The rise of agricultural auctioneering in eighteenth- and nineteenth-century Britain

Although the auctioneer has an accepted and crucial role in present-day agriculture, little is known of how this developed. The study uncovers evidence of the emergent auctioneering trade in the second half of the eighteenth century, indicating that those who were most active as general auctioneers included some casualties of urban business life. It is suggested that the tarnished image of the early auction trade may have appealed to those in rural society who were concurrently being denied traditional recreations and festivities. The paper concludes by suggesting that if the farm dispersal sale was widely construed as entertainment, then this would enhance its economic appeal.     

Modelling small-arms projectile distribution on eighteenth- and nineteenth-century battlefield sites

The application of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) technologies to archaeological investigations continues to provide new perspectives on historical events. Applied to battlefield archaeology, GIS analysis offers an efficient means of predicting potential artefact distribution across a conflict landscape. The approach proposed in this piece allows a user to test historical engagement scenarios within a desktop computing environment utilizing a customized GIS application. The study was intended to develop a framework that allowed for the input of quantifiable parameters in order to illustrate potential artefact patterning. The framework consists of two components, the trajectory model and the methodology for implementing it. Using this coarse-grained approach, it is our contention that small-arms projectile distribution can be estimated for a single engagement, and in doing so provide a more comprehensive view of potential artefact patterning than using KOCOA (Key Terrain, Observation and Fields of Fire, Concealment and Cover, Obstacles, Avenues of Approach/Withdrawal) terrain analysis or historic research alone. As an initial example to illustrate the efficacy of our model, this study uses data and parameters from the 1777 Battle of Ridgefield, Connecticut landscape as a test case.     

The geopolitics of the Irish-Catholic parish in nineteenth-century Montreal

Irish Catholics in nineteenth-century Montreal, as a minority within a larger French-Catholic population, encountered a cultural environment very different from that experienced by their compatriots in most cities of eastern North America. In contrast with the more typical situation in which the majority position of Irish Catholics enabled them to exercise leadership in local Catholic affairs, in Montreal they had to overcome numerous obstacles in order to obtain churches and parishes they could call their own. Diocesan and parish records demonstrate that these struggles, in particular the controversy created by the subdivision of the extensive parish of Notre Dame in the late 1860s were defining events in the formulation of Irish-Catholic ethnic consciousness in Montreal. Constructivist interpretations of ethnicity have drawn attention to the way in which conflictual (and less frequently accommodative) relations among groups contribute to the formation and preservation of ethnicities. Drawing on this approach, it is argued that religious institutions acted as catalysts for debates that encouraged Montreal's Irish Catholics to define themselves in relation to the French-Catholic majority. These debates had an important territorial dimension and ultimately led to the entrenchment of ethnic boundaries in the urban landscape through the creation of separate parishes for the two groups.     

Determinants of divorce in nineteenth-century Flanders

In 1830, the year Belgium became independent, there were four divorces in Belgium. From about 1870 to 1910, there were about one hundred divorces per year, and since 1910, there have been about 1,000. The aim of this research is to investigate the factors that played a role in the increase in the number of divorces in Belgium in the course of the nineteenth century. The research relates to information from four Flemish municipalities for the period 1800-1913. Results indicate that an explanation of the rising divorce rate can be sought in the psychological and social consequences of the more pronounced shift in marriage, gender and family expectations. Increasing numbers of women threw themselves more and more into their gender-specific expressive gender role, whereas the objective opportunities and attainability of this role did not increase commensurately. The result was role strain: high marriage and family expectations soon come up against intrinsic limitations. As a result of this, both individual and general frustration increased, and this was an ideal social substratum for facilitating divorce.     

Changing patterns of landownership in nineteenth-century Palestine: The European influence

Long-term changes in landownership patterns and their implications for settlement have been neglected by geographers, both in theoretical and empirical studies. Studies in this field relating to the Middle East are of a very general nature, and are not based on detailed examination of regional trends, their components, and geographic variables. In Israel, most of the published literature on this issue has dealt with the process of land purchase by Jews and has focused mainly on the period of the British Mandate (1918–1948). Misleading statements abound and the roots of the processes which evolved in nineteenth-century Palestine are poorly understood.The middle of the nineteenth century in Palestine marked the end of a quarter of a millenium of neglect and decline. Around 1800 Palestine was a backward province of the Ottoman empire, largely rural and sparsely populated. Both rural and urban economies were traditional and poor. From about 1850, a process of change began which led to a resurgence and development of the country.An important determinant in this process was an increase of European influence within the Ottoman empire in general and Palestine in particular. This paper (part of a broader study on landownership), will discuss the background, characteristics and motivations of Europeans who purchased land in Palestine during the period, their financial sources, their locational preferences and opportunities. The diverse influences of these land transactions on urban and rural development are considered. These processes ar illustrated by two case studies.     

Patterns of Christian activity and dispersion in nineteenth-century Jerusalem

Various Christian communities existed in Jerusalem during the nineteenth century. The three largest ones were the Greek Orthodox, the Roman Catholics (Latins) and the Protestants. These communities were strongly supported by the European Powers, thus enabling them to be very active in the development of the city. Differences in historical background and interest in Jerusalem, plus different culturally based attitudes and values led each community to make a distinct contribution to the developing city landscape. Christian building activity was pronounced: there was the construction of big imposing institutions, churches and convents which usually were used as hospices for pilgrims as well as institutions for education, health and welfare and representative functions. The dispersal of Christian residences took a special form for their locations seem to have been determined by the wish to adhere to historical sites that had special meaning to the various communities. Also the distinctiveness of the religious communal neighbourhoods was confirmed. The contribution of the Christian communities to the urban landscape of Jerusalem during the nineteenth century thus included the construction of prominent buildings which still today dominate the morphology and skyline of the city, and also the strengthening of the special spatial pattern of this historical religious Holy City.     

The origins of the entertainment industry: the operetta in late nineteenth-century Italy

Abstract

How does a new successful musical genre impose itself, define its audiences and repertoires and eventually replace older genres? The essay examines the case of operetta from its French origins to the specific diffusion in the Italian entertainment system. Here the popularity of the ‘little opera’ coming from France and later from Vienna grew along with a new system of theaters, politeama and café chantants. They were run by a new generation of entrepreneurs and publishers such as Sonzogno, interested in diffuse new forms of musical leisure. The rising of the Italian operetta found strong resistance from the traditional opera world at the turn of the nineteenth century, when the distinction between artistic music and music as entertainment was being consolidated and we can find a sort of passing of the baton between opera and operetta as the major popular musical genre.