Early modern European history (1501-1800) : local & regional European history
More general subjects:
More specific subjects:
- Balkans & Near East (incl. Ottoman Empire) (c. 1501-1800) | British Isles (c. 1501-1800) | East-Central & Eastern Europe (c. 1501-1800) | France (c. 1501-1800) | Germany, Switzerland & Austria (c. 1501-1800) | Iberian Peninsula (c. 1501-1800) | Italian Peninsula (c. 1501-1800) | Low Countries (c. 1501-1800) | Scandinavian & Baltic lands (c. 1501-1800)
Stones of Zadar
The Capital of Venetian Dalmatia
The book investigates the transformation of the architectural and visual language in Zadar eastern Adriatic town at the dawn of the early modern era when the mighty mediaeval commune was being transformed by the emerging governmental structures of the Republic of Venice. These events coincided with the Ottoman Empire's takeover of the hinterland of Dalmatian cities transforming Zadar into a city on the brink of two worlds.
A highly autonomous mediaeval commune was a lively trans-Adriatic artistic centre a network of builders painters and sculptors from Dalmatia Venice Marche and Lombardy so with the early adoption of humanist concepts by the local elite this practice continued. However the transformations the governmental structure and economic policies steadily limited its community autonomy and commercial sources. The crisis worsened in the 16th century when the local elites lost a large portion of their revenue from the fertile hinterland captured by the Ottoman Empire.
This launched an ongoing militarisation of social structures and fortifying the town. These events were reflected in the fields of architecture and art. The process of adopting a new architectural and artistic language began in the second half of the 15th century as demonstrated by motifs in architectural decoration and sculpture with impulses from important Dalmatian sculptural and stonemasons’ circles as well as Venetian models from the circles of Pietro Lombardo and Mauro Codussi. When the new classical language of architecture began spreading in the middle of the 16th century it expressed mostly in the renovation of administrative structures with occasional departures from the stylistic canons of artistic centres.
On the steps of the throne
The King’s family and its political and cultural role in the Spanish monarchy (16th-18th centuries)
The aim of this book is to forge a new critical perspective on the Spanish Habsburgs’ family networks by studying the roles performed by princes and princesses of the blood of different ranks and status in the service of the Spanish monarchs. The chapters included draw on a range of case studies in order to rethink the dynastic and political role assigned to the king’s relatives. They also analyse the problematic issues generated by the court ceremonial diplomatic dynastic and governmental duties undertaken by these political actors. In doing so these studies forge a deeper understanding of the conflicts prompted by the administration of the extensive transnational community of Spanish Habsburg interests and allegiances. The innovative and insightful studies included in this volume are drawn from both unpublished doctoral theses as well as ongoing research projects. In this sense it seeks to contribute to the evolving historiographical debate on the role played by a range of agents who have not been studied in depth by historians above all with a focus on the construction of the Spanish Habsburg monarchy in the early modern period. The approach we have adopted has been to prioritize little-known and less-studied agents contexts and periods from the Spanish Habsburg sphere which are nonetheless highly relevant for developing a deeper knowledge of the potential and expectations assigned to the king’s extended family whether legitimate or illegitimate. Furthermore this book addresses the problematic issues and conflicts that were prompted by these political agents in undertaking various diplomatic dynastic and governmental roles.
Painter to the Queen
Michel Sittow, Courtier to Isabella of Castile and the Habsburg Dynasty
Michel Sittow was born in Reval c. 1469 today the Estonian capital city of Tallinn. Possibly trained in the workshop of Hans Memling in Bruges he subsequently moved to work in the Iberian Peninsula where he first held the position of court painter. This monograph undertakes research on this phase of his career. In the Kingdom of Castille Michel Sittow was appointed painter to Queen Isabella and became a member of her household with an impressive annual salary. Thanks to the analysis of archival documents and formal and iconographical studies on Sittow’s paintings it is possible to explain the court painter’s life circumstances and describe the benefits he enjoyed and the difficulties he faced. The Castilian period was crucial for Michel Sittow’s career since over the course of his professional life he also resided at the courts of Philip the Fair Margaret of Austria Christian II of Denmark and Charles V all relatives of his first royal patron. While serving European monarchs he transferred Memling’s techniques and visual language beyond the Low Countries and developed his artistic practice and style. The analysis of the various contexts Michel Sittow worked in sheds light on his oeuvre and his possible privileged status as a courtier which provided opportunities to establish a flourishing and ambitious career in northern and southern Europe.
Forgotten Roots of the Nordic Welfare State in Protestant Cultures
The Nordic welfare state of the 20th century has been hailed around the world as a model of how to build democratic and egalitarian societies. It has often been described as a project of social democracy often following a narrative of secularization and rationalization of society. However some of the most important actors and ideas of the "Scandinavian Sonderweg" had their roots in Protestant often Pietist and revivalist milieus that dreamed of creating an egalitarian community. The present volume explores these often forgotten roots in several case studies of phenomena from the seventeenth to the twenty-first century focusing primarily on questioning the function of aesthetics in the creation of the welfare state model. We argue that aesthetics and what Friedrich Schiller called aesthetic education played an important unifying role for Nordic societies. These aesthetics were shaped by Protestant ideas and practices. Through references to the then widespread circulation of educational texts based on Luther's catechism the later pietistic catechism of Erik Pontoppidan Nordic hymnbooks and practices such as communal singing and preaching in church church coffee reading circles and conventicle meetings a common aesthetic language emerged that unified different social groups and their competing goals and claims. Civic actors and movements learned specific ways to engage in society to develop practices of internalizing responsibility (self)critique and accountability and to communicate and develop a more democratic modern civic sphere. We therefore propose to look at this history from the perspective of a historically changing aesthetic as an integrating principle for understanding the political social cultural economic and many other aspects of the Nordic welfare state.
Chanter par le Si en France au xvii e siècle
Pionniers et prémisses du solfège moderne
En 1666 la « Methode facile pour apprendre à chanter la musique » (Paris Ballard) est le premier ouvrage imprimé en France à recommander l'utilisation du Si. Cette septième syllabe de solmisation permet de s’affranchir du solfège ancien des hexacordes et des muances. La gamme du Si ou gamme française s'impose comme une nouvelle norme parallèlement à une actualisation du discours sur les échelles musicales prélude à l’énonciation des principes de la tonalité.
Pourtant depuis la fin du XVIe siècle des solmisations heptacordales essaiment ailleurs de l’Italie au Danemark. La France semble à rebours du reste de l’Europe : elle tarde à réagir à ce nouveau modèle et s’avère finalement être le seul pays où le Si est intégré durablement. Quel fut le cheminement de ces idées et pratiques ? Que disent-elles des représentations de l’espace sonore qui coexistent et s’anamorphosent au XVIIe siècle isthme entre Humanisme et Lumières ? Ces questions serpentent dans la littérature depuis que Brossard Montéclair ou Rousseau s’en sont emparés.
L’étude de sources essentiellement manuscrites permet aujourd’hui de préciser les jalons de cette histoire en France de mettre en lumière des pionniers autant que des détracteurs du Si. Leurs témoignages sont issus de l'entourage scientifique de Mersenne des sphères huguenotes et mauristes des chapelles musicales parisiennes et finalement des méthodes destinées aux amateurs. C’est en questionnant ces pionniers leurs écrits et les contextes dans lesquels ils ont évolué que ce pan de l’histoire du solfège est ici mis en perspective et d’une certaine manière humanisé.
The Munich Court Chapel at 500
Tradition, Devotion, Representation
This collection of essays is the first to focus exclusively on the Wittelsbach court of Duke Wilhelm IV of Bavaria (1493–1550). The contributors argue for a deeper understanding of this duke’s reign and acknowledge his crucial role in shaping the religious and cultural identity of the Duchy of Bavaria. By providing insights into the duke’s cultural aspirations the organisation of the court musical sources religious musical practice and everyday working life this book aims to: (1) situate the court of Wilhelm IV in the context of the religious and political upheavals of the early sixteenth century; (2) trace the development of the musical repertoire and personnel of the Bavarian court chapel between 1500 and 1550; and (3) critically assess the degree to which the Munich court could be considered ‘modern’ by re-evaluating the broader cultural religious and musical life of the court around 1520. The volume thus sheds light on the cultural ambitions of a duke who defined music and art as expressions of strategic elements that interwove tradition devotion and representation in a programme of governance based on humanist education—a duke whose foresight enabled the Munich court to quickly become one of the most prestigious and famous seats of power in the Holy Roman Empire.
La Réforme aux Pays‑Bas,1500-1620
Cette étude générale de la Réforme aux Pays-Bas retrace les développements clés du processus de réforme - à la fois auprès de la population protestante et catholique - pendant le XVIe siècle. Synthétisant cinquante ans de littérature scientifique Christine Kooi se concentre particulièrement sur le contexte politique de l'époque : comment le changement religieux a été procédé au milieu de l'intégration et la désintégration de l'État dynastique des Habsbourg aux Pays-Bas. Une attention particulière est accordée au rôle de la Réforme dans la fomentation et l'alimentation de la révolte contre le régime des Habsbourg à la fin du XVIe siècle ainsi qu'à sa contribution à la formation des deux états successeurs de la région la République néerlandaise et la Pays-Bas du Sud (Belgique). La Réforme aux Pays-Bas 1500-1620 est un outil de travail essentiel pour les universitaires et les étudiants de l'histoire européenne moderne réunissant en un seul volume des recherches spécialisées sur les Pays-Bas.
Pacification and Reconciliation in the Spanish Habsburg Worlds
This is the first volume to analyze pacification strategies within the Spanish Monarchy on a global level. It deals with the development and aftermath of the many early modern revolts on the Iberian and Italian Peninsula the Sicilian and Sardinian islands the cities along the North Sea and the Spanish Americas. These comparative studies uncover the different ways in which the Spanish Monarchy dealt with rebellion from cities and constituencies ranging from military responses and repression to offers for negotiation and reconciliation. They also point out common characteristics of these pacification processes such as the promises of pardon the granting of grace and the instruction of peace envoys. The different chapters each accompanied by an edition of sources show how the reconciliation and reincorporation into the Spanish Habsburg orbit proved to be a painstaking process with an unpredictable outcome.
Supplicant Empires
Searching for the Iberian World in Global History
This volume is a collection of reflections from leading senior and junior historians regarding the merits of historical comparativism in the field of Iberian history. The first purpose of the book is to encourage a dialogue between scholars of the Iberian Empires and to foster a reconsider how they see the broader history of the early modern world in light of recent historiography. The second aim of the book is to prompt scholars of other regions in global history to consider the recent literature on the Iberian Empires anew to move beyond the tropes of the Black Legend and narrative of growth splendour and decline and to study those imbrications had connected disparate parts of the world and which the postcolonial turn has unearthed. In a series of articles and interviews contributors were encouraged to consider the role of linguistic divides in the growth of historiographical strands and to speak plainly about the possible siloes that have emerged in the field. Contributors discuss the Atlantic turn corporate cultures the Catholic adoption of Protestant ideals gender and race all while drawing on insights from scholars who work on early modern nuns the material history of sugar and coffee or those who are exploring the uses of the concept of barbarity in borderlands.