The Age of Ambiguity

What happens when you're expected to follow rules that contradict each other? That question is at the center of a lecture by historian Hillard von Thiessen (University of Rostock), taking place on April 23 as part of the series Frankfurter Rechtshistorische Abendgespräche.

His talk, titled “The Age of Ambiguity. Concurrence and Competition of Norms in Early Modern Europe,” begins at 18:15 in Room Z01 at our institute.

At the heart of Thiessen’s talk is the concept of Normenkonkurrenz - the overlapping and often clashing expectations from different sources of authority: religious teachings, legal rules, and social codes. In early modern Europe, these weren’t neatly aligned. Quite the opposite - they pulled people in different directions.

According to Thiessen, this wasn’t just confusing. It shaped an entire way of life. As churches, secular rulers, and communities all laid claim to moral authority, individuals had to navigate a minefield of expectations. The result was a culture of ambiguity, where people learned to maneuver, adjust, and sometimes bend the rules - just to get by.

Instead of seeing this as moral failure, Thiessen invites us to view ambiguity as a creative response to pressure. In a world where the wrong choice could lead to exile or punishment, ambiguity wasn’t avoidance - it was adaptation.

The lecture promises to offer more than a historical case study. It’s a look into how societies manage moral complexity - and how people live when clear answers aren’t available.