Imperial Patronage Research Articles

“To dance like Solomon: imitation and martyrdom in a Qajar ghazal”

ABSTRACT Iran’s neoclassical Literary Return movement (Bāzgasht-i adabī) that reached its climax in the first half of the nineteenth century has, to date, been studied almost exclusively in relation to the Qajar royal court and the elite male poets who received imperial patronage. This article examines how one of the founding mothers of the violently persecuted and socially marginalized Babi-Baha’i religious community succeeded in producing a bold, emotionally charged response to a celebrated ghazal by one of the towering figures of the Persian poetic canon, Mawlana Jalal al-Din Rumi. Considering herself a worthy imitator and drawing on a transhistorical chain of responses to Rumi spanning the sixteenth to nineteenth centuries, this Babi-Baha’i poet refused to be excluded from the dominant literary currents of her day. Consequently, study of this unknown poet and those like her who, for far too long have been erased from modern Iran’s literary history, demands of us a broader definition of the community of Qajar poets, one that transcends social, doctrinal, and gendered lines.

Property and the End of Empire in International Zones, 1919–1947

Abstract At the end of the First World War, defeated European empires ceded a wealth of imperial patronage, including palaces, government buildings and offices, to newly forming states in central Europe. While we know a great deal about these property transfers, the fate of ceded property in mandates and other newly emerging sovereign spaces, such as international zones, is less well known. This article traces the ways in which central European properties were reallocated and sold in international zones, with special reference to the International Zone of Tangier. While the remains of central European imperialism in Tangier were integrated into the international administration, this process encouraged erstwhile imperial powers to vie ever harder to reclaim ‘their’ former property, including private property portfolios. Meanwhile, it encouraged existing imperial powers to support private property purchases in order to secure advantages in the administration. In other words, internationalization entailed widespread competition for property that is omitted from the usual accounts of these spaces. Drawing attention to this phenomenon is important as it reveals the new forms imperial rivalries took on within the international structures created after the war.

Carski baldahin nad ulazom u crkvu - oblici, prostorni konteksti, ikonografski programi i smisao kupole u srpskim pripratama XIV veka

The churches commissioned by King (later Emperor) Stephen Dušan, his important dignitaries, and later Serbian rulers-e.g., Holy Archangels near Prizren, Lesnovo, Hilandar, Markov Manastir, Ravanica, and Manasija-often have a narthex or an entrance porch covered by a dome. This architectural element is additionally emphasized by a specific program of painted decoration-as witnessed by several preserved ensembles-which, like the one in the nave's dome, contains some representation of Christ surrounded by members of the heavenly ranks. Through the choice of iconographic elements of Christ or accompanying personages, these compositions are often imbued with a royal subtext. Such an architectural and iconographic solution has its precedents in some Byzantine monuments from the 10th to the 12th century, of which the most important for the Serbian examples, as their potential models, are probably the Athonite katholika and the main church of the Pantokrator Monastery in Constantinople. The prevalence of this architectural element notably increased during the Late Byzantine period, particularly in political entities whose rulers sought independence and even aspired to imperial dignity, such as Epirus, which bordered the Serbian state, and later Mystra. In these Byzantine churches, the specific form of this micro-architectural feature and its strategic placement at the church entrance can be associated with imperial patronage and royal visits. Given the well-supported hypothesis that this paradigm was adopted into Serbian architecture with the same imperial connotation, this study examines its spatial, formal, and iconographic elements, along with its semantic and ideological context. The author's ongoing research of this phenomenon encompasses all preserved and relevant examples within the Serbian Empire, Byzantium, and the broader Byzantine world. However, for the purpose of this article, the discussion will be limited only to Serbian monuments, include an examination of their potential models, and underscore particular nuances in meaning exhibited by their spatial solutions and iconographic programs.

The Arms Trade and American Revolutions

Abstract This essay argues that the international arms trade bound the revolutions in British North America, Saint-Domingue, and Spanish America in dependent relationships. Throughout the colonial era, an informal arms control regime made it impossible for Europe’s American subjects to mass-produce war material or buy enough on the open market to equip independence through war. As became clear by late 1776, even the hemisphere’s best-connected colonists could not overcome this obstacle. Only the decisions of France and Spain to secretly arm and then openly support the British North Americans made their revolution a success. But as France and Spain would soon come to realize, US independence fatally undermined the early modern arms control regime that had kept independence a practical impossibility in their own colonies. North American merchants became the indispensable arms dealers to the hemisphere’s later revolutionaries, first in Saint-Domingue and then across mainland Spanish America. Crucially, though, the United States never offered terms remotely as generous as those it had enjoyed during its own independence struggle. Rather than rely on imperial patronage or republican solidarity, Haitians and Spanish Americans had to navigate a cutthroat market to obtain the tools of independence. That comparative disadvantage would haunt their postcolonial histories.

The Dharma King Who Took Care of His Family: Penden Trashi and the Rise of a Clan-Based Tibetan Buddhist Society in the Fifteenth-Century Northern Sino-Tibetan Borderland

Abstract In the fifteenth century, Tibetan Buddhist monks from the northern Sino-Tibetan borderland played an important role in facilitating religious and political contacts between Ming China and the Tibetan world. With the rise of their political status and religious influence at the Ming court, these Buddhist hierarchs also projected imperial endorsements to the Sino-Tibetan borderland and reshaped the local social structure. This article examines how Penden Trashi, one of the most eminent Tibetan Buddhist monks of the fifteenth century, contributed to the rise of a clan-based Tibetan Buddhist society in early Ming Minzhou 岷州. By scrutinizing Penden Trashi’s biography and personal letters to identify his role in forging the dharma succession pattern and monastic association mode in Minzhou, this article illuminates how imperial patronage reconstructed the power dynamic in the fifteenth-century Sino-Tibetan borderland.

Protection of Buddhist structures under Emperor Tao-wu of the Northern Wei dynasty as a way of asserting political power

The subject of the study is the analysis of the formation of Buddhism under the Northern Wei Dynasty. The object of the study is Buddhist construction projects as a way of asserting political power. The author examines in detail such aspects of the topic as the construction of a Buddhist pagoda, a hall on Mount Sumeru, Vulture Peak and the "Great Monastery" (Dasa). When the state of Northern Wei was formed at the end of the fourth century, Buddhism became extremely widespread in their empire. Imperial patronage of Buddhist society continued throughout the dynasty until its decline in the sixth century. Powerful images of rulers, alternative ideas about the centers of power and special ways of sponsoring public monuments came from the understanding of the rulers of Northern Wei of ancient India, which, in turn, were obtained from Indian missionaries, reports of Chinese pilgrims and Buddhist scriptures translated into Chinese. Construction projects, in particular, gave the rulers the opportunity to present themselves to the people in various mythological and historical figures. The main conclusions of the study are that Emperor Tao-wu created an image legitimizing his rule, based on Indian Buddhist symbols of power, and not on Chinese Confucian traditions of government. The association of pagodas, Vulture Peak with King Ashoka was still strong in the popular imagination, which Tao-wu could not help but take advantage of. The new Buddhist construction complexes were actually intended to demonstrate political dominance in the capital. The novelty of the study lies in the fact that the author showed Emperor Tao-wu portraying himself as mytho-historical Indian authority figures such as Indra, King Bimbisara, Emperor Ashoka and Vimalakirti to assert his imperial authority.

From Robert Keayne to Angola, Richard, and Grace: Bernard Bailyn and New England's Place in an Atlantic World

From Robert Keayne to Angola, Richard, and Grace: Bernard Bailyn and New England's Place in an Atlantic World

Everyday Life in extremis

Everyday Life <i>in extremis</i>

Luigi Mongeri: A reformist and expert on "Oriental Insanity" in the Nineteenth-Century Ottoman Empire

This article focuses on the early career of Luigi Mongeri, who was appointed as the chief physician to the Süleymaniye Mental Asylum in 1856 to treat mental illness and improve the living conditions of mentally ill patients in the nineteenth-century Ottoman Empire. It focuses on Mongeri's early career in Italy, investigates his involvement in Ottoman imperial patronage networks and their subsequent effects on his career, and finally explores the reform program he implemented at Süleymaniye. While in the Ottoman Empire, Mongeri appeared as a reformist who claimed to improve the living conditions and treatment of patients by the use medical statistics, abolishing the use of shackles, etc. At the same time in Europe—and especially in France, which was one of the important centers of alienist medicine at the time— he presented himself as an expert on "oriental insanity,” a claim which gained him access to international medical circles and organizations.

The Dutch in Bengal, C. 1650–1707 and Their Relations with Local Mughal Administration

This article studies Dutch East India Company’s interest in Bengal and their relations with local Mughal officials during the seventeenth century. The Dutch faced constant problems with the local officials. The Dutch tried to win favour from the Mughal Emperor in order to carry on its trade smoothly. Therefore, they procured farmans (royal decree issued by emperor) from the Mughal Emperor to reduce custom duties or sought imperial protection and patronage for safe passage of their goods from place to place and very helpful orders ( parwanas, nishans) from several succeeding Subahdars which put the Dutch position in Bengal on a firmer footing. In spite of Imperial farmans and grants, local officials along the Hugli were inclined to hinder the Dutch vessels carrying grain, opium, saltpetre and sugar. However, the Dutch could overcome these difficulties with their own brand of commercial diplomacy, sometimes using threats, at other times with presents and bribes. Seldom did they interfere in the politics of Bengal, preferring always to focus on their trade. Like the Dutch, other European companies were also traded there and established factories in the region of Bengal. The most effectual weapons in the hands of the Company were the system of ‘passports’. Under this system, the European companies insisted that local traders intending to send ships to other ports whether in India or abroad must first obtain their permission in a document called the ‘passport’ or the ‘pass’.

Vinaya monasteries in the eyes of early Qing emperors

By the first half of the eighteenth century, lineages of the Buddhist Vinaya school (Lüzong) took hold in several monasteries in Beijing. However, when the Yongzheng emperor designed a grand ordination ceremony to be held in 1734 he opted to summon a Vinaya patriarch from a distant Mt Baohua near Nanjing. This article aims to provide an explanation for such a choice by means of exploring the image of relevant Vinaya monasteries in the eyes of early Qing emperors, relying mainly on the evidence in the gazetteers of these monasteries. Our findings show that Vinaya monasteries in Beijing, such as Tanzhe, Guangji, and Minzhong, enjoyed considerable imperial patronage. At the same time, only Minzhong monastery was perceived as a purely Vinaya site, while the image of its counterparts was rather heterogeneous. The main advantage that could have singled out the abbot of Mt Baohua Fuju (1686–1765) was the first full-fledged school genealogy that he compiled in 1733, while other monasteries in question did not possess an identity of sites with strong and stable Vinaya lineages at that time. Accordingly, Yongzheng might have wished to promote a genealogically organized Vinaya school as a check-andbalance against swelling Chan lineages.

The Eulogy of Symeonic Miscellany: the Imperial Patronage of the First Slavic Anthology

The essay proposes an interpretation of the eulogy of Symeon’s Miscellany considering not only the cultural context of the First Bulgarian Empire at the beginning of the tenth century, but also the historical situation and the literary production of the seventies and eighties of the previous century when the Greek original of the Miscellany known by the name of the Soterios was conceived in Constantinople. This eulogy helps us to better understand the reasons that led to the creation of the Slavic version of this anthology at the time of Symeon. In the Constantinopolitan environment, this anthology was conceived as an adequate tool of the kind required by monks and priests engaged in the education of the laity, with particular focus on the foundations of orthodox doctrine. In the new environment the initiative was taken by Tsar Symeon, who – on the strength of his theological training – assumed a decisive role while occupying the throne by taking responsibility for directly instructing the Bulgarian aristocracy, fully exploiting a tool in the Slavic language that would have been very useful.

From domestication to imperial patronage: Deconstructing the biomedicalisation of occupational therapy.

Occupational therapy knowledge emerged in the 19th century as reformist movements responded to the industrialisation of society and capitalist expansion. In the Global North, it was institutionalised by State apparatuses during the First and Second World Wars. Although biomedicine contributed to the rapid expansion and establishment of occupational therapy as a health discipline, its domestication by the biomedical model led to an overly regulated profession that betrays its reformist ideals. Drawing on the work of Deleuze and Guattari, our aim in this article is to deconstruct the biomedicalisation of occupational therapy and demonstrate how resistance to this process is critical for the future of this discipline. The use of arts and crafts in occupational therapy may be conceptualised as a 'nomad science' aesthetically resisting the domination of industrialism and medical reductionism. Through the war efforts, a coalition of progressive nurses, social workers, teachers, artisans and activists metamorphosed into occupational therapists. As it did with nursing, biomedicine proceeded to domesticate occupational therapy through a form of 'imperial' patronage subsequently embodied in the evidence-based movement. 'Occupational' jargon is widely used today and may be viewed as the product of a profession trying to establish itself as an autonomous discipline that imposes its own regime of truth. Given the symbolic violence underlying this patronage, the future of occupational therapy should not mean behaving according to biomedicine's terms. As a discipline, occupational therapy must resist the appropriation of its 'war machine' and craft its own terms through the release of new creative energy.

Being Roman in the Sasanian Empire

Over the past several decades, scholars have challenged longstanding assumptions about Christian narratives of persecution. In light of these revisionist trends, a number of scholars have reconsidered the “Great Persecution” of Christians under the fourth-century Sasanian king Shapur II. Where scholars previously argued that the cause of Sasanian imperial violence against Christians was a perceived connection between them and the increasingly Christian Roman Empire, these new accounts reject this explanation and downplay the scope of violence against Christians. This article reexamines Sasanian violence against Christians in the fourth century, navigating between the proverbial Scylla and Charybdis of positivist and revisionist approaches. It argues that the accusations against Christians must be situated within the broader Roman-Sasanian conflict. In this context, fifth-column accusations were a pervasive anxiety, animated—and deployed—by empires and inhabitants alike. Yet, rather than inexorably leading to indiscriminate violence against all Christians, fifth-column accusations operated in a variety of ways, resulting in targeted violence but also, it is argued, in imperial patronage. Seen in this light, concerns for Christian disloyalty were responsible for the drastic vacillations in Christian experience under Sasanian rule during the fourth and early fifth centuries, unparalleled for other non-Iranian Sasanian communities, such as Jews. It was the particular circumstances of Christians, caught between the Sasanian and Roman Empires, that account for their experience under Sasanian rule.

When and Why Ancient Art Became Anonymous

In this article, the problem of why ancient art became anonymous in late antiquity is discussed. There are aesthetic reasons: the visual arts are no longer thought to respond to the mimesis but to the ‘phantasia’, thus the images have a transcendent origin and are no longer attributed to specific artists. Moreover, the passage of the Roman Empire from a constitutional monarchy to an absolutistic one implies that monuments are now attributed especially to the imperial patronage, artists and architects are devaluated. The decline of classical culture, the widespread pessimistic feelings, and finally the disengagement of the western part of the Roman Empire from the classical Greek heritage complete this picture. However, ancient artists will become again renowned from the 9th and 10th century onwards. The artists are mentioned and regarded important until Severan times. From this period onwards, the mentioning of artists becomes rare and disappears. This process is due to a radical change in the aesthetic theory (the phantasia becomes more important that the mimesis), to the transformation of the Roman Empire into an absolutistic monarchy, to the decline in classical education, finally to the establishment of a culture which sees works of art as the epiphanies of deities rather than the creations of artists.

La epigrafía votiva romana de Caldas de Montbui (Vallés Oriental, Barcelona) (ss. I-II d. C.). Un ejemplo de promoción de las élites provinciales de la tarraconensis en centros de aguas minero- medicinales

En el presente artículo estudiamos en profundidad las inscripciones votivas de Caldas de Montbui. Para ello, nos vamos a centrar en el estudio epigráfico con una metodología basada en el registro material consultado de primera mano, las publicaciones científicas relacionadas con nuestra investigación y las fuentes primarias. Según la información recopilada, proponemos la importancia de la segunda mitad del siglo I d. C. e inicios del siglo II d. C. en la manifestación del hábito epigráfico, claro síntoma de una fase de popularidad con la presencia de personajes de las élites provinciales procedentes de ciudades como Barcino, Iluro o Tarraco. Con la investigación realizada, observamos la gran evolución e impulso que adquiere este enclave durante todo el siglo I d. C., siendo un aspecto determinante en este proceso el patrocinio imperial de Tiberio y la dinastía flavia. In this paper we study the votive inscriptions of Caldas de Montbui in depth. To do this we focus, mainly, on epigraphic study following a methodology based on the material record personally consulted, the scientific publications linked to our research and the primary sources. According to the information gathered, we propose the importance of the second half of the 1st century AD and the beginning of the 2nd century AD in the manifestation of the epigraphic habit. It happens as a clear symptom regarding the popularity of relevant figures from provincial elites established in cities like Barcino, Iluro or Tarraco. Along with the research carried out, we observe the great evolution and impulse that this enclave acquires during the 1st century AD, being the imperial patronage of Tiberius a decisive aspect in this process, and later the Flavian dynasty.

Review: Ottoman Baroque: The Architectural Refashioning of Eighteenth-Century Istanbul, by Ünver Rüstem

Review: <i>Ottoman Baroque: The Architectural Refashioning of Eighteenth-Century Istanbul</i>, by Ünver Rüstem

¿Por qué «suicidas» en lugar de «mártires»?

Catholic and Donatist sources demonstrate the importance that Donatism attached to the veneration of martyrs, whose acts were read during the feasts dedicated to them. This cult was one of the uestigia ecclesiae that linked Catholicism and Donatism. Therefore, it was important for Catholics to prove that not all those who were said to have died in the name of Christ should be considered martyrs. Augustine’s literary activity displayed a plethora of arguments seeking to show Donatists that these dotes ecclesiae did not really benefit them: martyres non facit poena, sed causa (c. Cresc. 3, 47, 51). At the same time, he strove to invalidate the justification of martyrdom that Donatists used to take from the Book of the Maccabees (Razias’ episode). According to Augustine, the tombs of Donatist martyrs came to be considered special pilgrimage sites due to the miracles and apparitions that were said to take place there. Such pilgrimages were an important source of income for the Donatist Church, generated by accommodations, religious souvenirs, food, and clothing of the pilgrims. These incomes were vital for the survival of the Donatist Church, since, unlike the Catholic Church, it could not count on imperial patronage. If the Donatists were deprived of private patronage they would end up in serious financial trouble. This article aims to analyze the Catholic/Donatist debates around the concept of martyrdom as well as the economical background underlying the efforts made by Catholics to present Donatist martyrs as mere suicides.

August patron of the learned priest from the province

The issue of influence of a circle of acquaintances on life and creative work of the provincial scientist from spiritual estate Mikhail Yakovlevich Diyev thanks to which, Kostroma historical thought became known to the scientifi c world of Russia, is considered in this article. The author for the first time has revealed the degree of influence of the environment of the scientist priest, represented by the botanist and naturalist from the nobility Aleksandr Boshnyak, Professor of Moscow University, ethnographer Ivan Snegiryov, poet Vasily Zhukovsky. The article deals with the key moments of Mikhail Diyev's life that contributed to his fame at the Emperor's court. The provincial priest became known to Emperor Nicholas I and his heir. Only the Imperial patronage stopped the wave of harassment of the rural scientist priest by the local diocesan authorities and provided him with the opportunity of fruitful scientific work and pastoral service.

Alchemical Patronage and the Making of an Adept: Letters of Michael Sendivogius to Emperor Rudolf II and His Chamberlain Hans Popp

Based on four extant letters the famous Polish alchemist Michael Sendivogius wrote to Emperor Rudolf II and his first chamberlain Hans Popp between 1597 and 1602, this paper adds to a growing body of revisionist scholarship on alchemy in Rudolfine Prague. Unlike most of his many rivals – including luminaries such as John Dee and Michael Maier – who hoped for the Emperor's patronage in vain, Sendivogius officially became a courtier at the imperial court in 1594. As such he was in the privileged position of having access to the Emperor and his close advisors. The surviving correspondence shows how the Pole successfully balanced his alchemical promises against Rudolf's expectations for a number of years. The fact that even Sendivogius found it difficult to translate imperial patronage into ready money suggests that Emperor Rudolf II was considerably more circumspect and less gullible than the widespread cliché suggests. Fully contextualised by all available sources on Sendivogius' early career, the four letters emerge as important documents regarding the Polish adept and alchemical patronage in Rudolfine Prague. They also shed new light on the circumstances which led to the writing and publication of Sendivogius' famous treatise De lapide philosophorum (Novum lumen chymicum).