The social networks of the Buckinghamshire gentry in the thirteenth century

This empirical study offers a contribution to a continuing debate about the county community and the significance of feudal ties by analysing the contacts of twenty small and middling knightly families. It explores their geographical range and the relative significance of horizontal and vertical ties. The evidence indicates a world dominated by local connections, stretching five to ten miles from a family manor. Nonetheless, the gentry were not necessarily restricted by county boundaries in their connections, as patterns of monastic patronage show. Nor were their social networks always limited to their neighbourhood. The search for good marriages mobilised wider networks, while financial pressures led families to look to towns like Oxford and London for credit. Ties with feudal superiors were rare, except for tenants of the honor of Wallingford, who had links with the earls of Cornwall. Horizontal ties with other gentry families and family members significantly outnumbered those with any other groups, and this applied both to supportive relationships and conflictual ones. Placing this study in the context of other gentry studies, I conclude by emphasising the prevalence of local ties mainly with those on the same social level or below. Although there is evidence to suggest that wealthier families with several manors had wider ranging connections, the everyday world of these men was apparently a fairly parochial one.     

The custom of the English Church: parish church maintenance in England before 1300

A division of responsibility for parish church fabric and contents between rector and parishioners first appeared in English ecclesiastical legislation in the early thirteenth century and was to remain in place until the mid-nineteenth century. It is often suggested that this responsibility was forced onto parishioners by a clergy keen to limit their own financial liability and that this marks the point at which parishioners first become involved in their local churches. This article looks at the development of these statutes from their origins in the Anglo-Saxon period through to their full realisation in the later thirteenth century. It argues that there were many among the thirteenth-century ecclesiastical hierarchy who were opposed to this change, and that far from being forced on parishioners, allowing parishioners to take responsibility for part of the church was a pragmatic solution to problems brought about by changes to both parishes and parish churches.     

The custom of the English Church: parish church maintenance in England before 1300

A division of responsibility for parish church fabric and contents between rector and parishioners first appeared in English ecclesiastical legislation in the early thirteenth century and was to remain in place until the mid-nineteenth century. It is often suggested that this responsibility was forced onto parishioners by a clergy keen to limit their own financial liability and that this marks the point at which parishioners first become involved in their local churches. This article looks at the development of these statutes from their origins in the Anglo-Saxon period through to their full realisation in the later thirteenth century. It argues that there were many among the thirteenth-century ecclesiastical hierarchy who were opposed to this change, and that far from being forced on parishioners, allowing parishioners to take responsibility for part of the church was a pragmatic solution to problems brought about by changes to both parishes and parish churches.     

Waging war in the fourteenth century

The papers in this special issue exemplify how, through the study of sources beyond the chronicles which have tended to dominate historical writing about fourteenth-century military history in western Europe, we can advance our knowledge on how war was waged by the English — and on some occasions by their enemies too.     

Emblems and enigmas: Revisiting the ‘sword’ belt of Fernando de la Cerda

The belt of Fernando de la Cerda is on permanent display in the Museo de Telas Ricas, Burgos. Presently, scholars believe the belt dates from 1252–75, is of Hispano-Islamic work and was worn as a baldric. This article suggests that the belt is English, that it was commissioned by King Henry III and was worn around the waist. Henry gave the belt to the count of Champagne, Thibault II, during his first diplomatic visit to France. In turn, Thibault probably gave the belt to Fernando de la Cerda, the infante of Castile, in 1269, at Fernando’s wedding. The belt’s burial with the Castilian infante provides important evidence of the close familial and political relationships that linked the ruling dynasties of north-west Europe during the thirteenth century. Commissioned as a gift and richly decorated, the belt should be seen as an example of the aesthetic accomplishment of Henry III, his use of propaganda and political aspirations.     

The minor rural aristocracy and great lords in thirteenth-century Tuscany: three cases from the entourage of the Guidi counts

This article examines relations in thirteenth-century Tuscany between the minor rural aristocracy and great rural lords, that is, those based outside cities. The subject is approached through a study based on three families, with special emphasis on the way they were bound to the extended family of the Guidi counts, who were prominent at the highest level in the thirteenth-century kingdom of Italy. In the thirteenth century, attendance on the counts was not attractive to families of the minor aristocracy: it was universally acknowledged that the great rural lords of Tuscany had little to offer their adherents in terms of wealth, power and prestige, incentives which could be obtained from the cities of the region. Minor aristocrats who chose to live as professional soldiers were particularly attracted to the cities, which were always in need of soldiers for their armies.     

The minor rural aristocracy and great lords in thirteenth-century Tuscany: three cases from the entourage of the Guidi counts

This article examines relations in thirteenth-century Tuscany between the minor rural aristocracy and great rural lords, that is, those based outside cities. The subject is approached through a study based on three families, with special emphasis on the way they were bound to the extended family of the Guidi counts, who were prominent at the highest level in the thirteenth-century kingdom of Italy. In the thirteenth century, attendance on the counts was not attractive to families of the minor aristocracy: it was universally acknowledged that the great rural lords of Tuscany had little to offer their adherents in terms of wealth, power and prestige, incentives which could be obtained from the cities of the region. Minor aristocrats who chose to live as professional soldiers were particularly attracted to the cities, which were always in need of soldiers for their armies.     

16、17世纪英国政治文化中的父权主义

父权主义是在英国从封建主义向资本主义过渡的历史背景下,为适应秩序和稳定的需要而产生的,是16、17世纪英国大多数人共同的政治态度,为英国君权的扩张和君主实施社会控制提供了合法性依据,也在一定程度上阻止了暴君和暴政在英国的出现。英国率先完成从封建主义向资本主义过渡,父权主义是一个重要的因素。     

从Travel到Tourism--论19世纪英国旅游概念的变易

19世纪初期“tourism”见诸英语,后又取代“travel”的主流地位,标志着英国古典旅行观向现代旅游观的转变。“tourism”概念由于适应了工业文明时代旅游大众化、市场化、产业化的需要,因而从市井俚语上升为20世纪西方旅游理论的主流概念。厘清它与汉语中“旅游”概念之间深刻的文化差异,是中国旅游学界应对西方旅游理论的一大关键。     

多元的时间和空间视阈下的19世纪中国社会——几个区域社会史的例子

Should studies of social history engage in questions of important socio-political changes? The answer is undoubtedly affirmative. So far as the important changes in 19^th century China are concerned, some case studies in regional social history have presented a picture of greater complexity and diversity. The Ningbo case, for example, shows that when a port that has had a history of foreign trade becomes embroiled in conflict between Chinese and foreigners, this conflict may simply become one mode of interaction amongst many between Chinese and foreigners. The case of Turmot is an important turning point in Chinese history, since it marks the reversal of 2 000 years of frequent attempts by nomadic tribes to expand southward. This trend is completely reversed by the Han nationalities’ northward immigration and reclamation, a development as significant as the Western invasion of China in terms of consequent social transformations. These historical traces revealed from within regions deepen our comprehension of these social transformations; consequently, such studies in social history may manage to provide answers different from those offered by the traditional model of political history.     

Public debt and financial crises in the twentieth century

The costs of wars have been the main driver of public debt in the Western World during the modern era. The late twentieth century stands out as a period that saw a pronounced increase of government debt to GDP ratios in peacetime. This paper assesses the role that financial crises have played in shaping the public debt trajectory in the twentieth century. Focusing on the experiences of 14 industrial economies, I show that financial crises have long and lasting effects on public finances. I provide evidence that the costs of financial crises have increased strongly in the second half of the twentieth century and that the costs of financial crises grow with the size of the financial sector. In many countries, the rising costs incurred from stabilizing the economy after financial crises were an important cause of the peacetime surge of public debt ratios in the late twentieth century. In today's highly financialized economies, financial crises have become a key risk for public finances.     

史学话语权与20世纪的中国民族史学——兼说10卷本《中国史学思想通史》

20世纪中国社会发生变动,受到西方学术思潮的影响,中国史学进入到近代化时期.西方学术话语处在强势地位,在这样的大背景下,近代史学理论、思想的争论,基本是按照西方的史学理论的热点而展开,也随着西方史学理论的热点的变动而变动.这对扩大研究视野、深化相关的史学认识有一定的意义,但另一面是,民族史学的重要思想失去应有的地位.传统民族史学思想、理论具有重要的价值,是西方史学理论不能完全替代的;民族史学话语权的失落,对于中国史学发展是不利的.进入到21世纪,史学理论发展不能忽视中国民族史学思想的研究".认真总结民族史学思想遗产,对于当代史学具有重大的意义,是振兴民族史学的重要工作,也是民族史学走向世界的基本要求.     

19世纪收继问题研究——以安徽为中心

19世纪安徽社会中收继现象较为普遍,平均14%的家庭发生收继或出继行为,来解决一些家庭的"无后"的问题.从宗族角度讲,收继可以分为族内收继和族外收继两种情形,各需履行不同的收继程序,中上层家庭以族内收继为主,下层家庭则族外收继多于族内收继.国家和宗族对收继的前提、原则和被收继人在新旧家庭中的地位做出种种规定,但制度规范与人们的实际行为间存在着相当的差异.     

The Parthenon Marbles as icons of nationalism in nineteenth‐century Britain

Theories of nationalism place native culture at the core of national self‐fashioning. What explains a state's adoption of foreign objects to sustain national identity? In this paper, I argue that the incorporation of the Parthenon Marbles into British public life is an early example of supranational nationalism. The nineteenth‐century ‘art race’ was a competitive field in which European nation‐states vied for prestige. Of the thousands of art trophies that were brought to Britain from Mediterranean and North African countries, the Parthenon Marbles were uniquely iconicised. Using data from period newspapers and official documents, I assert that this was because they were assiduously presented as prenational by British authorities. In this way, they belonged simultaneously to no nation, to every nation, and to Britain. The case demonstrates the emergence of a particular form of national distinctiveness that transcended the smallness of particularity and rose to the level of universal civilisation.     

20世纪安徽两次农村改革不同命运解析

在当代中国农村改革的历史进程中,安徽具有特殊的地位和影响,先后于20世纪60年代初和70年代末推行了"责任田"和"大包干"的改革。但是,由于政治背景、群众基础、两代领导人态度的不同,两次改革出现了完全不同的命运,"责任田"试行失败,"大包干"推广成功。     

清末士绅阶层与辛亥革命

晚清的社会变革使传统士绅阶层出现分化,促使了新派士绅阶层的发展、壮大。他们在辛亥革命前的政治舞台上相当活跃,致力于新式教育文化事业、创办近代企业、倡导立宪及地方自治,为自己谋求政治、经济上的权益,客观上为辛亥革命在全国的胜利准备了一定的条件。在辛亥革命中,士绅阶层赞成共和,依附革命,积极参与革命活动和各地政权的建立。清末士绅阶层与辛亥革命的爆发、胜利、失败及民初政治均有极为密切的关系,是左右清末政局的一支重要力量。     

The preliminary transition of the grass-roots government functions in the border areas jiangxi, Fujian, and Guangdong during the first half of the twentieth century

During the first half of the twentieth century, the social administrative functions of the grass-roots governments in the border areas Jiangxi, Fujian and Guangdong provinces showed apparent differences from the traditional government. There appeared a gradual transitional tendency to the modern society in aspects such as the specialization of administrative bodies, the communalization, corporation and trade orientation of the mass organizations, and the social control as well as attaching importance to conducting, serving and constructing the social communal facilities in the social economic context. Consequently, the transformation should be regarded as one of the stages in the progress of the social transition since the Late Qing dynasty. __________ Translated from: Wenshizhe 文史哲 (Journal of Literature, History and Philosophy), No. 1, 2004     

Indicators of social change in rural Sweden in the late nineteenth century

Parish registers offer the student of history a wealth of information about the everyday lives of ordinary people in the past. Historical demographers in particular have made extensive use of these materials, and our understanding of the dynamics of local populations in pre-industrial Europe has increased greatly during the last twenty-five years. In addition to the basic demographic data on marriages, baptisms and burials, however, parish registers commonly contain other information which can shed light on social behaviour. Using the exceptionally rich Swedish records, this paper explores some ways in which material of this kind may be used to assess the extent and rate of social change in particular localities at particular times.