The Armada Tapestries in the Old Palace of Westminster

The tapestry series of the ‘Defeat of the Spanish Armada’ was a national artistic treasure which hung in the old Palace of Westminster from the mid 17th century until the fire of 1834. This article outlines the creation of the tapestries in the 1590s and covers the major treatments of them in illustrations of parliamentary interiors and in John Pine's 1739 engravings; it ends with a short account of the curious episode of the tapestry which escaped the conflagration. In the absence of any known historical record of how the tapestries were displayed, suggestions are offered about how many and in what order they hung in the two chambers occupied successively by the house of lords (before and after 1801), and about how they were physically supported on the walls of the Parliament Chamber.     

新见三件“叔休”器及相关问题

本文通过研究追缴回来的三件"叔休器"和见于著录的五件"叔休器",判断目前所见所有"叔休器"均属同一器主。叔休可能为春秋早期管理当地盐业贸易的职官,身份地位均较重要。同时结合铭文内容等认为"叔休器"可能来源于淮河流域信阳一带的周代诸侯小国"冠"。冠、番、樊等可能是被淮河以外诸国称"繁"的不同小国,它们位于淮河流域信阳一带,在商周时期盐铜贸易环节发挥了重要作用,逐渐形成盐铜交易枢纽"繁阳"。     

十一届三中全会前夕对外开放的酝酿和起步

中共十一届三中全会确立了对外开放的基本国策,而1976-1978年对外开放的酝酿和起步是十一届三中全会确立对外开放政策的前提和基础。1977年3月的全国计划会议和1978 年7-9月的国务院务虚会,使全党在对外开放问题上达成了一致,为后来的对外开放的实践创造了坚实的理论基础。     

香港佛头洲遗址2004年考古调查简报

佛头洲原位于香港维多利亚港东面入口的一个小岛。文献记述该岛尚存古代税关遗址,1964年和1979年的调查发现"德怀交趾国遥通贡赋"石碑和建筑构件,但其具体年代难作定论。2004年的田野调查发现多座建筑遗迹,遗物则有瓦当和篆刻石柱等,可以确定该遗址保存清末时期的佛头洲税厂遗存,对于研究香港开埠初期猖獗的鸦片贸易、清末九龙关的沿革和新界拓展等问题提供重要的实物资料。     

The Clash of Interests: Commerce and the Politics of Trade in the Age of Anne

This article celebrates the contribution which Professor Holmes made to the field of British politics and society by the study of an important collection of political tracts. The compiler of the collection is identified as Sir Charles Cooke, one of the most significant commercial politicians of his day. The organisation of the collection illuminates the ways in which City politicians used various channels of information, both printed and personal, to support their political platforms. It also demonstrates how Cooke contributed to the defeat of the tories over the French Commerce Bill of 1713, by supplying key sources to combat the ministry's position. On a wider plane, although it suggests that partisan politics tainted all information advanced in the public sphere, this did not relieve political rivals of the need to establish the superior authority of their sources, and political success only saw Cooke redouble his efforts to gain as wide a base of information as possible. Statistical precision remained elusive, but his archive stands testament to a growing need for authority of source in a political world of party and vested interests.     

Jacobite Politics in the Age of Anne

Every political movement has watershed moments when decisions are taken with very long-term consequences. This article explores one such moment with respect to the jacobite movement during the reign of Queen Anne. Implicitly building on Geoffrey Holmes's model of the workings of the whig and tory parties in the age of Anne, the article analyses the turn to the Scots that took place within jacobite politics between 1702 and 1710. Throughout the 1690s the English jacobites had dominated the politics of the jacobite movement. Cementing their hold on the jacobite court's outlook and policies there was, too, an intrinsic anglocentrism at royal and ministerial level. Yet by 1715 the Scots jacobites were clearly equal partners with the English within the movement, and this parity was to shape the entire subsequent history of the jacobite cause. This shift within the politics of the movement was, moreover, not simply a corollary of the union. This article argues that the shift to the Scots was far more fundamental in terms of the outlook and policies of the movement, and ultimately did not depend on the immediate military utility of the Scots jacobites, but on a new perception of them as a uniquely important resource.     

Moreno y Escandón’s Plan geográphico del Virreinato de Santafé de Bogotá, 1772

The extent to which Francisco Antonio Moreno y Escandón’s plan of the Viceroyalty of Santafé sparked a revival of cartographical activity has hitherto been overlooked. The Viceroyalty of Santafé was created as a major unit in the Spanish Empire in 1739 and included the present-day countries of Colombia, Ecuador, Venezuela and Panama. Moreno, a high-standing Creole functionary, mapped the region in 1772 in the context of its administrative organization. By drawing attention to Moreno’s official map, I hope to encourage the study of late-colonial and early-republican cartography of the northwestern part of the former Spanish-American dominion and the present-day constituent republics.