Elements of Power in Court Festivals of Habsburg Emperors in the Sixteenth Century

This chapter has been inspired by a passage in Crowds and Power by the Bulgarianborn Austrian novelist, essayist, sociologist and playwright Elias Canetti, who was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1981. Since the following reflections are structured around the two terms of Canetti’s title, ‘crowds’ and ‘power’, it seems appropriate to take a closer look at his thoughts before discussing the Habsburg court festivals which arguably reflect them.