Duell unter Abwesenden

Overview & Synopsis

The conflict between Duke Henry the Younger of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel and Elector John Frederick of Saxony and Landgrave Philip of Hesse demonstrates how closely political power and its communicative framework were intertwined. Between 1538 and 1542, over 100 deeply insulting pamphlets accompanied this dispute, some of which were published by the opponents themselves. Stefan Beckert uses this media event as a key to understanding the political events of the 1530s and 1540s and to provide a communication- and cultural-historical insight into the 'imperial public sphere'. As a result of the media transformation of the Reformation period, the rules of political debate also changed: Printed matter was not only used to publicly question the honor of opponents, but also to attack facades of consensus, ambiguous political styles, and social ties.