Malcolm Hebron
- Published in print:
- 1997
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198186205
- eISBN:
- 9780191674440
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198186205.001.0001
- Subject:
- Literature, Early and Medieval Literature
Sieges were a popular subject in medieval romances. Tales of the Crusades featured champions of Christianity capturing towns in the Holy Land or mounting heroic defences. The fall of a great city ...
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Sieges were a popular subject in medieval romances. Tales of the Crusades featured champions of Christianity capturing towns in the Holy Land or mounting heroic defences. The fall of a great city such as Troy, Thebes, or Jerusalem provided opportunities for the recreation of ancient chivalry and for reflections on historical change. Images of the siege in romances also point to other forms, such as drama and love allegory, where it represents the trial of the soul or the pursuit of the beloved. This book is the first full-length study of this important theme in medieval literature. Close reading of selected Middle English shows how writers used descriptions of sieges to explore such subjects as military strategy, heroism, chivalry, and attitudes to the past. This study also draws on a wide range of writings in several languages, to set the romances in a broad context. When they are seen against a background of military manuals, patristic commentary, pageantry, and love poetry, the sieges of romance take on deeper resonances of meaning and reflect the vitality of the theme in medieval culture as a whole.Less
Sieges were a popular subject in medieval romances. Tales of the Crusades featured champions of Christianity capturing towns in the Holy Land or mounting heroic defences. The fall of a great city such as Troy, Thebes, or Jerusalem provided opportunities for the recreation of ancient chivalry and for reflections on historical change. Images of the siege in romances also point to other forms, such as drama and love allegory, where it represents the trial of the soul or the pursuit of the beloved. This book is the first full-length study of this important theme in medieval literature. Close reading of selected Middle English shows how writers used descriptions of sieges to explore such subjects as military strategy, heroism, chivalry, and attitudes to the past. This study also draws on a wide range of writings in several languages, to set the romances in a broad context. When they are seen against a background of military manuals, patristic commentary, pageantry, and love poetry, the sieges of romance take on deeper resonances of meaning and reflect the vitality of the theme in medieval culture as a whole.
Marc David Baer
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- January 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780195331752
- eISBN:
- 9780199868018
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195331752.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Islam
Examining the historical record of Islamic conversions during the Ottoman age in a novel way, this book gathers fresh insights concerning the nature of religious conversion. Rejecting any attempt to ...
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Examining the historical record of Islamic conversions during the Ottoman age in a novel way, this book gathers fresh insights concerning the nature of religious conversion. Rejecting any attempt to explain Ottoman Islamization in terms of the converts' motives, the book concentrates on the proselytizers. In this case, none other than the sultan himself Mehmed IV (1648-87) is remembered as an aloof ruler whose ineffectual governing led to the disastrous siege of Vienna. Looking at previously unexamined Ottoman archival and literary texts, the book analyzes Mehmed IV's failings as a ruler by underscoring the sultan's zeal for bringing converts to Islam. As an expression of his rededication to Islam, Mehmed IV actively sought to establish his reputation as a convert-maker, convincing or coercing Christian and Jewish subjects to be “honored by the glory of Islam,” and Muslim subjects to turn to Islamic piety. Revising the conventional portrayal of a ruler so distracted by his passion for hunting that he neglected affairs of state, this book shows that Mehmed IV saw his religious involvement as central to his role as sultan. The book traces an ever-widening range of reform, conversion, and conquest expanding outward from the heart of Mehmed IV's empire.Less
Examining the historical record of Islamic conversions during the Ottoman age in a novel way, this book gathers fresh insights concerning the nature of religious conversion. Rejecting any attempt to explain Ottoman Islamization in terms of the converts' motives, the book concentrates on the proselytizers. In this case, none other than the sultan himself Mehmed IV (1648-87) is remembered as an aloof ruler whose ineffectual governing led to the disastrous siege of Vienna. Looking at previously unexamined Ottoman archival and literary texts, the book analyzes Mehmed IV's failings as a ruler by underscoring the sultan's zeal for bringing converts to Islam. As an expression of his rededication to Islam, Mehmed IV actively sought to establish his reputation as a convert-maker, convincing or coercing Christian and Jewish subjects to be “honored by the glory of Islam,” and Muslim subjects to turn to Islamic piety. Revising the conventional portrayal of a ruler so distracted by his passion for hunting that he neglected affairs of state, this book shows that Mehmed IV saw his religious involvement as central to his role as sultan. The book traces an ever-widening range of reform, conversion, and conquest expanding outward from the heart of Mehmed IV's empire.
Marc David Baer
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- January 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780195331752
- eISBN:
- 9780199868018
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195331752.003.0010
- Subject:
- Religion, Islam
This chapter analyzes the Ottoman siege of Vienna in 1683 within the framework of several of the book's interrelated themes: the links between conversion and conquest and between piety and ...
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This chapter analyzes the Ottoman siege of Vienna in 1683 within the framework of several of the book's interrelated themes: the links between conversion and conquest and between piety and proselytization, the centrality of the mediator in conversion, how conversion affects religious geography and sacred space; and the role war, violence, and changing power relations play in conversion. As is well known, the siege did not go as planned and the Ottoman forces were routed. The rest of the chapter explores the fallout. While the sultan continued to hunt and convert peasants, a gathering storm of opposition coalesced to banish Vani Mehmed Efendi and dethrone Mehmed IV.Less
This chapter analyzes the Ottoman siege of Vienna in 1683 within the framework of several of the book's interrelated themes: the links between conversion and conquest and between piety and proselytization, the centrality of the mediator in conversion, how conversion affects religious geography and sacred space; and the role war, violence, and changing power relations play in conversion. As is well known, the siege did not go as planned and the Ottoman forces were routed. The rest of the chapter explores the fallout. While the sultan continued to hunt and convert peasants, a gathering storm of opposition coalesced to banish Vani Mehmed Efendi and dethrone Mehmed IV.
Barbara Donagan
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- May 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780199285181
- eISBN:
- 9780191713668
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199285181.003.0017
- Subject:
- History, British and Irish Early Modern History
This chapter focuses on the outcome of the siege of the city of Colchester. The siege of Colchester was uncommonly harsh in the suffering it brought to soldiers and civilians. Much in the military ...
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This chapter focuses on the outcome of the siege of the city of Colchester. The siege of Colchester was uncommonly harsh in the suffering it brought to soldiers and civilians. Much in the military management and the treatment accorded civilians at Colchester was nonetheless the ordinary stuff of sieges, but much was also exceptional and was seen to be so by contemporaries. Some claimed not only that European levels of starvation and destruction had been introduced into England, but that the codes of war had been abandoned. Each side accused the other of being the instigator of civilian suffering and at the same time legalistically justified its draconian interpretation of the laws of war.Less
This chapter focuses on the outcome of the siege of the city of Colchester. The siege of Colchester was uncommonly harsh in the suffering it brought to soldiers and civilians. Much in the military management and the treatment accorded civilians at Colchester was nonetheless the ordinary stuff of sieges, but much was also exceptional and was seen to be so by contemporaries. Some claimed not only that European levels of starvation and destruction had been introduced into England, but that the codes of war had been abandoned. Each side accused the other of being the instigator of civilian suffering and at the same time legalistically justified its draconian interpretation of the laws of war.
Katharine Hodgson
- Published in print:
- 2003
- Published Online:
- January 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780197262894
- eISBN:
- 9780191734977
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- British Academy
- DOI:
- 10.5871/bacad/9780197262894.003.0005
- Subject:
- Literature, Poetry
This chapter explores the web of intra-textual allusion that connects the most diverse of Berggol′ts's works. The intensely self-referential nature of her writing, particularly after the Second World ...
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This chapter explores the web of intra-textual allusion that connects the most diverse of Berggol′ts's works. The intensely self-referential nature of her writing, particularly after the Second World War, suggests that the poet's creative response to contradictions she could not resolve was to embark on a continuing and open-ended process of self-refashioning, striving towards but never achieving wholeness. Berggol′ts's writing on the Leningrad siege is situated within the context of her work as a whole, rather than being analysed in isolation. This close study of the work of a single author will, it is hoped, provoke readers whose interests include Russian poetry, the literary history of the Soviet period, other ‘official’ writers in the Stalin era, and women's writing into reassessing the cultural heritage of an era that can seem remote and impenetrable.Less
This chapter explores the web of intra-textual allusion that connects the most diverse of Berggol′ts's works. The intensely self-referential nature of her writing, particularly after the Second World War, suggests that the poet's creative response to contradictions she could not resolve was to embark on a continuing and open-ended process of self-refashioning, striving towards but never achieving wholeness. Berggol′ts's writing on the Leningrad siege is situated within the context of her work as a whole, rather than being analysed in isolation. This close study of the work of a single author will, it is hoped, provoke readers whose interests include Russian poetry, the literary history of the Soviet period, other ‘official’ writers in the Stalin era, and women's writing into reassessing the cultural heritage of an era that can seem remote and impenetrable.
Malcolm Hebron
- Published in print:
- 1997
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198186205
- eISBN:
- 9780191674440
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198186205.003.0004
- Subject:
- Literature, Early and Medieval Literature
This chapter considers texts that describe the sieges of Rhodes in 1444 and 1480, of Belgrade in 1456, and the siege of Milan in the late English romance The Sege of Melayne. The texts indicate some ...
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This chapter considers texts that describe the sieges of Rhodes in 1444 and 1480, of Belgrade in 1456, and the siege of Milan in the late English romance The Sege of Melayne. The texts indicate some of the prevailing sentiments of Western Europe in the later 15th century. In the face of the Turkish advance, a siege mentality is articulated, in which writers turn to traditional codes of chivalry, epic heroism, and crusading propaganda to portray the strengths of Christianity against a technically mightier adversary. The siege itself becomes a model of Christendom defending both its secular and spiritual identity against invasion by heathendom. As well as addressing immediate political concerns, the texts discussed also offer patterns of conduct on an individual and communal level: the Passion is invoked to remind Christians of the importance of enduring and suffering, and as consolation. This in turn suggests a sense of history as a pattern of suffering and salvation.Less
This chapter considers texts that describe the sieges of Rhodes in 1444 and 1480, of Belgrade in 1456, and the siege of Milan in the late English romance The Sege of Melayne. The texts indicate some of the prevailing sentiments of Western Europe in the later 15th century. In the face of the Turkish advance, a siege mentality is articulated, in which writers turn to traditional codes of chivalry, epic heroism, and crusading propaganda to portray the strengths of Christianity against a technically mightier adversary. The siege itself becomes a model of Christendom defending both its secular and spiritual identity against invasion by heathendom. As well as addressing immediate political concerns, the texts discussed also offer patterns of conduct on an individual and communal level: the Passion is invoked to remind Christians of the importance of enduring and suffering, and as consolation. This in turn suggests a sense of history as a pattern of suffering and salvation.
Wendy S. Mercer
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- January 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780197263884
- eISBN:
- 9780191734830
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- British Academy
- DOI:
- 10.5871/bacad/9780197263884.003.0013
- Subject:
- Literature, 19th-century and Victorian Literature
The year 1870 proved momentous both in terms of French life and history and for Marmier personally. His joy at being elected to the Académie française was set against the grim backdrop of the ...
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The year 1870 proved momentous both in terms of French life and history and for Marmier personally. His joy at being elected to the Académie française was set against the grim backdrop of the Franco–Prussian War, the Siege of Paris, and the bloodbaths at the end of the Commune. Marmier suffered from pneumonia, which kept him in bed for two months. On 19 May, he was elected to fill the seat vacated by Pongerville in the Academy.Less
The year 1870 proved momentous both in terms of French life and history and for Marmier personally. His joy at being elected to the Académie française was set against the grim backdrop of the Franco–Prussian War, the Siege of Paris, and the bloodbaths at the end of the Commune. Marmier suffered from pneumonia, which kept him in bed for two months. On 19 May, he was elected to fill the seat vacated by Pongerville in the Academy.
Marie‐Louise Coolahan
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- May 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199567652
- eISBN:
- 9780191722011
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199567652.003.0005
- Subject:
- Literature, Early and Medieval Literature, Women's Literature
This chapter examines the depositions collected from protestant women who were victims of the 1641 rising. These are controversial historical sources; this discussion interprets them from a literary ...
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This chapter examines the depositions collected from protestant women who were victims of the 1641 rising. These are controversial historical sources; this discussion interprets them from a literary perspective. This chapter investigates the mechanisms of textual production, analysing the process of composition from oral delivery through to written record. Speech permeates these texts; orally delivered and preoccupied with reportage, they uncover the realities of linguistic hybridity on the island. The depositions also served as the repository for, and stimulus to, different genres of writing. The siege‐letters of Lettice, Baroness Offaly, and the first‐person memoir of Lady Elizabeth Dowdall display the value of feminine discourses of innocence and vulnerability to the construction of belligerent resistance. These writers counter representations of female victimhood in the depositions themselves.Less
This chapter examines the depositions collected from protestant women who were victims of the 1641 rising. These are controversial historical sources; this discussion interprets them from a literary perspective. This chapter investigates the mechanisms of textual production, analysing the process of composition from oral delivery through to written record. Speech permeates these texts; orally delivered and preoccupied with reportage, they uncover the realities of linguistic hybridity on the island. The depositions also served as the repository for, and stimulus to, different genres of writing. The siege‐letters of Lettice, Baroness Offaly, and the first‐person memoir of Lady Elizabeth Dowdall display the value of feminine discourses of innocence and vulnerability to the construction of belligerent resistance. These writers counter representations of female victimhood in the depositions themselves.
Walter Scott and J. H. Alexander
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- March 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780748624874
- eISBN:
- 9780748652280
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Edinburgh University Press
- DOI:
- 10.3366/edinburgh/9780748624874.001.0001
- Subject:
- Literature, Prose (inc. letters, diaries)
The Siege of Malta and Bizarro are Scott's final works, written in Malta and Italy at the end of 1831 and the beginning of 1832. Although extracts from The Siege of Malta have been published, this is ...
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The Siege of Malta and Bizarro are Scott's final works, written in Malta and Italy at the end of 1831 and the beginning of 1832. Although extracts from The Siege of Malta have been published, this is the first complete edition. Bizarro has not been available in print until now. The Siege of Malta begins as a novel but ends as a historical account of the extraordinary defence of Malta by the Order of St John of Jerusalem and their Maltese helpers against much larger Muslim forces. It is an epic tale of endurance, resulting in inevitable defeat for some of the Knights, and for the rest, in the most hard won of victories, setting the scene for the subsequent development of the Maltese nation. In the novella Bizarro, Scott takes up the story of a notorious Calabrian brigand of the early nineteenth century. His fictionalised account draws on his experience of visiting Naples and its surroundings, and on his earlier knowledge of Neapolitan history, to tell a tale of passion, murder, and revenge with a level of violence rarely seen in his earlier work. Though incomplete, Bizarro shows that Scott had not lost the power to tell a good story in this, his very last piece of fiction.Less
The Siege of Malta and Bizarro are Scott's final works, written in Malta and Italy at the end of 1831 and the beginning of 1832. Although extracts from The Siege of Malta have been published, this is the first complete edition. Bizarro has not been available in print until now. The Siege of Malta begins as a novel but ends as a historical account of the extraordinary defence of Malta by the Order of St John of Jerusalem and their Maltese helpers against much larger Muslim forces. It is an epic tale of endurance, resulting in inevitable defeat for some of the Knights, and for the rest, in the most hard won of victories, setting the scene for the subsequent development of the Maltese nation. In the novella Bizarro, Scott takes up the story of a notorious Calabrian brigand of the early nineteenth century. His fictionalised account draws on his experience of visiting Naples and its surroundings, and on his earlier knowledge of Neapolitan history, to tell a tale of passion, murder, and revenge with a level of violence rarely seen in his earlier work. Though incomplete, Bizarro shows that Scott had not lost the power to tell a good story in this, his very last piece of fiction.
William M. Murray
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- May 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780195388640
- eISBN:
- 9780199932405
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195388640.003.0004
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, Archaeology: Classical, World History: BCE to 500CE
Between the 240s and the 220s BC, Philo Byzantius (“the Byzantine”) submitted a detailed report to his patron, a general named Ariston, explaining exactly how to attack and defend a Hellenistic city. ...
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Between the 240s and the 220s BC, Philo Byzantius (“the Byzantine”) submitted a detailed report to his patron, a general named Ariston, explaining exactly how to attack and defend a Hellenistic city. This text describes in detail the constituent elements of a naval siege unit; it also explains, from the point of view of the commander, how such a force can be used to attack a coastal city; it describes the best defense against such attacks; and finally, it tells the attacker how to meet a relief force arriving by sea and how to pursue a fleeing enemy. Big ships are used to break through harbor barriers, to crush enemy ships, and to ram sections of the city wall by the sea. Defenders employ kleithra or chain barriers supported by floats, build pontoon barriers or zeugmata, use incendiary missiles, and target the marines of the attacker with catapult fire. Catapults are used by both sides and are placed on various kinds of watercraft and towers, built at the harbor entrance. The text, written during or just after the height of the big ship phenomenon, provides a clear view of the strategic goals for which big ships were constructed.Less
Between the 240s and the 220s BC, Philo Byzantius (“the Byzantine”) submitted a detailed report to his patron, a general named Ariston, explaining exactly how to attack and defend a Hellenistic city. This text describes in detail the constituent elements of a naval siege unit; it also explains, from the point of view of the commander, how such a force can be used to attack a coastal city; it describes the best defense against such attacks; and finally, it tells the attacker how to meet a relief force arriving by sea and how to pursue a fleeing enemy. Big ships are used to break through harbor barriers, to crush enemy ships, and to ram sections of the city wall by the sea. Defenders employ kleithra or chain barriers supported by floats, build pontoon barriers or zeugmata, use incendiary missiles, and target the marines of the attacker with catapult fire. Catapults are used by both sides and are placed on various kinds of watercraft and towers, built at the harbor entrance. The text, written during or just after the height of the big ship phenomenon, provides a clear view of the strategic goals for which big ships were constructed.
