Die Pansophie des Comenius und der Baconismus der Royal Society

The specific comprehension of the subject of the modern times in the 17th century articulates itself in the pretension to be the master of the world of nature and human beings. This pretension, however, was not longer legitimated in a theological or biblical argumentation, but with the philosophical hint on a special qualification of the human being: knowledge and science. In this view, the philosophical reflections of Francis Bacon of Verulam, which were culminating in the well-known judgement of the coincidence of knowledge and power, became the very important philosophy of science of the most prominent academy of sciences in the 17th century: The Royal Society of London. This “Baconism” distincted himself strictly from all questions belonging to religion, politics, social or moral problems. This distinction was the reason for its opposition to the “Pansophie” of Johann Amos Comenius, whose main intention was the general reformation of the whole world, including a reform of science, religion and politics. The insistence of Comenius for the social responsibility of science is still up-to-date.     

Book reviews—Comptes rendus

I canonici ai servizio dello Stato in Europa, secoli XIII‐XVI—Les chanoines au service de l'Etat en Europe du XIIIème au XVIème siècle

Recueil d'études sous la direction d'Hélène MILLET, avec la collaboration d'Elisabeth MORNET.

Istituto di studi rinascimentali, Ferrara, saggi, Modena (Franco Cosimo Panini editore), 1992, 290 pages (avec cartes, tableaux, graphiques). 80 000 lires.

Rodzina w Osiemnastowiecznej Warszawie (La famille à Varsovie au XVE?ème siècle)

Cezary KUKLO

Instytut Historii Filii Uniwersytetu Warszawskiego w Biatymstoku, Biatystok, 1991 (Institut d'Histoire, filiale de l'Université de Varsovie à Biatystok, Biatystok, 1991. 262 pages)

Collapse of a State: Honecker, Krenz, Modrow, and the end of the German Democratic Republic     

Charcoal from a prehistoric copper mine in the Austrian Alps: dendrochronological and dendrological data,demand for wood and forest utilisation

During prehistory fire-setting was the most appropriate technique for exploiting ore deposits. Charcoal fragments found in the course of archaeological excavations in a small mine called Mauk E in the area of Schwaz/Brixlegg (Tyrol, Austria) are argued to be evidence for the use of this technology. Dendrochronological analyses of the charcoal samples yielded calendar dates for the mining activities showing that the exploitation of the Mauk E mine lasted approximately one decade in the late 8th century BC. Dendrological studies show that the miners utilised stem wood of spruce and fir from forests with high stand density for fire-setting and that the exploitation of the Mauk E mine had only a limited impact on the local forests.     

Loyalty and Royalty: Gibraltar, the 1953 54 Royal Tour and the Geopolitics of the Iberian Peninsula

This article explores the 1953–54 Royal Tour and in particularthe planning and eventual reception of the Queen and her partywhen they arrived in Gibraltar. These events are consideredin terms of three overlapping contexts: the imperial, the colonialand the geopolitical. First, the Royal Tour marked not onlythe debut of a new Queen but also the realization that the BritishEmpire was beginning to fragment with the eruption of independencemovements in South Asia and the Middle East. Hence, its internationalitinerary bound the remaining empire symbolically together,but also served as a reminder of the ‘gaps’ thatwere beginning to appear. Second, the analysis considers howthe Royal Tour presented an opportunity for the local residentsof Gibraltar to ‘perform their loyalty’ to the newQueen and the British Empire. The focus on performance is significantbecause the article does not presume that ‘loyalty’is simply pre-given. A great deal of work was involved in realizingthe reception of the Queen's party in May 1954 against a backdropof a territorial dispute with Spain over the future legal statusof Gibraltar. The Royal Tour offered the possibility, therefore,of persuading the British and Spanish governments of the localresidents’ qualities including a continued loyalty tothe British/imperial Royal Family and indirectly to Britain.Third, the article underscores the significance of such loyalperformances by considering Spanish opposition to the Queen'svisit in the light of Franco's efforts to establish his country'santi-Communist credentials. The Royal Tour, and the Gibraltarleg in particular, are thus show to be an intense locus of performanceslinked to the politics of empire, colonial rights and anti-imperialism. Animated, happy faces gazing at the sights and decorations showbetter than words the true feelings of the people of the fortress-colonytowards their young, beloved Queen. One correspondent of a Britishnewspaper said that he thought the 27,000 servicemen and civilianson the Rock were so fervidly loyal that they would tear to piecesanyone discovered in their midst with evil designs, and thatwas sufficient guarantee of their Majesty's safety.¹     

Distribution patterns of cultivated plants in the Eastern Alps (Central Europe) during Iron Age

Carbonized fruits and seeds from two recently investigated Iron Age hilltop settlements, one located north and the other south of the main Alpine range, were analyzed and reveal a detailed insight in the subsistence strategies of the Eastern Alps. The results were compared with archaeobotanical data sets from other Iron Age excavation sites in Austria, Eastern Switzerland and Northern Italy. On the basis of variable data from 17 sites it is not possible to detect a geographical pattern through statistical analyses. On the basis of the frequencies, however, it becomes clear that the principal cereals were Hordeum vulgare (hulled six-rowed barley), Triticum dicoccon and T. spelta (emmer and spelt) and Panicum miliaceum (broomcorn millet). In addition, foxtail millet (Setaria italica) as well as naked wheat played some role. Legumes such as Vicia faba (horse bean) and Pisum sativum (pea) also occurred regularly and supplemented the diet of the prehistoric settlers. More systematic research with standardized methods is however urgently needed to corroborate the existing data.