One year after the death of John Corvin (1473-1504) the Diet was summoned at Rákos in October 1505. The illegitimate son and envisaged heir of Matthew Corvin (1458-1490), Wladyslaw II Jagiello (1490-1526) almost lost the throne. The Diet and John Zápolya, future Voivode of Transylvania (1510-1526) and King of Hungary (1526-1540), had asked for Wladyslaw II to abdicate. Moreover, the Treaty of Bratislava (1491) was annulled and this displeased Maximilian I of Habsburg, “co-king” of Hungary, who was preparing an invasion of territories east of Vienna. Wladyslaw had to flee to Prague, in his second kingdom. In November 1505, the royal specialist in Hungarian and Wallachian issues, Jan Laski, was terrified by the possibility that the Wallachians inhabiting the Kingdom of Hungary might become allies of Maximilian and. The Jagiellonians could thus lose Hungary by next summer. Laski’s advice was to use the Wallachians against the Hungarians (Zápolya’s ‘nationalists’), who detested them. This turn of events suited 1490 and the struggle for Matthew Corvin’s throne rather than the beginning of the 16th century. This concluded 15 troubled years that were also a time when “the Romanian group” around the king lost its influence.
More...Keywords: official biography, personality cult, Gheorghiu-Dej, communist regime, propaganda
The role of official biographies in legitimizing the communist leaders’ power has long been debated in the historiography. However, the Romanian scholars did not pay serious attention to the contribution of these writings in the making of Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej’s personality cult. Therefore, this article tries to find the roots and the evolution of this phenomenon analyzing one of the most important propagandistic instruments for the fabrication of the Romanian communist leader’s cult. One the one hand, a research of this topic is initiated in the hope of understanding the special role of biographies in a totalitarian regime. On the other hand, the study aims to emphasize that the function of the official biographies was to confirm the presence of the leader at the head of the Party. Finally, I will conduct a quantitative and qualitative study, in order to reveal the special role of Gheorghiu-Dej in the Romanian communist regime, in comparison with other representative leaders of the time.
More...Keywords: propaganda, diplomacy, revisionism, Nicolae Petrescu-Comnen, Lucian Blaga, Romania, Switzerland, Hungary
Analyzing the diplomatic documents issued by the Romanian Legation in Bern we observe the constant preoccupation of the Romanian personnel from this Legation for propaganda and contra-propaganda. The Romanian diplomats understood that after the war Switzerland became an important place for propaganda for the defeated countries as in Geneva there was the headquarter of the League of Nations. Based on this observation, our study is trying to explain the way Romanian authorities were working together with the personnel from the Legation in Bern for a positive external propaganda. We are also trying to analyze the initiatives in this field of propaganda of the head of the Romanian diplomatic mission in Bern between 1923 and 1928, Nicolae Petrescu-Comnen. We observed how the perseverance of the Bern Legation personnel brought a better presentation of the positive information concerning Romania in Swiss newspapers. Another aim of the Romanian external propaganda was to publish booklets and different papers concerning important problems that Romania faced after the war as well as information about the history of Romanian territories. Some of these booklets were printed by the Romanian Legation in Bern and were spread, with the help of the Romanian diplomatic service in all the big, important capitals of the world, showing this way the important place this Legation played in promoting Romania abroad, at least during the 20’s. These achievements happening with the help of some Romanian diplomats like Nicolae Petrescu-Comnen, Iosif Şchiopul and Lucian Blaga.
More...Keywords: electronic music; technology; reception; abstraction; spatialization
Electronic music spanned the 20th century under diverse forms of expression of the art of sound, being directly conditioned by the development of technology, which enabled composers and the public to increase the expansion potential of music art representations. Experimenting and the avantgarde offered a key towards progress, involving technology and a new dimension for the reception of the art of music which conformed to the spirit of the time. Electronic music was and is the final frontier for the expression of the contemporary music spirit, venturing into new realms of expressivity and implicitly of reception by the public. Our research starts from the premise that technology, regardless of the sophistication degree of the sound-generating devices, is just a means of highlighting that which lies at the heart of the representation universe of the musical work of art: its message and the adequacy of this message’s expressiveness. Some works by composer Adrian Borza shall be analyzed from a personal, subjective perspective, as variant of the multitude of performance modes related to a certain number of human types that can make up a certain kind of public.
More...The activity of the Romanian emigrates in North America considerably contributed to the reinforcement of the Romanian-American relat'ions as a whole and at the same time to the creation of modern Romania.
More...Keywords: concordate of Worms; struggle for investiture; Church an State in Middle-Ages.
The Concordat of Worms (1122), as an Expression of Church-State Relation in the Middle-Ages. Relations between the temporal and spiritual, in the aftermath of the Gregorian reformation were extremely tense, due to the will of papacy to free the Church institutions from secular domination, to the desire of the Pope to assert the independence of spiritual power from temporal power. For these reasons the well known quarrel for the investiture began, in which the competitors were Pope Gregory VII and Emperor Henry IV of Germany. Later on, the intransigence of popes regarding lay investiture led to rough discussions between Western sovereigns and the Pope, discussions that sometimes led to the ceasing of relations between Pope and sovereigns. The one who managed to resolve differences between temporal and spiritual powers was bishop Yves of Chartres, by the theory of the two acts of investiture, lay investiture, on the ground of which the feudal right was provided, and spiritual investiture, which granted religious privileges. In other words, according to this theory, the king was able to invest the bishop elected by the clergy and the people, under the condition that he had no intention to provide him spiritual powers, his investiture having no sacramental power. Following the theory mentioned above, arrangements with the French king and with the king of England are made, and eventually the first concordat in history, the concordat of Worms, 1122, or "the calixtine transition”, which marks the end of the struggle for investiture. Concluded between Pope Callixtus II and the German Emperor Henry V, the document of Worms was a bilateral agreement of two equal powers, having the legal nature of a peacekeeping contract. It put an end to a concept and even military quarrel, and its decisions have become mandatory for all Western states until 1303.
More...Keywords: religious law; value of religion; subsidiarity; religious freedom; religious equality; autonomy; discrimination.
The following material will present some aspects of the relation between the European Union and religious organizations and churches. We are used to analyze the relation between church and state at a national level of one member state, but I would like to present here the principles of the relation between the two entities as they are reflected in the juridical instruments of the EU or in European jurisprudence. In recent years there has been a profound increase in the treatment of matters which affect religion by the laws and other regulatory instruments of the EU. The position of the EU towards religion is characterized by seven fundamental principles which will be elaborated and presented in the following pages.
More...Keywords: Federalism; autonomy; centralism; Transylvania; Old Kingdom; Hungary
The End of The First World War brought an absolutely new reality in Central Europe, following the collapse of the four Empires: German, Austro-Hungarian, Russian and Ottoman. New states sprang on the geopolitical map, but, however, their experience was limited to that from the Middle Ages; any other incumbent to statehood has been lost more than a century ago. The Empires have been divided into several regions. Some of those regions have merged with states that have already enjoyed independence. Taking into consideration this context, we must not be surprised that both during and after the war, Central Europe became the region where the number of federal projects increased. Transylvania made no exception, since, in 1918, after a long life under Habsburgs, this province was united with Romania. Ideas of federality were not unknown in this region, since debates regarding federalization had a long history during the Dual Monarchy. This work paper concentrates on two aspects: on the one hand, the Romanian leaders from Transylvania agreed to accept provincial autonomy soon after 1918 and, on the other hand, Hungarian leaders from Transylvania promoted and maintained the idea of autonomy during the war even though their reasons and political targets were different from those of the Romanian leaders.
More...Keywords: alcoolism; antisemitism; bauturi spitoase; cârciumi; discurs medical; discurs religios; interbelic; istoriografie; legi antialcoolism; legislatie; publicatii; statistica
The present inquiry tries to analyze the topic of propaganda and multiple measures against alcoholism patterns during the interwar Romania. There are many historical sources regarding this and a survey of these seems to be a very complicate one. We can notice for those times that the existence of a multiple discourses on this topic is an expression of different adopted laws, actions of Romanian Orthodox Church, actions of “Astra” society and so on. The main consequence of the interwar romanian propaganda and due to the actions against alcoholism was the foundation in 1929 of Temperanta League. This league tried to be the best tool in the „war” against alcoholism and in 1937 it became part of the Romanian Health Minister. On the other hand, during that period, the patterns of alcoholism became more and more a medicalized issue and the entire discourse against it tried to make the Romanian society more sensitive regarding the threat of a alcohol addiction. Also, the influence of western patterns of those times (i. e. American laws of prohibition) had a strong echo in Romanian interwar society.
More...The Hierarchy of the Moldavian Orthodox Curch in the Mid-Seventeenth Century. In the mid-17th century, during Vasile Lupu's reign, Moldavian Church was organized according to the Eastern tradition, with a hierarchy that managed to impose itself in the religious, cultural and political environment of an East dominated by the Ottoman Porte. Its status was illustrated by the fact that metropolitan Varlaam was a candidate in the 1639 elections for the office of patriarch of Constantinople, and by the synod of Iaşi in the fall of 1642, which endowed Orthodoxy with one of the seven professions of faith officially acknowledged in the East.
More...Keywords: new Romanian poetry; Miruna Vlada; Bogdan Perdivara; Marin Malaicu-Hondrari; T.S. Khasis; Oana Catalina Ninu; Livia Rosca; Oana Pughineanu; Vlad Muresan; Gabriel Troc; Ciprian Siulea; Music: Adela Popescu; Sfera; BBB; Filip Florian; Bucurenci - Plesu;
Cultural dossier. Section containing comments of artistic genre representatives, about the most important debuts in the last three years. Poetry. Music. Fine arts. Essay.
More...Keywords: Parliament
Entre 1866 et 1880, Manolake Kostake Epoureano fût, par ses actions et par sa conception politique, un personnage représentatif du conservatisme roumain. Entre ses idées politiques, on peut rappeler lesquelles concernant le rôle décisif qu’une élite, sélectionnée par la richesse et l’éducation, devait avoir dans l` état. En même temps, l’homme politique a été un «constitutionaliste», un admirateur du model politique anglais, caractérisé par la légalité et le respect pour la tradition. En matière économique, il a soutenu toujours la réduction des dépenses publiques et la liberté des initiatives privées. Dans la vie parlementaire, Manolake Kostake Epoureano a suivi, jusqu’en 1875, les programmes de la droite (devenant aussi premier ministre, pour quelque mois, en 1870 ). Quoi qu’il a pris part après à la fondation du Parti National Libéral, dont il a été le premier chef de gouvernement (en 1876), Manolake Kostake s’est retourné vers les conservateurs. En 1880, justement avant sa mort, il est devenu le président d’une structure politique récemment fondée – le Parti Conservateur.
More...Keywords: medal study; sculpture; Baroque art.
Influences of Sculpture in Medal Study. 17th – 18th Centuries. The impact of major plastic creations of Baroque art influences achievements in the field. The most common sculptural references that appear in medal study generally have load-bearing role, shrines or pedestals on which are usually placed imperial symbols. From the medal study repertoire are not missing the heroic bust statues, particularly conclusive example is the series of medals issued as a consequence to military successes achieved in the era of Leopold I. Another group of frequent sculptural representation is sculptural portraits. Powerful sculptural influences also suffer the medals engraved with images depicting allegorical chariots celebrating military triumphs. Another important chapter of the influence of sculpture on medal study are the sculptural monuments, dominated by obelisks and also by the image of unique funeral monuments, highly in vogue in the Baroque era, sarcophagi.
More...Keywords: Europeanism; Atlanticism; Security Dilemma; Bandwagoning; Iraq;
This paper attempts to make a brief assessment of Romania’s parallel processes of integration within NATO and EU-ESDP using as a compass the competitive/complementary dynamic between Europeanism and atlanticism, as well as Romania’s manifest preferences regarding national security and defence. The first part will track the evolution of the accession processes, of the initiatives and reforms put into place on Romania’s behalf in order to comply with euro-Atlantic standards. Next, the NATO-ESDP relationship will be viewed from a conflictive perspective, holding a central focus on the internal crisis generated by the Iraq war. Romania’s options will be explained with the help of two concepts from the Theory of International Relations, the Security Dilemma and Bandwagoning, while at the same time the events and processes that occurred from 2003 to the present day will be closely analyzed. Romania’s involvement in the Iraq war and the political fruit derived from it shall constitute the topics of the final chapter.
More...SUMMARY: The spread of the 5th-6th centuries North African lamps in the former Roman provinces on Middle and Lower Danube. Romanian historiography has tried to elucidate the cause, time and the way how the North African Christian lamps (5th-6th centuries) reached the territory of the former Dacian provinces; but the problem remained unsolved (Fig. 1) Difficulty was also posed by the fact that part of the former Roman Empire (the south-eastern european provinces including the former Dacian provinces) was occupied by the Barbartians. Fig. 2-3. Very little is known about the fate of the Romanised population from these territories. The author (Valer Părău) of the present paper has gathered a large number of the discovered North African Christian lamps, original from the space between North Africa (the provinces Mauretania and Africa proconsuleris) and the former Dacian provinces. Fig. 7. Knowing the types of the lamps (Fig. 6), the production centres (Fig. 5), the datation of types and the „classical” routes of transport (Fig. 4) the author tries to establish the possible routes on which these North African lamps were transported and commercialized in these territories. Fig. 9-13 The present paper is a case study: it gives information only on North African Christian lamps, type Atlante VIII-X, which have on their flat discusses the chrismon. Fig. 8 The conclusion is an interesting on: a confirmation of the reality that on the territories occupied by the Barbarians in the South-East European former provinces remained enclaves of Roman Christian populations, especially in the former cities towards which these products (Christian lamps and other artifacts) were directed. The Barbarians were not using them. Knowing this situation, the Byzantine State and the Church supplied these enclaves with products habitual for every day life (ceramic vessels, oil, etc) and the Christian cult (lamps).
More...Intellectual fraud and particularly plagiarism represent the major enemy of higher education in Romania, just like in other countries. After we define plagiarism and outline the current research regarding intellectual fraud among students internationally and in Romania, we present our own investigations regarding the self evaluation of honesty, the attributions that students assign to written exams cheating and downloading essays from Internet. We also discuss guilt and shame feelings to different forms of intellectual fraud. Finally, we advance a proposal for the establishment of a Center for Academic Integrity, following the blueprints of such a center that has been established in 1992 at Duke University (USA).
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