Search

Focusing on the Belgian cities of Namur and Liège in the eighteenth century, this article proposes to open a discussion around legal versus illegal butchery, and the description of how it was regulated: by limiting slaughter to specific locations, specific trades, and specific times, and by the work of the people in charge of inspecting foodstuffs. At the heart of this study is the butchery animal—that is, large animals—and the profession in charge of it: the butchers. Given the importance of meat products in consumption practices, the city's butchers had a central place: gathered in a guild, they had a privileged status, including a virtual monopoly on the slaughter of butchery animals and the sale of raw meat. However, as the meat economy was developing, master butchers were faced with a multitude of vendors who undermined their position and threatened health standards. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses an exhibition at the Gemäldegalerie – Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, showcasing Maarten van Heemskerck's drawings of Rome from 1532-1536. The exhibition highlights Van Heemskerck's artistic journey, his Roman period, and the impact on his career. It also explores the preservation and display of his drawings, shedding new light on his techniques and materials. The exhibition provides a comprehensive view of Van Heemskerck's work, emphasizing his unique approach to drawing and his influence on Early Modern art history. [Extracted from the article]

Globality has remarkably dominated art historical discourse and practice in the past three decades. Within early modern studies, the global turn has highlighted the possibility of and the need for broader, more connected histories. This push has provided us with a range of multivalent conceptual tools, such as mobility, connectivity, entanglement, and interconnectedness. Departing from a single object, each essay in this special issue considers the promising potential and the limitations of globalizing perspectives, and suggests how this line of research may move forward. How global is early modern art? How global are our histories of early modern art? What are the ethical and methodological issues ingrained in our stories of connections and encounters? As art historians, how do we grapple with tensions between universalism and cultural relativism? How can we strike a balance between local and global expressions of materials, space, and lived experience? In this moment of new wars, shifting borders, migrations, and natural and social disasters, we also consider what lessons art historians can draw from the forms of domination, oppression, violence, and conflict inherent in early globalization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We analyse j / w + r sequences in the history Early Modern English (EMoE), the predecessor of Standard (Reference) British English (SSBE) and its most current version, Current British English (CUBE) to arrive at the nature of historical pre-r (and also pre-l) breaking, a process (together with r-deletion and smoothing) responsible for the phonemic contrast between schwa-final and any other diphthongs (and long vowels): bear ɛə vs bay ej (or eɪ), lore ɔə vs law ɔː vs low ow at the beginning of the twentieth century, found as bɛː vs bɛj , loː law / lore vs ləw low CUBE. The main thrust of the argument presented here is that (i) (historical) diphthongs and the long high monophthongs are uniformly represented as vowel+glide sequences, giving 'bias' to the title and (ii) that breaking is consonant prevocalisation (CP) of r/ɫ in j / w + r/ɫ sequences (lejr > lejər lair , fajɫ > fajəɫ file). This is followed by r-deletion and smoothing (leər > lɛə > lɛː lair), which are unrelated to breaking 'proper'. The analysis of breaking as consonant prevocalisation builds on the framework developed by Operstein (2010), with earlier precursors in articulatory phonology, historical linguistics (e.g. Howell 1991a, 1991b), and frameworks using privative melodic features, such as government phonology (e.g. Kaye, Lowenstamm & Vergnaud 1985), dependency phonology (Anderson & Ewen 1987), particle phonology (Schane 1984), element theory (Backley 2011), etc. The article introduces the theoretical background in section 1, followed in section 2 by a discussion of breaking in the history of English. We then look at a classical interpretation of breaking and discuss its shortcomings in section 3. We then look at why the long high monophthongs are better analysed as diphthongs in section 4 before we look at how these vowels fit into the bigger canvas of the diphthongs in section 5. The next step in sections 6 and 7 takes us to the analysis of breaking as CP happening in jr , wr and jɫ sequences. In section 8 we look at CP undone in the later history of the language and some of the consequences for earlier English that follow from the modern distribution of j / w + r sequences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article presents a novel approach to classifying archaeological artefacts using machine learning, specifically deep learning, rather than relying on traditional, time-consuming human-based methods. By employing Convolutional Neural Networks (CNNs), this approach aims to expedite and enhance the identification process, making it more accessible to a wider audience. The study focuses on two types of artefacts- Roman Lusitanian amphorae (2nd-5th centuries) and Portuguese faience (16th-18th centuries)- chosen for their diversity. While Lusitanian amphorae lack decoration, Portuguese faience poses challenges with subtle colour variations. The study demonstrates the potential of this approach to overcome these hurdles. The paper outlines the methodology, dataset creation, and model training, emphasizing the importance of extensive data and computational resources. The ultimate objective of this research is to develop a mobile application that utilizes image classification techniques to accurately classify ceramic sherds and bring about a significant transformation in archaeological classification. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study deals with Early Modern burials in ancient monuments located nowhere near churches or execution sites. Examples are given from four prehistoric sites in different Swedish provinces, dating from the Early Neolithic through the Roman Period, with a total of 15 buried Early Modern individuals. Written sources along with details of the burial rite suggest that they are plague burials. Such were not welcome in churchyards because of concerns over the poorly understood contagion. Why people all over Sweden occasionally targeted ancient monuments specifically for this purpose is not clear. In one case, they saw the monument as the remains of a church. More generally, they knew that much older burials sanctified and lent some prior sanction to those sites. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The wars that ravaged the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth in the 17th century were among the most destructive events in the history of that part of Europe at the time. It is said that from this point on, the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth transitioned from a subject to an object state. Through interdisciplinary research involving the analysis of written, cartographic, and paleoecological data, we aim to demonstrate how the exit from this major crisis looked over a nearly 150-year perspective. In this article, we present observations describing economic, social, and demographic transformations, while also focusing on landscape and ecological issues. By analyzing the surroundings of the village of Kazuń (located today in central Poland), we highlight the emergence of a new type of settlement (the so-called olędrzy) in river valleys, which in the 18th century became an important element of a new wave of settlement and restoration. • Examines the transformation of the Medieval and Early Modern environment and landscape using various data. • Analyses the long-term social, economic and landscape changes that resulted from the wars occurred in the 17th and 18th centuries. • Discusses the transformation of the landscape in connection with the new wave of settlement during the 18th century. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article delves into the urban environmental history of early modern Amsterdam through the examination of water access. In this coastal city, environmental change combined with the late 16th and especially 17th century urban growth made ground and surface waters brackish and polluted. As a result, access to clean drinking water required substantial efforts. A combined system of mainly rain containers (cisterns) and surface water imports from upstream made for a complex and continuously changing water infrastructure. In this article, I employ novel data on the different ways in which people accessed potable water to explore the neglected spatial and environmental inequalities of early modern Amsterdam's water access. I discuss new data on thousands of previously underexplored rain containers that laid in public space but were for private use. I map and analyse the unequal access to water on a city-wide level, on the level of individual streets and on the level of individual households and their everyday practices. • Throughout early modern Amsterdam, there was a large-scale infrastructure for rainwater capturing. • Using taxation records, thousands of rain containers have been mapped and analysed. • This gives insight in the complex and diverse infrastructure for water access in early modern Amsterdam. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research note shines new light on previously misinterpreted and incorrectly catalogued key information about the role‐holder of the Lieutenant‐Governor of Brill in 1612. It identifies that a source for this information previously attributed to Sir John Peyton (1579–1635) was actually written by Sir Henry Peyton (c.1580–1623) and discusses the significance and impact of the newly discovered identification. It reveals Henry Peyton to be a prolific letter writer and collector of military maps and shows how he shared his research with Sir Robert Cotton. It also identifies that further research is needed into the military career of Henry Peyton and the significant role he played in early modern military history, with particular attention to be given to his martial reports from Venice and the Low Countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article discusses the development of administrative history from ancient times to the present day. It explains the importance of Thomas Madox, T. F. Tout and other pioneers of administrative history in modern England and France. It also discusses the golden age of early modern administrative history (roughly 1950–1990), in which administrative methods thrived under the auspices of Sir Geoffrey Elton. The final section discusses a recent resurgence of administrative history, which some have referred to as the New Administrative History. It makes a case for the continuing importance of administrative history. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This essay explores the portrayal of Albrecht von Wallenstein's downfall on the Spanish stage during the Thirty Years' War. El prodigio de Alemania (1634), a play written by Calderón de la Barca and Antonio Coello, serves as a topic of study for understanding international politics of the time. The death of King Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden at the Battle of Lützen (1632) marked a turning point in the career of Wallenstein, who had played a significant role as the general commander during the conflict. The play itself was a product of Prime Minister Olivares' domestic and international policies and aimed to legitimize specific ideological interests. The essay focuses on the manipulation of theatre as a means of enhancing the reputation of the Spanish monarchy and examines how the construction of the play allows us to comprehend the strained relations between Spain and the Holy Roman Empire during the war. It also scrutinizes the modifications made to the literary product to align with the changing political realities and illuminates the significance of Spanish theatre in crafting historical narratives and propagating political ideologies during the first half of the seventeenth century. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The question of religious toleration was crucial in the early modern era. Challenging simplistic views of toleration as mere peaceful coexistence, this essay explores its complexities from a historical perspective. It argues that toleration was a deliberate choice demanding effort and served as a flexible political tool in various contexts. Drawing on examples from Brandenburg‐Prussia and Poland‐Lithuania, it shows how toleration shaped political assets and public opinion. This essay introduces the concept of a "toleration landscape" to depict its multifaceted influence on society. Ultimately, it asserts Central Europe's pivotal role in early modern toleration, bridging historical divides between Eastern and Western Europe. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of School Chronicle / Šolska Kronika is the property of Slovenski Solski Muzej and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Martin Mulsow's Knowledge Lost is a magnificent contribution to early modern intellectual history and the history of knowledge. In the hope of stimulating further discussion, this article asks several questions, most of them circling around one meta question: have we perhaps overly caricatured early modern ‘orthodoxy’, and underestimated the plurality of its intellectual output?. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Response: Knowledge Lost: A New View of Early Modern Intellectual History (2022)-translated from Martin Mulsow's Prekäres Wissen (2012)– explores the precarious nature of radical intellectual activity in the early modern German context in the decades around 1700. Mulsow examines the vulnerability of thinkers whose ideas were deemed dangerous by state or church authorities, given the risks of censorship, social ostracism, and the loss of ideas that could not be safely shared. Mulsow discusses various signs of precarity including the use of manuscript instead of print, the marginal social status of most radical thinkers, and the use of textual strategies to create plausible deniability. This book models new questions to pose and new clues to examine to write an alternative intellectual history focused on knowledge lost, hidden, or distorted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of the present work is to examine in detail the figure of the Italian painter, Artemisia Gentileschi (1593–1656?), whose work is of great interest but passed unnoticed in the academic world for a long time. This article departs from the structural position of women in art as a theoretical background, in order to understand the life, work, and historical recognition of Gentileschi. Later, through an analysis of her artistic context and the personal events that conditioned the interpretation of her work, we focus on Gentileschi’s female heroes that she depicted. In conclusion, it can be said that the biographical sensationalism to which her artistic production has been subjected has overshadowed the artistic value of her work, in submitting it to a search for Gentileschi’s real feelings contained in it. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article "Plato, Locri and 'the Flower of Italy': Revaluating an 'Ancient' Epithet" by Edward J. Creedy explores the historical significance of the Greek colony of Epizephyrian Locris, known as Locri by the Romans. The article discusses the positive reputation of Locri as "the flower of Italy" attributed to Plato, but reveals that this epithet actually originated from the writings of the Italian scholar Leandro Alberti in the sixteenth century. The article examines Plato's references to Locri in his works and concludes that the title "the flower of Italy" was an Albertian attribution rather than a Platonic one. [Extracted from the article]

This essay makes a case for assessing the significance of material and labor in the context of the global history of early modern art, through an analysis of a single case or cabinet dated to the second quarter of the seventeenth century: an imposing ebony chest inlaid with mother-of-pearl created by Herman Doomer (1595–1650), a contemporary and compatriot of the Dutch artist Rembrandt van Rijn (1606–1669). The essay endeavors to address the place of enslaved labor in Dutch seventeenth-century taste that favored foreign goods and materials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Monica Juneja's book, "Can Art History Be Made Global? Meditations from the Periphery," challenges the Eurocentric and methodologically nationalist paradigms in art history by proposing a theory of transculturation. She advocates for a critical globality that considers multiple subjectivities and perspectives, particularly focusing on South Asia as a peripheral region. While Juneja's methodological proposition is commendable, some critics question the book's evaluation of global art studies and its claim to introduce a new method of transculturation. Despite these criticisms, Juneja's book offers a nuanced approach to global art history, especially in its analysis of the Paris exhibition Magiciens de la Terre and its transcultural dimensions. [Extracted from the article]

The article attempts to consider the position of the Persian Safavid state on the question of using the territory of the Muscovy empire for the development of the European-Asian relations in the period of the XVI–XVII centuries with the use of the method of diachronic analysis and historical periodization. The aforementioned problem is studied as a separate aspect of scientific topics related to the place of the then Russia in the process of the European expansion into the countries of the East. The object of the analysis is the practical activities of the Persian administrations, which had both a direct and indirect relationship to the conventional topic of «Russian transit». Nowadays the experience of the comprehensive and conceptual study of this issue is absent not only in the domestic, but also in the foreign historical science. The specific subject of the study is related to the repeated promises of official Iran to transfer control over the largest centers of the historical region of Shirvan to the Russian tsars. The source base for this work was an array of diplomatic documents on the history of Russian-Persian interstate relations of the XVI–XVII centuries. These materials, in particular, reflected Moscow’s reaction to the Safavid proposals for territorial concessions. The scientific works of Russian-speaking and foreign specialists, including the largest representatives of classical and modern historical Iranian studies, were also used. The analysis made it possible to fit the diplomatic issue about the fate of the Shirvan cities into the context of the general problem of «Russian transit». It is hypothesized that the Persian government deliberately initiated this discussion taking into account the economic potential of the Volga-Caspian trade route. It is concluded that if the appropriate agreements between the two states were reached, the Russian empire could in the future produce a certain revolution in the intercontinental trade, especially in the silk market.

This paper introduces and comments on the animals and plants listed in a manuscript dated 1599 (the 'Berry-Pomeroy Manuscript'), the 'Synopsis chorographical of Devonshire' by John Hooker of Exeter (1527–1601). Two hundred and seventy eight animals and plants were named, which is an unprecedented number for a local natural history text from sixteenth-century Britain. The animals mentioned include some of considerable interest like the wolf, bear, roe deer and red deer, polecat, black rat, white stork, Cornish chough and numerous freshwater fishes. Several cultivated varieties of domesticated fruit trees, in particular apples and pears, and other local specialities that are no longer known were also in Hooker's list. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The "Journal of Jesuit Studies" Volume 11, No. 1 focuses on Jesuit Emblems and Emblematics, featuring articles on various aspects of Jesuit emblematic art and iconography. The issue includes discussions on Jesuit emblem characteristics, biblical and classical influences, and the emblematic decoration of Jesuit colleges. Additionally, the volume contains book reviews on topics related to Jesuit history, art, and literature, providing a comprehensive overview of Jesuit scholarship and cultural contributions. [Extracted from the article]

The article explores the role of military treatises and manuals as objects and factors in cultural and technology transfer from Western Europe to Russia in the 17th century in a comparative perspective. Listing the treatises on military tactics, organization and technology, translated for the needs of the Russian monarchs before the radical Westernizing reforms under Tsar Peter I started in 1700, the article analyses how these texts were perceived by their Russian readers and how they might have contributed to the military change in Eastern Europe. It defines the Russian military culture of the age as an elite culture, centred around the ruler's person. The article also contextualizes the history of translated military books within knowledge transfer, in particular the transfer of Early Modern scientific ideas in Russia, as these books provided an attractive insight into European science and technology, not available for the Russian elite from other sources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This comparative case study takes up the examples of two Twelver lettrists, who together became two of the most important occultist authorities of the high Safavid period: al-Ḥāfiẓ Rajab al-Bursī (d. after 1410) and Maḥmūd Dihdār Shīrāzī (fl. 1576). Their projects are intimately connected, and can only be historiographically explained in tandem. Yet the first has been celebrated in the literature as a passionate, semi-extremist Twelver mystic, and the second—a sober, experimentalist Twelver occult scientist—totally elided. Nor has any study to date identified both authors' primary point of scholarly reference: the New Brethren of Purity network of imperial Timurid and Ottoman Pythagoreanizing occultists radiating from late Mamluk Cairo, capital of the lettrist renaissance to which they were consciously heir. To correct such elisions and imbalances, we must forswear the persistent scientistic-cum-religionist dogma that vanishes lettrism and other mainstream occult sciences into the wastebasket, apolitical category that is 'mysticism,' thus exiling much of Safavid intellection from early modern history of philosophy, of science and of empire. For al-Bursī, taking a page from his contemporaries the New Brethren, is the first Shiʿi author to draw directly on Ibn ʿArabī (d. 1240) and Aḥmad al-Būnī (d. btw. 1225–33) both, the two foremost Sunni lettrists of the later Islamicate scholarly tradition, representing lettrist theory and lettrist praxis respectively; and Dihdār—the most prolific Persian author on practical Būnian lettrism of the sixteenth century, and hence immediate inspiration for the al-Bursī cult of the next—provides us an invaluable window onto how Safavid philosophy was actually imperially, occult-scientifically practiced, as well as the evolution of the Western grimoire tradition as a whole. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This essay offers an interpretation of the canonical history of strolling as a non-economic practice, that is, as a practice free of purpose and means. I consider strolling as a state of mind that discloses abundance in a similar way as rationality discloses scarcity. I inquire into the multiple facets of this state of mind by re-reading three phases in its literary and cultural history: the early modern artist-stroller of the nineteenth-century panoramic literature that finds its peak in Charles Baudelaire; the high modern consumer-stroller as described in the inter-war period, notably in the work of Walter Benjamin; and the late modern subversive stroller that is re-discovered in the mid-twentieth century by the Situationist Guy Debord among others. This interpretation both sheds light on the social preconditions of economic rationality as an organizing principle of a market society, as well as the potential to step out of this principle. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is well known that the quest for spices fuelled navigational endeavours during early modern history, acting as a gateway to conquest. Historians from the field have often focused on the relations between the colonies and the colonised, but what role did this play in the forging of intercolonial connections? By delving into the allure of one spice, the current article argues that, more than merely a source of profit, a ceremonial means or an item of consumption, the quest for cinnamon revealed the pursuit of botanical knowledge, which reflected the use of alternative commercial routes. Rivalry between the colonisers prompted significant intercolonial connections rather than merely between them and the metropoles, while prompting transimperial relations when these belonged to different empires. These connections resulted in nuanced practical outcomes that conveyed the intellectual stances and political hierarchy inherent in imperial networks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study challenges historical paradigms using a large-scale integrated bioarchaeological approach, focusing on the female experience over the last 2,000 years in Milan, Italy. Specifically, 492 skeletons from the osteological collection of Milan were used to elucidate female survivorship and mortality by integrating bioarchaeological and paleopathological data, paleoepidemiological analyses, and historical contextualization. Findings revealed changes in female longevity, with a notable increase from Roman to contemporary eras, albeit plateauing in the Middle Ages/modern period. Significant sex-specific differences in mortality risk and survivorship were observed: females had higher mortality risk and lower survivorship in the Roman (first-fifth century AD) and Modern (16th-18th century AD) eras, but this trend reversed in the contemporary period (19th-20th century AD). Cultural and social factors negatively impacted female mortality in Roman and modern Milan, while others buffered it during the Middle Ages (sixth-15th century AD). This study underscored the importance of bioarchaeological inquiries in reconstructing the past, providing answers that may challenge historical assumptions and shedding light on how the interplay of cultural, social, and biological factors shaped the female experience across millennia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Skelton (1972), followed by Harley (1987), invented "the history of cartography" as a field of study with deep historical roots, giving the field an origin deep in the Renaissance, perhaps even in the Middle Ages. In doing so, Skelton imposed modern scholarly practices onto early modern scholarship, without regard for contemporary knowledge practices. This essay counters the invented tradition by exploring how early modern scholars engaged with maps from the contemporary past ("early maps"). It identifies three distinct sets of scholars whose variant agendas led them to work with early maps in markedly different ways. First, Classical historians used the Peutinger map and Ptolemy's Geography to identify locations of ancient places to improve their comprehension of Classical texts. Second, some geographers wrote histories of voyages and travels that related past routes to contemporary maps, and others wrote historical narratives of the compilation of encyclopedic texts and maps of world and regional knowledge. (This analysis requires a reconceptualization of early modern "geography.") Third, antiquaries opportunistically described and at times reproduced a variety of maps, charts, and plans that came to their attention, but without actively searching for early maps. Overall, this essay demonstrates that before 1775 there was neither a systematic approach taken to the study of early maps nor any hint of the core methodology that would be adopted by the first historiographical mode of map history as it developed after 1830. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article delves into William Hubbard's "A General History of New England," written in the late 17th century but published much later in 1815. Hubbard's work reflects the political climate of his time and his use of various sources to construct his narrative. It examines his approach to sensitive topics like the regicides in New England and his focus on significant events while avoiding contentious issues. The text sheds light on the challenges faced by early New England settlers and provides valuable insights into Hubbard's historical methodology. The manuscripts of the work are preserved at the Massachusetts Historical Society, offering a glimpse into the region's early history. [Extracted from the article]

This article examines the life, theological career, exegetical development, and posthumous biographies of Johannes Oecolampadius as illustrative examples of the fact that the Swiss Reformation, with all its religious movements, was far from a uniform concept in terms of its origins, purposes, and methodologies. The article explains through Oecolampadius's example an approach to reform that was 'in progress', traversing the nexuses of disparate methods and exegetical priorities. Oecolampadius's experience occupied a position at the intersection between the authority of Patristics and the principle of sola scriptura, exemplifying a balance between the past and the present of Christian tradition. The path that led Oecolampadius to become a Protestant Reformer is characterised by a gradual transition, not abrupt, not radical. His example demonstrates the methodological and ideological diversity of the Reformation, which can be observed through the prism of a single life and its intellectual periods. His conversion offers insight into how these varied approaches shaped personal engagements with Scripture, and challenges the notion of an immediate or singular evangelical 'calling' or 'conviction'. This article examines a specific phase within the broader and varied trajectory of the Swiss Reformation by analysing the transformation of Oecolampadius from a biblical scholar to a preacher, and eventually to a Reformer. This case study illustrates how disparate methodologies, whether rooted in humanism or Patristics, contributed to gradual and personal evolution, ultimately giving rise to distinctive individual stances on reform. This article presents a synthesis of three distinct perspectives on the question. The first part approaches the question through the lens of church history and intellectual history; the second one utilises the history of exegesis and New Testament scholarship; and the third draws upon the perspectives of Protestant historiography, from the standpoint of social history and the history of biographies in Early Modern times. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores the relationship between natural history, natural philosophy, and the metaphysics of nature in the early modern period up to the mid-eighteenth century. It examines how observation and experiment gained importance among experimental philosophers, and how natural history became a foundation for natural philosophy. The article also discusses the tension between the role of metaphysical principles and empirical methodologies in the study of nature, and explores the writings of various philosophers such as Maupertuis, d'Alembert, and Kant. The collected papers in this special issue shed light on the evolving boundaries of natural history and natural philosophy, and their relationship to hermeneutics and aesthetics. [Extracted from the article]

Peter Harrison explains the disappearance of symbolic meanings of animals from seventeenth-century works in natural history through what he calls the "literalist mentality of the reformers." By contrast, the present article argues in favor of a different understanding of the connection between hermeneutics and Protestant natural history. Martin Luther, Philipp Melanchthon, Johannes Brenz, Johannes Oecolampadius, and Jean Calvin continued to assign moral meanings to natural particulars, and moral interpretations can still be found in the writings of Protestant naturalists such as Conrad Gesner, Caspar Heldelinus, Jeremias Wilde, Thomas Penny, and Thomas Moffett. If there are differences between Protestant and Catholic interpretations of animals, then these differences derive from the reformer's greater insistence on providing textual support for assigning symbolic meanings, their resulting greater reluctance in assigning prophetic meanings to animals, and their elimination of spiritual interpretations of animals that are in tension with central tenets of Protestant theology. These differences in hermeneutics and theology may explain some of the divergences between the symbolic interpretations of animals proposed by Protestant natural historians and their Catholic colleague, Ulisse Aldrovandi. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article investigates the turning point in the history of English witchcraft with the case of Alice Molland, who was accused of witchcraft and executed in Devon, England in the 17th-century. It assumes the identity of Alice as Avis Molland who testified against Margery, wife of Robert Searle of Exeter who predicted the rebellion initiated by James, Duke of Monmouth against the reigning monarch, James II. It traces the connection between Cornelius Molland and Avis Molland of Exeter.

This article provides an overview of the life and work of historian George L. Mosse, who focused on fascism and Nazi Germany. Mosse's research explored the connection between autobiography and historiography, and he wrote extensively on the subject. His work has gained renewed interest, particularly in understanding the rise of right-wing populism and antisemitism. The article also highlights Mosse's unique perspective as a gay man from a Jewish family and his examination of the cultural and symbolic aspects of fascism. While his work has been influential, there are criticisms of his emphasis on culture and aesthetics, as well as debates about the specificity of fascist violence and the Eurocentric paradigm of the Holocaust. Overall, Mosse's work offers valuable insights into the history of fascism and its cultural manifestations. [Extracted from the article]

The document titled "Notes on Contributors" provides brief biographical information about various scholars in the field of humanities. It includes details about their academic positions, research interests, publications, and affiliations. The contributors come from diverse backgrounds and specialize in a wide range of topics, such as African studies, Arabic language, history of knowledge, and philosophy. The document highlights the rich and varied expertise within the humanities field, showcasing the global and interdisciplinary nature of research in this area. [Extracted from the article]

This document provides brief biographical information about various contributors to the journal "Early Modern Women: An Interdisciplinary Journal." The contributors come from diverse academic backgrounds and specialize in a range of topics related to early modern history, literature, art, and culture. Their research interests include women's history, gender studies, religious history, literature, art history, and more. The contributors have published books, articles, and edited volumes on their respective areas of expertise. [Extracted from the article]

This article examines Madeleine de Scudéry's account of her pet chameleons and the emotional connections she formed with them. It challenges the belief that animals lack emotions and advocates for a more compassionate view. The article also discusses the cultural significance of chameleons in seventeenth-century France and how Scudéry's account differs from her contemporaries' anatomical approach. It emphasizes the importance of emotions and shared experiences in Scudéry's work, drawing on the history of emotions to analyze her narrative. [Extracted from the article]

During the British Civil Wars, London suffered a severe energy shortage. By the mid-seventeenth century, the English capital was highly dependent on supplies of coal from the North-East of England. However, during the civil wars, the predominantly Parliamentarian city’s access to coal was restricted when the Royalists secured control of Newcastle and its coal reserves. The constriction of the coal supply of London caused an energy crisis in the capital, forcing the Parliamentarians to introduce price controls and seek alternative supplies of fuel. This article argues that ‘weaponisation of energy’ and ‘energy policy’ are appropriate terms to describe London’s coal supply in this period, given the clear parallels with modern energy policies and conflict. This article will further argue that the use of this term makes historians engage with the importance of energy even in premodern conflicts, and acknowledge that contemporaries were aware of its paramount strategic importance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the connection between Thomas Nashe, a prominent writer in the 16th century, and John Danter, a printer-publisher. The author suggests that Nashe may have been involved in writing ballads for Danter, based on their close working relationship and Danter's reliance on printing ballads for profit. Although there is no direct evidence to support this claim, the author presents circumstantial evidence that indicates Nashe's potential involvement in writing ballads for Danter. This perspective provides valuable insights into Nashe's work and sheds light on the relationship between authors and printers during the Early Modern period. [Extracted from the article]

The article discusses a book titled "De mundi recentioribus phænomenis: Cosmologie et science dans l'Europe des Temps modernes, XV e – XVII e siècles" edited by Mehl, Pantin, and Granada. The book is a collection of papers presented at a conference held to honor Miguel Ángel Granada on his 70th birthday. The papers cover a wide range of topics related to the history of early modern philosophy and science, including celestial novelties, the Scientific Revolution, and the works of Kepler. The volume highlights Granada's contributions to the field and offers new insights into the interconnectedness of European and Islamicate science during this period. The article discusses a collection of essays that explore various aspects of Johannes Kepler's work and philosophy. The essays cover topics such as Kepler's interpretation of Platonic polyhedrons, his hypotheses about solar inhabitants and the solar mind, and the understanding of Kepler's astronomy and philosophy by philosopher Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel. The collection also includes unpublished letters from Kepler and his circle, shedding light on his personal and professional life. The volume reflects the complexity of the Scientific Revolution and the broader history of science, highlighting the circulation of ideas across Europe. [Extracted from the article]

Complex patterns of genome evolution associated with the end-Cretaceous [Cretaceous-Paleogene (K-Pg)] mass extinction limit our understanding of the early evolutionary history of modern birds. Here, we analyzed patterns of avian molecular evolution and identified distinct macroevolutionary regimes across exons, introns, untranslated regions, and mitochondrial genomes. Bird clades originating near the K-Pg boundary exhibited numerous shifts in the mode of molecular evolution, suggesting a burst of genomic heterogeneity at this point in Earth's history. These inferred shifts in substitution patterns were closely related to evolutionary shifts in developmental mode, adult body mass, and patterns of metabolic scaling. Our results suggest that the end-Cretaceous mass extinction triggered integrated patterns of evolution across avian genomes, physiology, and life history near the dawn of the modern bird radiation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Histories of the early modern artificial language movement have focused not unreasonably on a series of ambitious, seventeenth-century language planners who set out to design 'real characters' or 'universal languages'. However, there were also practitioners working in fields like music, mathematics, and chemistry who likewise aspired to develop new, more systematic nomenclatures or notations, often also in the hope that such tools would designate things instead of words. Because histories of the artificial language movement do not usually address such projects or do so only insofar as these projects pertain to arguments about the language planners, their nomenclatures and notations constitute early modern Europe's 'other' real characters. This article surveys three cases in which individuals who are not typically considered representatives of the artificial language movement sought to design newer, more systematic means of communication. It compares and contrasts their approaches with those of well-known language planners, both in terms of how they designed their symbols and what they understood their symbols' primary function to be. In so doing, this article also proposes to reframe the history of the early modern artificial language movement by situating the more famous language planners within a wider and more varied intellectual milieu. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article argues that in order to achieve a fuller and more accurate understanding of the history of the early modern Spanish world, we need to study the Spanish Empire as an integrated and coherent unit of analysis, instead of separating it into nation-state fragments or simply placing it in the background of our studies. It was an empire that, in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, was not only European and American but also African and Asian, especially during the period of the union of the Spanish and Portuguese Crowns between 1580 and 1640. An imperial mindset, great mobility, and a global perspective characterized the lives and mentalities of many inhabitants of the empire. This was especially evident in the case of the religious orders, which played a fundamental role in the history of the Spanish Empire. Many of their members, both male and female, thought and acted within a worldwide framework, not only because they saw the conversion of all the peoples of the world to Catholicism as their inescapable, pressing task, but also because they inhabited a polity whose mental horizons were equally global in scope. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The book review discusses "Pioneers of Capitalism: The Netherlands, 1000–1800" by Maarten Prak and Jan Luiten van Zanden, highlighting its concise coverage of eight centuries of medieval and early modern history. The authors define capitalism as a system in which society as a whole participates, rather than just a small elite. While the book offers a comprehensive analysis of Dutch economic development, it lacks in-depth exploration of Dutch trade primacy and its impact on global trade dynamics. Despite its limitations, the review praises the book for its exceptional synthesis and relevance to economic and social history. [Extracted from the article]

This article discusses the early stages of the online, open-access database of the ERC project 'HOLYLAB'. Specifically, it addresses the work done on the database sources—the account books from the Franciscan Custody of the Holy Land between the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries—and the technical solutions adopted for the purpose of data systematization. Considering such solutions in depth is crucial, we believe, for several reasons. First, these solutions make unravelling the complexity and lack of structure for this type of historical data, which are both quantitative and qualitative and greatly inconsistent, possible. They also constitute a key initial step in the analysis and design stages of a database that aims to serve different functions simultaneously: granting access to unpublished historical records, as well as allowing searches for specific objects, people, places and for changes in the circulation of money, objects, and people through space and time. Finally, doing so provides a blueprint for approaching and systematizing historical data in early modern accounting sources in a crucially flexible way, and will help other researchers who face similarly challenging and complex data when building historical databases.