Christof Muigg

Universitätsassistent (prae doc) and PhD Candidate at the Department of History, University of Vienna

Dissertation: Precarious Practice. Strategies of Imperial Generals in Early Modern Diplomacy

Prekäre Praxis. Strategien kaiserlicher Militärführer in der Diplomatie um 1648

All military leaders in Early Modern Europe were of male gender as were (almost) all officially appointed diplomats. This gendered dimension is apparently neglected – if not outright ignored – in the literature. Therefore, my dissertation charters new territory by doing an integrative study of the Military & Diplomacy with regard to gender. I investigate the embodiment of a shared habitus (socialization) of the nobility as the basis for military and diplomatic practice by zooming in on an exemplary case study, whose core source material is tied to the Imperial general and diplomat Raimondo Montecuccoli (1609-1680).

By looking at a wide range of sources in a fresh light, I uncover the social practices of diplomacy and military leadership as largely governed by the habitus that Montecuccoli shared with his fellow noblemen. Instead of describing the diplomatic and military activity of Montecuccoli in detail,

I ask, to what extent were the gendered roles of noble military leaders in courtly diplomacy connected with gendered practices which corresponded with norms and expectations that governed the military, diplomatic and courtly field. Following approaches of Historical Anthropology, especially praxeology in an actor-centred perspective, I wish to come to a more diversified and accurate picture of how practices of gender were important in two highly formative fields of early modern European culture.

Research Fields:
Gender History
Historical Anthropology
History of Early Modern Europe
Military History / History of Violence
History of Diplomacy

Contact: christof.muigg@univie.ac.at