Encyclopedia of Early Modern History Online

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See Dialect | Language | Language, literary

1. Terminology and structure As platforms for the study and conservation of vernacular languages across a range of fields, language societies and related associations were important early modern literary institutions, primarily on the European continent. Instead of “language society” [1], recent scholarship tends to prefer the term “literary society,” to distinguish them from the efforts in the early 19th century to found traditions of national philology and to avoid the perception that the activities of such associations in the e…

1. PrinciplesAs a reflective and systematic engagement with language, language theory in the early modern period was found in two forms:(1) In one variant concerned with the individual national languages, language theory anticipated practical work on language and formed the basis for the creation of language-related texts including grammars, dictionaries, and manuals of rhetoric (Linguistics). Texts of this type served to codify the language concerned and to guarantee its function as a serviceable standard language…

1. Renaissance and Humanism Humanism and the Renaissance brought sweeping changes in language teaching in terms of what was taught, how, and to whom. During the late Middle Ages, the European vernacular languages were studied mainly for practical reasons, for example by traveling merchants, craftsmen, and scholars, participants in pilgrimages, and nobles, and acquisition was done in private tuition or self-study (Foreign languages, competence in). Latin teaching, on …

See Eschatology

1. Definition The term Late Humanism is frequently applied to a cultural epoch between Humanism and Baroque, but it is seldom defined. All current usages agree on just one thing: that it should be viewed as both a social phenomenon and an ensemble of cultural and educational phenomena. Still in common use only in German-language scholarship, it was introduced into literary studies in 1931 by Erich Trunz [12], who described Late Humanism as a “class culture” of mostly Protestant scholars in the Old Empire around 1600. The historian Gerhard Oestreich extende…

1. Modernity and the late modern periodThe transition from the early to the late modern period, in the sense defined in the introductory chapter to this encyclopedia, came as a result of the range of profound changes - political, economic, technological, social, and cultural - that took place in the first half of the 19th century, culminating in the “year of revolutions” of 1848/49. Those changes came to define “modernity” in a new sense that endures to this day. To claim validity as a term for an epo…

1. GeneralLate Scholasticism, a school of thought widespread in European universities from the 15th century to the 17th, built critically on medieval Scholasticism, continuing its content, methodology, and institutions. The characteristic features of Scholasticism included (1) a tendency to develop the systematic rigor of a scientific approach strengthened by the reception of Aristotle (Aristotelianism); (2) a focus on authoritative texts (Latin  auctoritates) with a special claim to truth and validity, such as the Bible, statements of the church fathers and the magisteri…

1. Early forms Even before the dawn of the early modern period, lathes had been developed for various purposes, such as turning column drums and brass castings. The Nuremberg Hausbuch der Mendelschen Zwölfbrüderstiftung, for example, contains illustrations produced between 1425 and 1436 of turners, pewterers, and rosary makers at their lathes, driven by a pedal and a spring mounted on a pole or a hand crank (see fig. 1) [7]. The earliest French illustrations (miniatures and stained-glass windows) date from second half of the 13th century, after lathes became widespread after 1250 [6…

See Hacienda | Land ownership, large scale

1. Survey: definition and scopeIn Europe and the territories of European expansionism overseas and in Asia, Latin, the language of the  Imperium Romanum, was the primary, though not exclusive, medium of written communication of a not clearly definable transnational community from late antiquity until well into the 19th century; the members of this community counted on a shared language that transcended ,the ideological alignments of the moment, making it possible for them to communicate about the widest possible ra…

1. IntroductionThe Latin American Wars of Independence (1808/10-1826/30) belong to the context of the revolutions and liberation movements of the 18th and 19th centuries [17]. They grew out of an interaction between the growing alienation of members of colonial elites born in the Americas - American Spanish and American Portuguese (the so-called Creoles) - from their ancestral European countries, the development of a patriotism focused on the local region in the colonies rather than on the distant “homeland,” and …

1. Definition and varietyThe term  Latin school denotes all non-university schools where – in contrast to the German  Schreib- und Rechenschulen (Elementary school) –  instruction was primarily (though not exclusively) in Latin, so that  “a firm grasp of confessional religion and the language of scholars” [10. vol. 1, 465] was a central goal of instruction. These institutions of secondary education were extremely heterogeneous in size and structure and therefore were also called by a wide variety of names, including particular school, tr…

1. SurveyIn the early modern period, Latin was a language in active use in diplomacy, science, and the educational system (Bildung) and was therefore a living language. This circumstance favoured the scholarly study of the language only to a certain extent. Before the 19th century, it was studied less for its own sake than for practical purposes: to be able to write and speak better, to be familiar with the (still obligatory) canon of classical literature, to understand Roman law, which was still in effect, and to share in the greatness of ancient Rome (Antiquity, reception of).Lati…

See Cartography

1. Concept and developmentThe lauda [spirituale] (from Latin  laudare, “to praise”; plur. laude) is a monophonic or polyphonic sacred song in Italian or Latin. During the 13th century, lay confraternities singing such songs in their devotions were founded with the support of the mendicant orders, particularly in Tuscan towns. The singing of laude was also widespread among the fervently pious lay movement known as the  disciplinati (“flagellants”). Early in the 15th century, it was also introduced in a reformed Benedictine congregation in Venice (Religious…

1. Concept and modern theoryViews of laughter and its forms vary by society and period. Laughter has its own codes, rituals, and venues. According to Jacques Le Goff, a phase in which laughter was suppressed and interrupted (4th-10th centuries CE) was followed by an era of liberation and control, running parallel to the development of literature in the vernacular [14]. Mikhail Bakhtin, in his theory of the culture of laughter, distinguished a popular tradition dominated by laughter from an official culture of church and scholarship that depe…

1. GeneralIn the early modern period, how laundry was done varied depending on the social context [6]; [9]; [4]. In the estates of the nobility (Gutsherrschaft) as well as in patrician or upper-class households that had a substantial supply of textiles, a “big wash” was performed several times a year. Sometimes there was a separate laundry room along with a washing area and a drying area; additional washerwomen were hired, whose pay was sometimes specified in schedules of fees [12. 333]. In addition there would be more frequent “small washes.” The household account bo…

1. Definition In the Middle Ages, law (Latin ius, French  droit, German  Recht - the German term, like English “right,” is a substantivization of the adjective  reht meaning “right,” “straight,” “correct,” attested since the 8th century) - originally indicating a statute like Latin  lex and French  loi - was a divine disposition [53. 249 f.]. With few exceptions (Municipal law), written legal collections were not viewed as normative. It was rather on account of the influence of the medieval law school at Bologna and the so-called learned …

Both law and ethics formulate cultural behavioral norms. The differentiation or distinction between these areas is thus a fundamental problem of juristic and philosophical thought. Usually, the view is taken that pre-state societies had not yet separated legal, ethical, and religious norms from one another; this did not happen until after the Enlightenment [9. 2 f.].Although the question of the distinction between natural law, ethics, and state law had already been raised in the Middle Ages (by Thomas Aquinas among others), it took on new and, in …

See Court of law; Judiciary (England)

See Jurisprudence

1. IntroductionLaw faculties were the administrative and knowledge-organizing elements (Faculty) of a university that were responsible for the training of jurists. Founded in the Middle Ages, they transformed in the early modern period under the influence of certain religious, political, and cultural movements. Across Europe, these trends led to the founding of numerous universities and, with them, faculties of law. Significant changes in the organization and instruction of law faculties can also be observed.Louis Pahlow2. Confessional and state influencesThe end of fait…

See Legal history

See Sharia

See Legal literature

1. DefinitionOf the various criteria for foreignness (e.g. religion, language, origin), one’s community affiliation or citizenship was decisive with respect to the law of aliens. This field of law determined the legal standing of foreigners in the state in which they resided. In Germany during the early modern period, the rights of Germans from another territory were determined by the law of aliens. The legal position of foreigners was determined by numerous regulations from territory to territory as well as by state treaties. It also differed in the various fields of law.Sibylle H…

See Natural law

See Public law

1. Ideas and developmentsThe idea of the publication of laws, which began in antiquity, is based on the notion that a law could only take effect in society once a legislator had expressed his will in the public sphere (Legislation). Various developments, depending on their constitutional framework (Constitutional law), can be traced in the early modern period: in England, the publication of laws was customary, but since the Middle Ages it was not necessary to publish resolutions of Parliament for t…

Law reports are a kind of “court records” typical of the Anglo-American legal sphere, which provide information about the proceedings and judicial decisions of a single case. They are usually composed by jurists who observe the trials and are often combined with further reports into compilations, which are also called law reports (also, “law reporters” in the USA). The authors and informants of law reports were and are often judges, lawyers, and clerks involved in the trials. In countries influe…

See Ius commune | Jurisprudence | Legisprudence | Reception of ius commune

See Sunni

See Jews, laws concerning

1. Classification The concept of a law is not limited to the legal sphere (see Law), but rather also appears in various other areas. In general, a law is understood to be the linguistic or mathematical formulation of an unvarying essential relationship between specific objects or phenomena that unequivocally determines their behavior or development and can be reproduced under identical conditions. Laws are established by investigating the nature of immediate phenomena. They represent an interpretation of the principles of order that underlie all phenomena.Scientific laws des…

1. IntroductionA lawsuit occurs when a plaintiff initiates legal proceedings before a court of law seeking recourse against a defendant. In connection with the spread of scholarly Roman law across Europe (Ius commune), lawsuits were increasingly formalized and refined as remedies according to civil procedure.Louis Pahlow 2. Early modern developments In contrast to medieval law, in which official judicial authority had not yet asserted itself over vigilante self-help [7] (Feud), in the early modern period convening a court became the norm. Lawsuits (Latin  actio; German Klage, …

See Jurist

A lawyer is “one versed in the law.” The term prevalent in German-speaking areas since the 15th century, Anwalt, originally designated someone who acted on behalf of another with official public or private authorization (Agency [law]); in the late Middle Ages, it was a legal term for authorized attorneys, who represented others in legal affairs both in court and outside the context of litigation (Trial procedure). In the 15th century, we encounter advocates and occasionally other counselors as legal experts who a…

1. IntroductionLay judges differ from trained judges particularly in that they are not professionally trained jurists. Although the term “lay judge” does not appear in the legal sources or in the laws of the early modern period, they enjoyed varying importance as judges,  Schöffen in German-speaking territories, and jurors. The significance of lay judges as members of  juries in the Anglo-American legal world was incomparably greater than in Continental Europe during the early modern period (Common law) [2].Louis Pahlow2. Decline in the early modern periodIn Germany, the sep…

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1. DefinitionIn German the New Testament name  Lazarus was associated allegorically with the sick since the Middle Ages – initially lepers, later impoverished victims of any disease. In the Romance languages, a derived adjective (French  ladre, 12th century) is attested in the semantic field “wretched, infirm, leprous.” The German noun  Lazarett came into common use in the 16th century as a loanword from Italian  lazzaretto (Spanish  lazareto, French  lazaret); English  lazaret was borrowed from the French in the early 17th century. Initially it denoted an infi…

1. Mining and smeltingCompared with copper and iron, the most important - because most frequently used - non-precious metals of the early modern period, lead was a metal of lesser rank. With low production costs and a consequently favorable market price, it served as a malleable material for specialist artisans (Crafts and trades), such as glassmakers, organ-builders, and printers (typesetting). The early modern building trade used it, for instance, as a roofing material, for making pipes, and for …

1. DefinitionIn the early phase of industrialization, the economic growth of the industrial sector was generally extremely lopsided, being concentrated in a few areas, the so-called leading sectors. In the 1950s and 1960s, this observation led to the development of the concept of leading industrial sectors in the field of political economy [4]; [3. 10–14]. Leading industrial sectors are characterized by rapid technological change, which brings strong growth in the productivity of work and capital. In the early modern period, too, high product…

See Printed ephemera

See Ius commune

See Language society | Patriotic society | Society Movement

1. Legal aspects 1.1. DefinitionA lease (German Pacht) today is understood to be the contractual transfer of an object or right in exchange for money (cf. Interest [banking]), whereupon the recipient may use or – in contrast to rent and loans for use (commodatum) – enjoy the fruits of the object for a certain time. In contrast to a renter, the lessee is broadly responsible for the maintenance of the object of the lease. Leases based on loan contract, which could in theory be canceled at any time and la…

1. Procedures and centersBecause leather has so many applications (especially for apparel, but also for technological purposes, for example in mining), it was in great demand in the early modern period, which led to the development of extensive leather production in Europe. Beginning in the late Middle Ages, the process of tanning (i.e. treating hides mechanically or biochemically to render them durable while also preserving their material properties) spawned important forms of specialization. Init…

See Prayer | Sermon | Worship