Suchergebnisse

church history; social and cultural history

De Friese adel van de late middeleeuwen opereerde in een niet-feodaal gebied dat lange tijd geen landsheer kende. Hadden de leden, hoofdelingen genaamd, zich uit de boerenstand omhooggewerkt of vormden ze vanouds een gesloten stand? Hoe zat het met hun vermogen? Dit boek zoomt in op Rienck Hemmema en zijn vrouw Ath Roorda. Zij exploiteerden in de jaren 1569-1573 een boerderij in Hitzum onder Franeker.

Uit Riencks Rekenboeck blijkt dat hij geen eigenerfde boer was, maar een edelman met een royale levensstijl en meer inkomsten dan uit die ene boerderij. Een ruimtelijke reconstructie van zijn bezit en dat van zijn voorgeslacht toont hoe agrarisch kapitaal per generatie werd gevormd en overgedragen. Dit beeld wordt getoetst aan een Quote 200 uit 1513 en huwelijksakten uit 1450-1550. Een belangrijke conclusie is dat de Friese adel getalsmatig omvangrijk was, met veel families die leefden van twee of drie boerderijen. De figuur van de edelman-boer kwam dus vaak voor.

Le suprême hommage studies the handling of dying, burial and commemoration of royal and political elites in Belgium in the 19th and first half of the 20th century. This innovative historical research takes place at the interface of cultural history and political history. The reader not only gains insight into the impact of social class, status and religion on funerary culture, but also into the influence of media culture on the perception of death, mourning and memory. Within a selection of 170 cases, the author discusses in words and images the mediatised deaths and no less than imposing funerals of Belgium's first kings and queens and their families. The evolving practices surrounding the deaths of (former) heads of government, (former) presidents of parliament and mayors of major cities are also discussed in detail. Finally, the genesis of Belgium's most famous urban (park) cemeteries, and the funerary heritage in these cities of death, is also brought to life through the analysis of eye-catching funeral monuments. This book is a richly illustrated survey work on the social, political and cultural dimensions of the death of high-ranking figures in 19th- and 20th-century Belgian society.

In A monument to the country. Official statistics in Belgium, 1795-1870, Nele Bracke unravels why and how the Belgian state and its predecessors organized and developed an official statistical apparatus in order to collect numerical information. The study captures the underlying objectives and structures, as well as the methods to compile statistics. Nele Bracke investigates the meaning and significance of government statistics in the 19th-century State and society. In Belgium, early social scientists established an internationally renowned 'statistical system' designed to collect information about the country, the people and the society. This 'statistical system' was built around the 'Commission centrale de Statistique' (statistical committee) and the production of demographic, economic and agricultural censuses. In the first part of the book, the author analyzes the institutional history of the 'Commission centrale de Statistique' and its predecessors. In the second part of the book, she studies the censuses

This book treats the spectacular rise in life expectancy during the last three centuries. It is the first study to bring together both published and unpublished material about the history of the health of Belgian men and women and to analyze it critically. Isabelle Devos studies the mechanisms of the historic fall in the death rate in an original manner and answers the question why research on the causes of this decline has not progressed faster. While the discipline of historical demography orients the first part of her book, the discipline of historical epidemiology provides the perspective taken in the second part, in which the role of insects as spreaders of disease is explored. Essential in her study is the importance of local medical practitioners who already at the end of the Ancien Régime warned of the dangers present in the environment. Their 'ecological' thinking created a consciousness that was decisive for the further development of healthcare

Third and last part of the basic work 'Thinking about religion' by Valeer Neckebrouck Met Part III. Contemporary Perspectives, author Valeer Neckebrouck has come to the conclusion of the chronologically conceived series Thinking about Religion. Anthropological theory and religion. The study of the anthropology of religion is discussed in this last part from the most leading contemporary models and perspectives. The secularization theories, postmodernism, feminism, neo-Darwinism and the cognitive anthropology of religion are discussed in detail, but also thinkers such as René Girard, Walter Burkert, Edward O. Wilson and Richard Dawkins are reviewed. The treatment of contemporary theoretical perspectives in the anthropological study of religion concerns areas of research that are still in constant flux, insights that are still in full development. Almost every day new discoveries are made in biology, some of which require a radical revision of insights that were previously regarded as established achievements. Because our knowledge of biology and neurology is constantly evolving, its balance has to be rewritten again and again. With this third part of the Thinking about religion series, Valeer Neckebrouck has undeniably made an important contribution to this. In this final volume Neckebrouck presents the reader with a thorough analysis and critical evaluation of the various theoretical systems with which great and lesser minds from recent Western cultural history have attempted to clarify the enigmatic phenomenon of "religion" from an anthropological point of view. For anyone interested in the phenomenon of "religion" and wanting to know how anthropologists have thought about religion throughout history, this trilogy is an indispensable and very richly detailed reference book. Until now, such a detailed description and critical evaluation of the subject matter has not been available in any language area

In the 15th and 16th century a special institute developed in Flanders and Brabant: the chamber of rhetoric. Regular citizens started theater and lyricks, in small closed groups and in public. This study gives an overview of 227 chambers of rhetoric, the rhetorical culture in the Southern Netherlands and gives a fresh new look on the cultural history of the Netherlands. - In de vijftiende en zestiende eeuw ontwikkelde zich in Vlaanderen en Brabant een bijzondere instituut: de rederijkerskamer. Gewone stedelingen legden zich in gildenverband toe op toneel en lyriek, zowel in besloten kring als publiekelijk, naar aanleiding van allerlei feestelijkheden. In deze studie wordt, vertrekkend van een repertorium van 227 rederijkerskamers, de rederijkerscultuur in de Zuidelijke Nederlanden in kaart gebracht. Het uitvoerige bronnenmateriaal biedt nieuwe, vaak verrassende inzichten in het ontstaan van de rederijkerscultuur, de sociale achtergrond van de rederijkers, de verhouding van de rederijkerskamers tot stad en vorst, de betrokkenheid in de Reformatie en de Opstand en, tenslotte, de veranderende functie in de zeventiende eeuw. Dit leidt ook tot een verfrissende kijk op de cultuurgeschiedenis van de Nederlanden. De auteur komt tot de conclusie dat zich in de Zuidelijke Nederlanden een bijzonder dynamische stedelijke cultuur vormde waarbinnen de basis werd gelegd voor het 'mirakel' van de Gouden Eeuw.

This book contains a unique new selection of his most important essays from the extensive oeuvre of the Dutch historian Johan Huizinga. These essays and studies have been chosen on the basis of the different subject matter that Huizinga was involved in; ranging from the Middle Ages, Renaissance, Modern History and Cultural History in general. These selections are introduced and illuminated by Prof. dr. Willem Otterspeer who is also Huizinga's biographer. Johan Huizinga was born in Groningen, in 1872. He studied Dutch and Oriental language and literature at the University of Groningen (1891 - 1895) and comparative linguistic at the University of Leipzig (1895-1896). In 1915, he was appointed professor of general history at the Leiden University. His most famous works include The Autumn of the Middle Ages (1919), which dealt with life, ideas, art, and behaviors of the upper classes of Burgundy in the 14th and 15th centuries, Erasmus (1924), a biography of the famous Dutch Renaissance scholar, and Homo Ludens (1938), focusing on the element of play in human culture. - De hand van Huizinga bevat een nieuwe selectie van de belangrijkste essays uit het omvangrijke oeuvre van de wereldberoemde Nederlandse historicus Johan Huizinga. Deze essays en studies zijn geselecteerd op basis van de diverse disciplines waarmee Huizinga zich bezighield - van de Middeleeuwen tot de Renaissance en van de moderne tot de algemene culturele geschiedenis. Deze selectie wordt geïntroduceerd en toegelicht door Huizinga-biograaf Willem Otterspeer. Johan Huizinga werd in 1872 in Groningen geboren. Tot zijn bekendste werken behoren Herfsttij der Middeleeuwen (1919), Erasmus (1924) en Homo Ludens (1938). De hand van Huizinga wordt gepubliceerd als onderdeel van "http://www.oapen.org/">OAPEN. "http://www.oapen.org/">OAPEN is een Open Access project voor het publiceren van monografieën in de geesteswetenschappen en sociale wetenschappen. De Open Access-beweging heeft zich snel ontwikkeld bij de publicaties van tijdschriften op het gebied van de natuurwetenschappen. Het consortium "http://www.oapen.org/">OAPEN bestaat op dit moment uit zes universitaire academische uitgevers, zij geloven dat de tijd rijp is dat de mogelijkheden van Open Access ook voor de geesteswetenschappen en de sociale wetenschappen volledig benut kunnen worden.

Framed against Timothy Clark's comments on the potency of ecocriticism, in this contribution I first zoom in on how cultural critique according to Rosemarie Buikema can contribute to discussions on matters of common concern. I then sketch two lines of argument that emerge from her work: firstly, the way in which art and culture can break through societal silences and, secondly, the importance of history and the past for cultural production in the present. Both issues are important where it concerns climate change and the Anthropocene. They lead to the essential question when thinking about ecocriticism: not 'where goes cultural critique' (the 'quo vadis' question), but what kind of critique is necessary?

Marine painting, paintings of ships and the sea, is a four hundred year old traditional Dutch art discipline. In the nineteenth century the genre had a special artistic prestige and status. This study explores the background, training, studio practice, stylistic development and subject matters of the Dutch nineteenth-century marine painter. A Reference List of Marine Painters, which is a new overview of the true specialists in the genre in this period, is added. The key question is how marine painting was looked at by the marine painters themselves, their fellow painters at the artists associations, in art theory and in art criticism. It turns out that within Dutch art circles throughout the nineteenth century, marine painting was perceived as a bearer of national pride. By placing the genre in a broader cultural-historical context it reveals how marine painting, together with the glorification of maritime history, was embedded in nationalist ideology.

The central question of this dissertation is what role national identity has played in the interdepartmental policy field of international cultural policy (ICP) in the Netherlands between 1970 and 2012. In four chapters I analyse the history of ICP and the related political debate, using a theoretical framework consisting of the main concepts of a Discourse Historic Analysis (critique, ideology, and power), and tensions within the discourses on ICP and national identity. The role of national identity in the first period (1970-1986) is characterized as 'cultural nationalism'. Culture plays an important role in distinguishing the nation state from the rest of the world, and due to the decreasing autonomy in the field of economics and politics culture is considered (by some) to be the last bearer of the national identity. The debates focus on the question whether or not the government has a role in (actively) protecting that identity. The publication of the report "Culture without borders" by the Scientific Council for Government Policy marks the beginning of the second period (1987-1996). Gradually the primacy of the policy shifts from foreign to cultural policy, and attempts are made to combine within ICP the growing cultural diversity of the Dutch society with the uniting role of a national identity. Therefore the role of national identity is characterized as 'multiculturalism'. Extra funding for international cultural activities in 1997 marks the beginning of the third period (1997-2006), in which the role of national identity is characterized as 'cultural relativism'. The relationship between culture and the nation becomes more loose, and cultural activities abroad no longer seem to represent the nation's identity. This approach in ICP contrasts strongly with the growing discontent and heated public and political debate on national identity. Characteristic for the fourth period (2007-2012) is the return to the primacy of foreign policy and the focus on diplomatic and economic goals. Culture is treated as a ...

For many centuries, the landscape and cultural history of the Netherlands have been influenced by the rural estates of large landowners. Their country houses with gardens, parks and farmland formed an important combination of practical aspects of economic management and aesthetic landscaping. Many castles or country houses were linked to large landholdings of several hundred, sometimes even thousands of hectares, as in the case of the Veluwezoom in the Province of Gelderland. Since the late Middle Ages this area, now known as Gelders Arcadia, has been popular with the landed elite, whose ranks have included noble families, stadtholders, city regents and bankers. The undulating landscape, the rivers and brooks and the fertile land was ideally suited to the creation of the desired combination of productive and aesthetic landscapes. One of the special aspects of the Gelders Arcadia estate zone is that it represents nearly every stage in the development of the Dutch country estate, from the emergence of castles and lordships (c. 500-1600), to the foundation of small country retreats by town regents (c. 1600-1800), and the creation of villa-like country estates for a new elite of bankers, industrialists and lawyers (c. 1800-1940). The historic country houses and landed estates are manifestations of their time and therefore very diverse, ranging from transformed noble castles with large landholdings to the rural retreats of town regents to villa-like country houses for the newly wealthy. Not only the architecture of the house and park, but also the use, the anchoring in the cultural landscape and the social significance underwent development. A historical-geographical approach was used to analyse location and distribution patterns and to investigate the size, character and functions of country estates in each period from an economic, political, societal and social perspective. It appears that the majority of new country houses and estates were created by a new elite of the newly rich, whereas the old elite continued ...

For the Benefit of the Common Good? A Historical View on the Flemish Provinces as an Intermediary at the Level of AdministrationThe nation state of Belgium saw its provinces chiefly as intermediary administrative entities from which political dispute had to be excluded. Nevertheless, they disposed of elected provincial councils and enjoyed fiscal autonomy. Although the provincial governments underwent a slow process of politicisation, the effects of the broad socio-political developments over the course of the last two centuries on this level remained far less tangible, due above all to the slow democratisation of the provincial suffrage. The provinces only had a modicum of public visibility and a very limited scope for policymaking. To argue their relevance, the provincial governments referred occasionally to the shared history of their respective inhabitants or to their cultural coherence(s). But this discourse was not powerful enough to shape a common provincial cultural identity. Moreover, it clashed on the artificial borders of the provinces and with the much stronger feelings of local and regional coherence. By clustering these expressions of (sub)regionalism, the provincial governments may have provided building stones for the creation of identity-structures on a higher level. However, this role too remained very modest and can hardly be used to substantiate the institutional tenacity of this level of government.

This article engages in genealogical inquiry into Zwarte Piet (Black Pete), to gain deeper insight into the multiple semantic layers of this cultural icon. I argue that the 'roetpiet' (soot Pete) or chimney sweep is rooted in at least as solid an iconological tradition as that of the Moorish child slave. I infer some suggestions for non-offensive Sinterklaas celebrations from this historical excursion. While Zwarte Piet in his Moorish guise is indeed a flawed and racist trace of colonial slavery, his chimney sweep connotations may actually be of value to the cultural remembrance of the by now largely forgotten history of child labour that was so crucial to the early industrialization in Europe, and often still is to economies in the Global South.

An image in technicolor. Fifty years of wars in Vietnam 1940-1990 gives a broad and innovative interpretation of the history of Vietnam between 1940 and 1990. Black and white characterisations, one-sided interpretations and prevailing myths are debunked. Instead, a nuanced and multifaceted picture is given in which the United States is less prominent.
History is not only written by the victors and, in this case too, the history of Vietnam during this period cannot be attributed solely to Ho Chi Minh and the success of the Communists in 1975. The internal losers, that is, the other political movements and their leaders, must also be given a crucial place in Vietnam's history. For example, the civil wars that took place between 1940 and 1990 played an unmistakable role.
The older, idealised image of North Vietnam is inaccurate. This country was a dictatorial and oppressive police state. After 1954, the North Vietnamese leaders were embroiled in a fierce power struggle and were largely responsible for the war in South Vietnam. The answer to the question of who the legitimate representatives of the Vietnamese nation were also requires a more balanced judgment of non-Communist politicians, such as Bao Dai, Ngo Dinh Diem and Nguyen Van Thieu.
As for the role of international players, initially, it was the Cold War that determined the United States' interference; later, it was American credibility. In the end, it was the support from China and the Soviet Union that was the deciding factor for North Vietnam's victory.
Important new perspectives are given on the role of minorities, the meaning of 'a third way', the devastating effects of the strategy, the role of women and girls, and the mental and cultural aspects of the wars.