Protestant Rivalry — Metaphysics and Rhetoric in Germany c. 1590–1620

1990 ◽  
Vol 41 (1) ◽  
pp. 24-43 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kristian Jensen

One of the most remarkable changes to take place at German Protestant universities during the last decade of the sixteenth century and the first twenty years of the seventeenth century was the return of metaphysics after more than halfa century of absence. University metaphysics has acquired a reputation for sterile aridity which was strengthened rather than diminished by its survival in early modern times, when such disciplines are supposed deservedly to have vanished with the end of the Middle Ages. Nevertheless, this survival has attracted some attention this century. For a long urne it was assumed that German Protestants needed a metaphysical defence against the intellectual vigour of the Jesuits. Lewalter has shown, however, that this was not the case.

2021 ◽  
Vol 45 (1) ◽  
pp. 7
Author(s):  
Claudia Maria Riehl ◽  
Rahel Beyer

<p>This contribution focusses on varieties of German which are spoken in extraterritorial German communities. Many of these groups go back to emigration in the Middle Ages or in Early Modern Times and have developed a specific koiné which is characterized by dialect merger and language contact with the surrounding languages. Another group are so-called "border minorities", extraterritorial communities that emerged after World War I and are bordering German-speaking countries. The article first provides a historical overview of the various German-speaking minorities. Then, the different sociolinguistic settings of the respective language communities are addressed and illustrated by examples of communities with a different sociolinguistic and linguistic background.</p><p> </p>


Author(s):  
Laura Minervini

AbstractIn the Middle Ages and Early Modern Times, French was variously involved in the dynamics of lexical contact in the Mediterranean. The study of lexical loans may display the stratification of influences and linguistic exchanges that is peculiar to the “French case”.


2020 ◽  
Vol 25 (1) ◽  
pp. 27-61
Author(s):  
Helleke van den Braber ◽  
Nina Geerdink ◽  
Laurens Ham ◽  
Johan Oosterman ◽  
Sander Bax

Abstract A grand narrative of Dutch literary authors’ opportunities to economically profit from their writing is yet to be written. The general assumption, however, is that these opportunities developed teleologically from a dominant system of patronage during medieval and early modern times, in which financial gains were marginal and in which author’s independence of their supporters was constrained, to a system in which the commercial book market was dominant and where authors could be more self-supporting and thus more independent of supporters. This article argues that there is no such teleology. On the contrary: on the basis of an exploration of both practice and discourse of literary authors’ profits from the Middle Ages to the present, we conclude that in every period, it was possible for authors to profit from their writing through either patronage, market or governmental support, and often through a combination of these sources. Moreover, in every period varying types of independence of literary authors was valued highly. Our analysis of the discourse on profits shows that the continuous tendency to disguise financial advancement could be related to the importance of authorial independence throughout the ages.


1982 ◽  
Vol 23 (3) ◽  
pp. 333-349 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ivor Wilks

In late medieval and early modern times West Africa was one of the principal suppliers of gold to the world bullion market. In this context the Matter of Bitu is one of much importance. Bitu lay on the frontiers of the Malian world and was one of its most flourishing gold marts. So much is clear from sixteenth- and seventeenth-century writings, both African and European. A review of this body of evidence indicates that the gold trade at Bitu was controlled by the Wangara, who played a central role in organizing trade between the Akan goldfields and the towns of the Western Sudan. It is shown that Bitu cannot be other than Bighu (Begho, Bew, etc.), the abandoned Wangara town lying on the northwestern fringes of the Akan forest country, which is known (from excavation) to have flourished in the relevant period. In the late fifteenth century the Portuguese established posts on the southern shores of the Akan country, so challenging the monopolistic position which the Wangara had hitherto enjoyed in the gold trade. The Portuguese sent envoys to Mali, presumably to negotiate trade agreements. The bid was apparently unsuccessful. The struggle for the Akan trade in the sixteenth century between Portuguese and Malian interests will be treated in the second part of this paper.


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