In the late eighteenth century, Catholic priest Johann Joseph Gassner (17271;1779) discovered that he had extraordinary powers of exorcism. Deciding that demons were responsible for most human ailments, he healed thousands, rich and poor, Protestant and Catholic. In this book H. C. Erik Midelfort delves deeply into records of the time to explore Gassner7;s remarkable exorcising campaign, chronicle the official efforts to curb him, and reconstruct the sufferings of the afflicted.

Gassner7;s activities triggered a Catholic religious revival as well as a noisy skeptical reaction. In response to those who doubted that he was really casting out demons, Gassner marshaled hundreds of eyewitness reports that seemed to prove his exorcisms really worked. Midelfort describes the enormous public controversy that resulted, and he demonstrates that the Gassner episode yields important insights into the German Enlightenment and Counter-Enlightenment, the limitations of eighteenth-century debate, and the ongoing role of magic and belief in an age of scientific enlightenment.

"Europe Divided" is a fascinating and wide-ranging introduction to a complex age of movement and conflict. Professor Elliott's strong narrative takes account of political, economic and social developments and provides vivid portraits of the leading personalities of the era.

The book examines the hard lines of division in late sixteenth-century Europe: between a Protestant North and a Catholic South; between the rich, expanding economy of the West and the harsh poverty of the agrarian East. It was the period that saw the birth of the Dutch Republic; the defeat of the Spanish Armada; the western repulse of the Ottoman Empire; the revival of the papacy and an authoritarian Calvinism. It was also an era of strong political personalities, of Philip II and a powerful Habsburg Spain, of Queen Elizabeth and Catherine de Medici, of Henry IV and Montaigne.

Throughout the text, Professor Elliott has been concerned to reveal the complex interaction of events in different parts of the continent, rather than examining regions in isolation. The book therefore conveys the feeling of contemporaries of the era - that they were involved in a great European drama.

This book examines Christian ethnographic writing about the Jews in early modern Europe, offering a systematic historical analysis of this literary genre and arguing its importance for better understanding both the period in general and Jewish-Christian relations in particular. The book focuses on nearly 80 texts from Western Europe (mostly Germany) that describe the customs and ceremonies of the contemporary Jews, containing both descriptions and illustrations of their subjects. Deutsch is one of the first scholars to study these unique writings in extensive detail. He examines books in which Christian authors describe Jewish life and provides new interpretations of Christian perceptions of Jews, Christian Hebraism, and the attention paid by the Hebraist to contemporary Jews and Judaism. Since many of the authors were converts, studying their books offers new insights into conversion during the period. Their work presents new perspectives the study of religion, developments in the field of anthropology and ethnography, and internal Christian debates that arose from the portrayal of Jewish life. Despite the lack of attention by modern scholars, some of these books were extremely popular in their time and represent one of the important ways by which Jews were perceived during the period. The key claim of the study is that, although almost all of the descriptions of Jewish customs are accurate, the authors chose to concentrate mainly on details that show the Jewish ceremonies as anti-Christian, superstitious, and ridiculous; these details also reveal the deviation of Judaism from the Biblical law. Deutsch suggests that these ethnographic descriptions are better defined as polemical ethnographies and argues that the texts, despite their polemical tendency, represent a shift from writing about Judaism as a religion to writing about Jews, and from a mode of writing based on stereotypes to one based on direct contact and observation.

Designed to help students better understand the vitally important historical events of 18th century American history, this volume in the acclaimed series presents 10 major events in separate chapters. From the Great Awakening early in the century to Jefferson's Revolution of 1800, each chapter goes beyond the traditional textbook treatment of history by considering the immediate and far-reaching ramifications of each event. Events covered are: The Great Awakening, The Era of Salutary Neglect, The French and Indian War, The Stamp Act, The Boston Tea Party, The Declaration of Independence, The American Revolution, The Constitutional Convention, The XYZ Affair, and The Revolution of 1800.

Each chapter features an introductory essay that presents the facts of the event, followed by an interpretive essay that places the event in a broader context and promotes student analysis. The introductory essay provides factual material in a clear, concise, chronological manner that makes complex history understandable. The interpretive essay, written by a recognized authority in the field and written in a style designed to appeal to a general readership, assesses the event in terms of its political, economic, sociocultural, and international/diplomatic significance. With its emphasis on factual details and interpretive analysis, an illustration, and an annotated bibliography for each event, a glossary of names, events, and terms of the period, a timeline of important events in eighteenth-century history, and a table of the population of the colonies and selected colonial towns, "Events That Changed America in the Eighteenth Century" is an ideal addition to the high school, community college, and undergraduate reference shelf, as well as excellent supplementary reading in social studies and American history courses.

This book explores the activities of early modern Irish migrants in Spain, particularly their rather surprising association with the Spanish Inquisition. Pushed from home by political, economic and religious instability, and attracted to Spain by the wealth and opportunities of its burgeoning economy and empire, the incoming Irish fell prey to the Spanish Inquisition. For the inquisitors, the Irish, as vassals of Elizabeth I, were initially viewed as a heretical threat and suffered prosecution for Protestant heresy. However, for most Irish migrants, their dual status as English vassals and loyal Catholics permitted them to adapt quickly to provide brokerage and intermediary services to the Spanish state, mediating informally between it and Protestant jurisdictions, especially England. The Irish were particularly successful in forging an association with the Inquisition to convert incoming Protestant soldiers, merchants and operatives for useful service in Catholic Spain. As both victims and agents of the Inquisition, the Irish emerge as a versatile and complex migrant group. Their activities complicate our view of early modern migration and raise questions about the role of migrant groups and their foreign networks in the core historical narratives of Ireland, Spain and England, and in the history of their connections. Irish Voices from the Spanish Inquisition throws new light on how the Inquisition worked, not only as an organ of doctrinal police, but also in its unexpected role as a cross-creedal instrument of conversion and assimilation.

The restoration of the monarchy in 1660 and the return of Charles II to his throne have often been depicted as a watershed in English history, inaugurating a period of stability following the upheavals and radicalism of the Civil War, the Republic and the Protectorate of Oliver Cromwell. N. H. Keeble's study challenges this portrayal of events, arguing that the Restoration was in fact tentative and insecure, unsure either of its popular support or its future.

Keeble's cultural history of the 1660s offers a multi-faceted and dynamic model of the decade. Drawing extensively on contemporary accounts, the author reveals that for those who lived through them, the events of 1660 carried no sense of finality or assurance of a new age. By representing the voices of the time, his account restores contingency, instability and insecurity to the Restoration and demonstrates that the 1660s were no less complex or exciting than the revolutionary years that preceded them.

The Mask and the Man

Franklin's influence on the course of the revolutionary movement is seen in a new light by a distinguished historian of early America.

Benjamin Franklin was a man of genius and enormous ego, smart enough not to flaunt his superiority but to let others proclaim it. To understand him and his role in great events, one must realize the omnipresence of this ego, and the extent to which he mirrored the feelings of other colonial Pennsylvanians. With this in mind, Francis Jennings sets forth some new ideas about Franklin as the "first American." In so doing, he provides a new view of the beginnings of the American Revolution in Franklin's struggle against William Penn. By striving against Penn's feudal lordship (and therefore against King George) Franklin became master of the Pennsylvania assembly. It was in this role that he suggested a meeting of the Continental Congress which, as Jennings notes, flies in the face of historical opinion which suggests that Boston patriots had to drag Pennsylvanians into the revolution.

A different take on a popular topic, this book uncovers the exciting history of the jewels and jewellery worn and used by the later medieval and Tudor Queens of England from Margaret of Anjou to Katherine Parr. Enabling general readers to see how jewellery was used by Queens to assert their power and influence in their husband's courts. Dr Tallis is an experienced writer of non-fiction to a public audience; this book is accessibly written for an educated popular audience and undergraduate students. Explores the lives of ten queen consorts across 100 years, providing students and general readers alike with a long duree view into Queenship, women's history and material culture.

Denys Hay is one of the best known British historians of the Renaissance. His work is marked by a judicious and readable style, an equal interest in the affairs of England and Italy, and an ability to hold in balance the claims of political and cultural history. This collection brings together the important part of Professor Hay's work that has appeared as essays and represents all his major interests.

This book completes the study of the life and political thought of Algernon Sidney (1623-1683), which began with Algernon Sidney and the English Republic, 1623-1677 (1988). In the process it offers a reinterpretation of the major political crisis of Charles II's reign, and of its European and seventeenth-century contexts. Like its predecessor, the book spans the disciplines of intellectual and political history. Its twin focus is the last six years of Sidney's life, which culminated in the famous public drama of his trial and execution for treason in 1683, and in his major political work, the Discourses Concerning Government, which was used as evidence against him at the trial. This intertwining of events and ideas calls for an examination of the relationship between the practical and intellectual aspects of the crisis of 1678-1683 in general.

This history of the 'Torrid Zone' offers a comprehensive and powerfully rich exploration of the 17th century Anglophone Atlantic world, overturning British and American historiographies and offering instead a vernacular history that skillfully negotiates diverse locations, periodizations, and the fraught waters of ethnicity and gender.

It was the age of empire and the dawn of political and scientific revolution. The seventeenth century brought about enormous changes in the global political landscape and in the understanding of the principles of science. From this dynamic century, often fraught with upheaval and bustling with fascinating historical actors, several key events are treated by recognized experts in the field. These important events include, among others:

The age of the great Russian tsars, Indian moguls, and Japanese shoguns

The beginning of a four-century dynasty in China

The reign of Louis XIV

The expansion of the Ottoman Empire

England's Glorious Revolution

The Founding of Jamestown

The Thirty Years' War

The Scientific Revolution

To help students understand the major developments of the seventeenth century and their impact on our own time, this unique resource offers detailed description and expert analysis of the century's most important events.

Each of the events is covered in a separate chapter. An introductory essay provides factual materials about the event in a clear, concise, and chronological manner that makes complex history understandable. An interpretive essay, written by a recognized authority in the field, then explores the short-term and far-reaching ramifications of the event. With an annotated bibliography, full-page illustrations, a timeline of important events, a listing of ruling houses and dynasties of the period, and a glossary of names, events, and terms of the seventeenth century, "Events That Changed the World in the Seventeenth Century" is an ideal addition to the high school, community college, and undergraduate reference shelf, as well as excellent supplementary reading for social studies and world history courses.

Gives an account of the birth, life, and occasional death of 10,000 early American library collections and traces relationships between the presence of libraries and other aspects of American life. 1876 is considered to mark the beginning of the modern library movement in the United States, but Americans created and used thousands of libraries before that date. While the history of American libraries has not been neglected by scholars, none has examined in detail where in the different parts of the country various libraries came into existence over any extended period of time. The present work does that, detailing the kinds of libraries that existed before 1876 and including 80 to 85 kinds, depending on the way the collections are classified.

Lady Alice Le Strange of Hunstanton in Norfolk kept a continuous series of household accounts from 1610-1654. Jane Whittle and Elizabeth Griffiths have used the Le Stranges' rich archive to reconstruct the material aspects of family life. This involves looking not only at purchases, but also at home production and gifts; and not only at the luxurious, but at the everyday consumption of food and medical care. Consumption is viewed not just as a set of objects owned, but as a process involving household management, acquisition and appropriation, a process that created and reinforced social links with craftsmen, servants, labourers, and the local community. It is argued that the county gentry provide a missing link in histories of consumption: connecting the fashions of London and the royal court, with those of middling strata of rural England. Recent writing has focused upon the transformation of consumption patterns in the eighteenth century. Here the earlier context is illuminated and, instead of tradition and stability, we find constant change and innovation. Issues of gender permeate the study. Consumption is often viewed as a female activity and the book looks in detail at who managed the provisioning, purchases, and work within the household, how spending on sons and daughters differed, and whether men and women attached different cultural values to household goods. This single household's economy provides a window into some of most significant cultural and economic issues of early modern England: innovations in trade, retail and production, the basis of gentry power, social relations in the countryside, and the gendering of family life.

Intimately tied to the tenets of the Enlightenment, Romanticism arose as a sort of reaction to that trend, most noticeably in the arts. The movement, which originated in Europe in the late 18th century and lasted until the mid- 19th century, focused on emotion, imagination, an attachment to nature, nostalgia, and spirituality. The art, music and literature produced by that period have been some of history's most influential, and the tenets of the movement spilled over into politics, especially in nationalistic causes. This accessibly written volume is rounded out by primary source documents, biographies of key figures, and a selected bibliography of print and nonprint sources-an ideal resource for students being introduced to the philosophies, works, and artists of the era. Intimately tied to the tenets of the Enlightenment, Romanticism arose as a sort of reaction to that trend, most noticeably in the arts. The movement, which originated in Europe in the late 18th century and lasted until the mid-19th century, focused on emotion, imagination, an attachment to nature, nostalgia, and spirituality. The art, music and literature produced by the period have been some of history's most influential, and the tenets of the movement spilled over into politics, especially in nationalistic causes. This accessibly written volume explores the most critical aspects of the Romantic movement, including its origins as a reaction to the Scientific Revolution and the Enlightenment, its artistic works-poetry, prose, drama, painting, and music-and its environmentalistic and nationalistic legacies. Primary source documents, biographies of key figures, and a selected bibliography of print and nonprint sources make this work an ideal reference source for students and general readers being introduced to the philosophies, works, and artists of the era.

This edited collection opens new ways to look at queenship in areas and countries not usually studied and reflects the increasingly interdisciplinary work and geographic range of the field. This book is a forerunner in queenship and re-invents the reputations of the women and some of the men. The contributors answers questions about the nature of queenship, reputation of queens, and gender roles in the medieval and early modern west. The essays question the viability of propaganda, gossip, and rumor that still characterizes some queens in modern histories. The wide geographic range covered by the contributors moves queenship studies beyond France and England to understudied places such as Sweden and Hungary. Even the essays on more familiar countries explores areas not usually studied, such as the role of Edward II's stepmother, Margaret of France in Gaveston's downfall. The chapters clearly have a common thread and the editors' summary and description of the collection is valuable in assisting the reader. The collection is divided into two sections "Biography, Gossip, and History" and "Politics, Ambition, and Scandal." The editors and contributors, including Zita Eva Rohr and Elena Woodacre, are scholars at the top of their field and several and engage and debate with recent scholarship. This collection will appeal internationally to literary scholars and gender studies scholars as well historians interested in the countries included in the collection.

Toward the end of the eighteenth century, a major transformation took place in British dramatic culture with the emergence of an illegitimate theater and the struggle between London's patent playhouses (Drury Lane, Covent Garden, and the Haymarket) and the new, so-called minor theaters. This is the first book to explore the institutions, genres, and performance history of this illegitimate theater. Jane Moody's lively account considers the prohibition of tragedy and comedy at London's minor theaters, interpretations of Shakespeare, and describes the ingenious ways in which performers circumnavigated the law.

In the 19th century, Alessandro Manzoni dedicated himself to writing the novel I promessi sposi that encouraged the Italian Risorgimento. This book traces how the renowned novelist was inspired by an event that occurred at the beginning of the 17th century, which he came to know about thanks to the secret collaboration of a Venetian archivist.

The African Red Sea Littoral, currently divided between Sudan, Eritrea, Ethiopia, and Djibouti, is one of the poorest regions in the world. But the pastoralist communities indigenous to this region were not always poor-historically, they had access to a variety of resources that allowed them to prosper in the harsh, arid environment. This access was mediated by a robust moral economy of pastoralism that acted as a social safety net. Steven Serels charts the erosion of this moral economy, a slow-moving process that began during the Little Ice Age mega-drought of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries and continued through the devastating famines of the twentieth century. By examining mass sedentarization after the Second World War as merely the latest manifestation of an inter-generational environmental and economic crisis, this book offers an innovative lens for understanding poverty in northeastern Africa.

The 16th-century conquest of Mexico and its effects are best understood as cultural manifestations of animal behavior patterns which humans share with other primates. While Nahuas and Spaniards can be distinguished on the basis of learned cultural differences, such differences only exaggerated particular expressions of the universal behavioral patterns they shared. Brutality and benevolence were used in the same way by both to establish hierarchy and cultural bonding. After the conquest, a new Mexican synthesis could be constructed because of these commonalities. Alves explores the formation of that synthesis by examining such aspects of material culture as food, clothing, and shelter-especially as they manifest such universal primate tendencies as hierarchy, reciprocity, benevolence, brutality, xenophobia, curiosity, and territoriality. Alves proposes that humans are historically best understood by using current advances in the fields of primatology and ethology. This groundbreaking book will be of great interest to Latin Americanists, historians, and anthropologists.

According to traditional interpretations, the Reformations in England and Scotland had little in common: their timing, implementation, and very charcter marked them out as separate events. This book challenges the accepted view by demonstrating that the processes of reform in the two countries were, in fact, thoroughly intertwined. From England's Declaration of Royal Supremacy in 1534 to Scotland's religious revolution of 1559-61, interactions between reformers and lay people of all religious persuasions were continual. Religious upheavals in England had an immediate impact north of the border, inspiring fugitive activity, missionary preaching, and trade in literature. Among opponents of the new learning, cross-border activity was equally lively, and official efforts to maintain two separate religious regimes seemed futile. The continuing religious debate inspired a fundamental reconsideration of connections between the courntries and the result would be a redefinition of the whole pattern of Anglo-Scottish relations.

This book explores the causes and nature of the industrial revolution through a comparative study of the main wool textile manufacturing regions of England. Addressing many of the current debates in economic history and eighteenth-century studies through a detailed, archivally-based analysis, it examines how the interplay between merchants, markets and producers shaped the pace and character of economic growth during the eighteenth century, paying particular attention to the implications of rapid product innovation and the export trade.