Although the primary aim of this thesis was originally to explore the dynamic between King John and the Cistercians in Wales, it has been necessary to go beyond the bounds of this remit, namely to explore his relations with the Order in Ireland and England and also as a whole, to put his relations with the Cistercians in Wales into greater context. Primarily from an analysis of the charters John issued to individual abbeys, this thesis demonstrates that the interactions between John and individual Cistercian houses was not determined by where they were, rather their dynamic was more complex. John’s grants to individual houses were often an extension of his relationship with the abbey’s patron, when they were favoured their houses would prosper, when they fell from grace or defied John, their abbeys would suffer. Only however, by placing the charters John granted to individual houses into their wider political context can this correlation be appreciated, namely whether they were issued when John was trying to woo or punish the patron or at a time of hostility with the wider Order and as such clear demonstrations of royal favour. This was not the only dynamic that influenced the relationships between John and individual houses, those abbots who supported and opposed John were shown royal favour and anger respectively, and often this factor overrode all other concerns.

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No description available.

The origins of the British eugenics movement have often been investigated with reference to social, political and economic questions. Eugenics has been seen as a pseudo-scientific explanation for social problems--a response to the perceived imperial and economic decline of Britain in the late nineteenth century--concealing a number of class, racial and other prejudices. But eugenics can also be understood as the product of a certain type of scientific philosophy, derived in part from a Newtonian model of explanation and from scientific discoveries and advances in evolutionary theory, genetics and statistics. This thesis suggests that the credibility of eugenics rested on an interpretation of these scientific findings guided by a concept of scientific explanation which denied the legitimacy of teleological and non-physicalist approaches to the explanation of social life.

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The study was designed to examine the factors which affect the transferability of Western (contemporary British) philosophies and practices to the Arab culture of Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. The general case of transferability was studied, but it was biased towards its application to management. The thesis opened with a short history of the area under consideration and highlighted the role of the West in the emergence of these modern Arab states. Arab way of life was discussed at some length to illustrate the existence of cultural discontinuities. Data for the research was obtained by distributing a questionnaire to Arab students from the countries concerned who were studying in British Universities and Polytechnics in the Spring of 1984. The students were adjudged to be fresh from their own culture and to be meeting the British educational system and way of life head on. The data was subjected to an extensive, but simple form of statistical analysis which searched for associations and factors relevant to transferability. Factor Analysis was used for the educational and cultural sections. Four main conclusions were drawn. (1) A simple framework, which emerged from the views of students on taught courses, can be used to classify the transferability of subjects, however it relies on judgement to quantify cultural discontinuities. (2) Seventy five percent of respondents experienced some degree of culture shock in Britain. (3) Students generally regarded Western education favourably, but felt that contact with the West would alter Arab society and hence they should take care about what aspects of Western life and culture to accept. (4) National factors as well as cultural factors affect transferability. Finally, future research could fruitfully be concentrated on examining the effectiveness or otherwise of ongoing cross national training programmes.

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This study documents and analyses the music-selling and publishing industry in London from 1780 to the end of the Georgian period as reflected in publishers' catalogues of music for sale. It assembles the histories and activities of these music publishers in relation to the society they served. Catalogues inform us quite precisely not only of the activities of music publishers, but also the role they played in accommodating, influencing, expanding and educating the contemporary musical taste. In addition, catalogues provide documentary evidence of compositions in issues no longer extant, and even of some works themselves at least by the lesser-known composers. Nearly 600 catalogues in over 1100 states, issued by over 100 London music-publishing firms from 1780 to 1837 have been gathered from the British Library, London; the Bodleian Library, Oxford, and Cambridge University Library, Cambridge. Arguably, publishers' catalogues are among the sharpest yet least appreciated mirrors of changes in musical taste. This study attempts to bring them into the foreground, place them in their proper historical perspective and establish their role in musicological research.

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No description available.