European /History

"PUBLISHER'S DESCRIPTION:

"On March 12, 1938, German troops marched into Austria as Adolf Hitler prepared to annex the country. Austrian Chancellor Kurt von Schuschnigg, who had opposed the Nazi take-over of his homeland, was placed under house arrest and subsequently sent with his wife to Sachsenhausen concentration camp.
This is the gripping story of von Schuschnigg and his family as told by his son, who came of age during these dramatic events. His memoir is a tribute to the faith, hope and perseverance of his family and the many people who took great risks in order to help them survive Nazi rule and the Second World War.

The story begins with the junior von Schuschnigg's boyhood and his father's efforts to maintain Austrian independence during the rise of Nazism in Germany, Fascism in Italy, and political unrest in Austria. After the Anschluss, von Schuschnigg's son was allowed to finish his education in Germany, where in order to avoid being drafted into the German army, he went to the naval academy. He ended up on a warship of the Third Reich, serving the regime that held his family captive.

Von Schuschnigg recounts his many harrowing escapes, first as a young naval officer and later as a deserter on the run. At every turn, he is helped not only by his own wits but also by the mysterious working of Providence, which sometimes manifests itself in surprising acts of goodness by others.""

"The Hoard of Medieval Coins from the Village Stizhok. In the spring of 2011, a clay pot was found in a field nearby the village Stizhok (Shumsk district, Ternopil’ region,Ukraine). The pot contained about 2500 silver coins struck in the Golden Horde, Crimean Khanate, Caffa, Principalities of Wallachia and Moldavia, and Lithuania. The significant part of oriental coins bears the Tartar, Moldavian and Lithuanian countermarks. Most likely, the treasure was hidden during the Tartar military expansion atthe end of 15th and beginning of 16th centuries.

Keywords. Numismatics, medieval numismatics, coin hoard, Genoese colonies in Crimea,  Genoese history, Poland, Ukraine, Golden Horde, Grand Duchy of Lithuania, Moldova, Romania, Wallachia, Asprokastron, 15th century."

"HIGHLIGHTS
► Compares three Anglo-Portuguese campaigns in Portugal in the 1380s. ► Examines political, diplomatic, military, social and economic contexts. ► Explores motivations for English service in Portugal and longer term presence. ► Maps itineraries in Portugal of English soldiers. ► Foreign military intervention and mercenaries as a driving force in relations between regions.:


ABSTRACT
Three Anglo-Portuguese campaigns took English servicemen into Portugal in the 1380s. Two of those campaigns were largely guided by Plantagenet interests - in 1381-2 and 1386-7, respectively under the earl of Cambridge and the duke of Lancaster. The other, which started in 1384 under regent João of Avis (later João I), involved entirely volunteer English forces. While Lancastrian-led expeditions were largely political and military failures, servicemen recruited by the Portuguese in England achieved greater success, including victory at the battle of Aljubarrota. This article first looks at the political, diplomatic, military, social, and economic contexts of these expeditions, exploring motivations for English service in Portugal in particular, whilst examining interest from the 'common man', besides that of governments. By looking also at English soldiers' itineraries in Portugal their presence is then mapped and their continuance debated. The Anglo-Portuguese example is finally shown to illustrate how foreign military intervention and 'mercenary' activity might have been a driving force in the social and economic relations between medieval European regions during the Hundred Years War."

""Moses Mendelssohn has often been described by his friends and admirers as the paragon of tolerance. It is likely that some of these tales are hagiographic, but, as far as I can tell, the historical evidence we have portrays him as a decent, non-arrogant person, who was open to criticism and willing to engage in an attentive dialogue with his opponents. Though it is hard to distinguish Mendelssohn, the man, from his views, I will attempt here to scrutinize Mendelssohn’s notion of tolerance, and particularly his objection to the use of herem/excommunication  against dissenters within the Jewish community.
The common Maskilic narrative of this story runs roughly along these lines. Mendelssohn had an “unrestricted commitment” to tolerance.  He was opposed to excommunication on the grounds that its use would display intolerance toward a member of the community. Mendelssohn’s objection to excommunication is frequently discussed in the context of the ex-communication of Spinoza. It is sometimes even depicted as evidence of a lesson learned from that event. In this paper I will argue that this self-flattering narrative is based on several myths. ""

""Ο M.S. Anderson, καθηγητής της Διεθνούς Ιστορίας στο London School of Economics (1972-85), ήταν τόσο από πλευράς επιτυχίας όσο και επιρροής ένας από τους σπουδαιότερους συγγραφείς ιστορικών εγχειριδίων.
Στο κλασικό αυτό ιστορικό εγχειρίδιο αναλύονται όλες οι αλληλοσυγκρουόμενες τάσεις της ιστορίας της Ευρώπης κατά τον 18ο αι., από το Διαφωτισμό και την πολιτιστική ζωή ως τις οικονομικές και πολιτικές συνθήκες, το στρατό και την διπλωματία.
Πρόκειται για μια περίοδο κρίσιμων αλλαγών σε όλους τους τομείς. Στις διεθνείς σχέσεις ξεκινά με την αύξηση στο ανώτατο σημείο της επιρροής του Λουδοβίκου ΙΔ, που ακόμα και μετά τον θάνατό του το 1715, λίγα ήταν τα διεθνή ζητήματα τα οποία η Γαλλία δεν επηρέαζε. Η άνοδος της Ρωσίας σε επίπεδο μεγάλης ευρωπαϊκής δύναμης έμεινε, αντιθέτως, σε μεγάλο βαθμό απαρατήρητη στα πρώτα της στάδια.
Όσον αφορά την εσωτερική πολιτική, ήταν μια περίοδος δεσποτισμού. Η μοναρχία παρέμενε ένας θεσμός θείας χειροτονίας. Παράλληλα όμως, κάνουν την εμφάνισή τους ιδέες και φιλόσοφοι, όπως ο Λοκ, που θέτουν τα πρώτα ερωτήματα περί πολιτικού δικαιώματος και υποχρέωσης. Ήταν επίσης η εποχή του Νεύτωνα και του ορθολογικού τρόπου σκέψης, ενώ η ανακάλυψη από το αναγνωστικό κοινό της φιλοσοφικής σκέψης της Ινδίας και της Κίνας αναμφισβήτητα κλόνισε τις χριστιανοκεντρικές θέσεις που είχε κληροδοτήσει το παρελθόν.
Στο χώρο τη οικονομίας εντοπίζονται οι απαρχές σημαντικών αλλαγών, με την οικονομική σπουδαιότητα της Αγγλίας να αυξάνεται και με τις οικονομίες δυτικοευρωπαϊκών κρατών να επηρεάζονται για πρώτη φορά από το εμπόριο με τον εκτός Ευρώπης κόσμο.
To Europe in the Eighteenth Century, 1713-1783, έγινε ένα αναγνωρισμένο κλασικό έργο που μεταφράστηκε στα γαλλικά, ισπανικά και ιταλικά, με νέες εκδόσεις που η καθεμιά περιλάμβανε ουσιαστικές τροποποιήσεις και προσθήκες.""

Very few people know that a possibility of reconstructing protolanguages or protoforms was probably first suggested as early as in the 16th century by Miechowita while discussing the origin of the name of Hungarians and that of Yugra. Miechowita’s “Treatise on the Two Sarmatias” was once an extremely important source of knowledge of the geography and history of East Europe. Although much was written on its significance in correcting more or less unlikely information concerning these subjects his linguistic material was actually ignored. The aim of this study is to examine what was known about East European languages in the early sixteenth century.

"ENLACE REPOSITORIO UAM
http://hdl.handle.net/10486/13283

EDITORIAL


Son ya seis números y nuestra revista va ganando audiencia y lectores.  Por tal motivo queremos iniciar este número con una disculpa por los fallos  técnicos que últimamente han podido observarse en el acceso a los artículos,  pero –sin que sirva de excusa- se explican porque han confluido dos cambios importantes, uno en el IULCE, con la adquisición de un nuevo servidor al que  hemos tenido que migrar nuestros contenidos, otro en la UAM, donde ha  habido una mejora radical en la gestión de los repositorios (donde están  nuestros accesos a índices y gestores nacionales e internacionales),  estrenando un nuevo y potente buscador llamado Bun! .
Dejando a un lado estas incidencias, que afortunadamente han quedado  atrás, podemos anunciar novedades positivas en este número, continuamos  introduciendo mejoras en la senda emprendida para ir incrementando un poco  más, semestre a semestre, la calidad de la revista. La revisión por pares se
implanta de manera definitiva en la sección de artículos, siendo ya un hecho  consolidado lo cual servirá para acercarnos más a los niveles óptimos en los  índices de impacto. Nuestros referees irán aumentando en número y  responsabilidad, ciertamente que en el resto de las secciones, como es la crónica de congresos y seminarios el empleo de esta herramienta de control es
más bien indirecta dado que lo que se publica ya pasó el preceptivo control de calidad cuando se celebró el evento. Así mismo seguimos apostando por la  recensión y crítica de libros proponiendo de este modo un amplio elenco de lecturas para este verano que comienza"

I spoke on early modern 'recycling' at a seminar organized for Lorraine Daston, together with Dr Sachiko Kusukawa (Cambridge) and Prof Martin Mulsow (Erfurt), chaired by Prof Laurence Brockliss (Oxford). The link takes you to a video of the complete seminar.