Page - 179 - in The Power of Urban Water - Studies in premodern urbanism

ElisabethGruber 11 MeetingWaterNeedsasaMajor Challenge in anUrbanContext Examples from theDanubeRegion (1300–1600) Abstract:Water appears as a powerful and influentialmedium in a tight network of relations between human action and thematerial world with complex impacts. The use, management and control of water constantly led to processes of negotiation regarding competence and re- sponsibilities between the actors involved. It was not only about control and distribution, but also about protection against risks andhow tomanage them, about the control of abundance or scarcity and the evaluation of alterations in the landscape resulting fromdams. This article will reflectonwaterasamediumandinvestigatethe influencewaterhadonurbancommunities in theMiddle Ages by using the example of the townsKrems andStein on theDanube. It dis- cusses the system of planning, coordination and resource management required by the con- struction andmaintenance of urban facilities as part of public infrastructure. From this view- point, water supply and its communal organisation it will raise questions about the social functionofwater infrastructure in anurbancontext. Introduction Composed at the end of the 15th century as a visual part of the canonization of the Babenberg Margrave Leopold III, the genealogical tree of the Babenberg family is one of Austria’s most remarkableworksof latemedievalpanelpainting.1Createdbetween1489and1492 inapainter’s shop led by Hans Part, the panel painting is considered an impressive example of how late medieval rulersrepresentedthemselves inthecontextofamonasticcultureofcommemoration.2 While46 female representativesof thedynasty,beingwivesanddaughters, arearranged in the form of half figures on tendrils, the 27malemembers of the Babenberg family are framed in medallions on themonumental central wing against the background of topographical scenes associatedwith them.Manyof themargraves anddukes portrayed are shown in sceneswhere landscapepaintingoccupiesmuchof thepicture.Representationsof townsandcities (Freising, Regensburg, Salzburg, Vienna,Wiener Neustadt), abbeys andmonasteries (Melk, Klosterneu- burg,Heiligenkreuz,Kleinmariazell),orcastles (Falkenstein,Gars/Kamp,Pernegg,Mödling)pin down important stations and events of theprotagonists’ rule in the topographical area of their influence.Fromthe11th centuryon, themeasuresof theBabenbergmargraves (and laterdukes) to consolidate their political power – be it in cooperation with or against aristocratic leader 1 Ithasbeenrestoredseveral timesover thecenturies,with thefirst restoration inthe first thirdof the17thcentury; restorers alsoworkedon thedepictions as such. Thebottompart of thepanel painting,whichwas fundamentally restored in the 19th century, was particularly affected. The depiction of the genealogical tree in the context of a work to represent the history of the Babenberg family, commissioned by Archduke Charles II of Inner Austria around 1550, offers an important reference to its original state:AustrianNational Library (ÖNB) cod. 8700.Röhrig 1977, 11; Scheibelreiter 2005. 2 Agroupof young scientists is currently exploring thedescription andanalysis of the canonizationprocess and the context inwhich it took place, its historical phenomena and how theymaterialized before, during and after BabenbergMargrave Leopold III’s canonization in the respective political and socio-cultural setting of the time, including its reception down to the 19th century, as part of a doctoral team grant from the Austrian Academy of Sciences: PerformanceofHolinessUsingMargrave Leopold III ofAustria as anExample <https://performanz-von- heiligkeit.at/> (19.07. 2019). OpenAccess.©2020ElisabethGruber, publishedbyDeGruyter. Thiswork is licensedunder theCreative CommonsAttribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives4.0 License. https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110677065-011