Papers by Bart Holterman
Jahrbuch für Wirtschaftsgeschichte, Apr 15, 2023
The current work was defended as a PhD thesis at the Faculty of Humanities of the University of H... more The current work was defended as a PhD thesis at the Faculty of Humanities of the University of Hamburg in 2019. The supervisors were Jürgen Sarnowsky (University of Hamburg) as primary and Carsten Jahnke (University of Copenhagen) as secondary. The work you are reading now is a slightly revised version of this thesis, with minor points added or corrected, and an updated bibliography. However, the publication of this book marks only the end of a process that was set in course long before I started to work on the subject. At an interdisciplinary conference about the medieval North Atlantic trade in Avaldsnes, Norway, in 2013, the idea came up that it would be good if someone would compile an extensive overview of the German trade with the North Atlantic, based on historical written sources. This idea was included in the project "Between the North Sea and the Norwegian Sea: Interdisciplinary Studies of the Hanse", which was led by Natascha Mehler, funded by the Leibniz Association, and took place at the German Maritime Museum in Bremerhaven from 2015 to 2018. It included a PhD position for a historian, at which point I entered the process. It has been a great pleasure to work as part of this wonderfully inspiring interdisciplinary project, and my sincerest gratitude goes out to Natascha Mehler, whose advice and feedback on the texts, enthusiasm for the North Atlantic islands, and interdisciplinary research have been incredibly helpful. The same goes for the other team members, Mike Belasus and Hans Christian Küchelmann, and associated researchers Philipp Grassel and Florian Dirks, for their ideas and comments from different perspectives. For the archival work in various countries, I owe thanks to Adolf Hofmeister, Hrefna Róbertsdóttir, and Símun Arge, who acquainted me with the archives and the sources, as well as Brian Smith and John Ballantyne, who have been very helpful in providing me with and helping me to understand the sources written in sixteenth-century Scots. Alessia Bauer and Philip Lavender helped me with the Icelandic sources. Of great value has also been the work of Inga Lange, who transcribed large parts of the donation register of the confraternity of St Anne, as well as John Nicholls and Hans Martin Horst for programming and entering data into the source database HANSdoc. Conversations with many people have helped me to sharpen my thoughts and have provided valuable input, both related to content and on a more general level.
Two sixteenth-century tapestries depict the Jerusalem pilgrimage of Count Palatine Ottheinrich of... more Two sixteenth-century tapestries depict the Jerusalem pilgrimage of Count Palatine Ottheinrich of the Palatinate-Neuburg in 1521. They show a landscape of the Holy Land, with prominently the city of Jerusalem, and the surrounding holy places, indicated by biblical scenes. Furthermore, actual pilgrimage experiences of the Count are displayed, such as attacks by Turkish soldiers, pilgrims moving around in Jerusalem, and fellow travellers drowning in the River Jordan. Below the city of Jerusalem on one of the tapestries, prayer portraits of Ottheinrich and his travel companions can be seen. A slightly older panel depicts the pilgrimage of Elector Frederick III the Wise of Saxony (1493) in a similar fashion. On the back of the panel, the prayer portraits of pilgrims from the Nuremberg merchant Ketzel family are depicted. Moreover, documentary evidence supports the historical existence of at least two more similar panels, suggesting that these objects are closely related. This thesis explores these objects within the late medieval commemoration of the Jerusalem pilgrimage in other forms and media, both within and outside modern Germany, and argues that they consitute a distinct commemorative theme which was appropriated by various pilgrims over time. It is assessed how these objects came into being, how they were related and influenced each other. Moreover, it is discussed which factors drove the process of appropriation by subsequent actors in light of the socio-political context in which they came into being. It relates closely to themes such as the Reformation, the advance of the Ottoman Turks in Europe, the self-image of the nobility in light of chivalric and crusading ideals, and the use of pilgrimage as a means to rise in social status
Jahrbuch für Wirtschaftsgeschichte, Apr 15, 2023
Viabundus.eu is a freely accessible online street map of late medieval and early modern northern ... more Viabundus.eu is a freely accessible online street map of late medieval and early modern northern Europe (1350-1650). Originally conceived as the digitisation of Friedrich Bruns and Hugo Weczerka's <em>Hansische Handelsstraßen</em> (1962) atlas of land roads in the Hanseatic area, the Viabundus map moves beyond that. It includes among others: a database with information about settlements, towns, tolls, staple markets and other information relevant for the pre-modern traveller; a route calculator; a calendar of fairs; and additional land routes as well as water ways. Viabundus is a work in progress. Version 1.0, released on 19 April 2021, contains a rough digitisation of the land routes from <em>Hansische Handelsstraßen</em>, as well as a thoroughly researched road network for the current-day Netherlands and the German states of Lower Saxony, Schleswig-Holstein, Thuringia and Saxony-Anhalt. The pre-modern road network of Denmark will be added soon; the incl...
Viabundus.eu is a freely accessible online street map of late medieval and early modern northern ... more Viabundus.eu is a freely accessible online street map of late medieval and early modern northern Europe (1350-1650). Originally conceived as the digitisation of Friedrich Bruns and Hugo Weczerka's <em>Hansische Handelsstraßen</em> (1962) atlas of land roads in the Hanseatic area, the Viabundus map moves beyond that. It includes among others: a database with information about settlements, towns, tolls, staple markets and other information relevant for the pre-modern traveller; a route calculator; a calendar of fairs; and additional land routes as well as water ways. Viabundus is a work in progress. Version 1.0, released on 19 April 2021, contains a rough digitisation of the land routes from <em>Hansische Handelsstraßen</em>, as well as a thoroughly researched road network for the current-day Netherlands and the German states of Lower Saxony, Schleswig-Holstein, Thuringia and Saxony-Anhalt. The pre-modern road network of Denmark will be added soon; the incl...
The current work was defended as a PhD thesis at the Faculty of Humanities of the University of H... more The current work was defended as a PhD thesis at the Faculty of Humanities of the University of Hamburg in 2019. The supervisors were Jürgen Sarnowsky (University of Hamburg) as primary and Carsten Jahnke (University of Copenhagen) as secondary. The work you are reading now is a slightly revised version of this thesis, with minor points added or corrected, and an updated bibliography. However, the publication of this book marks only the end of a process that was set in course long before I started to work on the subject. At an interdisciplinary conference about the medieval North Atlantic trade in Avaldsnes, Norway, in 2013, the idea came up that it would be good if someone would compile an extensive overview of the German trade with the North Atlantic, based on historical written sources. This idea was included in the project "Between the North Sea and the Norwegian Sea: Interdisciplinary Studies of the Hanse", which was led by Natascha Mehler, funded by the Leibniz Association, and took place at the German Maritime Museum in Bremerhaven from 2015 to 2018. It included a PhD position for a historian, at which point I entered the process. It has been a great pleasure to work as part of this wonderfully inspiring interdisciplinary project, and my sincerest gratitude goes out to Natascha Mehler, whose advice and feedback on the texts, enthusiasm for the North Atlantic islands, and interdisciplinary research have been incredibly helpful. The same goes for the other team members, Mike Belasus and Hans Christian Küchelmann, and associated researchers Philipp Grassel and Florian Dirks, for their ideas and comments from different perspectives. For the archival work in various countries, I owe thanks to Adolf Hofmeister, Hrefna Róbertsdóttir, and Símun Arge, who acquainted me with the archives and the sources, as well as Brian Smith and John Ballantyne, who have been very helpful in providing me with and helping me to understand the sources written in sixteenth-century Scots. Alessia Bauer and Philip Lavender helped me with the Icelandic sources. Of great value has also been the work of Inga Lange, who transcribed large parts of the donation register of the confraternity of St Anne, as well as John Nicholls and Hans Martin Horst for programming and entering data into the source database HANSdoc. Conversations with many people have helped me to sharpen my thoughts and have provided valuable input, both related to content and on a more general level.
In the past, Hanseatic research has mainly focused on the major players such as Lübeck, Hamburg, ... more In the past, Hanseatic research has mainly focused on the major players such as Lübeck, Hamburg, Cologne or Danzig, whereas small towns were assumed to have played only a subordinate role. The definition of "small towns" was thereby primarily based on negotiations during the Hanseatic Diets of the 15th century. Besides these discussions, however, these towns are hardly represented in the classic Hanseatic sources and therefore largely remain absent in Hanseatic research. For this reason, the workshop for junior researchers of the 'Hansischer Geschichtsverein', which took place in Stendal in 2018 under the topic "Underestimated small towns in the Hansa?-New ideas of research", aimed to take a look at the less well-studied towns that always acted in the shadow of the "large" Hanseatic cities. The role of these small towns within the Hanseatic system, the advantages and disadvantages of membership in the Hanseatic League and the definition of such membership were questioned. Three case studies were selected, by which the participants discussed the topic: the towns of Westphalia and Pomerania and the city of Bocholt in Münsterland. Based on these case studies, it is possible to identify three factors which largely define the role of a certain town within the Hanseatic commercial network: first, Hanse-specific factors such as the use of Hanseatic privileges or structures or the presence in the Hanseatic settlements abroad ("Kontore"). Second, regional structures such as urban institutions, political relations and structures of power. And third, conditions specific for a certain region, which largely defined the commercial and political development of a town. Researching the role of small towns within the Hanse therefore requires not only a regional and local historical perspective and knowledge, but also the use of sources outside of the Hanseatic standard repertory of the Hanserecesse and Hansisches Urkundenbuch.
Deutsche Schiffahrt. Informationen des Fördervereins Deutsches Schiffahrtsmuseum e.V., 2021
AmS-Skrifter
Gautavík is a well-known archaeological site on the east coast of Iceland. It was partially excav... more Gautavík is a well-known archaeological site on the east coast of Iceland. It was partially excavated in 1979 and interpreted as a seasonal occupied trading site, abandoned shortly after c. 1500. However, recent archaeological research on the excavated ceramics, which hitherto had not been studied in detail, raised doubts about the interpretation regarding the dating and function of the site. New research was then initiated that included an investigation of written documents in the archives of Bremen, Hamburg, and Copenhagen, pertaining to the trade with Iceland during the sixteenth century. On the basis of the new results presented here we now interpret Gautavík to have been a trading harbour that also included a farm, at least periodically, occupied from the late twelfth century, at the latest, until shortly before 1600. Gautavík was a place of supra-regional importance, being the main port of entry in Berufjörður during the medieval period. In the sixteenth century, however, Gau...
AmS-Skrifter
Gautavík is a well-known archaeological site on the east coast of Iceland. It was partially excav... more Gautavík is a well-known archaeological site on the east coast of Iceland. It was partially excavated in 1979 and interpreted as a seasonal occupied trading site, abandoned shortly after c. 1500. However, recent archaeological research on the excavated ceramics, which hitherto had not been studied in detail, raised doubts about the interpretation regarding the dating and function of the site. New research was then initiated that included an investigation of written documents in the archives of Bremen, Hamburg, and Copenhagen, pertaining to the trade with Iceland during the sixteenth century. On the basis of the new results presented here we now interpret Gautavík to have been a trading harbour that also included a farm, at least periodically, occupied from the late twelfth century, at the latest, until shortly before 1600. Gautavík was a place of supra-regional importance, being the main port of entry in Berufjörður during the medieval period. In the sixteenth century, however, Gau...
Conferences, Workshops, Talks and Lectures by Bart Holterman
Books by Bart Holterman
The current work was defended as a PhD thesis at the Faculty of Humanities of the University of H... more The current work was defended as a PhD thesis at the Faculty of Humanities of the University of Hamburg in 2019. The supervisors were Jürgen Sarnowsky (University of Hamburg) as primary and Carsten Jahnke (University of Copenhagen) as secondary. The work you are reading now is a slightly revised version of this thesis, with minor points added or corrected, and an updated bibliography. However, the publication of this book marks only the end of a process that was set in course long before I started to work on the subject. At an interdisciplinary conference about the medieval North Atlantic trade in Avaldsnes, Norway, in 2013, the idea came up that it would be good if someone would compile an extensive overview of the German trade with the North Atlantic, based on historical written sources. This idea was included in the project "Between the North Sea and the Norwegian Sea: Interdisciplinary Studies of the Hanse", which was led by Natascha Mehler, funded by the Leibniz Association, and took place at the German Maritime Museum in Bremerhaven from 2015 to 2018. It included a PhD position for a historian, at which point I entered the process. It has been a great pleasure to work as part of this wonderfully inspiring interdisciplinary project, and my sincerest gratitude goes out to Natascha Mehler, whose advice and feedback on the texts, enthusiasm for the North Atlantic islands, and interdisciplinary research have been incredibly helpful. The same goes for the other team members, Mike Belasus and Hans Christian Küchelmann, and associated researchers Philipp Grassel and Florian Dirks, for their ideas and comments from different perspectives. For the archival work in various countries, I owe thanks to Adolf Hofmeister, Hrefna Róbertsdóttir, and Símun Arge, who acquainted me with the archives and the sources, as well as Brian Smith and John Ballantyne, who have been very helpful in providing me with and helping me to understand the sources written in sixteenth-century Scots. Alessia Bauer and Philip Lavender helped me with the Icelandic sources. Of great value has also been the work of Inga Lange, who transcribed large parts of the donation register of the confraternity of St Anne, as well as John Nicholls and Hans Martin Horst for programming and entering data into the source database HANSdoc. Conversations with many people have helped me to sharpen my thoughts and have provided valuable input, both related to content and on a more general level.
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Papers by Bart Holterman
Conferences, Workshops, Talks and Lectures by Bart Holterman
Books by Bart Holterman