Early Modern Intellectual History

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 chapter discusses the impact of humanism, the reformation and the counter reformation on early modern institutions of education, with a particular focus on central Europe and the Iberian peninsula. The institutional landscape was in broad terms largely the same across
Europe: a secondary tier prepared students for a tertiary education based
on scholastic and humanist learning, rooted in a productive combination
of Greco-Roman and Christian traditions, which were also shaped in many
ways by Arabic and Jewish scholarship. Latin was important as a European lingua franca, despite the rise of Italian in the sixteenth century and French in the seventeenth century. What is particularly striking is the high number of schools. With the overarching frames of Christendom and
classical tradition ensuring a common frame of reference, learning might have appeared conservative locally, but from a bird’s-eye view, the educational landscape was rich and variegated, creating a relatively open market for ideas.

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.

Badr al Dīn al Ghazīy's rhymed exegesis book of the Quran, titled "Taysīr Al Bayān fī Tafsīr Al Quran", is regarded as one of the most important rhymed forms of exegesis composed in the first half of the 10th century. He began with an interesting introduction that included definitions of several Quranic science terms, and then he presented his perspective on the Istiʿāḏa and basmalla rules. Before proceeding to interpret the Quran in its entirety, beginning with Al-Fatiha and concluding with Al-Nās in eighty thousand lines, as stated at the end of the Naẓm. Despite the fact that this Tafsīr, is one of the largest and most important Rhymed exegesis of the Quran available, it has not been subjected to serious study and is still in manuscript form. This is what prompted me to write about the approach of Imām Badr al Dīn al Ghazīy in his Exegesis. The study consists of an introduction and four chapters. In the introduction the significance of the topic, the research problem of the topic, the method of study, the reasons for choosing the topic, its objectives, and a literature review were discussed. In chapter one, I attempt to provide a political, economic, social, and intellectual overview of Damascus in the 16th century, the era in which the author lived. Also, the biography of Badr al Dīn al Ghazīy and his writings, as well as an overview of his work entitled Taysiru al-Tibyān fi Tafsiri al-Qur'an were given in this chapter. While the second chapter investigates Taysiru al-Tibyān fi Tafsiri al-Qur'an in terms of transmission-based exegesis (Riwāya), the third chapter provides a thorough examination of the Taysiru al-Tibyān in terms independent opinion exegesis (Dirāya). The fourth chapter evaluates the characteristics of Taysiru al-Tibyān in terms of Qur'anic sciences.

In Liberty as Independence, Quentin Skinner narrates the fortunes of two rival views of liberty: liberty as independence and liberty as absence of restraint. For proponents of liberty as independence, the most important question is not whether "you are able to choose or act freely", but instead whether you are "a free person, someone who is not subject to the arbitrary power of any other person or institution within civil society or the state" (3). Skinner argues that this was the dominant understanding of liberty throughout much seventeenth-and eighteenth-century anglophone thought, to the degree that it "had come to be almost universally accepted" by the time of the 1688 revolution in England ( ). Yet only a century later it was eclipsed by a new view of liberty as absence of physical or coercive restraints, which was propagated largely in response to the worries about democracy sparked by the French and American revolutions. By the end of the eighteenth century, Skinner contends, the ideal of liberty as independence was "banished to the margins of political debate", only to be kept alive by some socialist and Marxist thinkers in the early decades of the nineteenth century (8). Skinner's narrative unfolds across five main parts (each consisting of two chapters). The early parts chart the ascendency of liberty as independence. Skinner examines the influence of classical Roman authors (especially Cicero, Sallust, Livy, and Tacitus), Italian humanist treatises on republican government (such as Machiavelli's Discourses on Livy), and the legal tradition based upon the Roman Digest, all of which shaped the way liberty was understood and debated in early modern English thought. In the middle of the seventeenth century, proponents of liberty as independence all agreed that freedom could be secured only by living under the rule of law. Some, such as Marchamont Nedham and John Milton, argued that liberty as independence further required the sovereignty of the people (via their representatives in the House of Commons), while others, such as James Harrington, rejected this institutional implication in favour of a mixed constitution. Following the 1688 revolution, the ideal of liberty as independence was championed in John Locke's Two Treatises of Government (1690) and

Following the current state of the art, the afterlife of Vesuvian cities began when official excavation of Herculaneum and Pompeii has been launched in 1738 and 1748, respectively. Nevertheless, some contributions have demonstrated that the Vesuvian area has been investigated in earlier centuries from a historical and protoarchaeological point of view. Literary sources testifies that parts of ancient monuments of Pompeii were visible during the early modern period and from 1592 to 1600 a few paintings, inscriptions, and architectural blocks have been found during the construction of the Canale di Sarno under the direction of the architect Domenico Fontana, just to name a few examples.
To what extent were the Vesuvian lost cities (un)known before the archaeological excavations? How could be narrated the history, and the myth of the Vesuvian lost cities before the “discovery”?
Placing the history of disasters in dialogue with the history of the discovery of the past, VeLoCi project, funded by the Italian Ministry of the University, aims to innovate narratively the history of the Vesuvius lost cities by carrying out a systematic investigation of the iconographic, textual and material sources before the archaeological excavations.
This panel collects four papers presented by members of the research team and is premised to share the mid-term results of the two years project. Each paper is dedicated to a theme investigated in the research: 1. the analysis of protoarchaeological evidence for the knowledge of the territory; 2. the role of textual sources for the creation of the imaginary; 3. the study of topographical sources and maps to reconstruct the landscape before the excavations; 4. the collection and display of ancient material evidence for the public memory.

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.

This book presents the first-ever English translation of 'The Open Door to Hidden Paganism', one of the earliest and most detailed studies of South Indian Hinduism. Written in 1651 by Abraham Rogerius, a Dutch East India Company clergyman and missionary, it offers an unexpectedly balanced account of the customs and traditions of the South Indian Brahmins. This made it a cornerstone of early European Indology.

Для Гетьманщини XVIII століття було переломним, бо тогочасні події різко змінили подальшу долю українського народу, його політичний, соціальноекономічний, культур ний та духовний розвиток. Це був період остаточної втрати автономії. Ці трагічні події відбувалися на тлі формування нової української еліти Гетьманщини. У зв'язку з цим Ро сійська імперія прагнула підпорядкувати не лише політичне та соціальноекономічне жит тя, але й приватне, особисте життя козацької старшини -тогочасної еліти суспільства, уніфікувавши його відповідно до великоросійських зразків. Одним із актуальних напрямків досліджень вітчизняної історичної науки є соціальна історія, зокрема повсякденність, тобто вивчення неофіційного, приватного, побутового життя людей різних історичних епох. У зв'язку з цим актуальності набувають питання суспільних норм, світоглядних орієнтирів, буденної поведінки козацької еліти Гетьман щини. У працях деяких науковців певні акспекти окресленої теми знайшли висвітлення. Се ред авторів варто назвати праці відомих дослідників: українського -О. Левицького й польського -Й Ролле 1 . У їхніх студіях ідеться про сімейних побут у XVI-XVIII ст. в Ліво бережній та Правобережній Україні, а також про конфлікти в українському соціумі, ви кликані різними причинами. Серед сучасних істориків слід зазначити глибокі й ґрунтовні дослідження Л.

Abū ‘l-Fatḥ al-Tūnisī (d. 1576) was a North African Mālikī jurist, Ṣūfī, and, for some, a brazen bon vivant in early Ottoman Damascus. A prominent postclassical (early modern) poet and controversial scholar, he left behind a largely obscure poetic legacy, especially his poems on coffee (qahwiyyāt). The latter were composed in Damascus to defend and celebrate this drink at the peak of the great coffee controversy. Abū ‘l-Fatḥ al-Tūnisī’s qahwiyyāt provides a nuanced perspective, both communal and personal, on the historical debate surrounding coffee consumption and coffeehouses establishment in the late fifteenth century and throughout the sixteenth century in the Islamic world, particularly in the Ottoman context. Drawing on Simon Leese’s examination of Arabic tobacco poetry, the article contends that Abū ‘l-Fatḥ was an “arbiter of the senses and of sensory experiences” who brilliantly transformed a predominantly polemical religious-legal discourse into a subject of poetic and interpoetic experimentation.

Dans l’Essai sur l’origine des connaissances humaines, Condillac propose une doctrine de la réminiscence fort originale, mais qui n’est pas dépourvue de difficultés. Pour rendre raison de ces difficultés, il convient de revenir sur les sources des thèses de Condillac, et notamment sur ses sources cartésiennes, qui doublent l’influence bien connue de l’Essay de Locke. On verra ainsi que l’analyse condillacienne de la réminiscence constitue un jalon essentiel dans la postérité du cogito cartésien, et cela notamment à propos de la double interrogation sur l’unité et l’identité du moi qui caractérise la réception du cogito à partir de la fin du xviie siècle.

https://shs.cairn.info/revue-les-etudes-philosophiques-2022-3-page-131?lang=fr&tab=texte-integral


In Essay on the Origin of Human Knowledge, Condillac proposes a doctrine of reminiscence that is highly original, but also highly ambiguous. In order to clarify these difficulties, it is necessary to revisit the sources of Condillac’s theses, and in particular his Cartesian sources, which add to the well-known influence of Locke’s Essay. In this paper we will show that Condillac’s analysis of reminiscence is an essential milestone in the posterity of the Cartesian cogito, particularly with regard to the dual questioning of the unity and identity of the self that characterized the reception of the cogito at the end of the seventeenth century.

Il piccolo principe di Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, pubblicato nel 1943, è uno dei libri più celebri e significativi della letteratura del XX secolo. La sua trama, pur essendo apparentemente semplice, si snoda su più livelli, permettendo a lettori di diverse età di trovarvi una molteplicità di significati e riflessioni.
La storia inizia con il narratore, un aviatore, che racconta di un incidente aereo che lo costrinse a schiantarsi nel deserto del Sahara. Mentre tenta di riparare il suo velivolo, il narratore incontra un bambino, un piccolo principe che proviene da un altro pianeta, chiamato l'asteroide B-612. Il piccolo principe è un ragazzo curioso e intelligente, ma anche solitario, che ha intrapreso un lungo viaggio attraverso vari pianeti, ognuno dei quali è abitato da figure che incarnano diverse caratteristiche dell’essere umano: un re che comanda su nulla, un vanitoso che chiede ammirazione, un ubriacone che beve per dimenticare la vergogna di bere, un uomo d’affari che conta le stelle come se fossero un possesso da vendere, un lampionaio che obbedisce ciecamente a ordini senza comprendere il loro significato, un geografo che non conosce il mondo che descrive, e infine un contabile che non si interessa alla bellezza delle cose, ma solo ai numeri.

It is o en through the textual corpus of Hindu law or dharmashastra, especially the Manavadharmashastra, that issues of caste enter current-day discussions. 1 is was also the case in pre-colonial south Asia where, as noted by Donald Davis, text-based discussions in dharmashastra reveal a 'stable articulation of caste' . Such stability may not be found in practical life, however. As demonstrated by Cynthia Talbot for medieval south India, caste identities could be uid, entangled with other identities that could -and o en did -take precedence. 2 Caste thus appears to be simultaneously a well-de ned and explicit as well as a disputed and opaque phenomenon. Dharmashastra presents caste as a dyadic organizational unit of society consisting of varna -the subsuming category for the 'integration of varying [social] sub-systems' tied closely to notions of ritual status; and jati -exogamous and endogamous kinship relations subsumed within varna. It is in these discussions that the obligations and prerogatives of the four varnas -brahman, kshatriya, vaishya and shudra (in ranked order) -and the multiple jatis were expounded and defended. And, taken as a whole, these discussions provide the authoritative account of the law of varna and the stages of life (varnashrama-dharma) that continue to be cited till today. e many contemporary studies of caste through the lens of the dharmasastra have resulted in a substantial understanding of the jurisprudential life of caste. But what of its philosophical life? Philosophical aspects of caste were debated in many knowledge systems of premodern south Asia. And some of these debates, as discussed by Prabal Kumar Sen and also Pradeep Gokhale (see Chapter 1), were shared across systems, such as the concern about whether each varna expressed a speci c universal property (brahman-ness, kshatriya-ness, vaishya-ness, shudra-ness) and whether these universals were perceptible and veri able. is chapter examines part of the philosophical life of caste that has remained unstudied. Focusing on the sixteenth to eighteenth centuries, this chapter explores the use of caste -speci cally, the use of varna -by philosophers of logic and epistemology (nyayashastra) to argue for certain conclusions about the ability to attain spiritual liberation (moksha) and the eligibility to study nyayashastra. Nyayashastra is a system of knowledge concerned primarily with issues in logic, metaphysics and epistemology framed by a commitment to philosophical realism. It has a long textual

Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business © 2022 selection and editorial matter, Shonaleeka Kaul; individual chapters, the contributors The right of Shonaleeka Kaul to be identified as the author of the editorial material, and of the authors for their individual chapters, has been asserted in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.

In 1972 Italo Calvino published the book Invisible Cities, encouraging a reflection on modern megalopolises starting from the reactivation of the imaginary arising from the memory of historical cities. In the paragraph Cities and Memory 3, the writer observed that "The city does not tell its past, it contains it like the lines of a hand, written in the corners of the streets, in the grilles of the windows, in the handrails of the stairs, in the antennas of the lightning rods, in the poles of the flags", underlining how the knowledge of a city passes through the discovery of material elements (space) and immaterial elements (history). More recently, Salvatore Settis (Se Venezia muore, 2014) postulated that "Cities die in three ways: when they are destroyed by a ruthless enemy (like Carthage, which was razed to the ground by Rome in 146 BC); when a foreign people settles there by force, driving out the natives and their gods (like Tenochtitlan, the capital of the Aztecs that the Spanish conquistadores destroyed in 1521 and then built Mexico City on its ruins); or, finally, when the inhabitants lose their memory of themselves, and without even realizing it become strangers to themselves, enemies of themselves. This was the case of Athens". Many cities, all over the world, have disappeared over the centuries, abandoned -but perhaps never forgotten -, destroyed by natural disasters or buried under new urban layers (Teotihuacán, Chichén Itzá, Copàn, Tulum, Angkor, Petra, Rome, Pompeii, Herculaneum, Brescia), re-emerging for different reasons. Fascinating historians, explorers, archaeologists, architects and artists, the 'lost cities' -both literally and metaphorically -have continued to exist in literary sources, descriptions, chronicles and sometimes in iconographic representations. Pompeii and Herculaneum are two of the most famous cities that disappeared due to natural disasters. Although according to The two-day conference, organized by Giulia Ceriani Sebregondi, Francesca Mattei and Danila Jacazzi, is promoted as part of the dissemination activities of the PRIN 2022 research project "VeLoCi -The Vesuvian Lost Cities before the 'Discovery'. Sources, Experience, Imagery in Early Modern Period" at the end of its duration and will be hosted at the University of Campania "Luigi Vanvitelli", in Caserta. VeLoCi will organise and pay for accommodation and reimburse travel costs (economy class) for the speakers. At the end of the conference, the publication of some contributions in a peer-reviewed collective volume will be evaluated. Scientific and organisational secretariat by Giorgia Aureli and Giorgia Pietropaolo.

Camp Douglas existed from September 1861 through early 1866, when the military decommissioned it. During this time, the camp grew to encompass 60 acres located on the southern outskirts of Chicago where it served as a recruitment and training center and, later, beginning in February 1862, a Confederate POW facility. Before the end of 1865, the federal government began auctioning off camp structures and materials, and thereafter, the camp began to fade from physical view, while Northern interests actively sought to expunge Camp Douglas, as well as other federal POW camps, from popular memory. The erasure of the camp was all but complete by the early twentieth-first century, when a group of individuals formed the Camp Douglas Restoration Foundation, Inc., in order to tell the story of the camp and determine if subsurface remains of the site existed. Since 2012, the foundation has sponsored 11 archaeological investigations of the camp. These excavations, which relied on volunteers drawn from the public, exposed camp deposits, raised public awareness about the site, and highlighted the site's connection to twentieth-century events, while demonstrating that developed urban areas may harbor significant archaeological remains. The results of the archaeological research reaffirm that Camp Douglas is a significant Chicago site whose story is worth investigating and telling.

This September we will hold the conference concluding our project on #Tacitism in the Historical Institute of the Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw. If you are working on early-modern political thought, and/or reception of the Latin classics, please be invited!
Please send your abstracts before 15 April 2025 to TacitismConference@proton.me

The scholarship on the last days (ākhir al-zamān) has predominantly centered around religious and historical texts, leaving out the rich mystical sources within Shia culture. This study aims to fill this gap by investigating Islamic mysticism from the second to the tenth century AH, written in Persian and Arabic. By delving into these mystical writings, this research intends to shed light on the transformative impact of discussions in the last days and the way mystics approached this subject. The overlooked evolution of these writings remains significant for grasping the continued relevance of discussions on the last days in contemporary Shia society and other religions. The research suggests that discussions surrounding the concept of the last days have been a source of considerable debate among mystics dating back to the first mystical tradition, with these interpretations often incorporating elements from several religions, becoming more intricate in subsequent periods, and influencing Shia culture today.

Hume's moral philosophy is profoundly shaped by his (clandestine) sceptical atheist metaphysics. For Hume, as for Fréret's "Chinese" (or rather Spinozist) philosophers, moral distinctions are only one of many different anthropic representations of being, built on the binary framework of pleasure and pain which constitutes the essence of every animal creature. Separating Hume's revolutionary "anatomy" of morals (that is, his metaethics) from his more conventional descriptive ethics, I will attempt to show that, in contrast to Hutcheson's (and Smith's) providentialism or moral teleologism, Hume's sentimentalism is based on an atheist-or even nihilist-metaphysical stance, that interprets moral judgments as mere matters of fact, related to evaluatively neutral "qualities in objects" and suitable for further elaboration and complication in the interplay of social relations. Morality is a purely human affair in a valueless and Godless world.

The paper aims to illustrate the "Onomasticon" database-Onomasticon (unipg.it)-, delving into both its scientific underpinnings and technical intricacies. Initially, a brief overview of the project's genesis, its scientific rationale, and its envisioned applications will be provided. Subsequently, attention will be directed towards the technical aspects of the database, tracing its evolution from an informatics perspective. Lastly, perspectives between the historical investigation and computational resources will be offered. The "Onomasticon" database, started in 2008 for the occasion of the 700 th anniversary ceremony of the University of Perugia, serves as a repository of research findings pertaining to the institution's history of the University of Perugia and the students and professors who studied and taught there. With a focus on prosopographical studies, the database encompasses data on professors, students, courses, and the university's evolution between the Middle Ages and the modern age. From a technical point of view, the essay will explain the transition from Onomasticon 1.0 to Onomasticon 2.0, which involved the transition from a relational data model to a graph structure, which improves flexibility and performance and offers the possibility of integrating historical data with external resources like authority files and online databases enriches its utility. Challenges for the future include ensuring data reliability, addressing interpretative aspects, and enhancing the linkage with external resources. In the current research context that increasingly focuses on interdisciplinarity, the Onomasticon project stands as a testament to the fruitful collaboration between historical research and computational resources, offering valuable insights into the longstanding history of the University.

This study explores the historiography of the Unity of the Brethren, a minority yet influential Reformation church that originated in the Czech lands and later expanded into other parts of Central Europe and the Baltic under conditions of exile. It focuses on texts produced within this community in the first half of the 17th century, examining the role of vision, testimony, and experience as central instruments of early modern empirical epistemology. These concepts are analyzed on three interconnected levels - epistemological, textual, and graphical - demonstrating their prominence in Brethren historiography. The study argues that this emphasis on visuality, testimony and experience was a direct consequence of the community’s marginal status, which compelled it to articulate and defend its legitimacy. In the confessional competence, the Unity of Brethren mobilized historical argumentation, grounding their claims as firmly as possible in available evidentiary frameworks. Furthermore, the study investigates the relationship between shifts in the community’s historical experience - including delegitimization, legislative crises, persecution, and eventual dissolution - and the evolving structure of its central historical narrative.

“Those who are intelligent as well as righteous must vehemently protest, and carry on a pactless fight against dogma, because that which throttles the free intellect of human beings is sure to frustrate their intellectual liberation,” exclaims Dharma guru Prabhat Rainjan Sarkar. “On one side the malevolent forces are keen to establish their professed dogmas, and on the other hand, Parama Puruśa (the Supreme Entity) wants the all-round development of human intellect. Hence I call upon you to carry on a ceaseless and pactless fight against dogma. You are sure to be crowned with victory.” This is the third of three discourses (the first is “Dogma and Human Intellect” and the second is “Dogma—No More”) for all intellectuals about dogma, mental expansion and the liberation of intellect. Prabhat Ranjan Sarkar, (1921-1990), was a spiritual guru in the tradition of Shiva and Krishna, who founded Renaissance Universal to promote a new global renaissance, and who also founded the socio-spiritual movement Ananda Marga (“the Path of Bliss”).

“For intellectuals, spiritual progress is always delayed, and the reason is this – that their intellectual body goes on increasing, but for want of the apexed mentality, the goal remains far away,” explains Mahasambhuti(1) Prabhat Ranjan Sarkar. “But when the intellectual body is highly enlarged, it is sure to become one with the Macrocosm. And when this enlarged ectoplasmic structure becomes one with the Cosmic ectoplasmic structure, certainly a person will feel his oneness with the Supreme. For spiritual aspirants, this type of intellectual progress may be meaningless, may be treated as superfluous; but for the all-round progress of human society, for human society as a whole, this type of intellectual progress cannot be discouraged, must not be discouraged; rather it should be encouraged.” This is the first of three sequential discourses for all intellectuals about dogma, mental expansion and the liberation of intellect. The other two are “Dogma – No More” and “The Liberation of Intellect”. P. R. Sarkar, (1921-1990), was a spiritual teacher (also known as Shrii Shrii Anandamurti) in the tradition of Shiva and Krishna, who founded Renaissance Universal to promote a new global renaissance, and who founded the socio-spiritual movement Ananda Marga (“the Path of Bliss”).

Ancient Chinese documents-ranging from oracle bone scripts and bamboo slip writings to paper-based Dunhuang manuscripts-represent a rich cultural and linguistic heritage that spans millennia. Their diverse materials (bone, silk, bamboo, and paper), wide-ranging calligraphic styles, and centuries of environmental wear introduce numerous challenges to preservation and analysis. This paper provides a comprehensive review of the cutting-edge techniques employed to enhance and analyze these documents, covering critical areas such as optical character recognition (OCR) for archaic scripts, layout detection for non-standard page structures, image restoration for faded or damaged texts, and natural language processing (NLP) strategies addressing historic lexicons and script variations. We highlight recent advancements in deep learning, computer vision, and large-scale digitization that tackle irregular handwriting, non-linear textual layouts, and fragmented or incomplete artifacts-common hurdles in oracle bone and Dunhuang manuscript studies. By identifying existing research gaps, such as limited annotated datasets for less-studied scripts, and by proposing future directions-ranging from domain-specific OCR models to deeper integration of cultural and historical context-we underscore the importance of interdisciplinary collaboration among fields like archaeology, paleography, and digital humanities. Ultimately, this review emphasizes the urgent need for cohesive efforts that leverage both technological innovation and scholarly expertise to ensure broad and enduring access to China's invaluable documentary legacy.

In der Frühen Neuzeit waren Gelehrte sowohl für ihr höfliches Kommunikationsverhalten als auch für ihre Streitlust bekannt. In diesem Aufsatz wird die Rolle der Unhöflichkeit im gelehrten Diskurs der Frühen Neuzeit untersucht, insbesondere in innerprotestantischen Auseinandersetzungen über die Neuausrichtung des Luthertums im frühen 18. Jahrhundert. Anhand eines Schmähbriefs gegen Johann Fabricius aus dem Jahr 1704 wird analysiert, wie Unhöflichkeit zur Eskalation von Konflikten beitrug und die Gruppenbildung unter lutherischen Theologen dynamisierte. Der Aufsatz untersucht den Überlieferungskontext des Briefes, seine Syntax, Semantik und Pragmatik, um Strategien und Wirkungsabsichten von Unhöflichkeit herauszuarbeiten. Abschließend werden allgemeine Überlegungen zum Dissensverfahren der lutherischen Theologie und zur Entstehung von Öffentlichkeit im Zusammenhang von Unhöflichkeit angestellt.

In the early modern period, scholars were known both for their polite communication and their contentiousness. This essay examines the role of impoliteness in early modern scholarly discourse, particularly in intra-Protestant disputes over the realignment of Lutheranism in the early 18th century. Using a libelous letter against Johann Fabricius from 1704 as a case study, it analyzes how impoliteness contributed to the escalation of conflicts and dynamically shaped group formation among Lutheran theologians. The essay explores the letter's transmission context, syntax, semantics, and pragmatics to identify strategies and intended effects of impoliteness. Finally, it offers general reflections on the process of dissent in Lutheran theology and the emergence of a public sphere in the context of impoliteness.

Recenzowane niżej tomy opublikowano w serii bardzo cennych, ale -jak się wydaje -stosunkowo słabo w Polsce spopularyzowanych wydawnictw poświęconych dziejom wyznaniowym epoki nowożytnej ukazujących się pod ogólnym tytułem Katholisches Leben und Kirchenreform im Zeitalter der Glaubensspaltung i patronatem Die Gesellschaft zur Herausgabe des Corpus Catholicorum działającego przy uniwersytecie we Freiburgu. Należy przypomnieć, że w tej samej serii, pod wspólnym tytułem Die Territorien des Reichs im Zeitalter der Reformation und Konfessionalisierung. Land und Konfession 1500-1650 oraz redakcją Antona Schindlinga (Tybinga) i Waltera Zieglera (Monachium), ukazało się w latach 1989-97 siedem tomów bardzo instruktywnych prac zbiorowych poświęconych stosunkom wyznaniowym na terytoriach Rzeszy Niemieckiej w XVI i pierwszej połowie XVII w. 1 W tomach poświęconych Rzeszy stosowano konsekwentnie pożyteczny schemat geograficzno-problemowy, już jednak w kolejnych tomach serii, poświęconych Węgrom i Skandynawii, wydawcy zdecydowali się odejść od wcześniej wypracowanego systemu, chcąc być może mocniej uwzględnić w ten sposób problematykę swoistą dla omawianych terytoriów 2 . 1

Nemzetközi Historiográfiai Konferencia nyitónapján. A lektori vélemény Erős Vilmos "Populus, plebs, rusticus" (Szabó István "harmadik utas" társadalomtörténete") című monográfiájáról szól, amelyet utóbb a szerző MTA doktori értekezésként is sikeresen megvédett, s amelynek egyik opponense is Orosz István akadémikus volt. Néhány szó a két protagonistáról: Szabó István Debrecenben született 1898-ban 1 , s (debreceni kezdetek után) az Országos Levéltárban kezdte igazi történészi pályáját. 1943 és 1960 között

This book is the first extensive study of Mīrzā ‘Abd al-Qādir Bīdil's philosophy of nature. A pivotal figure of Indo-Persian literary culture – and of Persianate intellectual history as a whole – Bīdil (1644-1720) articulates, both in his poetry and prose, a complex and original phenomenology of the physical world, using poetic imagination as a sharp philosophical tool. Focusing especially on his "naturalistic" masterpiece, the masnavi Tūr-i ma'rifat or "Sinai of knowledge", his deconstructive, anti-identitarian philosophical autobiography (significantly entitled Chahār 'unsur or "The four elements"), and the luxuriant analogical ocean of his ghazals, this book investigates Bīdil's philosophia naturalis in a connected and transductional perspective. Looking at Bīdil both as a result and a protagonist of what Jonardon Ganeri has defined the "philosophical globalisation" of the 17th century, the book addresses Sufi cosmologies as well as Sadrian existentialism, Mughal vedānta as well as Persianate Vaishnavism, etc., pointing to a deep net of connections and echoings. Most notably, Microcosmografie also traces some hitherto unexplored lines of contact, and conceptual common grounds, with Italian early modern philosophia naturalis, following the travels of Giordano Bruno’s and Tommaso Campanella’s ideas on nature to the Safavid-Mughal intellectual koine. The six chapters of the book contain a remarkable amount of textual material, often studied and translated for the first time in a Western language; the sixth chapter is, indeed, a selected, rich thematic anthology. Besides Bīdil, several other authors are translated and discussed, including Sā’ib-i Tabrīzī and, especially, a few little-known non-Muslim representatives of the Bidilian school in 18th c. India. Coming from the Italian school of Bidilian studies, the volume also aims at making sense of Gianroberto Scarcia's and Riccardo Zipoli's famous ideas on what they called "Baroque Persia", providing a nuanced, philological answer to their stylistic impressions.

Стаття присвячена дослідженню фактів з історії астрономії періоду 30-х років ХХ ст. Її метою є відображення подій навколо залучення радянських і західних астрономів у процеси політичного протистояння СРСР та західного світу на початку 1930-х років на тлі ідеологічного протистояння релігії та науки.На основі вивчення газетно-журнальної періодики цього періоду реконструйовано послідовність резонансних подій, пов’язаних зі зверненням Голови Католицької церкви Папи Римського Пія ХІ до християнського світу з оголошенням нового «хрестового походу» проти Радянського Союзу. Розглянуто окремі аспекти світоглядного сприйняття взаємовідносин між релігією та наукою під час політичного протистояння між західним світом та СРСР; висвітлено позицію представників офіційної радянської науки, які виступили з гострим за-судженням відозви Пія ХІ. Зокрема, опираючись на найбільш резонансні факти з історії взаємовідносин між релігією та наукою (епізодів, пов’язаних із долями Галілео Галілея та Джордано Бруно), науковці виступили із закликом щодо суцільного звільнення наукової думки від впливу церкви. Найбільш аргументовану і рішучу відповідь на відозву Папи Римського щодо нового «хрестового походу» проти Радянського Союзу дали радянські астрономи у своєму «Відкритому листі», оприлюдненому низкою центральних періодичних видань. Штучні політичні процеси навколо питань релігії та науки призвели до ескалації напруги у відносинах між західними та радянськими науковцями. Досліджено участь у протиборстві між радянськими та західними астрономами впливового американського астрофізика Отто Людвиговича Струве, представника всесвітньо-відомої астрономічної династії Струве, майбутнього президента Міжнародного астрономічного союзу (1952—1955). Професор Струве безпосередньо долучився до обговорення питання щодо свободи наукової думки в астрономії. Позиція відомого науковця, який репрезентував настрої більшості американських і західноєвропейських астрономів, викликала у радянських астрономічних колах бурхливу негативну реакцію / The article is devoted to the study of facts from the history of astronomy in 30s of the XX century. The purpose of the article is to present the events related to the involvement of Soviet and Western astronomers in the processes of political confrontation between the USSR and the Western world in the early 1930s against the backdrop of the ideological opposition of religion and science. Based on the study of newspaper and magazine periodicals of this period, the sequence of the resonant events with the Head of the Catholic Church Pope Pius XI appeal to the entire Christian world to declare a new “crusade” against the Soviet Union has been restored. The certain worldview aspects of the relationship between religion and science during the political confrontation between the western world and the USSR are considered; the position of the representatives of official Soviet science, who strongly condemned the appeal of the Pope was determined. In particular, based on the most prominent facts in the history of the contacts of science and religion: episodes related to the fates of Galileo Galilei and Giordano Bruno, scientists demanded the complete liberation of scientific thought from the influence of the Church. The most reasoned and decisive response to the appeal of the Pope to declare a new “crusade” against the USSR was made by the Soviet astronomers in their “Open letter”, published by the central periodicals. Artificial political processes focused on religion and science has led to an escalation of tensions between Western and Soviet scholars.The involvement of influential American astrophysicist Otto Struve, the representative of the world-famous astronomical Struve dynasty, the future president of the International Astronomical Union (1952—1955), in a confrontation between Soviet and Western scientists was investigated. In particular, professor Struve himself joined the discussion on freedom of scientific thought in astronomy. The position of a well-known scientist who represented the mood of most American and Western European astronomers caused a violent negative reaction in Soviet astronomical circles.

CONTENTS


Part 1. “To Antonie My Jewel That I Weare”
Sir Nicholas Bacon’s Missing Dragon Whistle

Part 2. Symbols of Authority
Sir Nicholas Bacon’s Armorial Ring, Staff of Office
and Burse of the Great Seal

Part 3. A Fragment of Time
Floor Tile from Old Gorhambury House, c. 1568

Part 4. A Bequest of the Mind
Sir Nicholas Bacon’s Bookplate, c. 1574

Part 5. Theatre of Life
Sir Nicholas Bacon’s Copy of Theatrum vitae humanae
by Theodor Zwinger, 1565

Part 6. “A Plain Man, Direct and Constant”
The Portraits of Sir Nicholas Bacon

Part 7. A Dynasty in the Making
Sir Nicholas Bacon’s Ancestral Tree, 1578

Part 8. Nobility Attained
Sir Nicholas Bacon’s Grant of Arms, 1568

Part 9. “To Lady Lumley, At Her Desire”
The Bacon-Lumley Manuscript, c. 1575

Part 10. A Lost Tudor Treasure?
The Three Bacon Cups, 1574

Brief Biographical Overview of the Life of Sir Nicholas Bacon

This article explores Isaac Newton’s engagement with Ancient Greek, highlighting his ability to record observations in the language and its significance in intellectual history. During the Enlightenment and Renaissance, knowledge of Ancient Greek and Latin was fundamental for scholarly advancement, as demonstrated by figures like Johannes Posselius and Aldus Manutius, who contributed to the spread of classical education. The Founding Fathers of the United States also possessed a deep understanding of Ancient Greek, reflecting its role as an essential tool for education and governance. However, the shift towards a more analytical and grammar-focused approach in the 19th century led to a decline in student interest in classical studies. Today, educational initiatives aim to restore experiential and communicative methods for teaching Ancient Greek, adapting it to contemporary needs while preserving its humanistic value in an era dominated by technology and artificial intelligence.

Understanding objects and works in archives, libraries, and museums is enriched when contextualized within the biographies of their creators. The Repertorium Academicum (REPAC) project, situated at the intersection of cultural heritage and digital history, approaches this from a biographical lens, documenting students and scholars in Europe (1250–1550) with a focus on the Old German Empire. REPAC’s digital prosopography integrates individuals' life trajectories with their intellectual contributions, employing biographical and textual data to reconstruct knowledge spaces and cultural exchange. The project is documenting over 74'000 individuals. It focuses on influential figures such as nobility and higher-degree graduates while acknowledging the challenges of representing less-documented students. Methodologically, REPAC adopts a dual approach: manual data entry for precision and computational tools for scale, combining quantitative and qualitative analysis. The database links people, works, events, and locations, enabling a comprehensive understanding of knowledge transmission. Digital tools like AI, OCR, and visualizations play key roles in REPAC. Algorithms identify patterns in texts, linking biographical details with written works and correspondence. Visualizations, such as maps and networks, reveal the geographical and relational dynamics of knowledge transfer. For instance, the mobility of 15th-century Italian law professors highlights their role in spreading Roman law across Europe.

Ἕνα περιστατικὸ βίας, ἀπότοκο ὀξυμένων θρησκευτικῶν παθῶν μιᾶς ἄλλης ἐποχῆς, ὑπῆρξε ἡ ἀφορμὴ γιὰ τὴν ἔναρξη ἑνὸς σημαντικοῦ καὶ ἐν πολλοῖς ἀγνώστου ἐπιστολιμαίου θεολογικοῦ διαλόγου στὸν ἑλλαδικὸ χῶρο. Εἰδικώτερα, στὶς 21 Μαΐου 1927, ὁ τότε Ἀρχιεπίσκοπος Ἀθηνῶν Χρυσόστομος, προσερχόμενος στὸν ἱ. ναὸ τοῦ Ἁγίου Κωνσταντίνου Πειραιῶς, δέχθηκε ἐπίθεση ἀπὸ ὀπαδὸ τοῦ παλαιοῦ ἡμερολογίου, ὁ ὁποῖος «ὥρμησε κατ' αὐτοῦ μετὰ μεγάλης ψαλίδος καὶ ἁρπάσας τὴν ἀρχιεπισκοπικὴν γενειάδα, οὖσαν μακράν, ἔκοψε μέρος αὐτῆς καὶ ἐμωλώπισεν αὐτὸν εἰς τὰς παρειάς, τῶν ὑπαρχόντων ἐκεῖ πολλῶν παλαιοημερολογιτῶν φωνασκούντων "ἀνάξιος, ἀνάξιος"» 1 . Βρισκόμαστε τρία μόλις ἔτη μετὰ ἀπὸ τὸ 1924, ἔτος κατὰ τὸ ὁποῖο καθιερώθηκε τὸ νέο ἡμερολόγιο ἤ, ἐπὶ τὸ ἀκριβέστερον, διορθώθηκε τὸ ἰουλιανὸ ἡμερολόγιο. Ἡ πρωτοβουλία αὐτὴ προκάλεσε θύελλα ἀντιδράσεων, ἐνῶ ἐξ ἀρχῆς τὴ

Reich a spol." [und Genossen / Companie] und erweiterten sie zu einem der größten Unternehmen in Mähren im 19. Jhdt. 1845 wurde dem Unternehmen wegen seiner Verdienste bei der ersten Industrialisierung Mährens sogar das Privileg "K. K. privilegierte Fabrik" erteilt. Dieses Privileg behielt das Unternehmen bis zum Untergang der Monarchie im Ersten Weltkrieg 1918.