Abstract This paper compares Donald Queller's "The Fourth Crusade" to other contemporary books regarding the Fourth Crusade and contrasts between them.
From the Paper "In The Fourth Crusade, Donald E. Queller describes both the political and financial motives that led to the fourth crusade to Constantinople. Through heavy use of primary sources, the entire journey is told in a story-like fashion. Unfortunately, this story is not one without opinions. The Fourth Crusade is filled with Queller's personal opinions about both the historical event and contemporary historians. While these can sometimes be distracting, they neither take away from the significance of this study nor alter the historical facts. Queller's work, by all means, is one of the better historical studies of the events leading up to the sacking of Constantinople."
Abstract This paper examines the nature of the threat that the Ottoman Empire posed to 16th century European states. The author finds that the reality of the menace is accepted during the reign of Suleyman the Magnificent, but the magnitude of the danger is, however, questioned.
From the Paper "At first glance it is tempting to view the Ottoman Empire in the 16th century as posing a very serious threat indeed to Europe. From the reign of Mehmet II, the achievements of the Sultans mounted, so that in order to understand the menace of the Ottomans one must place due emphasis on the capture of Constantinople by the aforementioned Sultan in 1453. From this point the momentum driving the Ottoman state to becoming a major power seemed to generally increase, through the reigns of Bayezit II, Selim I and culminating in the reign of the "lawgiver" Suleyman, known by the West as the ?Magnificent.? Indeed, it is clear that the threat posed was a real one, and at times serious enough to provoke a sense off panic from European peoples, especially following moments such as when the army of Suleyman laid siege to Vienna for some 3 weeks before withdrawing before the winter of 1529. There were also some impressive victories for the Ottomans: Rhodes, described by Ann Williams as "the thorn in the Sultan's flesh" was taken from the Knights of St. John in 1522, and Belgrade the "gateway to central Europe" captured in the same year as the defeat and slaughter of the army of Louis II of Hungary. Barbarossa, as Lord Admiral of Suleyman's formidable fleet ravaged the coastline of Italy and North Africa and pitched himself against Dorea, and posed a serious distraction for Charles V. However, the reality of the threat the Ottomans posed has been inordinately presented, a process which began in the interpretations made by contemporary 16th century commentators whose knowledge of the east was often incomplete. An examination of Knolles "General History of the Turks" praises aspects of the Ottoman Empire such as its military and political organisation and unified faith whilst revealing the author's lack of acquaintance with it in his portrayal of the Turks as a society primarily militaristic, uncultured, corrupt and unstable. Thus whilst communicating the strength of the Islamic adversary in order to encourage Christian unity in the face of danger, he is loath to credit the Ottomans to highly as a race of foreign ?others.? His prejudices and motivations therefore dictates that his source by treated with caution, and indicates to the historian the dangers of accepting 16th century interpretations of the threat posed by the Ottomans too highly."
This paper is a serious work that evaluates various aspects of the society in the Danubian principalities during the first half of the 17th century, focusing specifically on both popular and official religious characteristics of the society as well as on
Abstract The paper consists of three chapters, an introductory part and conclusions. The introduction defines the topic, the sources, the method and the structure. As the thesis refers to Franciscans and their reports, the first chapter provides a brief insight into their organization, their reasons for coming to the region, the relationship between them and the local power, and among themselves. The second chapter deals with the local clergy and its everyday life, stressing both its way of following church cannons and the coexistence with the clergy belonging to other religions. The third chapter deals with the society and is divided in two subchapters. The first one concern the society itself, focusing on its patterns of behavior in certain occasions, mentality, customs, ethnicity and education. The second subchapter is dedicated to religion, both the official religion and the popular one, which includes local beliefs mingled with Christian dogma and miracles. The last part consists of the conclusions drawn from the paper, highlighting its outcomes.
From the Paper "Knowledge of the reports written by the Franciscan missionaries is valuable for any historiography of the countries that were comprised within partibus infidelium where the Franciscans were active. Their reports are written in different styles suitable for different approaches, from demographic or culinary history to political history. Naturally, the accounts of the Franciscans proved valuable for Romanian historiography as well. However little use of the new trends was made and they were employed mainly as a source that stressed the political history. Therefore as previous research disregarded the potential of the reports for social history, there is a certain gap in the field."
Abstract The paper provides an insight on the two centuries that for Bosnia meant the reshaping of the social, ethnic and religious features. By analyzing the process that conducted to that shift, the paper discusses eventually contemporary issues of the area.
From the Paper "The paper focuses on the ethnic and religious changes that took place in Bosnia during 17th-18th centuries by putting them in the right context. The essay is encompassed within the multiple borderland courses by approaching all the shifts Bosnia encountered as a border province on Triplex Confinium. The aim is to deal not only with the political features of the border but also with its human aspects and to surprise how the border shifts affected the human environment. In order to achieve this a comparative aproach based on the consequences of actions."
This paper analyzes the Lika and Krbava (areas in Croatia) 1712 Census. It looks at family structures, ethnicity and religion interpreted from this census.
Abstract The paper focuses on the family structures, ethnicity and religion in the regions of Lika and Krbava based on the census from 1712. This area, which today belongs to Croatia, was of extreme importance as it was on the triple border (triplex confinium) of the three mighty powers:Ottomans, Austrians and Venetians.Therefore the paper aims to reconstruct and explain by statistic and quantitative methods of the epoch.
From the Paper "A historical reality of Lika and Krbava regions, which belonged to the Triplex Confinium area, where the three very strong powers (the Republic of Venice, the Habsburg Monarchy and the Ottoman Empire) met was an exceptionally complex one. The area was conquered by the Ottomans in 1527 and during the following one and a half centuries most of the inhabitants were Muslims and Vlachs, who were concentrated in strong fortresses constructed for defense in the case of attacks of the Habsburg Empire and the Republic of Venice. However, soon after the disastrous Ottoman attempted siege of Vienna in 1683, the Habsburg troops conquered several Ottoman fortresses. Consequently, in 1689, the last Ottoman fortresses in the Lika region gave up and their inhabitants left for Bosnia. During these battles, most of the population left the Lika region. Most of the Muslim population fled to the remaining Ottoman territories. The same happened with the Vlach population. They left their homes and inhabited partly the Habsburg territories and partly Venetian territories. In a meantime, during the battles, the Habsburg regular troops were being supported by the irregular ones, which also contributed to the formation of a very various ethnic/religious picture of the region. One of the irregular troops was Bunjevci of the Habsburg border regions who entered the Lika region and helped in its reconquest. Therefore, after 1683 the region was re-conquered and resettled in a somewhat irregular and unplanned manner. Having in mind that some Muslims chose to stay in the region but converted to Christianity after the withdrawal of the Ottoman troops (New Christians or Neochristians), the ethnic/religious map of the area became even more complex."
Abstract The paper deals with the Ottoman domestic and foreign policy during the last year of life of Sultan Suleyman the Magnificent.The paper uses primary sources published in Turkey and attempts to answer to different research questions and explain certain political choices of the Ottomans. The methods employed for achieving these outcomes, are the quantitative and statistic methods based on visual outputs and research on the sources.
From the Paper "The essay deals with the Ottoman state policy in 973 H. (1565/1566 d. Hr.) as revealed by the orders (hukum) and imperial letters (name-i h"mayun) from M"himme Defterleri (The Book of Important Affairs). These books started to be edited by the Ministers Council Archives in Ankara in 1994. The book used for year 1565/1566 is the fifth one (Bes Numerali M?himme Defterleri) and has 505 pages consisting in a foreword ("ns"z), preface (sunus), abreviations (kisaltmalar), the table of contents (I?indekiler), the summary of the orders (hukumlerin ozetleri), the index and map of Rumeli. The method used was to establish a database with all the imperial orders and letters found in the book and to compare and interpret them within empire, regions, addressants, stressing the ones concerning pricipalities of Moldavia, Transylvania and Valachia. As in the book there were 27 provinces to which the sultan addressed in this period, it was necessary to divide the provinces into main regions on a geographical and political basis for a better comparison and interpretation. Thus the following regions came into being: Asia Minor, Europe, Mediterana and Orient."
Tags: Suleyman, Turkey, rule, foreign, Maximilian, Romanian, Principalities, Sultan
This paper examines the everyday life of Clergy in Moldavia and Wallachia during the 17th century. It examines how they managed to live together in peace despite the wars raging around them.
Abstract The paper focuses on the everyday life of the clergy from Danubian Principalities in the 17th century. Followers of different religions like Orthodox, Catholics and Protestants were dwelling within a narrow area and had to find the means to live together as peacefully as possible. At the same time, they had to obey to the stern rules that were issued by the ecclesiastical authorities.Therefore very often they had to comply with the local customs and to borrow from the other faiths in order to be accepted by the local community.The paper provides some answers about how the priests managed to cope with this situation.
From the Paper The paper focuses on the way the Catholic, Orthodox and Protestant clergy led their lives and interacted among them in Moldavia and Wallachia. The essay covers especially first half of the 17th century although the data should be understood as an approximate signpost of an historical small-scaled research than as fixed boundary. Little study on this topic and area is available in Romanian or Hungarian and particularly in English. Thus research for the paper was conducted by using only the published Franciscan reports on the area as primary sources.
Tags: catholic, clergy, franciscans, orthodox, protestant, society
Abstract An in-depth look at the history of the vampire giving examples of famous past figures claiming to be vampires. It looks at the symbols in the vampire culture and what they mean - blood, church, religion. The paper then tries to examine medical excuses for vampires - anemia, catalepsy etc.
From the Paper "Vampires have been around since the beginning of time. People have used them to explain things they thought were unexplainable. ?Vampires are mythical creatures who overcome death by sucking the blood from living humans (Vampires).? [See addendum A] In our modern society, when people see a picture of a vampire they are supposedly overcome with feelings of longing, whether consciously or unconsciously. Vampires, in our eyes, are elegant, debonair, gorgeous, sexual, and desirable. What vampires want mimics what people want: all of their hidden desires and secrets. They are outlets for a society where the line between good and evil is bold, where everything is black or white. Aspects found in vampires are the same aspects that are found in us. Vampires rise not in the morning but at night when the world turns out its lights and darkness descends on the people. Some people yearn for the carefree life that is the vampire. A vampire is law unto himself. And most importantly, what people believe to be evil becomes their vampire. But to people who lived long ago, vampires were minions of the Devil, evil incarnate, monsters capable of turning others from the path of righteousness and God to the Devil and darkness. The key aspect of the vampire is death. They can be killed and yet still are thought of as immortal. People will never truly understand all there is about the vampire world. The understanding of the historical vampire, the evidence that disproved them and the real vampires of the modern world are all part of the vampire phenomenon."
Abstract A paper which relates the colorful history of the cultural and academic center that is the city of Krakow in Poland. Includes information from the city's founding in the eight century to the modern day.
From the Paper "Krak"w is a city in southern Poland. It is the capital of Krak"w Province. It has a rich heritage and for many centuries this city has played an important role in Poland's history. In today's world it is an important industrial center, yet it still attracts many tourists with its many landmarks. This city has seen Poland in its Golden Age when it stretched out from the Baltic to Black seas and also when it was under the foreign control after the partitions."
Tags: Vistula, Hanseatic, League, Jan, III, Sobiewski
Abstract This essay argues that the Russian revolution of 1905 was a protest against the Tsar's refusal to make political concessions, and that once the concessions were given, the revolution was doomed to failure. It argues that the opposition was disorganized and not united in its objectives, and that generally the people of Russia still revered the Tsar, despite his faults.
From the Paper "On 9 January 1905, a worker's procession in St Petersburg calling for social and political reform was fired upon by panicked troops and two hundred people were killed. A resultant wave of strikes and protests across the country threatened to overthrow the monarchy; indeed, as most of the army was engaged in the war against Japan, the Tsar had little protection. Opposition to the Tsar had been building up for many years, and was made up of a broad range of political groups, including peasants and workers, moderates and revolutionaries, liberals and socialists."
Abstract This paper attempts to justify the NATO strikes on Serbia by examining international law. This invasion, made for both strategic and moral purposes, and made in part because of violations of international law by Serbia, was itself an exercise in near-total disregard of international law.
From the Paper "On March 24, 1999, President William Clinton of the United States of America ordered air strikes against Serbia as part of a North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) offensive, Operation Allied Force. Speaking to the American people, he explained: ?We act to protect ... innocent people in Kosovo from a mounting military offensive ... to prevent a wider war; to diffuse a powder keg at the heart of Europe that has exploded twice before in this century ... to stand united with our allies for peace.? The 30,000 soldier offensive was made in response to Serbian oppression of ethnic Albanians living in the province of Kosovo. NATO justified the bombing as an attempt to protect Kosovar civilians, to stabilize regional European security, and to maintain NATO credibility. This invasion, made for both strategic and moral purposes, made in part because of violations of international law by Serbia, was itself an exercise in near-total disregard of international law."
From the Paper "BASIC FACTS ABOUT YUGOSLAVIA
Summary Background
The Federal Republic of Yugoslavia consists of Serbia and Montenegro. as well as the federal republic. Officially, the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia is not recognized by the international community. The Federal government presents itself as the government of the sole successor of the former socialist Yugoslav Republic. The cities of Belgrade (Serbia) and Podgorica (Montenegro) are the country capitals and the the Federal Republic Capital is Belgrade.(1)
There is a combined population (January 2000 estimate) of 11,206,847 with 10,526,478 atttributed to Serbia and 689,369 people living in Montnegro.
The ethnic breakdown consists of Serbs (63 percent); Albanians (14 percent..."
From the Paper "In the troubled aftermath of the Soviet collapse, newly independent, sovereign nations Belarus and Ukraine have sustained a similar array of political and economic woes. Decades of Soviet rule have rendered both Belarus and Ukraine ill-equipped to adopt stable, functioning, and least of all democratic, governments. Today, the political climate of these nations is ghastly; in Belarus, authoritarian president Alexander Lukashenko is in his sixth year of a subversive, autocratic presidency (Time International, 1999, p. 42). In Ukraine, Leonid Kuchma won re-election to the presidency after a campaign rife with political violence, murder, and censorship of the media (The Economist, 1999, p. 19). On the economic front, each nation has endured wild inflation, lack of foreign investment, and declining standards of living. "
Historical background & current geopolitical & economic situation. Direct investment (FDI) in particular Balkan nations. Need for internal restructuring.
4,500 words (approx. 18 pages), 15 sources, 2001, $ 135.95
From the Paper "This research paper discusses the historical background and contemporary geopolitical and economic perspectives of foreign, primarily European, direct investment (FDI) in the Balkans and in particular Balkan nations.
The national economies which make up the Balkan Peninsula have not shared appreciably in the tremendous global expansion of FDI which has occurred in the last quarter of the 20th century. The ending of the Cold War and the apparent dampening down of the wars of the 1990s which accompanied the disintegration of the former Yugoslav Federation have ushered into power throughout most of the region governments which are receptive to FDI.
FDI and other forms of European foreign capital played a ..."
From the Paper "One of the great questions facing any people who are an ethnic minority in their own society is whether they should try to preserve their sense of ethnicity, their sense of apartness, or if they should attempt to merge their own sense of ethnicity into a greater sense of nationality. This paper examines the status of Hungarians in Slovenia, how they have maintained their sense of self amid a larger population that is not always sympathetic to the ethnic identity of its subpopulations.
In order to understand the position in which Hungarians in Slovenia Hungary find themselves, it may be useful to understand more broadly the history of Slovenia itself. It is important to note that a very large measure of ethnic identity comes from understanding how one is different from one's neighbors. People not only define themselves as like their families and other ..."
