Cultural History of the Holy Roman Empire

Author: Peter Klaus Hartmann (Germany), translated by Liu Xinli and others
Publisher:
Publication Date: 2005-11-01
Features: This book is based on the independent states and independent religious factions in Central Europe, narrating the cultural history of the Holy Roman Empire from 1648 to 1806. It elaborates on 1) the ideal framework for the cultural prosperity and diverse development of the Empire—its legal order, including the independence of its members and their extensive autonomy, the ruling institutions, population, society, and economy; 2) the favorable conditions for the Empire's multicultural development—equal status of the three major religious factions (Catholicism, Lutheranism, and Calvinism) guaranteed by imperial law, and the possibility of cultural development for smaller factions; 3) the religious foundation of the Empire's cultural development, where differing interpretations of the Bible on the issue of icons became the starting point for the divergence of Catholic and Protestant cultures. It details various aspects of the Empire's culture: church architecture, art, and music; education, libraries, and literature; popular culture, folk beliefs, customs, and traditions; smaller faction cultures; court culture; and the development of the Enlightenment. The "Holy Roman Empire," a loose European empire that existed for about 800 years, was a polytheistic, multi-ethnic and racial, politically diverse, allied but relaxed state formation. Today, it has been reimagined as the precursor to the European Union. From this perspective, the book, upon its release, was regarded by the local cultural community as a foundational work.