Rituals of Rank: Social Hierarchy in the Imagination and Practice of the Early Modern Period

In pre-modern Europe, people imagined social order as a linear hierarchy, embedded in a seamless chain of beings stretching from the heavenly hosts right down to beetles and worms. In social practice, this hierarchy became apparent literally at every turn, wherever people gathered in a ritualised manner for ceremonial occasions. Yet it was precisely there, in full view of everyone, that the potential for conflict inherent in this logic of rank became visible. The intense pressure for change to which society was subjected during the early modern period led to a rapid increase in conflicts over rank. In practice, the vision of an ideal order had increasingly destabilising effects. The long-term solutions to these communicative dilemmas suggested an entirely different order.

(Lecture in German, Zoom-Link: https://uni-jena-de.zoom-x.de/j/66191912195External link)