Band 20, Heft 1 - (Be-)Gründung von Herrschaft. Strategien zur Bewältigung von Kontingenzerfahrung. Herausgegeben von Matthias Becher, Stephan Conermann, Florian Hartmann, Hendrik Hess

The following paper discusses how the experience and perception of contingency and strategies to cope with it are evident in the architecture of the Muslim ruling class during the early Delhi Sultanate (1190–1320). The discussed building is the most important Friday Mosque in this context, a quasi-visualized symbol of the thematic concept of rulership for the new Muslim political elite. This ruling class established itself in Northern India in the late 12 th century within a multi-ethnic, multi-religious and socially heterogeneous society, in which extremely different forms of communication, social hierarchies, worldviews, religious concepts, social norms and perceptions of historical images and experiences met. From the 13 th century onwards, the countless immigrants and refugees from Persian-speaking areas had a remarkable influence on the local culture which was already multifaceted due to the various indigenous Northern Indian conceptions of life, faith and perception. Examining the architecture of the mosque as well as its decoration and systems of inscriptions, it will be shown how these almost text-like visual systems where adapted and used by different rulers as part of their diverging strategies of legitimization of their rule and how they created visualized reference systems to promote a coherent, specific historical narrative and a visual experience and language of a meaningful collective past to which all social and religious groups in Northern India could relate.

At the turn from the 15 th to the 16 th century, the Mamluk Sultanate experienced a period of succession conflicts when a number of Sultans came to power in rapid sequence. With the ascension of Qānṣawh al-Ghawrī to the throne in 1501, the history of the Sultanate entered into a final phase of relative tranquility. Nevertheless, the previous crisis had proven that the person of the ruler was a highly contingent element in the late Mamluk political landscape. This article will examine how the panegyrist ʿAbd al-Bāsiṭ al-Malaṭī justified Qānṣawh al-Ghawrī’s reign in the light of the previous succession crisis in his unedited work ‚ al-Majmūʿ al-bustān al-nawrī li-ḥaḍrat mawlānā al-Sulṭān al-Ghawrī ‘. After preliminary theoretical remarks and a contextualization of the author and his work it will be shown that in the text under study, al-Malaṭī mainly described Sultan al-Ghawrī’s deeds and achievements. Accordingly, al-Malaṭī addressed the man-made experience of contingency during the succession crisis by focusing on the intra-mundane actions of the ruler he praised. He thus stepped out of the common tradition of Arabic panegyric works in the later Islamic middle period which usually emphasized the ruler’s immutable moral qualities and virtues and paid much less attention to his individual actions. Moreover, al-Malaṭī’s work is notably devoid of any attempts to legitimize al-Ghawrī’s rule on religious grounds.

After the collapse of the Abbasid Empire as a result of the Mongol conquest of Bagdad in 1258, a number of Sunni Muslim scholars perceived the sudden absence of the caliphate, an important Islamic political institution, as an experience of contingency. The emergence of the Mamluk dynasty (1250–1517) in Egypt and Syria caused an additional experience of contingency: the crisis of legitimacy of the Mamluk rulers. Furthermore, the Mamluks and their legal scholars did not assiduously apply the Shariʿa provisions to practical politics – theoretically, however, they accepted it in order to legitimize their rule over the so-called Islamicate regions. In some of his works, the Damascene Muslim scholar Taqī ad-Dīn Aḥmad Ibn Taymīya (d. 1328) faces up to these three experiences of contingency. This article therefore examines how Ibn Taymīya perceived these three phenomena and sheds light on the complex layers of strategies that he uses in order to cope with the experiences of contingency.

In the course of the 11 th century, the economic and demographic growth within the Italian cities and its consequential social problems led to an increasing tension between the aristocratic vassal milieu comprising the bishop on one side and the urban elites on the other. Amongst others, one consequence was the takeover of domination by communal institutions resulting in an independent political participation of the citizens. However, these new communes suffered from a lack of legitimacy. The contemporaries were well aware of the contingency of the communes. The communal discourse as taught in the rhetoric system of the ars dictaminis reveals how domination was conceptualized in the 12 th century.

Gregory of Tours’s oeuvre is one of the few testimonies of the Merovingian Early Middle Ages. The paper illustrates that the experience of contingency and the attempt to overcome it during a time of civil war were the situation in which the ‚Libri historiarum decem‘ originated. Among other things, this becomes apparent in the composition of the ten books. Furthermore, the Merovingian kingship is a recurring motive of the text. The paper illustrates how genealogy, which can be used to conceal disruptions and discontinuities, was instrumentalized to serve as legitimation.

Rooted in the Turco-Iranian Islamicate context of Transoxania, the Mughal dynasty met different experiences of contingency when establishing a new dominion on the subcontinent. This contribution focusses on the strategies to legitimize domination developed by the Mughals in a context of contingency, examining both the bureaucratic and the ideological sphere. Particular emphasis will be placed on a narratological examination of the ‚Maǧālis-i Ǧahāngīrī‘ by ʿAbd al-Sattār b. Qāsim Lāhōrī and the text‘s narrative strategies to represent the emperor as a kind of ‚insurance against contingencies‘.

The 1703 rebellion, known as the ‚Event of Edirne‘ or as the ‚Event of Feyżullāh Efendi‘, challenged the Ottoman state. It resulted in the killing of the Grand Mufti Feyżullāh Efendi (1639–1703), who had been despised by various insurgent groups at the court for his nepotism, the deposition of the ruling sultan Muṣṭafā II, and the ascension of his brother Aḥmed III to the throne. In his treatise ‚Feyżullāh Efendi Vaḳʿası‘, the court chronicler Muṣṭafā Naʿīmā Efendi (1655–1716) addresses the ruler and important dignitaries with his description of this event. As it was the contemporary custom, the treatise bears strong didactic features. Naʿīmā relied on astrological interpretations in order to explain the cause of the rebellion. This kind of narrative is a particular feature of Naʿīmā‘s modus operandi, on which this article will focus. It examines how Naʿīmā, in his role as the official historiographer, applies this explanation by use of narrative elements, and goes on to examine the institutional significance of astrology in the context of Ottoman court culture. It is obvious that Naʿīmā perceived the rebellion as an experience of contingency. According to his analysis, however, the 1703 rebellion was not the inevitable outcome of mismanagement at court, but could rather have been foreseen years ago by means of astrological calculations. Based on this reasoning, the historiographer was able to provide Ottoman rule with the required continuity, i.e. its legitimization.

The Frankish Emperor Louis (later called the Pious), only surviving son of Charlemagne, always made it clear that he understood his rule over the Franks as derived directly from God. In 833, however, Louis had to face the second rebellion within three years, and this time, while preparing battle against his three sons, he was deserted by his army on the so-called Field of Lies near Colmar in Alsace and thus was informally deposed. Among those who played an active part in the events in Colmar and later in Compiègne, where Louis was forced to accede to a public penance, was Archbishop Agobard of Lyon. His ‘Libri apologetici’, written in the summer and autumn of 833, bear powerful witness to the difficulties that contemporaries experienced when trying to legitimate the rebellion against a ruler believed to be installed by God.

The period between after the death of an-Nāṣir Muḥammad b. Qalāwūn in 1341 and the rise of the first Circassian Sultan in 1382 was characterized by the emirs’ struggle for domination in the Mamluk Empire. This led to a rapid succession of twelve puppet sultans, each of which was installed only to be removed shortly after his enthronement and to be replaced by another one. This paper investigates the narrative strategies to deal with these circumstances in the chronicle of the historian Ibn Kaṯīr ‘al-Bidāya wa-n-nihāya‘. In his account on the remarkable succession of sultans, he explains their political failure as a result of their immoral way of life. The paper will hence show how Ibn Kaṯīr uses a religious narrative to overcome the contingency of the unstable political period.

Gerd Althoff , „Selig sind, die Verfolgung ausüben“ . Päpste und Gewalt im Hochmittelalter. Stuttgart, Konrad Theiss Verlag 2013, 254 S. ( Wendelin Knoch: Hattingen, E-Mail: wendelin.knoch@ruhr-uni-bochum.de) Günter Bayerl , Technik in Mittelalter und Früher Neuzeit . Stuttgart, Konrad Theiss Verlag GmbH 2013. 199 S. 101 Abb. ( Christian Scholl: Münster, E-Mail: christian.scholl@uni-muenster.de) Andrea Beck/Andreas Berndt (Hgg.) , Sakralität und Sakralisierung . Perspektiven des Heiligen (Beiträge zur Hagiographie 13). Stuttgart, Franz Steiner 2013. 210 S. ( Peter Gemeinhardt: Göttingen, E-Mail: Peter.Gemeinhardt@theologie.uni-goettingen.de) Jochen Bepler/Christian Heitzmann (Hgg.) , Der Albani-Psalter . Stand und Perspektiven der Forschung. Hildesheim, Olms 2013. 230 S. ( Gia Toussaint: Hamburg, E-Mail: gia.toussaint@uni-hamburg.de) Andreas Bihrer , Begegnungen zwischen dem ostfränkisch-deutschen Reich und England (850–1100) . Kontakte – Konstellationen – Funktionalisierungen – Wirkungen (Mittelalter-Forschungen 39). Stuttgart, Thorbecke 2012. 668 S. ( Sören Kaschke: Köln, E-Mail: soeren.kaschke@uni-koeln.de) Anna-Maria Blank/Vera Isaiasz/Nadine Lehmann (Hgg.) , BILD – MACHT – UnORDNUNG . Visuelle Repräsentationen zwischen Stabilität und Konflikt (Eigene und Fremde Welten 24). Frankfurt am Main, Campus 2011. 317 S. ( Anja Rathmann-Lutz: Basel, E-Mail: anja.lutz@unibas.ch) Karl-Heinz Braun, Mathias Herweg, Hans W. Hubert, Joachim Schneider u. Thomas Hotz (Hgg.) , Das Konstanzer Konzil . Essays. Darmstadt, Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft 2013. 248 S. 60. ( Thomas Woelki: Berlin, E-Mail: woelkith@geschichte.hu-berlin.de) Erhard Brepohl , Theophilus Presbyter und das mittelalterliche Kunsthandwerk . Gesamtausgabe der Schrift ‚De diversis artibus‘ in einem Band, 2. Aufl. Köln/Weimar/Wien, Böhlau 2013. 511 S. ( Ingrid Baumgärtner: Kassel, E-Mail: ibaum@uni-kassel.de) Andrea Denke , Konrad Grünembergs Pilgerreise ins Heilige Land 1486 . Untersuchung, Edition und Kommentar (Stuttgarter Historische Forschungen, Bd. 11). Köln/Weimar/Wien, Böhlau Verlag 2011. 587 S. ( Ekkehart Rotter: Bad Vilbel, E-Mail: mail@ekkehart-rotter.de) Gerhard Fouquet/Gabriel Zeilinger , Katastrophen im Spätmittelalter . Darmstadt/Mainz, Philipp von Zabern 2011. 172 S. ( Stefanie Dick: Kassel, E-Mail: stefanie.dick@uni-kassel.de) Johannes Fried , Karl der Große . Gewalt und Glaube. Eine Biographie. München, C. H. Beck 2013. 736 S. ( Michael Dallapiazza: Prato-Urbino, E-Mail: m.dallapiazza@uniurb.it) Hans-Werner Goetz , Gott und die Welt . Religiöse Vorstellungen des frühen und hohen Mittelalters. Teil I, Bd. 2: II. Die materielle Schöpfung: Kosmos und Welt, III. Die Welt als Heilsgeschehen (Orbis mediaevalis 13.2). Berlin, Akademie Verlag 2012. 320 S. ( Thomas Vogtherr: Osnabrück, E-Mail: Thomas.Vogtherr@uni-osnabrueck.de) Martina/Wilfried Hartmann , Karl der Große und seine Zeit . Die 101 wichtigsten Fragen. München, C. H. Beck 2014, 160 S. ( Klaus Oschema: Heidelberg, E-Mail: klaus.oschema@zegk.uni-heidelberg.de) Bernd-Ulrich Hergemöller , Uplop – Seditio: Innerstädtische Unruhen des 14. und 15. Jahrhunderts im engeren Reichsgebiet . Schematisierte vergleichende Konfliktanalyse (Studien zur Geschichtsforschung des Mittelalters 128). Hamburg, Dr. Kovač 2012, 293 S. ( Michael Hecht: Münster, E-Mail: michael.hecht@uni-muenster.de) Charlotte Klack-Eitzen, Wiebke Haase u. Tanja Weißgraf , Heilige Röcke . Kleider für Skulpturen im Kloster Wienhausen. Regensburg, Schnell und Steiner 2013. 184 S. ( Gia Toussaint: Hamburg, E-Mail: gia.toussaint@uni-hamburg.de) Florian Kragl , Heldenzeit . Interpretationen zur Dietrichepik des 13. bis 16. Jahrhunderts. Heidelberg, Universitätsverlag Winter 2013. 593 S. ( Michael Dallapiazza: Prato-Urbino, E-Mail: michael.dallapiazza@uniurb.it) Andreas Külzer , Byzanz . Stuttgart, Theiss 2012. 177 S. – Reinhard Pohanka , Das byzantinische Reich . Wiesbaden, Marixverlag 2013. 191 S. ( Michael Grünbart : Münster, E-Mail: gruenbart@uni-muenster.de) Ralph W. Mathisen/Danuta Shanzer (Hgg.) , The Battle of Vouille, 507 CE: Where France Began (Millennium-Studien 37) . Boston/Berlin, De Gruyter 2012. XXVI, 216 S. ( Guido M. Berndt: Erlangen-Nürnberg, E-Mail: guido.berndt@fau.de) The Medieval Legends of Philosophers and Scholars (Micrologus XXI). Firenze, SISMEL – Edizioni del Galluzzo 2013. 634 S.­­ ( Henryk Anzulewicz: Bonn, E-Mail: anzulewicz@albertus-magnus-institut.de) Wolfgang Metternich , Teufel, Geister und Dämonen . Das Unheimliche in der Kunst des Mittelalters. Darmstadt, Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft 2011. 144 S. ( Angelica Rieger: Aachen, E-Mail: mail@angelica-rieger.de) Cordula Nolte (Hg.) , Phänomene der „Behinderung“ im Alltag . Bausteine zu einer Disability History der Vormoderne (Studien und Texte zur Geistes- und Sozialgeschichte des Mittelalters 8). Affalterbach, Didymos-Verlag 2013. 368 S. ( Hans-Werner Goetz: Hamburg, E-Mail: Hans-Werner.Goetz@uni-hamburg.de) Irven M. Resnick (Hg.) , A Companion to Albert the Great . Theology, Philosophy, and the Sciences (Brill’s Companions to the Christian Tradition 38). Leiden, Brill 2013. 833 S. ( Jörg Alejandro Tellkamp: Mexiko-Stadt, E-Mail: tlkp@xanum.uam.mx) Janina M. Safran , Defining Boundaries in al-Andalus . Muslims, Christians, and Jews in Islamic Iberia. Ithaca NY, Cornell University Press 2013. 272 S. ( Christian Saßenscheidt: Erlangen, E-Mail: christian.sassenscheidt@gesch.phil.uni-erlangen.de) Barbara Stollberg-Rilinger/Thomas Weissbrich (Hgg.) , Die Bildlichkeit symbolischer Akte . Symbolische Kommunikation und gesellschaftliche Wertesysteme (Schriftenreihe des Sonderforschungsbereichs 496 Bd. 28). Münster, Rhema 2010. 411 S. ( Vera v. der Osten-Sacken: Berlin, E-Mail: ostensav@hu-berlin.de) Roland Zingg , Die Briefsammlungen der Erzbischöfe von Canterbury 1070–1170 . Kommunikation und Argumentation im Zeitalter der Investiturkonflikte (Zürcher Beiträge zur Geschichtswissenschaft 1). Köln/Weimar/Wien, Böhlau Verlag 2012. 343 S. ( Georg Strack: München, E-Mail: georg.strack@lmu.de)