István György TÓTH
Social History of the Habsburg Monarchy
The seminar presents a comparative analysis of the different societies
that lived in the territory of the Habsburg Monarchy i.e. in Central
Europe. In this empire Germans, Hungarians, Serbs, Croatians, Poles,
Czechs, Slovaks, Slovenians, Ukrainians, Roumanians, Italians lived
together, with very different types of social structure. The time span
of our investigation begins with the death of emperor Maximilian I
in
1519 and ends with the revolution of 1848. With the help of analysis
of sources we shall see how the peasantry, the nobility, the
aristocrates, the burghers lived in different parts of this so complex
state. The language skills and the knowledge of students coming from
different parts of Europe, from different nations will help us in the
common investigation. The general literature on social history of the
Habsburg empire is available in English, this is the common basis of
our study, to be deepened by case studies for the different regions.
The variations of peasantry: free peasants in Tyrol, different types
of serfs in Galicia, Hungary, Bohemia. The agrarian reforms of the
enlightened absolutism and their effects. Nobility, rich and poor
noblemen. The noble way of life. Broad strata of nobility in Hungary
and Galicia, a rather narrow social layer with noblemen's priviledge
in Austria and Bohemia. The noblemen's culture, their political role.
Aristocracy - did they rule the empire? The power and glory of the
aristocrates, their conflict and collaboration with the emperors. The
aristocrates' courts as centers of social life.National or
international aristocracy? City-dwellers and bourgeois : the
differences of development in Western and Eastern regions of the
empire, comparison with France and England.
Basic literature:
Ernst Wangerman, The Austrian achievement 1700-1800. Harcourt Press
Robert J. W. Evans, Making of the Habsburg Monarchy 1550-1700. Clarendon
Press
Derek Beales, Joseph II. Cambridge University Press
Franz Szabo, Kaunitz and enlightened absolutism Cambridge University
Press
Charles Ingrao, The Habsburg Monarchy 1618-1815. Cambridge University
Press
See also the readerprepared for the course which is available for students.
