The trial of Floreta d'Ays (1403): Jews,Christians, and obstetrics in later medieval Marseille

In 1403, a Jewish midwife, Floreta, widow of Aquinon d'Ays, was brought before the criminal court of Marseille to answer for the death in childbirth of a Christian woman. Floreta was charged with having performed a procedure that precipitated the patient's haemorrhaging and death. This is the first known case of a malpractice trial against a midwife and an unusual case of anti-Judaic sentiment in a city hitherto quite tolerant of its Jewish minority population. Aside from Floreta's statements in her own defence, all the recorded testimony comes from Christian women who were present in the birthroom, giving us a rare glimpse inside that female preserve. Although the final outcome of the case is not known, Floreta vigorously appealed the ruling that she be tortured to elicit a confession. This essay presents an edition and translation of a portion of the trial record, setting it into the context of Marseille legal procedure, obstetrical knowledge of the time, and changes in anti-Judaic sentiment in early fifteenth-century Marseille.     

On containers: A forum. Introduction

This forum, involving anthropologists, archaeologists and historians, lays out the theoretical groundwork for a deep history of the container. By isolating its contents from transaction, and by enabling the manipulation of time, the container serves as an engine of history.     

The Origin of Folk-Culture

The legend of Sir Richard ‘Bloody’ Baker, concerning events alleged to have occurred in the parish of Cranbrook, Kent in the sixteenth century, was first recorded in 1850. This legend bears such strong similarities to the English folktale of Mister Fox that it has been suggested it was deliberately fabricated by a Victorian faux antiquary. There are, however, many other oral traditions current in Cranbrook about Bloody Baker which do seem to be authentic folklore, while certain details incongruous in the recorded narrative appear to be survivals from an earlier version. These considerations make it probable that the legend is an organic local variant on the Mister Fox motif, notwithstanding the lateness of its first record.     

Between Islam and the nation; nation-building,the ulama and Alevi identity in Turkey

This article analyses the relationship between Islam and nationalism by considering the role of the ulama in Turkey, housed within the Presidency of Religious Affairs (PRA). The ulama – religious scholars and experts of Islamic law – in Muslim majority contexts are typically closely linked with the state and play a key role in shaping the boundaries of Islam and of what is Islamically acceptable. However, this is also of consequence for the boundaries of the nation, since in Turkey Islam and nationalism has been intertwined, with Islam playing a central role in nation-building, as a basis of ethnic identity formation and a source of symbols and myths. This articles shows, firstly, that the PRA has acted as a carrier and preserver of Sunni (Hanefi) Muslim identity in continuity with the Ottoman ulama and, secondly, that it has delimited nation-building, by considering its approach to and interventions against Alevi identity.     

Business Improvement Districts and the Discourse of Contractualism

Business improvement districts (BIDs) are increasingly being advanced in a range of national contexts as a new delivery mechanism for securing improvement, regeneration and enhanced service delivery in specifically delineated districts. This paper considers BIDs as an example of a modern institutional design that is reconfiguring existing economic and legal regimes within town centres. Drawing on the theories of new institutional economics and transaction costs, the paper discusses how the contractual turn in urban governance advances our conceptual understanding of the rationale, scope and significance of partnership working. The discussion brings together emerging literatures around new ways of understanding partnership working in government thinking. It contrasts the advocacy and use of BIDs with the (previously established) practices of town centre management. It asserts that BIDs represent a new form of formalized and contractualized partnership working in sub-municipal governance, which has particular spatio-temporal implications for state–market–civil relations.