Sixteenth Century Research Articles

‘That golden sentence of Tacitus’: Tacitean quotation as the medium of political knowledge in Boccalini’s Ragguagli di Parnasso

ABSTRACT Boccalini’s Ragguagli di Parnasso (1612) provides us with a satirically inflected view of how Tacitean quotation was used throughout the sixteenth century as a medium of political knowledge. A detailed analysis of some Tacitean scenes in Ragguagli will help us to elicit some of the issues underlying the turn to Tacitus in the intellectual climate of the period: the search for truth in a new era of moral relativism; debates about the applicability of ancient maxims to contemporary realities; and the connection between externally acquired techniques and internalized wisdom. In both Ragguagli and Comentarii Tacitus’ characterization of the emperor Galba becomes emblematic of the gulf that can open up between theoretical knowledge and practical understanding. When the same model is used to measure Tacitus’ own unsuccessful tenure of power over Lesbos in Ragguagli, Boccalini presents a case study of how ‘properly’ to make use of Tacitean political insight.

“Fighting Pirates” as a Paradigm

This article analyzes the emergence of the paradigm of “piracy” and “fighting pirates” among the urban elites of the Hanse city of Lübeck in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. While recent studies of maritime conflict management in this period have questioned the use of the term “piracy,” this study shows that towns such as Lübeck instrumentalized a discourse on “piracy” to criminalize and marginalize their competitors at a moment of structural economic change. A close reading of the records of the Lübeck Bergenfahrer, a guild of merchants trading to Norway, demonstrates how this concept was mobilized to justify actors’ own violence as a struggle against so-called pirates and thus to stabilize group identities. The notion of “fighting pirates” gradually became a paradigm for urban elites like the Bergenfahrer, representing their social coherence as communities of violence.

Voicing the Veiled: The Sovereignty and Influence of the Mughal Matriarchs

A recurring question while discussing Islamic political states is the role of women within it. Accomplishments of male members have been documented preferentially disregarding those by the women. This project shall bring attention to the largely overlooked presence of the women in political and administrative chambers of one of the world's largest Islamic monarchies - the Mughal Empire. Outstanding and influential women who complimented their male counterparts in running the Empire. A modern theme in feminist literature is reclaiming voices of the women. Similarly, multiple women scholars have aimed to document the Mughal women's contribution in the dynasty's copacetic running. With threads of women's contribution intertwined in the Mughal courts political fabric, giving voice to her story, and allowing the discounted matriarchs a stage to highlight themselves is important. This project intends to analyse several important women who played significant roles in running the Mughal Empire by participating actively in the political affairs, through multiple authentic sources and illuminate their influence in the fifteenth, sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.

Western Classical Learning and the Protestant Missionaries: Revival in China and Korea in the Late Nineteenth and Early Twentieth Centuries

It has been observed that since the Early Qing Dynasty, the eastward spread of Western classics has been in decline; this article aims to looks at how Protestant missionaries helped to revive it in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. First, this study examines the circumstances that Protestant missionaries faced upon arriving in China and describes the challenges, opportunities, and issues they encountered when attempting to spread Western classics as part of their missionary effort. Second, this article reveals the strategies Protestant missionaries employed to revive the Western classics, with a focus on the utilization of the translated literature, press, and academic institutions. Third, this article explores the ways the spread of Western classics by the missionaries of the late nineteenth and early twentieth century outshone the achievements of their predecessors of the late sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Unlike the missions through secular knowledge in China, the spread of Protestantism in Korea took place in a more direct manner. This comparative study in the last section highlights the importance of each country’s endowment in terms of the method and effectiveness of missionary efforts.

“What Would We Not Have Eaten?” Animals and Disgust in Colonial Starvation Narratives

ABSTRACT “What would we not have eaten?” Jean de Léry posited, remembering the undesirable animals and foodstuffs he consumed while starving on a ship in the Atlantic in 1558. This was a question rhetorically present in nearly all the starvation accounts in sixteenth century colonization narratives. When colonizers starved in the Americas during their attempts to settle, they reported the hierarchy of animals they ate, from the most to the least “edible,” often arguing that in desperation, one would eat anything at all. However, edibility, like taste, is as culturally constructed as it is physiological. This article looks at these accounts of starvation and presents an analysis of these hierarchies of edibility and disgust as phenomena intrinsically linked with cultural identities and integral to developing colonial thought processes. When Europeans reported eating “disgusting” animals, they said just as much about themselves and their shifting identities as the animals.

Wanwuyiti and Finding God in All Things: A Comparative Study between Neo-Confucian Self-Cultivation and Ignatian Spirituality

It seems that the early Jesuits misinterpreted the key Neo-Confucian terms taiji/li from an Aristotelian perspective in the seventeenth century, thereby leading to a dialogical failure in their initial encounter with Neo-Confucian tradition. What necessitates interreligious dialogue today is a pluralistic stance that deems all religious quests worthy in their own context. Therefore, this paper renews the dialogue between two spiritual traditions, long overdue, by reading two representative texts, side by side, from each tradition on self-cultivation: Reflections on Things at Hand (twelfth century) and The Spiritual Exercises (sixteenth century). The comparison showcases that the notion of “wanwuyiti”, a concomitant of the Confucian ren, is tantamount to a religious imperative for human ethical engagements, and the Ignatian axiom “Finding God in All Things” energizes a spiritual self-transformation to forge an intimate bond with God and the world. While Neo-Confucian cultivation focuses on the removal of desires, seeking to maintain “equilibrium” and “centrality”, the Ignatian exercises foreground commitment to “discernment” and “indifference”. The Neo-Confucians address human and worldly affairs in a procedural manner, with ever-broadening horizons, to establish an orderly society. In contrast, the Ignatian self is directed toward an orderly life to serve, love, and bring ever more to God’s Divine Majesty.

Inside Jesuit Classrooms: Students’ Notebooks from the Austrian Province of the Late Sixteenth Century

Abstract In the sphere of education, early modern Jesuit documents prescribed a large variety of didactical methods. As a result, Jesuit education was perceived as facilitating a dialogue between traditional Scholasticism and humanism or scientific progress. However, complaints from the first half-century of the order indicate that Jesuit schools fell short in terms of their compliance with prescriptive regulations. Indeed, non-Jesuit scholars often considered the order to be conservative traducers of Renaissance scholarship. To assess these contradictory evaluations, this article proposes to scrutinize manuscripts produced by students during their philosophical studies at the colleges of Vienna, Olomouc, and Graz, falling within the timeframe of c. 1580–90. Here, I look to argue that, even before the universal presence of comprehensive Jesuit textbooks, the teaching of philosophy was not only surprisingly unified within the province but new scientific and scholarly developments, including the Gregorian Reform and the debates around Copernican views, were also presented in the Jesuit classroom.

Translating Forbidden Authors: New Evidence on the Alchemical Library of Don Antonio de’ Medici

Research into the history of alchemy and Paracelsianism in Italy has highlighted the role of Italian courts in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries as centres of elaboration and diffusion of alchemical knowledge. Among these, one of the best known is the Medici court which already dedicated spaces in the ducal foundry to the alchemical arts in the time of Cosimo I. This interest would remain alive with Francesco I and his son, Don Antonio de' Medici, one of the greatest supporters of Paracelsian medicine in Italy. This contribution presents previously unpublished sources, now preserved in the Archivio di Stato di Firenze and in the collection of the Biblioteca degli Intronati in Siena, that can help us reconstruct in greater detail some significant aspects of Medici alchemical engagement and can, above all, help further determine Paracelsus’s influence in seventeenth century Florence.

Skin Colour and Priesthood. Debating Bodily Differences in Early Modern Catholicism*

Can people of different skin colours become Catholic priests? What may seem self‐evident from today's perspective, Catholic theologians and canon lawyers controversially debated in the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries. While most authors agreed that colour per se was not a problematic factor, an increasing number argued that non‐white individuals should not serve as priests in white communities because of the negative reactions they would provoke there. This article argues that by taking this “perspectivist view” the Catholic Church could claim universality and flexibility in its admission policy whereas, in fact, it incorporated and reinforced anti‐Blackness. The article analyses the hitherto unexplored history of this debate, situates it within broader thinking about bodily differences in an increasingly global Catholic world and shows how it intersected with practical issues surrounding the establishment of an indigenous clergy throughout the Catholic empires and missionary zones.

The Reputation of the Anabaptists over the Centuries

ABSTRACT The Anabaptists were condemned in the sixteenth century for theological, social, economic and political reasons, especially after the catastrophe of Münster in 1534–35. Persecution was sometimes intense, though it gradually eased. In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, despite persistent memories of Münster, favourable opinion grew. In the nineteenth and twentieth centuries Anabaptists were still harried for their practice of non-resistance, but praised for their hard work, drawn into the evangelical community of the new world and rehabilitated by historians. In the recent past they have been admired for their pacifism and their pioneering role in a world of religious pluralism.

The Post-Tridentine Controversies at the Louvain Faculty of Theology: The Correspondence between Judocus Tiletanus and Michael Baius (1568)

Abstract Josse Ravesteyn, or Judocus Tiletanus, was promoted as a doctor of theology in 1546, acted as participant in the Council of Trent in 1551, and was appointed as inquisitor-general of the Low Countries in 1559. This temporal triptych alone reflects the precipitous degradation of Christian and civil cohesion in the second half of the sixteenth century and how the responsibilities of theologians accordingly changed. Throughout this period, Louvain, its University and its Faculty of Theology were increasingly called upon to provide their expertise to the various appeasement attempts. Inside the Faculty, Tiletanus was also his colleague Michael Baius’ main theological opponent from 1564 onwards; after the Council of Trent came to an end, the former called upon different levels of authority to have the latter’s works and assertions censured, culminating in Pius V’s 1567 bull Ex omnibus afflictionibus. Seeing however how Baius’ confidence and notoriety were left somewhat unscathed, Tiletanus confronted him directly in a personal correspondence made up of six letters in 1568. This article is the first attempt to determine to what extent the Council shaped Tiletanus’ sense of responsibility as a theologian as well as his relationship with Michael Baius.

Escape from Nova Zembla Island and Dating the Dutch-Drake La Heroike Interprinse… Map

Nova Zembla is a tall, skinny island north of Russia above the Arctic Circle. This article is about the maps that describe Nova Zembla and the geographical region surrounding it that were published from 1562 to 1650. From 1562 until 1592, all maps spelled it “Nova Zemla” and drew it either as one of the giant circumpolar islands or as a peninsula of one. Thereafter, some maps used “Zemla,” and some used “Zembla,” but almost all maps represented it as an independent island. This article discusses the explorers who sailed near Nova Zembla in the last half of the sixteenth century and how they created the history of the name Nova Zembla. The evolution of the spelling and shape of Nova Zembla is analogous to punctuated equilibria in paleontological evolution. Using maps containing Nova Zembla, this article shows that the Dutch-Drake La Heroike Interprinse … map was made in the last decade of the sixteenth century, probably around 1594.

Structure and age of ancient walls from the city of Nan, northern Thailand

The structure and age of remains of two ancient walls located in the city of Nan, a former part of the Lanna Kingdom in modern northern Thailand, were investigated. The remains differ in appearance with a well-preserved brick wall present at Mahawong Road (MHW), while an earthwork with a brick reinforcement core is found at Phaya Wat Temple (PWT). We employed an electrical resistivity tomography (ERT) survey and optically stimulated luminescence dating (OSL) to determine the buried structure of the earthwork at the PWT site and the production age of bricks from both locations. The ERT results reveal lateral heterogeneous resistivity domains cross-cutting the wall, which presumably relates to the construction of a dam. According to OSL dating, the PWT wall was likely built during the time of the war with Burma that ultimately resulted in a foreign occupation of Nan in the sixteenth century. This structure played a role in both flood mitigation and military defence of the city. The structure at MHW represents a city wall that was built at the end of the nineteenth century after Nan was relocated to its present position and rather reflects representative and social needs.

Idols and Icons: Franciscan Theology and Artistic Inculturation in Mexico, 1524–1699

Indigenous people in Mexico encountered and interacted with the visual images of Mary, Jesus, and the Saints via Catholic missionaries in the sixteenth century. I examine the complexity of Franciscan changing attitudes and practices toward transforming what they perceived as idols into icons in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Indigenous Christians also adapted and synthesized artistic forms and meanings. Furthermore, artists from various cultures drew sources from Indigenous Mexican, European, and Asian traditions and created a visual Christian culture.

The Sabbatean syndrome, the messianic idea and Zionism

My research, still in its early stages, proposes a basic methodological and historiographic perspective that transcends particularistic analysis. This perspective challenges the crisis orientation that has dominated Zionist historiography and examines the roots of Zionism that are integral to the Sephardic diaspora. The purpose, conscious or otherwise, of Zionist historiography that detaches the sixteenth from the nineteenth century is to ensure that the mighty process of return to the Jewish homeland is attributed exclusively to Zionism of the modern era. This ignores all the momentous accomplishments of the sixteenth century that heralded a new age in the settlement of Eretz Israel. Most Zionist historiographers attempt to ‘normalize’ history so that anything hinting at redemption is summarily excised. This is the meaning of the historiographic dispute taking place over the past few decades concerning messianism and the history of Jewish settlement of Eretz Israel in the modern era.

‘Prudence, Foresight, Courage, Oeconomy’: glass beehives and English society, 1650–1680

ABSTRACT During the English Civil War and subsequent Restoration, beekeeping provided a ready set of moral examples for those seeking answers about the ‘natural’ structure of society. The practice itself also underwent a number of substantial changes, moving from a traditional craft practice to a more knowledge-focused, technologically complex one. The advent of glass-windowed hives in the latter half of the sixteenth century allowed intellectuals from across the political spectrum to directly observe bees as a way of gathering knowledge about how to understand the divine plan and, with that understanding, improve human society.

Virtues and institutions as the foundations of a res publica in Wawrzyniec Goślicki and Gasparo Contarini

RESEARCH OBJECTIVE: The aim of this article is to examine and compare two republican approaches to politics and res publica presented in the sixteenth century by Wawrzyniec Grzymala Goślicki and Gasparo Contarini.
 THE RESEARCH PROBLEM AND METHODS: Both authors define the core elements of a republican scientia civilis but emphasize different aspects as being of primary importance for a well‑ordered civitas libera. Goślicki saw the best safeguards of a free and well‑ordered commonwealth in the character and virtues of the rulers and citizens, whereas Contarini believed that such safeguards could only be found in a good legal and institutional structure that kept corruption at bay. The article follows the contextual method typical for intellectual history to present different arguments that Contarini and Goślicki formulated in their understanding of scientia civilis and the best commonwealth looking at both the context of their works and their arguments.
 THE PROCESS OF ARGUMENTATION: After introducing the context for the two works the next two parts focus on Goslicki’s and then Contarini’s vision of scientia civilis and the most effective ways to keep corruption and decay at bay followed by comparison and conclusion.
 RESEARCH RESULTS: A comparison of these two visions should shed some light on the later development of both polities and republicanism in modern Europe more generally which largely followed Contarini and not Goślicki. It can also provide an important lesson for our own understanding of politics and political philosophy that should underpin a political order to make it resilient to corruption and backsliding.
  CONCLUSIONS, INNOVATIONS, AND RECOMMENDATIONS: Examining these two authors and their prominent works helps better situate political discourses in the two countries that explain different trajectories of their constitutions and political developments, and for us today provide an interesting lesson on how we should understand politics and respublica.

Morisco Catechisms: Religious Incorporation and Differentiation in Early Modern Spain

In the debate over the theory and practice of the Spanish empire at the beginning of the sixteenth century, political, religious, and legal discourses differentiated conquered peoples and recent converts to Christianity from so-called “old Christians”, thereby creating distinct categories of Spanish subjects. In Spain itself, cultural markers like language, dress, and diet became the foundations of fiscal and legal differences, while normative codes were promulgated and negotiated across a range of documents, e.g., legal instruments, civic and ecclesiastical records, university debates, and juridical theory. Concomitant with this process, a set of Christian catechisms was produced in Spain, both before and after the promulgation of Tridentine reforms, that were directed especially at the converted morisco populations in Granada and Valencia. These catechisms were produced in Iberian Arabic and Romance languages and included instructions about how new converts from Islam should behave, as well as what they should believe in order to participate in liturgical activities and to be recognized as full members of the Christian community. This article examines the morisco catechisms produced in Spain between 1496 and 1566, as these documents are representative of a unique period in both the history of Latin Christianity and the burgeoning Spanish empire. Through the emergence of this corpus and against the backdrop of targeted legislation and new policies aimed at Arabic-speaking moriscos, first in Granada and later in Valencia, the ideological foundations constraining the morisco experience were forged.

Gastrointestinal Parasites of Ancient Domestic Goats from the Archaeological Site Cueva Huenul 1, Patagonia, Argentina

ABSTRACT The goat is one of the first herbivores to be domesticated, expanding throughout the world. Goats were introduced in South America during the sixteenth century. Gastrointestinal (GI) parasitism constitutes one of the main constraints to the breeding of goats worldwide. This is the first study conducted to investigate the GI parasites recovered from goat coprolites from historical times of Patagonia. Goat coprolites were studied from the archaeological site Cueva Huenul I. Coprolites were processed by rehydration followed by homogenisation and sieved for spontaneous sedimentation. Samples were examined by light microscopy. At least 12 parasite species were recorded. In this first paleoparasitological study of Patagonian ancient goats we found a high percentage of positive samples. We recorded parasite species that currently are common in wild and domestic ruminants, some of them are of public health and veterinary importance; several species are zoonotic. Our results suggest that this could also have been a problem in terms of animal and human health in historical times. The results urge further investigation of the diversity and origin of the infectious diseases of domesticated animals around the dispersal routes associated with ancient human activities and their interaction with native species.

The Gauchos as possible heirs of the Moriscos: the case of the Argentine asado

ABSTRACT Asados, Argentine cook-outs or barbecues, to this day have a prestigious reputation within Argentine identity often due to its lasting association with the Gauchos—rural Argentine cowboys—who flourished in the nineteenth century shortly after the country’s independence from Spain. However, what is less known is how this quintessential dish, especially the well-done slow-cooked nature of the meat, is a rarely explored window to the past. I stipulate that the transatlantic, transcultural, and even transtemporal importance of this dish preserved by the Gauchos since the nineteenth century places them and their descendants as the hidden heirs of clandestine Moriscos—mostly crypto-Muslims forcedly converted to Christianity in the Iberian Peninsula—who settled in the least monitored area of Spain’s American colonies in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Moriscos knew how to mask certain actions while still holding strong to some former cultural and culinary practices. So too did the Gauchos as they were originally coined rebellious outlaws who did not want to fully conform and assimilate to the dominant culture. Perhaps in viewing their shared cooking styles we can see the often ignored history of Andalusi influence via Morisco practices in the Southern Cone.