History Commons^™

Tilting Toward The Light: Translating The Medieval World On The Ming-Mongolian Frontier, Carla Nappi

The Medieval Globe

Ming China maintained relationships with neighboring peoples such as the Mongols by educating bureaucrats trained to translate many different foreign languages. While the reference works these men used were designed to facilitate their work, they also conveyed a specific vision of the past and a taxonomy of cultural differences that constitute valuable historical sources in their own right, illuminating the worldview of the Chinese-Mongolian frontier.

Japan On The Medieval Globe: The Wakan Rōeishū And Imagined Landscapes In Early Medieval Texts, Elizabeth Oyler

The Medieval Globe

This essay explores how the poetry collection Wakan rōeishū becomes an important allusive referent for two medieval Japanese works, the travelogue Kaidōki and the nō play Tsunemasa. In particular, it focuses on how Chinese poems from the collection become the means for describing Japanese spaces and their links to power, in the context of a changing political landscape.

The Painter, The Warrior, And The Sultan: The World Of Marco Polo In Three Portraits, Sharon Kinoshita

The Medieval Globe

In the wake of Edward Said’s Orientalism and postcolonial theory, Marco Polo is often cast as a quintessentially Western observer of Asian cultures. This essay seeks to break his text out of the binaries in which it is frequently understood. Returning the text to its original title, “The Description of the World,” it reconstructs the diversity of late thirteenth-century Asia through the portraits of three figures who were Marco’s contemporaries.

Towards A Connected History Of Equine Cultures In South Asia: Bahrī (Sea) Horses And “Horsemania” In Thirteenth-Century South India, Elizabeth Lambourn

The Medieval Globe

This article explores ways that the concept of equine cultures, developed thus far principally in European and/or early modern and colonial contexts, might translate to premodern South Asia. As a first contribution to a history of equine matters in South Asia, it focuses on the maritime circulation of horses from the Middle East to Peninsular India in the thirteenth century, examining the different ways that this phenomenon is recorded in textual and material sources and exploring their potential for writing a new, more connected history of South Asia and the Indian Ocean world.

The Geographic And Social Mobility Of Slaves: The Rise Of Shajar Al’Durr, A Slave-Concubine In Thirteenth-Century Egypt, D. Fairchild Ruggles

The Medieval Globe

Large numbers of outsiders were integrated into premodern Islamic society through the institution of slavery. Many were boys of non-Muslim parents drafted into the army, and some rose to become powerful political figures; in Egypt, after the death of Ayyubid sultan al-Salih (r. 1240–49), they formed a dynasty known as the Mamluks. For slave concubines, the route to power was different: Shajar al-Durr, the concubine of al-Salih, gained enormous status when she gave birth to his son and later governed as regent in her son’s name, converting to Islam after her husband’s death and then reigning as sultan in her …

Identity In Flux: Finding Boris Kolomanovich In The Interstices Of Medieval European History, Christian Raffensperger

The Medieval Globe

The politics of kinship and of monarchy in medieval eastern Europe are typically constructed within the framework of the modern nation-state, read back into the past. The example of Boris Kolomanovich, instead, highlights the horizontal interconnectivity of medieval Europe and its neighbors and demonstrates the malleability of individual identity within kinship webs, as well as the creation of situational kinship networks to advance individuals’ goals.

Periodization And “The Medieval Globe”: A Conversation, Kathleen Davis, Michael Puett

The Medieval Globe

The period categories “medieval” and “modern” emerged with—and have long served to define and legitimate—the projects of western European imperialism and colonialism. The idea of “the medieval globe” is therefore double edged. On the one hand, it runs the risk of reconfirming the terms of the colonial, Orientalist history through which the “medieval” emerged, thus homogenizing the plural temporalities of global cultures and effacing the material effects of the becoming of the Middle Ages and its relationship to conditions of globalization. On the other hand, “the medieval globe” brings to bear a comparative focus that does not ask when and …

Editor’S Preface, Carol Symes

The Medieval Globe

No abstract provided.

The Medieval Globe 2.1 (2016), Carol Symes

The Medieval Globe

No abstract provided.

Picrolite And The Cypriot Neolithic: An Experimental Study, Forrest Dayton Jarvi

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Picrolite, a fibrous green stone originating in the Troodos mountains on the island of Cyprus, appears in the archaeological record almost from the very earliest sites on the island. Thus far, few publications have addressed the material from anything but a descriptive perspective. Research at the Aceramic Neolithic site of Kritou Marottou Ais Giorkis has uncovered a wide variety of picrolite artifacts since excavations began in 1997. Preliminary experimental studies have begun to explore the ease of both obtaining and manipulating the material using only local materials and unassisted manpower. This thesis presents a three-part investigation into the place of …

"Persephone's Contemporary Dilemma: Consent, Sexuality, And "Female Empowerment." [2015], Cassandra Elizabeth Cerjanic

Master's Theses

Greek mythology never strays very far from Western imagination. Though every few years literature involving the infamous Gods tapers off into the back of our collective minds, a resurgence soon follows. The late Romantic literary movement (as popularized by Lord Byron, Percy Bysshe Shelly, and John Keats) depended heavily upon Greco- Roman mythology to help illustrate characters that existed somewhere between the shadow of imagination and the truth of humanity. Perhaps in an attempt to harken back to Romanticism, contemporary poetry has once again given life to the Greek Gods. Mythological characters can be seen throughout the works of modern …

The Vulgate Commentary On Ovid's Metamorphoses, Book 1, Frank T. Coulson

TEAMS Secular Commentary Series

Composed around 1250 by an unknown author in the region of Orléans, the Vulgate Commentary on Ovid's Metamorphoses is the most widely disseminated and reproduced medieval work on Ovid's epic compendium of classical mythology and materialist philosophy. This commentary both preserves the rich store of twelfth-century glossing on the Metamorphoses and incorporates new material of literary interest, while the marginal glosses in many respects reflect the scholar interests of an early thirteenth-century schoolmaster. The Vulgate Commentary is always transmitted as a series of interlinear and marginal glosses surrounding the text manuscript, whereas other earlier commentaries were independent of a full …

Defending Liberal Education: Implications For Educational Policy, Christopher W. Lyons

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

This thesis advocates for the inclusion of liberal education in discussions of the college and university missions and mandates in North America. It is conceived with the purpose of influencing policy thinking and generating the theory and ideas required for sound education policy decision making. Research into liberal education is a special and atypical kind of inquiry and requires innovative theoretical approaches. Liberal education is foremost a philosophical problem and requires philosophical approaches. The method used is, therefore, conceptual in nature and drawn from analytical philosophy.

My research approaches liberal education conceptually in three ways: historically, philosophically, and politically. Historically, …

Queering The Library Of Congress, Carlos R. Fernandez

Works of the FIU Libraries

This poster will attempt to apply the techniques used in Queer Theory to explore library and information science’s use and misuse of library classification systems; and to examine how “queering” these philosophical categories can not only improve libraries, but also help change social constructs.

For millennia, philosophers, such as Plato and Aristotle, have used and expounded upon categories and systems of classification. Their purpose is to make research and the retrieval of information easier. Unfortunately, the rules used to categorize and catalog make information retrieval more challenging for some, due to social constructs such as heteronormality.

The importance of this …

A Garden Locked, A Fountain Sealed: Female Virginity As A Model For Holiness In The Fourth Century, Lindsay Anne Williams

Master's Theses

Despite centuries of Christian theologians and lay Christians alike assigning and/or accepting an entrenched misogyny in the writings of Ambrose, Jerome, and Augustine, close examination of their work on its own terms and in its own time reveals that, in fact, they did not hold women in lesser esteem than men. Rather, time and again, in the writings of these Latin Doctors of the Church, women were promoted as exemplars of holiness and sanctity often in excess of their male counterparts and commonly as didactic tools used to lead their fellow Christians down a more righteous path. The following thesis …

The Vehiculatio In Roman Imperial Regulation: Particular Solutions To A Systematic Problem, Russell S. Gentry

Madison Historical Review

Category: World History

As the Roman Empire pushed its frontiers beyond the Mediterranean world, imperial authorities from Augustus onward faced a serious challenge: information transfer. The government of the early Roman Empire was famously lean in its bureaucracy and relied on small teams of imperial specialists (hated as spies) and military officers selected by governors to carry official documents great distances. These individuals traveled using an ad hoc system designed to take advantage of whatever hospitality existed along the Roman roadways. Messengers commandeered food, buildings, animals, and even guides for most legs of their journey. Official travel passes issued with …

Celtic Romanization: Cultural Assimilation Or Cultural Exchange?, Shawn Lee

Young Historians Conference

The rise of the Roman Empire created not only a military but also a cultural hegemony over colonized populations. While this interaction is often portrayed as a primarily unidirectional process of cultural assimilation, this may not be the case for Celtic peoples following their colonization in the mid first century BC. An examination of Roman perception of Celtic culture, perceived compatibility of Celtic culture, and mixed Romano-Celtic culture indicates that the cultural exchange between Romans and Celts was bi-directional.

The Roman Army: Strategy, Tactics, And Innovation, Weiyi Zhou

Young Historians Conference

The Roman Empire at its peak covered millions of square miles of ground, encompassing a vast variety of cultures of people. In order to ensure continued peace and stability in such a mammoth multiethnic empire, the Roman Army was forced to engage and repel a variety of foreign opponents utilizing different tactics across a wide spectrum of terrain, from Macedonian phalanxes on flat plains to Gallic barbarian hordes on forested ground. Simultaneously, the Roman Army also had to avoid compromising internal stability and maintain a force capable of putting down a large range of insurrectionist forces. Even today, with the …

Christianity's Influence On Attitudes Toward Homosexuality In The Roman Empire, Jennie Jiang

Young Historians Conference

Attitudes towards sexuality are deeply influenced by the intricate interplay between religion and social values. How do polytheistic and monotheistic societies differ in how they view sexuality? In the pre-Christian days of the early Roman Empire, polytheism fostered a remarkable tolerance toward both same-sex relations and various expressions of sexuality, as evident in social expectations, literature, and written law. In contrast, a closer examination of the Roman Empire’s transition from a polytheistic to Christian society in the 4^th and 5^th centuries reveals that the rise of Christianity corresponded with, and likely contributed to, increasingly strict attitudes towards homosexuality.

The Dichotomy Of Pudicitia, Amber L. Harvey

Young Historians Conference

The lives of women in the Roman Republic were incredibly restricted and controlled by their male counterparts, yet key counters to this restriction are often overlooked, mainly that of a woman’s pudicitia. Pudicitia was a defining moral quality that encompassed state, familial, sexual, and other duties, a woman held in society. These qualities, are shown in the mythical Rape of the Sabines, and allow female participation in the Conflict of the Orders and the defiance of the Vestal Virgins. These allowances are countered by aspects of pudicitia that restricted rights and participation, ultimately yielding a system that paradoxically encouraged …

Livia's Power In Ancient Rome, Tori L. Allen

Young Historians Conference

When one thinks of the ancient Roman heroes, Caesar and Augustus come to mind. We picture Roman men on the front lines in culture and society, while the women are kept back and oppressed. And while women definitely faced obstacles in ancient Rome, it didn't stop them from making an impact. This paper argues that Livia, wife of Roman emperor Augustus, was able to secretly manipulate politics in Rome as a mother and a wife, as seen in honorific statues, Ovid's poetry, and honorific titles.

Power Structure, Nathaniel Klein

Young Historians Conference

By today's standards morally reprehensible subjects are difficult to examine, however, from a historical perspective topics such as infanticide offer insight into individual behavior, therefore reflecting societal norms. This paper explores the practice of infanticide used during the course of the 7th century BCE to reinforce the power structures of the period. Infanticide was far more than a simple way to dispose of unwanted offspring; it was a tool that was used by ancient Greek societies to maintain systems of control and promote social values upon which society depended.

The Enigma Of The Spartan Woman, Jalena M. Post

Young Historians Conference

Active in both social and economic spheres, Spartan women possessed much more mobility than their counterparts in Athens. In the areas of education, the arts, land ownership, marriage, and family life, the women of Sparta enjoyed a large amount of sovereignty when compared to other ancient societies. The absence of Spartan men during almost constant times of war necessitated women taking on more responsibility than they would have otherwise, but to what extent? This paper strives to characterize the unique role of the women of Sparta during the classical period of Greek history, especially as in contrast to their Athenian …

Interview Of George B. Stow, Ph.D., George B. Stow Ph.D., Ashley Maurer

All Oral Histories

Dr. George B. Stow is the initial and continuing Graduate History Program Director at La Salle University since its inception in 2004. Dr. Stow received his B.A. in Classics from Lehigh University, his M.A. in History from The University of Southern California and his Ph.D. in History from the University of Illinois in 1972. Dr. Stow specializes in English medieval history and his doctoral dissertation Historia Vitae et Regni Ricardi Secundi: A Critical Edition is dedicated to King Richard II of England. In recent years, Dr. Stow has presented papers at the International Congress on Medieval Studies at Western Michigan …

Who Was Watching Whom? A Reassessment Of The Conflict Between Germanicus And Piso, Fred K. Drogula

History & Classics Faculty Publications

Despite Tacitus’ insinuations to the contrary, Cn. Calpurnius Piso (cos. 7 b.c.e.) was no friend and loyal supporter of Emperor Tiberius. The emperor offered Piso the command of Syria in an effort to win over the political support of this prestigious-but-recalcitrant senator. As a safeguard should Piso attempt something treacherous in this powerful command, Tiberius gave Piso the province at a time when Germanicus Caesar—the emperor’s loyal adopted son and heir—would be in the East resolving a number of economic problems in the eastern provinces. Thus Piso was not sent to watch the prince, but to be watched by him.

Accounting For Sick Days: A Scalar Approach To Health And Disease At Deir El-Medina, Anne Austin

History Faculty Works

No abstract provided.

Ancient Medicine: The Classical Roots Of The Medical Humanities, Michael Goyette, Emily Fairey, Brooklyn College Library And Academic It

Open Educational Resources

This site is for those interested in ancient medicine and the medical humanities, both at Brooklyn College and around the world.

The medical humanities is a multidisciplinary field that embraces the study of medicine through the lenses of literature, history, philosophy, the social sciences, and the arts in the context of applied medicine and medical ethics. It draws upon these diverse disciplines in pursuit of medical educational goals, and in its continued valuation of liberal education supports classical ideals of critical analysis and the importance of cultural awareness in the sickness and health of society and the individual.

The guide …

Arthur: Where Did He Go?, Siddarth Palaniappan

A with Honors Projects

This essay discusses the historical and mythological origins of King Arthur. Concludes that, while there is enough evidence to identify individuals in history that correlate with the legend of Arthur, a preference toward romanticized Aurthurian tales was created through repeated use in both Christian institutions and British politics to promote financial and political agendas.

Introduction To "The Chosen People: A Study Of Jewish History From The Time Of The Exile Until The Revolt Of Bar Kocheba", James M. Donovan

James M. Donovan

Allegro documents a vivid example of the manner in which a project to define oneself in opposition to the Other inevitably generates antagonism. But a thorough understanding of the genesis of anti-Semitism requires more than mapping the tensions that arise between co-existing communities. It must also explain the fear we find associated with anti-Semitism, and how these emotional presumptions are communicated to populations that have little direct contact with members of the Jewish faith. Allegro does not take us as far as this, and thus the account is unfinished. He has perhaps brought us as far as documentary texts will …

The Struggle Between The Center And The Periphery: Justinian's Provincial Reforms Of The A.D. 530s, Mark-Anthony Karantabias

Theses and Dissertations--History

This dissertation analyzes the struggle between the imperial court and the periphery in the context of Justinian’s reforms in the early A.D. 530s. The reforms targeting select Roman provinces sought to reduce the size of the imperial bureaucracy while simultaneously attempting to maintain imperial vertical authority. The reforms epitomize the imperial court’s struggle to rein in the imperial bureaucracy in the provinces of the Roman Empire. The analysis is framed within the cultural, social, political and economic evolution occurring in Late Antiquity. It shall be proposed that the reforms are one example of the imperial court’s attempt to limit the …