Working Group 3: Public and Legal Spheres

Objective:

We investigate the complex relationship between public and legal spheres in early modern Central Europe, with a focus on print culture. By adopting a comparative and transregional perspective, we highlight cross-border connections that played a crucial role in shaping public discourse and the spread of ideas.

Key themes are

• to understand how legal frameworks, such as censorship, printing privileges, and trading regulations, influenced the book trade and the circulation of knowledge
• to analyze the impact of religious diversity on the formation of public and legal spheres. Central Europe’s confessional heterogeneity, including Protestant, Orthodox Christian, Islamic, and Jewish influences, deeply affected book production and distribution. We examine clandestine Protestant book networks during the Counter-Reformation, the role of Orthodox and Islamic print culture in southeastern Europe, and Jewish book trading networks in cities like Prague.
• to explore the dynamics of early modern book markets, particularly the interactions between urban centers and rural peripheries. It studies semi-official trading networks that facilitated knowledge exchange in regions often overlooked by traditional research. Additionally, we investigate literacy policies and educational initiatives in newly integrated territories like the Banat after the Ottoman defeat in the early 18th century.

By addressing these themes, we aim to provide a deeper understanding of how legal, religious, and economic factors shaped the development of public spheres and the dissemination of knowledge in Central Europe.

Activities:

2026 | Organization of Spring Conference

2027 | Organization of Summer YRI School together with WG 5

2028 | Organization of Summer YRI School together with WG 4