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Tsar Ivan IV (1533-1584), the autocrat of the Grand Duchy of Muscovy, left behind the testimony of a bloody tyrant, squandering the lives of thousands of his subjects, however, until recently some Russian historians viewed him as a lonely reformer who was forced to take radical decisions. Many of them maintained the legend of his supposedly exquisite education. In their assumptions they relied on another legend of the Rurikovitch's book collection full of literary gems of antiquity. Although nobody questions the existence of Tsar Ivan's private library, there are many misconceptions about it, especially that the existing documents mention merely 154 titles of books in the collection. They are connected with the person of the Tsar in many ways; he founded some of them, he barely skimmed some, and he confiscated others. The collection was analysed by N.N. Zarubin (1893-1942) many years ago, and various historians supplied it with commentaries during the after-war period. The source of the misunderstandings about the Tsar's library is the anonymous Index of the collection, supposedly discovered in 1819 in the town of Parnu archives by Ch. Dabelov (1768-1830), professor at the Dorpat (Tartu) University, which included a few references to some Greek and Latin manuscripts, and gave their total number of eight hundred volumes. N.N. Zarubin did not acknowledge Dabelov's Index being afraid of mystification. Perhaps he found those references to unknown works by Virgil, Cicero and other lost texts of Roman authors too shocking to be true. And yet, since the beginning of 19th century, historians have continued to undertake research on Tsar Ivan "The Terrible's" library. Some of them reached the conclusion that it must have been burnt during the Kreml fires in 1547, 1571 or 1611. Others speculated that it was plundered during the Dimitri movement or that the synod library and several Orthodox Church libraries absorbed it. There are still some who claim that Tsar Ivan's collection has remained untouched in a secret room of Kreml. The advocates of the latter hypothesis believe in the authenticity of the Index, and hope to find the Rurikovitch's library within the walls of Kreml one day. The author of the article presented the standpoint of many historians, quoted valuable documents, and in the last part of his work organised the knowledge on the subject of Ivan IV's library in consistence with the principles of bibliologi-cal analysis and using N.N. Zarubin's catalogue, reconstructed for the purpose, of the books whose existence was documented.
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A reconstruction of literary and imagination matrices of one of the motifs stubbornly recurring in mythological perceptions of Venice, thus presenting a version of the “back legend” of the lagoon town. Apparently, the majority of motifs re-enacted by contemporary popular literature and films (double agents, secret assignations, mysterious female characters, the fake occultist, conspiracies, intrigues, a general aura of uncertainty and threat, etc.) was supplied by literature from centuries past. The author discovers them in a laboratory form in Friedrich Schiller’s novel The Ghost-seer (end of the 18th century).
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The paper talks about the appearance of plague in Bosnia and Herzegovina, in town of Zavidovici, plague cemeteries and legends about the plague. The paper was written on the basis of published sources, oral traditions and field research. Cadastral parcels, geographic coordinates and photos of plague cemeteries are given.
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The text discusses the archival record from the mid15th century, which is known in the literature as a “catalogue” or “list” of parishes and villages of Šibenik diocese. It is not preserved in the original, but in transcripts from the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries. After introductory reminiscences of the existing literature, a review of the dating and provenance of the transcript and the manuscript tradition is given, followed by the analysis of the record content. Finally, the text brings the problem of its reception in the recent scientific and nonscientific public.
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Abundance of postmedieval glazed pottery was discovered in 1972 and 1973 at the underwater site of Mala Jana in the vicinity of Glavotok on the island of Krk. Total of 31 objects were inventoried in the Early Modern Period Collection of the Maritime and History Museum of the Croatian Littoral. Furthermore another 21 objects from the same site were recovered a year later and given to the Diocese of Krk. Presently they are on display in the exhibition room of the Frankopan citadel in Krk. Although certain finds have already been published individually, they have never been analyzed as a complete cargo, so this article offers the analysis of the entire assemblage of finds from the site of Mala Jana, dating the mentioned artifacts to the late 16th or early 17th century. The paper also analyzes potential trade routes possibly used for transport of such material.
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This study investigates encounters in the early modern Adriatic, in particular focusing on the Venetian possessions. The predominantly Catholic Dalmatian cities were incorporated into the Venetian maritime state around the turn of the fifteenth century and were home to small but bustling communities of merchants, companies of sailors, and soldiers. During the sixteenth century, Dalmatia was both the frontline of Catholicism and a valuable turnover hub for goods, ideas, and people. As the Ottomans continued their advance, life within the crammed fortifications, threatened by bandits, disease, and pirates was tenuous at times. Despite these conditions, cooperation across the many fault lines dividing early modern Europe never ceased. The study uses a microhistorical approach to source material from the rich Croatian State Archive in Zadar and presents selected examples of cooperation, the bending of norms, and everyday life.
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Thomas Hobbes’s England was deeply troubled by the successive plague visitations regularly occurring in the late 16th and 17th centuries. The catastrophic outbreak in 1625 found Hobbes working on the first ever direct translation of Thucydides’ History from Greek to English. This fact allows for the supposition that Hobbes paid special attention to Thucydides’ masterful account of the plague at Athens and its social and political consequences. These circumstances authorise the here proposed enquiry into the relation between Hobbes’s understanding of the state of nature in Leviathan and the epidemics, mediated by his experience of the plague and the translation of the plague narrative in Thucydides’ History.
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The study provides a new analytical model for interpreting early modern sacral architecture. Theexample of selected buildings from Moravia at the turn of the 16th and 17th centuries shows thepossibilities of applying the „anachronistic model“, an alternative to linearly defined autonomist arthistory, especially in the case of Renaissance studies. In contrast, the buildings under study presentthemselves as objects with a specifically heterogeneous temporal identity that simultaneously appliesthe principles of historicity and modernity to the buildings in question.
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Paweł Szczerbic (1552–1609), a lawyer, owner of a publishing house in Lwów, translator of works on law and politics ("Speculum Saxonum", "Ius municipal", "Politicorum sive civilis doctrinae libri sex" of Justus Lipsius) is still a little-known figure who was considered a highly recognized scholar of his epoch; Bartłomiej Paprocki (c. 1543–1612), for instance, regarded him as a man of virtue and wisdom, while Szczerbic himself discredited his own abilities. Nowadays, on the one hand, Szczerbic is considered one of the most outstanding translators of legal, philosophical, and political works of the Renaissance, who skillfully manages the language, but on the other hand, in terms of legal matters, remains overshadowed by Bartłomiej Groicki and his translations, whereas in terms of philosophical and political matters his works are compared to the unrivaled model of Lipsius. Who exactly was Paweł Szczerbic? This article aims to delineate the figure of Paweł Szczerbic and his workshop on the basis of his own comments included in dedications, forewords or title pages of published works; documents or linguistic analyses of any sort are not taken into consideration.
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Naslov rada jasno govori o čemu je riječ kao i povod njegova nastanka. Profesor emeritus dr. Michael Ursinus već nekoliko godina neumorno istražuje Arhive franjevačkih samostana u Bosni osobito njezinu povijest osmanskoga razdoblja što mu je uža specijalnost. Rad je u neku ruku i najava opsežne knjige o istoj temi, a na kojoj je također aktivno radio, na žalost prerano preminuli fra Stjepan Duvnjak, bivši gvardijan ovoga povijesnoga samostana i profesor na Teologiji te jedan od osnivača časopisa Bosna franciscana i njezin član uredništva. Njemu u čast, kao i svim njegovim predšasnicima sutješkoga samostana matične provincije Bosne Srebrene, priređujemo ovu studiju.
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Since 1753, the British Museum has housed Albrecht Dürer’s Portrait of an Unknown Man (The British Museum, Department of Prints and Drawings, inv. no. SL 5218.22), which was bequeathed to the museum by Sir Hans Sloane. After the death of the German collector Johann Gottlob von Quandt in 1859, the Portrait of a Venetian Nobleman by Jan van Scorel was initially sold to a private collection in Oldenburg (Grossherzögliche Gemäldegalerie) in 1868, and later acquired by the Oldenburg State Museum (Landesmuseum für Kunst und Kulturgeschichte Oldenburg, inv. no. LMO 15.567) in 1922. Art historians have been studying these works since the 19th century and have successfully attributed the portraits. However, they have been unable to identify the sitter. Furthermore, the two portraits have not been compared or linked, despite depicting the same individual.
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This article considers the role of the oath of Russian citizenship as confirmation that foreigners become naturalized as Russian citizens. The concepts of “cross kissing”, “cross-kissing record”, and “oath” are examined in relation to the procedure of citizenship acquisition in Russia from the 15th to the early 20th century. Particular emphasis is placed on the genesis of the essence and scope of the oath institution in Russia. A comparative analysis is performed on the oaths taken by foreigners to assume the positions of public officials and subjects of the Russian emperors. The obtained results show that the change of citizenship did not entail compulsory religious conversion as long as the 17th century. All applicants for Russian citizenship had the right to take the oath in their native language and in front of the clergy member representing the religion they professed. As the oath of citizenship gained legitimacy and popularity in Russia, the lawmakers tried to unify the procedure, while ensuring that the oath text and ceremony remain sacred.
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This study examines the ties that expanded between Moldavia, Wallachia, and the Monastery of St. Catherine at Mount Sinai between the 15th and 17th centuries under the guidance of Romanian voivodes, including Stephen the Great, Neagoe Basarab, and their heirs. Looking at the existing material and textual evidence, this study addresses the way in which the Romanian voivodes shaped their princely image and their gifts to the monasteries located beyond the borders of their domains, and especially to the monastery of Saint Catherine at Mount Sinai. The monastery’s collection preserves several key texts and objects that elucidate aspects of patronage, royal identities, and orthodoxy among the Romanian voivodes. Their gifts to Sinai and other spiritual places (such as Mount Athos) had the collateral effect of contributing to the formation and promotion of significant forms of Byzantine spirituality in Moldavia and Wallachia, especially in the post-Byzantine period.
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The paper presents a comparative theological-historical analysis of the relationship between Christians and Jews in the turbulent period of the 16th century, using the example of two first hierarchs of the Church, Pope Paul IV Karafa and Patriarch Mitrofan III of Constantinople. The research begins by indicating the concrete historical framework of the relationship between Christians and Jews in the 16th century. On those grounds, the paper presents the key characteristics of this relationship in the Catholic West, with a focus on Pope Paul IV Carafa and using the concept of ghettoization. The further analytical part of the research aims to answer the question: in what way did the Orthodox Christians treat the Jews? The answer to the question is explained through the example of the first hierarch of the Orthodox Church, Patriarch Mitrofan III of Constantinople and his letter to Christians in Crete. After the analytical part of the research, the paper presents synthetic insights that indicate the theological foundation and background of the relationship between Christians and Jews, as well as a sketch of the contemporary ecumenical situation. In the appendix of the paper, the author provides a translation of the letter of the Patriarch of Constantinople Mitrofan III to the Christians in Crete, which is unknown in our area. The comparative theological-historical analysis of the relationship between Christians and Jews in the West and in the East aims to show that a different theological (ontological) perspective causes a different observation of the other.
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The ethnic and demographic situation on the borderland of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the Crimean Khanates is analysed on the basis of narratives (Michalon Lituanus, Marcin Broniowski, Marcin Bielski, Bartosz Paprocki) and documentary sources (publications “Lithuanian Metrics”, “Archive of South - Western Russia”, documents of the Russian State Archive of Ancient Acts, Central State Historical Archive of Ukraine). The boundaries laid by the local prince of Kiev Simeon Olelkovich in the 15th century were significant for a later time as a precedent for ideas about the boundary between the Black Sea Tatars and Ukrainian Cossacks. The Zaporozhian Host at the early 18th century referred it as “Vytautas borders”. However, this “boundary” was conditional. The steppe space between the rivers Southern Bug and Dnieper was occupied by the Ukrainian Cossacks (later the Zaporozhians) in the summer, and by the “Perekop Tatars” in the winter. The seasonal migrations, set by the conditions of the first half of the 16th century, persisted until the middle of the 17th century. The notion “Tatars” is a conventional designation for the Turkic-speaking population in the Black Sea steppe before the migration of the Noghais to this region in the second half of the 16th to early 17th centuries. “Perekop Tatars” were not nomads, but a semi-sedentary population. Economic occupations and the degree of settlement of this population differed according to gender, age and social position. Women, children, clients and slaves lived in stationary settlements, were engaged in agriculture and horticulture. Full-fledged men led an mobile lifestyle, were engaged in stockbreeding, hunting and war. The economy was based on sheep and horse breeding. Particular attention is paid to the male groups of the “Perekop Tatars”, which had a changeable and often multiethnic composition, combined shepherding and war, and for a long time were without a family and permanent place of residence. Some demographic data (cited by Gilles Veinstein) indicate a significant excess of the number of men relative to women. These male groups in the sources of that time are designated as “Kazak” and “Çoban”.
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This article is dedicated to the history of the Tatars in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. Tatars in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania played an important role in border guarding. They carried out border, ambassadorial and castle service. Interpreters of Tatars and Tatar beks were sent on important missions to estab- lish diplomatic relations with strong Turkic states. Apostates (apostates from Is- lam) Glinskie played an important role in protecting the Ukrainian border from Crimean raids. Representatives of this family went on diplomatic missions to the Big Horde. The rulers of the Great Horde and the Crimean Khanate did not con- sider it shameful to write to the apostate and the provincial prince. The Tatar origin of the clan, on the contrary, was a plus in the eyes of the Jochids and the Glinskie were generally perceived as their own people. The adoption of Christian- ity opened up broad career prospects. Tatars managed to preserve their identity in places of compact settlement of Tatars in Belarus and Lithuania, as well as in Volyn. However, many Tatars who received land in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania quickly lost their ethnic and religious identity.
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This article examines how eschatological ideas which circulated in the late 16th – mid 17th century Muscovite State, described the place of Rus’ / Russia in the world and in the world history. The starting point for the analysis is the model of the God-chosen exclusivity of the Muscovite tsardom, which is often called a special Muscovite mythology. Eschatological ideas, first of all, the idea of «Moscow— Third Rome», developed by the Pskov monk Philotheus in the 1520s, were a necessary element of this model, which created the image of «shining Russia» (or «holy Rus»), preserving the true faith up to the End of the world. In the first half of the 17th century, eschatological ideas described by Orthodox Ruthenian authors working in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth began to be warmly received in the Muscovite State. Adaptions of their works appeared primarily in two anthologies of polemic writings published in Moscow — Cyril’s Book (1644) and The Book of Faith (1648). As this article demonstrates, the eschatological schemes featured in these texts envisaged Rus’ as a nation united by an ancient history and by true faith rather than by any political structures. At the same time, in the 1640s–1650s, prophecies of Greco-Byzantine origin popularised in Moscow assigned a key role to Russia in reviving the universal empire. These new concepts fundamentally diverged both from the idea of «Moscow—Third Rome» and from the entire Muscovite mythology of exceptionality. As the author concludes, the popularity of these ideas coincided with fundamental societal changes in Russia, marked by the incorporation of Ukraine in 1654 and the Church Schism.
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Along with the development of settlement, first borders were drawn, moreover the strengthen-ing of the order of tribal authority allowed for more effective management and enlargement of the occupied territories. The first borders were natural borders and ran along rivers, mountain peaks, forests, sea shores, etc. The border was a transitional belt located at the edges of the sovereignty of individual tribes or rulers. With time, the borders were protected not only thanks to natural obstacles, but also defensive systems in the form of strongholds, earth embankments, wire entanglements and other fortifications.The aim of the considerations is the organization of protection of the borders of the Polish state in the period of the First Polish Republic in the face of changes taking place in the environment of external and internal security. In the methodological aspect, the historical and comparative methods were used, based on the analysis of source materials and the subject literature. As a result of the above, it has been established that the borders of the First Re-public of Poland were formed differently and were subject to significant changes, ensuring the security of the state and its citizens at a different level
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Auf Initiative des Hermannstädter Arbeitskreises für siebenbürgische Landeskunde hat es eine Vielzahl von Mitveranstaltern und Kooperationspartner (Institut für deutsche Kultur und Geschichte Südosteuropas/IKGS, Bundesinstitut für Kultur und Geschichte der Deutschen im östlichen Europa/BKGE, das internationale Wissenschaftsnetzwerk REFORC, das Institut für Geisteswissenschaften der rumänischen Akademie in Hermannstadt/ICSU, das Klausenburger Geschichtsinstitut „George Barițiu“ der Rumänischen Akademie, das Demokratische Forum der Deutschen in Siebenbürgen, das Departement für interethnische Beziehungen der rumänischen Regierung, die Heimatsortsgemeinschaft Heltau, die evangelische Kirchengemeinde Heltau) ermöglicht, diese Tagung zu planen, zu finanzieren und durchzuführen. Ziel war es, neue Forschungsfragen und Untersuchungen zur siebenbürgischen Geschichte im Spätmittelalter im internationalen Kontext zusammenzuführen und zur Diskussion zu stellen. Die Internationale Konferenz in Heltau und Michelsberg fand in der Öffentlichkeit weite Beachtung.
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