Royal Court Research Articles

Embassy of Megasthenes

The author of the article comes to the conclusion that the famous embassy of Megasthenes to India took place in the context of an acute conflict between Seleucus Nicator and Candragupta Maurya. It could be only the military campaign of Seleucus against Mauryan Empire around 303 BC. As a result of diplomatic negotiations, a peace treaty was concluded, sealed by marriage alliance – apparently, the daughter of Seleucus became the wife of the heir to the Mauryan throne. Since Megasthenes speaks of repeated visits to Candragupta, one can think that he could accompany the Seleucid princess to Pataliputra. Recent attempts to date the embassy of Megasthenes and publication of his “Indika” to a much earlier period or, on the contrary, to attribute the conclusion of the peace treaty to the beginning of the 3rd century, clearly contradict the reports of ancient historical sources. Greek cultural influence in India of the 3rd century BC can be explained not only by peaceful relations of India with Hellenistic world, but also by the dynastic ties between Mauryan Empire and the royal court of the Seleucids. Description of India by Megasthenes, published at the beginning of the 3rd century BC, is the most important Greek source about Mauryan Empire. However, the content of this text – contrary to the opinion established in historiography – does not give grounds to talk about Megasthenes’ long stay in Pataliputra, about his travels around India or about the author’s acquaintance with Indian languages.

The Court of the Spanish Habsburgs: Results and Prospects of Researches (Appendix. Interview with Professor Manuel Rivero Rodríguez

The article examines the activities of a group of Spanish researchers from the Autonomous University of Madrid (José Martínez Millán, Manuel Rivero Rodríguez and others) who began to study the court of the Spanish Habsburgs in the early 1990s. On its basis, in 2006, the University Institute “The Court in Europe” (Instituto Universitario “La Corte en Europa”, hereinafter — IULCE) was established, which unites efforts of many scientists in different countries, combining scientific research, teaching and popularization of knowledge about the court in its activities. The purpose of this article is to analyze the structure and main activities of IULCE, such as the organization of international congresses and publication of their materials, publication of the electronic scientific journal “Libros de Corte”, assistance to the authorities in the development of cultural tourism, creation of databases on the court of the Spanish Habsburgs, but above all — a large-scale ongoing project of a comprehensive study of the royal court during the reign of each monarch of the Habsburg dynasty in Spain. The article traces the changes in the structure of these works, corresponding to the dynamics of studying the peculiarities of the development of the court of the Spanish Habsburgs, which found themselves in the orbit of IULCE's research interests. The distinctive features of an interdisciplinary approach to the study of the court are examined. An interview with the director of IULCE, professor Manuel Rivero Rodríguez, taken by the author of this article, is published as an appendix, which allows us to better understand the peculiarities of the functioning of the Institute and the prospects for its development.

A Version of Diplomatic letters from the Qing Dynasty to the Kazakh Khanate (1790)

The article refers to the decree letter sent by the imperator of the Qing Dynasty, Qianlong, to Khanqoja Sultan, who owned the Eastern region of Kazakhstan at the end of the 18th century. This letter is one of the most important historical sources for a detailed study of the diplomacy of the Kazakh Khanate, especially with its eastern neighbor the Qing Dynasty. After the destruction of the Dzungars, the Kazakh Khanate and the Qing Dynasty established official diplomatic relations, and trade between two sides began to develop. In this regard, many letters were written and sent by the Kazakhs. Today, these letters are stored in the First Historical Archives in Beijing, China. The decree letter that we are analyzing was written by imperator Qianlong and sent to Khanqoja Sultan through the Kazakh ambassadors who visited the royal court. In the letter, the imperator wrote about the Kazakh ambassadors who came to congratulate him on the eve of his 80th birthday, and gave information about the titles and gifts as well. It also mentioned deputy ambassadors and gunners who accompanied the ambassadors. The scientific value of the article increases as the Manchu and Chinese language statements written in connection with it are widely discussed in the article along with the original text.

Cestopisno-memoárová próza 18. storočia vo francúzštine: literárne črty Pamätí baróna Františka Tótha a ich miesto v súdobej literárnej tvorbe

This article describes the place of the literary genre of travelogue memoirs in the context of French literature in the 18th century. It analyzes the creation of this genre which is marked by hybridity and bears the characteristic traits of an autobiography, travelogue and memoirs. The typical case of this literary genre is a travelogue and memorialistic prose Memoirs of Turks and Tartars, written by Baron Francis de Tott, the son of a Hungarian squire and soldier who was born in France but acquired a lingustic education in Istanbul in the famous school for interpreters. As an official of the French royal court, he participated in various diplomatic and commercial missions in the Ottoman Empire. Knowing the Turkish world very well, in his text he furnishes a brilliant insight into the moslim world, which was perceived as exotic by his European coevals. The main goal of this article is to show the narrativity of this literary genre and to examine the main literary practices or techniques applied by this author who wasn‘t, by his personal itinerary, the man who wields the pen, but rather the diplomat and son of a soldier, with a light touch of adventurer as the majority of memorialistic travelogue authors in the 18th century.

Vladimir Nabokov and the Art of Moral Acts by Dana Dragunoiu (review)

Reviewed by: Vladimir Nabokov and the Art of Moral Actsby Dana Dragunoiu Michael Rodgers Dragunoiu, Dana. Vladimir Nabokov and the Art of Moral Acts. Studies in Russian Literature and Theory. Northwestern University Press, Evanston, IL, 2021. xxi + 264 pp. Notes. Bibliography. Index. $120.00; £39.95; £39.95 (e-book). C riticshave long now positioned Vladimir Nabokov's writing at the intersection between ethics and aesthetics, however Dana Dragunoiu's Vladimir Nabokov and the Art of Moral Actsnot only articulates how the artistic and moral aspects contained within his work can be seen as transcendental in nature, but also privileges the 'duel' aspect of this ostensible duality. Her monograph opens with a Kantian prologue foregrounding the altruistic, philanthropic, nobleaspect of the 'moral worth of an action' in that 'it does not lie in the effect expected from it' (p. 3) — something curious considering Nabokov's expectations of 'good readers' in his quiz contained within Lectures on Literature(New York, 1980). Yet the Middle English etymology of 'courteous' as 'having manners fit for a royal court' seems apt not just because of Nabokov's aristocratic upbringing, but also because of his commitment to those qualities expected of a (Sebastian) knight: courage, honour, courtesy, justice, and a readiness to help the weak ( OED, p. 249). Dragunoiu's Vladimir Nabokov and the Art of Moral Acts, following on from her Vladimir Nabokov and the Poetics of Liberalism(Evanston, IL, 2011), comprises six superbly-researched chapters — exploring Nabokov's intertextual connections with the work of Pushkin, Shakespeare, Tolstoi and Proust — and an epilogue. We enter the above discussions through the 'heuristic' lens of Erwin Panofsky's retelling of Kant's commitment to Humanitätwhile on his deathbed, something Dragunoiu subsequently relates to Nabokov's work in terms of 'courtesy [replacing] the tyranny of nature with a freely chosen tyranny of duty' (p. 5). She goes on to trace the Russian Silver Age's indebtedness to Kant's foregrounding of rational, autonomous individuals with the right to self-determination, and how Russia's liberal elite used such thought in their 'struggle against tsarist autocracy' (p. 7). Chapter one, for example, examines four episodes which demonstrate Nabokov's 'preoccupation with the quiet heroism of upholding standards of civility' (p. 20), while making the claim [End Page 159]that Nabokovian courtesy, linked to his preoccupation with deception, is akin to 'performance art' (p. 22). It does so via some particularly astute close reading of the Mademoiselle section in Speak, Memory(London, 1967, p. 28) and Krug's salvation at the cost of his autonomy in Bend Sinister(London, 1947, p. 32). Chapters two and three foreground the chivalric aspect of Dragunoiu's argument, where she claims that 'dueling enabled Nabokov to make a deductive move he found appealing: if, as Nabokov clearly believes, dueling transcends the logic of utilitarianism, fighting in a duel affords the honorable man the opportunity to perform his independence from utilitarian concerns' (pp. 85–86). The focus on transcendence continues in chapter five, 'The Art of Lying: Nabokov, Tolstoy, Botkin', by exploring the similarities and differences between Cincinnatus's world and Kinbote's Zembla, and includes Dragunoiu's assertion that 'whereas discourteous deceptions are morally wrong because they degrade and imprison, courteous deceptions are morally admirable because they uplift and liberate' (p. 129). Chapter six, historicizing Lolitaand Pninin relation to them having been written in the years following the Holocaust, makes the argument that there are limits to courtesy and art (evidenced by Pnin's difficulty in remembering Mira Belochkin and Lolita's readers being 'encouraged to extend their readerly courtesy to a rapist who makes art out of pain', p. 159). Interestingly, this idea of limitation brings us back to the tactile connotations of chapter one's vocabulary — more specifically, the idea of being pressed or 'bound' by duty (p. 18) in order to express analogous feelings of mental obligation or burden. Indeed, as much as the transcendental aspect of courtesy may allow for significant escape from the confines of the corporeal, we are frequently reminded of its physical, emotional and linguistic constraints. There are a few niggles here and there, however. Dragunoiu's insistence...

Honest Lawyer at the Royal Court: Chrétien-Guillaume de Lamoignon de Malesherbes in 1774—1776

The paper deals with the activities of a prominent figure of France in the second half of the 18th century Lamoignon de Malesherbes as Secretary of State of the Royal House. Having previously worked at the head of the Cour des Aides and the Direction de la Librairie, at the beginning of the reign of Louis XVI, Malesherbes occupied one of the highest positions in the government and hatched plans for reforming the judicial and penitentiary system, settling the condition of Protestants, reducing the costs of the royal court, fighting poverty. He achieved to realize his plans only to the smallest extent. The failure was mainly due to the fact that, being completely a lawyer, he turned out to be a stranger in court society. The paper is based on both published and archival sources.

Letters from Spain: A Seventeenth-Century French Noblewoman at the Spanish Royal Court. Marie Gigault de Bellefonds, Marquise de Villars. Ed. and trans. Nathalie Hester. The Other Voice in Early Modern Europe: The Toronto Series 80. Toronto: Iter Press, 2021. xii + 100 pp. $41.95.

Letters from Spain: A Seventeenth-Century French Noblewoman at the Spanish Royal Court. Marie Gigault de Bellefonds, Marquise de Villars. Ed. and trans. Nathalie Hester. The Other Voice in Early Modern Europe: The Toronto Series 80. Toronto: Iter Press, 2021. xii + 100 pp. $41.95.

Portable Scholasticism? The Intellectual Horizons of Gervase of Tilbury.

The career of Gervase of Tilbury (c.1150-1220) opens a window into the complexity of the late twelfth-century intellectual world. Often dismissed as a mere compiler, Gervase was a scholastic thinker outside the schools who adapted complex theological arguments for an English prince, a Sicilian king, and a German emperor. His writing reveals the "portability" of scholastic thought. It also demonstrates how scholastic authors were molded by their experiences of royal courts. Gervase's time in the Norman Sicilian kingdom shaped his attitude to political authority and his experience of royal hospitality allowed him to fashion a distinctive view of heavenly beatitude.

The Awarding of Royal Warrants:

This article explores the tradition of awarding of royal warrants in monarchies in the EU. A royal warrant is an entitlement for an undertaking to utilise the fact that it is supplying a royal court with goods or services in its marketing, as a quality assurance. To determine the legality of awarding royal warrants under EU law, it is examined whether the EU State aid rules apply. To determine whether this is the case, it is decisive whether the monarch is the ‘State’ for the purpose of Article 107(1) TFEU. Therefore, EU law and national public law is analysed. The analysis shows that legal analysis of royal warrants rests on the public/private divide. It is analysed how the various national legal conceptualisations of the monarch fits in the EU concept of State, encompassing all entities which may reasonably be said to act on behalf or under influence of the State. No hard conclusion can be drawn, but it is found that the monarch’s resources are State resources and that the awarding of royal warrants arguably must be considered as imputable to the State. Further, royal warrants confer an economic advantage on beneficiaries, and the monarch does not (formally) receive any (market-like) remuneration. Thus, it is concluded that the award of a royal warrant grants State aid to the benefitting undertaking. Keywords: concept of State; royal warrants; monarch; State resources; economic advantage

Художественные приемы и реальность

This article deals with literary devices that, due to an author’s discretion, arise out of the simple description of a real object or an event. Alexandre Dumas used a technique of this kind in the central novel of his trilogy Queen Margot, La Dame de Monsoreau and The Forty-Five Guardsmen (1845—1848). In La Dame de Monsoreau, Dumas details a hunt, one of the favorite amusements of the royal court of Henry III of France and of the upper nobility. He describes it from the beginning of the exciting action to the end: first, the flushing out of a wild animal, then its pursuit, and, eventually, the kill. The author also describes hunting in the other two novels, but only in La Dame de Monsoreau he turns the description into a lengthy, detailed metaphor with which he persistently correlates the motifs of different storylines. As a result, aside from the plot-event connection (and, as it were, in addition to it), the writer ties his motley, dynamic story together with one allegory, which is reflected in the personalities, actions and fortunes of many characters. Having observed this device in Dumas’s novel, Leo Tolstoy used it in his novel Anna Karenina (1875—1877). There the horse racing scene corresponds to the hunting scenes in La Dame de Monsoreau. Tolstoy attaches importance to the expanded metaphor in his work, and the original and spectacular solution of purely artistic problems becomes a means of embodying a deep social and philosophical concept. The article also refers to a distant echo of the same Dumas trilogy in the last novel by Dostoevsky. Whereas in Dumas’s text we see a description of a real fact, in Dostoevsky’s work it becomes a foundation for a literary device.

A Unique Iberian Majolica Fragment from the Marketplace of Győr (Hungary)

This paper explores the origin, chronology, and connections of a majolica vessel found during excavation in the marketplace of Győr. The piece is of exceptionally high quality and counts as exceptional in the archaeological record of Hungary. It is adorned with painted cobalt blue motifs and lustre decoration. Its analogies are known from major museums’ collections, including the Metropolitan Museum, the British Museum, and the Louvre. Based on these, its place and time of origin could be identified as the 15th-century Valencia in today’s Spain, more specifically, Manises (now a district of Valencia) and between the 1430s and 1450s (based on the detailed chronological framework established from excavation results in the area). According to written sources, ceramic vessels and architectural ceramics were produced in Manises, a workshop following Hispanic Moorish traditions, to be exported to distant lands and on the order by noble families and princely courts, thus influencing, for instance, the majolica production of Italy. Following the expansion of the Kingdom of Aragon during the reign of Alfonso V, the Manises ware also became important in the court in Naples. The diplomatic relations between the royal courts of Aragon and Hungary can be accounted for the appearance of such a vessel in the territory of the Kingdom of Hungary

The Poor in the Variae of Cassiodorus: A Reading

Abstract The Variae provide important evidence of the Ostrogothic royal court’s interventions on behalf of the needy. Theoderic and his successors sought not only to alleviate but also to prevent, as far as possible, the serious situations of poverty in which individuals or whole regions might find themselves. Indeed, they tried to counteract the harassment of the potentes to the detriment of the pauperes. Thus, beyond the idealized image of the Ostrogothic reges that Cassiodorus gives us, their administrative action seems to have been specifically aimed at protecting the poor. In this respect, the Variae provide an interesting testimony that will be analysed for Cassiodorus’s specific use of the term pauper in relation to a wide range of situation characterised by a state of marginality.

Ladies-in-waiting of Queen Elizabeth I of England and summer progresses of the royal court

Ladies-in-waiting of Queen Elizabeth I of England and summer progresses of the royal court

Correspondence between the Custody of the Holy Land and the authorities of the Republic of Poland between 1671 and 1699

In the second half of the 17th century, the Custodians of the Holy Land addressed directly the authorities of the Kingdom of Poland. The correspondence included requests for numerous interventions regarding the return of holy places to the Franciscan monks, from which they were removed by various means by schismatic people, but with the approval of the High Porte. About 45 from 235 writings refer to Poland. It should be noted that this collection is incomplete. In those letters the Custodians of the Holy Land presented to the Polish secular and clerical dignitaries the situation of the Custody of the Holy Land to a greater or lesser extent. The latter, in their response, expressed concern for the holy places and/or assured that they would try to return them to their former possession for the Franciscan monks. In addition to the above-mentioned issues, the letters also dealt with marginal topics, e.g. showing concern for the royal court or expressing cordiality with regard to the election of a new Polish king or informing about the election of the Custodian of the Holy Land. The Holy See, its envoys and royal legates to the High Porte also intervened in the restitution of holy places in Palestine. The Custody of the Holy Land also played an important role in this regard, sending two of its representatives to Poland. One of them, Fr. Grzegorz Babinkiewicz, even took part in Jan Gniński’s mission to the Turkish court, during which the question of the Holy Places in Palestine was discussed.

INVOLUTION OF NEGATIVE CONCORD IN EARLY MODERN ENGLISH: A SOCIOLINGUISTIC ASPECT

The paper studies the history of multiple negation in English. The historical development of negation markers follows Jespersen’s Cycle and includes five completed stages that cover the transfer from the [+NC] model in Old English via [-NC]/[+NC] in Middle English and Early Modern English to [+NC] in Present-Day English. The loss of negative concord in the Early Modern English period was due to a change in the deep structure of the propositional negation. Northern dialects, where contacts with the Scandinavian languages were the most intensive, are a possible source of accelerating the emergence of the rule for non-use of multiple negation in English. However, in the Early Modern English period there is a shift in the leaders of language change, the proponents of the rule being men occupied in professional activities at the royal court in London, especially those who tried to improve their social status, so the involution of multiple negation is a language change ‘from above’. The process was completed in the newly created English standard before the end of the 17th century, although in some non-standard variants, multiple negation continues to be the norm even at present. Prescriptive grammars of the 18th century, therefore, required the use of forms that had already become the usual means for negation marking for the speakers of “standard” English in the previous two centuries.

『기생 및 창기에 관한 서류철』의 2022년 새로운 칼라복제본에 관한 연구

This study explored “Preceding Studies” and “Existing Bibliography” that utilized the Records of Gisaeng and Changgi as well as “Recent Research Trends” that verified and corrected the academic errors and distortions found in those studies and bibliography to derive the state and problems of the existing copies of the Records of Gisaeng and Changgi. After figuring out the problems found in the existing copies, this study emphasized the need for new copy and described the process of obtaining the new copy (the colored copy of the Records of Gisaeng and Prostitute on June 30 2022) based on academic proposal and request to the National Archives of Korea. Then, this study came up with the value and utilization direction of the new colored copy.
 To establish the correct understanding on “Fundamental Characteristic and Truth of Records of Gisaeng and Changgi,” it is necessary to publish the new 2022 copy for Records of Gisaeng and Changgi and books that compile reprinted copy, accurately translated copy, and the recent studies on Records of Gisaeng and Changgi. These new copy and books will correct academic errors and distortions discovered in previous studies and existing bibliographies based on Records of Gisaeng and Changgi, as well as widely spread the corrections as well as newly discovered facts.
 Records of Gisaeng and Changgi should be easily accessible to both researchers and ordinary people in order to highlight the value and fundamental characteristics of Gisaeng and prostitute, as well as to promote the correct understanding and new perception toward the Korean modern history of Gisaeng and prostitute by clearly distinguishing and understanding the concepts of “Gisaeng Group” as the artist group that inherited the tradition of female musicians and “Prostitute Group” as the prostitute group who lived on prostitution during The Korean Empire’s turning point of modernization.
 Lastly, Although the Gisaeng during the Joseon Dynasty, the Daehan Empire, and the Japanese colonial era was not free from the sexual amusement and exploitation of the men under the Confucian society and the Japanese colonial rule, Gisaeng was not a prostitute who made a living by the prostitution. Gisaeng was an entertainer who learned music and dance every day at Jangakwon in the Joseon Dynasty, Goybangsa in the Daehan Empire, and Gisaeng Association and Gwonbeon in the Japanese colonial period. Gisaeng also made a living by doing music and dance at the royal court events, public events, private events, theaters, and restaurants.

Sapiehowie i Wielkie Księstwo Litewskie w rękopiśmiennej pracy Nicolasa-Louisa Le Dran „Histoire de la vacance du trône de Pologne en 1696 après la mort du Roy Jean Sobieski, et des Diettes tenues pour l’election de son successeur”

Nicolas-Louis Le Dran was an official-archivist whose remit was to look after and compile documents relating to French foreign affairs for the royal court. He is known for his work in building and expanding the French foreign affairs archive. He also played a key role in the system of archival services of the reign of Louis XV. The analyzed manuscript covers not only the years 1696–1697, but also the events of January of the following year. The French archivist had a specific goal in mind when creating his work on the interregnum of 1696–1697, probably linked to the need to present the complicated process of electing the King in the Republic and all the difficulties involved. In his work, the greatest amount of information, due to his position in the state, concerns the Sapiehas and other persons connected with the French party, which has been particularly emphasized and analyzed, although many of them we are not able to verify in detail due to the sources at our disposal.

Los indios de Santafé de Bogotá ante las justicias españolas: desde el establecimiento de la Real Audiencia hasta el nombramiento del Protector de Naturales (1550-1608)

Este artículo estudia la formación del sistema judicial en Santafé de Bogotá a través de las personas que hicieron de intermediarios entre los indios y las justicias españolas, como abogados, encomenderos, mayordomos, curas y caciques, además de los defensores nombrados. Para ello se usan fuentes diversas, especialmente juicios, visitas, peticiones y escrituras. Desde éstas, se analiza la posición jurídica de los indios en la sociedad colonial como el resultado de las conquistas, que se actualizaba en la intermediación de personas diferentes en los procesos que involucraban a los naturales.

Semiotic study of idioms related to the royal court of Danxome in Benin Republic (ex Dahomey)

This paper undertook a semiotic analysis and interpretation of idiomatic expressions that were used in the former royal court of Danxome in Republic of Benin (Ex Dahomey). The qualitative analysis based on the Saussurian and Piercian views on semiotics was applied on a corpus of idioms collected from primary sources with close links with descendants of the kingdom. The results achieved were forceful in disclosing three main patterns of the analysed idioms. First, they uncovered the presence of culturally loaded idiomatic centres that represent the keys to unlocking the intended meanings therein contained. Secondly, the very phrasing of some of the idioms displayed the hierarchical organisation that was intrinsic to the royal court. Thirdly, a further investigation into their intended content disclosed an association of both spoken and sign language in the delivery of the message conveyed through some specific idiomatic expressions of the royal court of Danxome. These results led to the conclusion that the idioms used in this royal court were more than mere language for daily ordinary interactions. Rather, they represented real artefacts, encapsulating the culture, the history and the social relationships that best represent and portray such a restricted social and linguistic community.

The psychological aspects within the Yogyakartan Bedhaya: An exploratory study on royal court dancers

As a classical art form reserved only for the Yogyakartan royalty from the 18th to the 20th century, the Bedhaya does not simply serve as entertainment for its audiences. It is the epitome of Javanese meditation. This study aims to explore the experiences of court dancers regarding the Bedhaya to ultimately identify what psychological aspects are involved in the formation of their experiences. We used Moustakas’ qualitative phenomenology as the basis of this whole research, in combination with movement elicitation procedures to condition the participants prior to the data collection process. Consequently, we interviewed four Bedhaya dancers from various generations who were trained within the royal court of Yogyakarta. We analyzed the results using Moustakas’ modification of the Stevick–Colaizzi–Keen method. The results yielded five themes, which are the essence of the experiences of Bedhaya dancers and were then elaborated further using psychological concepts that may serve as a starting point for further psychological research on the subject.