‘How one shall govern a city.’ The polyphony of urban political thought in the fourteenth-century duchy of Brabant
(2019) Freedom of speech in the medieval and early modern society — Location: Ghent (17.May.2019)
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- Abstract
- This paper examines the polyphonic character of urban political thought. As such, it contributes to a better understanding of late medieval political ideas and the ways in which townspeople could express their (critical) opinions towards power. The setting of this study is the fourteenth-century duchy of Brabant, the birth place of one of the oldest preserved vernacular texts with a didactic focus on urban government, How one shall govern a city (or Hoemen ene stat regeren sal). The main goal of this influential Middle Dutch poem was to prescribe the ways in which urban governors ought to rule. An intertextual comparison of How one shall govern a city with one contemporary ducal charter and two petitions, will highlight the exchange of ideas between ruling elites and the politically excluded craft guilds. Ideas were not carved into stone, but were created and recreated to fit the interests of their consumers. Because of their flexible and inherently different interpretations, political ideas were living implements that caused and steered political conflicts. During the fourteenth century, the Brabantine citizenry was involved in an ideological battle that was fought with similar, but adaptable, weapons.
- Affiliations
KU Leuven Research Group of Medieval History
Citations
De Boodt, M. (2019). ‘How one shall govern a city.’ The polyphony of urban political thought in the fourteenth-century duchy of Brabant. Freedom of speech in the medieval and early modern society, Ghent.