Models of medieval and pre-medieval territorial organisation: with a select bibliography

The author synthesizes some Swedish investigations into area- and form-planning of administrative units, parishes and divisions of these, as well as of areas for clearing which were already divided up among the part-owners. The areas, which are described in a metrological notation system based on original length-measures and comparable area-measures, are combined with the corresponding cameralistic units of tax assessments. These have been reconstructed directly from medieval and sixteenth-century soures including evidence of much older relict units. The combined geometrical and cameralistic material gives the basis for models of (1) the spatial structure of rural landscape in different phases of evolution and (2) their evolution through centuries, the area of arable land or arable and meadow together being the key variable. Finally, it is shown that a regional planning system, which was probably introduced in parts of Middle Sweden in the eleventh century metrologically coincides with an organisation system probably also used in Northern Wales in the tenth century.     

古代目录中史部故事类到政书类的演变

故事本意系指旧事,司马迁继承其父遗愿时曾表示:"请悉论先人所次旧闻,弗敢阙."以后又曰:"余所谓述故事,整齐其世传,非所谓作也."①从对旧事的引录叙述,渐指旧日事例及前朝的典章制度,《汉书·楚元王传附刘向传》:"是时,宣王循武帝故事,招名儒俊材置左右."又《汉书·苏武传》:"卫将军张安世荐(苏)武明习故事,奉使不辱使命."故事意指典章制度,史志中一直沿用至明代.     

Geography and prehistory,a survey of the literature with a select bibliography

This brief review explores the relationship between geography and prehistory. Various major themes have characterized this relationship: the study of distributions and locations; the exploration of environmental influences and ecosystems; the reconstruction of past environments; the establishment of the rôle of man as an agent of ecological change; and the discernment of the development of the landscape. The links between these two disciplines, which have been provided by these common research themes, have recently been strengthened by the adoption of a new methodology.     

Dispelling myths about conventions: ministerial advisers and parliamentary committees

There is a tension between a key principle underpinning liberal democratic governments and the associated political practice. Responsible government demands that the Executive is responsible to the Legislature. Governments, however, are generally inclined to evade or limit their accountability to Parliament wherever possible. In addition, ministerial advisers have thus far been excluded from the accountability framework of responsible government. This has led to an accountability deficit in terms of ministerial advisers appearing before parliamentary committees. Indeed, Ministers in the Australian Commonwealth and State of Victoria have claimed that there is a constitutional convention that ministerial advisers do not appear before parliamentary committees. This article challenges this claim and argues that there are no strong grounds based on precedent, reason, and the beliefs of political participants to conclude that there is a constitutional convention preventing ministerial advisers from appearing before parliamentary committees.     

Deserted medieval villages and fields in Germany,a survey of the literature with a select bibliography

In Germany research into deserted settlements developed into an important branch of settlement history. It was realized that the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, following on a period of high-medieval expansion of settlement and cultivated land, were themselves a time of great decline. The theoretical explanation for this development is the late-medieval agricultural crisis, a concomitant of the late-medieval fall in population. We must distinguish between a high-medieval phase of settlement desertion associated with a concentration of population into larger villages and towns without a drop in absolute population figures, and a late-medieval desertion period when settlements and fields contracted because of loss of life due to famines and the Black Death. Different research methods have been used to locate deserted settlement sites, both from documentary evidence (Rückschreibung) and by doing field-work. By mapping the relict features of deserted villages and fields our knowledge of the evolution of settlement- and field-patterns was increased. In particular, the evolution of the three-field-system has been explained as part of the concentration of population into larger settlements. A classification of the desertion process has helped with the terminological clarification of the subject, although there remain areas of dispute. The introduction of the desertion quotient made it possible to map the distribution of the deserted settlements. In the light of most recent research based on medieval archaeology this map needs corrections. It is now obvious that the late-medieval desertion quotient was not only high in areas of marginal land quality but also in fertile areas with a long history of settlement continuity. In those areas vestiges of earlier occupations were literally ploughed into the ground. This example illustrates that future research on deserted settlements must be of an interdisciplinary nature.     

A Prolegomenon to Responsible Legislative Reform

When you're young it's easy to streak appeals across the sky like rockets. But as you get older you feel increasingly esponsible for those traveling the road your rocket lights. What if you've led them wrong? You grow wary of making reckless appeals, and a sense of responsibility must be tempered above all with analysis and reflection. Relentless analysis alone, not childish shouting, embodies the true appeals.¹