070317 UE Guided Reading Medieval History (2023W)

What is propaganda? Most people think of it as influence and political opinion-making; others think of it in terms of its social consequences, which today's social media make particularly visible. Others think of it as an instrument of religious fanaticism or historically; as an instrument of totalitarian regimes that use state propaganda to keep their own population quiet. For others, it is a side effect of wars and conflicts. But most people see it - not least because of the term itself - as a modern phenomenon. Yet it has timeless qualities; its aspects of supporting legitimacy and stabilising order were already appreciated by the rulers of the late Middle Ages. Even then, however, they were afraid of its flip side, i.e. the order-destroying potential of the dissemination of rumours, songs, pamphlets or images, which could also strongly influence the supposedly mass-media-less society of the pre-modern era and its forms of government: For the aims of the propagandists are comparable to those of the modern age: they ranged from the targeted damage to the reputation of individuals to the radicalisation of entire groups of people, which was difficult to control. The aim of the event will be to approach forms of medieval propaganda in a multi-perspective manner and to understand their functions, but also the challenges for the historian to understand them in their temporal context.

The following areas are discussed in terms of content:
1) Concept and terminology: general approach to the concept of 'propaganda' and its functional subcategories (especially the intentions and means of propaganda). The focus is on its genesis since the early modern period, its change in the early 20th century (political PR), its appropriation by totalitarian regimes and the Cold War, as well as the resulting reluctance in some (national) fields of research to use it.
2) Modern vs. pre-modern propaganda: what are the main differences with modernity and what can be compared? What picture do the sources give us of medieval society as a media target? Which different forms of propaganda (positive, negative, mixed forms) can be traced and how?
3) Media, actors and strategies of late medieval propaganda: Which visual, oral and written means did pre-modern propagandists use to convince their audience? Who were the initiators of propaganda and how did they select their target group? Were there even interest groups with a preference for the 'media battle'? What strategies (rhetorical, staging, visual) did they use to address their target group? What 'countermeasures' were taken by the rulers or institutions close to the rulers against propagandist activities?
4) Medieval propaganda and its traces of transmission: Which political, economic, cultural or social context favours the transmission of propaganda? How does modern historiography deal with distorted images from the past