| The Journal of the Holy Roman Empire | Volume I (Spring 2006) |
Letter from the Editor
Janet McFall
Editor-in-Chief, Journal of the Holy Roman Empire
Welcome to the inaugural issue of the Journal of the Holy Roman Empire! This volume is the culmination of months of effort by the board of the Society for the Study of the Holy Roman Empire, and we are thrilled to see it finally come to fruition. Our vision is to create a vibrant forum bringing together new scholarship on all aspects of the history and culture of the Empire. Given the special multi-cultural, multi-ethnic, and multi-state character of the Empire, JHRE aims to foster scholarship on historical issues that cross the boundaries of the modern nation-state and of historiographical periodization. We encourage submissions with either a local or empire-wide focus, but we especially hope to provide a medium for research that concerns more than one modern state, that considers imperial institutions, culture, or history, or that addresses the interaction of imperial structures with local realities. We also welcome contributions from all avenues of historical inquiry, including, but certainly not limited to, political, religious, gender, social, economic, and military history.
In this issue we present two articles that approach the history of the Holy Roman Empire from different angles. First, Dr. Edward Wilson demonstrates how an empire-wide edict addressing religious dissent was carried out by local governments. Using the example of the margravate of Brandenburg-Ansbach-Kulmbach, Dr. Wilson argues for the importance of minor government officials in the application of anti-Anabaptist edicts, and also indicates how officials adapted those edicts to fit their own local concerns. Second, Dr. Alexander Schubert offers an overview of the exciting upcoming exhibit: "Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation 962-1806" which will take place at the Kulturhistorisches Museum Magdeburg and the Deutsches Historisches Museum in Berlin from August 28 to December 10, 2006. This exhibit, which commemorates the two-hundredth anniversary of the empire's fall, will reexamine the entire history of the empire as well as the development of its political and institutional structures. It has also won the signal honor of being named the 29th Council of Europe Art Exhibition.
We hope you enjoy this inaugural issue of the Journal of the Holy Roman Empire. Please also check back in six months for our Fall 2006 issue.
Letter from the Editor
1