Mid-sixteenth Century Research Articles

Flemish and Walloon exile communities in sixteenth-century Norwich: a case study of local and national responses to large-scale migration from the low Countries

ABSTRACT In 1565, the Mayor of Norwich, Thomas Sotherton, proposed to his fellow aldermen that the city invite thirty master textile workers from the Low Countries and their households to Norwich to revive its flagging economy. Letters patent were issued by Queen Elizabeth and on 1 June 1566, Sotherton put his seal on an order naming the thirty masters. They would form the basis of two exile communities in Norwich, one Flemish and one Walloon. This article aims to analyse what the birth of these exile communities tells us about local and national positions and practices adopted in response to migration from the Low Countries in the mid-sixteenth century. Furthermore, it examines the role of specific individuals and groups of individuals in the establishment of these communities. These include not only civic and national leaders in England, but also members of the English and exile clergy, members of exile communities in other towns, and English and Flemish nobles. Moreover, the article analyses the prosopographies of the thirty masters, providing previously unpublished details on several masters, and allowing an evaluation of the success of Sotherton’s policy. Finally, the article places the case of Norwich in a broader context by comparing it with attempts to establish exile communities in other English towns.

François Rabelais and his dystonic giants.

Spasmodic torticollis was an early designation used for cervical dystonia. The origin of this name is attributed to French physician and writer François Rabelais in the mid-sixteenth century. This early description of torticollis in the book Pantagruel was an inspiration for the understanding of cervical dystonia. The art expressed in Rabelais' literature ‒ which was immortalized by the drawings of Gustave Doré ‒ influenced poetry, art, and photography, and led to the adoption of the term torticollis in the neurological sciences.

Centenary Paper: Laboratory for Experimentation: Iberian Fiction Translated into French (1525–1550)

The translation of early Iberian fiction into French had a transformative impact on the learning of vernacular languages and printing. This article explores the impact of Iberian fiction (1525–1550) on the French literary panorama of the mid-sixteenth century. It analyses how the translation of novelas sentimentales and libros de caballerías offered a laboratory for experimentation in three main areas. First, Iberian fiction provided an opportunity for translators to translate directly from Castilian. The translations of Iberian fiction were also an opportunity to promote the French vernacular through the adoption of roman typefaces for the printing of vernacular material. Finally, Iberian fiction translated into French played a key role in the development of book illustration. These innovations would have long-lasting consequences.

Gold Deposits Related to the Island Arc Formations and Ophiolitic Complexes of Eastern Cuba: A Review

Several gold deposits in the eastern region of Cuba are genetically related to the island arc- and the ophiolitic complex formation. These have been studied and exploited since the time of the Spanish colonization in the mid-sixteenth century. These deposits belong to the Aguas Claras-Guajabales mineral field in the Holguín Province (Cuba) and lie in an elongated zone approximately 15 km in length. The object of this work is to make a methodical, detailed, and chronological review of the geological and mining work carried out in this region, as well as highlight the degree of the previously achieved studies. To realize this, an extensive bibliographic review of all available data, including published reports and articles, as well as unpublished material, was carried out. Moreover, ore mineralogy and petrography were reviewed by thin section analyses from samples from these deposits by petrographic and scanning electron microscopy. The results obtained from this study highlight that the gold mineralization in that area is closely linked to metasomatic processes produced by the circulation of hydrothermal fluids that affected the different volcanic and ultramafic rocks. This study shows that the highest gold contents observed are controlled by the contacts between the different host lithologies with high rheological contrasts. The presence of different alteration styles such as serpentinization, listvenitization, rodingitization, and propylitization have played a primary role in the deposition of gold during mineralization processes. This work could be a very useful exploration guide for future research in this region, as it provides a useful and practical compilation of the characteristics of the mineralization and alteration styles, as well as a precise indication of the spatial position, thicknesses, and contents of the gold-rich horizons.

Punch’ŏng Ware with Incised and Sgraffito Designs of Early Chosŏn: Its Context and Production Period

The “punch’ŏng ware with incised and sgraffito designs” stands as a hallmark of early Chosŏn ceramics. Its production began in the latter part of the fifteenth century, primarily centered around kilns along the southwestern coasts of Chŏlla province. This tradition persisted until the mid-sixteenth century. In the fifteenth-century Chosŏn era, a variety of decorated ceramics found application across a spectrum of functions, including politics, diplomacy, and religious rituals. It is assumed that this particular type of punch’ŏng ware was similarly used in bureaucratic and official contexts. Previous research has suggested that the “punch’ŏng ware with incised and sgraffito designs” may have been influenced by ceramics from northern China. However, this paper proposes a different perspective: the punch’ŏng ware production, utilizing incise and sgraffito techniques, could have its origins in the crafting of tributary wares, characterized by stamped patterns covering their entire surface. Additionally, it is hypothesized that the production of “punch’ŏng ware with incised and sgraffito designs” was concentrated in regions adjacent to the southwestern coast of Chŏlla Province. This geographical focus may be attributed to the ease of transporting ceramics used in the royal court to Hanyang before the establishment of official kilns and the concentration of royal properties in the Chŏlla region. My future research will aim to comprehensively understand the characteristics of “punch’ŏng ware with incised and sgraffito designs” by analyzing its consumption patterns and stylistic features.

Possibilities at the Formative Stage of the Vernacular Chinese Novel


 
 
 This study centers on a valuable specimen of the early vernacular Chinese novel, San Sui pingyao zhuan, to explore dynamic possibilities at the formative stage of the Chinese novel. Close inspection of the physical aspects of the extant edition of the work suggests it is a reprint bearing traces of multiple earlier editions. The analysis of the obscure chuanqi play Si xi ji shows that the story tradition of “Three Sui quelling the rebels” already existed in the mid-sixteenth century. San Sui pingyao zhuan shares much common ground with early zaju drama, fifteenth-century cihua (chantefables), and pinghua (historical novels). Linking this novel with other early examples of popular literature that preceded or were contemporaneous with it, my study deepens our understanding of the formation of the early vernacular novel as well as the world of popular literature in which the novel was situated.
 
 

Gelehrtennetzwerke an der Universität Basel und ihre Verbindungen nach Ostmitteleuropa 1460–1550. Perspektiven zu Forschungsdaten aus dem Repertorium Academicum Germanicum (RAG)

This study uses the example of data from the Repertorium Academicum Germanicum (RAG) to highlight various aspects of dealing with research data in historical research. The RAG is a project focused on scholars from the Old German Empire (1250–1550), whose lives and studies are collected and evaluated in a prosopographical database. The database combines quantitative and qualitative methods for the collection, analysis, and interpretation of research data. Using the example of scholars included in the RAG who stayed at the Basel University in 1460–1550, the author presents the basic approaches to network analysis used in the project. The example of Basel scholars in the RAG shows how students and scholars from Eastern and Central Europe can be identified in this network. Although their numbers by mid-sixteenth century were not high, a qualitative examination of their biographies shows that they had a variety of contacts in Basel prior to their arrival and that they played an important role in early relations with Eastern and Central Europe. In addition to personal encounters linked to studies and related activities, correspondence and general references in written works are also taken into account.

Shariʿa and Governance in Ottoman Egypt: The Waqf Controversy in the Mid-Sixteenth Century

AbstractIn the mid-16th century, the Ottoman government sought to expand its tax revenue from Egypt through a controversial initiative to levy taxes on endowments (waqf). The controversy produced a diverse range of responses from Ottoman scholar-bureaucrats, such as Ebussuud Efendi, who supported the initiative; Egyptian scholars, including Ibn Nujaym and al-Ghayti, who opposed it; and the Ottoman governor, who worked to resolve it. Despite the opposing positions of the diverse actors, shariʿa served as the common medium for the articulation and negotiation of their opinions and helped produce a compromise that became foundational for the Ottoman tax regime in Egypt. In this episode, shariʿa constituted an instrument of governance. Such a role for shariʿa differs from its conception as an autonomous field of scholarly interpretation, or the understanding of it as an inclusive normative system encompassing rules emerging from both the interpretative activities of scholars and the definitive edicts and orders of rulers. Shariʿa did not constitute the endpoint of rulemaking; rather, it provided the shared language of terms and concepts through which different actors participated in the process of formulating rules.

Siren’s song: the news of Tabarka and its impact on Spanish Mediterranean policy in the mid-sixteenth century

The island of Tabarka, off the northwestern coast of modern Tunisia, was an active coral-fishing factory during the mid-sixteenth century. Its political status was unclear, straddling Tunisian sovereignty and Spanish military control, while being economically exploited by the Genoa-based Lomellini company. It also operated as a privileged hub of information for Maghrebi affairs, supplying fresh news to the Spanish authorities during the critical phase of Ottoman Mediterranean expansion throughout the 1550s. Particularly, this information’s flow fed into a wider web, and competed with alternative sources of news to influence decision-making processes in the Spanish monarchy. This article presents a micro-historical analysis of a place, a network, and specific political conditions to go beyond the mere reconstruction of information flows and reveal the real impact of the news coming from Tabarka on Spanish Mediterranean policy in the mid-sixteenth century.

A Ward Level Economic Topography of Sixteenth-Century Coventry

ABSTRACT Subsidy rolls of the 1540s and 1560s from the collection of Thomas Gregory, Coventry city clerk from 1528 to 1570, provide relative comparisons among Coventry’s wards over time. The various wards remained fairly consistent in relative wealth during the sixteenth century, and despite more diverse markets in the latter part of the century textiles still remained important. The central wards were the wealthiest, and wealth decreased moving towards the suburbs. The outer wards and suburbs were not necessarily poor, they just held few of the wealthiest merchants. The suburban wards of Spon and Gosford benefited from the growth of cap making. The incredibly wealthy wool and cloth merchants disappear by the mid-sixteenth century, but there is clear retention of the class of moderately wealthy gentry and merchants.

Kirishitan Women in Bondage Defying Persecution in Japan, 1625-1630

This article inspects cases of three Kirishitan (Christian) women servants in the Jesuit accounts of Shimabara, Japan, between 1625 and 1630, arguing that global and national changes resulted in the worsened enslaving conditions for servant-class women in Japan. The arrival of Portuguese traders and the Jesuit mission in the mid-sixteenth century, the Jesuits’ initial engagement in the slave trade, the ongoing civil wars, Japan’s invasion of Korea, the shogunate’s total ban of Christianity and Iberian commerce, and its consolidation of patriarchal structures by the 1640s accelerated the decline of women’s status. The sources, read in this context, show that under severe religious persecution, these women’s Kirishitan identity was crucial in their resistance to the multiple systems of oppression. This article is part of the special theme section on Women, Children, and Enslaved People in the Portuguese Empire in Asia, 16th-18th Centuries, guest-edited by Rozely Vigas and Rômulo Ehalt.

South Caucasus under the interests of the great empires (XVI-XVIII centuries)

This article examines the great empires’ imperialist ambitions in the South Cau-casus during the 16th -18th (in particular, till the 1720s) centuries. During this period, the region was under the control of two powerful eastern countries, Per-sia and the Ottomans, which threatened the region’s stability. However, by the mid-sixteenth century, a new political landscape began to be shaped, with Mos-cow State as a third power with strategic interests in the region. Unlike Persia and the Ottomans, Russia adopted a comparatively diplomatic approach to its involve-ment in the region based on avoiding military confrontation whenever possible. Within the frames of the study, we employed the historical-comparative method, analyzed various historical facts, and conducted a systemic analysis to draw rele-vant conclusions. Our research included an examination of written sources in this period. Through this analysis, we discovered that Moscow’s primary objective during this period was to maintain its position in the Caucasus by creating its in-fluence on the individual South Caucasian governors. Our research also revealed that the Georgian kings and princes needed to understand the objectives of Rus-sia’s foreign policy despite their desire to be liberated from Persia and the Otto-mans. This lack of understanding was partially conditioned by the complexity of Russia’s regional strategic goals. Nevertheless, the common faith shared by Russia and Georgia provided a “good bait” for Russia to expand its influence in the region. In preparation for its eventual attack on the South Caucasus, Russia complied with various types of political, economic, and statistical information to ensure its success. The information was critical to the success of Russia’s imperialist ambi-tions in the South Caucasus in the 16th - early 18th centuries.

‘Besolte Instrumentisten der Königlichen Stadt Breslaw’: The Hess Brothers’ Anthology (1555) and Its European Context*

Abstract The paper focuses on a comprehensive dance collection compiled by two Wrocław/Breslau town musicians (Stadtpfeifer), the brothers Bartholomäus and Paul Hess. The anthology, partly preserved at Wrocław University Library, was published in 1555 at the Wrocław printing house of Crispin Scharffenberg and documents the transition of dance repertoire from the courtly realm to the private and public spheres, which was typical of the mid-sixteenth century. The Wrocław collection, scored for wind ensemble, contains 477 four- and five-part dances of German, Polish, French, and Italian provenance. The paper offers some new views on the repertoire from the collection. Particular attention has been given to the so-called Polish dances.

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.

Understanding Chipped Stone Drills from an Iroquoian Village Site

ABSTRACT Eighty-one complete chipped stone drills and 115 drill fragments were recovered from excavations at the Eaton site in western New York. The major occupation was an Iroquoian village dating to the mid-sixteenth century. The number of drills far exceeds the number of drilled objects from the same site. Use wear on nineteen specimens indicates their use on soft to medium resistance materials which were not preserved at the site. Consideration of chipped stone drills with long drill bits suggests that they were not used on hard materials as they would have a tendency to break. Iroquois sites to the east that are slightly later in time than the Iroquoian component at Eaton have hundreds of drilled shell beads but few chipped stone drills. We conclude that European metal drills/awls replaced chipped stone drills early in the Contact Period.

The Benedictine Culture of Medieval Iceland

The monastic tradition of St Benedict of Nursia inspired and influenced Iceland’s medieval monasteries. Four communities, two each of men and women, which were identified in contemporary records as ‘under the rule of Saint Benedict’, endured for four hundred years, until the Protestant suppressions of the mid-sixteenth century. The monasteries of men emerged as Iceland’s most important centres of literary production; each of the churches was the focus of public worship and popular cults, and at times in their history, they may also have maintained the largest monastic populations seen in the island. With no visible trace of their physical environment, material evidence only now being revealed in excavations and very few documentary records describing their form of Benedictinism, their observant customs and broader Benedictine culture remain elusive. Drawing on the inventories (máldagar) of their property made at intervals between the thirteenth and sixteenth centuries, together with the representation of their regular life in contemporary biskupa sögur, this paper reveals a monastic practice that did diverge from that of Benedictines elsewhere in northern Europe but that nonetheless expressed a powerful attachment to some of the principal ideals of the Benedictine Rule: abbacy, conventual fraternity and the interplay of contemplative and active occupation. Above all, these communities appear to have propagated a cult interest in the figure of Benedict himself, placing him at the centre of their worship life long after Benedictines elsewhere in Europe had allowed him to be eclipsed by national and regional cults of more recent creation.

Revisiting the Xiaoshi Jingang keyi 銷釋金剛科儀: A Textual and Reception History

Generally acknowledged as a Southern Song text by an obscure Chan monk, the Xiaoshi Jingang keyi 銷釋金剛科儀 includes a chapter-by-chapter exposition of Kumārajīva's fifth-century Chinese translation of the Diamond Sūtra and survives in multiple different editions from the Ming-Qing era. It has claimed attention from scholars from different fields of Chinese religions and been considered in the context of the study of precious scroll (baojuan 寶卷) or Buddhist ritual literature. With due attention to different components of the whole text rather than the exposition alone, and by situating the work in the history of Chinese Buddhist commentarial and liturgical works on the Diamond Sūtra, this article examines the textual and reception history of the Xiaoshi Jingang keyi. Focusing on its overall structure, source material, and use of verses. I demonstrate that the Xiaoshi Jingang keyi finds roots in the pre-existing Chinese Buddhist literature on the Diamond Sūtra, and show how it inspired Buddhist monastics to compose commentaries on it up to the mid-sixteenth century.

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“Betwixt Ye Two Rivers”: Trafficking and Colonization in Early Seventeenth-Century Saint Christopher

Abstract Starting in the mid-sixteenth century, European traffickers frequented the Caribbean in search of ships to plunder and gained access to Spanish America's closed markets by seizing captives and smuggling them into underserved ports. For traffickers, these activities depended on alliances with Kalinago populations in the Lesser Antilles, who allowed traffickers to refit their vessels and trade for food, wood, and water. By the 1620s, this political economy of raiding and smuggling led to the establishment of English and French colonies in the Lesser Antilles, which created new markets for bound captives and deepened regional and intercolonial commercial networks. The Lesser Antilles developed into sites of colonization because of their centrality to networks of raiding and informal trade in the Spanish Caribbean.

The outbreak of new diseases in an era of religious and spiritual crisis:

The paper examines how the humanist physician and later professor of medicine at the great Universities of Italy, Girolamo Mercuriale of Forlì (1530-1606), addressed the issue of new diseases in medical as well as religious-social terms in his medical book De arte gymnastica (Venice, 1569), while he served as the personal physician of Cardinal Alessandro Farnese (1520-1589). Mercuriale's medical gymnastics, as a medical method for the treatment of new diseases, stands out as paradigmatic, on the one hand, of the scientific-medical culture of mid-sixteenth century Rome and, on the other hand, the political-religious strategies of the Catholic Church regarding the control of body culture in the context of the Counter-Reformation.