Early Modern Research Articles

The history of occupational health on the African continent

BackgroundThe history of occupational health on the African continent is important but under-studied.MethodsWe surveyed key resources related to medical history from the Ancient Egypt through the Ottoman Empire period. For the colonial era, we examined archival records, official reports, and historiographical studies, focusing on key cases from French North Africa, Belgian Congo, Italian East Africa, and British South Africa. To explore occupational health in Africa during the post-colonial period, we supplemented biomedical publications with data from governmental reports and policy documents.ResultsThe history of occupational health on the African continent has been characterized by poor working conditions, especially in mineral extraction. Colonial exploitation frequently worsened these underlying problems. The post-colonial record suggests that many past deficiencies continue.DiscussionAn integrated approach to the history of occupational health on the African continent provides context for better understanding current problems and for anticipating future trends.

The Relation of the Smolensk Citizens to the Returning of the City into the Russian State during the Russian-Polish War

This research is dedicated to reaction of different categories of Smolensk citizens to the returning of the city into the Russian state during the Russian-polish war of 1654–1667 and to the characteristics of the Russian policy related to Smolensk residents and its transformation in this period of time. The author analyses changes in relation of Smolensk citizens to the Russian power during the war, especially pays attention to their reasons. For this the Russian-polish war was divided into three period of time. We are analyzing the situation of Smolensk inhabitants and their reaction to the going events. We examine the relation between Russian troops and territory residents in every case. Also we research the general approach of Alexey Mihailovich to the Smolensk incorporation into Russia. We touch the loyalty problem of the loyalty of the population to the monarch in the early Modern time. We make a conclusion that a new Russian approach was used in relation to Smolensk and its inhabitants for the first time. It was aimed at an alliance with territory elites while fully preserving their positions in region.

Nkali and Kolo-collecting in Eastern Nigeria: interrogating colonial collections of ọfϙ and Ikenga, Igbo objects of sovereignty and authority

ABSTRACT This paper explores the changing narratives of Ọfϙ and Ikenga, sacred objects of sovereignty and authority among the Igbo of Eastern Nigeria, which were collected by colonial anthropologists and are held in the Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology (MAA), University of Cambridge, United Kingdom. This paper examines the meaning of these objects within the Igbo knowledge system and how these meanings were lost or transformed during their collection in colonial era through to their present state at the MAA. It also highlights the concepts of imprisonment and exile, evident in how these objects were collected and kept for over 100 years. The paper attributes the loss of context and meaning of the Ọfϙ and Ikenga at the MAA to ‘Kolo-collecting’, an irrational desire to collect the other, which characterised the extractive-capitalist anthropology of the African colonial era, and ‘nkali’ – to be greater than another – which illustrates the power dynamics that disempowered, exiled, and imprisoned these objects of sovereignty and authority. The paper took up the issues within Western museums’ curatorial approaches to colonial collections and offered useful ways for their participation in the ongoing conversations on restitution and decolonisation.

Chicken Consumption in Three Early Modern (17th–19th Century) Cities in Japan

ABSTRACTChickens (Gallus gallus domesticus) were introduced to Japan in the middle Yayoi period (fourth to third centuries BCE), but widespread consumption did not occur until the Edo period (17th to 19th centuries) based on historical documents and archaeological material. To clarify how chicken consumption became popular in early modern Japan, this study analyzed bird remains recovered from sites in three cities: Edo (early modern Tokyo), Nagasaki, and Osaka. We focused on temporal changes and regional differences in the frequency of chicken bones and the growth stages and sex ratios of chickens targeted for consumption. Our findings revealed that the most frequently consumed birds in Edo City during the 17th and 18th centuries were wild ducks and geese. Chicken consumption increased in the Edo period during the 19th century, particularly in samurai residences. By contrast, chicken consumption was popular among the townspeople in Nagasaki and Osaka and among Dutch merchants in Nagasaki since the 17th century. At the former residences of samurai and townspeople in Edo City and Osaka, most of the chickens consumed were male, mature birds, with an increase in the consumption of hens and juvenile chickens in Edo City by the 19th century. Conversely, juvenile chickens and hens were consumed more frequently in Nagasaki than in other cities since the 17th century. These findings suggest regional differences in the spread of chickens as part of the diet consumption and the age and sex of the birds consumed in early modern Japan.

Early Modern Discussions about Ancient ­China

Early modern discussions about ancient China have largely been studied from the perspective of how images of ancient China were portrayed in missionary narratives. This article, however, attempts to investigate how interactions between China and Europe have contributed to the evolution of historical studies in early modern Europe. By analysing different studies by Jesuit authors and European savants about ancient China, this article first traces how ancient Chinese history provides a new alternative to the origin stories of humankind, undermining the dominant biblical approach to history. While defending the old origin story, missionaries changed their narratives about ancient China. Further investigation into the historical sources used by Jesuit authors shows the application of different materials across the two centuries, and these changes in materials also create a polyphony in their written accounts. By introducing various historical sources and textual traditions to Europe, missionaries, who served as intercultural agents, participated actively in the multiplication of primary sources for European historical research. The changing historical methodologies in the studies about ancient China are also examined, particularly how the transition from astronomical to linguistic methods occurred during the eighteenth century, reshaping the discourse on ancient China. This article tackles the important question of how intercultural exchanges about ancient Chinese history participated in the transformation of historical studies from a chronological study to modern historiography.

Tänkeboken som texthistoriskt vittne

In the Nordic countries, municipal courts experienced a vast increase in the production and use of administrative and juridical records during the Early Modern period. Among other external factors, in Sweden, this intensification can be linked to the steadily increasing use since the fourteenth century of the vernacular as the written language in legal contexts. With the establishment of the Svea Court of Appeal in Stockholm (1614), it was decided that all lower courts would send their records there. In consequence, town scribes, in addition to writing a draft (in Swedish koncept) and a transcript (renskrift), had to formulate yet another version of the court record for the higher court (renovation). This led to a dynamic writing process: differing versions of the court record were created, each one written at a different time for a somewhat different purpose and with different requirements in terms of content and linguistic style, but all of them legally valid. Empirical comparisons show there may be vast differences between the first draft and the edited transcript, both in style and content, with the second text a modified version, with greater use of legal linguistic markers. In this article, we discuss the empirical and theoretical aspects of the textual transmission of court records in Early Modern Sweden. We focus on Stockholm municipal court records 1634 in draft and transcript and analyse the scribal strategies in the two versions. First, we present a comparative analysis of the versions and describe how the draft and transcript were rephrased and stylized. Second, we present a material-philological analysis of the manuscripts in order to enhance the discussion of the function and use of the versions. The study shows that the town scribe Eggert Matsson Aurelius has made use of the following strategies when transforming the draft into a transcript: copying, rephrasing, expanding, summarising, and omitting.

Climate and the Ancient World: Beyond Present Concerns to Complications, Where Details Matter

Current modern attention and concern about (human-driven) climate change has prompted much focus on the historical/archaeological relevance and role of (natural) climate change in the past. The topic is both relevant and important—and especially those short(er)-term events that perhaps helped trigger historically substantive change episodes. But, at the same time, initial, somewhat naïve enthusiasm has now run headlong into the limitations of the available data sources before the early modern era, and the many complications of establishing actual causal associations. These need to be, first, closely defined in terms of timing and effects, and then also, second, established as relevant to the specific human societies/civilizations and contexts in question. This paper seeks to highlight the need for appropriate care and rigorous method when seeking to associate climate and environmental events with the available ancient historical and archaeological evidence, and investigates three illustrative, problematic, cases from the Classical Mediterranean world.

Possible Traces of Early Modern Human Architectural Heritage: A Comment on Similarities Between Nest-Building Activity of Homo Species and Shelter Forms of Indigenous People in Sub-Saharan Africa

The architectural artefacts, materials, and techniques used for constructing shelters may share some common properties derived from the architectural culture that has evolved within the human species. This article examines the material features and settlement organisations employed in the nest-building activities of early human species and the shelter forms of indigenous peoples residing in sub-Saharan Africa. It questions whether early modern human notions of architectural heritage, which lack substantiation, might have influenced nest construction, typological differentiation, material utilisation, and the transmission of practices to subsequent generations and habitats. The focus is on home-based spatial organisation and the construction of structures. We recognise the need to clarify some fundamental misunderstandings regarding the nature of cultural and archaeological taxonomies, as well as the misuse of analogical reasoning when comparing contemporary hunter–gatherer populations with certain hominin groups. The paper aims to explore whether the early ‘Homo architecture’ in Africa bears any resemblance to that of modern Africans. The central inquiry of this study is whether indigenous architectural artefacts, materials, and techniques have been passed down throughout the evolution of architectural culture. The discussion suggests that the architectural products found in the settlement remains of early Homo species may exhibit characteristics similar to the huts of the indigenous people, who live as hunter–gatherers in sub-Saharan Africa. Discussing the architectural activities of different human species proves fruitful, as early architectural understanding and principles can be adapted to contemporary placemaking scenarios, urban design approaches, and housing models. We believe that, with further evidence, this foundational idea has the potential to be developed further.

Seeing women in the early English and Dutch East India Companies

Abstract This article focuses on women’s presence (and absence) in the archives and histories of the English and Dutch East India Companies in the early modern period. By assessing how women have been seen in and across surviving archival forms – institutional records, legal documents, personal accounts – I reveal how women have been obscured within or marginalized from such ‘Company histories’. Two first-hand accounts written by women in the period – Johanna Maria van Riebeeck and Judith Weston – are analysed in depth. Grounded in the study of early modern life writing and mobility, my analysis foregrounds the preoccupations and experiences of these women as they moved across company spaces.

“A Life for a Life”: a Jewish Anti-Abortive Technique in Early Modern Italy and Its Many Inter- and Intracultural Ramifications

Abstract With this article, I seek to demonstrate how the analysis of Jewish magical texts may aid in the identification of hidden aspects of premodern Jewish women’s everyday life and material culture. I do so by focusing on the interplay between magic and childbirth among premodern Italian Jews. I analyze a magical recipe for avoiding a stillbirth preserved in a Hebrew codex of magical interest penned in central Italy at the end of the eighteenth century. Along with providing an edition and English translation of the recipe, I reflect on the trajectories of the circulation and transmission of this childbirth tradition both at an inter- and intra-cultural level.

ГІПСОМЕТРІЯ РІВНИННИХ ТЕРИТОРІЙ УКРАЇНИ У КАРТОГРАФІЧНИХ РЕСУРСАХ ТА ПІДРУЧНИКАХ З ГЕОГРАФІЇ

The article is devoted to substantiating the need to clarify elevation characteristics of the highest peaks of main lowlands and hills of the plain territory of Ukraine and to map them in new Geography textbooks compiled for the 8th graders of secondary educational institutions. It is the new textbooks for this grade that teams of authors are currently working on; therefore, it is important that educational publications already contain updated information and guide learners in practical tasks to find and determine elevation characteristics of the Earth’s surface using modern publicly available geoinformation resources. The main research methods used to obtain reliable data included comparative analysis of data from textual reference and educational publications, large-scale cartographic sources of the mid-20th century, small-scale maps and atlases of the early 21st century and modern geoinformation resources, as well as the results of personal observations during field expeditions. As a result of the conducted research, the necessity to correct data regarding the highest point of Ukraine’s lowland territory, which is the peak of Mount Klyva in Maidan Hills, which are part of the Precarpathian Upland (855 meters above sea level), has been substantiated. The absolute elevations of the highest points, determined by modern tools in Google Planet Earth resource, are as follows: the Polissian Lowland within the Slovechansko-Ovruch Ridge, in the vicinity of the village of Horodets (332 meters); the Transcarpathian Lowland (Mount Kuklia, 367 meters, located within the Berehiv Upland); the peak of Mount Kolyha (369 meters) on the local Povchansk Upland – the highest point of the Volyn Upland; the northern part of the Podilsk Upland – the Hologoro-Kremenets Upland (Mount Kamula, 482 meters); Mount Berda (526 meters) – the highest point of the Volyn-Podilsk Upland and the entire East European Plain within the territory of Ukraine; the Dnieper Upland (Lyulyntsi Hill, 332 meters); the Central Russian Upland within the territory of Ukraine (251 meters). During the study, assumptions have been made about possible reasons that could have caused inaccuracies in hypsometric data.

For Church or People: The History of Land Dispute in Sikka Regency, East Nusa Tenggara Province from the Perspective of Tana' Ai Community

This study employs a political ecology approach to analyze the dynamics of land ownership in Indonesia, focusing on the Tana' Ai community in Sikka Regency, East Nusa Tenggara province. We argue that agrarian change is driven by external actors, including private companies that religious institutions and government agencies own. The latter often impose their will on indigenous populations, which can result in land conflicts, marginalization, and uneven capital accumulation. In particular, the church's status as a land use permit holder from the colonial era complicates the Tana' Ai ethnic community's ability to assert its ancestral land rights. To understand this further, this study examines the interactions between the church, local communities, and the state in land management and their impact on the dynamics of power and resistance of ethnic Tana' Ai communities to social and policy change. We ask, is land managed by the community or the church? The research contributes to the growing body of literature. It fills a significant gap on land disputes in Indonesia, which also appear to be conducted by religious institutions, and the long-term impacts of such conflicts on indigenous societies. We used qualitative methods, including interviews, participant observation, and archival analysis, across 3 villages in Sikka Regency. This understanding is crucial for addressing the socio-political and cultural challenges the Tana' Ai community faces in reclaiming their land rights and ensuring their sustainable livelihoods.

Goldstein, David B., and Marco Piana, eds. Early Modern Hospitality

Goldstein, David B., and Marco Piana, eds. Early Modern Hospitality

Beyond Sarpi: Reading Prohibited Books about the Council of Trent in Early Modern Italy

This article argues that we must look beyond Paolo Sarpi's infamous history of the Council of Trent to understand the culture of reading about the council in early modern Italy. We unearth prohibited works that garnered more attention from Rome than Sarpi's, and we show that these were widely read in multiple formats across Italy from the late sixteenth through the eighteenth century. By recovering this history, we can see Sarpi's magnum opus in a new light: as one of many works that sought to make sense of the council, working within and around serious constraints.

L’Estrange, Elizabeth. Anne de Graville and Women’s Literary Networks in Early Modern France

L’Estrange, Elizabeth. Anne de Graville and Women’s Literary Networks in Early Modern France

A Historical Analysis of the Education System in Singapore during the 1920s –1958

This article outlines a historical analysis of the development of Singapore’s education system during the period of 1920 to 1958, focusing on the historical, political, and social contexts that shaped education policies during this period. The study examines three significant stages of governance: the colonial era (1920–1942), the Japanese Occupation (1942–1945), and the pre-independence period (1946–1958). Using a qualitative historical research approach, this paper draws on archival materials, government reports, and secondary sources to analyze the ideologies and educational strategies employed by each regime to address Singapore’s education challenges. Key findings reveal that under colonial rule, education policies emphasized English-medium schools to support administrative needs, often neglecting local communities. The Japanese Occupation disrupted existing structures, introducing policies to promote Japanese language and culture, which were met with resistance. In the post-war pre-independence phase, efforts were made to expand access to education, standardize curricula, and address inequalities, laying the groundwork for a modern education system. The analysis underscores the profound influence of political ideologies and governance structures on educational priorities and outcomes. These insights demonstrate how Singapore’s early education policies evolved in response to shifting socio-political landscapes, contributing to the foundation of a system known today for its emphasis on equity and excellence. The paper highlights the importance of historical context in shaping education systems and suggests that lessons from Singapore’s past can inform contemporary education policy discussions, particularly in postcolonial and rapidly developing contexts.

Christian Missionary Interpreters in the Open Port Period and the Japanese Colonial Era and Church Interpretation in Modern Korea

This study examines the role of Christian missionary interpreters from the Open Port Period to the Japanese colonial era, highlighting their historical significance and influence. During the Open Port Period, missionaries relied on Korean language teachers to serve as interpreters, translators, evangelists, and preachers. Although their English proficiency was often limited, they played a crucial role in early Christian missions. In the Japanese colonial era, elite intellectuals who had studied abroad increasingly assumed interpretation roles, actively contributing to theological education and social reform. This study analyzes historical records, newspaper articles, and existing research to reconstruct the evolving role and broader impact of Christian interpreters. The findings suggest that missionary interpreters were not merely linguistic mediators but key figures in evangelism and social transformation. Furthermore, the study highlights the historical transition from consecutive interpretation to simultaneous interpretation in Korean churches and underscores the need for systematic training programs. Given the growing linguistic diversity in Korean congregations, churches must recognize the importance of trained interpreters in ensuring effective multilingual worship and uphold the legacy of missionary interpretation.

The concepts of nationality and citizenship in the XXI century’s immigration scenario: an agonistic approach

The legal concept of citizenship as it is built on liberal democratic orders, a universalized form of government, establishes nationality as the primary political link between the state and the citizen. We argue that this political composition creates a framework of antagonism between the national, as a citizen, and the foreigner, as a non-citizen, someone who does not belong to the national political community and thus threatens the cohesion between its members and between the people and the government of a nation-state. We counter-argue, however, that the new immigration triggered from the end of the colonial era to the present, has established itself as an organic phenomenon, an analytical category used by Antonio Gramsci linked to Mouffe and Laclau’s theoretical perspective, in particular regarding the paradigm of radical pluralist democracy. We highlight in particular the consolidation of collective subjects such as diasporas, whose members maintain an ambiguous relationship of identification with the nationality of their home state and the state where they are, physically. Mouffe and Laclau’s agonistic perspective allow us to understand the configuration of power relations that structure the social order and the type of hegemony they construct in their intersections with the work of Hannah Arendt, in the field of political philosophy, as well as historians, such as Eric Hobsbawm and Thomas Marshall, besides Carl Rogers. We intend to deconstruct to reconstruct the concepts of citizenship and nationality as placed on the political arena, as resulting of hegemonic articulations that lead to the maintenance of harmonious and non-violent social orders, as the opposite of the political dominance. The exclusion of the person, which always emerges, generates struggle, resistance, but not through an undifferentiated inclusion, but through inclusion as a particular person, who exercises the power to be what he is, in freedom, what is the root of citizenship, an instrument for emancipation.

Reformations Compared: Religious Transformations across Early Modern Europe by Henry A. Jeffries and Richard Rex

<i>Reformations Compared: Religious Transformations across Early Modern Europe</i> by Henry A. Jeffries and Richard Rex

Chapter Boundaries and Scene Shifts in Early Modern Prose Romances

ABSTRACT: This essay argues that there is not a clear linear development of the chapter from medieval printed romances to the novel. Through a functional analysis of chapter boundaries in the early modern prose romance it becomes evident that chapters perform a much more complex function than dividing episodes or marking a scene shift. A large portion of sixteenth- and seventeenth-century romances do not contain chapters at all. Chapters are especially common in conservative chivalric romances that both in content and form (including the print type) imitate medieval romance. Close readings illustrate how authors use chapter boundaries to guide the attention of their readers, emphasize certain passages, such as speeches and other rhetorical set pieces, or provide metanarrative commentary. Traditional forms of the scene shift are not replaced by the use of chapters but supplement each other. Finally, the essay also explores the use of techniques other than chapter boundaries to achieve comparable effects, such as the use of headings to mark important passages or the insertion of rhyming couplets within prose texts. The essay comes to the conclusion that the introduction of chapters aided early modern authors in fashioning an explicitly literary genre that remained popular well into the eighteenth century.