Mario Müller
Besiegelte Freundschaft
Die brandenburgischen Erbeinungen und Erbverbrüderungen im späten Mittelalter
1. Edition 2010
364 pages
ISBN 978-3-89971-770-9
V&R unipress
Schriften zur politischen Kommunikation -
plus S&H
Book
The medieval definition of "friendship" combined relational, legally binding and emotional concepts to form rules of conduct that also embraced political aspects of life. Royal hereditary settlements and fraternizations are particularly salient illustrations of this definition of friendship, as they set out in detail the conditions of friendship. They constituted an early form of foreign treaty that regulated neighbourly relations and dynastic succession.
In this volume relations between the Margrave of Brandenburg and Bohemia, Hungary, Saxony, Mecklenburg and Pomerania illustrate how high expectations of hereditary settlements and fraternizations were fulfilled or shattered. What were the actual benefits of such agreements? What were the underlying conditions of such friendships? What did the princes know about their friends and enemies? What risks did friendship entail? Who counted as "false friends"?
