Kontraste im Alltag des Mittelalters

The History of Daily Life and Material Culture shows the function and importance of contrasts for medieval society in many ways. This is true for any analyses of written and visual sources as well as of archaeological evidence.Contrasts are used to lead discourses,signify and connote. These contrasts and their construction were relevant on the one hand to social and economic components, and on the other hand to theological, religious, moral and national categories, etc. In 1998, the “Institut für Realienkunde des Mittelalters und der frühen Neuzeit ” of the Austrian Academy of Sciences organised a conference on “Contrasts in the Daily Life of the Middle Ages ”. This publication contains the results of the meeting. With the help of comparative,qualitative and quantitative analyses, the contributions attempt to offer a comprehensive image of the phenomenon and its consequences for medieval society. They investigate patterns of contrasts in norm, practice, and perception of medieval daily life.