Early Modern History

Political Ideology in the Context of the Grand Vision of Giovanni Paulo Marana's Letters Writ by a Turkish Spy: An Interpretive Essay

by Richard Greydanus

Final researcher paper, M.A. History, McMaster University, Hamilton ON

July 2006

This paper navigates between various interpretive inconsistencies attempts to deal with its political and religious... more This paper navigates between various interpretive inconsistencies attempts to deal with its political and religious context by setting Giovanni Paulo Marana`s Letters Writ by a Turkish Spy in its Enlightenment context. The development of themes of the construction of self, perspectives on religion, conceptions of government, and the meaning of historical narratives are traced through the eight volumes of the Letters. It is shown that underlying these themes is the general narrative thread of an ascent to Reason.

‘A Respectful Challenge to the Nineteenth-Century’s View of Itself: An Argument for the Early Modern Medicalization of Old Age’, The Cultural Politics of Ageing in the Nineteenth Century Conference, University of Regensburg, Germany, 24-26 November 2011.

by Lynn Botelho

‘”The Voylence of this my Fall: Falling and the Elderly in Early Modern England”, European Social Science History Conference, Glasgow, Scotland, 11-14 April 2012.

by Lynn Botelho

La Pologne, un don maternel de Catherine de Médicis ? La cérémonie de la remise du Decretum electionis à Henri de Valois

by Ewa Kociszewska

Le Moyen Age 2011/3-4 (Le mécénat féminin en France et en Bourgogne, XIV-XVIe siècles. Nouvelles perspectives)

The hard defence of a shameful peace

by Marco Giani

Presented at «The Price of Peace» conference (organized by Cultures of War and Conflict Resolution Network with Northern Renaissance Seminar). Lancaster (UK), June 10th 2011.

On 7 March 1573, after only three years, the Holy League (mainly Spain, Papacy and Venice) split up. The Most Serene... more On 7 March 1573, after only three years, the Holy League (mainly Spain, Papacy and Venice) split up. The Most Serene Republic came to an agreement with the Ottoman Empire it had defeated just two years before in the glorious Battle of Lepanto (1571). There was a general outcry from all Europe: Venice, the merchant Republic, sold out its dominion (Cyprus) and its dignity to the enemy. Was it the truth? Why Venetians would have act like that, if they were the driving force of the Holy League (formed after Ottoman attack against Venetian Cyprus, 1570)? Paolo Paruta, a young writer, wrote a Discorso in order to justify this decision: a linguistic and rhetorical analysis of this work is going to help us to understand Venice’s reasons. Paruta, an honest spokesman of his city’s mentality in early 1570s, can introduce us to each matter (pro pace or pro bello) of this hard contention the Lion Republic had to face in this turning point of its history.

Review of Adriano Prosperi, Il seme dell'intolleranza. Ebrei, eretici, selvaggi: Granada 1492, Laterza, Roma-Bari 2011

by Daniele Santarelli

See: http://halshs.archives-ouvertes.fr/view_by_stamp.php?&halsid=9ftkrlelale6ugkvtksga8a9r5&label=SHS&langue=fr&action_todo=view&id=halshs-00693974&version=2&view=short_view

1492: l’anno della scoperta dell’America che una lunga tradizione di periodizzazioni pone all’inizio dell’età moderna.... more 1492: l’anno della scoperta dell’America che una lunga tradizione di periodizzazioni pone all’inizio dell’età moderna. Gli eventi e le conseguenze di quell’anno memorabile sono al centro di questa breve ma densa sintesi/riflessione di Adriano Prosperi, divisa in tre parti, di cui la prima è significativamente intitolata “Alle origini dell’antisemitismo” ...

The lives of Bahuchara Mata

by Samira Sheikh

published in Aparna Kapadia and Edward Simpson, eds., The Idea of Gujarat, Orient Blackswan, 2010, 84-99. 

Book review - "The Capitulations and the Ottoman Legal System: Qadis, Consuls, and Beratlı in the Eighteenth Century"

by Mathieu Grenet

review of Maurits H. van den Boogert, The Capitulations and the Ottoman Legal System: Qadis, Consuls, and Beratlı in the Eighteenth Century (Leiden and Boston: Brill, 2005).
in Cahiers de la Méditerranée, forthcoming (2012)
UNPUBLISHED PAPER - PLEASE DO NOT COPY OR QUOTE WITHOUT THE AUTHOR'S PERMISSION

Sulla fortuna dei Politicorum libri sex di Giusto Lipsio in Italia. La traduzione di Alessandro Tassoni, in Studi in ricordo di Armando Saitta, Milano, Franco Angeli, 2002, pp. 139-154

by Alberto Clerici

Contesting the commons - reconstructing the politics of English common land, c. 1550-1650 (Working Paper).

by Jonathan Healey

Multa curiosa. Vallisneri’s early studies on Earth sciences

by Francesco Luzzini

«Nuncius», Volume 26, Number 2, 2011, pp. 334-354.

In 1687, after he graduated in Medicine, young Antonio Vallisneri returned in the Duchy of Modena and Reggio. In those... more In 1687, after he graduated in Medicine, young Antonio Vallisneri returned in the Duchy of Modena and Reggio. In those years he mainly served as general practitioner; nevertheless, he also devoted many studies to various aspects of the natural sciences. He performed many observations, accurately reporting them in seven Quaderni, which were compiled between 1694 and 1701.

Though the Earth sciences occupy only a small part of these diaries, the accuracy of the notes makes them a precious token of the scientific praxis adopted by the author in this field of study. This paper deals with the analysis of these early geological reports, pointing out the main criteria of Vallisneri's experimental method and paying attention to the great significance which these documents had in the elaboration of some of his published works.

Lettere di Giovanni Arduino (Review of the volume by Ezio Vaccari)

by Francesco Luzzini

«Studi Veneziani», LX, 2010 (2011), pp. 682-690

New Literature, New Identity: Stephanos Sachlikes (14th c.), the First Eponymous Author of Modern Greek Literature (in Greek)

by Tassos A. Kaplanis

Web-published in 2011 (e-book forthcoming in 2012)

Ο Στέφανος Σαχλίκης (π. 1331-πριν το 1403) αναγνωρίζεται εδώ και πολλά χρόνια ως «πατέρας της κρητικής λογοτεχνίας».... more Ο Στέφανος Σαχλίκης (π. 1331-πριν το 1403) αναγνωρίζεται εδώ και πολλά χρόνια ως «πατέρας της κρητικής λογοτεχνίας». Σπάνια όμως αναφέρεται ως πρώτος επώνυμος συγγραφέας της νεοελληνικής λογοτεχνίας, παρόλο που είναι ο πρώτος επώνυμος ποιητής που όχι μόνο δεν έχει σχέση ούτε με το Βυζάντιο ούτε με το Μεσαίωνα, αλλά είναι επιπλέον εισηγητής της ομοιοκαταληξίας στη νεοελληνική ποίηση, σύγχρονος του Βοκάκιου και μια γενιά νεότερος από τον Πετράρχη, και μεταφέρει με ποικίλους τρόπους την Αναγέννηση στα νεοελληνικά γράμματα. Στο πρώτο μέρος της ανακοίνωσης θα παρουσιαστούν συνοπτικά οι καινοτομίες της ποίησης του Σαχλίκη σε διάφορα επίπεδα: α. γλωσσικό (χρήση νεοελληνικής με διαλεκτικά στοιχεία, φαινόμενο της «πολυγλωσσίας»), β. μορφολογικό (διάφορα ομοιοκαταληκτικά και μετρικά σχήματα, κυρίως frottola rima και ομοιοκατάληκτο δίστιχο) και γ. θεματικό-ειδολογικό (διάφορα σκαμπρόζικα σατιρικά στιχουργήματα με ηρωίδες τις πόρνες του Χάντακα, ποιήματα της φυλακής, ποιήματα για τη φιλία και τους φίλους, πρώτη γνωστή ποιητική αυτοβιογραφία). Η παρουσίαση θα καταδείξει ότι, αν η Αναγέννηση είναι η πρώτη περίοδος των νεότερων ευρωπαϊκών λογοτεχνιών, τότε αναγκαστικά, στη νεοελληνική περίπτωση, εγκαινιάζεται με την ποίηση του Σαχλίκη. Στο δεύτερο μέρος, αξιοποιώντας τα πορίσματα της σύγχρονης, κοινωνιολογικής και ανθρωπολογικής κυρίως, έρευνας σχετικά με τη φύση και τους όρους διαμόρφωσης της εθνοτικής ταυτότητας, θα αναζητηθούν στα κείμενα του Σαχλίκη στοιχεία αυτοπροσδιορισμού και ετεροκαθορισμού. Παρόλο που οι πολιτισμικοί δείκτες διαφοράς ανάμεσα στο «εμείς» και στο «αυτοί» στην ποίηση του Σαχλίκη δεν περιορίζονται σε εθνοτικό επίπεδο (τα κείμενά του αποτελούν πλούσια πηγή για τη διαμόρφωση τόσο των ταξικών και των έμφυλων ταυτοτήτων όσο και για την έννοια του κοινωνικού περιθωρίου), η ανακοίνωση θα περιοριστεί σε εθνοτικές διαφορές και αναφορές (Ρωμανία, Έλληνες, Λουμπάρδοι, Τουδέσκοι, Εβραίοι). Ιδιαίτερη έμφαση θα δοθεί σε ένα συγκεκριμένο επεισόδιο όπου ο Σαχλίκης, υποχρεωνόμενος να βρεθεί ομοτράπεζος με το βενετσιάνο φύλακά του και τους «λουμπάρδους και τουδέσκους» φίλους του, αναδεικνύει διάφορα στοιχεία της εθνοτικής και ταξικής ταυτότητάς του, επιβεβαιώνοντας σύγχρονές μας θεωρίες (Nash) και αφήνοντας ελάχιστα περιθώρια αμφιβολίας για το πώς αντιλαμβάνεται το «εμείς» και το «αυτοί». Τέλος, λαμβάνοντας υπόψη και τις ιστορικές, κοινωνικές και πολιτικές συνθήκες μέσα στις οποίες ζει (θανατικό του 1348, Αποστασία του Αγίου Τίτου, συντελεσμένη ήδη από τον προηγούμενο αιώνα μετάβαση από την αυτοκρατορική ιδεολογία στην εθνοτική ταυτότητα), θα υποστηριχτεί ότι, αν πρέπει να επιλεγεί ένας από τους, ούτως ή άλλως ψευδώνυμους, αλλά λειτουργικούς, χαρακτηρισμούς που χρησιμοποιούμε («βυζαντινός», «μεσαιωνικός», «νεοελληνικός») για να περιγραφεί ο Σαχλίκης και το έργο του, τότε αυτός δεν μπορεί παρά να είναι ο «νεοελληνικός».

'Modern Greek' in 'Byzantium'? The notion of 'early modern' in Greek studies

by Tassos A. Kaplanis

Published in 2009

When does modern Greek lterature begn? Modern Greek and Byzantne scholarship have used various terms n the past... more When does modern Greek lterature begn? Modern Greek and Byzantne scholarship have used various terms n the past n order to describe the same texts of the so-called vernacular Greek lterature. Thus, the Epic of Dgens Akritis, the Chronicle of Moreas, the Paleologan Romances, the poems of Sachlikis, Kornaros, Chortatsis, to name but a few, have all been described as “Byzantine”, “late medieval/protoneohellenic”, “medieval”, “late Byzantine, Renaissance and post-Byzantine”, “modern”, “early modern”, even “Neograeca Medii Aevi”. Although most of these terms can easily be proved a-historical anachronisms (“modern Greek” but also “medieval” and “Byzantine” were completely
unknown to the peoples/cultures they aim to describe), one can argue for their necessity, provided that they at least describe accurately literary and related phenomena. In this paper, I will advocate the use of the term “early modern” as the best and most accurate description for this “vernacular” Greek literature in all related contexts (linguistic, historical, social) and I will also reshape its boundares, gesturing both forward and backward (12th–early 19th c.).

Call for papers - The Inner Revolution (16th and 17th century) [English version]

by Lo Sguardo - Rivista di Filosofia

This tenth issue of Lo Sguardo will be dedicated to the “inner revolution” of he 16th and 17th century; in particular it will delve into the matter of the interiorization of the world” and the development of an “individual interiority” in the period included betweenthe end of the Renaissance and the early modern Age. With this purpose the issue will consider the “psychology of the soul” livering over the role of the “auxialiry faculties” –such as memory, imagination, fantasy – in relation to the notion of apprehensio, to the practice of spiritual exercises and to the concept of homo faber sui.

Accepted languages: English, French, Italian, Spanish, German
Deadline for the delivery: September, 10th 2012

Please feel free to contact us for any further informations: redazione@losguardo.net

http://www.losguardo.net/index.html
http://www.losguardo.net/public/collabora/collabora.html

‘The Doctor’s Wife, (by the Blessing of God) helps Barrenness’: Gender and Infertility Treatments in Early Modern England.

by Jennifer Evans

Accepted for inclusion in the provisionally entitled, Gender, Health and Medicine in Historical Perspective edited by Sarah Toulalan.

The tensions and relationships between male medical knowledge and female medical understanding and practice have... more
The tensions and relationships between male medical knowledge and female medical understanding and practice have been examined by many scholars. In particular the development of man-midwifery and the contest between male physicians and female midwives has been extensively scrutinised.  Similarly research has been conducted on domestic medicine and the role of women in treating illness within the home.  This chapter will contribute to the debate surrounding the gendered nature of obstetric and gynaecological medicine in the early modern period. It will address issues relating to the nature and extent of women’s medical practice in this area. This research will examine the similarities and disparities between barrenness remedies offered in printed, male authored, medical texts and those recorded in the manuscript receipt collections kept by women. Moreover, it will assess a selection of advertisements to establish the extent to which male physicians and female practitioners were willing to publically offer treatments for fertility problems. It will highlight the many ways that, alongside men and independently, women were actively involved in the treatment of generative disorders both inside the home and in the broader medical market place of early modern England.

'Bewitched in their privities': Medical Responses to Infertility Witchcraft in Early Modern England

by Jennifer Evans

Societas Magicas Newsletter, issue 27 (Spring 2012) 1-5.

This essay investigates the predominantly naturalistic therapeutic response of early modern medical writers to cases... more This essay investigates the predominantly naturalistic therapeutic response of early modern medical writers to cases of magically caused infertility. For much of the early modern period medical writers and others accepted that infertility could be caused by witchcraft, achieved through the use of an enchantment or by utilising the ligature spell. Across the period there were only two recorded cases of impotence magic in England. Although this may have made discussions about magically induced sterility a mostly theoretical exercise, it is apparent that medical writers encouraged their readers to accept that the only legitimate response to this form of sexual health issue was to employ a natural remedy. In particular medical writers emphasised the efficacy of provokers of lust, aphrodisiacs, in curing sterility of this nature. In some cases, such as Swiss physican Theophile Bonet, medical writers claimed to have cured magical impotence with the use stimulating substances, like ‘Chocolad’. In suggesting that early modern medicine had a particular interest in promoting these natural medicinal cures for magically caused sexual health problems, this essay explores the question of whether, in the post-reformation landscape, men and women readily turned to the ritualistic treatments offered by cunning folk.

‘Gentle Purges corrected with hot Spices, whether they work or not, do vehemently provoke Venery’: Menstrual Provocation and Procreation in Early Modern England

by Jennifer Evans

Social History of Medicine, 25/1 (February 2012), 2-19.

Throughout the early modern period, medical writers described a plethora of remedies designed to provoke menstruation.... more Throughout the early modern period, medical writers described a plethora of remedies designed to provoke menstruation. This article will address the close relationship these substances had with provokers of lust. Historians have often viewed emmenagogues as covert expressions of abortive drugs. While they acknowledge that some women utilised these treatments for their intended purpose, to restore a regular menstrual cycle, they have more frequently asserted that they were more likely to be employed to remove an unwanted pregnancy. This article asserts that this understanding is in need of reappraisal and argues that these substances can be viewed as a key component of early modern fertility and sexual health care. This article demonstrates that provokers of venery and emmenagogues shared similar humoral virtues and that many compound remedies designed to restore purgation contained potent aphrodisiacs. By promoting a healthy menstrual cycle these substances ensured that the female reproductive system was fecund.

It is caused of the womans part or of the mans part": the role of gender in the diagnosis and treatment of sexual dysfunction in early modern England

by Jennifer Evans

Women’s History Review, 20/3 (July 2011), 439–457.

Philip Barrough wrote in 1590 that barrenness ‘is caused of the woman’s part or of the mans part’. By the eighteenth... more Philip Barrough wrote in 1590 that barrenness ‘is caused of the woman’s part or of the mans part’. By the eighteenth century, however, barrenness was perceived as a female disorder distinguished from male impotence. Few historians have addressed the uncertainty surrounding early modern definitions of infertility, choosing instead to adopt set terms that fit comfortably with modern ideas. This article highlights the difficulties surrounding the gender distinction of the terms barrenness and impotence during this period. Moreover, the discussion examines the role of gender in diagnosing these disorders and argues that ideas of gender were more central to diagnosis of poor sexual health than to effectual treatment. Although it initially appears that barrenness and impotence were treated with separate remedies, many treatments were described as effectual for both sexes. Additionally, the ingredients used in such recipes were often sexual stimulants that functioned to stimulate the reproductive organs and genitalia of both sexes.

Excavación Arqueológica de urgencia del horno tejero del Barrio La Virgen II (Udías)

by Lino Mantecón Callejo

en R. Ontañón Peredo y G. Sanz Palomera, Actuaciones Arqueológicas en Cantabria 2000-2003, Arqueología de Gestión, Gobierno de Cantabria, Consejería de Cultura, Turismo y Deportes. Santander: 85-88. ISBN: No figura: D.L.: SA-807-2010. (2010).