Doctoral research student

Stefan Inderwies (Germany, 1980)

M.A. in Northern Studies, Medieval History and Modern History

sinderwies@gshdl.uni-kiel.de

Between Cooperation and Competition. Room for Maneuver of Comital Power and Urban Authority in Holstein Shown by the Example of Towns Built by the House of the Schauenburger from the 13th to the 16th Century.

The first town foundations or town elevations laid by the Schauenburger during the 13th century included Oldenburg (1235), Plön (1236), Segeberg and Lütjenburg (in each case before 1238), Neustadt Itzehoe (1238), Oldesloe (about 1238), Rendsburg (presumably in 1240), Kiel (1242), Neustadt (1244) and Heiligenhafen (about 1246). The founding of the town elevations of Wilster and Krempe, which occurred in the second half of the 13th century, differ from the towns mentioned before in various aspects and are to be considered as special cases (types).

On the basis of the examined written sources (13th -15th century) the aim of this thesis is to clarify to what extent the towns of the Schauenburger were comparatively autonomous/nonautonomous and/or why the Stadtherr thought that he had to maintain his claims for power in opposition to the urban councils. For this purpose, it is necessary to work out the details of the interaction and the relations of comital-dynastic ruling practices with urban management committees and urban institutions from a social-historical point of view. This is only feasible if the interactions between the towns are also taken into account. Thus, this study will examine what type of network(s) existed in medieval Holstein.

The abovementioned points are highly significant in order to investigate how medieval urban landscapes could have been created. In turn, this could lead to assumptions about the final question of this analysis, i.e. which role did the medieval towns in Holstein play for the Counts of Holstein in the high-level Middle Ages and the late Middle Ages?

Since April 2010
Member of the Graduate School “Human Development in Landscapes” at the Christian-Albrechts-University Kiel

2008
Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg im Breisgau (Germany): Magister Artium in Northern Studies, Medieval History and Modern History. Thesis: „Agneta Horns Leverne. Eine autobiographische Apologie?”, Supervisor: Prof. Dr. Thomas Birkmann

2004 – 2008
Main study period: Northern Studies, Medieval History and Modern History at the Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg im Breisgau (Germany) and the Universität Basel (Switzerland)

2003 - 2004
Study period: Swedish Language and Scandinavian Literature at Göteborgs Universitetet (Sweden)

2001 – 2003
Basic study period: Northern Studies, Medieval History and Modern History at the Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg im Breisgau (Germany)

2009 - 2010
Project work and acquisition as a freelance employee with Neumann & Kamp - historical projects

2008
Genealogical researches as a freelance employee with Neumann & Kamp - historical projects