In June 2026, Brepols published a monograph by dr. Christian Manger as part of the series Studies in European Urban History.

Councils, Conflicts, Correspondence. Urban Diplomacy in Reval (Tallinn) and Lübeck (c. 1470–1570) examines how the magistrates of the Hanseatic towns Lübeck and Reval managed conflicts which exceeded the formal limits of their own jurisdiction and authority.

Located at different ends of the Baltic Sea, these two cities were heavily involved in long distance trade which connected them to a multitude of political and economic actors and institutions throughout Northern Europe. But with these relations also came conflicts. Discord among the members of the Hanse, intercity disputes between individual burghers, and large-scale “international” altercations, all required town councils to engage with actors and institutions beyond the town walls.

Through a comparative study of two towns with markedly different access to political power and networks, Councils, Conflicts, Correspondence analyses the scope of diplomatic action available to city councils in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. By placing the diplomacy of municipal governments in the broader frame of European urban political thought and practice, the book shows how magistrates combined a flexible conception of the common good with a pragmatic notion of reciprocity to balance their relations to their own citizenry and overlords, as well as to the Hanse and foreign rulers.

Read all about the book and order it here on the Brepols website!

dr. Christian Manger

Author