Local Interactions in Times of Peace and Times of Crisis.

Abstract

The crucial question for this exploration is: how could ordinary citizens (Gemeine), who had no chance of becoming members of the city-council, be incorporated into a common decision-making-process in the Late Middle Ages? In the background of this specific research-question lie the fundamental criteria for the ideal of urban peace and common good (gemein Gut) as an ideal vision of community. The following examples are primarily from Franconia, an area which had neither a unifying territory nor a supreme ruler. Instead, it was dominated by a multitude of different secular and spiritual rulers with many castles, monasteries and towns/citie. The town’s community was organized into neighborhoods, suburbs, quarters. Therefore, the quartermasters (Viertelsmeister) played an important role as speaker or representatives of the quarters or suburbs. The variety of possible duties for quartermasters were enormous. The quartermasters as representatives of the quarter communities were, for example, questioned by the council when it came to socio-politically sensitive issues. Mentioning the quartermasters and the community during the Peasants War is not coincidental but tells us a lot about the crisis of confidence of the city council by the citizens. A few hints should demonstrate the political influence of quartermasters in Franconian cities and towns as an example for future comparable research projects.