A history of anatomy theaters in sixteenth-century Padua

The history of anatomy includes not only professors and the support of their institutions but also medical students. Because medical students were quick to assess a teacher's pedagogy, their complaints tell us a great deal about the transition from Galenic to Aristotelian projects of anatomy. When Fabricius of Aquapendente instituted a new style of anatomical inquiry, one based on Aristotle and the search for universal principles, students repeatedly complained that his demonstrations did not provide technical education in structural anatomy (as demonstrations employing a hands-on, Galenic pedagogy did). Within the new anatomy theater (the second of its kind in Padua), however, students were persuaded to accept Fabricius's demonstrations. Fabricius's philosophical orientation combined with the formal atmosphere and aesthetic features of the new theater to create anatomy demonstrations that relied on orations and music for their structure (rather than on the progressive stages of human dissection). A place that emphasized a discourse of anatomy as the study of the "secrets of nature," the new theater so effectively publicized a new style of anatomy that a larger, more diverse group of spectators attended subsequent demonstrations and participated in the celebration of leading academic figures as well as the institution of the university.     

Crossing boundaries: women's gossip, insults and violence in sixteenth-century France

Using evidence from cases recorded in the registers of the consistories of southern France, the author investigates the way in which Languedocian women policed each other's behaviour, enforcing a collective morality through gossip, sexual insult and physical confrontation. In contrast to case studies by other historians, it is argued here that gossip does appear to have been a peculiarly female activity, but far more than simply being an outlet for malice or prurience, it gave women a distinctive social role in the town. No less evident is the involvement of women in physical violence both against each other and against men, violence which, though less extreme than its male counterpart, nonetheless occupies a significant role in the proceedings of the consistories.     

Passing Online Exams

Many controversial subjects characterize geography in the 21st century. Issues such as climate change, sustainability and social exclusion generate much discussion and often involve clear differences in opinion of how they might be addressed. Higher education is an important space for critical engagement with challenging issues. Preparing for and participating in debates enables students to develop critical thinking skills, alongside a variety of oral presentation and discussion skills. This paper reflects on the potential for teaching through debate in geography. The arguments are illustrated through a debate about whether asylum seekers should be allowed to work in the UK.     

Wools from textiles in the Mary Rose, a sixteenth-century English warship

Wool fibre diameter measurements defining fleece type are described for 25 yarns from fabric remains recovered from the 16th century wreck of the Mary Rose in Portsmouth harbour. Over half had natural grey pigmentation and nearly two-thirds were of primitive hairy medium wool.     

Passing the Holy Lake

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Money, majesty and virtue: the rhetoric of monetary reform in later sixteenth-century France

Monetary inflation accompanied the period of the French civilwars of the later sixteenth century. It provoked an animateddiscussion among France's notables, especially its monetaryexperts. The debate is largely known through Jean Bodin's famousResponse de Jean Bodin à M. de Malestroit (1568). Thisarticle seeks to recover the moral and intellectual dimensionsof that debate, placing then in the context of how public policywas arrived at in this period. It analyses a lengthy memorandumon monetary issues, prepared for the Estates General of Blois(1576–1577). Hitherto ignored, it is ascribed here toJean Bodin. The article situates the great monetary reform ofSeptember 1577 and the introduction of the écu as theFrench money of account, within the moral and intellectual frameworkswhich underlay wider attempts at the reformation and pacificationof the French kingdom in this period.     

The unconsummated marriage of Jaime of Aragon and Leonor of Castile (October 1319)

The long planned, precipitously celebrated, and never consummated marriage in 1319 of Jaime, heir to the Aragonese crown, and the Castilian Infanta Leonor, was an event that seriously disturbed political and personal relationships in both kingdoms in the early fourteenth century. The ceremony itself, in the village of Gandesa in eastern Aragon, was both an end and a beginning, the culmination of one period of at times violent reactions between Jaime II of Aragon and his son of the same name, as well as the start of another period of growing alienation over which both parent and child would agonize. The surviving documentation provides an unusually rich panorama of human emotion. This consideration of the episode takes up the relationship of Jaime II and his first son, and especially the actions of the Aragonese monarch immediately prior to the October ceremony at Gandesa. Certain facts, such as the age of the bride, that help clarify the episode have been deduced from available documents. An examination of the copious store of private correspondence leads to a reassessment of the aims and motives of Jaime II.     

The unconsummated marriage of Jaime of Aragon and Leonor of Castile (October 1319)

The long planned, precipitously celebrated, and never consummated marriage in 1319 of Jaime, heir to the Aragonese crown, and the Castilian Infanta Leonor, was an event that seriously disturbed political and personal relationships in both kingdoms in the early fourteenth century. The ceremony itself, in the village of Gandesa in eastern Aragon, was both an end and a beginning, the culmination of one period of at times violent reactions between Jaime II of Aragon and his son of the same name, as well as the start of another period of growing alienation over which both parent and child would agonize. The surviving documentation provides an unusually rich panorama of human emotion. This consideration of the episode takes up the relationship of Jaime II and his first son, and especially the actions of the Aragonese monarch immediately prior to the October ceremony at Gandesa. Certain facts, such as the age of the bride, that help clarify the episode have been deduced from available documents. An examination of the copious store of private correspondence leads to a reassessment of the aims and motives of Jaime II.     

Fama publica,infamy and defamation: judicial violence and social control of crimes against sexual morals in medieval Castile

Control of crimes such as the sin of lust was one way in which the elites at the head of Castilian town councils emphasised their good government. Among all the such crimes, sodomy was considered to be the most terrible, which brought major misfortunes to the population, and against which it was necessary to avenge. For those accused of this crime, or who actually committed it, it meant exclusion from society. For the urban Castilian elites this struggle was a way of justifying themselves as a governing group. Defence of society against sodomites is related to the political context and to the internal struggles of the urban elites. In the lawsuits analysed, there is clear repetition of a series of words related to individual reputation and social esteem: fama, honour, Buena fama, fama publica, infamia. These can be shown to be vital to the defence of the accused, and also frequently recur in the legislation itself. Rumour was also used as propaganda to shape public opinion and to discredit rivals in the struggle for urban power.     

Textiles and Farewells: Revisiting the Grave Goods of King Alfonso VIII of Castile and Queen Eleanor Plantagenet

This paper commemorates the eighth centenary of the deaths of King Alfonso VIII of Castile and his Queen, Eleanor Plantagenet (d. 1214) who founded the Abbey of Santa María la Real de Las Huelgas (Burgos) and were buried there. It examines how their grave goods were categorised and aims to address recent misconceptions related to the original locations and functions of these textiles and the techniques with which they were made. The outcome of this analysis of original sources and the textiles themselves is a major reassessment of where these grave goods were located in the thirteenth century: seven textile items, including clothing, have been allocated to the King instead of only one, and thirty-eight have been allocated to the Queen instead of fourteen, while three have been removed from this category.     

Pilgrimage,tapestries, and cartography: sixteenth-century wall hangings commemorating a pilgrimage to the Holy Land

The paper considers two large sixteenth-century tapestries, originating in a pilgrimage to the Holy Land. It is argued that although they are not paper maps, and were never printed or included in any atlas or map collection, these tapestries ought to be categorized as realistic pilgrimage maps, based on first-hand observation and guided by the unique late medieval Christian geo-religious perception of the Holy Land and the Holy City. Furthermore, the resemblance of the tapestries to printed maps, such as the map included in the book of Bernhard of Breydenbach, and other well-known contemporary paintings of Jerusalem and the Holy Land, such as the one commemorating the pilgrimage of Friedrich the Wise, may hint at the source material used by their creators, who lived in a similar social–cultural milieu.