This introduction places the forum contributions in the wider context of the “spatial turn” within the humanities and social sciences. Following a survey of the historical trajectories of the field, a review of impulses from different disciplines, and a sketch of general developments over the last few decades, the editors exemplify key approaches, methods, and conceptual advances with reference to gender studies. The focus then turns to the structure, main themes, and specific contents of this collection, which features both case studies and theoretical reflections. In conclusion, the essay underlines the significance and further potential of the “spatial turn.”
Historiographical perceptions of early modern politics and government are undergoing a process of rapid reassessment. As a result of ever more detailed research on state-formation in general and the growth of regulatory activities in particular, 1 long-cherished generalisations such as 'absolutism' are being applied with increasing caution. 2 While central governments throughoutEurope certainly tried to devise administrative machineries allowing them to run their countries with maximum efficiency and minimum interference by rival authorities, the reality 'was not so simple'. 3 Quite apart from the problems presented by the persistent survival of local peculiarities and the lack of a fully developed bureaucracy to enforce all the new directives, the role of the estates and the 'people' attracts increasing attention; not only their continued influence on the government of villages, towns and parishes, 4 but also on the larger political units of counties, provinces and entire kingdoms. State formation, to summarise the overall impression, now appears more like a dynamic process of communication between centre and localities rather than a one-sided drive towards ever greater penetration or acculturation.
5This essay hopes to throw some more light on these developments by focusing on two very heterogeneous case studies in the period between the sixteenth and eighteenth centuries.
This paper explores the relationship between drinking and public space in early modern Bavaria (Germany) and Bern (Swiss Confederation). Contemporaries drank alcohol mainly on sociable occasions and in public houses. Due both to mounting demand (greater spatial mobility) and to supply (potentially high income for publicans), the number of establishments increased between 1500 and 1800. Most emerged near markets and thoroughfares. Closer analysis reveals the spatial ambiguity of early modern inns, taverns and alehouses. While obliged to grant access to the “public,” they were simultaneously “private” households of their keepers. Furthermore, individual rooms were not invariably marked as “public” or “private” but were opened or closed depending on specific occasions. As social sites, public houses became contested spaces, reflecting the conflicting interests of authorities, patrons and publicans. The provision of victuals, sociability and public services helped to stabilize communities, while alcohol-related violence and unrest could challenge the existing order.
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