The importance of papal and imperial privileges for the Teutonic Order increased in the conflictual period between the Order and Polonia/Lithuania in the years following 1386, when polish lawyers began to doubt all its privileges on a general base. It's nevertheless surprising that these privileges don't almost show in the medieval historiography of the Order. It's therefore necessary to stimulate further research dedicated to the cartularies and the privilege confirmations under their legal and memorial aspects.
The study examines the issue of the acquisition of a princely title by Karl of Liechtenstein, which was granted to him in 1608 by the Austrian archduke, Hungarian king and Moravian margrave Matthias. In the first part, it focuses on the issue of the authority through which Matthias could award one of the highest aristocratic titles in the Holy Roman Empire including the Habsburg monarchy. A historical-legal, diplomatics and sigillography analysis of the origin of the princely privilege proves that Matthias did so in the form of an "usurpation" of the traditional imperial ennoblement right. The first part of the study simultaneously concerns the question of the historical circumstances which led to the Liechtensteins' titular elevation. In the second part of the study, the author indicates the efforts made by Karl of Liechtenstein, his brothers and especially Karl's descendants to gain for recognition of the princely title from the direct imperial power and its use for the acquisition of immediate imperial principality, which through the Liechtenstein primogeniture would ensure the exceptionally politically and socially prestigious membership of the collegium of the imperial princes. This aim was in fact fulfilled only in the first half of the 18th century by the purchase of the Schellenberg and Vaduz estates and their elevation to immediate imperial principality. Although the Liechtensteins were the first of a number of so-called new princes from the milieu of the Habsburg monarchy of the 17th century, as they strove to rise among the elite of imperial society they were overtaken by other new princes: the Wallensteins, Auerspergs, Lobkowitzs, Dietrichsteins and Schwarzenbergs.
The paper focuses on Liechtenstein architecture of the first half of the seventeenth century. Stylistic features of the chateau in Eisgrub (Lednice), built by Prince Karl I of Liechtenstein, and the chateau in Butschowitz (Bučovice), which Prince Maximilian of Liechtenstein had rebuilt in the 1720s, serve as evidence of the spread of theoretical principles from the works of Sebastiano Serlio and Jacques Androuet du Cerceau. This stylistic groundwork defined the appearance of the princely summer palace as well as the princely residence, while hinting at possible authorship of both projects, which the paper links with the figure of Giovanni Maria Filippi, a court architect to Emperor Rudolf II.
The arbitration proceedings that took place in 1482 represent the lowest point in the relationships between Frederick III and two of his most important mercenary captains at the time. While the mercenaries claimed for promised pay and damages, Frederick III sued for damages caused by the mercenaries while in his service. The analysis of the court records highlights how both important and complex the role of scribality was in the process of conflict resolution. It both extended and constricted the scope of action, enabled arguments to be posed and debated, lent structure to legal proceedings, and was itself a matter of concern in the trial. Opting to resolve conflicts through arbitration was not necessarily a given, for Frederick III as a party rarely took part in such proceedings. This case study, however, demonstrates how in certain circumstances the Emperor perceived abitration as an effective means to an end.
On 24 May 2006, Thomas Winkelbauer was presented with an honorary doctorate at Masaryk University in Brno. On this occasion a laudation was given, summarizing Winkelbauer's work as a historian of the Early Modern Age, as well as his role in establishing contacts between Czech and Austrian historiography. Winkelbauer's main area of interest is the history of the Habsburg monarchy in the 16th and 17th centuries in the widest geographical and methodological contexts. His research and publication activities cover the political, legal, social, economic, cultural and religious history of the period. Thomas Winkelbauer's academic work recently reached a new level with the publication of an extensive synthesis of the history of the Habsburg monarchy "Österreichische Geschichte 1522–1699. Ständefreiheit und Fürstenmacht", which was published as part of a series of "great" histories of Austria. Winkelbauer's office in the historical university building in Vienna’s Ring has become a natural meeting point for historians from the Czech Republic, Hungary, Austria, Poland, Germany and the Netherlands.
Profesor Thomas Winkelbauer of the University of Vienna is a respected historian of the Early Modern Age. His bibliography reveals that a large part of his research work focuses on the princely Liechtenstein family, both in his monographs (in particular Gundaker of Liechtenstein and Karl of Liechtenstein), as well as contextually (as part of the history of the aristocracy in the Early Modern Age and the wider context of Austrian history). Thomas Winkelbauer wrote an important monograph on Gundaker of Liechtenstein, to which he later added specialist studies and editorial sources. He uses this Austrian-Moravian to demonstrate how the world of the aristocracy worked in the Early Modern Age. He also examines the themes of religion and conversion as one of the decisive elements directly linked to the political rise of individuals and families in the Early Modern Age. It is also important to remember that for Winkelbauer, the Liechtensteins represent "the aristocracy which knows no bounds". All of these issues are also addressed in Winkelbauer's outstanding synthesis on Austrian history in the 16th and 17th centuries.
The present paper studies the charters and letters originating during the Catholic trade embargo first imposed against the Czech Hussites between 1420 and 1436, and reassumed in the late 1460s and early 1470s. The different types of documents are first studied with regard to their formal characteristics and their classification in terms of late medieval diplomatics. Secondly, lost correspondence is reconstructed in order to demonstrate the great void of missing documents, preventing us from truly grasping the widespread use of the written word during the Hussite Wars. Thirdly, the publication of papal and royal mandates enforcing the anti-Hussite embargo is analysed to demonstrate both the practical use of the documents in question, and their importance for Catholic anti-Hussite policy.