Charles the bold and the crusade: politics and propaganda

The pressures on Charles the Bold (duke of Burgundy from 1467 to his death in 1477) to lead, or lend his support to, a crusade were many. His Italian allies and the papacy all pleaded for his help and participation; and these appeals were augmented by the exhortation contained in much of the literature popular at the Burgundian court and by the presence there of refugees from the East.Charles's response was mixed. Political and moral pressures made it impossible for him to ignore the question of the crusade, but, even if his attitude should be characterized as cautious rather than as indifferent, he never did go on crusade. Equally, however, he repeatedly justified his comparative inaction and, at the same time, made propaganda against his enemies by suggesting that their hostility alone prevented him from embarking on an expedition to drive back the infidel.This response, since it was not untypical of the princes of his generation, helps explain the West's failure to unite against the Turks. From the point of view of Burgundian history, Charles's cautious attitude towards the crusade tends to support the revisionists who argue that he was far less ‘rash’ than the traditional historical view allows.     

The Impact of the Second Crusade on the Angelology and Eschatology of Saint Bernard of Clairvaux

Bernard, abbot of Clairvaux, made a significant impact on twelfth‐century Europe and the church. As a result of the proliferation of Cistercian monasteries under his guidance, his numerous theological writings, and the miracles he performed, Bernard was canonised soon after his death. Conversely, there was no lack of criticism levied for his involvement in matters that some considered inappropriate. When Pope Eugenius III called the Second Crusade and requested that Bernard preach it, the infirm abbot could have justifiably declined but instead embarked upon the arduous task. However, he did so in the belief that this task, if successful, might propel humankind into the next age of time. After the crusade failed and as he neared death himself, Bernard's writings reflect a change from his previous assertions surrounding eschatology and the role of angels in the lives of the faithful. These alterations in Bernard's theology may also have encompassed a reaffirmation of his commitment to the contemplative life. It took the disaster of the Second Crusade to return him to his core convictions and ignore the arrogant speculations of those who claimed that they knew what Christ said they never would: the day or the hour.     

Retour aux sources: crisis and reappraisal in Albert Camus's final pronouncements on justice,

Both personally and professionally, the 1950s proved a difficult decade for Albert Camus. Not only would the controversy surrounding the publication of L'Homme re´volte´ (1951) leave an indelible mark, but also the pressures of history would increasingly impact on his concern for justice throughout this troubled period. This article examines how Camus's moral sensibility is undermined by le drame alge´rien to such an extent that, as the pressures of history and personal circumstance become increasingly intolerable for him, he is forced to undertake a ‘scaling-down process’ of his whole attitude towards justice. Both the ‘Appel pour une tre?ve civile en Alge´rie’ (1956) and the ‘Re´flexions sur la guillotine’ (1957) can usefully be read in this context where, against a more general background of a,retour aux sources, Camus reverts to his earlier ‘person-to-person’ response to perceived injustice as a means, perhaps, by which to reinvigorate his now frustrated moral stance.     

Partisan identity in the French civil war, 1405–1418: reconsidering the evidence on livery badges

This article examines the efficiency with which John the Fearless used his personal badges during his conflict with Louis of Orleans and the Armagnacs, and questions current thinking on the relationship between the emblems of both parties. As early as 1405, he began distributing emblems that corresponded directly to his ideology: first the carpenter's plane, and from 1410 onwards, his mason's level, two symbols that were representative of his platform for reform. In August 1411, his urban supporters in Paris and elsewhere began wearing crosses of St Andrew, his patron saint, as a means of identifying themselves as Burgundian partisans. This study argues that in making a conscious decision to link his symbols to his ideology, and in making them available to his vassals and urban supporters alike, John the Fearless forged a strong Burgundian community that transcended social barriers. In so doing, he also manufactured an Armagnac anti-community, a tangible entity against which his partisans' animosity was directed from 1411 onwards. As badges of allegiance, the symbols helped fuel a war that had, thus far, remained a private conflict between the princely houses of Burgundy and Orleans.     

Partisan identity in the French civil war, 1405–1418: reconsidering the evidence on livery badges

This article examines the efficiency with which John the Fearless used his personal badges during his conflict with Louis of Orleans and the Armagnacs, and questions current thinking on the relationship between the emblems of both parties. As early as 1405, he began distributing emblems that corresponded directly to his ideology: first the carpenter's plane, and from 1410 onwards, his mason's level, two symbols that were representative of his platform for reform. In August 1411, his urban supporters in Paris and elsewhere began wearing crosses of St Andrew, his patron saint, as a means of identifying themselves as Burgundian partisans. This study argues that in making a conscious decision to link his symbols to his ideology, and in making them available to his vassals and urban supporters alike, John the Fearless forged a strong Burgundian community that transcended social barriers. In so doing, he also manufactured an Armagnac anti-community, a tangible entity against which his partisans' animosity was directed from 1411 onwards. As badges of allegiance, the symbols helped fuel a war that had, thus far, remained a private conflict between the princely houses of Burgundy and Orleans.     

Duke Richard of York's intentions in I450 and the origins of the wars of the roses

The return of Richard, duke of York, from Ireland in 1450 represents his first overt attempt to remedy certain grievances. His criticism of the Lancastrian régime eventually brought him leadership in the Wars of the Roses. The grivances of 1450 are contained in two bills addressed to Henry VI. At first, the duke harboured personal grievances — fear of attainder and having his claim to the throne bypassed, resentment at his counsel being ignored and his debts unpaid — which were exaguerated by unsertainty and the king's readiness to believe the worst. Richards apreciation of the widespread hostility towards the government and the disarray of the king's Household after Suffolk's murder enabled him to convert grievances into public criticisms in his second bill. He encouraged investigations into official oppression in southeastern England, and his supporters may have stimulated risings there to demonstrate support for him. Compared with Henry's nervous reaction to York's first bill, he firmly checkmated the pretensions of the second, and Yorks achievement in 1450 was limited. But he had taken a first step towards appealing for support by converting personal grievances into a general bid for sympathy. Whether he aid so for personal or public motives — or both — remains an open question.     

The French regiment in the Latin East, 1254–91

When St. Louis returned to France in 1254 at the end of his first crusade, he left behind him a force of 100 knights and other soldiers as a contribution to the defence of the Latin Kingdom. This force, which has become known as the French regiment, was maintained by St. Louis and his successors throughout most of the period leading up to the fall of Acre in 1291. The number of troops fluctuated, as did the level of support provided by the French crown. However, the regiment was a useful addition to the kingdom's armies. Its soldiers were involved in much of the military activity during the second half of the thirteenth century. Its leaders, men like Geoffrey of Sergines and John of Grailly, became important figures in the political life of the kingdom.     

Stewart,Kant, and the Reworking of Common Sense

Summary

Dugald Stewart was the first metaphysician of any significance in Britain who attempted to take account of Kantian philosophy, although his analysis appears generally dismissive. Traditionally this has been imputed to Stewart's poor understanding of Kant and to his efforts to defend the orthodoxy of common sense. This paper argues that, notwithstanding Stewart's reading, Kant's philosophy helped him in a reconsideration and reassessment of common sense philosophy. In his mature works—the Philosophical Essays (1810), the second volume of the Elements of the Philosophy of the Human Mind (1814), and the second part of his historical ‘Dissertation? (1815–1821)—Stewart's analysis of Kantian philosophy is far from being uniform. In the first two works, he takes a cautious approach to transcendentalism, showing some interest in the challenge it might represent for common sense; in the last, he turns to rash criticism. This change may appear confusing and inconsistent unless considered in the light of a precise ‘nationalistic’ strategy. In fact, once Stewart had taken from Kantian philosophy what he deemed useful for his own aims, he eventually dismissed it in order to show that his reworked version of common sense was the most original and most consistent outcome of the whole Anglo-Scottish philosophical tradition.     

Robert,earl of Gloucester,and the daughter of Zelophehad

Robert, earl of Gloucester, the leader of Mathilda's party in England during Stephen's reign, has a good press because the main source for his activities is his admirer, William of Malmesbury. This article re-assesses Robert's role and character by concentrating on chroniclers other than Malmesbury and on charter evidence. It finds, by these methods, that Earl Robert may have been in some ways an attractive man, but that he was also a practised curialist, a ruthless factionalist, a plunderer of church lands, and a man who made acquisition of his neighbours' lands one of his main objects. New evidence is presented to account for his behaviour in the crucial months at the end of 1135 and beginning of 1136 when Stephen made himself king. Robert is found to have had little choice but to cross to England because his lands in the southern Marches were under threat from a Welsh rising. His alienation from Stephen in the next few years is traced to a failure at court against his rivals, the Beaumont group. His subsequent private war against the Beaumonts in Dorset and Worcestershire is further evidence against Malmesbury 's portrayal of him as a man of pure principle. conduct of the war against Stephen after 1139 can be shown to have had serious flaws. The result was a rebellion against him by his own sons and the repudiation of his methods (if not his acquisitions) by his successor Earl William. Evidence is presented that Earl William sparked off the movement amongst the magnates to draw up private treaties to contain the Anarchy. In view of all this, it is not surprising to find indications that Earl Robert lacked any real commitment to the claims of his half-sister, the empress.     

Vienna and the Jews, 1867–1938: A cultural history

This article examines Ernest Belfort Bax's interpretation of the French Revolution and traces the impact that his idea of the Revolution had on his philosophy and his political thought. The first section considers Bax's understanding of the Revolution in the context of his theory of history and analyses his conception of the Revolution's legacy, drawing particularly on his portraits of Robespierre, Marat and Babeuf. The second section shows how the lessons Bax drew from this history shaped his socialist republicanism and discusses his support for Jacobin methods of revolutionary change. The third section of the article looks at the ways in which Bax's reading of revolutionary history affected his internationalism and shows how his ‘anti-patriotism’ led him to support the Anglo-French campaign in 1914. I argue that the Bax's understanding of the French Revolution gave body to his philosophy and greatly influenced his understanding of the socialist struggle. Bax believed that socialists had history on their side, but was so emboldened by the idea of the Revolution that he was led to advance a view of socialist change that undermined the historic values that socialism was supposed to enshrine.     

Harold Laski's International Functionalism: A Socialist Challenge to Federalism

Harold Laski argued for international functionalism from his distinctive socialist perspective. He opposed the existing international system based on the principle of state sovereignty. He also criticised the international federalism proposed as an alternative to the existing system. Although Laski began to devise and present his functionalist case in the 1920s, the circumstances of the following decade led him to adopt and adapt some Marxist ideas and to place less emphasis on functionalism. During and after the Second World War he reconsidered the possibilities for international functional organisation. Although fragmented and undeveloped, his functionalist theory was innovative. By the end of the 1940s he had expressed it in a variety of publications as he reflected on the international conditions of that decade. Unlike what is probably the most well-known functionalist case of the early to mid-twentieth century – that of David Mitrany – Laski's argument bears affinities with the later neofunctionalist theorists. Laski's functionalism was underpinned by the critique of sovereignty which made his political philosophy distinctive. Reasons can be detected for the changes in his attitude to and emphasis on functionalism.     

The empire unpossess'd: An essay on Gibbon's decline and fall

In an essay on Nietzsche's view of morality written in 1891, Eduard von Hartmann suggested that Nietzsche's most important contribution to philosophy was in the sphere of ethics; at the same time, he drew attention to the affinity between Nietzsche's ideas and the philosophy of Max Stirner. Hartmann's remarks open up Nietzsche's philosophy to examination in terms of a radically materialist framework. Nietzsche sees the ethics of asceticism, and hence Christianity, as a consequence of metaphysical dualism (which his materialist monism rejects), a stance which enables him to advance a positive, because physiologically based, sexual ethics. His philosophy proposes a profound and instrinsic relationship between the sexual and the aesthetic. This article shows how an appreciation of the radical materialism advanced by Nietzsche serves as evidence of the relevance of his philosophy to contemporary concerns and debates in ethics, and explores Nietzsche's ethical programme to develop ‘a more Goethean attitude toward sensuality’.     

The investiture of Emperor Charles VI in Brabant and Flanders: a test case for the authority of the new Austrian government

This article focuses upon the investitures of Emperor Charles VI in 1717 in Brabant and Flanders. The purpose of this analysis is to demonstrate that, contrary to what some historians have claimed, the element of direct communication between prince and subjects remained significant at least until the beginning of the eighteenth century. Despite Charles' assertive attitude, the ceremonies were preceded by a period of intense negotiation, in which the Estates made clear demands. Eventually, however, he acquiesced to some of their requests. These concessions can be placed within a long tradition of modus vivendi between princely centralism and local autonomy in the Southern Netherlands. The sovereign was financially dependent on the Estates, which therefore had a great deal of leverage at their disposal. This vulnerability was compounded by the fact that Charles stood at the head of a dynasty, the Austrian Habsburgs, which had no tradition of authority in these regions upon which to draw. Furthermore, the Barrier Treaty's provisions restricted his sovereignty. His bargaining position influenced the organisation of the investitures, thus illustrating that in the early eighteenth century, the sovereign and provincial Estates of the Southern Netherlands were still engaged in a contractual relationship.     

Ambassador George Buchanan and the July Crisis

During the July Crisis, the United Kingdom was put under strong pressure from Russia and the latter's ally, France, to declare it would fight alongside them. Britain had made the entente cordiale with France in 1904 and a Convention with Russia in 1907. The British Ambassador to St. Petersburg, George Buchanan, was the key figure in diplomatic communication between Britain and Russia at this time and his performance has drawn diverse comments over the decades. Some analysts believe he genuinely sought to restrain Russia from war, but was undermined by his own government, who too easily accepted St. Petersburg must mobilise its army. But others feel Buchanan's reports of Russian mobilisation were ill-informed and unhelpful to the government in London. This article examines Buchanan's performance, arguing that he attempted to preserve peace for a time and does not deserve some of the criticisms levelled at him. Nonetheless, the preservation of the Triple Entente was a priority for him and, after about 28 July, once it became clear that European war could not be avoided, he became tardy in reporting Russia's war preparations, appearing more interested in defending his hosts’ behaviour than in providing an accurate analysis of events.     

‘An Old Carriage with New Horses’: Nietzsche’s Critique of Democracy

Debates about Nietzsche's political thought today revolve around his role in contemporary democratic theory: is he a thinker to be mined for stimulating resources in view of refounding democratic legitimacy on a radicalised, postmodern and agonistic footing, or is he the modern arch-critic of democracy budding democrats must hone their arguments against? Moving away from this dichotomy, this article asks first and foremost what democracy meant for Nietzsche in late nineteenth-century Germany, and on that basis what we might learn from him now. To do so, it will pay particular attention to the political, intellectual and cultural contexts within which Nietzsche's thought evolved, namely Bismarck's relationship to the new German Reichstag, the philological discovery of an original Aryan race, and Nietzsche's encounter with Gobineau's racist thought through his frequentation of the Wagner circle. It argues that Nietzsche's most lasting contribution to democratic thinking is not to be found in the different ways he may or may not be used to buttress certain contemporary ideological positions, but rather how his notions of ‘herd morality’, ‘misarchism’ and the genealogical method still provides us with the conceptual tools to better understand the political world we inhabit.     

The Foreign Secretary Goes to Court: John Simon and his Critics

In January 1935, Sir John Simon won an action for slander againsta Methodist minister from Norfolk who had accused the ForeignSecretary of attacking the Peace Ballot because it would damagehis financial interests in the armaments business. The casewas the culmination of more than two years of rumours and allegationsagainst Simon. The charge made by the Revd J. W. Bond againstthe Foreign Secretary was entirely without foundation, but invoicing his belief that the private manufacture of armamentswas damaging to the cause of disarmament, he was expressinga view that was widely held both in his own Church and amongthe wider peace movement. The Methodist Church was deeply dividedover international questions in the 1930s. Simon, for his part,took legal action against Bond both because he was weary ofthe allegations against him and in the hope of protecting hisreputation as Foreign Secretary, which had long been under attackboth in the press and in Parliament.     

‘Piddington's Indiscretion’:1 Ralph Piddington,The Australian National Research Council and Academic Freedom

The primary aim of this paper is to investigate the question why, particularly in the first half of this century, Australian academics were so supine when it came to public criticism of the treatment, conditions and welfare of Australian Aborigines. Its focus is Ralph Piddington and how he was treated by the Australian academic establishment for his public criticism of the treatment of Aborigines at La Grange Bay, North-west Australia. It shows how the Executive Committee of the Australian National Research Council (ANRC), A.P. Elkin, Professor of Anthropology at Sydney University from 1933 to 1956 and chairman, from 1933 to 1955, of the Australian National Research Council's Committee for Anthropological Research, and A.O. Neville, Chief Protector of Aborigines in Western Australia, combined to silence and punish Piddington. The ANRC's criticisms of Piddington were fuelled, above all else, by their concern that his action would create a ‘very uncomfortable atmosphere regarding this Council and anthropological research generally.’ 5 2 Sir George Julius to Raymond Firth, 21 October 1932. 155/4/1/10.
In contrast the Rockefeller Foundation which provided the funding for the ANRC research grants and fellowships took a more lenient view of Piddington's action. It believed from the evidence presented by the ANRC that Piddington had made satisfactory progress toward carrying out the program for which he was given his fellowship and did not believe the charges made against him should impede his fellowship status.     

Gerald Ford,the Mayaguez Incident,and the Post-Imperial Presidency

In 1975 Gerald Ford became the first President bound by the War Powers Resolution. Enacted in 1973, members of Congress, still fuming over the revelations crystallized by the Pentagon Papers that the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution was a sham, sought to prevent future Presidents from starting future Vietnam Wars. Though Ford voted against the measure twice as a Congressman, as President he respected the law and Congress enforcing it. This article explores Ford's efforts and actions as he complied with the law. Ford's attitude and acquiescence reflected his efforts he heal the nation.     

Toward a reappraisal of William the Great,duke of Aquitaine (995–1030)

William, duke of Aquitaine and count of Poitou, has won a glowing reputation from historians for his personal piety and his active support of religious reform. Scholars have given him the sobriquet ‘the Great’, and he is traditionally regarded as one of those overmighty subjects whose fame and power eclipsed their less accomplished Capetian contemporaries. As count and duke, however, William clearly had responsibilities that went beyond support of the Church. In the present study an effort has been made to examine the more secular aspects of William's career to see if, in fact, he justly deserves to be considered one of the outstanding figures of the early eleventh century.     

Charles of Anjou,Pope Gregory X and the crown of Jerusalem

This article seeks to dispel the popular myth that Pope Gregory X (1271–6) wanted to change the government of the kingdom of Jerusalem by putting Charles of Anjou on its throne through the purchase of the claim of Maria of Antioch. A study of the Angevin chancery records – little used by crusade historians – demonstrates that Charles had an interest and influence in the kingdom before Gregory became pope. An examination of Gregory's papal registers shows that he consistently treated Hugh of Lusignan as king of Jerusalem and that the pope had no desire for anything to disrupt the peace in Christendom that he deemed necessary for his crusade.