Wenceslas Looks Out
Monarchy, Locality, and the Symbolism of Power in Fourteenth-Century Bavaria
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 9645845 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Len Scales (Durham University, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2019 |
| Volume | 52 |
| Issue | 02 |
| Pages | 179-210 |
| Publication date | 2019-06-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Central European History (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0008-9389 • E-ISSN: 1569-1616 |
| Publisher | Cambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1017/s0008938919000141 |
| OpenAlex | W2910753257 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 7 |
This article reassesses the reputation enjoyed by Charles IV of Luxemburg, emperor and king of Bohemia (r. 1346/1347–1378), as the author of a program aimed at projecting his monarchy via visual media. Current scholarship, which stresses the centrally directed character of this program, regards it as serving clear political goals, as “propaganda” to unify Charles's far-flung territories. This article challenges that view. It contends that a straightforward political purpose is often less detectable than usually claimed, and the political “success” of Caroline image-making easily overstated. Above all, it argues for the necessity of decentering Caroline visual culture by stepping away from the familiar focus on the Prague court, to explore instead provincial viewpoints. Focusing on northeastern Bavaria, it shows that local examples of Caroline imagery are often best understood not as impositions from the “center,” but rather as products of interactions between court and locality, through which local perspectives and interests also found expression
Ancient history · Art · Character (mathematics · Emperor · Focus (optics · Linguistics · Locality · Monarchy · Political science · Politics · Power (physics · Reputation · Scholarship · Sociology · Viewpoints · Visual arts · Historical Geopolitical and Social Dynamics · Historical Influence and Diplomacy · History · Law · Philosophy · Reformation and Early Modern Christianity
| Citation velocity | historical |
|---|---|
| Highly cited | No |