Abstract

The “Scopes of Action” of “Small” Princes. A New Research Design Tested on the Dukes of Pommern-Stolp (1372–1459)

Lately within medieval studies there has been an increased focus on “small” princes. These “small” princes represented the more extensive part of the so-called rank of Imperial princes, the other part of which was represented by important and very well researched dynasties such as the Habsburgs, Luxembourgers, the House of Wittelsbach, or the House of Hohenzollern. In these investigations scholars like to point out that the majority of “small” princes had been, in the best cases, of medium power, mostly of minimum power, and seemingly had almost no “scopes of action” within the imperial structure. This mostly unverified paradigm is now the subject of an innovative approach within political history, which understands politics as spaces of action and communication, in which processes of negotiation and decisions take place. Using such an approach this article will examine the little-known example of the Dukes of Pommern-Stolp (1372–1459). It will particularly focus upon the relationships the dukes had with their neighbors as well as their marriage politics in order to describe the “scopes of actions” available to these dukes. By using this approach, it can be demonstrated that the “scopes of action” available to the dukes was considerably greater than previous thought. Above all this the article demonstrates that researching dynastic relations can free historians from the teleological clutches of popular regional history, which declares the establishment and development of territorial lordship the norm and tries to measure the achievements of a princely house by this norm.

Thus, the investigation of the “scopes of action” of “small” princes helps to achieve a better understanding of princedom in the middle ages.