Volume 17 of the "Jahrbuch der Oswald von Wolkenstein-Gesellschaft" presents some 40 papers on "Emperor Maximilian I (1459-1519) and the court culture of his time". Maximilian is considered the first ruler to employ 'modern' media - primarily printing - in developing traditional courtly art forms to serve the exercising of imperial power. This groundbreaking change in usage forms the centrepoint for new cross-media research. Interdisciplinary perspectives offer a wide-ranging survey of this first modern-style ruler's self-presentation and provide new directions for research on Maximilian and the Early Modern period. Volume 17 of the "Jahrbuch der Oswald von Wolkenstein-Gesellschaft" presents papers in a current area of Early Modern interest: "Emperor Maximilian I (1459-1519) and the court culture of his time". Maximilian is considered the first ruler to have used 'modern' media - primarily printing - in developing traditional courtly art forms to serve the exercising of imperial power.
This groundbreaking change in media usage was the focus of an interdisciplinary symposium organized by the Oswald von Wolkenstein-Gesellschaft which saw collaboration between around 40 researchers in the area from Europe and the USA.
The primary aim was to scrutinize Maximilian's court culture and how it presented itself to the outside world, using recent methodological approaches such as techniques in medieval studies research developed for examining cross-media and text-image relationships, communication through symbols, and source-based historical procedures. Individual papers deal explicitly or implicitly with ways in which the court presented itself to the outside world through the holding of court, the exercising of power, and the self-portrayal of those in power.
A series of areas for investigation crystallizes out of these aspects, and these are elucidated by researchers from different disciplines: reconstructions of life at court; the court as a hub of decision-making in both domestic and external policy; Maximilian's relationship to the history and establishment of a culture of memorial; Maximilian's self-portrayal through images, texts and architecture; Maximilian as a (possible) author and collector of courtly literature; and Maximilian's patronage of contemporary art, music, scholarship and humanistic literature in Latin. Maximilian's ongoing legacy is also considered: his reception in literature, music theatre, exhibitions and museums in the modern age.
The result is a wide-ranging survey of how this first modern-style ruler presented himself to the outside world. The volume will therefore be of particular use to all who are interested in seeing the various facets of courtly culture and Maximilian I's self-portrayal elucidated through scholarship in a wide range of disciplines. Thus the contributions also offer fresh starting points for a new discourse about the complex interactions between typically medieval elements related to a heroically glorified culture of memory, and a manner of exercising power within the culture of Maximilian's court that aims at mass impact.
