Eigentum und Besitz: Rechtsqualitäten von Grund und Boden im räumlichen Vergleich

The article discusses fundamental aspects of possession and ownership in the context of early modern manorial systems in urban as well as rural areas in southern Tyrol and northern Lower Austria during the eighteenth century. In this article, we search for traces of specific legal qualities of real estate that have not yet been analysed empirically in a comparative form: on the one hand, free property that is not bound by manorial rights and, on the other hand, more mobile forms of property that are firmly connected to land units such as farmsteads. Conceptualising the power of disposal as an intermediary approach between law and practice, this contribution examines two legal spaces in which different manorial rights and duties existed in relation to land. The comparison serves as an instrument to identify a spectrum of crucial situations and contexts. An analysis of sources specific to each legal space and the intermediary approach not only provides greater insights into different forms of possession and ownership but also allows us to revise presuppositions.