The Functional Resilience of an Innovative Cluster in the Montpellier Urban Area (South of France)

The aim of this article is to evaluate the resilience of territories through a study of the morphology of local firms' networks: in this case, in the Montpellier urban area. Two types of data collection were used for the analysis: a statistical survey of a sample of firms and a list of shared patents pending. The first step of the approach enabled us to analyse the motives that led firms to develop innovative partnership. In the second step, we modelled the networks, using graph theory, over different periods of time. Ultimately, the analysis revealed pivotal firms within the network. These firms played an important role in the resilience and spatial organization of the territory. We found that the geographical concentration or dispersal of the firms thus continued under certain economic conditions.     

Lepromatous leprosy in an early mediaeval cemetery in Central Italy (Morrione, Campochiaro, Molise, 6th–8th century AD)

The aim of this study is to investigate and discuss the cases of leprosy diagnosed on two skeletal individuals from an early mediaeval necropolis at Morrione (Campochiaro, Molise, Central Italy), dated to the 6th–8th century AD. At present only two inhumation areas have been found in Campochiaro: one at Morrione and the other at Vicenne. Since no signs of a stable settlement or built-up area have been found, it seems the cemeteries can be attributed to a semi-nomadic Lombard-Avar group. This site may have represented a military outpost to control the area against Byzantine invasions. The skeletons of a female (40–46 years) and a male (50–55 years), from tombs 68 and 108, revealed several bony changes indicative of leprosy with clear rhino-maxillary syndrome in both specimens. There is a scarcity of information in the osteoarchaeological literature of leprosy in ancient Italy. The significance of these cases is that they add to an understanding of the history of the disease in Italy and to the data set necessary to understand the epidemiological dynamics in the Mediterranean basin during the ancient period.     

The politics of being Norman in the reign of Richard the Fearless,Duke of Normandy (r. 942–996)

In 966, by the end of the reign of its third duke, Richard I, Normandy had overcome the crises that had beset it in the middle of the century. Much of this success came from the coherence of its ruling group, which expressed itself partly in terms of ‘Norman’ identity. This article uses Dudo's history of the dukes and Richard's charters to argue that ‘Norman’ as a political identity was a deliberate creation of the court of Richard I in the 960s, following the perceived failure of his and his father's policies of assimilation into Frankish culture.     

The organisation of military religion in the armies of King Edward I of England (1272–1307)

King Edward I of England (1272–1307) was an exceptionally capable leader both on the battlefield and in the organisation of the bureaucratic institutions necessary for the successful pursuit of his military objectives. The military history of Edward’s reign has benefited from extensive scholarly attention, particularly with regard to matters such as military recruitment, battlefield strategy, and logistics. However, one major lacuna has been an examination of the pastoral care made available to soldiers serving the king in both peace and war. This study considers the means by which both professional fighting men and militia forces serving in the armies of Edward I were provided with the opportunity to obtain pastoral care. It considers in turn, soldiers attached to the royal household, the troops of the royal garrisons, militia forces drawn from the shires, and finally the contingents provided by men who held land from the king through military tenure.     

The Great Landowners in the House of Commons, 1833–85

This prosopographical article demonstrates that the traditional British landed interest suffered very little by the terms of the 1832 Reform Act. They maintained their customary dominance of the house of commons, although voting records show that they had lost some of their ability to push legislation through the House that spoke to their more parochial interests. By contrast, the 1867 Reform Act caused serious erosion of their legislative power in the Commons. The 1874 election, especially in Ireland, saw great landowners losing their county seats to tenant farmers. Democracy was coming to Britain; just not as soon as some would have it.     

Coalition Stability and Belief Change: Advocacy Coalitions in U.S. Foreign Policy and the Creation of Israel, 1922–44

This study examines whether advocacy coalitions are stable over time by examining legislative hearings data concerning U.S. foreign policy and the creation of Israel. It uses content analysis of 19 different policy core and deep core belief components applied to testimonies given in 1922 and in 1944. These belief components are used to identify members of advocacy coalitions and to test the coalitions' relative stability of membership over time. In addition, this research examines the stability of the belief systems of these advocacy coalitions. It finds that the structures of the advocacy coalitions remained relatively stable, yet new components of policy core beliefs emerged among all three advocacy coalitions, and such components are converging toward the belief system of the coalition advocating for the creation of Israel.     

The trajectory of nation‐building through language policies: the case of Turkey during the early Republic (1920–38)†

ABSTRACT. This article explores the link between language policies and nation‐building by focusing on the Turkish case during the early Republican period (1920–38). As opposed to conceptualising nation builders as seamlessly and strategically forming a nation out of the remnants of an empire, this article emphasises the complex and, at times, ambiguous nature of the nation‐building process using Turkey as a case study. The article is also critical of ethno‐symbolic accounts of nations and nation formation that tend to emphasise the cultural at the expense of the political sphere. Instead, by looking at the process and content of the formulation of language policies, this study demonstrates how culture was highly politicised during the formative period of the Turkish nation.     

Knightly Masculinity,Court Games and Material Culture in Late‐medieval Portugal: The Case of Constable Afonso (c.1480–1504)

This article explores the ways in which gender was used in order to transform an exiled and uneducated illegitimate child into a prince. Our study revolves around a member of the royal family, Afonso (c.1480–1504), who was brought up in hiding by peasants and who later, as a teenager, was reincorporated into the court. We argue that the keys to this process of rehabilitation were, on one hand, family politics centred around different configurations and on the other, his introduction into a court environment marked by the ideals of chivalry. Within this dynamic, material culture played a key role, because it gave the prince all the visual attributes of his new status, as well as allowing him the means to create a new self. We shall briefly introduce Afonso and his family context in order to give an insight into his life within changing political and dynastic contexts. Then, we will analyse the expression of manhood in the Portuguese court, using the spectacles at the court as a basis for observation, thus relating gender to material culture in a courtly environment.     

Countering the hegemony of the Irish national canon: the modernist rhetoric of Seán O'Faoláin (1938–50)1

ABSTRACT. The telling and re‐telling of national history has long been recognised in studies of nationalism as one of its key legitimising and mobilising strategies. In this article I illustrate how a rhetorical approach can effectively explore this dynamic and emotive dimension of nationalist ideology by examining the rhetorical strategies in the Irish liberal intellectual, Seán O'Faoláin's, attempts to reconstitute the popular canon of Irish history in the 1930s and 1940s. More specifically, I show that contrary to depictions of O'Faoláin as a European liberal who employed rational argument to undermine and encourage the rejection of Irish nationalism and its emphasis on rhetorical narratives of the past, O'Faoláin's challenge to the Irish national canon reveals that he himself mobilised historical narrative to promote his own modernist version of Irish liberal nationalism and demonstrated in the process that he was one of the most skilful rhetors of his day.