Royal Letters Research Articles

Participation of Women in the Notarial Public Deed of the 16th Century. From the Constriction of the Marital Licence to the Fullness of Widowhood

This study intends to analyse the participation of the married woman and the widow in the notarial public deed of the 16th century, in Spain, in light of the notarial forms and treatises of the time and the process itself of executing a notarial public deed. Visigothic Law would gather, to certain extent, Roman limitations and the openness brought by the Christian doctrine, resulting in the different legal systems of High Medieval times, when the married woman needed a licence from her husband in order to act. Spanish Law 56 of Toro would regulate the marital licence as a general system and compulsory requirement for the valid intervention of the married woman. In the beginning of the 16th century, not a few women executed notarial deeds and wrote royal letters related to registering as residents, returning properties and shortening litigations.

KAI KURIOS VIDURAMŽIŲ EPISTOLINĖS KALBOS YPATYBĖS LOTYNIŠKUOSE VYTAUTO DIDŽIOJO LAIŠKUOSE

Viduramžių epistoliniai tekstai buvo rašomi pagal laiškų rašymo mokslo ir meno taisykles – ars dicta­minis. Tai ilgaamžės retorikos tradicijos tąsa, pako­reguota konkrečios epochos visuomeninių, politinių, socialinių, kultūrinių realijų. Ars dictaminis pirmiau­sia pradėtas naudoti bažnyčios hierarchų bei pasau­lietinių valdovų raštuose, vėliau perimtas ir naudotas Lietuvos Didžiosios Kunigaištystės valdovų kance­liarijoje rengiant dokumentus ir laiškus. Dažniau­siai laiškas buvo suprantamas kaip klausyti skirtas tekstas, kaip retorinė kalba, pateikta raštu, taip pat kaip tinkamai sutvarkytas tekstas arba pokalbis, perduodamas gyvu balsu ir raštu. Straipsnyje, pa­rengtame pranešimo Cultural Translation: Specific of the Transaltion of Medieval Latin Epistolary Text, skaityto tarptautinėje konferencijoje Rhetoric across Cultures (Tübingen, 2015 m. liepos 28–31 d.), pa­grindu aptariama viduramžių valdovo laiškų specifi­ka. Tyrimo šaltiniai – Lietuvos kunigaikščio Vytauto Didžiojo (apie 1350–1430) ir jo korespondentų laiš­kai, išleisti Antonio Prochaskos sudarytame rinkiny­je Codex epistolaris Vitoldi Magni Ducis Lithuaniae 1376–1430 (Cracoviae, 1882). Į lietuvių kalbą yra išversti tik 4 lotyniški Vytauto laiškai, nors yra iš­likę apie 450 jo laiškų skaičiuojant kartu su rašytais kitomis kalbomis. Nėra ir mokslinių darbų, kuriuose būtų analizuojamos lotyniškų šio valdovo laiškų ver­timo į lietuvių kalbą ypatybės. Šis straipsnis skirtas daugiau iškelti problemas, nei jas galutinai išspręsti, nes tam reikia detalesnių ir platesnių tyrimų, skai­tlingesnių vertimų. Straipsniu siekiama parodyti, kokio pobūdžio yra viduramžių epistoliniai tekstai, konkrečiai lotyniškoji Vytauto korespondencija, į ką reikia kreipti ypatingą dėmesį juos verčiant ir tiriant.Epistola regia (royal letters) – sudėtingas dari­nys. Vienas valdovo epistolikos tikslų – ne nešališ­kos informacijos pateikimas, bet politinis efektyvu­mas, kurio siekiama įvairiais būdais, joje realizuoja­ma valdžios reprezentacija, egzistuojančių politinės komunikacijos taisyklių samprata, siekis kurti apie save teigiamą opiniją. Jai būdinga dalykinė argu­mentacija, emocinga retorika, bandymas manipu­liuoti adresatu, jį įtikinti, užimti dominuojančią poziciją adresato atžvilgiu, ir kartu tam tikras sti­listinis neutralumas. Valdovo laiškuose esama spe­cifinio teksto ritmo (cursus), kuriuo buvo siekiama palengvinti skaitomo ar sakomo teksto supratimą ir pajautimą, labai atidžiai parenkant ir išdėstant žodžius, frazes, net žodžių skiemenų ilgumą sa­kinio ar frazės pradžioje ar pabaigoje. Čia svarbi kiekviena, iš pirmo žvilgsnio atrodanti nereikšmin­ga detalė, pvz., vardų eiliškumas, žodžių, epitetų, kreipimosi frazių parinkimas, specifinis išdėsty­mas ir jų vartojimo dažnumas ir t. t. Tai yra tam tikri semantiniai ženklai, kurie kartais prarandami verčiant laišką į kitą kalbą.Įdomi ir svarbi tyrėjui, vertėjui yra ne vien na­ratyvinė laiškų dalis, kurią diktuodavo valdovas, bet ir kitos dalys, kurios unifikuotai išreiškia tam tikrą siuntėjo emocinę nuostatą adresato atžvilgiu, kurios gali nurodyti įtemptus ar draugiškus koresponduo­jančių santykius ir kt. Straipsnyje atkreipiamas dė­mesys į pasveikinimų, kreipinių, epitetų ypatumus, taip pat į literatūrinių, stilistinių, lingvistinių priemo­nių – kontrasto, kartojimo, sinonimijos, viduramži­nių emocijų raiškos formulių, teksto ritmo cursus, dažno jungtuko et kartojimo, taip pat epistolinių for­mulių svarbą viduramžių laiškuose ir jų kai kuriuos niuansus. Tyrinėjant per laiką nutolusius laiškus rei­kia išskirtinio tikslumo ir atidumo, kad sugebėtume „teisingai“ suprasti ne tik parašytas, bet ir paslėptas laiško prasmes.

Words of Majesty: A Brief History of Royal Correspondence between England and Asia, 1600–1858

Diplomatic historians have downplayed the English Crown’s role in Asian diplomacy and over-emphasized the actions of merchants and military officers on the spot, but royal letters and associated materials suggest a different interpretation. The sending of such letters and the complexities of their creation and interpretation shows that English diplomacy in Asia was a collaboration between English Monarchs and the East India Company, and the mode of delivery of royal letters indicates that they played a crucial role in negotiations conducted by men on the spot.

Anlatıların Antlaşması: 1641 İngiliz Ahdnamesi’nde Dostluk, Pişkeş, ve Diplomasi Tarihi

This article examines the hitherto unexamined Ottoman Turkish text of the Capitulations granted to the British in 1641. As well as containing the articles governing Ottoman-British trade and diplomatic jurisdiction, the Capitulations contained a historical narrative that provided a formal record of diplomatic encounters and practices. By emphasising the importance of bringing tributary gifts and royal letters as a precondition for receiving the friendship of the sultans, the inclusion of the historical narrative within the treaty text presented an Ottoman worldview that saw the sultan at the top of a hierarchy of monarchical power, but also created a layered narrative of precedent that strengthened the rhetoric of alliance through an ancient friendship. In examining the text of the Ottoman Turkish and English versions of this treaty, including full translations of the historical narratives in an appendix, this article makes the case for viewing the Ottoman Capitulations not just as historical treaties, but as historical texts.

Catálogo da Coleção de Pergaminhos do Hospital de São Lázaro de Coimbra (1197-1723)

No fundo documental do Hospital de São Lázaro de Coimbra, originalmente designado por Gafaria de Coimbra, existente no Arquivo da Universidade de Coimbra, está inserida uma Coleção de Pergaminhos que é divulgada no presente trabalho. Foi elaborado o seu catálogo, permitindo, através deste instrumento de descrição documental, conhecer cada uma das 121 unidades pergamináceas que formam esta Coleção, datadas de 1197 a 1723. Entre as diversas tipologias documentais avultam, sobremaneira, as Cartas de aforamento e de emprazamento de propriedades do Hospital, mas também Cartas régias de D. Afonso IV, D. Fernando, D. João I, D. Afonso V e D. João V, Cartas de doações de bens ao Hospital, pelos seus doentes gafos, Cartas de compra e venda, bem como Sentenças de diversos juízes de Coimbra e de outras instâncias judiciais. http://dx.doi.org/10.14195/2182-7974_29_1

Административно-территориальное деление Ингерманландии и смежных с нею территорий в 1583–1590 годы в контексте новых данных топонимики

Alexander Vladislavovitch Dmitrijev: Administrative-Territorial Division of Ingria and Its Adjacent Areas in 1583–1590 in the Light of New Toponymic Evidence The paper is aimed at the reconstruction of the administrative-territorial boundaries of Ingria and its adjacent areas that existed from 1583 to 1590. Particular attention is paid to the analysis of new political-administrative units in Sweden that were established in 1583–1590 on the basis of commonly used Novgorod and Moscow fifths (namely Šelonskaja and Vodskaja), counties, and pogosts. The sources are basically drawn on some deeds from the collection “Baltiska fogderäkenskaper”, which is stored in the National Archives of Sweden (Stockholm). Royal charters, letters and instructions comprised supplementary sources. All results are backed by a variety of toponymic evidence.

APPENDIX II: THE MARRIAGE OF WILLIAM MARSHAL THE YOUNGER

APPENDIX II: THE MARRIAGE OF WILLIAM MARSHAL THE YOUNGER

APPENDIX I: ROYAL ACTS AND LETTERS

Notification and confirmation of the agreement between Gilbert Marshal (II) son of John Marshal (I) and his mother Adelina and her second husband, Stephen Gay, over her inheritance. [April × July 1153]A= National Archives (PRO), E40/5938.125 × 60 mm (approx), badly eaten away at base. No visible endorsements.B= BL, MS Harley 245, fo. 139r (s. xvi fin.), copy by Robert Glover. C = London, College of Arms, MS Glover 1, fo. 110v (s. xvi fin.). D = Antony House, Cornwall (‘Pole's Charters’), no. 2969 (s. xvi fin.).Printed, Regesta Regum Anglo-Normannorum iii, 1135–1154, ed. R.H.C. Davis and H.A. Cronne (Oxford, 1969), 128, no. 339.

The company and the shogun: the Dutch encounter with Tokugawa Japan

Acknowledgments Archival Sources Introduction: Taming the Dutch Part 1. Diplomacy 1. Royal Letters from the Republic 2. The Lord of Batavia 3. The Shogun's Loyal Vassals Part 2. Violence 4. The Violent Sea 5. Power and Petition Part 3. Sovereignty 6. Planting the Flag in Asia 7. Giving Up the Governor Conclusion: The Dutch Experience in Japan Notes Bibliography Index

R. Michael Feener, Patrick Daly, and Anthony Reid, eds. Mapping the Acehnese Past . Leiden: KITLV Press, 2011, xvi+292p.

Mapping Acehnese Past R. MICHAEL FEENER, PATRICK DALY, and ANTHONY REID, eds. Leiden: KITLV Press, 2011, xvi+292p.One of underlying themes in this edited volume on Aceh is that fresh look at . . . archives suggests that new histories can be created (J. G. Taylor, p. 234), so each of articles presents a new history, a new production of knowledge, a new way of representing and looking at Aceh using old archival, historical sources that have previously already been written about from other angles. These include ancient history archaeological findings and investigations of ceramics and Muslim tombstones; Ottoman Empire's archives on friendship and collaboration between Acehnese sultans and Ottoman Empire; close readings from a fresh perspective of traditional Malay-Acehnese hikayat and indigenous oral traditions on prang sabil; art of royal letter writing by three Acehnese sultans from different periods; a very brief look at Portuguese archives; close reading and analyses of Dutch letters, VOC correspondence, notes, and gift exchanges with Acehnese sultans and orang kaya, and KITLV photographs. This book highlights cosmopolitanism and richness of Aceh's connections to outside world and is, according to editors, a book about Aceh as seen from perspectives. But there is an inconsistency: if it is a book by outsiders about outsider's perspectives on Aceh, then where does one place two articles by only two Acehnese in book, Teuku Iskandar and Amirul Hadi? Are they Acehnese outsiders?The most informative (with a fresh perspective), elegantly written, and profoundly critical papers in this book are those by Teuku Iskandar (Aceh as a crucible of Muslim-Malay literature), Ismail Hakki Goksoy (Ottoman-Aceh relations as documented in Turkish sources), Annabel Teh Gallop (Gold, silver and lapis lazuli: Royal letters from Aceh in seventeenth century), Ismail Hakki Kadi, A. C. S. Peacock and Annabel Teh Gallop (on Writing history: The Acehnese embassy to Istanbul, 1849-1852), and Jean Gelman Taylor (Aceh histories in KITLV images archive). Here is one example of something hilarious:The grand vizier's minutes suggest limitations of Ottoman bureaucracy's intelligence about political and administrative structure of Southeast Asia. He wrote that the place called Java is a sort of province of great island of implying that Ottomans did really consider Java as a province of Sumatra, as Acehnese mission claimed. (Kadi, Peacock and Gallop, p. 176)Annabel Teh Gallop examines an example of how artistically sophisticated and intellectually subtle Acehnese were in art of rhetoric:As with so many royal Malay epistles, this is a carefully crafted and extremely diplomatic letter, deploying both bombast and subtlety as judged appropriate to convey what is essentially a negative message. (Gallop, p. 116, describing content of Sultan Iskandar Thani's [r. 1636-1641] letter to Frederik Hendrik, Prince of Orange [1584-1647])Jean Taylor provides a fascinating unpacking of problem of power and inequality in field of history and historiography, in particular in use of photographs as tools of history:Consideration of what actually was photographed obliges us to recognize that photography is not an objective record of peoples, times and places. Photographs are subjected to manipulation through selection, like any other set of documents. They are staged records and products of fleeting relationships between photographed and photographer . . . . Specialists in colonial photography draw attention to social distance between viewer and viewed, and to process of othering. (J.G. Taylor, p. 201)These articles are riveting and fascinating to read, and a treasure trove of new insights and new knowledge into old sources that have already been interpreted by dozens of other interpreters. …

THE LITERARY FORM OF THE PRESCRIPT OF ANCIENT ROYAL LETTERS AND A HINT FOR ITS TRANSLATION: EZRA 4:17 AS CASE STUDY

Two English versions of the prescript of the letter embedded in Ezra 4:17, i.e. KJV and NIV, show variations in the translations. While KJV starts the letter with a greeting, NIV opens with the name of the recipient. From this difference, we should ask which translation most closely reflects the original intention of the author, who incorporated this royal letter into his work. Thus, by examining this generic feature (the prescript) of ancient royal (and official) letters and the technique of embedding them, this article attempts to determine which translation is preferable. This investigation is possible because the prescript pattern of ancient royal letters was very often consistent in the Mediterranean world at this time. In other words, the person at the highest social level (i.e. the king in the case of royal letters) is always placed first in the prescript, no matter whether he is the sender or the recipient. Besides this, ancient authors (including the author of Ezra) tended to adopt this convention when they embedded royal letters in their work. Taking these facts into account, this article suggests that the translation of the type of KJV reflects the original intention of the author of Ezra more exactly.

THE LITERARY FORM OF THE PRESCRIPT OF ANCIENT ROYAL LETTERS AND A HINT FOR ITS TRANSLATION: EZRA 4:17 AS CASE STUDY

Two English versions of the prescript of the letter embedded in Ezra 4:17, i.e. KJV and NIV, show variations in the translations. While KJV starts the letter with a greeting, NIV opens with the name of the recipient. From this difference, we should ask which translation most closely reflects the original intention of the author, who incorporated this royal letter into his work. Thus, by examining this generic feature (the prescript) of ancient royal (and official) letters and the technique of embedding them, this article attempts to determine which translation is preferable. This inves-tigation is possible because the prescript pattern of ancient royal letters was very often consistent in the Mediterranean world at this time. In other words, the person at the highest social level (i.e. the king in the case of royal letters) is always placed first in the prescript, no matter whether he is the sender or the recipient. Besides this, ancient authors (including the author of Ezra) tended to adopt this convention when they embedded royal letters in their work. Taking these facts into account, this article suggests that the translation of the type of KJV reflects the original intention of the author of Ezra more exactly. doi: 10.7833/111-1-35

Before the Comuneros: Castilian and Genoese Traditions of “Liberty” in the 1516 Málaga Rebellion

ABSTRACT Following its Christian conquest in 1487, Málaga became the Crown of Castile's busiest Mediterranean seaport. The influence of Genoese merchants in Málaga's commercial and political life led historian López de Coca to suggest that the city's 1516 rebellion against the Cisneros regency reflected the influence of Genoese ideas. Using previously unexamined evidence, I conclude that while Genoese influence was important, the Málaga rebellion reflected Castilian traditions more than Genoese. Royal letters concerning the revolt also reveal that the administration of King Charles I exhibited remarkable sympathy toward the Málaga rebels' demands, which resembled those of the Comuneros rebellion in 1520.

El capitán Martín de Palomar, regidor, encomendero y benefactor: su testamento (Mérida, Yucatán, 1611)

A falta de documentos originales, la fundación del colegio jesuita de Mérida, Yucatán, en 1618, suele tratarse a partir de fuentes secundarias, como las crónicas. El hallazgo del testamento del fundador, el capitán Martín de Palomar (1538-1611), permite esclarecer las circunstancias del proceso fundacional y aporta insospechadas luces sobre la personalidad y actividades del mecenas, quien además realizó notables legados píos, en favor de Yucatán y de Medina del Campo, su ciudad natal. El estudio introductorio informa acerca de Palomar y su familia, de algunas de sus actividades como regidor de Mérida, encomendero y mercader, y da cuenta de los consejeros que lo animaron a donar parte de su notable fortuna para erigir el colegio, y los primeros pasos hacia su creación. A modo de apéndice se publican dos piezas legales complementarias: el contrato de donación y de la cédula real que aprobó la medida.

The Seven Gatekeepers, Guardians, and Reporters in The Book of the Two Ways and in P. MMA 35.9.21

Thousands of textbooks left by students in their schools were found in the cities of Nippur, Ur, Isin, Uruk, and Larsa. Being the primary reference for identifying these stages, some of those textbooks were written in Sumerian and others in both Sumerian and Akkadian, indicating that the Sumerian language continued to be used in subsequent centuries despite the demise of the political Sumerian rule. The textbooks included lists of names of animals, plants, birds, and so forth. At that time, students had to undertake four stages; the first of which was learning cuneiform glyphs. In the second stage, they copied words and terms written by their teachers on the left side of the clay tablet to the right side of the tablet. After those practices, they start copying some royal and literary texts. In the third stage, they learned mathematics, including multiplication, division, algebra, and so on, in addition to writing economic documents. The fourth stage included learning the language used in legal cases and court procedures, as well as writing personal and royal letters. After completing the curriculum of each stage, students had to sit for an exam. According to school heritage, students apparently started their education at an early age until adolescence. They stayed away from their families for long durations. There are also indications to the presence of females in those schools. Moreover, education was most likely restricted to well-off people. Models of those school buildings were found either attached to temples or in the houses of some teachers.

Mesopotamian Medicine and Religion: Current Debates, New Perspectives

AbstractThe study of Mesopotamian medicine, while unprecedentedly productive, is stuck in a historiographical rut that cognate disciplines left some years ago. I review the current state of the field from a peripheral vantage point and use case studies from Sumerian literature and Neo‐Assyrian royal letters to exemplify alternative approaches that do not sacrifice philological rigour for anthropological attention to socio‐intellectual context.

Urban Order and Street Regulation in Seventeenth-Century Sweden

AbstractThis article examines how, in the early modern towns of Stockholm and Åbo, royal interests, town planning, street building and maintenance, and street behavior related to ideas and ideals of urban order. Town laws and ordinances, royal letters and some town court records are employed to tell a story of royal interest in well-ordered, impressive, successful towns; various street plans for the capital and the smaller provincial towns; and the varying execution of renewal plans. It is evident that the capital was to reflect the royal person and the state and that streets and street behaviour were important in this regard. But in towns outside the capital, especially in concrete street maintenance, the centrality of streets does not clearly emerge. The burghers in towns operated as individuals—there was no bottom-up or top-down plan or supervision.

The 1927–28 Prayer Book crisis, I: Ritual, royal commissions, and reply to the royal letters of business; II: The cul-de-sac of the Deposited Book … until further order be taken. By Donald Gray. (Joint Liturgical Studies, 60, 61.) Pp. 48, 56. Denbigh: The Alcuin Club/The Group for Renewal of Worship, 2005, 2006. £5.95 each (paper). 1 85311 727 7; 1

The 1927–28 Prayer Book crisis, I: Ritual, royal commissions, and reply to the royal letters of business; II: The cul-de-sac of the Deposited Book … until further order be taken. By Donald Gray. (Joint Liturgical Studies, 60, 61.) Pp. 48, 56. Denbigh: The Alcuin Club/The Group for Renewal of Worship, 2005, 2006. £5.95 each (paper). 1 85311 727 7; 1 85311 743 9; 0951 2667 - Volume 58 Issue 3

Sir Francis Forbes and the Earliest Australian Public Law Cases

There is, among many students of Australian law, a tendency to regard the establishment of constitutional government in Australia in positivistic terms: as a result of the passage of the New South Wales Act in 1823, or of the Australian Courts Act in 1828, or of the Australian Constitution Acts of 1842 and 1850, or even of the Commonwealth of Australia Constitution Act in 1900. This is understandable, for, as Sir Victor Windeyer once put it, there was in the foundation of European society on these islands no element whatever of a social contract. Rather, the move to populate the Australian territories was a consequence entirely of a prospectively looking determination made by the government in London. And, as Windeyer went on to note, the formal establishment of local government was effected by ceremonies that were by their very essence positivistic in nature. On 26 January 1788, there was first a formal ceremony in which the Union flag was raised and a salute fired. Then, on 7 February, the whole population of the colony was assembled and the royal letters patent were read, which formally instructed Captain Phillip to go about the duty of creating a penal establishment.

Imprenta y gobierno municipal en Barcelona. Sebastián y Jaime Matevat al servicio del Consell de Cent (1631-1644)

From the moment when, in 1631, the Consell de Cent of Barcelona granted Sebastian Matevat the right to print his works, he and Jaime Matevat undertook the publication of the ordinances, edicts, royal letters, juridical declarations and briefs defending the interests of the institution during the political polemics against the Crown prior to the Catalan Revolution. From 1640, the revolt extended the editorial needs of the town council and allowed other printing shops to take part in municipal production: Sebastian de Cormellas and Pere Lacavalleria; that year, the latter took charge of one of the editions of Gaspar Salas Proclamacion Catolica. During the same period, a large number of pamphlets and papers printed to organise the militar defence of Catalonia, appeared the scene: placards, circulars, short letters and passports. Among the sources used in this article are the account books of the Consell de Cent or «Memorial de Comptes del Clavari», which need to be complemented with the records of municipal deliberations and the bibliography that Sebastian and Jaime Matevat printed for the city.