Riot, Sodomy, and Minions

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kit Heyam
Keyword(s):  
Early Modern ◽  
History Of Sexuality ◽  
History Of ◽  
Sex With Men

This chapter establishes the value of Edward II’s reputation as a case study for the history of sexuality. I discuss the importance of ambiguous sexualpolitical vocabulary to the articulation of Edward II’s transgressions: terms that allowed medieval and early modern writers to suggest that Edward did engage in sex with men, but provided an element of plausible deniability for this politically sensitive claim. The texts that constitute Edward II’s historiographical reputation therefore also constitute a corpus that allows us to assess how writers strategically deployed this ambiguous sexual vocabulary, as well as how they negotiated that ambiguity and encouraged specific interpretations at different moments.

GLOSSING THE GLOSS: READING PETER LOMBARD’SCOLLECTANEAON THE PAULINE EPISTLES AS A HISTORICAL ACT

Traditio ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 73 ◽  
pp. 83-116
Author(s):  
PETER O'HAGAN
Keyword(s):  
Early Modern ◽  
Biblical Text ◽  
Classroom Activity ◽  
New Approach ◽  
Central Focus ◽  
Recent Scholarship ◽  
Pauline Epistles ◽  
History Of ◽  
Extended Analysis

Peter Lombard's influential commentary on the Pauline Epistles, theCollectanea in omnes divi Pauli epistolas,has received little extended analysis in scholarly literature, despite its recognized importance both in its own right and as key for the development of hisSentences.This article presents a new approach to studying theCollectaneaby analyzing how Lombard's commentary builds on theGlossa “Ordinaria”on the Pauline Epistles. The article argues for treating theCollectaneaas a “historical act,” focusing on how Lombard engages with the biblical text and with authoritative sources within which he encounters the same biblical text embedded. The article further argues for the necessity of turning to the manuscripts of both theCollectaneaand theGlossa,rather than continuing to rely on inadequate early modern printed editions or thePatrologia Latina.The article then uses Lombard's discussion of faith at Romans 1:17 as a case study, demonstrating the way in which Lombard begins from theGlossa,clarifies its ambiguities, and moves his analysis forward through his use of otherauctoritatesand theologicalquaestiones.A comparison with Lombard's treatment of faith in theSentenceshighlights the close links between Lombard's biblical lectures and this later work. The article concludes by arguing that scholastic biblical exegesis and theology should be treated as primarily a classroom activity, with the glossed Bible as the central focus. Discussion of Lombard's work should draw on much recent scholarship that has begun to uncover the layers of orality within the textual history of scholastic works.

Portuguese Jews in Amsterdam: An Insight on Entrepreneurial Behaviour in the Dutch Republic

2008 ◽  
pp. 15-32
Author(s):  
Cátia Antunes
Keyword(s):  
Early Modern ◽  
Early Modern Period ◽  
Business Strategies ◽  
Social Boundaries ◽  
Dutch Republic ◽  
Trade Routes ◽  
Entrepreneurial Behaviour ◽  
History Of ◽  
Definition Of

This chapter provides a case study of the entrepreneurship of Portuguese Jewish merchants in the Dutch Republic in the Early Modern period. Though similar case studies exist, none have focused specifically on Jewish entrepreneurs. The core aim is to determine which business strategies and values the Jewish entrepreneurs shared with their Dutch counterparts. It provides a history of the Portuguese Jewish community in Amsterdam, followed by a definition of the early modern entrepreneur. It then examines the trade routes, products, range of trading capital, and social networks of the Portuguese Jewish entrepreneurs, and concludes that Portuguese Jewish and Dutch merchants operated their businesses in similar ways, but Portuguese Jewish merchants were willing to step out of their religious and social boundaries in pursuit of a stronger economic position and were able to do so through financial support gained by dealing in diverse, high quality trade.

Beyond Sexual Mimesis

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kit Heyam
Keyword(s):  
Early Modern ◽  
Edward Ii ◽  
History Of ◽  
Sex With Men ◽  
Anal Penetration

This chapter investigates how a consensus developed that Edward II was murdered by anal penetration with a red-hot spit. I question its interpretation by scholars as a self-evidently sexually mimetic, punitive murder method: in fact, the earliest accounts of this murder present it primarily as painful, torturous, and undetectable through outward inspection. Importantly, too, these earliest accounts emerge before the formation of a consensus on whether Edward’s transgressions were sexual, let alone whether they specifically constituted sex with men. This analysis prompts a reassessment of the place of this narrative in the history of queer sexuality, and of the murder scene in Marlowe’s Edward II, while also further illuminating the literary priorities of medieval and early modern chroniclers.

scholarly journals Through the Walls of Time: A Short Reflection on Writing Early Modern Intellectual History

Zutot ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 31-38
Author(s):  
Irene Zwiep
Keyword(s):  
Early Modern ◽  
Intellectual History ◽  
Analytical Tool ◽  
History Of Ideas ◽  
Modern Concept ◽  
Historical Interpretation ◽  
Jewish Historiography ◽  
Short Piece ◽  
History Of

This short piece takes a longstanding problem from the history of ideas, viz. the use of contemporary concepts in descriptions of past phenomena, and discusses its implications for broader intellectual history. Scholars have argued that being transparent about anachronism can be a first step towards solving the issue. I would argue, however, that it may actually interfere with proper historical interpretation. As a case study, we shall explore what happens when a modern concept like ‘culture’ is applied to pre-modern intellectual processes. As the idea of cultural transfer is prominent in recent Jewish historiography, we will focus on exemplary early modern intermediary Menasseh ben Israel, and ask ourselves whether his supposed ‘brokerage’ (a notion taken from twentieth-century anthropology) brings us closer to understanding his work. As an alternative, I propose ‘bricolage,’ again a central analytical tool in modern anthropology but, as I hope to show, one with unexpected hermeneutical potential.

Pierre-Jean-Baptiste Chomel (1671–1740): A Case Study in Problems Relating to the Social Status of Scientists in the Early Modern Period

1986 ◽  
Vol 19 (3) ◽  
pp. 301-322
Author(s):  
David Sturdy
Keyword(s):  
Early Modern ◽  
Early Modern Period ◽  
Scientific Activity ◽  
Social Mechanisms ◽  
Modern Period ◽  
The Social ◽  
The World ◽  
History Of ◽  
Practice Of Science

Consider this statement: the practice of science influences and is influenced by the civilization within which it occurs. Or again: scientists do not pursue their activities in a political or social void; like other people, they aspire to make their way in the world by responding to the values and social mechanisms of their day. Set in such simple terms, each statement probably would receive the assent of most scholars interested in the history of science. But there is need for debate on the nature and extent of the interaction between scientific activity and the civilization which incorporates it, as there is on the relations of scientists to the society within which they live. This essay seeks to make a contribution mainly to the second of these topics by taking a French scientist and academician of the eighteenth century and studying him and his family in the light of certain questions. At the end there will be a discussion relating those questions or themes to the wider debate. There is an associated purpose to the exercise: to present an account of the social origins and formation of Pierre-Jean-Baptiste Chomel (botanist, physician and member of the Academic des Sciences) which will augment our knowledge of this particular savant.

Queer Public History in Small-Town Wisconsin

2019 ◽  
Vol 41 (2) ◽  
pp. 70-93
Author(s):  
Christopher Hommerding
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Identity ◽  
Public History ◽  
Small Town ◽  
History Of Sexuality ◽  
Historic Site ◽  
History Of ◽  
Ways Of Thinking

This essay examines the interpretation of the lives and work of two queer men, Robert Neal and Edgar Hellum, at the Pendarvis Historic Site in the small town of Mineral Point, Wisconsin. Using this interpretation as a case study, the essay addresses how public historians might more fully incorporate the history of sexuality into historic site interpretative models. It suggests a number of strategies for helping visitors think critically about the history of sexuality and how our current understandings of sexual identity are not always useful or accurate ways of thinking about queer pasts.

FromSaturatoSatyre:François Rabelais and the Renaissance Appropriation of a Genre*

2014 ◽  
Vol 67 (2) ◽  
pp. 377-424 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bernd Renner
Keyword(s):  
Early Modern ◽  
Theoretical Development ◽  
Francois Rabelais ◽  
Menippean Satire ◽  
Field Of Study ◽  
Ideal Case ◽  
Popular Theater ◽  
Formal Development ◽  
History Of

AbstractRenaissance satire has long been a neglected field of study, which is most likely due to the difficulty decoding its targets, to its nonliterary utilitarian purpose, and to the menace of invective that always hovers over the satirical metagenre. This study aims at two objectives: to retrace the formal development of early modern satire by showing how the blending of four disparate traditions — Romansatura,Greek satyr play, Menippean satire, and medieval popular theater — created a form that not only dominated the period, but also laid the groundwork for the development of the modern variants of satire. This pivotal moment in the history of satire then gives way to the second objective: a concrete illustration of this theoretical development in the four authentic Pantagrueline chronicles of François Rabelais, an ideal case study that will considerably enhance the understanding of early modern satire in all its implications and intricacies.

Introduction

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kit Heyam
Keyword(s):  
Early Modern ◽  
Early Modern England ◽  
Literary Texts ◽  
Historical Narratives ◽  
Medieval History ◽  
Edward Ii ◽  
Sexual Transgression ◽  
History Of ◽  
Insight Into

This introduction discusses the reputation of King Edward II (1307–1327) in medieval and early modern England, and the implications of this reputation beyond its immediate relevance to scholars of Edward II’s reign and afterlife: as a case study for the history of sex and the changing vocabulary of sexual transgression; as a source of positive depictions of love between men; as a paradigmatic exemplum for discussions of favouritism and deposition, and thereby a case study providing insight into the early modern use of medieval history; as a means of developing our understanding of literary texts such as Marlowe’s Edward II; and as a process that illuminates the literary nature of medieval and early modern historical narratives.

Calvinism and Literature

2020 ◽  
pp. 94-114
Author(s):  
Mark S. Sweetnam
Keyword(s):  
Early Modern ◽  
Recent Work ◽  
John Donne ◽  
George Herbert ◽  
Early Modern Europe ◽  
Critical History ◽  
The Face ◽  
History Of ◽  
Modern Europe

Calvinists wrote indefatigably, flooding early modern Europe with sermons and commentaries, theological treatises and works of polemic. But for some critics, early modern Calvinism has seemed fundamentally inimical to the production of literature in any form. These views have retreated in the face of recent work, which has highlighted—or, at any rate, acknowledged—the Calvinism of some significant authors. These efforts have been most sustained where the poetry of John Donne and George Herbert is concerned. The critical history of these two poets provides us with an excellent, if not altogether encouraging, case study in the search for a Calvinist poetic.

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