Description
The medieval adventus, the ceremonial act of a ruler entering a town subjected to him for the first time, has been understood by all involved parties as a possibility to negotiate and display hierarchies of power and dependency on the basis of rituals and symbolic communication. The present study undertakes a comparative analysis of the adventus of the bishops of Bamberg into their episcopal city as well as the ceremonial entry into the imperial town of Nuremberg towards the end of the Middle Ages. The study is based on a variety of sources ranging from letters of invitation, entry lists and entry descriptions to bills and fire regulations. These are available for the first time as an edition in the appendix of the study.
The sources are consulted to understand the process and the exact design of the ceremonial entries. Further, they form the basis for analysing the symbolic agency of individuals within the ceremony. The metalevel of source criticism becomes an object of investigation beyond the former considerations. It offers the possibility to reflect on and compare the given structures of power between bishop and diocesan chapter or bishop and town council respectively.
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