Early Modern Europe

Grazie all’esame in dettaglio dei contesti e a una strumentazione teorica che ne mette in luce la complessità delle implicazioni, uno studio che proviene prevalentemente dall’area della storia diplomatica (che queste pratiche specifiche non aveva sinora indagato sistematicamente) risulta offrire – anche ai cultori della storia e della morfologia della ludicità – uno sguardo assai consapevole e articolato sulla cultura festiva del Rinascimento, che fra gli altri scopi si propone di prendere le distanze da un’eccessiva enfasi sulla documentazione testuale lasciata da quella cultura, per indagarne più da vicino le dinamiche performative.

In 1599, Pope Clement VIII initiated an arbitration procedure between the King of France, Henry IV, and the Duke of Savoy, Charles Emmanuel I, over the supremacy of the Marquisate of Saluzzo, on the basis of a clause in the Peace of Vervins (1598). After a brief outline of the events surrounding the Marquisate in the second half of the sixteenth century, the chapter presents the contents of three Vatican manuscripts, which preserve a wealth of documentation on the arbitration procedure, and examines the main arguments put forward by the parties before the pope. The analysis highlights some of the references in this documentation to categories and principles developed by late medieval jurisprudence, in order to show the great importance of the latter in the discussion of an international dispute. The chapter concludes with a summary of the events that followed the failure of the arbitration until the Treaty of Lyons in 1601.

Rabbi Moses Zacuto was the most prominent rabbi and kabbalist in Italy in the second half of the 17th century. His outstanding lexical enterprise in the field of Kabbalah of the holy names (kabbalat hashemot) was also a substantial contribution to the field of practical Kabbalah (kabbalah maʽasit). The ms Moscow, Russian State Library, Guenzburg 1448 contains the initial phase of this endeavor-a short work titled A Commentary on a Few Names, which is the focus of this article. We open with a discussion of the manuscript and the place of the Commentary in it. We then present the tract and discuss its contents, the kind of interest that Zacuto had in holy names, his information sources, his use of them, and the link between this preliminary treatise and his larger and more developed lexicon, Alphabet of the Names. Finally, we offer an annotated translation of the Commentary.

This presentation seeks to demonstrate that scandals related to cases of corruption represent a crucial area of research for the early modern period. Particular attention is given to the Principality of Catalonia during the sixteenth, seventeenth, and eighteenth centuries, highlighting the significance of these phenomena in understanding broader political and social dynamics.

En partant de la prémisse réfléchir l’incommunicabilité du trauma mène à la constitution d’une mémoire post-traumatique et qu’exhiber les souffrances pour intégrer l’irréversibilité des événements traumatiques permet le deuil et la résilience, l'autrice tente de mettre en lumière certaines stratégies à l’œuvre dans une image précise des Histoire(s) du Cinéma de Jean-Luc Godard pour explorer le pouvoir du montage d’archives comme outil de réparation ainsi que la question du choix des images pour penser l’indicible et le trauma collectif.

Автор подає кілька версій  тлумачення  зображення «півмісяців» на лубочних картинках вигляду Батурина та Глухова орієнтовно початку ХVІІІ століття.  Метою  його розслідування стало  вивчення цього  феномену, непритаманного  архітектурній культурі України. Новизна студії полягає у  відкритті застосування подібних символів в архітектурній спадщині Гетьманщини.  За результатами дослідження згаданого досвіду, будівельних практик у  країнах Європи  дослідник дійшов  висновку, що насправді  шпилі будівель  прикрашали не півмісяцями, а півнями. Останні належали до шанованих християнських символів у багатьох країнах. У Московії  тієї доби  його використовували на поштових  станціях, на  банях церков деяких монастирів. Півники немовби закликали не зраджувати вірі, Богу.

Family history remains integral to historiography, with genealogy being one approach to its study. Markus Friedrich's monograph fits within this context. He examines the Nuremberg patrician Jakob Wilhelm Imhoff (1651-1728), whom he analyses from a history of knowledge perspective. He explores how Imhoff created and visualised genealogical knowledge, how it illuminated individual noble histories and the nobility as a social estate, and its significance in Europe's cultural, social and political history circa 1700. At the outset, it should be emphasised that the author masterfully succeeds in bringing out the complexity of genealogical knowledge production and its interconnection with European history. Friedrich's point of departure is the War of the Spanish Succession, which broke out following the death of Charles II, who left no male heirs. This »dynastic disaster« (3) and the ensuing genealogical debates in Madrid profoundly influenced Imhoff. In this light, the author traces the development of genealogy up to 1700. Chapter 2 situates the genealogist in his socio-cultural environment. Circa 1700 the imperial city of Nuremberg was a hub of literary production. The approximately 43 patrician families of the city served as »conduits of knowledge« (67). Imhoff's upbringing, family status, networks and access to resources enabled his largely autonomous genealogical research. At the same time, his membership in the patriciate provided him access to the nobility. Chapter 3 illustrates, therefore, Imhoff's collaboration with the nobility as his »prime source of knowledge« (77), both within and beyond Nuremberg. It becomes clear that his work contributed to consolidating individual dynastic identities and the nobility as a coherent estate. Chapter 4 shifts focus to Imhoff's extensive network, which included city councillors, diplomats, historians, genealogists, booksellers and librarians from the Holy Roman Empire, France, Florence, and Naples. Imhoff obtained his information from various »places of knowledge« (142), ranging from universities to council chambers, and synthesised it. Hence, Chapter 5 is devoted to his concrete working practices and how he processed genealogical information into »comprehensive narratives and visual representations« (171). In meticulous detail, the author traces how Imhoff located, organised, and visualised genealogical information, particularly through family trees and diagrams. Finally, Friedrich examines the material practices of the Nuremberg genealogist, such as printing, cutting, and writing

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This article analyses the petition and response process in late medieval Castile, focusing on petitions of grievance submitted to the Royal Council during the reign of Isabel I and Fernando II (r.1474–1504). Studies published in recent decades have revised our understanding of petitionary practices and their significance to systems of governance in medieval and early modern Europe. One persistent gap in this scholarship, however, concerns the ‘aftermath’ of petitioning — that is, the occurrences that followed the grant of petitions and the issuance of royal decrees in response. Drawing on the rich documentation that has survived from late fifteenth- and early sixteenth-century Castile, this article highlights the importance of studying the local spaces of interactions where beneficiaries of royal decrees tried to bring them into effect through acts of claims-making. The evidence from Castile is mobilized to illuminate the forms of negotiation and contestation that informed the presentations of ‘letters of justice’ issued by the Royal Council, the mechanisms used by the royal authority to enforce its commands, and the ways that factors such as speed, publicity and violence shaped the meanings petitioning assumed in different contexts of dispute. The analysis of petitioning bears implications for understanding royal power in the Castilian monarchy, drawing attention to a pattern of intensifying communications between the central royal government and non-elites. As they petitioned the Royal Council, thousands of Castilians sought empowerment in local disputes. At the same time, mass participation in the petitioning process played a major role in legitimizing royal power and furthering its embeddedness in the localities.

Open access on https://hdl.handle.net/2268/323988

This article looks at the profile and cultural background of the Florentine ambassador Averardo Serristori (1497-1569). Serristori was one of Como I de' Medici's most influential ambassadors: for over twenty years he represented Tuscan interests both at the papal court and with the Emperor Charles V. While the phenomenon of literary ambassadors was particularly widespread in early Cinquecento Italy, scholars who have studied Serristori have often described him as a scholar and a man of letters. A detailed analysis of his dispatches, however, qualifies this assertion. What is really true of his literary, linguistic and legal skills? Was Serristori the bearer of a humanist culture that set him apart from other Florentine diplomatic agents? Was it his ‘cultural baggage’ that led him to take on the role of ambassador?

This chapter investigates the auberges of the langues of the Order of St John in Valletta, Malta, in terms of their 16th-century Renaissance features, architectural models, and construction techniques. For this purpose, it analyses the Tuscan decorative models and the military features that are typical of the Order’s architecture. While austere in character, the auberges present similarities to palaces in the Italian capitals and also derive decorative elements from the architectural treatises of their time, in combination with the local tradition. Although the auberges have undergone major transformations over time, they are still the architectural expression of the Order’s power and magnificence. A comparative approach is adopted, using the Auberge of Italy as a case study. This investigation is part of a larger research project entitled ‘Stories of the Auberge of Italy’, carried out in collaboration between Heritage Malta, the University of Malta, and the Politecnico di Torino, and supported by the Malta Council for Science and Technology. Thanks to the recent archival research on this building, this study advances our knowledge of 16th-century architectural and construction techniques in Hospitaller Malta and identifies a clear construction chronology of the building, which until now was only tentative.

See the website: https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/edit/10.4324/9781003385349/military-orders-volume-viii-emanuel-buttigieg-clara-almagro-vidal

In the seventeenth century, Isaac Casaubon had been remembered by the Reformed scholarly community of North-Western Europe as a champion of learning against what was perceived as a disingenuous and philologically flawed interpretation of Catholic historical traditions. However, these religious propagandists did not keep the memory of Casaubon’s martyrdom alive singlehandedly: in this particular case, the oddity of the ‘monstrous bladder’ fascinated medical scholars throughout the seventeenth century, and was spread by humanistic and medical scholars rather than theologians. Casaubon’s ‘double bladder’ grew into a medical cause célèbre. Now forgotten, it kept alive the memory of Casaubon in the century following his death.

Orietta Da Rold and I have been investigating European paper preserved in the Cairo Genizah. So here’s a thread on what watermarks can tell us about how paper moved from Europe to Egypt in the Middle Ages and Early Modern period. Pictures taken at Cambridge University Library.

Friday, 15 November 2024 | Ingkarni Wardli 7.15 Conference Room
North Terrace campus, The University of Adelaide

Key Note Presentation: “Harnessing the Power of Youthful Beauty: Women and Cosmetic Culture in Early Modern Europe” | Erin Griffey, University of Auckland

Organisers: Claire Walker, Paula Plastić , and Grace Waye-Harris

The printing houses of Orthodox Confraternities and their schools were phenomena of the civil (bourgeois) society that have adopted European cultural influences – as even some Russian historians are of this opinion. In historiography, these processes of cultural development of the early modern era are named “confessionalization”, which took place on Polish, Ukrainian, and Lithuanian (in the broad sense) lands but never took place on Russian lands. Therefore, European civil culture has its roots in Ukrainian lands, while Russians need to study it as a foreign and non-local phenomenon. -- Confessionalization stays in the focus of the work because the earlier literature did not pay enough attention to it. The evolution of printing and the activity of the brotherhoods in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth are considered phenomena of Orthodox Confessionalization in the Rzeczpospolyta. Thus, the donating activity of Petro Mohyla was not merely providing his homeland with typographical equipment and staff, but also a phenomenon of Confessionalization. -- Consequences: we modify the concept of Piccio in this way: Slavia Muscovia and Slavia Europeana. For the European culture was a native culture of the peoples inhabited the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, even the East-Slavic Ruthenian peoples of the Rzeczpospolyta developed on the ways of the European cultural processes (see the case of Confessionalization), rooted in the European culture naturally, already in the heydays of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth in the 16-17 cc (Földvári, 2021.). The Muscovian culture was a different, foreign one; thus, even in the 18th century, Tsar Peter the Great forced his people to learn Europeanization, which was a strange phenomenon for them.

Convegno internazionale organizzato da Claudia D’Alberto (Università G. D’Annunzio di Chieti-Pescara) e Haude Morvan (Université Bordeaux Montaigne) presso l'École Française de Rome.
Il convegno internazionale "La corrispondenza fra Joseph Marie de Suarès e Francesco Barberini. Una fonte per la conoscenza del Papato medievale in epoca barocca" consente di mettere a fuoco l’interesse antiquariale che la Roma barocca aveva per il Papato medievale romano, avignonese e scismatico attraverso una figura ancora poco indagata dell’entourage di Francesco Barberini e Urbano VIII: Joseph- Marie de Suarès, in particolare al tempo del suo mandato arcivescovile a Vaison-La-Romaine (1633-1666).
L’approccio interdisciplinare dell’iniziativa scientifica a cavallo fra storia dell’arte e del collezionismo, paleografia e codicologia, filologia e storia è frutto di una collaborazione fra l’École française de Rome, l’Università degli studi "G. d’Annunzio" di Chieti-Pescara, l’Université Bordeaux Montaigne, la Sapienza Università di Roma, l’Université de Liège, L'École des hautes études en sciences sociales / Centre de recherches historiques, la Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana e l’Institut de recherche et d'histoire des textes.

Esattamente cinquecento anni fa, nel 1525, uscì a Venezia la prima traduzione italiana di Lutero. Che cosa significarono la Riforma e, soprattutto, la Controriforma per la Storia linguistica dell'Età Moderna?
Estratto integrale a disposizione per chi me lo chiede.

Traducción al español y edición crítica, con nota preliminar, aparato crítico y glosa final, a cargo de Julio A. Pardos y Miguel Ritchie, de la Lección Inaugural del historiador modernista inglés George Norman Clark (1890-1979) como 'Regius Professor' de Historia Moderna por la Universidad de Cambridge: 'Historical Scholarship & Historical Thought: An Inaugural Lecture Delivered at Cambridge on 16 May 1944' (Cambridge University Press, 1944).

Un terremoto, una erupción volcánica o una guerra han constituido siempre eventos traumáticos cuyas consecuencias resuenan en las sociedades que los vivieron y en las generaciones futuras. El presente monográfico tiene como objetivo analizar los modos en los que se construía, se experimentaba y se transmitía la memoria de estos acontecimientos a lo largo de la Edad Moderna. A partir del análisis de diversos casos de estudio, se enfatizan algunas de las características inherentes al proceso de construcción y comunicación del recuerdo, como su inevitable dinamismo a lo largo de tiempo. Además, se pone de relieve la subjetividad y la falta de neutralidad del fenómeno, puesto que tanto el recuerdo como el olvido respondían a objetivos concretos, dependientes de los intereses de los numerosos agentes que intervenían en su elaboración. Por último, se evidencia cómo la memoria de los acontecimientos traumáticos podía ser también la manifestación de conflictos latentes en la sociedad.

INSOCTEA III. Las dinamicas desarrolladas en el Aula-Laboratorio de Teatro Social UCM (INSOCTEA I-II) se ajustar a un marco de Investigacion Accion Participativa (IAP) que podria garantizar el aprendizaje de la sociologia del trabajo y el genero.

Le caractère public des funérailles des élites nobiliaires est un phénomène nouveau dans l’Europe de l’Ancien Régime. Ce phénomène est étroitement lié à la naissance et au développement de l’opinion publique et à la transformation de l’utilisation de l’espace urbain européen.

Par sa méthode globalisante et sa nature inter et pluri disciplinaire, à la croisée de l’histoire sociale, de l’histoire culturelle de l’art, de la musicologie urbaine et de l’anthropologie historique, le présent colloque vise à étudier l’histoire longue des pratiques culturelles funéraires destinées à l’affirmation et à la perpétuation du pouvoir. Il cherche ainsi à interroger, à partir de l’élément musical et sonore, la signification, la perception et la transformation de ces événements funèbres qui sont à l’origine de la ritualisation de l’espace urbain où se croisent les différentes couches de la société d’alors.

https://www.luigiboccherini.org/2024/10/01/the-theatre-of-death-noble-funerals-with-music-in-early-modern-europe/

From Antiquity onwards, the need to keep mines dry has given rise to the development of water-raising machines. In early modern Europe a series of technological innovations, such as suction-lift pumps, were pioneered underground. Mines were an ideal site for hydraulic experimentation for four reasons: the incentive to dig deeper, the availability of capital, the presence of a skilled workforce, and the cost of labour. The new hydraulic technologies developed in mines were deployed in the water supply systems of many European cities, abbeys, and courts, as illustrated by the example of the Free Imperial City of Augsburg, the career of Pilgram Marpeck, and the Falkenstein mine. Given the significance of this technological transfer and the sheer mass of water raised out of pits, which far exceeded the mass of ore extracted, this article makes the case for the technological and environmental significance of the extraction of water from early modern mines.

La conversión de las milicias medievales y de su evolución en unas fuerzas voluntarias y mercenarias, a un verdadero ejército de leva -formado por todos los ciudadanos del Estado-se produjo, en resumidas cuentas, a partir de la Revolución Francesa y quedó consolidado en el ejército nacional prusiano durante la unificación alemana. Así, la construcción del Estado nacional -como nos señala Hagen SCHULZE ( 35 )-tuvo mucho que ver en la imbricación conocida de los conceptos y realidades de patria, nación y Estado con los ejércitos que las defienden, conforman y, en cierto modo, representan. Este modelo contemporáneo, surgido en el siglo XIX, supuso el control, con mayores o menores dificultades, de la fuerza militar por el Parlamento y, por ello, con la voluntad soberana del pueblo y de sus gobiernos representativos, imitando el modelo británico.

Universidad de Valladolid-IUHS Facultad de Filosofía y Letras 3 y 4 de abril de 2025 ACTIVIDAD VINCULADA AL PROYECTO DE INVESTIGACIÓN "Mujeres, familia y sociedad. La construcción de la historia social desde la cultura jurídica (ss. XVI-XX)" (Ref. PID2020-117235GB-100) con la colaboración de la RED "Conflictos y resistencias en la Corona de Castilla, ss. XVI-XIX" (Ref. RED2022-134215-T), financiados por el Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades, y GIR Sociedad y conflicto desde la Edad Moderna a la Contemporaneidad.

Included on the following pages are all of Rembrandt’s supposed self-portraits, which, in reality, depict members of the House of Vasa of Poland—who married princesses from the House of Austria, the Habsburgs. This means that only two genuine self-portraits by Rembrandt remain. One is owned by Louis XIV’s Versailles: Self-Portrait (c. 1660) by Rembrandt van Rijn. The second is held at Kenwood House, London: Self-Portrait (c. 1665) by Rembrandt van Rijn.

Throughout his military career, Jacek Boratyński served in one formation – the winged hussars (husaria). Between 1666 and 1676, he was a companion (towarzysz) in two hussars’ banners (companies): initially in one of Aleksander Michał Lubomirski, Voivode of Krakow, then after 1668 in that of Jan Sobieski, Grand Marshal and Grand Crown (Polish) Hetman (since 1674 King John III). In 1676 he became lieutenant in the hussars’ banner of Jan Gniński, Voivode of Chełmno (since 1682 Crown Vice-Chancellor). In this capacity, as an officer of Polish lancers, he took part in Gniński’s mission to Istanbul (1677–1678) and in the relief operation of Vienna in 1683. He was part of the group of soldiers that were under patronage of Grand Crown Hetman Stanisław Jabłonowski. Between 1676 and 1696 (exact date unknown), Boratyński was one of the commanders in charge of the hetman’s cavalry regiment (pułk). Thanks to military service and patronage, especially of Gniński, he received land office ranks: first Cupbearer (cześnik) of Sanok, then Deputy Cupbearer (podczaszy) of Żydaczów. His military service offers a perfect benchmark for biographical studies of other crown officers of the same rank.

The requerimiento (requirement) was among the most famous legal instruments of Spanish colonization in the Americas, a legal ritual of conquest designed to both assert and legitimate rule over others. 1 Upon first contact with indigenous groups, invading parties would read a written statement

This paper investigates how the concept of otium (leisure, in the Latin literary tradition) was employed in the anticourt writings of Petrarch and Aeneas Silvius Piccolomini. The observations are grouped around the duality of humanist responses to the courtly place, which was often depicted as inconducive to leisure. As Petrarch and Piccolomini represented the court - from their workplaces to places of socialization and rest - they employed historical memories of ancient Rome to express the alienation they experienced as a result of the court's political and economic pressures. Nevertheless, images of Rome also enabled leisure to emerge from their descriptions of courtly places as a privileged social condition protected by ancient imperial memory. I suggest that the ambivalent formulation of leisure between these two humanists was ultimately driven by a utopic impulse, one which transformed otium from a solitary spiritual condition into a social and political ideal.

https://rowman.com/ISBN/9798881809065/Medievalia-et-Humanistica-No-50-Studies-in-Medieval-and-Renaissance-Culture-New-Series-50th-Edition

Este artigo pretende refletir acerca do discurso imagético presente no sermonário de Antônio Vieira. Mais precisamente: será enfocado o papel da imagem no sermão de ordem escolástica, que se ajusta à lógica de uma pragmática teológica cujo interesse repousa na canalização das indeterminações semânticas produzidas nessas imagens. No curso da análise, serão discutidas as noções de similitude e de participação, inerentes à metafísica cristã, que fundamentam a trama de alegorias engenhosamente tecida por Vieira.

Toledo * A Neapolitan painter, a dying king and a cardinal. Luca Giordano and the frescoes of the sacristy of the Cathedral of Toledo Leticia de Frutos (Ministerio de Educación, Cultura y Deporte) Resumen: Con este artículo quisiera proponer una nueva interpretación contextualizada a la decoración al fresco de la sacristía de la catedral de Toledo por parte de Luca Giordano. Los últimos años del reinado de Carlos II, marcados por la fragilidad de su salud y el temor a una sucesión no resuelta, la existencia de facciones y sobre todo, los deseos del cardenal Portocarrero, don Luis Fernández de Portocarrero (1635-1709), de controlar en la medida de lo posible al voluntad del rey, nos permiten proponer una interpretación más contextualizada de un encargo a un pintor del rey llamado de Italia, Luca Giordano, que aún trabajaba en la decoración del Buen Retiro, en un espacio no dependiente de la Corona: los frescos de la sacristía de la catedral de Toledo. ¿A qué respondía esta decisión? ¿Por qué emplear al pintor de cámara del rey en un espacio ajeno al ceremonial regio? ¿A qué se debía este encargo en la catedral y, además en Toledo?

La asignatura de Historia de España es una materia común en Segundo de Bachillerato. Es una asignatura crucial para la formación en valores ciudadanos de los alumnos, así como en su aprendizaje sobre la historia reciente del país. Dicha asignatura recoge en gran medida elementos curriculares ya tratados en las asignaturas de Geografía e Historia de la Educación Secundaria Obligatoria, así como otras de la especialidad de Ciencias Sociales durante el Bachiller.
El teatro como herramienta didáctica puede fomentar la creatividad, la expresión emocional, la indagación en el pasado y el trabajo en equipo de los alumnos. A través de la teatralización y la representación histórica, los alumnos pueden desarrollar sus habilidades comunicativas, la empatía y el pensamiento crítico. Esta metodología favorece un aprendizaje interdisciplinar que conecta la literatura, la Historia y las artes, además de favorecer la educación integral y cívica de los alumnos.
El presente trabajo plantea una actividad lúdica alejada de la memorística, donde los alumnos deberán representar una escena ambientada en las Guerras Carlistas en Cataluña durante el siglo XIX. Para ello se van a tener en cuenta los centros de interés, los niveles de motivación de los alumnos, la recreación histórica y la dramatización como canalización de las emociones.
Con esta propuesta se pretende inculcar el gusto por la lectura y el aprecio a la memoria y al patrimonio local, en tanto que el alumno conoce los hechos de nuestro pasado a través de una aproximación a las fuentes históricas escritas que le sea atractiva y amena.
Palabras clave: Centros de Interés, Teatro, Recreación histórica, Patrimonio histórico, Siglo XIX, Didáctica de la Historia, Historia de España, Carlismo.

Interpersonal contacts of Old Polish traveling clergyman in the 18th century

The text presents different types of interpersonal contacts in the course of the journey based on Polish clergymen’s travel reports from the 18th century. The clergy establish numerous contacts primarily with other encountered travelers of their state. Also, information about meetings with peregrines and people on subsequent stages of the journey can be found. Interesting, contacts include Poles and important people of that time. It is important to em -phasize the assertiveness of clergy travelers and their openness towards representatives of foreign nations.

Analysing a struggle for neutrality amid a rapidly changing European scene, this book illustrates how the small state of Tuscany cunningly managed to preserve its sovereignty and independence during a dangerous diplomatic dispute with England.

Endangered Neutrality follows the actions of William Plowman (1660-?), who sparked the dispute, and those of two of the main characters of the story, Iacopo Giraldi (1663-1738), Tuscan ambassador to England, and Lambert Blackwell (d.1727), English envoy to Tuscany. Through these privileged points of view, the reader is plunged into the highest levels of European politics and diplomacy of the period.

This book offers a radically new approach to the study of Tuscan history, particularly in relation to the reign of Cosimo III de’ Medici. It underlines the weakness of the concept of the ‘small state’, showing how Tuscany managed openly to confront a much more powerful country such as England. Tuscany built a ‘system of neutrality’ which, leveraging the economic importance of the Mediterranean trade routes and of the port of Livorno, allowed the Grand Duchy to preserve its independence. Analysis of the case also offers a unique perspective on the functioning of the Tuscan and English diplomatic corps, assessing the impact of the Glorious Revolution on English diplomatic capabilities. Special attention is devoted to the importance of symbolism in diplomatic practice and to the role of trade and public opinion in resolving international disputes.

Johann Martin Matteus was born in 1620 likely in Limburg, Germany. Unlike most of his contemporaries, Martin is very well documented and told his own story in detail. He was a victim of the destructive 30 Years War where 50% or more of the people in that region of Germany were killed. One of the casualties was the Limburg Church and Martin made it his mission to seek funds for its restoration. This idea would see Martin engage in extreme perambulations through Germany and as far as Sweden (the King being the Prince of the Rhineland Palatinate region of Germany). Martin was successful in his efforts but at a cost where for example he broke his arm in a shipboard incident. He was arrested at some point and had to prove that he was not stealing funds from citizens who he duped. Martin showed that he was on a mission approved by the Church Minister and that he was allowed to keep one third of the monies he collected. In one of his missives sent home, he gave greetings to various family members and noted that he wished to use the funds available to build a home for his daughter Christiana in Dunzweiler. A stocking knitter by trade, he and his children boarded a ship bound for New York and was known as the oldest of the migrants - although the records show that he was "only" 88 years old when he boarded the ship. He was still alive in 1716/17 when Simmindinger made his list of those residing in the Schoharie settlements - his age given as 110 years old. In fact he was 96 - a ripe old age but not over 100. He died sometime after the 1717 listing - but at this point one cannot provide an age at death. What is undeniable is that he lived a very long and eventful life.

The spread of hastiliudi (military competitions) in the Rus’ is an un- explored issue in modern medieval studies. A comprehensive analysis of Rus‘ian and European sources shows that Ruthenian warriors were good at jousting and military competitions. The study indicates that the Rus’ian term игра (igra) is the equivalent of the Latin hastiludium. The first mention of hastiludium in Kyiv dates back to 1150, but it refers to competitions between Hungarian warriors. In the middle of the 13th century, the first hastiludi were recorded, in which Ruthe- nian princes took part. At the same time, during the reign of the Romanovids dynasty, there were successful military campaigns in Europe. This influenced the emergence of the image of the Ruthenian king as an active participant in tourna- ment competitions in European literary works. Since the 14th century, Ruthenian warriors have been participating in the Hungarian and Polish kingdoms’ hastiludi. This paper opened a new perspective on the spread of jousting culture in Rus‘ and defined the image of Rus’ warriors as skilled in European tournaments.