Social Historian

Author(s):  
W. B. Patterson

Fuller’s History of the Worthies of England (1662), the first biographical dictionary in England, was published after his death. Fuller relied heavily on books and documents, but he also traveled widely, interviewing the most knowledgeable persons he could find and gaining knowledge first-hand of his country’s commodities, enterprises, buildings, and natural features. The work is organized on a county-by-county basis, and the notable individuals are listed in chronological, rather than alphabetical order. The result is a treatment of notable persons across many centuries in the context of the social, economic, political, and cultural contexts in which they lived. Fuller saw England as distinguished in many ways by industriousness and ingenuity as well as by a concern for the common good. The Worthies is one of the most original historical works in early modern England and is unexcelled as an analysis of the society that Fuller and his contemporaries knew.

2006 ◽  
Vol 21 (2) ◽  
pp. 341-369 ◽  
Author(s):  
DAVID R. CLARKE

This article contributes to debates over the ‘land–family bond’ in Early Modern England, in which social historians have engaged periodically during the past decade. It examines the work of Jane Whittle, Govind Sreenivasen and Alan Macfarlane and adds new archival evidence from my own study of three East Sussex villages, circa 1580–1770. Its focus is on the factors that influenced the land–family bond over time. It argues that a more nuanced understanding of individual tenant behaviour during this period cannot be reached without also charting the social, economic and demographic context in which such behaviour operated.


In the early modern period, Catholic communities in Protestant jurisdictions were impelled to establish colleges for the education and formation of students in more hospitable Catholic territories. The Irish, English and Scots Colleges founded in France, Flanders, the Iberian peninsula, Rome and elsewhere are the best known, but the phenomenon extended to Dutch and Scandinavian foundations in southern Flanders and the German lands. Similarly colleges were established in Rome for various national communities, among whom the Maronites are a striking example. The first colleges were founded in the mid-sixteenth century and tens of thousands of students passed through them until their closure in late eighteenth century. Only a handful survived the disruption of the French Revolutionary wars to re-emerge in the nineteenth century. Historians have long argued that these exile colleges played a prominent role in maintaining Catholic structures by supplying educated clergy equipped to deal with the challenges of their domestic churches. This has ensured that the Irish, English and Scots colleges in particular have a rich historiography laid out in the pages of Archivium Hibernicum, the Records of the Scots Colleges or the volumes published under the aegis of the Catholic Record Society in England. Until recently, however, their histories were considered in isolating confessional and national frameworks, with surprisingly little attempt to examine commonalities or connections. Recent research has begun to open up the topic by investigating the social, economic, cultural and material histories of the colleges. Meanwhile renewed interest in the history of early modern migration has encouraged historians to place the colleges within the vibrant migrant communities of Irish, English, Scots and others on the continent. The Introduction begins with a survey of the colleges. It assesses their historiographies, paying particular attention to the research of the last three decades. The introduction argues that an obvious next step is to examine the colleges in transnational and comparative perspectives. Finally, it introduces the volume's essays on Irish, English, Scots, Dutch, German and Maronite colleges, which provide up-to-date research by leading historians in the field and point to the possibilities for future research on this exciting topic.


Arts ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 86
Author(s):  
Artur Kolbiarz

The Vienna Academy was the most important art academy for German-speaking artists in the Baroque period. It shaped the development of art in the capital of the Habsburg monarchy as well as on its periphery, including in Silesia, yet the relationships between Silesian sculptors and painters and the Vienna Academy have been overlooked by scholars. Research in the Academy archives sheds light on a number of important issues related to the social, economic, and artistic aspects of the education and the subsequent activities of Vienna Academy alumni. Surviving student registers record the names of Silesian painters and sculptors studying in Vienna and offer insights into other aspects of education at the Academy.


2017 ◽  
Vol 25 (1) ◽  
pp. 166
Author(s):  
Serhii Petrovych Stelmakh

The external contexts related to historical science are considered: political, social, general cultural, educational, ideological, which had a significant influence on the formation of German historiography in the nineteenth century. Particular attention is paid to the role of state support in the development of historical higher education and science. It is emphasized that the historical science in Germany was of a clearly pronounced national character and became an important factor in the consolidation of the German nation. It is emphasized that the «historicism», which was based on idealistic German philosophy, was the theoretical and methodological basis for the development of German historical science. Historical research and study of history in educational institutions have become important components in the formation of German burghers, who served the German state and worked for the common good.


2010 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Pierluigi Chiassoni

The history of the Italian Republic has been a history of a remarkable cultural, social, economic, and legal progress for almost thirty years. Of course, many serious issues were left unattended (organized crime and the limits of political immorality rate among the foremost); but, on the whole, the balance was not so bad (our Constitution and our laws concerning judicature, divorce, abortion, and the national health service, for instance, were taken as examples by other European countries coming out from dictatorships and cultural depression). Terrorism, in the 1970s-1980s, was (taken as) a major drawback; in any case, terrorists on both extremes were finally, and utterly, defeated with the sole arms of the rule of law (no “special renditions”, no torture, no special military tribunals were resorted to as “necessary evils”, like in the dark global times following September 11), supported by a conscious and responsible civil society. The political establishment, however, did not grow up in morality, responsibility, and sense for the common good at the same pace of the most advanced sectors of civil society.


Author(s):  
Joseph Arthur Mann

The introduction discusses the historiography of early modern England, the history of printing and censorship in that period, and the characteristics of the various musical genres used during that period as vehicles for propaganda. It shows that individuals across the social spectrum could access musical propaganda. It also shows that government censorship had a significant impact on print output. Finally, it provides an overview of the book’s content and exposes the author’s perspective on determining the propaganda designation of individual works.


Author(s):  
W. B. Patterson

Long considered a distinctive English writer, Thomas Fuller (1608–1661) has not been recognized as the important historian he was. Fuller’s The Church-History of Britain (1655) was the first history of Christianity from its planting in ancient Britain to the mid-seventeenth century. Fuller’s History of the Worthies of England (1662) was, moreover, the first biographical dictionary in England. It seeks to represent noteworthy individuals in the context of their native counties. This book, Thomas Fuller: Discovering England’s Religious Past, highlights the fact that Fuller was a major contributor to the flowering of historical writing in early modern England. It provides a biography of Thomas Fuller, an account of the tumultuous times in which he lived, and a critical assessment of the origins, growth, and achievements of a new kind of history, a genre to which he made significant and lasting contributions. Memory is a central theme. Widely known for his own memory, Fuller sought to revive the memory of the English people concerning their religious and political past. By means of historical research involving records, books, personal interviews, and travels, he sought to discover his country’s religious past and to bring it to the attention of his fellow English men and women, who might thereby be enabled to rebuild their shattered Church and nation.


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