Urban Change in Early Medieval Italy: The Example of Pavia

1966 ◽  
Vol 34 ◽  
pp. 82-130 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. A. Bullough
Keyword(s):  
Present Article ◽  
Social History ◽  
Middle Ages ◽  
Early Medieval ◽  
Medieval Studies ◽  
Medieval Italy ◽  
Warm Hospitality ◽  
The Social ◽  
History Of ◽  
The City

Prefatory Note.—My interest in Pavia goes back at least to 1951 when I was elected Rome Scholar in Medieval Studies. I began seriously to collect material for the history of the city in the early Middle Ages in the winter and spring of 1953 when I enjoyed the warm hospitality of the Collegio Ghislieri, thanks to the efforts made on my behalf by the late Hugh Last, to whose memory this article is dedicated. The published proceedings of the Reichenau and Spoleto congresses on ‘The early medieval town’ in the 1950s clearly underlined the need for detailed studies of particular towns; but the lack of adequate archaeological evidence discouraged me from attempting such a study of early medieval Pavia. In 1964, however, Dr. A. Peroni, Director of the Museo Civico invited me to read a supplementary paper on this topic to the Convegno di Studio sul Centro Storico di Pavia held in the Università degli Studi at Pavia on July 4th and 5th of that year. The present article is an amplified and corrected version of that paper: I have made no substantial alterations to my account of the ‘urbanistica’ of early medieval Pavia—written for an audience of architects and art-historians as well as of historians—but have dealt more fully with the social history of the city in this period. Professor Richard Krautheimer read a draft of the revised version and made some pointed and helpful comments. I am greatly indebted to Dr. Peroni, not merely for the invitation to present the original paper but also for supplying illustrations and answering queries at a time when he and his staff were engaged in helping to repair the ravages of the Florence floods.

DARK AGE ROME: TOWARDS AN INTERACTIVE TOPOGRAPHY

2006 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 311-337 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kate Cooper ◽  
Julia Hillner ◽  
Conrad Leyser
Keyword(s):  
Social History ◽  
Late Antiquity ◽  
Digital Technologies ◽  
Early Medieval ◽  
The Social ◽  
History Of ◽  
Traditional Scholarship ◽  
The University ◽  
The City ◽  
And Diffusion

This paper represents a report on work in progress at the University of Manchester’s Centre for Late Antiquity. The goal of our research is to open a new chapter in research on late ancient and Early Medieval Rome, through the systematic collation and diffusion of relatively neglected sources, in particular the Roman gesta martyrum. They are not usually considered as a source for the social history of the city, because of their transparently tendentious character. Yet the gesta are our best witness to the ebullient of the Roman laity, on whose patronage the ecclesiastical hierarchy continued to depend. We hope to make the gesta more widely accessible, and to facilitate their cross-referencing with other kinds of source; our method is to combine the tools of traditional scholarship with contemporary digital technologies, the operation of which we briefly describe here.

PRINT CULTURE AND ITS PUBLICS: A SOCIAL HISTORY OF BOOKSTORES IN TEHRAN, 1900–1950

2015 ◽  
Vol 47 (1) ◽  
pp. 89-108 ◽  
Author(s):  
Afshin Marashi
Keyword(s):  
Social History ◽  
Print Culture ◽  
Mass Culture ◽  
Book Trade ◽  
Popular Politics ◽  
Technological Changes ◽  
Political Empowerment ◽  
The Social ◽  
History Of ◽  
The City

AbstractThis article investigates the evolution of print culture and commerce in Tehran during the first half of the 20th century. The first section examines technological changes that facilitated the commercialization of texts and then details the history of early print entrepreneurs in the Tehran bazaar. The second section examines the expansion of the book trade between the 1920s and 1940s, tracing the emergence of modern bookstores in a rapidly changing Tehran. I argue that patterns of change in print commerce between 1900 and 1950 contributed to the emergence of mass culture by midcentury. This new mass culture involved the social and political empowerment of a diversity of new reading publics in the city, and enabled the emergence of new forms of popular politics.

Judeans in Sippar and Susa during the First Century of the Babylonian Exile: Assimilation and Perseverance under Neo-Babylonian and Achaemenid Rule

2014 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 119-172 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yigal Bloch
Keyword(s):  
Social History ◽  
First Generation ◽  
Well Being ◽  
First Century ◽  
Single Family ◽  
Achaemenid Empire ◽  
Personal Names ◽  
The Social ◽  
History Of ◽  
The City

AbstractThe present study discusses the attestations of persons of Judean origin in Neo-Babylonian cuneiform tablets (of the period between 550 and 490 bce) as possible evidence of some aspects of the social history of the community of Judeans exiled to Babylonia by Nebuchadnezzar II. Although the number of such attestations is very small, it is nonetheless possible to single out two groups which display different patterns of personal name giving across generations. In one instance, a group of merchants in the city of Sippar (belonging mostly to a single family) uses, in part, distinctly Judean personal names in the first generation of the exile, but abandons them completely in favor of Babylonian theophoric names in the next generation. In another instance, a group of individuals active mostly in Susa and probably belonging to the families of royal officials (as suggested by names and patronymics of the type of Beamtennamen – names expressing a pious wish for the well-being of the king) displays the use of Yahwistic personal names even though the fathers of those individuals bore Babylonian theophoric names. It is suggested that the persistence of Yahwistic – hence distinctly Judean – names among royal officials or their direct offspring, even after the previous generation bore Babylonian names, reflects a considerable measure of tolerance toward ethnically foreign elements in the royal administration (the relevant examples date from the period after the establishment of the Achaemenid empire). In contrast, the progressing adoption of Babylonian names among the Judean merchants in Sippar in the first half of the sixth century bce seems likely to reflect assimilation into the native Babylonian society, fostered by the necessity to pursue commercial dealings with the Ebabbar temple of Šamaš and the social circles centered around the temple, which consisted of conservatively minded upper strata of the native Babylonian society. Editions of the cuneiform tablets discussed in the present study are provided in the Appendix.

The diaconiae of Early Medieval Rome: From “Greek” to “Roman”, from “Private” to “Papal”?

2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 90-132
Author(s):  
Philipp Winterhager
Keyword(s):  
Middle Ages ◽  
Roman History ◽  
Early Medieval ◽  
Early Middle Ages ◽  
Charitable Foundations ◽  
History Of ◽  
The City ◽  
Secular State

Abstract Traditionally, scholarship has seen the history of the diaconiae, charitable foundations in the city of Rome, in line with the alleged general trends in Roman history in the early Middle Ages, i.e. the gradual “Romanization” of formerly “Greek” elements of Byzantine origin, and the “papalization” of secular (state and private) initiatives, both taking place primarily in the mid-8th century. Although the diaconiae had come under papal control as late as the 9th and eventually the 10th centuries, this paper argues that this development took place not as an abandonment of private forms of endowments prominent in Byzantine Rome, but namely through the appropriation of “post-Byzantine” aristocratic endowment practice by the popes around the turn of the 9th century.

Guidelines for a Social History of Astronomy

2012 ◽  
Vol 16 (1 and 2) ◽  
pp. 77-87
Author(s):  
V. F. Polcaro ◽  
A. Martocchia
Keyword(s):  
Social History ◽  
Middle Ages ◽  
History Of Astronomy ◽  
Greek Language ◽  
Social Phenomena ◽  
Copernican Revolution ◽  
The Social ◽  
History Of ◽  
Main Factors ◽  
Modern Astronomy

An analysis of the basic cultural, historical and social elements which allowed the re-discovery and transfer of astronomical knowledge from the earlier Middle Ages up to the birth of modern astronomy, is presented in the new book Storia sociale dell’Astronomia. The book describes the main factors which played a role in suppressing or re-awakening interest in astronomical observations and events down the centuries. Among such elements we include: the loss of Greek-language-based knowledge as a vector of scientific knowledge; Christian and Islamic conceptions of Astrology; religious practices connected with observations; the birth of universities; the Protestant paradigm and humanism; the evolution of the social figure of the scientist in the West, from monks to aristocrats, and from Renaissance lords to bourgeois entrepreneurs. We focus attention on the social phenomena which caused the development of Astronomy as a science from the Middle Ages to the Copernican revolution, and claim that the ruling class’s attitude towards science is not only a matter for historical studies, but has much to do with the modern impoverishment and stagnation of Astronomy.

scholarly journals Drawing the city: a proposal for an ethnographic study in Rio de Janeiro

2011 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 609-642 ◽  
Author(s):  
Karina Kuschnir
Keyword(s):  
Social History ◽  
Rio De Janeiro ◽  
Ethnographic Study ◽  
Urban Life ◽  
Ethnographic Research ◽  
Visual Anthropology ◽  
International Group ◽  
The Social ◽  
History Of ◽  
The City

Drawing the city is a proposal for an ethnographic research project in Rio de Janeiro. I begin by mapping the production of an international group calling themselves ‘urban sketchers,' whose collective project extols drawing as a form of looking, knowing and registering the experience of living in cities. Next I show the connections between art and anthropology, as well as their relation to cities and to Rio de Janeiro in particular. The sources and bibliography on the themes of the social history of art, drawing, visual anthropology and urban anthropology are also discussed. Setting out from the latter area, I present the possibilities for undertaking an ethnography that contributes to our comprehension of the graphic and symbolic narratives of urban life.

Introduction

1997 ◽  
Author(s):  
Roger Ling ◽  
Paul Arthur ◽  
Georgia Clarke ◽  
Estelle Lazer ◽  
Lesley A. Ling ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Social History ◽  
Primary Objective ◽  
Interior Decoration ◽  
Black And White ◽  
British School ◽  
The Social ◽  
History Of ◽  
The University ◽  
University Of Manchester ◽  
The City

The present volume is the first of three which will together provide an in-depth analysis of one city block at Pompeii: the so-called Insula del Menandro (Insula of the Menander) (Pompeii I 10). It will concentrate on the architecture and structural history of the insula, while the second and third volumes will deal respectively with interior decoration and with loose finds. Each will be used, in its different way, to shed light on the social history of the insula and of Pompeii in general. Behind this publication lies a long-term programme of recording and documentation going back to the 1970s, the primary objective of which has been the production of an archive, consisting primarily of drawings at 1:5 of the surviving wall-paintings, and plans, sections, and elevations at 1:50 of the visible architecture. These are supplemented by photographs in black and white and in colour, and by drawings of selected pavements and certain architectural details at 1:10. In addition there are pro forma sheets providing a detailed record, room by room, of all architectural and decorative features. Copies of this archive will ultimately be deposited in the Archaeological Superintendency at Pompeii, in the British School at Rome, and in the University of Manchester. This project, carried out by a team from Britain, fits in with the general policy of the Pompeian authorities since the late 1970s to improve the documentation of the site. There have been a number of programmes of recording during this period, most importantly a series of photographic campaigns mounted by the Istituto Centrale per il Catalogo e la Documentazione to record the surviving paintings and pavements and, more recently, a massive computerization project called Neapolis which has Involved specialists in various disciplines (archaeology, cartography, architecture, art history, and anthropology) and has aimed to produce an electronic archive permitting access to almost any piece of information, visual or written, about the city. The Importance of recording, in whatever form, is all too apparent. Despite the best efforts of the local authorities, the fabric of the city is steadily deteriorating: weathering, plant infestation, vandalism, and theft all take their toll.

Queens

2013 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elena Woodacre ◽  
Miriam Shadis
Keyword(s):  
Social History ◽  
Middle Ages ◽  
Global Section ◽  
Early Medieval ◽  
Tudor England ◽  
Medieval Italy ◽  
Crown Of Aragon ◽  
1960S And 1970S ◽  
The 1960S ◽  
The 19Th Century

As the wives, mothers, and daughters of kings, medieval queens acquired their status in one of two ways, either through marriage or, less commonly, through inheritance. The experience of being a queen, in particular as partner to the king, the development of the office of the queen, and the role of queen regent evolved over time with medieval monarchy, and queenship varied across regions as different legal codes and customs informed female inheritance. Women who became queens through marriage often shared the experience of straddling two cultures and two families (natal and marital), and, thus, they were alien outsiders who simultaneously had the greatest access to the center of power, the king. Often women who became queens were not native to the territory with which they became associated and, thus, the names by which they are known, for example, Blanche of Castile, may be misleading: Blanche, who was from Castile, was queen of France through marriage. Queens thus served as intercessors, patrons, and cultural innovators as well as operated as great lords, as rulers, and often, but not always, as mothers. The historiography of medieval queenship is equally varied, beginning with positivist-inspired biographies of the 19th century and subsequently influenced by developments in social history during the 1960s and 1970s and by interdisciplinary and feminist approaches in recent decades. Currently, scholarship simultaneously seeks to recover the histories of individual queens, to understand the specifics of the queen’s office within the institution of the monarchy, and to understand how gender operated at the highest levels of political, cultural, and economic power in the Middle Ages. The first principle of organization for this article is chronological, with sections on Early Medieval Queens (Anglo-Saxon, Celtic, Germanic) and Merovingian Queens and Carolingian Queens. Because queens were always queens of a realm, however, and because the extent (and number) of European monarchies on both the continent and in Britain changed radically in the post-Carolingian era, the remainder of the article is organized both geographically and chronologically, with sections on England (General, Anglo-Norman Queens, Plantagenet Queens, and Lancastrian, York, and Early Tudor England); Scotland, France (sections on Capetian France and Valois France), Germany and Early Medieval Italy, Scandinavia, and the kingdoms of the Iberian Peninsula (sections on Iberia generally as well as Crown of Aragon, León-Castile, and Portugal). In some instances, queens who have merited extensive scholarship are treated in separate sections. The article concludes with sections on the liminal but comparatively important queens/empresses of Byzantium, and the Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem. While the general focus of this bibliography is on European queens and queenship, it is important to recognize the experience and lives of royal women and queens, or their equivalents, beyond Europe, which are featured in the Global section.

Book lists from the Cairo Genizah: a window on the production of texts in the middle ages

2017 ◽  
Vol 80 (2) ◽  
pp. 233-252 ◽  
Author(s):  
Miriam Frenkel
Keyword(s):  
Social History ◽  
Middle Ages ◽  
History Of The Book ◽  
Production And Consumption ◽  
The Social ◽  
History Of ◽  
Medieval Islam ◽  
Cairo Genizah ◽  
Post War ◽  
The Many

AbstractThe historicity of books – their role as a force in history – has been addressed in post-war literary studies from different perspectives and across various disciplines. Nevertheless, the scholarship on the history of the book in medieval Islam is still relatively sparse, even though this society underwent a thorough process of textualization. But even authors who do consider the social and cultural role of books in medieval Islam look only at the production and consumption of Arabic books within the boundaries of Muslim society, relying on Islamic sources which reflect mainly the courtly milieu of scribes and secretariats. None discuss books produced and consumed by the religious minorities that were an indispensable part of this society, and none have made use of the abundant Genizah documents as source material. In the present programmatic article, I call attention to the many book lists found in the Cairo Genizah and to their potential as significant tools for developing a better understanding of the cultural and social history of the medieval Islamicate world.

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