Memory in Early Modern Europe, 1500-1800

Description

For early modern Europeans, the past was a measure of most things, good and bad. For that reason it was also hotly contested, manipulated, and far too important to be left to historians alone. Memory in Early Modern Europe offers a lively and accessible introduction to the many ways in which Europeans engaged with the past and 'practised' memory in the three centuries between 1500 and 1800. From childhood memories and local customs to war traumas and peacekeeping, it analyses how Europeans tried to control, mobilize and reconfigure memories of the past. Challenging the long-standing view that memory cultures transformed around 1800, it argues for the continued relevance of early modern memory practices in modern societies. Cover Memory in Early Modern Europe, 1500–1800 Copyright Acknowledgements Contents List of Figures Introduction WHY STUDY MEMORY? EARLY MODERN MEMORY MEMORY STUDIES ROOTS METHOD 1: Scripting the Self FAMILY MEMORY BODIES EXEMPLARY TALES SCRIPTS A SCRIPT WITHOUT PRECEDENT? CONCLUSION 2: Past and Present: The Virtues of Anachronism THE TREE OF KNOWLEDGE OF PAST AND PRESENT A SENSE OF CHANGE THE VIRTUES OF ANACHRONISM PLAYING WITH ANACHRONISM IN THE SEVENTEENTH-CENTURY LOW COUNTRIES CONCLUSION 3: Customizing the Past CUSTOMS AND PRIVILEGES IN DEFENCE OF CUSTOM THE DESTABILIZATION OF TEXTUAL AUTHORITY FROM CUSTOM TO CIVILIZATION CONCLUSION 4: Imagining Communities SACRED MEMORIES AND BLESSED COMMUNITIES MEDIATING LOCAL MEMORY THE DUTCH REPUBLIC: FROM LOCAL TO NATIONAL MEMORY CONCLUSION 5: Living Legends: Myth, Memory, and Authenticity BABY, CAT, AND CRADLE MYTHOLOGIZING HISTORY SCHOLARS AS MYTHMAKERS CONCLUSION 6: Acts of Oblivion 7: Remembering Violence: Trauma, Atrocities, and Cosmopolitan Memories SCARS ATROCITY TALES MIRRORING THE PAST: COSMOPOLITAN MEMORY CONCLUSION Conclusion HISTORY AND MEMORY NOTHING IN THE WORLD REMAINS THE SAME? Bibliography ARCHIVAL SOURCES PRINTED PRIMARY SOURCES SECONDARY STUDIES Index