Late Fifteenth Century Research Articles

Airborne lidar at Guiengola, Oaxaca: Mapping a Late Postclassic Zapotec city

Abstract The site of Guiengola is an example of one of the settlements built by the Zapotecs during their fourteenth- to fifteenth-century migration to the Southern Isthmus of Tehuantepec. Although Guiengola is well known in the ethnohistorical record as being the place where the Mexica armies were defeated by Zapotec forces during the late fifteenth century, the full extension of the site was previously unknown. Despite evidence of a dense population at the site, it has been mistakenly characterized as a fortress for housing soldiers and troops from the nearby town of Tehuantepec. Here, I present the research of the Guiengola Archeological Project, which conducted a lidar scan and archaeological surveys between 2018 and 2023. In this article, I share a comprehensive map of Guiengola, a Postclassic Mesoamerican city. My analysis identifies a large settlement that covered 360 ha and included a walled system of fortifications, an internal road network, and a hierarchically organized city. The findings of this project expand our understanding of the variations and social divisions in the city's internal urban organization, which in turn, allow us to deepen our comprehension of the transition to the Early Colonial barrio organization of Tehuantepec.

On the question of domestic slaves in late medieval and early modern Zoroastrianism

Abstract This article collects and analyses passages about male and female domestic slaves in the Persian Rivāyats. The Rivāyats consist of correspondence between Iranian and Indian Zoroastrians (Parsis) from the late fifteenth to the eighteenth centuries ce. In these letters, Parsis sought the opinions of Iranian Zoroastrians on various doctrinal and ritual issues. The passages in question cover a range of subjects, including the issue of converting household slaves to Zoroastrianism, their participation in domestic religious ceremonies, the exposure of their dead bodies in the towers of silence, and marrying female slaves. These references to slaves challenge the conventional narrative that pre-modern Zoroastrians were oppressed, marginalized, and poor communities. This narrative has overshadowed these pieces of evidence and has caused them not to be studied seriously. This paper seeks to go beyond this traditional reconstruction by examining these texts based on their context. The passages reflect the actual socio-religious issues of Zoroastrians, especially Parsis, and demonstrate their participation in the slave-owning milieu of late medieval and early modern Gujarat and Iran rather than mere anachronistic elements or rhetorical tools reflecting a scholastic treatment of a defunct legal question.

Apulian New Christians in Venetian Dalmatia

Abstract This article’s subject is the migration of Apulian New Christians to Venetian Dalmatia in the late fifteenth and early sixteenth century. These New Christians were the descendants of Jews who had converted to Christianity at the end of the thirteenth century but who continued to constitute a group distinct from the rest of society until many had to flee Apulia due to growing repressions at the turn to the sixteenth century. Based on archival material from Zadar, Split, and Venice, this paper studies the Venetian ruled town of Split as an example of how close and multifaceted the contacts between Apulian New Christians and Venetian Dalmatia were, ranging from grain trade to permanent settlement. Although Venice tried to expel all New Christians from its territories, including Dalmatia, in the 1490s, they appear to have been tolerated in Split. How this was possible and how the Apulian New Christians integrated themselves into the local society is studied in this article.

EVOLUTION OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE IN INDIAN WRITING THROUGH THE POSTCOLONIAL LENS

English as a language has undergone many fundamental and linguistic changes over the ages. From Old English, or Anglo-Saxon that was spoken in England and Scotland in the early Middle ages, to the Middle English, which underwent a lot of changes after the Norman conquest until the late fifteenth century. English saw many changes during the Renaissance all through to the modernist period to finally become what it is today. English, consequently, emerged as a language that is ever-changing in nature, a language that adapts and accommodates all. One such evolution in the language can be seen through the postcolonial experience of the former British colonies. The adoption of English in India, like other colonies, was a result of the Raj. Indian writing in English emerged as an honest enterprise that has turned out to be a new form of Indian culture and voice that has been adopted and adapted by the native people. Indian writers- poets, novelist, essayists and dramatists, have been making great contributions to world literature while gaining immense recognition and fame. It has achieved independent stature in world literature. Subsequently, the use of English became essential for postcolonial writers as it works towards the enlightenment of both the colonizer and the colonized about the ‘Self and the ‘Other’. This paper attempts to highlight the evolution of the English language by navigating through the postcolonial narrative of writers who have not only adopted the language but also have changed it

Form and Matter of Regular Geometrical Bodies in Luca Pacioli’s Summa (1494) and Compendium de divina proportione (1498)

Abstract Luca Pacioli (ca. 1447–1517) is widely considered a central figure in the Italian Renaissance, particularly in the history of practical mathematics. The perspectival representations of geometrical bodies that Leonardo da Vinci drew for Pacioli’s Compendium de divina proportione are, in turn, often singled out to illustrate the relationships between the visual arts and mathematics in the late fifteenth century. Yet despite increasing scholarly attention, the philosophical framework of Pacioli’s works deserves to be further explored. This paper discusses how Pacioli ably developed his arguments on regular geometrical bodies by relying on a predominantly Aristotelian philosophical framework. In this way, Pacioli established correlations among the quantitative, material, and formal properties of regular geometrical bodies, concluding with the visualisation of their (geometrically defined) form at the level of the intellect.

Lietuvos Didžiosios Kunigaikštystės viešieji notarai XVI amžiaus kryžkelėse: nuo 1512 metų Europos notariato nuostatų iki Antrojo Lietuvos Statuto

The Imperial Notary Ordinance, which began being written in the late fifteenth century, not only further cemented the statements set forth in Ars notariae, but also fundamentally transformed the status of notariat, declaring the notariat a governmental institution. According to the opinion of Notariat experts, this Ordinance that was declared in 1512 is fundamental for having the main professional characteristics of the contemporary Latin notariat. This similarity also outlines the continuity of modern European notariat.Lithuanian society in the beginning of the sixteenth century lived with a notariat that was not fully developed, since, only after receiving the right from the Pope in 1501, public notaries began being nominated in the Vilnius diocese. During the first half of the sixteenth century, the development of notariat was visible particularly in the dioceses of GDL. This was to be expected, knowing that the notariat was established in GDL through the Church. Notariat developed in the secular government only as much as there was cooperation with and participation of diocesal notaries public, by serving in the office of a ruler or a voivod. We can observe a tendency in the beginning of the sixteenth century of secularization of the notaries public – they would switch to service in a purely secular office after leaving the clergy and/or becoming supporters of the Reformation. At the same time, similarly to Poland, in the later half of fifteenth century and onwards, Lithuania saw the rise of notaries with apostolic mandate, which declared the primacy of the Pope’s rule. We think, that the Notary Ordinance of 1512, could have had impact (negative?) to the further development of GDL notariat. Firstly by raising the questions of political loyalty and personal choice in regards to which highest authority to obey – the Pope’s or the emperor’s, ecclesiastical or secular.During research we acknowledge that both the First and the Second Statutes of Lithuania could have been partially influenced by the Notary Ordinance by notaries public participating in their conception. Thanks to them, articles regarding the Roman law have been created. The removal of Latin language as the written language of the courts by the Second Statute was not beneficial to the Roman notariat and a serious challenge to the notaries public and to the further development of notariat in GDL. The New Statute became an opportunity for the secular notariat to form as a legal institute. However, for it to happen there had to be further political decisions in support of it, there had to have been the right conditions and enough time to prepare qualified specialists and for the society to be prepared to trust those specialists.

Cultural Intersections in the Late Fifteenth-Century Song Practices of the Italian South

Cultural Intersections in the Late Fifteenth-Century Song Practices of the Italian South

Joe Louis: A Late Fisher Phase Village on the Little Calumet River

Abstract Excavations at the Joe Louis site (11CK284) in northeastern Illinois provide insight into village life along the Little Calumet River between the mid-fourteenth and late fifteenth centuries AD. In addition to evidence for their horticultural and other subsistence activities, the assemblage shows that site occupants were making stone tools and pottery, processing hides, making clothing, and possibly producing bird-wing fans. Structured deposits of bone and antler hoes, mussel shell, and specific plant and animal remains document the relational entanglements of the site's occupants, both human and otherwise. Given the geographically central location of the site at the margins of two major cultural areas (Oneota and Fort Ancient), as well as the overlapping boundaries with Langford and Huber peoples, Joe Louis villagers may have been actively negotiating social networks and identities through their material products as well as ritual gatherings. These negotiations may have enabled and encouraged coalescent occupations (Langford and Fisher, Fisher and Huber) at other sites in the region.

From Historian to Poet: A Checklist of the Persian Poems of Idrīs Bidlīsī (Hašt Bihišt VI, Nuruosmaniye 3209)

Abstract Many articles have been published on the life and career of Idrīs Bidlīsī (1457–1520) and his contribution to the history of Ottoman Empire. There has been much less research, especially in the West, into the influential role that Persian literature, especially Niẓāmī of Ganğa, played in all facets of his works. Consequently, even fewer studies have been done on Idrīs’ own poetry, which was composed mainly either in late fifteenth century, when he was still at the court of Aqquyunlu, or after his residence at the Ottoman court, especially in early sixteenth century. This study is dedicated to making a “voyage of discovery” of his Persian poems as reflected in the Book VI of Hašt Bihišt, an unpublished book of his magnum opus.

Hungary and Poland: The Two Antemurales in the Late Fifteenth Century

The aim of this article is to analyze and confront the two conceptions—Polish and Hungarian—of Antemurale Christianitatis developed in the late fifteenth century. It is based, in the first part, on the published correspondence between King Matthias Corvinus of Hungary (1458–90) and Pope Sixtus IV (1471–84). These documents are interesting because they allow us to follow the duplicity of the policies practised by Matthias. Taking advantage of his involvement in the struggle against the Turks, the Hungarian king sought to attain other goals. The second part of the article is based on the political works of an Italian humanist living in Poland, Philippus Buonaccorsi, called Callimachus. I compare the attitudes of two then-hostile kingdoms, which earlier (in the time of Władysław Warneńczyk, d. 1444) and later (in the time of Władysław Jagiellończyk, d. 1516, and his son Ludwik, d. 1526) were connected by personal union and dynastic ties, respectively, towards the problem of Antemurale.

The rise and fall and rise of the digraph 〈oa〉 in English

Abstract The present paper examines the history of the digraph 〈oa〉 in English: it is relatively rare in OE and early ME, falls out of use in late ME, and reappears in the late fifteenth century. Different lexemes have been spelt with 〈oa〉 in the different language periods, but in the majority of cases, the vowel so represented is the reflex of early ME /ɔ:/ or OE o in an open syllable; hence, the digraph is clearly phonetically conditioned. The paper also investigates the graphotactic constraints on the orthographic variants 〈oa〉, 〈oCe〉, 〈oe〉.

Contrapuntal Direction and the Diagnosis of Compositional Relationships in Fifteenth-Century Masses

Contrapuntal direction—the principle that certain progressions may only occur through the motion of the contrapuntal voice towards a stable tenor—is a previously unrecognized implication of the teaching of the theorist and composer Johannes Tinctoris. Although Tinctoris’s interval successions are commonly the same whichever voice is the tenor, Tinctoris omits a small number of oblique progressions where the tenor would move. Although I will not investigate possible reasons for this omission, examples will show that when the missing progressions occur in repertoire, these can be explained by a reappraisal of the contrapuntal functions of the voices. The results extend Julie Cumming’s concept of the “movable module” and demonstrate its presence in music of the 1460s and 1470s. This principle emerges directly from a computer-assisted attempt to connect Tinctoris’s counterpoint with late-fifteenth century composition. Through its ability to recognise tenor function within a voice pair, to identify instances where the tenor function may have moved, or to mark voices that do not form a contrapuntal pair, directional analysis is able both to identify faulty analytical assumptions around voice pairing and to act as a validator of general theories of fifteenth-century compositional structure.

Inquisition and Purity of Blood in Portugal during the Seventeenth Century

The aim of this paper is to analyse the role played by the Portuguese Holy Office in the process of social discrimination against New Christians, that is, those who were considered to be descendant of Jews converted to Christianity in the late fifteenth century. This article focuses specifically on the different and changing attitudes of the Inquisitors General to the issue of purity of blood during the seventeenth century. In the course of that century, some people considered to be New Christians (with fama or nota) managed to join the Portuguese Holy Office. Nevertheless, this was not due to the fact that Inquisitors General and members of the General Council rejected discrimination using theoretical, religious and moral arguments, but to the impossibility of achieving undoubtful knowledge about the origins of those seeking to join the Inquisition. At the same time, once racial discrimination became institutionalised within the Inquisition during the final third of the sixteenth century, the Inquisitors General became less concerned about the allegations of impure blood made about some of its ministers, so long as it could be demonstrated that they were good Christians and of use to the institution, or else capable of contributing to the specific personal interests of the tribunal’s rector. Nevertheless, not all supposed or real conversos succeeded in joining the Holy Office, as evidenced by cases of self-exclusion and the numerous proofs of “purity of blood” that were not approved. To address these questions, we turn to the proofs of “purity of blood” carried out by the Portuguese Inquisition, as well as to correspondence and documents from other institutions of the Portuguese and Spanish monarchies.

Materiality and Marginalia across the World: The Role of Things in Christopher Columbus’s Annotations on Marco Polo

The recension of Marco Polo’s Devisament dou monde—an incunable of Francesco Pipino’s Latin translation titled De consuetudinibus et conditionibus orientalium regionum—used by Christopher Columbus is one of five annotated books known to have survived from the explorer’s library. The exemplar contains in its margins copious notes and drawings attributable to Columbus himself and other members of his immediate circle. These marginalia reveal that Columbus was a highly distinctive reader of content transmitted in the Poline textual tradition. He rarely dwelt on topographic, ethnographic or historical information. Rather, he was almost exclusively concerned with material things. His notes consist of brief references either to single objects or to lists of multiple objects associated with specific places. Cross-referencing allowed him to highlight similarities and differences between the regions of the known world, as well as to organise these regions hierarchically depending on the potential value of their manufactured and natural resources to himself and his fellow Europeans. He placed particular emphasis on mineral deposits and other substances such as gold, pearls and spices that he apparently considered to have an especially elevated intrinsic value. This article examines the revision, dissemination and especially interpretation of Polo’s late thirteenth-century work at a particular historical moment in the late fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries. In so doing, it draws attention to Columbus’s contribution to a shift in the relationship between materiality and cosmography that would prove to be of key importance to modern colonialism.

Entering Anthologies with Names: The First Generation of Courtesan Poets in Ming Dynasty Nanjing

Abstract This article traces the first generation of Ming courtesan poets and the earliest extant anthology recording both their poems and full names. These pioneering courtesan poets emerged from anonymity in the city of Nanjing during the late fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries. They represented a new mode of literary production and circulation in the context of social, economic, and cultural transformation which began in the mid-Ming. To better situate courtesan poets within the Ming world of letters, we examine the various sources recording their biographical information and literary/artistic creations.

Were camptodactyly and boutonniere deformity considered pathological in late fifteenth century Italy? Evidence from the sculptures of Francesco di Simone Ferrucci (1437–1493)

Representations of disease in Renaissance paintings have been discussed in medical literature, in the context of historical epidemiology, as potential sources of information about the incidence and appearance of particular conditions in earlier times. The present study seeks to show how Renaissance art can also contribute to historical nosology by casting light on the question of whether particular conditions recognized as abnormal today were understood as pathological in the past. The hands of two Renaissance Madonna figures are examined in sculptures produced by Francesco di Simone Ferrucci (1437–1493). Because the Virgin Mary was considered physically perfect by believers, and because Francesco was a successful producer of devotional sculptures for a wide audience, it is highly probable that any abnormal conditions found in the hands of Madonnas sculpted by him would not have been regarded as pathological at the time. The sculptures examined appear to depict camptodactyly and boutonniere deformity in the hands of Madonna figures. These uncommon conditions are also found in Renaissance artworks that show other individuals of high social status, but their presence in the hands of the Madonna gives the strongest indication that they were not considered pathological, due to religious belief in the Virgin’s physical perfection. Examination of Madonna figures in late fifteenth century Renaissance art can contribute to historical nosology by identifying abnormal conditions that were not regarded as pathological at the time. The examples of such conditions identified in the present study are camptodactyly and boutonniere deformity.

Looking Beyond Jerusalem: A Fifteenth-Century Exercise in Image Comparison

Abstract Critical image comparison is a widespread art-historical practice. This essay explores why a Brabantine artist encouraged viewers to exercise it in the late fifteenth century. At the time, northern European artists tested out how images could be means of transcending the visible world while simultaneously showcasing their very constructedness. The self-reflexivity that characterises such images has engendered a particularly rich field of art-historical studies. This essay focuses on a little-known image which was designed to combine two visual concepts devised more than three centuries apart – a twelfth-century map of Jerusalem, and a cityscape popularised in the fifteenth century – and required viewers to realise this combination in their minds, using external images recollected before their internal eyes. In its complex conception, the image becomes a unique contributor to the vibrant debate about the right use of images in late medieval devotion, and to the long history of image comparisons.

When Christianity Became a Shūshi 宗旨

Abstract Cultural encounters, entanglements, and comparisons were the driving force behind the formation of a global history of religion. Such encounters require the formation of comparative concepts; for Europeans, the most important of these was ‘religion’ . With European expansion, and especially its forays into Asia starting in the late fifteenth century, ‘religion’ gradually became a general term to describe a distinct subset of human culture, with encounters between European missionaries and the Japanese people playing a decisive role in this regard. Arguably, the ultimately failed attempts of the Christian mission led to the emergence of analogous comparative concepts on the Japanese side, too. As a side effect, the encounter with Christianity brought about an individualisation and confessionalisation of Buddhism. From here, it was only a small step to the ‘religionisation’ of Buddhism in the nineteenth century – and, thus, to its integration into a global religious system.

Texting Polyphonic Settings of the Ordinary of the Mass in the Late Fifteenth Century

Texting Polyphonic Settings of the Ordinary of the Mass in the Late Fifteenth Century

Bawds, Midwifery, and the Evil Eye in Golden Age Spanish Literature and Medicine

This article explores the relationship between the alcahueta or bawd, the evil eye, and midwifery in the early modern Spanish cultural imaginary. The evil eye, though an ancient belief, received renewed attention in theological and medical texts, including midwifery manuals, from the late fifteenth until the mid-sixteenth century, coinciding with the popularity of texts such as La Celestina featuring bawds. This article explores cultural debates regarding whether the evil eye was a natural phenomenon caused by corrupted bodily fluids emanating from post-menopausal women, or a result of witchcraft. Midwifery manuals list the evil eye as one of the principal dangers to newborns and give advice regarding how to prevent it, perhaps implicitly providing another justification for women’s gradual exclusion from midwifery in the early modern period. Fictional texts portray the bawd as engaging in women’s healing practices such as midwifery and newborn care, and as casting and curing the evil eye. I argue that the literary archetype of the bawd-midwife reflects academic disagreements that alternatively portray the evil eye as a physical illness, superstitious nonsense, or the result of witchcraft. As such, the bawd becomes a focal point for expressing anxiety over perceived decadence and decline, often tied to witchcraft. By tracing the evil eye through the characterization of bawds, we can perceive subtle indications of ambiguity regarding women’s magical and medical practices that question whether their influence comes from the devil or from women’s inherently malevolent nature.