How God Disappeared from Europe: Visions of a United Europe from Erasmus to Kant

This article traces the development of European ideas of peace and unity from the time of Desiderius Erasmus to Immanuel Kant. The argument will be made that these ideas, which were initially strongly determined by Christian religious thinking, gradually changed, and from the seventeenth century onwards were put forward in more political and legal terms. Erasmus's way of reasoning about peace and war was still strongly influenced by his firm orientation on the New Testament and the teachings of Jesus Christ. Emeric Crucé, a French writer, was of the opinion that all human beings in the end had God in common, and so had to live peacefully together. Duc de Sully was one of the first not to argue as a religious man but as a politician: a system of balance of power could bring international stability. According to the English Quaker William Penn and the French Abbé de Saint-Pierre only the acceptance of international rules of justice could produce everlasting peace. Immanuel Kant finally directed attention to the form of government and to the founding of a federation of free republics. So God seems to have disappeared from Europe?…?but with what consequences for today?     

A Dynamic Household Model for the Housing Market of Amsterdam

This paper addresses the issue of incorporating household dynamics into operational dynamic urban models. Dynamic model approaches that can be used to model urban change are introduced and discussed. We conclude that these different approaches are best combined in an accounting framework. An example of an accounting framework for a dynamic model of Amsterdam is presented. The household submodel is discussed in detail and some preliminary results are given.     

Foreign Examples as Eye Openers and Justification: The Transfer of the Anti-Corn Law League and the Anti-Prostitution Movement to the Netherlands

In the second half of the nineteenth century, the Dutch movement against stamp duty, as well as the Dutch anti-prostitution movement, was strongly influenced by British examples. In the first case, the prestigious model of the Anti-Corn Law League made democratic political action in a respectable, dignified and effective manner conceivable. In the second case the British campaign against ‘regulated vice’ proved that moral movements could enter the political sphere, without losing their religious identity. In both cases the British example was a revelation to, respectively, Dutch liberals and Christian philanthropists. It opened their eyes to other ways of dealing with politics and subsequently contributed to a change in their perception of what politics consisted of. In addition the inspiring examples helped to justify the introduction of modern political practices in the Netherlands and thus played a role in the acceptation of mass politics.

résumé:?Dans la seconde moitié du dix-neuvième siècle les mouvements hollandais contre le timbre fiscal et contre la prostitution furent influencés par des exemples britanniques. Dans le premier cas le modèle prestigieux de la ligue Anti-Corn Law avait rendu possible une action politique digne et respectable. Dans le second la lutte contre la réglementation du vice prouvait que la moralité pouvait rentrer dans la sphère politique sans perdre sa dimension religieuse. Dans les deux cas, les modèles britanniques furent des révélations pour les libéraux et les philanthropes chrétiens. Ils offraient des pratiques révélatrices d'une politique nouvelle et même une autre façon de penser la politique. Ces transferts servirent à justifier l'introduction de pratiques politiques modernes dans les Pays Bas et jouèrent de ce fait un rôle dans l'acceptation de la politique de masse.     

Infection, contagion, and public health in late medieval and early modern German imperial towns

From today's point of view, the concepts of "miasma" and "contagion" appear to be two mutually exclusive perceptions of the spread of epidemic diseases, and quite a number of historians have tried to discuss the history of public health and epidemic diseases in terms of a progression from the miasmic to the contagionist concept. More detailed local studies, however, indicate how extremely misleading it may be to separate such medical concepts and ideas from their actual historical context. The article presented here, based on local studies in late medieval and early modern imperial towns in southern Germany, demonstrates to what extent the inhabitants of these towns had notions of both "miasma" and "contagion." Furthermore, a contextual analysis of language shows that they did not see a necessity to strictly distinguish between these different concepts relating to the spread of diseases. Tracing the meaning of "infection" and "contagion," we find that these terms were used in connection with various diseases, and that a change in the use of the expressions does not necessarily imply a change of the corresponding notion. Moreover, a coexistence of differing perceptions cannot--as some historians have suggested--be attributed to a divergence between the academic medicine and the popular ideas of that period. A survey of measures and actions in the public health sector indicates that a coexistence of--from our point of view--inconsistent concepts helped the authorities as well as the individuals to find means of defense and consolation during all those crises caused by epidemic diseases--crises that occurred very frequently in these towns during the late medieval and early modern periods. As the article demonstrates, the interaction during such crises reveals the continuity of ancient rituals and concepts as well as the adoption of new insights resulting from changes in the economical, political, scientific, religious, and social structures.     

Satellite imagery and archaeology: the example of CORONA in the Altai Mountains

Satellite imagery, and specifically CORONA, is now of common use in archaeology. CORONA, as it produces two images of the same spot (afterward and forward), allows for stereoscopic view and is a perfect tool for the production of maps, especially in remote areas, where maps are not reliable of even absent.     

Captain Cook upon Changing Seas: Indigenous Voices and Reimagining at the British Museum

ABSTRACT

This article reviews the British Museum exhibition, Reimagining Captain Cook: Pacific Perspectives, 29 November 2018–4 August 2019. It situates the exhibition within a global context of exhibitions held around the 250th anniversary of Cook’s first voyage, and critically considers its attempt to reframe dominant narratives surrounding Cook, his voyages and more broadly the colonization of the Pacific through a focus on Pacific Islander perspectives within a changing museum sector.