Throughout the colonial period of Mexican history, cloistered nuns wrote spiritual journals at the request of their confessors. These documents were read and scrutinized, not only by the confessors, but also by others in the hierarchy of their Orders. They are important sources of study for historians in that they provide a window into the religious culture of the times and the spiritual mentality of their authors. This thesis will examine one such record, discovered in a collection of volumes at the Historical Franciscan Archive of Michoacán in Celaya, Mexico. The diary covers eleven months of 1751 in the life of a Franciscan nun -- believed to be María de Jesús Felipa who kept such records over a period of more than twenty years. María de Jesús Felipa was a visionary who experienced occasional ecstatic states. Through her contacts with the spiritual world, she pursued her own salvation and that of those most specifically in her charge: members of her own community -- the convent of San Juan de la Penitencia in Mexico City -- and the souls in purgatory. These encounters propelled her into different frames of time and space -- moving her into the past and the future, and transporting her to bucolic and horrific locations. Her diary ascribes meaning to these encounters by tying them to her life and her relationships within the convent. Her diary of 1751 also indicates that this spiritual activity and the records she kept brought her to the attention of the Inquisition. The thesis argues that, because of its cohesiveness of thought and consistency of focus, the diary effectively casts its record keeper as author of her own life story. A close reading reveals the inner thoughts and perceptions of a distinct personality. Her first-person account also reflects the character of Christianity, the impact of post-Tridentine reforms and difficulties in the governance of convents in eighteenth-century New Spain. Although always arduous and often unpleasant, writing provided Sor Maria with an opportunity to establish her integrity, exercise control, and justify her thoughts and actions as she pursued her vocation. Writing under the supervision of a confessor, María de Jesús Felipa was her own person. In its organization and focus, her diary resolutely records a struggle for self-determination within the limits imposed by the monastic vows of obedience, chastity, poverty and enclosure.

The purpose of this thesis is to delineate the theological shifts that occurred in Wesley's post-Aldersgate soteriology. To realize this purpose, three distinct soteriological shifts in his thought will be examined. These shifts involve changes in how he understood the following: the conditions of redemption, the state of humanity and the scope of salvation. Through an examination of these shifts, three distinct phases (early, middle and late) were detected. In the early phase there appears to be a distinct Reformed bias; fallen human beings are totally depraved and can be redeemed only through explicit faith in Christ's atonement. In the two subsequent phases, an increasing emphasis is given to Arminian distinctives. Particular emphasis is given to the Arminian understanding of prevenient grace. In the middle phase, the Reformed and Arminian elements appear to co-exist within the same soteriological framework--reconciled through a tenuous and at times tortuous dialectic. This dialectic seems to crumble in the late phase. The Reformed elements are quietly dismissed; the Arminian elements dominate.

Creating moralistic societies was a concern of the churches and the governments of Scotland and the American colonies of New York and New Jersey in the eighteenth century. However, church and state relations in Scotland and the American colonies were dissimilar and the differences manifested themselves in the various approaches taken by each body to suppress the immoral behaviour that existed in both countries. By examining the disciplinary procedures and cases in the parishes of the Presbytery of St Andrews and the Presbyterian churches in the colonies of New York and New Jersey, these divergences emerge and illuminate the relationship between church and state. The Church of Scotland was recognized as the established church by the state and was allowed to implement its own Presbyterian system of government and discipline according to its ecclesiastical doctrines and theological beliefs. The state utilized its legal systems to punish and correct immoral behaviour. In Scotland, the two systems had defined boundaries and complemented one another in their efforts to suppress immorality. However, not only did the American colonies lack a centralized state until 1776, but the colonies also lacked an established church. Alternatively, each colony had its own governing bodies, judicial systems, and a variety of church denominations. The Presbyterian Church, one of the many churches in the colonies of New York and New Jersey, utilised a Presbyterian system of ecclesiastical discipline in order to supplement the judicial systems' attempts to suppress immorality within the colonies.

This dissertation argues that Samuel Davies' theology of and vision for the Christian life were inseparable. Although his contribution to American Evangelicalism was not as original nor as widely remembered as that of his contemporaries, Samuel Davies' insistence on vital Christian piety was far more central to his ministry than was religious toleration or patriotic duty, which are more commonly remembered emphases of his legacy. Chapter 2 recounts the contours of Davies' life and world. Chapter 3 argues that Samuel Davies' vision of the Christian life was grounded in the divine revelation of Scripture. The Bible was essential to a life of godliness. Samuel Davies believed that Jesus Christ communicated and sustained divine life in people and that this life marked the beginning of genuine piety. Chapter 4 shows that Davies' emphasis on conversion is grounded in the Puritan tradition yet evinces an emerging Evangelical theology. Chapter 5 argues that Davies saw gospel holiness as the animating principle of spiritual life, that which separated it from worldly, even religious counterfeits. Chapter 6 demonstrates that Davies believed that spiritual life was maintained through the conscientious practice of various religious duties, especially through private prayer and public communion.

White women who inhabited the West Indies in the eighteenth century fascinated the metropole. In popular prints, novels, and serial publications, these women appeared to stray from “proper” British societal norms. Inhabiting a space dominated by a tropical climate and the presence of a large enslaved African population opened white women to censure. Almost from the moment of colonial encounter, they were perceived not as proper British women but as an imperial “other,” inhabiting a middle space between the ideal woman and the supposed indigenous “savage.” Furthermore, white women seemed to be lacking the sensibility prized in eighteenth-century England. However, the correspondence that survives from white women in Jamaica reveals the language of sensibility. “Creolized” in this imperial landscape, sensibility extended beyond written words to the material objects exchanged during their tenure on these sugar plantations. Although many women who lived in the Caribbean island of Jamaica might have fit the model, extant writings from Ann Brodbelt, Sarah Dwarris, Margaret and Mary Cowper, Lady Maria Nugent, and Ann Appleton Storrow, show a longing to remain connected with metropolitan society and their loved ones separated by the Atlantic. This sensibility and awareness of metropolitan material culture masked a lack of empathy towards subordinates, and opened the white women these islands to censure, particularly during the era of the British abolitionist movement. Novels and popular publications portrayed white women in the Caribbean as prone to overconsumption, but these women seem to prize items not for their inherent value. They treasured items most when they came from beloved connections. This colonial interchange forged and preserved bonds with loved ones and comforted the women in the West Indies during their residence in these sugar plantation islands. This dissertation seeks to complicate the stereotype of insensibility and overconsumption that characterized the perception of white women who inhabited the British West Indies in the long eighteenth century.

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There is much to learn concerning the local nobilities in Sweden. This paper attempts to answer whether or not the mayors of Kalmar are to be acknowledged as members of the local elite during the 18th century. In order to receive a deeper understanding regarding this matter, one must also investigate what significations are located within the elite terminology. All this and more will be answered with support from the latest research by Gudrun Andersson among others. By studying inventories of estate and biographical archive materials one is acquainted with fourteen early modern men who carried out their political and social careers in the city of Kalmar. Because the term elite is dependent on the different circumstances in its surrounding environment, it has been divided into four categories in this paper; political, economic, social and cultural factors. The conclusion is made that the mayors all belonged within the political elite. All of them also show some characteristics which are consistent with an economic elite, however the situation is complex and is therefore more firmly discussed in this paper. Concerning social and cultural elites, the mayors fulfill much of the requirements and the conclusion is therefore made that they most certainly are a part of the local elite in Kalmar city.

The present thesis examines the trends, structure and fluctuations in Scotland's foreign trade, 1700- 1760 in two parts. Whilst Part I is a general discussion of Scotland's trade, the commodity trades with Germany will be examined en detail in Part II, being a case study of what can be achieved using an eclectic variety of Scottish and other north-western European records in a synoptic view. The analysis commences (chapter 2) with a detailed examination of the institutional framework ("English Restoration Customs System', 1660) that became applicable in Scotland in 1707, in particular a description of the newly introduced customs system and the duties charged, as well as the change in the level of taxation in 1707 and subsequent alterations. With regard to the detailed examination of the Scottish trade volume in chapters 4-6, a particular look will also be taken at the relevance and responsibility of the institutional super-structure for discouraging certain branches of economic activity and thus creating or at least co-determining a particularly Scottish pattern of overseas trade, 1700- 1760. Chapter 3 consists of a detailed analysis of the scope and reliability of the available quantitative sources. Particular attention will be directed at the Scottish customs accounts, which are unique in an eighteenth century (North-western) European context. The technical analysis of the customs accounts will be supplemented by an analysis of the available post-1755 trade statistics, as well as a detailed examination of the match between information contained in the former and the port books for the first year in which both are preserved completely (1755). This discussion will be supplemented by an analysis of other previously unused Customs materials. Chapter 4 examines the composition of the Scottish trade volume in 1707, as well as the most probable trajectory for commercial fluctuations between 1707 and 1755. Some insights into the possible distribution of the Scottish trade volume across ports after 1707 will be presented. The broad discussion will be augmented by an analysis of select branches of the commodity trades, which can be captured slightly more reliably from contemporary statistics, such as the colonial trades, the wine, as well as the grain trades. This analysis is followed by an examination of two unrecorded trades - trade with England and tea smuggling - which both attained significantly large dimensions in total Scottish commercial activity, and which have been so far overlooked by scholars. Chapter 5 takes up the analysis in chapter 4 by providing a concise overview on the composition of the Scottish trade volume in 1754-1760. Chapter 6 draws Part Ito a close by examining possible links between trade and economic growth, as well as the role trade played for the Scottish economy. In the end the peculiar eighteenth-century Scottish trade pattern will be explained. Part II is an en detail examination of Scotland's trade with the German Empire in the period under consideration. Drawing on both Scottish and German customs accounts, the commodity trades will be the subject of discussion in chapter 7. Chapter 8 traces the commercial patterns of individual merchants. The main aim of this chapter is to highlight the European contingency matrix of commodity markets, exchange rates and payments mechanisms, which Scots merchants were exposed to, which they had to consider in their business decisions, and which determined the overall profit levels in the intra-European trades. 1.1 Hypotheses 5

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Title: Notification for a revered Public: the education market in 1798 Stockholm and its environs, with focus on private tutorsThis paper examines the education market of Stockholm and its environs in 1798 by looking at work advertisements written by men and women, as well as people looking to hire male and female teachers. The paper uses Yvonne Hirdman’s gender theory as well as Thomas Laqueur’s thoughts about the two-sex model to see whether there were differences in how men and women portray themselves in advertisements and how gender affected the     subjects offered. It also examines what different types of educational work was offered, subjects sought after by advertisers when hiring teachers, and which social groups, if any, can be ascertained through the material. Both hermeneutically influenced textual analysis as well as quantitative analysis is used as methods throughout the study.This study shows that a majority of the advertisers were men, and that a majority of women offered other kind of work besides teaching in their advertisements. Men tended to offer higher education while women mainly offered to teach French and needlework. This paper argues that men tended to use academic merits over characteristics, whereas women used a wider variety of strategies, using merits but also positive attributes, connecting their teaching to the concept of motherhood, as well as using strategies of weakness. It is argued that gender as a social construct affected what men and women taught and that the two-sex model can be seen in the material along-side the one-sex model. Keywords: Sweden, 18th century, Stockholm, education market, private tutors, gender.