Susanne Rau - Böcker

Spaces, too, have a history. And history always takes place in spaces. But what do historians mean when they use the word "spaces"? And how can spaces be historically investigated? Susanne Rau provides a survey of the history of Western concepts of space, opens up interdisciplinary approaches to the phenomenon of space in fields ranging from physics and geography to philosophy and sociology, and explains how historical spatial analysis can be methodologically and conceptually conceived and carried out in practice. The case studies presented in the book come from the fields of urban history, the history of trade, and global history including the history of cartography, but its analysis is equally relevant to other fields of inquiry. This book offers the first comprehensive introduction to the theory and methodology of historical spatial analysis.

Spaces, too, have a history. And history always takes place in spaces. But what do historians mean when they use the word "spaces"? And how can spaces be historically investigated? Susanne Rau provides a survey of the history of Western concepts of space, opens up interdisciplinary approaches to the phenomenon of space in fields ranging from physics and geography to philosophy and sociology, and explains how historical spatial analysis can be methodologically and conceptually conceived and carried out in practice. The case studies presented in the book come from the fields of urban history, the history of trade, and global history including the history of cartography, but its analysis is equally relevant to other fields of inquiry. This book offers the first comprehensive introduction to the theory and methodology of historical spatial analysis.Supported by Open Access funds of the University of Erfurt

This volume works through spatio-temporal concepts to be found in imperial practices and their representations in a wide range of media. The individual cases investigated in the volume cover a broad spectrum of historical periods from ancient times up to the present. Well-known international scholars treat special cases of the topic, using cutting-edge theory and approaches stemming from historical, cartographic, religious, literary, media studies, as well as ethnography.

History is one of the most important cultural tools to make sense of one’s situation, to establish identity, define otherness, and explain change. This is the first systematic scholarly study that analyses the complex relationship between history and religion, taking into account religious groups both as producers of historical narratives as well as distinct topics of historiography. Coming from different disciplines, the authors of this volume ask under which conditions and with what consequences religions are historicised. How do religious groups employ historical narratives in the construction of their identities? What are the biases and elisions of current analytical and descriptive frames in the History of Religion? The volume aims at initiating a comparative historiography of religion and combines disciplinary competences of Religious Studies and the History of Religion, Confessional Theologies, History, History of Science, and Literary Studies. By applying literary comparison and historical contextualization to those texts that have been used as central documents for histories of individual religions, their historiographic themes, tools and strategies are analysed. The comparative approach addresses circum-Mediterranean and European as well as Asian religious traditions from the first millennium BCE to the present and deals with topics such as the origins of religious historiography, the practices of writing and the transformation of narratives.

Today, it has largely been forgotten that fairs played a decisive role in trade and finance in pre-modern Europe. In the Middle Ages and Early Modern period, many cities endeavoured to obtain a fair privilege and attract as many merchants as possible. Through the economic activities and infrastructures provided, a supra-regional spatial configuration gradually emerged, which was not only made up of places within a region, but across the whole of Europe and in some cases the wider world. The contributions in this volume are based on a project jointly funded by the French Agence Nationale de la Recherche and the German Research Foundation, which focussed mainly on fairs and cities in France, the Holy Roman Empire and Italy. In chronological terms, they cover the period from the end of the Champagne fairs (ca. 1320) to the success of the Besançon fairs (ca. 1580 to 1630), which epitomised a new type of fair. The geographical focus has been extended to include fairs and trade routes in Eastern Europe and China (temple fairs). This overall view makes it possible for the first time to analyse the functions of the various market forms in their regional context and in their development: from the exchange of goods to the credit market and financing government debt, but also the deep integration of the merchant culture into urban and religious culture. Based on archival studies and the integration of artefacts, new graphs and maps, this volume provides a new look at the history of annual markets and fairs. In addition to functional aspects, spatiotemporal aspects such as disputes over fair dates, visiting rhythms, the transport of goods and routes (by land and water) are dealt with. Credit activities, transport of goods, and mobility of merchants, trading families and companies point to the highly developed transnational dimension of pre-modern trade. The volume concludes with a presentation of the project database, its functionalities and opportunities to participate.

This book is the product of an eponymous workshop, which took place in Erfurt in May, 2012, and which has since then been supplemented with four further contributions. The topics focus on the potential mapping of perceived urban space and spatial hierarchies as a consequence of social usage (undertaken by a variety of active participants) together with spatio-temporal changes as a result of factors such as demographic urban growth and decline. Historians, cartographers and geographers are brought together to present and discuss different models, ideas and new methods of spatial analysis and modes of representing changes in perceptions. The two main subjects are: the epistemology of spatial change and the question of (historical) media and adequate presentation. This work represents a first step toward the development of a new model for mapping urban changes and spatial relations concerning the past, present and future.

This book is the product of an eponymous workshop, which took place in Erfurt in May, 2012, and which has since then been supplemented with four further contributions. The topics focus on the potential mapping of perceived urban space and spatial hierarchies as a consequence of social usage (undertaken by a variety of active participants) together with spatio-temporal changes as a result of factors such as demographic urban growth and decline. Historians, cartographers and geographers are brought together to present and discuss different models, ideas and new methods of spatial analysis and modes of representing changes in perceptions. The two main subjects are: the epistemology of spatial change and the question of (historical) media and adequate presentation. This work represents a first step toward the development of a new model for mapping urban changes and spatial relations concerning the past, present and future.