This thesis examines medieval and early modern ordinances found in the ordinance books of the cities of Ghent, Dordrecht, Leiden, Sint-Truiden and Antwerp in order to establish whether city...Show moreThis thesis examines medieval and early modern ordinances found in the ordinance books of the cities of Ghent, Dordrecht, Leiden, Sint-Truiden and Antwerp in order to establish whether city policies relating to animals were changed during disease outbreaks.Show less
In this thesis late medieval fight books (1350-1550) are placed in various martial contexts. In chapter 1 a proposal is made for defining the concept of ritual combat and this concept than is...Show moreIn this thesis late medieval fight books (1350-1550) are placed in various martial contexts. In chapter 1 a proposal is made for defining the concept of ritual combat and this concept than is applied to the late medieval period. Three types of ritual combat could be recognised: judicial combat, courtly combat and commoners combat. In chapter 2 a methodology is proposed for both for analysing and reconstructing the combat techniques described fight books, including filming the reconstructions, and a methodology for placing these techniques in the discussed ritual combat forms using ‘dimensions of meaning’. In chapter 3 both methodologies are tested on the two manuscripts of Johannes Lecküchner and demonstrate that his work was intended for the contexts of courtly combat and commoners combat.Show less
This thesis investigates the political role of Protestant refugees, foreign-educated locals, and Jesuits at the Transylvanian princely court under three consecutive rulers between 1559 and 1602....Show moreThis thesis investigates the political role of Protestant refugees, foreign-educated locals, and Jesuits at the Transylvanian princely court under three consecutive rulers between 1559 and 1602. The novelty of this project is the joint analysis of the relations, conflicts, and cooperation of these foreign-influenced groups that have been analysed only separately in the existing literature. The thesis argues that Transylvania's political elite was largely permeated by the activities of individuals that represented the interests of foreign powers or introduced foreign intellectual and political trends. Thus, this research sheds new light on the complexity and connectedness of the sixteenth-century Transylvanian elite.Show less
In early modern Europe, authority was often legitimated by the antiquity of an institution or practice. The past played an important part in the self-fashioning of rulers, and vice versa posed a...Show moreIn early modern Europe, authority was often legitimated by the antiquity of an institution or practice. The past played an important part in the self-fashioning of rulers, and vice versa posed a problem for people trying to change or replace ancient institutions.In this context historians have coined the term ‘memory wars’, as memories become arguments justifying present actions. While the role of memory politics, aimed at remembering as well as forgetting, has been studied in the civil wars in the Low Countries and France, this has not been done for a similar conflict in Scotland. This points to a problem in the study of memory politics in early modern Europe, which is mostly based on progressive polities as France and the Low Countries. This is problematic because modernity is a point of contention among scholars studying memory practices.To overcome a possible distortion of early modern memory practices by relying on relatively ‘modern’ polities, it is necessary to compare the practices in these polities with memory practices in an early modern polity which was less developed, such as Scotland. Are economic prosperity and state formation, or a certain level of development, prerequisites for ‘modern’ memory practices?Show less
This thesis describes the ways in which hosting a salon opened up opportunities for eighteenth century French women, divided in practical opportunities and opportunities to challenge contemporary...Show moreThis thesis describes the ways in which hosting a salon opened up opportunities for eighteenth century French women, divided in practical opportunities and opportunities to challenge contemporary ideas about women.Show less
This thesis traces the development and the adaption of the originally Catholic concept of Holy War to the post-Reformation era, and a new faith, Protestantism. For this reason one part of the main...Show moreThis thesis traces the development and the adaption of the originally Catholic concept of Holy War to the post-Reformation era, and a new faith, Protestantism. For this reason one part of the main research-question of this thesis was how the concept of Holy War emerged in the anti-Spanish polemics, and the other part deals with its socio-political functions within the English society. The conclusion of the author is that the purpose of Holy War rhetoric in the anti-Spanish polemics was a way to sacralize political rule in England and to strengthen the English national identity. To maintain Protestantism, Catholicism needed to be fought. By strengthening the national Protestant identity and sacralizing the political rule, Holy War had become a productive cultural concept that continued to be present in the English society of the late sixteenth century.Show less
The Dutch glassmaker’s son and rector of the Latin school in Zutphen, Marcellus Franckheim (Zutphen 1587- Dunkirk 1644), converted from Calvinism to Catholicism in 1614 and became secretary to...Show moreThe Dutch glassmaker’s son and rector of the Latin school in Zutphen, Marcellus Franckheim (Zutphen 1587- Dunkirk 1644), converted from Calvinism to Catholicism in 1614 and became secretary to Cardinal Melchior Khlesl at the court of the Habsburg Emperor Matthias. He ended his life as councillor to the Spanish King Philip IV in the admiralty of the Flanders fleet. By analysing Franckheim’s surviving correspondence and publications, this thesis shows that while Franckheim’s life on first sight seems full of unexpected moves and change, there is a remarkable continuity in his faith, his contacts and his opinions. It also shows that the Dutch Gomarist-Arminian controversy during the Twelve Years Truce directly influenced his decision to convert and that a group of engaged Zutphen Catholic citizens connected him to the Counter-Reformation world of the Habsburg courts in Europe. Using Marcellus Franckheim as an exemplary case, this thesis addresses the broader question of how Dutch Catholics in the early seventeenth century, both in the Low Countries and in exile, participated in local and transnational networks to promote and consolidate their faith. It also provides insight in the interconnectedness of the political and religious conflicts in the Low Countries and the Holy Roman Empire, in particular with regard to the ways in which individuals felt involved and tried to influence these events.Show less
Despite Hamburg's eminence as an imperial centre of commerce and diplomacy in the lead-up to the Congress of Westphalia, study of the city's own imperial politics and diplomacy has been harkened by...Show moreDespite Hamburg's eminence as an imperial centre of commerce and diplomacy in the lead-up to the Congress of Westphalia, study of the city's own imperial politics and diplomacy has been harkened by a shortage on source material. In general, historians have stressed Hamburg's tendency to fare a neutralist, autonomic and commerce-driven course. This study has set out to give a complete and positively defined interpretation of the city's diplomacy, assessing its political ambitions, diplomatic means and day-to-day manifestation at the Imperial Diet in Regensburg of 1640-1641 by way of the relatively complete correspondence between the Senate and its diplomats, as well as the financial accounts of the mission. In all, Hamburg’s access to government dignitaries and its use of the services of Imperial bureaucrats demonstrate a more versatile and active diplomatic involvement in Imperial diplomacy than perhaps envisioned earlier by scholars. Positively defined, its diplomacy operated at eye-level with that of the King of Denmark, using funds, support from the Electors and publication in a similar fashion and to a comparable degree. Hamburg’s engagement with the Empire’s dignitaries, bureaucrats, and institutions such as the Imperial Aulic Council show Hamburg’s ready use of the institutions of the Holy Roman Empire, and underline that in important respects the city was far from diplomatically isolated or disengaged with matters of Empire.Show less
This thesis reconsiders the modern debate about the Dutch Republic as a great power and the decline of that great power through new contemporary and social-constructivist perspectives, as opposed...Show moreThis thesis reconsiders the modern debate about the Dutch Republic as a great power and the decline of that great power through new contemporary and social-constructivist perspectives, as opposed to modern and objectivist perspectives. Through these new perspectives there are several propositions to narrow down the extremely broad debate about the Dutch Republic and her loss of great power status.Show less
This thesis questions the generally presented thought that the religious rulings concerning non-Muslims was Islamic law. By differentiating punctually and thoroughly adequate between the religious...Show moreThis thesis questions the generally presented thought that the religious rulings concerning non-Muslims was Islamic law. By differentiating punctually and thoroughly adequate between the religious rulings of the scholars, the policies of the rulers, and daily reality of the people, it enables one to understand these three phenomenons as entities, but within their inter-complemantary context. As a result, it made it possible through literary evidence to distinguish between the written formality as laid down in the fiqh-literature, and daily reality as lived by all people. Between these two a discrepancy is often to be observed, which means that the question whether The Islamic law of Andalusia was tolerant cannot homogeneously be answered. Alternatively, to answer the question whether Islamic law of Andalusia concerning non-Muslims was tolerant, one is to decide which touchstone he or she is using. Furthermore, this thesis reserves likewise a focus on the eschatological motivations behind the seemingly mundane character of the rulings concerning non-Muslims, a focus which is still too poorly integrated in academic works.Show less
For this thesis a multiple dicourse analysis has been used to determine the different perceptions about sexual identity and sexual desire in Italy between 1450 and 1500. The main sources are...Show moreFor this thesis a multiple dicourse analysis has been used to determine the different perceptions about sexual identity and sexual desire in Italy between 1450 and 1500. The main sources are Girolamo Savonarola's Confessionale, Alessandro Benedetti's Anatomice, Matteo Maria Boiardo's Orlando Innamorato, Masuccio Salernitano's Novellino, and Lorenzo de' Medici's Comento de miei sonetti. The thesis touches upon subjects such as the Acts versus Identities debate and the construction of gender.Show less
This paper examines the impact of English National Identity upon political dissent in 13th century England. Using official documents alongside contemporary accounts it details how this identity was...Show moreThis paper examines the impact of English National Identity upon political dissent in 13th century England. Using official documents alongside contemporary accounts it details how this identity was repeatedly used by political dissidents between Magna Carta and the Provisions of Oxford and Westminster, to such an extent that in 1258 both the rebels and the royalists found it essential to claim it as their own.Show less
Discusses the cultural and legal significance of clothing and nakedness in Old Frisian law. This significance consists of an economic connotation that ties clothing to the legal process, and the...Show moreDiscusses the cultural and legal significance of clothing and nakedness in Old Frisian law. This significance consists of an economic connotation that ties clothing to the legal process, and the function of clothing to cover and conceal parts of the body.Show less
