Spaces of Power - Spaces of Kinship

At a conference organized by Michaela Hohkamp (Hannover) and Siegrid Westphal (Osnabrück) at the Leibnizhaus in Hannover from November 26th-29th 2014 „Herrschaftsräume – Verwandtschaftsräume: Politisches in der Frühen Neuzeit und seine Logiken“ (Spaces of power – spaces of kinship: the logics of politics in the Early Modern Period) a group of international scholars explored the emotional, legal and media impact of kinship relations on political and dynastic constellations and perceptions of space. In a section on media Jill Bepler presented a paper “Frauen stiften Freundschaft: dynastische Netzwerke in der höfischen Publizistik” (Women institute friendship: dynastic networks in court publications) dealing with works commemorating wedding festivities, looking at their changing portrayal of kinship, particularly in the use of genealogical tables and portraits, in the light of the specific political situation of the courts involved. Several publications from the 1670’s prove to have played a pivotal role in the switch to a commercial exploitation of dynastic events for a broader reading audience.