Normbegründung, Normgenese und Öffentlichkeit der "guten" Policey – die Reichsstadt Ulm in der Frühen Neuzeit

English Abstract:

Averting God's scourge. On the justification of urban ordinances in the context of famine, epidemic and war in the early modern period. The example of the imperial city of Ulm ca. 1500-1802. Doctoral thesis TU Dresden 2022.

Famines, plagues and wars were experienced by almost everyone in the early modern period. It is also undisputed that these events were interpreted as God's punishment. God punished when people could not be kept from sinning in any other way. Therefore, it was not only in sermons that people were warned against infrigments. The secular legislators also referred to God's judgment in their preambles. This is the starting point of my work. It examines on a broad empirical basis the normative justifications of early modern ordinances (“Policeygesetze”). The focus is on the justifications of emergency measures enacted in the context of famine, pestilence, and war, since here a reference to divine punishment in the ordinances is particularly likely. Overall, however, it appears that the Ulm magistrate made rather sparing use of the argumentation with divine punishment. This finding suggests that previous research theses on preambles should be reviewed. So far, the frequent and stereotypical repetitions have been pointed out as serving religious propaganda. In contrast, I propose to examine preambles more closely. My quantitative analysis revises the assumed frequency. Also, the formulations were in many cases revised and adapted to the "circumstances of the norms" (A. Holenstein). The thesis that a secularization process can be read from the preambles could not be confirmed. The work explores the various types of normative justifications and shows their different functions. Among other things, they served as discursive markers of distress. Furthermore, they were part of symbolic communication, as the necessary assistance of God was requested with appropriate effort. Towards enemies, they could signal readiness for battle or for peace. Finally, a comparative typology of alternative normative justifications is contrasted. Overall, the work shows that the rhetoric of "good" order and “policey” was by no means rigid. It was embedded in a variety of discourses. The work argues for a closer examination of this part of political language in the future. The printing of the work is being prepared. (Sebastian Frenzel, Mai 2023)