Chapter 14 - Christoph De Spiegeleer
The Nationalisation and Mediatisation of European Monarchies in Times of Sorrow:
Royal Deaths and Funerals in the Second Half of the Nineteenth Century
Royal funerals in the second half of the nineteenth century were ceremonies through which the nationalisation of Western-European monarchies could be carried out in the public sphere. They can be analysed as mediatised ‘cultural performances’. Deaths of nineteenth-century heads of state could create unique moments of emotional connection between nation and dynasty, but these great deaths could also expose the lack of shared values and serve to break whatever fragile consensus existed. This chapter explores how the nationalisation and mediatisation of royal lives and rituals manifested themselves in the responses to the deaths and the organisation of the funerals of Leopold I of Belgium (1865), Vittorio Emanuele II of Italy (1878) and German Emperor Wilhelm I (1888). The funeral ceremonies in Brussels and Rome were ‘(re)invented traditions’ which combined old ritual and symbolic practices with new symbols and rituals to stimulate a feeling of national unity and (artificial) historical continuity. The role of Wilhelm’s funeral in the public nationalisation of the monarchy in Berlin proved to be less straightforward. The public Belgian responses to the death of Leopold I succeeded most in sustaining the coherence of the nation. On the other hand, the deaths of Vittorio Emanuele II and Wilhelm I mobilised hostile feelings of certain social and political groups towards the Kingdom of Italy and the German Empire.
By Christoph De Spiegeleer
Christoph De Spiegeleer
Christoph De Spiegeleer received his PhD in modern history from the Vije Universiteit Brussel, Belgium. He is currently active as Research Fellow of Liberas/Liberaal Archief in Ghent. His research interests relate to the history of the Belgian monarchy and modern funerary culture, with a particular focus on the connections between these subjects and political culture and national identity on a European level. His work on the Belgian monarchy, liberalism, socialism and funerary culture has appeared in journals such as Contemporary European History, Mortality and Revue Belge de Philologie et d’Histoire.
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Related Chapters
David Mednicoff: Contemporary Kingship in Muslim Arab Societies in Comparative Context (See Chapter 10)
David Malitz: The Nation as a Ritual Community: Royal Nation-Building in Imperial Japan and Post-War Thailand (See Chapter 13)
Susan Broomhall: Ruling Emotions: Affective and emotional strategies of power and authority among early modern European monarchies (See Chapter 40)
Links
The past few years, a vast amount of digitised serial publications (newspapers, journals, magazines) have become available in the public domain, primarily, 18th and 19th but also 20th-century publications. These digital libraries facilitate and stimulate research into the mediatisation of royal funerals and other ritual events. Here are a few links to websites of some large-scale projects which proved of great use for the research of this chapter.
- BELGICA: www.belgica.kbr.be/fr/accueil_fr.html
- Digital library of the Bibliothèque Royale de Belgique in Brussels, with a large selection of digitised Belgian daily newspapers (1831-1970). Full text- and calendar search possible.
- BIASA: www.archeologica.librari.beniculturali.it/index.php?it/100/biblioteca-digitale
- Digital library of the Biblioteca di Archeologia e Storia dell‘ Arte in Rome, with a database of more than 100 digitised Italian periodicals (18th-early 20th century), including the illustrated magazine L’Illustrazione Italiana.
- Au.G.U.Sto: www.augusto.agid.gov.it/
- Database of all digitised issues of the official Italian journal, Gazzetta Ufficiale del Regno d'Italia, between 1860 and 1940. Calender search possible, with historical timeline.
- Münchener DigitalisierungsZentrum: www.digitale-sammlungen.de/
- Digital library of the Bayerischen Staatsbibliothek, with a database of digitised German newspapers and themed magazines (Digipress), including the Allgemeine Zeitung (Munich) (1798-1929). Full text- and calendar search possible.
- ZEFYS Zeitungsinformationssystem Staatsbibliothek Berlin: www.zefys.staatsbibliothek-berlin.de/index.php?id=start
- Database of digitised German newspapers in the Staatsbibliothek Berlin, including the Berliner Börsen-Zeitung (1857-1930). Calender search possible.
- Wikicommons and Wikisource digital library – Die Gartenlaube: www.de.wikisource.org/wiki/Die_Gartenlaube
- Scanned issues of the German illustrated magazine Die Gartenlaube (1853-1899)