Richard of Cornwall's candidature for the German throne and the christmas 1256 parliament at Westminster

Some months after the death of the German king William of Holland in 1256, Richard of Cornwall, with obvious help from King Henry III (but not initially with the support of the pope), decided to enter the contest for the German throne. His methods, including the use of his funds on a large scale, are well known, but Richard and Henry also contrived to deceive the English magnates about their plans. They told the barons at a meeting at the end of the year 1256 that Richard had already been elected king (which was manifestly untrue) and that only their consent was missing. This was a device to foil the expected resistance by the magnates, who were already opposing Henry's increasingly costly Sicilian adventure.     

Geistliche bildung und laienbildung. Zur überlieferung der schulschrift Compendium historiae in genealogia Christi (Compendium veteris testamenti) des Petrus von Poitiers (1205) in England

Historians and philologists alike seem to be all too often preoccupied with the study of texts that they, for one reason or another, regard as ‘important’. It is obvious, though, that this approach may miss the medieval reality. There are texts that have been given very little attention in modern times even though they once enjoyed a far greater resonance than others. A case to make this point is the Compendium historiae in genealogia Christi by Peter of Poitiers, a radically shortened version of biblical history, in pedigrees and diagrams, with short explanatory notes. This little work seems to have been rather popular as an introduction to the Bible, for clerks and laymen alike, and was also continued as a chronicle from the times of the apostles onwards. This paper argues that the Compendium became lay reading even in its Latin original form during the course of the thirteenth century, and that this may have been partly the effect of the moves by the official Church to ban the growing new class of literate laymen from reading the Holy Scripture on their own.     

Regionalökonomische Bedeutung kleiner Wallfahrtsorte

Today pilgrimage is experiencing an increasing interest, although motives are notable changing. Sites along pilgrim routes normally profit in an economically way. But until today regional economic effects of even very small pilgrimage sites are underexplored. Therefore economic impulses of the pilgrimage site in Biberbach (Bavaria) were identified using interviews and calculations. According to that the 10,000 visitors per year generate nearly 30,000 € gross turnover and 0.5 jobs. So even small pilgrimage sites can obviously produce a notable increase of local EVA.     

Der unberechenbare Kunde

This article summarizes the evolution of consumption in Germany in the last decades with special focus on the intricacy of demand. The authors discuss some established approaches of marketing and compare it with the actual impact of basic meta trends. Further, the impact of consumption on establish retail locations and new areas to supply is discussed.