中古晚期和近代早期德意志城市的困境及其对策

Dilemmas faced by the late medieval German cities and their corresponding measures

中世纪的德意志存在着自由城市、帝国城市和领地城市。在15—16世纪,德意志的城市面临严重的危机,内部分化严重,市民之间的冲突加剧,城市的外部生存环境也更加恶化。为维护自己的生存,德意志的城市主要采取了与王权结盟、走瑞士联邦道路、与宗教信仰相同的诸侯结盟、在帝国新体制中寻求安全与发展的道路。

There existed the following three types of cities in medieval Germany,the free cities,the imperial cities and the territorial cities. In the 15 th and16th centuries,the German cities faced a series of dilemmas,such as a severe internal stratification and conflicts of the citizens,and tough deteriorating external living environments. In order to maintain their existence,the German cities adopted the following measures as the solutions,developing an alliance of the cities and the monarchy,following the ways initiated by the Swiss Federations,forming an alliance of cities and princes with the same religious beliefs,and seeking safety and development in the new political system of the empire created by the imperial reforms in the late 15 th and early 16 th centuries.