Apprentices,Goldsmiths, and the North in Sixteenth- and Seventeenth-Century England

Abstract

The story of King Edgar being rowed on the River Dee at Chester in 973 by eight subordinate kings was once well known. This article examines how it was used in popular history writing from the eighteenth century onwards, with greatest development in the mid nineteenth century, and subsequent decline into its present obscurity. It served English political and cultural ends, being used to demonstrate the natural superiority of that race over the others in the Union, particularly the Scots. Decline of imperial sentiment and ignorance of pre-Conquest history have relegated it to incidental mention in county histories.     

Voices of Jewish Converts to Christianity in late Sixteenth- and Seventeenth-Century England

This paper seeks to highlight the content and context of the conversion narratives written by Jews converting to Christianity in late sixteenth- and seventeenth-century England. It will be demonstrated that a non-Pauline pattern of conversion writing emerges. The content of these conversion treatises will be contextualized by looking at a whole range of English treatises concerning Jewish conversion, in particular those containing voices of “hermeneutical” Jewish converts. It will be argued that the period under scrutiny evinced a waning of the barriers surrounding Jewish conversion.     

James E Byrnes and the Politics of Segregation

Born in Jackson, Mississippi, in 1934, Thomas S. Morgan received his B.A. from Davidson College, his M.A. from Duke University, and his Ph.D. from UNC-Chapel Hill. He taught in high school in Baltimore, Maryland, and at Wake Forest University, and UNC-Chapel Hill, prior to coming to to Winthrop University where he has remained for the past 27 years. From 1978 to 1981 he was dean of Winthrop's College of Arts and Sciences. Morgan and his wife, Nancy, are parents of three sons. In addition, to publishing some scholarly articles, Morgan wrote the Study Guide for George Tindall's America: A Narrative History in its various editions. In 1972 he served as chair of the membership committee of the Southern Historical Association. Morgan served as president of Phi Alpha Theta from 1991 to 1993, presiding over the final years of service of Don Hoffman, the organization's secretary-treasurer, and the selection of Hoffman's replacement, Jack Tunstall. In April 1994, Morgan received an award for his "Outstanding Service and Exceptional Dedication" as Phi Alpha Theta president. This article is a modified version of his 1993 presidential address.     

Astrology in the service of the crown: Bartomeu de Tresbens,physician and astrologer to King Pere the Ceremonious of Aragon

Bartomeu de Tresbens (fl. 1359–75) was a physician and astrologer in the service of King Pere the Ceremonious of Aragon and his son Joan, both of them keenly interested in providing patronage for astronomy-astrology. Tresbens dedicated a set of astrological treatises in Catalan to Pere. He was the author of the most outstanding body of astrological work written in the vernacular in the medieval West. However, it has scarcely been studied: only his longest treatise has been edited, though insufficiently analysed, whereas his other works remain to be researched. This paper outlines Tresbens’ life and his relationship with the monarchy, and presents an overview of his works. Tresbens is revealed to be a distinguished individual whose case can help us understand the role of astrologers in medieval European courts.