The Levant Company under Attack in Parliament, 1720–53

Parliamentary debates concerning the British chartered companies in the 18th century are an important resource which can provide a range of insights into the fate of the companies, the concerns of British economic policy, and the process of political decision making on economic issues. Of all the parliamentary debates concerning chartered companies in the 18th century, those concerning the Levant Company have received the least scholarly attention. This article examines a series of debates involving the Levant Company during the period 1720–53. These debates saw the company increasingly put on the defensive. By the middle of the century, there was, in the words of the duke of Bedford, ‘a very great outcry against companies of all kinds’. However, the debates concerning the Levant Company did not turn on competing views regarding political economy. War was an influence on the timing of the debates, but it was the economic impact of the company's deteriorating competitive position on its woollen cloth suppliers from the west country which was crucial. As French competition gained momentum, cloth exports fell and the political pressure on the company intensified. In the face of this, the company was far from defenceless in parliament. It had influential supporters and did not hesitate to pander to fears about the potential domination of its trade by jewish merchants. The company was forced to lower its admission fee in 1753, but survived and continued to operate into the 19th century.     

Glass beads and pendants from Meroitic and Nobadian Lower Nubia,Sudan: Chemical compositional analysis using laser ablation‐inductively coupled plasma‐mass spectrometry

This paper presents a detailed elemental analysis of 64 glass beads and pendants dated to the Meroitic period (first–third centuries ad ) and the Nobadian period (fourth–sixth centuries) from burial sites in the Lower Nubian Nile Valley region. Laser ablation‐inductively coupled plasma‐mass spectrometry (LA‐ICP‐MS) was used to determine the chemical composition of the glass and to gain knowledge about its origin. Four main glass types were identified: low‐alumina soda‐lime glass, high‐alumina glass, plant‐ash soda‐lime glass, and mixed‐alkali glass. Mineral soda‐lime glass (m‐Na‐Ca) of East Mediterranean/Egyptian provenance is dominant within the low‐alumina glass group from Meroitic and Nobadian periods. Mineral soda high‐alumina glass (m‐Na‐Al) appeared in the Nobadian bead assemblages, and the m‐Na‐Al 1 subtype was produced in Sri Lanka/South India. An initial insight into the origin of the glass beads in Nubia from the first to sixth centuries is described, indicating the first evidence for the presence of Asian objects in Nubia. The data obtained for the bead trade in North‐east Africa in this study has allowed a new light to be shed on the westward flow of Asian glass during a time of intensive maritime trade contacts with the wider Indian Ocean world.     

青海互助丰台卡约文化遗址孢粉分析与人类活动研究——化石和现代表土花粉分析结果

采用相差分析方法,区分出禾本科植物中的农作物花粉;通过对青海互助丰台卡约文化遗址文化层和丰台村周围现代表土样品的孢粉分析,发现孢粉组合中有农作物花粉,反映人类农耕活动对聚落及其周围孢粉组合有明显的影响;文化层样品的孢粉组合显示,卡约文化早期阶段,禾本科植物花粉明显多于晚期阶段,可能反映了卡约文化时期(约公元前1200-800年)农业在社会经济中地位逐步下降的过程;孢粉组合还显示,与现代丰台村相比,卡约文化时期,聚落周围有更多的禾本科植物生长,人类可利用的植物资源比现代丰富。研究结果将有助于综合研究西北地区青铜时代环境与人类文化的关系。     

Feeling at home in public: diasporic Moroccan women negotiating leisure in Morocco and the Netherlands

Muslim women are often cited as subject to restriction in their mobility through public space, especially in European contexts, in comparison with non-Muslim community members. Yet any woman might face restriction in her access to leisure outside the home through geographies of risk and fear, as well as geographies of care and responsibility. In this article, we describe the ways in which Moroccan Muslim women resident in Europe negotiate access to leisure outside the home, in both Europe and Morocco, demonstrating that they practice mobilities framed by safety, risk and responsibility combined with individual volition to be participants in public spaces. Using examples from interviews and ethnographic fieldwork, we discuss a notion of ‘viscosity’ as safe public space that acts as an extension of the home, where women feel comfortable enacting their daily lives and engaging in leisure practices. By comparing data from the Netherlands and Morocco, we highlight the role of Muslim-dominant and Christian-dominant public spheres in these negotiations of leisure. The ways women inhabit such spaces reflect individual concerns about personal safety, as well as maintaining respectful relations with family and being protected from unknown dangers, in ways that reflect not only religious beliefs but also geographies of risk related to other factors. Inhabiting such spaces implicates how they become part of the community at large, as visibly present participants, by negotiating many factors beyond religious beliefs as part of their access to public leisure spaces.     

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.     

Whispers from Below: Zionist Secret Diplomacy,Terrorism and British Security Inside and Out of Palestine, 1944–47

This article discusses the global aspect of Zionist terrorism against Britain during 1944–47, relying on recently declassified documents and Hebrew records. Britain struggled against a global terrorist campaign which attacked British targets in Palestine, Egypt and the wider Middle East, continental Europe and the United Kingdom. This article refutes claims by other authors that British rule in Palestine failed because of intelligence failure. Intelligence failure was limited, but so were successes. British intelligence produced reasonable assessments on Zionist politics, but could do little to prevent violence without the cooperation of the Jewish Agency. Success was driven by a combination of signals intelligence, secret agents, one key defector, interrogations and intelligence shared by the Jewish Agency. Failure resulted from a weak understanding of the Zionist underground and from lack of cooperation by Agency authorities. Normally Britain's junior partner, the Jewish Agency was, by 1945, struggling against British restrictions on Jewish immigration and settlement in Palestine. Its militia, Haganah, turned to cooperation with terrorists. British intelligence predicted that such developments could occur, but failed to identify them as they unfolded. Britain's dependence on Zionist security intelligence was a key vulnerability that never was addressed by policy-makers. The Jewish Agency leveraged its cooperation, applying it to prevent terrorism in Egypt and the United Kingdom, where violent incidents would harm the Zionist cause. It had little reason to prevent terrorism in the key battlegrounds of Palestine or Europe, and so terrorism harmed Britain's will to continue fighting. The root cause of Britain's failure was at the policy level. Despite known weaknesses, government never assessed its own will and ability to uphold restrictions on Zionist immigration, or to fight terrorism, as against the Yishuv's will and ability to struggle against Britain.