Public Discourse and Political Content. The Narrative of ‘Good Governance’ in Transylvanian Saxon Towns in the Second Half of the Sixteenth Century
Public Discourse and Political Content. The Narrative of ‘Good Governance’ in Transylvanian Saxon Towns in the Second Half of the Sixteenth Century

Summary/Abstract: From the latter half of the sixteenth century century, the Transylvanian Saxon towns also embraced the political ideal of public order embodied by the early modern imperial concept of ‘Gute Ordnung und Policey’, along with its regulatory elements and legal-political instruments. Both the literate secular and ecclesiastical elites played a role in promoting ideas about good governance. This study examines how the local authorities argued for individual measures within more comprehensive urban statutes and what governmental principles and political content the normative texts conveyed. Referring to a prominent example that influenced contemporary public discourse, such as the sermons of Damasus Dürr, a Lutheran pastor from Apoldu de Jos, it also illustrates the manner in which these governmental narratives were criticised.

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