Chastity, bachelorhood and masculinity in early modern Europe : the case of the Hospitaller Knights of St. John (c. 1520- c. 1650)

This chapter engages with gender through an analysis of the historiography of chastity, bachelorhood and masculinity in early modern Europe. We begin with an overview of the ideas and practices related to chastity during the Middle Ages and how these were challenged and upheld as a result of the Reformation and Counter-Reformation. From there the discussion moves on to consider a range of bachelorhood models that challenge the assumption – generally premised on the study of Protestant communities – that all men across Europe aspired to be patriarchal heads of households. In those parts of Europe where the Catholic Church retained its presence, men had a range of options to choose from in deciding what sort of life they wanted to lead. One such option – particularly for noblemen – was membership in the military-religious Order of St John the Baptist (of Malta). The focus of studies dealing with chastity has been primarily on women, but this was a practice that influenced men as much as women. By looking at the Knights of St John, this study provides comparative material against which the experiences of women that have been analysed in many pioneering studies can now be more broadly understood. As part of the discussion of chastity, bachelorhood and masculinity within the Order of St John, this study draws a comparison between Baldassare Castiglione’s Il libro del corteggiano (1528) and Frà Sabba Castiglione’s Ricordi ovvero ammaestramenti (1546). Frà Sabba, a Knight of St John, is the lesser-known cousin of the famous Baldassare. Comparing the ideas of these two 16th-century men throws a revealing light on the varieties of manhood in early modern Europe. The overall aim of this chapter is to show how gender was at the heart of diverse male religious identities. It responds to a historiographical need to study gender in military-religious institutions in order to understand how religious and aristocratic/military ideals of masculinity interacted. In this way, the chapter contributes one further piece to the knowledge of social/religious identities and experiences that characterised early modern Europe.peer-reviewe

Lute, Vihuela, and Early Guitar

Producción CientíficaLutes, guitars, and vihuelas were the principal plucked instruments in use in Europe until around 1800. Ancient forms of the lute existed in many parts of the ancient world, from Egypt and Persia through to China. It appears to have become known in Europe, where its earliest associations were with immigrants such as the legendary Persian lutenist Ziryab (b. c. 790–d. 852), who was established in Moorish Spain by 822. The origins of the various flat-backed instruments that eventually became guitars are more difficult to trace. The vihuela is one such instrument that evolved in the mid-15th century and was prolific in Spain and its dominions throughout the 16th century and beyond. Very few plucked instruments, and only a handful of fragmentary musical compositions, survive from before 1500. The absence of artifacts and musical sources prior to 1500 has been a point of demarcation in the study of early plucked instruments, although current research is seeking to explore the continuity of instrumental practice across this somewhat artificial divide. In contrast, perhaps as many as thirty thousand works—perhaps even more—for lute, guitar, and vihuela survive from the period 1500–1800. The music and musical practices associated with them are not well integrated into general histories of music. This is due in part to the use of tablature as the principal notation format until about 1800, and also because writers of general histories of music have for the most part ignored solo instrumental music in their coverage. (For example, the Oxford Anthology of Western Music, Vol. 1 (2018), designed to accompany chapters 1–11 of Richard Taruskin’s Oxford History of Western Music, does not contain a single piece of instrumental music prior to Frescobaldi [1637]). Contrary to this marginalized image, lutes, vihuelas, and guitars were a revered part of courtly musical culture until well into the 18th century, and constantly present in urban contexts. After the development of basso continuo practice after 1600, plucked instruments also became frequent in Christian church music, although the lute was widely played by clerics of all levels, particularly during the Renaissance. It was also one of the principal tools used by composers of liturgical polyphony, in part because tablature was the most common way of writing music in score. From the beginning of music printing, printed tablatures played a fundamental role in the urban dissemination of music originally for church and court, and plucked instruments were used widely by all levels of society for both leisure and pleasure. After 1800, the lute fell from use, the guitar was transformed into its modern form with single strings, and tablature ceased to be the preferred notation for plucked instruments.Este trabajo forma parte del proyecto de investigación “La obra musical renacentista: fundamentos, repertorios y prácticas” HAR 2015-70181-P (MINECO/FEDER, UE

Russell Square: a lifelong resource for teaching and learning

A quarter of a century ago, in 1978, Birkbeck College’s Faculty of Continuing Education (FCE, then the Department for Extra-Mural Studies of the federal University) moved to the offices that it now occupies in numbers 26 and 25 Russell Square. Then, as now, FCE was the one of the largest and most active extra-mural departments of any British university, with an enormous range of courses covering virtually every subject taught in ‘internal’ university departments and many more besides 1. Some of these courses have, from time to time, used Russell Square as a learning resource. Many more staff and students alike have (along with thousands of local workers, tourists and residents) used the square’s gardens for relaxation and recovery, without reflecting on its origins or present significance. This Occasional Paper examines the past and present fabric of Russell Square (‘the Square’) as a resource for teaching and learning. It is a composite narrative assembled by FCE staff whose disciplines range from nature conservation through garden history and architectural history to social policy. It deconstructs the Square as an entity and attempts to decipher some of its ‘meanings’ that provide links between subjects taught within FCE. We hope that it will stimulate discussion about the way this single ‘place’ – our Square - can be ‘seen’ or interpreted in different ways for diverse purposes, and about the way that it can be used as a resource for teaching and learning across disciplines

Institute of Historical Research Annual Report 2002-3

The IHR produces a report each year outlining its main activities and achievements. This is the report for academic year 2002-

Forget-Me-Not: American Consumerism and its Impact on Philadelphia Gravestones, 1800-1930

This thesis investigates the relationship between the growing consumer ideology brought about by the American Industrial Revolution and changing gravestone characteristics in Philadelphia, PA between 1800-1930. Examining their connection uncovers how consumerism impacted individual’s sense of self and viewed their place in society, which are then reflected in material culture

Writing masters and accountants in England – a study of occupation, status and ambition in the early modern period

The purpose of this paper is to address the lack of knowledge of the accounting occupational group in England prior to the formation of professional accounting bodies. It does so by focusing on attempts made by the occupational group of writing masters and accountants to establish a recognisable persona in the public domain, in England, during the seventeenth and eighteenth century, and to enhance that identity by behaving in a manner designed to convince the public of the professionalism associated with themselves and their work. The study is based principally on early accounting treatises and secondary sources drawn from beyond the accounting literature. Notions of identity, credentialism and jurisdiction are employed to help understand and evaluate the occupational history of writing masters and accountants. It is shown that writing masters and accountants emerged as specialist pedagogues providing expert business knowledge required in the counting houses of entities which flourished during a period of rapid commercial expansion in mercantilist Britain. Their demise as an occupational group may be attributed to a range of factors amongst which an emphasis on personal identity, the neglect of group identity and derogation of the writing craft were most important.history ; accountants ; bookkeepers

European Economies in the First Epoch of Imperialism and Mercantilism. 1415-1846.

The costs and benefits of European Imperialism from the conquest of Ceuta, 1415, to the Treaty of Lusaka, 1974.Twelfth International Economic History Congress. Madrid, 1998.Patrick K. O'Brien and Leandro Prados de la Escosura (eds.)Editada en la Fundación Empresa PúblicaJorge M. Pedreira. «To Have and To Have not». The Economic Consequences of Empire: Portugal (1415-1822).-- Bartolomé Yun-Casalilla. The American Empire and the Spanish Economy: An Institutional and Regional Perspective.-- Pieter C. Emmer. The Economic Impact of the Dutch Expansion Overseas, 1570-1870.-- Paul Butel and François Crouzet. Empire and Economic Growth: the Case of 18th Century France.-- Stanley L. Engerman. British Imperialism in a Mercantilist Age, 1492-1849: Conceptual Issues and Empirical Problems.Publicad

Analysis of the Great Divergence under a Unified Endogenous Growth Model

Recently published research that attempts to explain the Great Divergence mainly focuses on geography, technological progress, and international trade. However, we do not believe these are its only - or even the most basic - causes. Instead, we submit that the 'social culture' of a country or a region is the most fundamental reason and incorporates these other causes, thereby providing a reasonable unified explanation. This paper is mainly based on a very simple two-sector benchmark model that simulates the economic characteristics of England and the Yangzi Delta of China during 1400-1850. It explores aspects of this transition period, and obtains many meaningful results that are consistent with Unified Growth theory, which is usually based on very complex models.The industrial revolution, The great divergence, Difference of culture and systems