For almost sixty years Professor David Jacoby devoted his research to the economic, social and cultural history of the Eastern Mediterranean and this new collection reflects his impact on the study of the interactions between the Italian city-states, Byzantium, the Latin East and the realm of Islam. Contributors to this volume are prominent scholars from across Medieval Studies and leading historians of the younger generation.

The fourteenth century heralded a new stage in the history of the Church, when papal rule was forced to find new patterns of cooperation with emerging national states. The Avignon pontificate of Clement V (1305-14) found a compromise among conflicting interests, and thus paved the way for the Church in the modern era. In contrast to the characterization of the Avignon period as the "Babylonian captivity" of the papacy, this book offers a new evaluation of Clement's reign, the goals of papal policy, and its evaluation by contempories.

Clement V, the first 'Avignon' pope, led the Church during nine critical years, 1305-14. Elected two years after the outrage committed upon Boniface VIII at Anagni, Clement saw as his main goal the restoration of harmonious relations with the leading monarchs of Christendom. In achieving his aim, he paved the way for the Church in the modern period. This 1998 book provides a complete analysis of Clement's pontificate from the two complementary viewpoints offered by diplomatic documentation and by narrative sources. Their point of convergence validates a re-evaluation of the Avignon 'Babylonian captivity' of the papacy. As a result, Clement's pontificate no longer appears as a shameful surrender to Capetian interests. Rather, it demonstrates a consistent scale of priorities, among which the recovery of the Holy Land was accorded pre-eminence.

Un retazo del olvido relata la vida de Amelia, adolescente judia analfabeta, forzada a abandonar su hogar en Damasco, Siria, en la busqueda de su hermano mayor, eventualmente desaparecido; su hija, Sara, obrera de fabrica, fuertemente arraigada a la Argentina, y su vertiginoso ascenso socioeconomico a la elite comunitaria; y Kike, su brillante nieto, militante en la Juventud Guevarista, secuestrado, torturado y asesinado a los diecinueve anos de edad, durante el terrorismo de estado en Argentina. Con pluma maestral, Sophia Menache revela los entrevelos de la historia familiar, a partir del decadente Imperio Otomano en los albores de la Primera Guerra Mundial, hasta los siniestros dias del regimen militar. Lectura obligatoria para todos aquellos que se interesan en las facetas intimas de la historia argentina y de la comunidad judeo-damasquina, escrupulosamente documentada durante gran parte del siglo pasado.