Akustische Dimensionen des Mittelalters. Das Konstanzer Konzil als Laut-, Klang- und Kommunikationsraum, Annales Historiae Conciliorum 51 (2021) Heft 2, 389-414

In recent years, modern medieval research has explored the councils of the late Middle Ages
from the widest possible variety of perspectives. This also includes the acoustic dimension.
Starting from a chronical source, this paper therefore examines the council from the perspective
of a space of sound, tone and communication. In doing so it focuses on the Council
of Constance (1414-1418) and examines the city in which the council is held as a space of
sound and communication in the context of a “cultural sensory historyö. Admittedly, this
senso-historical approach is selective and dependent on the sources. In the context of this
paper, the approach primarily concerns the oratorical, rhetorical, and homiletical dimension,
but also incorporates festivals, celebrations, processions and rituals, the “language of
bellsö, aspects of multilingualism and music. As a result, it can be stated that the medieval
council city was not only overflowing with people, but probably also very loud and full of
different tones, sounds and noises. It has therefore also been referred to as a “sound panopticonö.