{"product_id":"faces-of-community-in-central-european-towns-9781498551120","title":"Faces of Community in Central European Towns","description":"\u003cb\u003eBook Synopsis\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eConcepts of visual communication form an explanatory framework for discussing the visual expressions of urban symbolic communication in urban life in towns in the center of Europe in the late medieval and early modern period, including the dramatic times of the Reformation and Counter-Reformation. This book examines the role of images and visual representation by concentrating on the varieties of symbolic communication in towns that made a range of relationships visual: the status and role of urban civic, professional, and religious communities and the relations between the town and its lord or powerful families and individuals. The geographical framework of this book is the region in the former Habsburg countries north of the Danube River embracing the region between western Bohemia and what is today eastern Slovakia, including the borderland towns of northern Austria. Two studies focus on specific local and occupational communities in the Prague towns, but most of the texts in this b\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eTrade Review\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThis is a work of real significance. By bringing together an international team of historians, this impressive study succeeds thanks to innovative and previously unapplied approaches. Using comparative methods, this volume challenges traditional views of medieval and early modern urban communities in the broader territory of Central Europe, and constitutes a great example of what scholars can achieve through international cooperation. This book will definitely serve not only as a benchmark for future research, but I also expect to find it on the reading lists for university courses on premodern urban life and culture in general. -- Jaroslav Miller, Palacký University\u003cbr\u003eThis is a highly original approach to the rich history and culture of the towns of Central Europe and a welcome reminder that its urban landscape extended well beyond Prague, Vienna, and Buda.  This collection by Kateřina Horníčková and her colleagues is a marvelous example of how a close reading of material culture can deepen our understanding of this critical region. -- Howard Louthan, University of Minnesota\u003cbr\u003eThe volume, edited by Kateřina Horníčková, represents a new and innovative approach to the visual aspects of Central European towns in a transitory period of the later Middle Ages and the early modern area. The contributors are representatives of a new generation of Central European historians who take a fresh look on the role of images, symbolic communication, and visual representations on the urban centers of the region. This innovative collection of essays, based on strong theoretical background, will have a secure place on university reading lists and on the bookshelves of many interested students and professors. -- Balázs Nagy, Central European University\u003cbr\u003eThis fascinating collection of essays provides a rich account of the changing character of Central European towns during the late medieval and early modern periods. Detailed exploration in each chapter of the visual culture of different towns across Bohemia and Moravia illuminates broader themes about the history of religious, social, and cultural life. The essays analyze how the identities of urban communities adapted in the face of turbulent political and religious changes. Peeling back the layers of Baroque embellishment, the contributors reveal evidence about the vibrant influence in Bohemian and Moravian towns of the Hussite, Lutheran, and Catholic churches, each leaving its own distinctive mark on the changing face of the region. -- Graeme Murdock, Trinity College Dublin\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eTable of Contents\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIntroduction: To Be Seen: The Visual Aspect in Urban Symbolic Communication, Kateřina Horníčková List of Abbreviations Chapter 1: Towns in Neighboring Regions, 1400–1700: Austria, Bohemia, Moravia, and the Carpathian Basin, Elisabeth Gruber Chapter 2: The Bohemian Town as a Space for Symbolic Communication (1400–1600), Robert Šimůnek Chapter 3: Representing bonum commune in Austrian Border-Region Towns: Seals, Fortifications, and Hospitals, Elisabeth Gruber Chapter 4: The Topography of Justice: Symbols, Rituals, and the Representation of Urban Justice in Early Modern Northern Hungary, Blanka Szeghyová Chapter 5: Urban Commemorative Festivities as Representations and Visualizations of Town Order, Tomáš Borovský Chapter 6: Insiders’ Visions: Memory and Self-Representation in Bohemian Utraquist Towns, Kateřina Horníčková Chapter 7: The Representation Practices of the Prague Painters’ Guild in the Late Middle Ages and the Early Modern Period, Michal Šroněk Chapter 8: The Self-Presentation of Burghers in Moravian Seigniorial Towns: Telč and Slavonice in the Second Half of the Sixteenth Century, Zdeňka Míchalová Chapter 9: Public Expressions of Religious Transformation in Moravian Towns (1550–1618), Josef Hrdlička Chapter 10: Reading the Prague Lesser Town Square: Topography of Change in a Residential City, Jana Doktorová Chapter 11: Epitaphs in the Moravian Royal Cities Around 1600 and their Confessional Imagination, Ondřej Jakubec Chapter 12: The Jesuits and their Urban Visual Presence in the Bohemian Lands, Michal Šroněk Chapter 13: Rewriting Memory: Remodelling Churches in Seventeenth-Century Freistadt, Kateřina Pražáková Chapter 14: Post-Face(s): On the Relationship of Visual Culture and Urbanity in Late Medieval and Early Modern Central Europe, Katalin Szende","brand":"Lexington Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51040756400471,"sku":"9781498551120","price":110.7,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0817\/1739\/5799\/files\/9781498551120.jpg?v=1750947738","url":"https:\/\/bookcurl.com\/products\/faces-of-community-in-central-european-towns-9781498551120","provider":"Book Curl","version":"1.0","type":"link"}