Rebellion und Herrschertreue

Overview & Synopsis

On the grey areas of subjects’ loyalty to the Habsburgs: Sabrina Rospert reinterprets the history of the uprising and the reorganisation of Hungary in the early 1670s. Absolutism and political arbitrariness – for a long time, these attributes were associated with the Viennese court’s reactions to the Hungarian uprisings of the early 1670s. In her study, Sabrina Rospert questions the Habsburgs’ unrestricted exercise of power for the first time: research in Austrian, Hungarian and Slovak administrative and local archives reveals not so much the extent of the authorities’ investigations as the relevance of distinguishing between forms of behaviour compliant with the authorities and open rebellion. The Viennese court relied on a broad policy of clemency and granted members of the estates (individuals, towns, counties) the right to renew their allegiance. Rehabilitation was an integral part of Habsburg power communication. At the intersection of revolt research and the paradigm of political communication, this study thus examines questions concerning the ‘perception threshold’ of rebellion; the micro-politics of endangered loyalty; and the diversity of forms of expression of defiance and loyalty to the ruler, particularly as reflected in confessional political conflicts in the Central European region of the early modern period.