Abstract (eng)
This master thesis researches petitions of women to king, respectively emperor Maximilian I (1486–1519) of the Tiroler Landesarchiv, according to an autobiographical content. In this particular course, the petition as a historical source has to be defined and put into context while also exemplifying the access to sovereignty and processing of documents. Although they have been predominately used for questions regarding history of law, petitions provide a high-level of informational content for different historical problems. Despite the supposed little percentage of autographs, petitions can be integrated to the concepts of ego-documents and self-testimonies. Due to the strategies and forms of narration, autobiographical analyses is not only possible, but attractive due to the high degree of authenticity. Out of 52 petitions identified through autobiographical analysis, 48 reflected women in desperate situations. It also becomes apparent that the concentration of information is occasionally varied. In many cases, the information is varied due to the purpose and type of the petition. It also may vary depending on the family status of the supplicator, whereupon the petitions of unmarried and married women, in comparison to widows, showed more autobiographical narrations.