Cultural Exchange in Early Modern Europe

This volume surveys the crucial role of cities in shaping cultural exchange in early modern Europe.

Donatella Calabi (Edited by), Stephen Turk Christensen (Edited by), Robert Muchembled (General editor), William Monter (Author)

9781107412798, European Science Foundation

Paperback / softback, published 17 January 2013

454 pages
22.6 x 15.2 x 3 cm, 0.6 kg

'For historians of religion, volume one contains some real treats … Beautifully illustrated, finely argued, and richly researched, it is genuine scholarship of highest order. … this book makes a real contribution to our understanding of European religion between 1400 and 1700.' Church Times

As transfer points between different economic and cultural zones, cities are crucial to shaping processes of cultural exchange. Urban culture embraces cultural traits borrowed or imported from afar and those of local neighbourhoods, professions and social groups, yet it also offers possibilities for the survival of minority identities. This volume compares the characteristics and patterns of change in the spaces, sites and building, which expressed and shaped inter-cultural relationships within the cities of early modern Europe, especially in their ethnic, religious and international dimensions. A central theme is the role of foreigners and the spaces and buildings associated with them from ghettos, churches and hospitals to colleges, inns and markets. Individual studies include Greeks in Italian cities and London; the 'Cities of Jews' in Italy and the place of ghettos in the European imagination; and the contributions of foreign merchants to the growth of Amsterdam as a commercial metropolis.

Part I. Introduction: 1. Cities and cultural exchange Derek Keene
2. Nodes, networks and hinterlands Alexander Cowan
3. Cities and foreigners James S. Amelang
Part II. Presence and Reception of Foreigners: 4. Introduction to Part II Marc Boone and Heleni Porfyriou
5. The Greek diaspora: Italian port cities and London, c.1400–1700 Jonathan Harris and Heleni Porfyriou
6. 'The city of Jews' in Europe: the conservation and transmission of Jewish culture Donatella Calabi, Dorothea Nolde and Roni Weinstein
7. Foreigners at the Threshold of Felicity: the reception of foreigners in Ottoman Istanbul Edhem Eldem
8. Merchants and immigrants in Hanseatic cities, c.1500–1700 Marie-Louise Pelus-Kaplan
9. Foreign merchant communities in Bruges, Antwerp, and Amsterdam, c.1350–1650 Bruno Blondé, Oscar Gelderblom and Peter Stabel
10. Foreign students in the city, c.1500–1700 Stefano Zaggia
Part III. Structures and Spaces of Cultural Exchanges: 11. Introduction to Part III Stephen Turk Christensen, Alex Cowan and Derek Keene
12. Fairs as sites of economic and cultural exchange Alberto Grohmann
13. Markets, squares, streets: urban space, a tool for cultural exchange Marc Boone and Heleni Porfyriou
14. City courts and cultural transfer Dorothea Nolde, María José del Río Barredo and Elena Svalduz
15. Exchanges and cultural transfer in European cities, c.1500–1700 Donatella Calabi and Derek Keene
16. Merchants' lodgings and cultural exchange Donatella Calabi and Derek Keene
17. Churches and confraternities Claudia Conforti, Elena Sánchez de Madariaga and James S. Amelang
Bibliography.

Subject Areas: Economic history [KCZ], Urban communities [JFSG], Social & cultural history [HBTB], Early modern history: c 1450/1500 to c 1700 [HBLH], European history [HBJD]