ABOUT LITERACY, HERESY, ICONOGRAPHY AND POLITICAL AMBITION ON THE SEALS OF NIKEPHOROS BOTANEIATES The scarce information of the 11th-c. historians on the long military career of Nikephoros Botaneiates before his ascension to the throne is supplemented to a great extent by 31 lead seals of Botaneiates, today kept in private and museum collections in more than seven countries around the world. The epigraphic and iconographic study of this sigillographic material reconstructs the social ascent and military activities of the future emperor, while at the same time it sheds light on his personality (level of culture, religious sensitivities, political ambition) and the socio-political conditions of his era. ; ABOUT LITERACY, HERESY, ICONOGRAPHY AND POLITICAL AMBITION ON THE SEALS OF NIKEPHOROS BOTANEIATES The scarce information of the 11th-c. historians on the long military career of Nikephoros Botaneiates before his ascension to the throne is supplemented to a great extent by 31 lead seals of Botaneiates, today kept in private and museum collections in more than seven countries around the world. The epigraphic and iconographic study of this sigillographic material reconstructs the social ascent and military activities of the future emperor, while at the same time it sheds light on his personality (level of culture, religious sensitivities, political ambition) and the socio-political conditions of his era.
Δεν παρατίθεται περίληψη στα ελληνικά. ; The aim of the current study is an attempt to address the problem which emerged in the Hellenic Society during the years of the inter war as well as the first post civil war period, due to the change of the calendar. The introduction, from the Hellenic Church, of the new (Gregorian) calendar in 1924 created a strong reaction among the believers wich resulted to the creation of a new movement, named Greek Religions Community of Genuine Orthodox Christians (C.O.Ch.). This conservative minority, having had a great influence, insisted in the reinstatement of the old calendar and caused important conflict in the Hellenic society. The issue is examined from a political viewpoint, since the G.O.Ch. functioned as a pressure group towards the governments, demanding the free exercise of their religious duties. The governments appeared rather uncourageous in facing the problem, as they relied on G.O.Ch's vote. However, there had been systematic chasing persecutions against their clergymen, with them arrested or sent to the exile, facts which aggravated the problem. In this article, we also attempt to analyse the ideological stigma of the G.O.Ch. movement as their moved against all innovations of West-European origin and they declared their dedication to the traditional customs. Another aspect of the issue, concerns the so-called Macedonian issue and since the Church as well as many politicians considered the G.O.Ch. as being Serving the Yugoslav propaganda between the Slavonic-speaking minority of Macedonia, given that the Serbian Church maintained the old calendar. The C.O.Ch. Church attempted to defend itself against those accusations claiming that the change of the calendar served the political plans on the northern neighbours.
Es handelt sich um die erste zusammenhängende Ausgabe mit Kommentar des Kalenderhandbuches, das mit seinen Texten eine wichtige Quelle zur Geschichte, Verwaltung und zu den religiösen Mentalitäten in der Stadt Rom im 4. Jahrhundert n.Chr. darstellt. ; The first coherent and handy edition with commentaries of one oft he most important sources for history, administration and religious mentalities of the city of Rome in the 4th century A.D. ; The collection of pictures, lists and short notes, known as the "Chronography of 354" or the "Calendar of Filocalus" is a calendar handbook for the year 354 C.E. Of the thirteen texts, four are Christian documents; the remaining are witnesses of Roman administration and provide no clue for Christianity, or at times even attestations to the Roman religiosity of the Republic and the Imperial Time. The handbook contents can be distinguished by whether it has pictures or just text. Given the complexity of the present form of its constituents, the calendar handbook is an important source for the politic administrative history of the late-Constantine time, for the history of the transformation of religious mentalities, and for the success of the story of Christianity in the city of Rome. The following texts are especially noteworthy: (1) The consular fasti from the beginning of the consulate up to the year 354 CE, for the Roman History and the families that dominated it; (2) the yearly calendar for those festivals celebrated in late-Constantine time with their political and religio-historical dimension, which influenced the history of everyday life of the city; (3) the Catalogus Liberianus, the oldest Roman book of the popes, which together with the lists of the Deposito episcoporum and the Deposito martyrum, the oldest feriale of any Christian Church, is important for the Church of Rome and its conception of history. Notwithstanding a century-long history of editions and commentaries of the calendar handbook, there is up to the present no connected edition and commentary of the pertinent texts, only critical editions of individual parts. This is related to the complex tradition process and the preserved late manuscripts of the 16th and the 17th Century. This poses a range of problems, which this edition and its commentaries tackle: (a) what all was part of the original calendar (b) when did the different texts and their redactions, which lead to the expansions, come into being (c) the perennial research problem of the relationship between the traditional Roman religion and Christianity, for which the texts of the chronographs provide crucial evidence (d) the position of the calendar handbook in the history of book illustration in Late Antiquity. Furthermore, since Mommsen's classical edition, a host of individual problems have been identified, which affect very different scientific endeavours, ranging from the studies of classical antiquities to theology and from cultural sciences to astronomy. Vol. I.: lntroduction with the history of research and the manuscript tradition, Frontispice, Dedicatio, Imagines imperatorum, Natales Caesarum, the week of the planets, the months.
Es handelt sich um die erste zusammenhängende Ausgabe mit Kommentar des Kalenderhandbuches, das mit seinen Texten eine wichtige Quelle zur Geschichte, Verwaltung und zu den religiösen Mentalitäten in der Stadt Rom im 4. Jahrhundert n.Chr. darstellt. ; The first coherent and handy edition with commentaries of one oft he most important sources for history, administration and religious mentalities of the city of Rome in the 4th century A.D. ; The collection of pictures, lists and short notes, known as the "Chronography of 354" or the "Calendar of Filocalus" is a calendar handbook for the year 354 C.E. Of the thirteen texts, four are Christian documents; the remaining are witnesses of Roman administration and provide no clue for Christianity, or at times even attestations to the Roman religiosity of the Republic and the Imperial Time. The handbook contents can be distinguished by whether it has pictures or just text. Given the complexity of the present form of its constituents, the calendar handbook is an important source for the politic administrative history of the late-Constantine time, for the history of the transformation of religious mentalities, and for the success of the story of Christianity in the city of Rome. The following texts are especially noteworthy: (1) The consular fasti from the beginning of the consulate up to the year 354 CE, for the Roman History and the families that dominated it; (2) the yearly calendar for those festivals celebrated in late-Constantine time with their political and religio-historical dimension, which influenced the history of everyday life of the city; (3) the Catalogus Liberianus, the oldest Roman book of the popes, which together with the lists of the Deposito episcoporum and the Deposito martyrum, the oldest feriale of any Christian Church, is important for the Church of Rome and its conception of history. Notwithstanding a century-long history of editions and commentaries of the calendar handbook, there is up to the present no connected edition and commentary of the pertinent texts, only critical editions of individual parts. This is related to the complex tradition process and the preserved late manuscripts of the 16th and the 17th century. This poses a range of problems, which this edition and its commentaries tackle: (a) what all was part of the original calendar (b) when did the different texts and their redactions, which lead to the expansions, come into being (c) the perennial research problem of the relationship between the traditional Roman religion and Christianity, for which the texts of the chronographs provide crucial evidence (d) the position of the calendar handbook in the history of book illustration in LateAntiquity. Furthermore, since Mommsen's classical edition, a host of individual problems have been identified, which affect very different scientific endeavours, ranging from the studies of classical antiquities to theology and from cultural sciences to astronomy. Vol. 2: Fasti Consulares, Praefecti urbis Romae 254 - 354 A.D., Cpomputus Paschalis, Depositio martyrum, Depositio Episcoporum, Catalogus Liberianus
Δεν παρατίθεται περἰληψη στα ελληνικά. ; Christos Loukos, The political and ideological conflicts in post-war Syros and the Hermoupolis' mayor Epaminondas Pappadam We observe, in the micro scale of Syros, the defeat of expectations held by many Greeks that after the liberation a democratic society, just to all citizens, would arise and that the new government would punish the collaborators of Italian and German conquerors and all those who became rich by exploiting the misery of the people through the black market. This article examines the short tenure of the first post-war mayor of Hermoupolis, Epaminondas Pappadam, and how his overthrow was pursued because he insisted in his democratic and antiroyalist convictions. The overthrow was prepared by individuals and groups of people who had served the Metaxas' dictatorial regime, and more than others were exposed to the accusation of collaborating with the enemy and they looked forward to the return of King George II as the only stable guarantee for maintaining their leadership role. Their aims were facilitated by the tragic events of December 1944 in Athens. Backed by the presence of several Sacred Battalion's officers, British officers and other military forces at Syros, they succeeded, not only to marginalize the EAM's small military force in the island and their supporters, but also to prohibit with offensive behavior every act which was not compatible with their aims. Under those circumstances, Pappadam should have overthrown. He was not a communist, not an EAM's supporter either, but he insisted to be against the king's return and supported the necessity of a conciliatory solution for the social and political contrasts. Besides, his overthrow would function, in a symbolic level, as a warning for forcing into obedience those, less powerful than the mayor, who resisted to the forthcoming settlement of the Greek constitutional and political issue.
Despina Iosif, «Christianos ad Leonem». The Case of Perpetua Two Greek editions of the diary of Perpetua have recently appeared, one by Polymnia Athanassiadi and the other by Thanassis Georgiadis, both bound to attract attention. Perpetua lived at Thuburbo Minus, west of Carthage in North Africa. She was an upper class, well-educated Roman citizen, twenty-two years of age, newly married and mother of a baby boy, who converted to Christianity and chose martyrdom instead of sacrificing to the traditional gods of the Roman Empire. Her decision was interpreted as an insult to the gods and the emperors, and a direct challenge to the established order and resulted in her being sentenced to death to the beasts of the arena in Carthage in 203 CE. It was a well-established Roman belief that the traditional gods offered military victories, stability, prosperity and grandeur to the Roman people. In return and to secure the continuation of this benevolence, the Roman people carried certain strictly defined rites in honour of their gods. Pagan religion was less a matter of personal devotion than of national significance. The Christians despised the traditional gods, declaring that they did not exist or that they were malevolent demons and neglected or obstructed the traditional religious rites. This conduct disrupted the agreement the Romans had made with their gods and made the empire vulnerable. From the second century on, natural disasters were being attributed to the wrath of gods as a result of the Christian atheism and the hatred Christians allegedly had for the world. It is extremely fortunate that Perpetua's diary, which she kept while in prison awaiting her death, has survived. It is a bold, vivid and honest account of her prison life, her dreams and the hopeless efforts of her father to persuade her to conform and sacrifice. The fact that the text praised prophesy and placed martyrs above the established church hierarchy led scholars to believe that is was a Montanist product. Fourth and fifth century bishops felt uncomfortable with Perpetua's diary and surrounded it with homiletic commentaries. Instead of letting the text speak directly to the community of the faithful, they guided the understanding of words, subtly changing its messages, and controlled its dissemination. They made Perpetua less appealing as a role model and less threatening to the social order. The impression and fascination her diary exerted, however, remain unchanged. ; Despina Iosif, «Christianos ad Leonem». The Case of Perpetua Two Greek editions of the diary of Perpetua have recently appeared, one by Polymnia Athanassiadi and the other by Thanassis Georgiadis, both bound to attract attention. Perpetua lived at Thuburbo Minus, west of Carthage in North Africa. She was an upper class, well-educated Roman citizen, twenty-two years of age, newly married and mother of a baby boy, who converted to Christianity and chose martyrdom instead of sacrificing to the traditional gods of the Roman Empire. Her decision was interpreted as an insult to the gods and the emperors, and a direct challenge to the established order and resulted in her being sentenced to death to the beasts of the arena in Carthage in 203 CE. It was a well-established Roman belief that the traditional gods offered military victories, stability, prosperity and grandeur to the Roman people. In return and to secure the continuation of this benevolence, the Roman people carried certain strictly defined rites in honour of their gods. Pagan religion was less a matter of personal devotion than of national significance. The Christians despised the traditional gods, declaring that they did not exist or that they were malevolent demons and neglected or obstructed the traditional religious rites. This conduct disrupted the agreement the Romans had made with their gods and made the empire vulnerable. From the second century on, natural disasters were being attributed to the wrath of gods as a result of the Christian atheism and the hatred Christians allegedly had for the world. It is extremely fortunate that Perpetua's diary, which she kept while in prison awaiting her death, has survived. It is a bold, vivid and honest account of her prison life, her dreams and the hopeless efforts of her father to persuade her to conform and sacrifice. The fact that the text praised prophesy and placed martyrs above the established church hierarchy led scholars to believe that is was a Montanist product. Fourth and fifth century bishops felt uncomfortable with Perpetua's diary and surrounded it with homiletic commentaries. Instead of letting the text speak directly to the community of the faithful, they guided the understanding of words, subtly changing its messages, and controlled its dissemination. They made Perpetua less appealing as a role model and less threatening to the social order. The impression and fascination her diary exerted, however, remain unchanged.
Δεν παρατίθεται περίληψη στα ελληνικά. ; The declaration of the establishment of the «Kingdom of Serbs, Groats and Slovenes» on the 1st of December, 1918 —which in 1929 was renamed to Yugoslavia— fulfilled the long standing desire for the political unification of all South-Slavs. However, the new State which apart from the three old kingdoms of Serbia, Montenegro and Croatia included the entities of the former Hungarian Vojvodina, the former Austrian Slovenia and Dalmatia and the Serbian Macedonia had to tackle certain problems. Its subjects were divided into several ethnic groups: Serbs, Croats and Slovenes —who constituted three quarters of its entire population— and Germans, Hungarians and Albanians as well as other ethnic minorities. The population of the new state was also divided into three religious categories: 47% were Orthodox Christians, 39% Catholics, and 11% Muslims. This paper attempts to analyze five constructive crises which came about in interwar Yugoslavia, and are characteristic of any modern state: 1) The crisis of identity of the state itself and of the various ethnic groups. The ideology of Yugoslavian unification failed to bridge the differences between the ethnic and religious groups; 2) The crisis of legitimacy. This is related with the nature of the regime. From 1918 until the dictatorship of 1929 twenty three governmental crises occured; 3) The crisis of integration, as reflected in the policies and the electoral results of the various political parties which had clear ethnic and geographical limits. During the interwar period none of the existing political parties attained to play this integrating role by securing mass support throughout the country; 4) The crisis of participation of individuals and social groups in controlling the public affairs and manning the state apparatus; 5) The crisis of distribution of goods and services. The ethnic and political contradictions between the Slovenes and Croats in the North and Serbs in the South resulted in the uneven development between these two geographical districts of the state.
Δεν παρατίθεται περίληψη στα Ελληνικά. ; In the years 1830-1860 the formation of the newly established Greek State was based theoretically and practically on the political views of 19th century European liberalism. In accordance to the liberal beliefs, the Greek state political power was based on a small section of the adult male population. This section disposed additional economic and cultural qualifications compared to the rest of the population of the country. It is worthnoting that only to the above mentioned section of the population the state recognized full civil and political rights. In this context the term eligible citizens is used to describe those social strata which held the above mentioned special qualifications. In view of these qualifications the eligible citizens could not only exercise their electoral rights but they could be also elected or appointed as political, magisterial or administrative officials. Within the framework of the historical study of social stratification in the Greek society, during the period 1830-1860, it is worth concentrating on the analysis of historical sources relevant to the eligible citizens. These sources should supply information about the economic and cultural characteristics of these citizens. Based on this type of approach we present in this study the catalogues of candidate jurymen in the period 1849-1861 concentrating on the analysis of the year 1860. These catalogues constitute an important source of information about the characteristics of the eligible citizens. The candidate jurymen catalogues, for the year 1860, include information regarding the value of estate property, income, profession, age and place of inhabitancy for 8.337 adult men. These men amount to the 3.4% of the over 25 years old male population of the country in 1860. The quantitative analysis of the above mentioned catalogues led to the following general conclusions: In 1860 the greatest percentage of the eligible citizens derived from the middle social strata of property owners and income earners. These strata included mainly land owners, wealthy farmers and merchants. But there was also a much smaller section of social strata of wealthy men who possessed a relatively large amount of estate property and income of the country. The sharp economic inequality observed among the eligible citizens of the country permits the assumption that there was also among them a sharp social inequality. According to this we propose the continuation of the research with a more detailled study. This study will examine particular aspects of economic and social inequalities between the lower, the middle and the higher social strata. The same study will also examine in detail the regional aspect of these inequalities.
Δεν παρατίθεται περίληψη στα ελληνικά. ; Panayotis Stathis, Rethinking the 1821 Greek Revolution. A reading of Nikos Theotokas, The Life of General Makriyannis: History and Memoirs Nikos Theotokas' most recent book on Makriyannis is a characteristic specimen of new trends in the study of the Greek revolution of 1821, which shift emphasis from battles and politics to society. Theotokas uses as main analytical categories the antithetic notions of "tradition" and "modernity". However, Theotokas follows a less rigid and more sophisticated approach of this scheme. Instead of treating people of the traditional and modern world in a static way, he explores how they interacted, and emphasizes the dynamic nature of their relationship during the transitional period of the revolution. Theotokas' study on Makriyannis comprises a double venture. On the one hand it constitutes a historical biography of the General, while on the other it examines the long process of writing (1829-1852) his memoirs. Through this parallel narrative, Theotokas reveals how Makriyannis' changing attitude towards facts stated in the memoirs is modified by the specific historical conjuncture in which each of these facts is narrated by the author. The earliest parts of the text, written in the aftermath of the revolution, comprise a mixture of traditional and modern political discourse, in which the responsibility for both the negative developments of the war and of civil conflicts is often attributed to the traditional social elites. However, under the King Otto's reign, Makriyannis' expectations concerning his new position in the post-revolutionary society were gradually disappointed. Thus, in the latter parts of the memoirs Makriyannis clearly formulates a moralistic interpretation of the political developments, according to which the outlandish, selfish and warless politicians seized power and treated unfairly the pure fighters of the revolution who gave everything for its success.
Δεν παρατίθεται περίληψη στα ελληνικά. ; Photini Danou, The words of the voiceless Did ordinary men and women in pre-modern England have an opinion about politics? What was "politics" for the common people at a time when they had not any say in choosing who would rule them? Was popular engagement in state politics only to secure subsistence? Were "knife and fork" politics of the masses so separate from issues of "high politics" of the State? Was pre-modern commoners' mentality, "pre-political" as well? This paper discusses early modern popular political awareness. I argue that commoners in Tudor England pursued their own political agenda, by exploiting the sovereign's self-image as the "protector of the poor". However, as I set out to show, in pursuing their political agenda commoners also raised issues on the content of Englishness, common good, patriotism, legitimate governance and the right of resistance. The political identity of the lower strata was not an entity fixed in its essence. On the contrary, plebeian political identity was rather shifting, changeable, and always constituting its content in particular historical contexts. The commoners' commitment to the ideal of the"nation", their loyalty to the government, their allegiance to their Queen, their obedience to her laws, or their active participation in the enforcement of state policies were not unconditional. The ways they practiced their political identity was interrelated to their superiors' behavior and draw its legitimacy from the public transcript of the English Common wealth. Common prosperity, reciprocity, solidarity and, in general, protection of the poorer and weaker members of English society were ideals that constituted the meaning of "common wealth" in the plebeian mind. Those ideals were prerequisites for their giving of devotion and loyalty to the state. Thus, the commoners' political mentality and behavior ranged from national loyalty to indifference or even animosity to state officials; from cooperation and acquiescence to covered or overt forms of opposition and active resistance.
Δεν παρατίθεται περίληψη στα ελληνικά. ; Maria Papathanassiou, Illegitimate Children and Foster Children in the Eastern Alps: Research Directions and Perspectives This article deals with the history of illegitimate and foster children (usually also illegitimate) in the region of Eastern Alps (Austria) between the mid-18th and the early 20th centuries. During that period these childrens' number, though not stable, remained considerably high in absolute and relative terms. The paper discerns three basic trends in literature on the subject and comments on their results: a) Studies related to an international historical debate on bastardy in Europe and trying to explain impressive statistical data by pointing to social and economic factors, such as the domination of animal husbandry, the system of inheritance, the family system, labour organization and the so-called «agricultural revolution» in Europe. b) Studies on legislation, on official politics regarding single mothers and illegitimate or foster children, as well as studies on public institutions taking care of illegitimate children and their mothers from the second half of the 18th century on. Austrian law did not provide clearly for illegitimate children until the civil code was enacted in 1811 and only in 1919 a new law came into being regarding illegitimate and foster children together. c) Studies in a «history from below» direction, regarding people and their experiences but clearly not dominating the field in terms of numbers as well as analytical breadth. This essay suggests a more systematic approach in this last direction, particularly by comparing social groups, for example illegitimate children with peasant children, illegitimate children in rural with illegitimate children in urban environments, illegitimate foster children with other foster children in rural Austria, single mothers born and grown up as illegitimate children themselves with single mothers born and grown up as peasant daughters etc.
Δεν παρατίθεται περίληψη στα ελληνικά. ; Kostas Raptis, Merchants in Imperial Austria during the 'Long' Nineteenth Century This article, which draws mainly on the Archives of the Austrian Ministry of Commerce, as well as on contemporary works and modern li terature, focuses on the examination of the historical course of merchants (above all the whole sale traders and the well suited shopkeepers and retail merchants) in Old Austria as a distinctive group within the Central European bourgeoisie. The contribution of the merchantmagnates (Großhändler) to the industrialization of the Austrian Half of the Habsburg Empire and the formation of a powerful business class, the importance of the involvement of businessmen from abroad in Austrian wholesale and foreign trade, the grip of the state and imperial allegiance in the commercial sector, the social position and the political activity of merchants– primarily at local and regional levels –as well as the attitudes of the multiethnic merchant class towards all kinds of nationalist movements in the late nineteenth and the early twentieth centuries, are the central issues of this essay. Merchantmagnates, among whom many of foreign provenance or/ and not of Catholic faith (Protestants, Jews and Greekorthodox) established themselves as the most active entrepreneurial group within the Austrian bourgeoisie during most of the nineteenth century (at least until the 1870s), since they exploited promptly every new opportunity to accumulate and augment their capital and income: in industry, banking, insurance and other shareholding companies, transport, shipping and real estate. The bourgeois status of the Austrian merchants is confirmed for the same period by their participation in all sorts of (bourgeois) associations, their subscription to public benefit causes, their charitable and philanthropic activities. The imperial state's favorable disposition towards entrepreneurs in general and merchants in particular, its recognition and reward of their contribution to the Austrian economy and export trade, of their mercantile knowledge and professional experience, as well as of their charity and philanthropic work, are documented in the appointment of honorary consuls of Austria abroad or of consuls of foreign states in the capital and cities of the Monarchy, the conferring of the highest social distinctions on merchants by Emperor Franz Joseph through award of medals, honorary titles and titles of nobility or the merchants' collaboration with the Ministry of Commerce as elected members and officials of chambers of commerce, as experts, special advisers and commission agents. In addition to the merchants' indirect relations with politics there were direct ones too, in other words their active participation as elected representatives, primarily to municipal councils and secondarily to the local and imperial parliaments of Austria after the constitutional reforms of 18601861. During the socalled era of liberalism, from the 1860s up to the mid1880's, it was mainly germanspeaking merchants, who, together with industrialists and other middle class groups, dominated in most towns, whereas in the three decades which preceded the First World War –an era of increasing antisemitism and nationalism– they had to share power with new emerging petitbourgeois strata (among them many shopkeepers). The article concludes with a remark on the upheavals caused to the merchant world by the two World Wars and nationalsocialism, which destroyed the unified economic space of AustriaHungary, nationalized its cosmopolitan bourgeoisie and finally led to the expulsion, material depravation or/and extermination of such a dynamic and prominent group, like the Jewish merchants and entrepreneurs, followed by the abolition of the capitalist economy by the new socialist regimes in Central and EastCentral Europe after 1945.
Δεν παρατίθεται περίληψη στα ελληνικά. ; Nassia Yakovaki, The «Traité des trois imposteurs)) and the European Enlightenment The aim of this article is to present the obscure but fascinating story of the production and diffusion of the Traité des trois imposteurs, the best seller of the clandestine literature in Europe during the first half of the 18th century and to discuss the new and to some extent controversial interpretations that the study of this text has provoked as far as the understanding of the European Enlightenment is concerned. The importance of this text derives, first of all, from its subversive ideas: it offers a bold and straightforward attack on all three monotheistic religions (Judaism, Christianity and Islam) by rejecting the principle of revelation and by pronouncing their founders as «impostors», while attributing the appearance of organized religions to political interests. Yet, the significance of this text goes beyond its content: the conditions of its production as well as of its circulation offer to modern historical research the chance to explore an «underground universe», peopled by relatively unknown figures, working among the middlemen of the publishing world. These circles —as it seems— had the readiness to respond creatively to a turbulent religious and political environment, to adopt rigid philosophical stands and to step into radical politics. Historical research has recently succeeded in investigating the complicated issues of the origin, dating, authorship and circulation of this notorious text and in disentangling the thread connecting this late 17th century production with the medieval legend of the «imposture». Crucial among these findings is on the one hand the bond that links the Traité with the works of Spinoza and on the other the connection between the production of the text and a group of people in late 17th and early 18th century Holland. The interesting questions concerning the general understanding of the era of «the crisis of the European consciousness» that the historical scholarship about the Traité has raised have already led to the formation of a new, stimulating, yet controversial historiographical trend which elaborates a new interpretation of the Enlightenment, around the idea of an early and radical Enlightenment (Margaret Jacob, 1981 and 2003, Jonathan Israel, 2001).
