Helen Zimmern (1846–1934)
Auteur de The Hansa Towns
Œuvres de Helen Zimmern
The Hanseatic League - A History of the Rise and Fall of the Hansa Towns (Illustrated) (2015) 7 exemplaires
The Epic of Kings: Hero Tales of Ancient Persia. Retold From Firdusi's Shah Nameh By Helen Zimmern (1926) 5 exemplaires
New Italy 4 exemplaires
Delinquent animals 1 exemplaire
Sir Lawrence Alma Tadema 1 exemplaire
Oeuvres associées
The Philosophy of Nietzsche: Thus Spake Zarathustra; Beyond Good and Evil; The Genealogy of Morals; Ecce Homo; The… (1927) — Traducteur, quelques éditions — 277 exemplaires
Homes and haunts of famous authors — Contributeur — 1 exemplaire
Étiqueté
Partage des connaissances
- Date de naissance
- 1846-03-25
- Date de décès
- 1934-01-11
- Sexe
- female
- Nationalité
- UK (naturalized)
Germany (birth) - Pays (pour la carte)
- Italy
- Lieu de naissance
- Hamburg, Germany
- Lieu du décès
- Florence, Italy
- Lieux de résidence
- Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, England, UK
- Professions
- book reviewer
translator
children's writer
literary critic
biographer
editor (tout afficher 8)
art lecturer
journalist - Relations
- Zimmern, Alice (sister)
Zimmern, Alfred Eckhard (cousin)
Nietzsche, Friedrich (friend) - Courte biographie
- Helen Zimmern was born in Hamburg, Germany, the eldest of three daughters of Hermann Theodore Zimmern, a German Jewish merchant, and his wife Antonia Maria Therese. Her youngest sister Alice Zimmern also became a writer. When Helen was about four years old, the family emigrated to England, settling in Nottingham. She made her debut in print with a story for Once a Week, and soon was contributing stories to Argosy and other leading magazines. A collection of her children's stories, first published 1869-1871 in Good Words for the Young, was published as Stories in Precious Stones (1873) and Told by the Waves (1874). She also collaborated with Alice on two volumes of translated selections from European novels, published in 1880 and 1884. The real work of her career was commentary, translation, and advocacy for European literature and art. Through her works, she introduced many English speakers to European writers, artists, and culture previously unknown to them. She wrote reviews and articles for the Examiner, Fraser's Magazine, Blackwood's Magazine, the Athenaeum, the Spectator, St. James's, Pall Mall Magazine, the World of Art, the Italian Rassegna Settimanale, and various German papers. She lectured on Italian art in Britain and Germany, and translated Italian drama, fiction, and history. She also wrote biographies of Arthur Schopenhauer, G.E. (Gotthold Ephraim) Lessing, and Maria Edgeworth. She befriended Friedrich Nietzsche, two of whose books she would later translate, in the mid-1880s. By the end of that decade she had settled in Florence, Italy, where she wrote for the Milanese newspaper Corriere della Sera and also edited the Florence Gazette.
Membres
Critiques
The Hansa Towns is a re-publication of Helen Zimmern's 1891 history of the Hanseatic League. The Hansa is a remarkably poorly covered area of history in the English language and Zimmern's narrative history is as good an introduction as any. It being history written in the 19th century, Hansa Towns does not have the rigour of more modern academia but the broad historical sweep covering the outline of Hanseatic activities from before formalising in the 13th through to final decline in the 17th centuriy is well constructed. The work has stood the test of time fairly well and is also an insight into some of the international climate that existed towards the end of the 19th century. Zimmern claims her work to be the first history of the Hanseatic League.
Hansa Towns is not objective. It is written with a specific perspective and the author does not shy from expressing her own opinions on issues of morality, social class, and international relations. However, it is a relatively fair account of the development of the most powerful trade guild northern Europe ever saw. Zimmern's work is somewhat Britain-biased which is most likely due to her intended readership but the tracing back of Hanseatic activity in Britain to the time of Aethelred The Unready is a nice way to kick off the epic scope of the Hansa history.
Zimmern breaks up her history into two phases - pre-13th century trading alliances that form the basis of the Hansa, and post-13th century where the history is slightly better recorded. The formation of Hanse or guilds was a relatively loose development and not one designed with any particular strategic ambition but merely as a way of better protecting personal trade interests in a dangerous world. Zimmern is particularly scathing of the nobility who thwarted some of the best efforts of noble tradespersons - robber barons is a phrase that crops up a couple of times. The existence of nobility claiming rights over parts of the land is pointed out as a factor that pushed commerce towards the sea.
Given the relative scarcity of early Middle Ages historical records, Zimmern's account of the formative centuries of the Hansa is impressive. The trading routes and the particular aspects of commerce involved are credible. The lives of the people of northern Germany were probably much like the lives of people in other parts of northern Europe so it is not too much of a stretch to ascertain the social and economic conditions that these traders lived in.
While this is mainly a social history of great traders, there is plenty of conflict to discuss and Zimmern does. Frequent wars with Denmark are perhaps the defining international characteristic of the Hanseatic League. The Schleswig-Holstein question is only understandable in the context of the understanding the role of the Hansa. Relations with other neighbouring states are also well described in the main - the subjugation of Norway and in particular the town of Bergen is described in detail. The rise of Sweden and the role that country played in eventually contributing to the decline of the League is also an important feature. Russian States, in particular Kivan Rus, are not that well described. This is presumably because they were 'barbarous' though a couple of well-known Russian Czars make their rightful appearance. Surprisingly there is very little coverage of the Teutonic Knights but then the focus of this work is not really on the activities of the League in the eastern Baltic but more on the activities involving Germany, Scandinavia, Netherlands, and Britain.
The description of Hanseatic 'factories' in the various trading ports of north west Europe are fascinating. The one in Bergen in particular reads as a very difficult place to have plyed trade. The decline of specific factories such as the one at Bruges in response to changing local economic circumstance indicate that the League was just about able to respond to new realities in the world surrounding them. That they eventually were unable to keep pace is the thesis of Zimmern's work. The long decline is finally brought to inevitable conclusion by the 30 Years War but it is a decline that Zimmern outlines as being caused by economic factors primarily - the criticism that the Hansa were always on traders and never had a stake in the production of goods is an extremely insightful quote.
Religion plays an interesting role in Zimmern's narrative. The schism in Christianity between Catholicism and Protestantism only seems to play a minor role in the history of the League but it is one that Zimmern emphasises and clearly sides with the Protestant creed. Her own religious views are perhaps more thoroughly expressed than the role religion played in the history of northern Germany.
Zimmern focuses her work on the Queen of the Hansa - Lübeck. Other cities are not given a huge amount of attention though Cologne crops up a few times mainly in negative terms as a rival to Lübeck. This history is in part a history of that once great town and various mayors and other dignitaries from Lübeck appear in the narrative.
A special attention is given to London and in particular The Steelyard. By the time of Zimmern's writing, The Steelyard was already covered by Cannon Street Station. The role of the Germans in London is a fascinating subject and is well covered. The interaction with various English monarchs is nicely detailed and the survival strategy of the Hansa through diplomacy is terrific. That the strategy fails with Elizabeth I is in itself a testament to changing international circumstances and a pointer towards the real eventual cause of failure for the League in the move of commerce towards the western hemisphere.
There are occasions when Zimmern is probably wrong. Burgermeister Wittenborg's execution for instance is described as being due to his loss of a major battle against Denmark. This does not appear to be entirely correct. A Lübeck historian has told this reviewer that there is much more to the story than the simplicity of a war leader being punished for failure. Indeed, accounting records from Wittenborg's time suggest that his execution was undertaken on the pretence that war failure was the cause as it was the opportunity Wittenborg's rivals had been looking for to take out a man they believed to be enriching himself unscrupulously.
Zimmern does not put much stock in the pre-Hansa trade routes and a modern historian would surely devote more time to the great Scandinavian trading force that existed in the Viking age to set some of the context. Zimmern also imbues some characters with traits that her readership might have liked but which are not really borne out by any evidence she supplies. The case of Wullenweber for instance is not given impartial treatment as he is decribed in overly romanticised heroic terms that play for popular interest rather than academic scrutiny. This in itself is actually a fascinating feature of Zimmern's work - her history was written towards the end of the 19th century and the spin she uses speaks very much to that time. The fear of Prussian imperialism was clearly very real 25 years before WWI as Zimmern makes the threat from a Germany united under Prussian rule very tangible.
Hansa Towns is really quite a remarkable work. As a history of the Hansa it is very good and comes with the added bonus of documenting some of the issues, perspectives, and beliefs prevailing in Britain in the late 19th century. The book was clearly written with the audienec of the time in mind and promotes great virtues of commerce and personal heroism that Victorian Britain would no doubt have loved. Inevitably it is not as rigorous as a modern academic treatise but as an introduction to the history of the Hanseatic League it is really rather good.… (plus d'informations)
Hansa Towns is not objective. It is written with a specific perspective and the author does not shy from expressing her own opinions on issues of morality, social class, and international relations. However, it is a relatively fair account of the development of the most powerful trade guild northern Europe ever saw. Zimmern's work is somewhat Britain-biased which is most likely due to her intended readership but the tracing back of Hanseatic activity in Britain to the time of Aethelred The Unready is a nice way to kick off the epic scope of the Hansa history.
Zimmern breaks up her history into two phases - pre-13th century trading alliances that form the basis of the Hansa, and post-13th century where the history is slightly better recorded. The formation of Hanse or guilds was a relatively loose development and not one designed with any particular strategic ambition but merely as a way of better protecting personal trade interests in a dangerous world. Zimmern is particularly scathing of the nobility who thwarted some of the best efforts of noble tradespersons - robber barons is a phrase that crops up a couple of times. The existence of nobility claiming rights over parts of the land is pointed out as a factor that pushed commerce towards the sea.
Given the relative scarcity of early Middle Ages historical records, Zimmern's account of the formative centuries of the Hansa is impressive. The trading routes and the particular aspects of commerce involved are credible. The lives of the people of northern Germany were probably much like the lives of people in other parts of northern Europe so it is not too much of a stretch to ascertain the social and economic conditions that these traders lived in.
While this is mainly a social history of great traders, there is plenty of conflict to discuss and Zimmern does. Frequent wars with Denmark are perhaps the defining international characteristic of the Hanseatic League. The Schleswig-Holstein question is only understandable in the context of the understanding the role of the Hansa. Relations with other neighbouring states are also well described in the main - the subjugation of Norway and in particular the town of Bergen is described in detail. The rise of Sweden and the role that country played in eventually contributing to the decline of the League is also an important feature. Russian States, in particular Kivan Rus, are not that well described. This is presumably because they were 'barbarous' though a couple of well-known Russian Czars make their rightful appearance. Surprisingly there is very little coverage of the Teutonic Knights but then the focus of this work is not really on the activities of the League in the eastern Baltic but more on the activities involving Germany, Scandinavia, Netherlands, and Britain.
The description of Hanseatic 'factories' in the various trading ports of north west Europe are fascinating. The one in Bergen in particular reads as a very difficult place to have plyed trade. The decline of specific factories such as the one at Bruges in response to changing local economic circumstance indicate that the League was just about able to respond to new realities in the world surrounding them. That they eventually were unable to keep pace is the thesis of Zimmern's work. The long decline is finally brought to inevitable conclusion by the 30 Years War but it is a decline that Zimmern outlines as being caused by economic factors primarily - the criticism that the Hansa were always on traders and never had a stake in the production of goods is an extremely insightful quote.
Religion plays an interesting role in Zimmern's narrative. The schism in Christianity between Catholicism and Protestantism only seems to play a minor role in the history of the League but it is one that Zimmern emphasises and clearly sides with the Protestant creed. Her own religious views are perhaps more thoroughly expressed than the role religion played in the history of northern Germany.
Zimmern focuses her work on the Queen of the Hansa - Lübeck. Other cities are not given a huge amount of attention though Cologne crops up a few times mainly in negative terms as a rival to Lübeck. This history is in part a history of that once great town and various mayors and other dignitaries from Lübeck appear in the narrative.
A special attention is given to London and in particular The Steelyard. By the time of Zimmern's writing, The Steelyard was already covered by Cannon Street Station. The role of the Germans in London is a fascinating subject and is well covered. The interaction with various English monarchs is nicely detailed and the survival strategy of the Hansa through diplomacy is terrific. That the strategy fails with Elizabeth I is in itself a testament to changing international circumstances and a pointer towards the real eventual cause of failure for the League in the move of commerce towards the western hemisphere.
There are occasions when Zimmern is probably wrong. Burgermeister Wittenborg's execution for instance is described as being due to his loss of a major battle against Denmark. This does not appear to be entirely correct. A Lübeck historian has told this reviewer that there is much more to the story than the simplicity of a war leader being punished for failure. Indeed, accounting records from Wittenborg's time suggest that his execution was undertaken on the pretence that war failure was the cause as it was the opportunity Wittenborg's rivals had been looking for to take out a man they believed to be enriching himself unscrupulously.
Zimmern does not put much stock in the pre-Hansa trade routes and a modern historian would surely devote more time to the great Scandinavian trading force that existed in the Viking age to set some of the context. Zimmern also imbues some characters with traits that her readership might have liked but which are not really borne out by any evidence she supplies. The case of Wullenweber for instance is not given impartial treatment as he is decribed in overly romanticised heroic terms that play for popular interest rather than academic scrutiny. This in itself is actually a fascinating feature of Zimmern's work - her history was written towards the end of the 19th century and the spin she uses speaks very much to that time. The fear of Prussian imperialism was clearly very real 25 years before WWI as Zimmern makes the threat from a Germany united under Prussian rule very tangible.
Hansa Towns is really quite a remarkable work. As a history of the Hansa it is very good and comes with the added bonus of documenting some of the issues, perspectives, and beliefs prevailing in Britain in the late 19th century. The book was clearly written with the audienec of the time in mind and promotes great virtues of commerce and personal heroism that Victorian Britain would no doubt have loved. Inevitably it is not as rigorous as a modern academic treatise but as an introduction to the history of the Hanseatic League it is really rather good.… (plus d'informations)
1 
Malarchy | Jul 25, 2011 |
Malarchy | Jul 25, 2011 | Vous aimerez peut-être aussi
Auteurs associés
Statistiques
- Œuvres
- 12
- Aussi par
- 6
- Membres
- 57
- Popularité
- #287,973
- Évaluation
- 3.9
- Critiques
- 2
- ISBN
- 20
In the feudal times the conditions of life on the continent of Europe seem little short of barbarous. The lands were owned not only by the kings who ruled them with an iron despotism, but were possessed besides by innumerable petty lordlings and princelets, who on their part again exercised a rule so severe and extortionate that the poor people who groaned under it were in a condition little removed from slavery. Nay, they were often not even treated with the consideration that men give their slaves, upon whom, as their absolute goods and chattels, they set a certain value. And it was difficult for the people to revolt and assert themselves, for however disunited might be their various lords, in case of a danger that threatened their universal power, they became friends closer than brothers, and would aid each other faithfully in keeping down the common folk. Hand in hand with princes and lords went the priests, themselves often worldly potentates as well as spiritual rulers, and hence the very religion of the carpenter’s son, which had overspread the civilized world in order to emancipate the people and make men of all nations and degrees into one brotherhood, was—not for the first time in its history—turned from its appointed course and used as an instrument of coercion and repression…… (plus d'informations)