [the micro-history] with sharp fingers".

The book received criticism because it was feared that it could revive past disputes in historical research circles: whether microhistory is really closer to reality than other historical approaches; or whether the statement is correct that the otherwise "usual historical syntheses" were selected from contradicting facts and therefore represent an "arbitrary, subjective interpretation". Achim Landwehr contrasts this with the fact that these statements also apply to micro-history to a similar extent. In this work, Ulbricht denounces the sole right of certain historians and supporters of the above great synthesis and quotes the American historian Richard D. Brown : “Our intellectual vitality benefits from our different research approaches [...]. Therefore we should [...] continue on our different paths. We will continue to need more than just syntheses […]. Microhistory is one way of making history, not the only one ”. Statements by the author at the end of the book, such as the “greater closeness to reality” of micro-historical studies or their stronger “claim to credibility” reinforce Achim Landwehr's previous criticism that Ulbricht neglects this equivalence of different research approaches. Nevertheless, Otto Ulbricht's book would on the one hand offer a good introduction to the subject of microhistory, on the other hand it would also offer new impulses for the critical, theoretical discourse.

One of the difficulties with micro-history is that there is no magic formula for how to represent it. There are always more details that are sometimes more, sometimes less known. These then have to be contextualized and explained. This has a negative impact on the common thread that the narrative follows and leads to confusion. Ulbricht does not move these digressions into the footnotes like other authors do, but goes on to explain them. He shows an open and self-critical approach to micro-history, which can be described as one of the book's strengths. His approach shows that microhistory deserves an indispensable place in historical studies. According to Norbert Schindler, the work is a text and learning book that should be a must-read for both micro-history followers and critics.

output

  • German original edition: Otto Ulbricht: Micro history: People and conflicts in the early modern times. Campus-Verlag, Frankfurt / Main 2009, ISBN 978-3-593-38909-7 .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab Otto Ulbricht: Micro history: people and conflicts in the early modern age . Frankfurt and New York: Campus Verlag 2009.
  2. ^ Carlo Ginzburg: Latitudes, Slaves, and the Bible: An Experiment in Microhistory . In: Critical Inquiry . tape 31 , no. 3 . University of Chicago Press, Chicago 2005, pp. 665 .
  3. ^ Hans Medick: Turning Global? Microhistory in extension . 2016, p. 241-252 .
  4. ↑ Sigurður Gylfi Magnússon , Istvan M. Szijárto: What Is Microhistory ?: Theory and Practice , London 2013, Routledge, p. 37.
  5. ↑ a b c Norbert Schindler: Review of: Ulbricht, Otto (2009) Mikrogeschichte. People and Conflicts in the Early Modern Era , Frankfurt and New York: Campus Verlag, in: H-Soz-Kult, March 3, 2011. Accessed July 20, 2019.
  6. ↑ Achim Landwehr : Review of: Otto Ulbricht: Mikrogeschichte: People and Conflicts in the Early Modern Age , Frankfurt and New York: Campus 2009, in: sehepunkte 9 (2009), No. 9 [15. September 2009]. Retrieved July 20, 2019.