Education and asssociation: the bureaucrat in the reign of Henry VI

This study concentrates on the personnel of the chancery and the office of the privy seal during the reign of Henry VI of England (1422–1461). The educational achievements and involvements of these civil servants are examined to reveal how the qualities they bring to the job affect the level of bureaucratic service offered. Educational involvement afforded the king's clerks the opportunity both to make the contacts necessary to enter the king's service and to prepare for the king's service. At the various levels of the official hierarchy examples are found of bureaucrats who were involved in education as students, patrons, benefactors, collectors, men who made original contributions to learning and men who used their learning to contribute to the efficient functioning of the bureaucracy. Further, their associations with a multitude of educational enterprises and with their fellow clerks assisted in the development of a group mentality and loyalty which contributed to a well-run bureaucracy.     

Henry IV and Charles VI: the confirmation of the twenty-eight-year truce

The deposition of Richard II in 1399 caused serious problems for the new English king, Henry IV, in foreign affairs. Contemporaries believed that his seizure of the crown would provoke an outbreak of new hostilities with the French since the wife of the deposed monarch was none other than Isabel, a daughter of Charles VI, king of France. Indeed Charles took certain belligerent measures against henry, whom he stubbornly refused to recognize as the legitimate ruler of England, but stopped short of war because Isabel still remained in English custody. Henry IV, on the other hand, desired to improve relations with France because of his own tenuous hold on the English throne. Once Charles VI became convinced early in 1400 that Richard II had died in captivity, he abruptly changed his policy towards England and announced his intention of observing the terms set forth in the Twenty-Eight-Year Truce which he had originally concluded with his son-in-law in 1396. Later in May, Henry IV similarly proclaimed his willingness to honor that agreement. How both sides avoided an open clash and eventually confirmed the Twenty-Eight-Year Truce forms the central theme of this paper.     

Henry IV and Charles VI: the confirmation of the twenty-eight-year truce

The deposition of Richard II in 1399 caused serious problems for the new English king, Henry IV, in foreign affairs. Contemporaries believed that his seizure of the crown would provoke an outbreak of new hostilities with the French since the wife of the deposed monarch was none other than Isabel, a daughter of Charles VI, king of France. Indeed Charles took certain belligerent measures against henry, whom he stubbornly refused to recognize as the legitimate ruler of England, but stopped short of war because Isabel still remained in English custody. Henry IV, on the other hand, desired to improve relations with France because of his own tenuous hold on the English throne. Once Charles VI became convinced early in 1400 that Richard II had died in captivity, he abruptly changed his policy towards England and announced his intention of observing the terms set forth in the Twenty-Eight-Year Truce which he had originally concluded with his son-in-law in 1396. Later in May, Henry IV similarly proclaimed his willingness to honor that agreement. How both sides avoided an open clash and eventually confirmed the Twenty-Eight-Year Truce forms the central theme of this paper.     

The role of the Parlement de Paris in the ratification and registration of royal acts during the reign of Charles VI

The following article corrects the mistaken assumption held by a number of historians that during the reign of Charles VI of France it was necessary for the Parlement de Paris to publish and register all important royal ordinances before they could be executed. Individual cases are discussed to show the nature of the prerogatives of the Parlement and the methods used for the ratification and registration of royal acts.     

The role of the Parlement de Paris in the ratification and registration of royal acts during the reign of Charles VI

The following article corrects the mistaken assumption held by a number of historians that during the reign of Charles VI of France it was necessary for the Parlement de Paris to publish and register all important royal ordinances before they could be executed. Individual cases are discussed to show the nature of the prerogatives of the Parlement and the methods used for the ratification and registration of royal acts.     

The coronation charter of 1100: a postponement of decision. What did not happen in Henry I's reign

The charter issued by Henry I on his coronation in 1100 has been regarded since Stubb's time as a prefigurement of Magna Carta, since it restricted the rights of the monarch. It has also been seen as a cunning political manoeuvre designed to strengthen the shaky position of Henry I during the tense days and months following the death of William Rufus. The present article does not set out to undermine either of these two positions. The charter played a part in the discussions between the king, the Church and the barons in 1135, 1154 and 1213. There was no such discussion in 1100 when the charter was formulated. At that earlier date the role of the monarch was predominant, as it had been since 1066. As yet the Church and the barons had no active part to play.     

康熙时期的养心殿

养心殿作为宫内的一处重要建筑,在康熙时期的情况一直不甚清楚。本文通过零星的记载,尤其是当时西方传教士的著作,对康熙时期养心殿的建筑格局、内部陈设、使用情况等进行了考证,认为与雍正以后的状况有很大差异,其功用是多方面的,从而对养心殿历史沿革的认识更为全面。     

Prosperity and its discontents: Contextualizing social protest in the late Qianlong reign

Studies of the Qing history have tended to overstate the prosperity of the Qianlong period (1736–95), while taking the ensuing Jiaqing period (1796–1820) as the crisis-ridden beginning of dynastic decline. To challenge such a simplistic and somewhat misleading interpretation, this article reappraises the late Qianlong era by examining the dramatic combination of social protest which largely defined this period. It focuses on the structural and conjunctural origins of these upheavals and uses them as a prism to investigate the changing state-society relationship. This study conceptualizes the late Qianlong upheavals as a profound crisis of an overextended empire whose political development had become unsustainable. In addition to facing the formidable challenges of an expanding society, the late Qianlong state was crippled by the emperor himself and his aggressive efforts to concentrate power in his own hands.     

From scholar to bureaucrat: the political choice of the historical geographer Zhang Qiyun

In the mid-1920s, under the guidance of his teacher, Zhu Kezhen, Zhang Qiyun established himself as a scholar by compiling middle school geography textbooks. He reached the peak of his early academic career when he joined the National Defense Planning Commission (Guofang sheji weiyuanhui) in 1932. His subsequent setbacks offered him a different kind of experience. During his tenure at Zhejiang University (1936–1949), he strived to combine research and administrative work. His friendship with Chen Bulei, Chen Xunci, and others, provided him with the connections to move from academia into politics. More important, beginning in the 1940s, Zhang contributed his scholarship in historical geography and geopolitics to the ruling regime and attracted Chiang Kai-shek’s attention. In 1948, some of the students at Zhejiang University started a movement to oust Zhang, which truly alienated him. During the power transition in 1949, Zhang made a political choice entirely different from the one made by his longtime mentor Zhu Kezhen, epitomizing the political divergence among scholars in the last years of the 1940s.     

Seeking Alfred's body: royal tomb as political object in the reign of Edward the Elder

This article addresses a crux in the Fonthill Letter: why Helmstan, an outlawed thief, visited King Alfred's grave. This episode coincided with a succession dispute in which Alfred's son, Edward the Elder, was resisting a challenge for the kingdom. To enhance his legitimacy, Edward celebrated his father's legacy and promoted his grave, building Alfred a monumental mausoleum. Edward removed Helmstan's outlawry after the visit – a reversal that resembles instances in which condemned criminals were spared punishment after seeking sanctuary protection. I propose that as part of his political efforts, Edward offered comparable clemency to offenders who visited Alfred's grave.     

The imperial governors of Dyrrakhion in the reign of Alexios I Komnenos

Abstract

This article considers the conclusions that we can draw about the imperial governors of Dyrrakhion in the reign of the Emperor Alexios I Komnenos. It looks at why Dyrrakhion became increasingly important in the course of the 11th Century and, above all, after Alexios' usurpation of the throne in 1081. Careful attention is paid to establishing the identity of the various individuals whom we know to have held the position of doux of the town in the period between 1081–1118, and the chronology of and context for the appointments looked at in detail. The significance of Dyrrakhion is further highlighted by drawing attention to the fact that only the very closest intimates of the Emperor – and indeed only senior members of the imperial family itself – were made governors of the town in this period. This study represents a fresh examination of Dyrrakhioii, and establishes several new conclusions about the identities and careers of the imperial governors of the town in the reign of the Emperor Alexios I Komnenos.     

Ancestors: Henry Maine and the constitution of primitive society

Maine was the most important English figure in a generation of legal theorists who founded the comparative study of “early”; social institutions. He assumed that all the Indo‐Germanic speaking peoples began their development with the same social forms. Early Roman law and contemporary Hindu custom encapsulated primitive Indo‐European institutions, notably the patriarchal family and the communal organisation of property rights. Maine's arguments were developed in part as a contribution to contemporary political debate, especially with reference to the Indian Empire. His work drew on the models of philology, German legal history, and English constitutional history.