Helen Watanabe-O'Kelly

Tournaments and their Relevance for Warfare in the Early Modern Period

as though it were a theatrical event, important possibly as political propaganda, but otherwise, in the words of Anglo, ’un element d6coratif peu a propose Anglo professes himself to be astonished not only that contemporaries called the events they staged ’tournaments’ but that they even considered them to be real tournaments!3 Malcolm Vale and Roy Strong are two of the very few scholars who have raised their voices in support of the opposing view, Vale in particular arguing very strongly that warfare and

Review of: Passion, Affekt und Leidenschaft in der Frühen Neuzeit. : Red. Johann Anselm Steiger, Ralf Georg Bogner, Ulrich Heinen, Renate Steiger, Melvin Unger, Helen Watanabe-O’Kelley. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz Verlag, 2005.

Review of: Passion, Affekt und Leidenschaft in der Fruhen Neuzeit. : Red. Johann Anselm Steiger, Ralf Georg Bogner, Ulrich Heinen, Renate Steiger, Melvin Unger, Helen Watanabe-O’Kelley. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz Verlag, 2005.

Markus Paul, Reichsstadt und Schauspiel. Theatrale Kunst im Nürnberg des 17. Jahrhunderts. 2002

There is no question but that this book, which originated as a doctoral thesis for the University of Erlangen-Nürnberg, is a major contribution to our knowledge of seventeenth-century theatre in the German-speaking world. It is a study of theatre in the city of Nürnberg from the beginning of the seventeenth century until the end of the third decade of the eighteenth. That the author finds such a wealth of theatrical performances to discuss over this period in Nürnberg is the first revelation, for, as he begins by reminding us, the most commonly accepted view has hitherto been that, while Nürnberg may have been important theatrically in the sixteenth century, the seventeenth was a period of decline. This book shows that such a view is completely wrong. The author demonstrates convincingly and with a wealth of detail the sheer variety and quality of theatre in Nürnberg and its central place in the life of the city. This new information alone would make the book of lasting value. This is no mere assemblage of facts, however. The authors analytical take on his material enhances the value of the book immeasurably. I should like to pick out five salient features here.