Lenski Noel
- Published in print:
- 2003
- Published Online:
- March 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780520233324
- eISBN:
- 9780520928534
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of California Press
- DOI:
- 10.1525/california/9780520233324.003.0009
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, Archaeology: Classical
This book describes a specific and very prominent instance of the decline in power of the late Roman Empire. Rome's changed power status resulted from transformations of the classical past and from ...
More
This book describes a specific and very prominent instance of the decline in power of the late Roman Empire. Rome's changed power status resulted from transformations of the classical past and from interactions with nonclassical cultures. It became clear that late Roman rulership was more complex than its first- and second-century incarnation. The first two and a half centuries of Roman emperorship witnessed only sporadic and often quite harmless challenges from usurpers. Only in the third century did usurpation become a regular threat, and it remained so throughout the rest of late antiquity. Finally, for the first time under Valens, Rome was forced to come to grips with the issue of large groups of barbarians living autonomously inside traditionally Roman territory.Less
This book describes a specific and very prominent instance of the decline in power of the late Roman Empire. Rome's changed power status resulted from transformations of the classical past and from interactions with nonclassical cultures. It became clear that late Roman rulership was more complex than its first- and second-century incarnation. The first two and a half centuries of Roman emperorship witnessed only sporadic and often quite harmless challenges from usurpers. Only in the third century did usurpation become a regular threat, and it remained so throughout the rest of late antiquity. Finally, for the first time under Valens, Rome was forced to come to grips with the issue of large groups of barbarians living autonomously inside traditionally Roman territory.
Jonathan Karam Skaff
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- September 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199734139
- eISBN:
- 9780199950195
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199734139.003.0003
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, World History: BCE to 500CE, Asian and Middle Eastern History: BCE to 500CE
This chapter examines Turko-Mongol khanates and introduces a cosmopolitan type of patrimonialism. It takes a look at local society during the North China rebellions, the Sui-Tang imperial palaces, ...
More
This chapter examines Turko-Mongol khanates and introduces a cosmopolitan type of patrimonialism. It takes a look at local society during the North China rebellions, the Sui-Tang imperial palaces, and the Tang bureaucracy and frontier military. This chapter reveals that the contrasting elements of society were combined together politically by patrimonial rulership, horizontal alliances, and vertical patron-client relationships in the Sui, Tang, and Turk empires.Less
This chapter examines Turko-Mongol khanates and introduces a cosmopolitan type of patrimonialism. It takes a look at local society during the North China rebellions, the Sui-Tang imperial palaces, and the Tang bureaucracy and frontier military. This chapter reveals that the contrasting elements of society were combined together politically by patrimonial rulership, horizontal alliances, and vertical patron-client relationships in the Sui, Tang, and Turk empires.
Jonathan Karam Skaff
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- September 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199734139
- eISBN:
- 9780199950195
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199734139.003.0004
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, World History: BCE to 500CE, Asian and Middle Eastern History: BCE to 500CE
This chapter takes a look at the Eastern Eurasian conceptions of imperial space and rulership that directed monarchs as they tried to exert and justify sovereignty. It describes the Sui-Tang ...
More
This chapter takes a look at the Eastern Eurasian conceptions of imperial space and rulership that directed monarchs as they tried to exert and justify sovereignty. It describes the Sui-Tang Confucian and Turkic belief systems, as well as the Sui, Tang, Eurasia, and Turkic elite conceptions of imperial states. It then studies the Sui-Tang Confucian and Turkic ideologies of sacral kingship, before it shows that the rulers of the Sui-Tang and Turks from the sixth to the eighth centuries shared a willingness to take on ideological syncretism and innovation that can be traced to internal and external competition for power.Less
This chapter takes a look at the Eastern Eurasian conceptions of imperial space and rulership that directed monarchs as they tried to exert and justify sovereignty. It describes the Sui-Tang Confucian and Turkic belief systems, as well as the Sui, Tang, Eurasia, and Turkic elite conceptions of imperial states. It then studies the Sui-Tang Confucian and Turkic ideologies of sacral kingship, before it shows that the rulers of the Sui-Tang and Turks from the sixth to the eighth centuries shared a willingness to take on ideological syncretism and innovation that can be traced to internal and external competition for power.
Elizabeth Casteen
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- August 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780801453861
- eISBN:
- 9781501701009
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Cornell University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7591/cornell/9780801453861.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, European Medieval History
In 1343 a seventeen-year-old girl named Johanna (1326–1382) ascended the Neapolitan throne, becoming the ruling monarch of one of medieval Europe’s most important polities. For nearly forty years, ...
More
In 1343 a seventeen-year-old girl named Johanna (1326–1382) ascended the Neapolitan throne, becoming the ruling monarch of one of medieval Europe’s most important polities. For nearly forty years, she held her throne and the avid attention of her contemporaries. Their varied responses to her reign created a reputation that made Johanna the most notorious woman in Europe during her lifetime. This book examines Johanna’s evolving, problematic reputation and uses it as a lens through which to analyze often-contradictory late-medieval conceptions of rulership, authority, and femininity. When Johanna inherited the Neapolitan throne from her grandfather, many questioned both her right to and her suitability for her throne. After the murder of her first husband, Johanna quickly became infamous as a she-wolf—a violent, predatory, sexually licentious woman. Yet, she also eventually gained fame as a wise, pious, and able queen. Contemporaries—including Francesco Petrarch, Giovanni Boccaccio, Birgitta of Sweden, and Catherine of Siena—were fascinated by Johanna. Drawing on a wide range of textual and visual sources, the book reconstructs the fourteenth-century conversation about Johanna and tracks the role she played in her time’s cultural imaginary. It argues that despite Johanna’s modern reputation for indolence and incompetence, she crafted a new model of female sovereignty that many of her contemporaries accepted and even lauded.Less
In 1343 a seventeen-year-old girl named Johanna (1326–1382) ascended the Neapolitan throne, becoming the ruling monarch of one of medieval Europe’s most important polities. For nearly forty years, she held her throne and the avid attention of her contemporaries. Their varied responses to her reign created a reputation that made Johanna the most notorious woman in Europe during her lifetime. This book examines Johanna’s evolving, problematic reputation and uses it as a lens through which to analyze often-contradictory late-medieval conceptions of rulership, authority, and femininity. When Johanna inherited the Neapolitan throne from her grandfather, many questioned both her right to and her suitability for her throne. After the murder of her first husband, Johanna quickly became infamous as a she-wolf—a violent, predatory, sexually licentious woman. Yet, she also eventually gained fame as a wise, pious, and able queen. Contemporaries—including Francesco Petrarch, Giovanni Boccaccio, Birgitta of Sweden, and Catherine of Siena—were fascinated by Johanna. Drawing on a wide range of textual and visual sources, the book reconstructs the fourteenth-century conversation about Johanna and tracks the role she played in her time’s cultural imaginary. It argues that despite Johanna’s modern reputation for indolence and incompetence, she crafted a new model of female sovereignty that many of her contemporaries accepted and even lauded.
Norman A. Kutcher
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- January 2019
- ISBN:
- 9780520297524
- eISBN:
- 9780520969841
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- University of California Press
- DOI:
- 10.1525/california/9780520297524.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, Asian History
Chinese eunuchs have long been an object of fascination, but shockingly little is known about them. Castrated so as to maintain the integrity of the imperial line by ensuring that any child born in ...
More
Chinese eunuchs have long been an object of fascination, but shockingly little is known about them. Castrated so as to maintain the integrity of the imperial line by ensuring that any child born in the palace is the emperor’s, most of these servants lived out their lives in obscurity, performing the menial tasks that kept the palace functioning. Some rose to prominence, becoming imperial advisors and confidants. A few became infamous, flattering their way into the emperor’s good graces and slowly arrogating power. Usurping eunuchs were a perennial threat to imperial rule, and were blamed for the downfall of dynasties. In this book, Norman Kutcher uses a wealth of sources to study eunuchs and their distinctive place in Chinese rulership during the first 150 years of the Qing dynasty. This period encompassed the reigns of three of China’s most important emperors: Kangxi, Yongzheng, and Qianlong. In different ways, each was deeply affected by the legacy of prior dynasties’ eunuch power. How they sought to prevent a return to eunuch excesses, and how eunuchs flourished in the face of restrictions imposed upon them, is the subject of this groundbreaking book.Less
Chinese eunuchs have long been an object of fascination, but shockingly little is known about them. Castrated so as to maintain the integrity of the imperial line by ensuring that any child born in the palace is the emperor’s, most of these servants lived out their lives in obscurity, performing the menial tasks that kept the palace functioning. Some rose to prominence, becoming imperial advisors and confidants. A few became infamous, flattering their way into the emperor’s good graces and slowly arrogating power. Usurping eunuchs were a perennial threat to imperial rule, and were blamed for the downfall of dynasties. In this book, Norman Kutcher uses a wealth of sources to study eunuchs and their distinctive place in Chinese rulership during the first 150 years of the Qing dynasty. This period encompassed the reigns of three of China’s most important emperors: Kangxi, Yongzheng, and Qianlong. In different ways, each was deeply affected by the legacy of prior dynasties’ eunuch power. How they sought to prevent a return to eunuch excesses, and how eunuchs flourished in the face of restrictions imposed upon them, is the subject of this groundbreaking book.
Irene O'Daly
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- September 2018
- ISBN:
- 9781526109491
- eISBN:
- 9781526132338
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Manchester University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7228/manchester/9781526109491.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, British and Irish Medieval History
John of Salisbury (c. 1120–80) is a key figure of the twelfth-century renaissance. A student at the cosmopolitan schools of medieval Paris, an associate of Thomas Becket and an acute commentator on ...
More
John of Salisbury (c. 1120–80) is a key figure of the twelfth-century renaissance. A student at the cosmopolitan schools of medieval Paris, an associate of Thomas Becket and an acute commentator on society and rulership, his works and letters give unique insights into the political culture of this period. This volume reassesses the influence of classical sources on John’s political writings, investigating how he accessed and used the ideas of his ancient predecessors. By looking at his quotations from and allusions to classical works, O’Daly shows that John not only borrowed the vocabulary of his classical forbears, but explicitly aligned himself with their philosophical positions. She illustrates John’s profound debt to Roman Stoicism, derived from the writings of Seneca and Cicero, and shows how he made Stoic theories on duties, virtuous rulership and moderation relevant to the medieval context. She also examines how John’s classical learning was filtered through patristic sources, arguing that this led to a unique synthesis between his political and theological views. The book places famous elements of John’s political theory - such as his model of the body-politic, his views on tyranny - in the context of the intellectual foment of the classical revival and the dramatic social changes afoot in Europe in the twelfth century. In so doing, it offers students and researchers of this period a novel investigation of how Stoicism comprises a ‘third way’ for medieval political philosophy, interacting with – and at times dominating – neo-Platonism and proto-Aristotelianism.
Less
John of Salisbury (c. 1120–80) is a key figure of the twelfth-century renaissance. A student at the cosmopolitan schools of medieval Paris, an associate of Thomas Becket and an acute commentator on society and rulership, his works and letters give unique insights into the political culture of this period. This volume reassesses the influence of classical sources on John’s political writings, investigating how he accessed and used the ideas of his ancient predecessors. By looking at his quotations from and allusions to classical works, O’Daly shows that John not only borrowed the vocabulary of his classical forbears, but explicitly aligned himself with their philosophical positions. She illustrates John’s profound debt to Roman Stoicism, derived from the writings of Seneca and Cicero, and shows how he made Stoic theories on duties, virtuous rulership and moderation relevant to the medieval context. She also examines how John’s classical learning was filtered through patristic sources, arguing that this led to a unique synthesis between his political and theological views. The book places famous elements of John’s political theory - such as his model of the body-politic, his views on tyranny - in the context of the intellectual foment of the classical revival and the dramatic social changes afoot in Europe in the twelfth century. In so doing, it offers students and researchers of this period a novel investigation of how Stoicism comprises a ‘third way’ for medieval political philosophy, interacting with – and at times dominating – neo-Platonism and proto-Aristotelianism.
Hüseyin Yılmaz
- Published in print:
- 2019
- Published Online:
- May 2020
- ISBN:
- 9780691197135
- eISBN:
- 9781400888047
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691197135.003.0002
- Subject:
- History, Asian History
This chapter examines the Ottoman political discourse from its origins in the early fifteenth century to the third quarter of the sixteenth century. Views on the caliphate were expressed through a ...
More
This chapter examines the Ottoman political discourse from its origins in the early fifteenth century to the third quarter of the sixteenth century. Views on the caliphate were expressed through a diversified corpus of works on government and rulership across various genres and disciplines accompanied by a broad-based interest in engaging with issues related to government among the Ottoman readership. This diverse body of political literature, written in different languages and genres, was produced by an equally diverse group of authors from various backgrounds, including statesmen, jurists, and Sufis. Along with the expansion of the public sphere in sixteenth-century social life, not only did ordinary folks come to be more interested in matters of government but new questions and sensibilities were introduced to the sphere of the political as well. The conventional form of political discourse that was largely confined to providing advice for rulership by a select few gave way to presenting views on all aspects of government by people from different walks of life.Less
This chapter examines the Ottoman political discourse from its origins in the early fifteenth century to the third quarter of the sixteenth century. Views on the caliphate were expressed through a diversified corpus of works on government and rulership across various genres and disciplines accompanied by a broad-based interest in engaging with issues related to government among the Ottoman readership. This diverse body of political literature, written in different languages and genres, was produced by an equally diverse group of authors from various backgrounds, including statesmen, jurists, and Sufis. Along with the expansion of the public sphere in sixteenth-century social life, not only did ordinary folks come to be more interested in matters of government but new questions and sensibilities were introduced to the sphere of the political as well. The conventional form of political discourse that was largely confined to providing advice for rulership by a select few gave way to presenting views on all aspects of government by people from different walks of life.
Hüseyin Yılmaz
- Published in print:
- 2019
- Published Online:
- May 2020
- ISBN:
- 9780691197135
- eISBN:
- 9781400888047
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691197135.003.0003
- Subject:
- History, Asian History
This chapter deals with the formative period of Ottoman political thought from the formal end of the Seljuk state at the turn of the fourteenth century to the Egyptian campaign of 1517. It argues ...
More
This chapter deals with the formative period of Ottoman political thought from the formal end of the Seljuk state at the turn of the fourteenth century to the Egyptian campaign of 1517. It argues that political ideals and imageries inculcated from the Ottomans' own historical experience, appropriation of Arabic, and the Persian corpora on Islamic political theory; and its exposure to indigenous practices of authority constituted an integral part of state formation and ruling ideology that redefined rulership in general, and the caliphate in particular. Having been founded at the western fringes of the Islamicate society in the midst of nominally converted Turkish-speaking nomadic populations, the Ottomans at large were only gradually exposed to learned traditions of High Islam. Two foundational epics of the Ottoman Empire, Halīlnāme and İskendernāme, were composed in this period. Translation of political texts and composition of frontier epics gradually transformed Turkish, which was continuously despised by the learned as a profane language of illiterate nomads with no alphabet, into one of the three principal languages of Islamic learning and culture.Less
This chapter deals with the formative period of Ottoman political thought from the formal end of the Seljuk state at the turn of the fourteenth century to the Egyptian campaign of 1517. It argues that political ideals and imageries inculcated from the Ottomans' own historical experience, appropriation of Arabic, and the Persian corpora on Islamic political theory; and its exposure to indigenous practices of authority constituted an integral part of state formation and ruling ideology that redefined rulership in general, and the caliphate in particular. Having been founded at the western fringes of the Islamicate society in the midst of nominally converted Turkish-speaking nomadic populations, the Ottomans at large were only gradually exposed to learned traditions of High Islam. Two foundational epics of the Ottoman Empire, Halīlnāme and İskendernāme, were composed in this period. Translation of political texts and composition of frontier epics gradually transformed Turkish, which was continuously despised by the learned as a profane language of illiterate nomads with no alphabet, into one of the three principal languages of Islamic learning and culture.
Hüseyin Yılmaz
- Published in print:
- 2019
- Published Online:
- May 2020
- ISBN:
- 9780691197135
- eISBN:
- 9781400888047
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691197135.003.0004
- Subject:
- History, Asian History
This chapter examines the innovative panoply of views on the nature of political authority, and visions of the sultanate as its form of embodiment. Virtually every author writing on rulership felt it ...
More
This chapter examines the innovative panoply of views on the nature of political authority, and visions of the sultanate as its form of embodiment. Virtually every author writing on rulership felt it necessary first to address the question of what political authority really was, its raison d'etre and status among humanity, how it was acquired or lost, the nature of the ruler and his morality, and historical models of rulership. No author doubted the consensus-confirmed view that the sultanate was the highest rank a human being could attain, but they took divergent paths in defining its nature, scope, and entangled boundaries. A common attitude was to reconcile between various historical and theoretical models of political authority including philosopher-kingship, prophethood, and imamate by defining them in ways compatible with their own visions of rulership. Elaborating on a particular vision of rulership almost always involved an explanation of human nature, human beings' existential status, and the purpose of life. There is a strong correlation between one's perception of human nature and vision of ideal rulership.Less
This chapter examines the innovative panoply of views on the nature of political authority, and visions of the sultanate as its form of embodiment. Virtually every author writing on rulership felt it necessary first to address the question of what political authority really was, its raison d'etre and status among humanity, how it was acquired or lost, the nature of the ruler and his morality, and historical models of rulership. No author doubted the consensus-confirmed view that the sultanate was the highest rank a human being could attain, but they took divergent paths in defining its nature, scope, and entangled boundaries. A common attitude was to reconcile between various historical and theoretical models of political authority including philosopher-kingship, prophethood, and imamate by defining them in ways compatible with their own visions of rulership. Elaborating on a particular vision of rulership almost always involved an explanation of human nature, human beings' existential status, and the purpose of life. There is a strong correlation between one's perception of human nature and vision of ideal rulership.
Jethro K. Lieberman
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- January 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780199919840
- eISBN:
- 9780199980376
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199919840.003.0008
- Subject:
- Political Science, Political Theory
The chapter proposes that the only basis of political power consistent with the harm principle is citizenship, rejecting birth status, ownership or wealth, and expertise as grounds for public ...
More
The chapter proposes that the only basis of political power consistent with the harm principle is citizenship, rejecting birth status, ownership or wealth, and expertise as grounds for public participation in the state. It also surveys the sorts of restraints that must be imposed on the government to insure that the harm principle can function (including legislation applied to legislators), and explains why the harm principle cannot be “constitutionalized.”Less
The chapter proposes that the only basis of political power consistent with the harm principle is citizenship, rejecting birth status, ownership or wealth, and expertise as grounds for public participation in the state. It also surveys the sorts of restraints that must be imposed on the government to insure that the harm principle can function (including legislation applied to legislators), and explains why the harm principle cannot be “constitutionalized.”
P. G. Walsh and M. J. Kennedy
- Published in print:
- 1998
- Published Online:
- February 2021
- ISBN:
- 9780856683053
- eISBN:
- 9781800342835
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Liverpool University Press
- DOI:
- 10.3828/liverpool/9780856683053.003.0002
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, Prose and Writers: Classical, Early, and Medieval
This chapter details the text and translation of William of Newburgh's History of English Affairs, Book I. After his introductory chapters on the first three Norman kings, William devoted a further ...
More
This chapter details the text and translation of William of Newburgh's History of English Affairs, Book I. After his introductory chapters on the first three Norman kings, William devoted a further twenty-nine chapters to the reign of Stephen, at the time of whose death in 1154 the author was a youth of some eighteen years. The civil strife which occupied much of the reign provided the major theme of Book I, from which William's attitude to warfare clearly emerges. Considerable attention is also devoted in Book I to the business of rulership, and to the qualities needed for success in it. The author's treatment of English monarchs is judicious, and occasionally judicial. More characteristic, perhaps, are his balanced estimates of William I and Henry I, both of them rulers of whom overall he approved.Less
This chapter details the text and translation of William of Newburgh's History of English Affairs, Book I. After his introductory chapters on the first three Norman kings, William devoted a further twenty-nine chapters to the reign of Stephen, at the time of whose death in 1154 the author was a youth of some eighteen years. The civil strife which occupied much of the reign provided the major theme of Book I, from which William's attitude to warfare clearly emerges. Considerable attention is also devoted in Book I to the business of rulership, and to the qualities needed for success in it. The author's treatment of English monarchs is judicious, and occasionally judicial. More characteristic, perhaps, are his balanced estimates of William I and Henry I, both of them rulers of whom overall he approved.
Emily A. Winkler
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- November 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780198812388
- eISBN:
- 9780191850257
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780198812388.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, British and Irish Medieval History, Historiography
It has long been established that the crisis of 1066 generated a florescence of historical writing in the first half of the twelfth century. This book presents a new perspective on previously ...
More
It has long been established that the crisis of 1066 generated a florescence of historical writing in the first half of the twelfth century. This book presents a new perspective on previously unqueried matters: it investigates how historians’ individual motivations and assumptions produced changes in the kind of history written across the Conquest. It argues that responses to the Danish Conquest of 1016 and Norman Conquest of 1066 changed dramatically within two generations of the latter conquest. Repeated conquest could signal repeated failures and sin across the orders of society, yet early twelfth-century historians in England not only extract English kings and people from a history of failure, but also establish English kingship as a worthy office on a European scale. The book illuminates the consistent historical agendas of four historians: William of Malmesbury, Henry of Huntingdon, John of Worcester, and Geffrei Gaimar. In their narratives of England’s eleventh-century history, these twelfth-century historians expanded their approach to historical explanation to include individual responsibility and accountability within a framework of providential history, making substantial departures from their sources. These historians share a view of royal responsibility independent both of their sources (primarily the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle) and any political agenda that placed English and Norman allegiances in opposition. Although the accounts diverge widely in the interpretation of character, all four are concerned more with the effectiveness of England’s kings than with the legitimacy of their origins. Their new, shared view of royal responsibility represents a distinct phenomenon in England’s twelfth-century historiography.Less
It has long been established that the crisis of 1066 generated a florescence of historical writing in the first half of the twelfth century. This book presents a new perspective on previously unqueried matters: it investigates how historians’ individual motivations and assumptions produced changes in the kind of history written across the Conquest. It argues that responses to the Danish Conquest of 1016 and Norman Conquest of 1066 changed dramatically within two generations of the latter conquest. Repeated conquest could signal repeated failures and sin across the orders of society, yet early twelfth-century historians in England not only extract English kings and people from a history of failure, but also establish English kingship as a worthy office on a European scale. The book illuminates the consistent historical agendas of four historians: William of Malmesbury, Henry of Huntingdon, John of Worcester, and Geffrei Gaimar. In their narratives of England’s eleventh-century history, these twelfth-century historians expanded their approach to historical explanation to include individual responsibility and accountability within a framework of providential history, making substantial departures from their sources. These historians share a view of royal responsibility independent both of their sources (primarily the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle) and any political agenda that placed English and Norman allegiances in opposition. Although the accounts diverge widely in the interpretation of character, all four are concerned more with the effectiveness of England’s kings than with the legitimacy of their origins. Their new, shared view of royal responsibility represents a distinct phenomenon in England’s twelfth-century historiography.
Christina T. Halperin
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- September 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780813033303
- eISBN:
- 9780813039350
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University Press of Florida
- DOI:
- 10.5744/florida/9780813033303.003.0013
- Subject:
- Archaeology, Prehistoric Archaeology
Clay figurines are portrayed by Mesoamerican scholars to be unrelated to state affairs and politics for the following reasons: the fact that the figurines are often recovered in domestic settings; ...
More
Clay figurines are portrayed by Mesoamerican scholars to be unrelated to state affairs and politics for the following reasons: the fact that the figurines are often recovered in domestic settings; the fact that supernatural and human being depictions were hardly ever represented in media; and the Western analytical separation of private and public domains, as well as the extension of political and domestic aspects. However, others would argue that art and iconography are innately political, and that the domestic context of use does not necessarily entail an apolitical statement. As such, the fundamental question arises regarding how figurines were able to promote Maya state relations and rulership symbols, or alternate perspectives and values to the Maya state system. This chapter attempts to concentrate on a theoretical framework of mass media studies in examining figurines from the site of Motul de San José, Petén, Guatemala.Less
Clay figurines are portrayed by Mesoamerican scholars to be unrelated to state affairs and politics for the following reasons: the fact that the figurines are often recovered in domestic settings; the fact that supernatural and human being depictions were hardly ever represented in media; and the Western analytical separation of private and public domains, as well as the extension of political and domestic aspects. However, others would argue that art and iconography are innately political, and that the domestic context of use does not necessarily entail an apolitical statement. As such, the fundamental question arises regarding how figurines were able to promote Maya state relations and rulership symbols, or alternate perspectives and values to the Maya state system. This chapter attempts to concentrate on a theoretical framework of mass media studies in examining figurines from the site of Motul de San José, Petén, Guatemala.
Lenski Noel
- Published in print:
- 2003
- Published Online:
- March 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780520233324
- eISBN:
- 9780520928534
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of California Press
- DOI:
- 10.1525/california/9780520233324.003.0004
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, Archaeology: Classical
This chapter describes how Valens, in consultation with his brother, determined to launch a major expedition against the Goths to retaliate for this. In a three-year campaign, Valens succeeded in ...
More
This chapter describes how Valens, in consultation with his brother, determined to launch a major expedition against the Goths to retaliate for this. In a three-year campaign, Valens succeeded in defeating the Goths but did little significant damage to their forces. It then devotes some time to examining further how the ideals of triumphal rulership affected Valens' choice to campaign against the Goths. Valens used a diplomatic infraction as an excuse for a foreign war designed to boost his position as emperor and to satisfy the policy demands of his aggressive brother. Moreover, some principles of late Roman foreign policy are presented. After Julian's death, when the Goths encountered the new and highly confrontational Valentinianic dynasty, Romano-Gothic relations continued to deteriorate.Less
This chapter describes how Valens, in consultation with his brother, determined to launch a major expedition against the Goths to retaliate for this. In a three-year campaign, Valens succeeded in defeating the Goths but did little significant damage to their forces. It then devotes some time to examining further how the ideals of triumphal rulership affected Valens' choice to campaign against the Goths. Valens used a diplomatic infraction as an excuse for a foreign war designed to boost his position as emperor and to satisfy the policy demands of his aggressive brother. Moreover, some principles of late Roman foreign policy are presented. After Julian's death, when the Goths encountered the new and highly confrontational Valentinianic dynasty, Romano-Gothic relations continued to deteriorate.
Takeshi Inomata
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- January 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780813062754
- eISBN:
- 9780813051178
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University Press of Florida
- DOI:
- 10.5744/florida/9780813062754.003.0004
- Subject:
- Archaeology, Historical Archaeology
Investigations at the Classic Maya center of Aguateca, Guatemala, have shown that dense artifact deposits resulting from termination rituals are found in and around buildings associated with the last ...
More
Investigations at the Classic Maya center of Aguateca, Guatemala, have shown that dense artifact deposits resulting from termination rituals are found in and around buildings associated with the last king of this center, Tahn Te’ K’inich. These data suggest that the identity of the community was closely tied to the person of the king. During the following Postclassic period in the Maya lowlands, monumental representations of rulers as embodiments of their communities became far less common. These observations compel us to critically examine the complexity and multiple dimensions of divine ruler-ship and legitimacy by considering the political fortune of individual kings, changes in the notion of ruler-ship, and the loyalty and acquiescence of subjects.Less
Investigations at the Classic Maya center of Aguateca, Guatemala, have shown that dense artifact deposits resulting from termination rituals are found in and around buildings associated with the last king of this center, Tahn Te’ K’inich. These data suggest that the identity of the community was closely tied to the person of the king. During the following Postclassic period in the Maya lowlands, monumental representations of rulers as embodiments of their communities became far less common. These observations compel us to critically examine the complexity and multiple dimensions of divine ruler-ship and legitimacy by considering the political fortune of individual kings, changes in the notion of ruler-ship, and the loyalty and acquiescence of subjects.
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- March 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780226735849
- eISBN:
- 9780226735856
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Chicago Press
- DOI:
- 10.7208/chicago/9780226735856.003.0009
- Subject:
- History, History of Science, Technology, and Medicine
This chapter explores the reception of Song Yingxing's work by his peers and the role of literary and intellectual sponsorship. It also addresses the role of Ming loyalty and the growing scholarly ...
More
This chapter explores the reception of Song Yingxing's work by his peers and the role of literary and intellectual sponsorship. It also addresses the role of Ming loyalty and the growing scholarly resistance toward Qing rulership. Literary sponsorship impacted the reputation of an author and his work and its circulation and dissemination. Tu Shaokui and Chen Hongxu supported Song and his work for most of his life. Tu's support was initially for a traditional scholarly work on a conventional academic subject. On the other hand, Chen supported Song intellectually rather than financially. Works of Heaven appeared to have submerged into the grey shadows of Chinese seventeenth- and eighteenth-century book culture. This book also represented an irritation in Song's refusal to sustain the world of delusions and depravity in which he lived, a world “made by man.” Song's writings showed some traits of a distinctive history of knowledge transmission.Less
This chapter explores the reception of Song Yingxing's work by his peers and the role of literary and intellectual sponsorship. It also addresses the role of Ming loyalty and the growing scholarly resistance toward Qing rulership. Literary sponsorship impacted the reputation of an author and his work and its circulation and dissemination. Tu Shaokui and Chen Hongxu supported Song and his work for most of his life. Tu's support was initially for a traditional scholarly work on a conventional academic subject. On the other hand, Chen supported Song intellectually rather than financially. Works of Heaven appeared to have submerged into the grey shadows of Chinese seventeenth- and eighteenth-century book culture. This book also represented an irritation in Song's refusal to sustain the world of delusions and depravity in which he lived, a world “made by man.” Song's writings showed some traits of a distinctive history of knowledge transmission.
Harold D. Roth
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- May 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780824855680
- eISBN:
- 9780824873028
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Hawai'i Press
- DOI:
- 10.21313/hawaii/9780824855680.003.0010
- Subject:
- Society and Culture, Asian Studies
The classical Daoist textual corpus, while often treated as abstract philosophy, emerged from a tradition of teachers and students that was primarily based on a common set of meditative techniques, ...
More
The classical Daoist textual corpus, while often treated as abstract philosophy, emerged from a tradition of teachers and students that was primarily based on a common set of meditative techniques, and goals. These techniques emphasized proper posture (aligning the body and keeping it still), breath cultivation (concentrating, patterning, guiding, relaxing and expanding the breath), the use of attention (focusing on the one or on the center), as well as a variety of apophatic training regimes designed to restrict or eliminate desires, emotions, thoughts, knowledge and sense perceptions and reveal a deeper reality known as the Way, believed to underlie these faculties. With time, a tradition emerged for viewing these self-cultivation practices as particularly beneficial for rulership, connecting the ruler to a correlative web of cosmic energies.Less
The classical Daoist textual corpus, while often treated as abstract philosophy, emerged from a tradition of teachers and students that was primarily based on a common set of meditative techniques, and goals. These techniques emphasized proper posture (aligning the body and keeping it still), breath cultivation (concentrating, patterning, guiding, relaxing and expanding the breath), the use of attention (focusing on the one or on the center), as well as a variety of apophatic training regimes designed to restrict or eliminate desires, emotions, thoughts, knowledge and sense perceptions and reveal a deeper reality known as the Way, believed to underlie these faculties. With time, a tradition emerged for viewing these self-cultivation practices as particularly beneficial for rulership, connecting the ruler to a correlative web of cosmic energies.
Brian O. Ruppert
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- November 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780824832049
- eISBN:
- 9780824869250
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Hawai'i Press
- DOI:
- 10.21313/hawaii/9780824832049.003.0004
- Subject:
- Religion, Buddhism
This chapter looks at the funerary and mortuary dimension in premodern Japan of the worship of relics. The account of the Buddha's cremation has didactic value as a dramatic performance of ...
More
This chapter looks at the funerary and mortuary dimension in premodern Japan of the worship of relics. The account of the Buddha's cremation has didactic value as a dramatic performance of impermanence, the body of a once-living person being reduced to smoke and ashes before the viewers' eyes. But at the same time, cremation has an equally significant if opposing purpose in generating enduring physical relics for enshrinement and veneration. Buddha relics, then, transcend the boundary between life and death and thus, came to represent the ongoing possibility of enlightenment even in an age of decline. The chapter also shows how relic worship in medieval Japan was bound up in a multivalent “thematic complex” involving indebtedness to the Buddha, the soteriological value of self-sacrifice in repayment, and the legitimation of rulership.Less
This chapter looks at the funerary and mortuary dimension in premodern Japan of the worship of relics. The account of the Buddha's cremation has didactic value as a dramatic performance of impermanence, the body of a once-living person being reduced to smoke and ashes before the viewers' eyes. But at the same time, cremation has an equally significant if opposing purpose in generating enduring physical relics for enshrinement and veneration. Buddha relics, then, transcend the boundary between life and death and thus, came to represent the ongoing possibility of enlightenment even in an age of decline. The chapter also shows how relic worship in medieval Japan was bound up in a multivalent “thematic complex” involving indebtedness to the Buddha, the soteriological value of self-sacrifice in repayment, and the legitimation of rulership.
Mary Jane Acuña
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- September 2018
- ISBN:
- 9780813054841
- eISBN:
- 9780813053332
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University Press of Florida
- DOI:
- 10.5744/florida/9780813054841.003.0012
- Subject:
- Archaeology, Prehistoric Archaeology
This chapter summarizes the archaeological and iconographic evidence from Structure 5C-01 that indicate rulership was established at the small center of El Achiotal in the Late Preclassic period. The ...
More
This chapter summarizes the archaeological and iconographic evidence from Structure 5C-01 that indicate rulership was established at the small center of El Achiotal in the Late Preclassic period. The symbolic vocabulary at El Achiotal suggests rulers were knowledgeable of the widespread ideology that was being institutionalized in the southern Maya lowlands as well as the more ancient symbolic vocabulary that represented the institution of kingship developed by the Middle Preclassic at La Venta and other centers in Mexico. Variables such as geographic location and control over knowledge provided Late Preclassic centers with leverage to negotiate their status and power within the broader regional geopolitics, thus challenging conventional models used to understand early political authority and its organization over the landscape.Less
This chapter summarizes the archaeological and iconographic evidence from Structure 5C-01 that indicate rulership was established at the small center of El Achiotal in the Late Preclassic period. The symbolic vocabulary at El Achiotal suggests rulers were knowledgeable of the widespread ideology that was being institutionalized in the southern Maya lowlands as well as the more ancient symbolic vocabulary that represented the institution of kingship developed by the Middle Preclassic at La Venta and other centers in Mexico. Variables such as geographic location and control over knowledge provided Late Preclassic centers with leverage to negotiate their status and power within the broader regional geopolitics, thus challenging conventional models used to understand early political authority and its organization over the landscape.
Asuka Sango
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- November 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780824839864
- eISBN:
- 9780824868628
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Hawai'i Press
- DOI:
- 10.21313/hawaii/9780824839864.003.0004
- Subject:
- Religion, Buddhism
The emperor-centric ideology, together with the Misai-e Assembly, was transformed around the tenth century by the development of the new status system of shoden. The shoden system radically ...
More
The emperor-centric ideology, together with the Misai-e Assembly, was transformed around the tenth century by the development of the new status system of shoden. The shoden system radically reformulated the authority relations in the court from those governed by the Ritsuryo bureaucracy to those governed by one’s right of access to the Seiryoden Hall, the emperor’s residential quarter. The system was legitimized not by the traditional authority of the emperor associated with the office of emperor, but by the authority derived from the emperor’s person. In response, existing court rituals, such as the Misai-e Assembly, were modified, while new ones, such as the Golden Light Lecture, were developed. This marked a turning point in the history of the Heian era, when the structure of power began shifting from the emperor-centered state based on the ritsuryo codes to shared rulership based on power blocs.Less
The emperor-centric ideology, together with the Misai-e Assembly, was transformed around the tenth century by the development of the new status system of shoden. The shoden system radically reformulated the authority relations in the court from those governed by the Ritsuryo bureaucracy to those governed by one’s right of access to the Seiryoden Hall, the emperor’s residential quarter. The system was legitimized not by the traditional authority of the emperor associated with the office of emperor, but by the authority derived from the emperor’s person. In response, existing court rituals, such as the Misai-e Assembly, were modified, while new ones, such as the Golden Light Lecture, were developed. This marked a turning point in the history of the Heian era, when the structure of power began shifting from the emperor-centered state based on the ritsuryo codes to shared rulership based on power blocs.
