This thesis attempts to gather all the evidence bearing on the English reception of Kepler's astronomy from the time when Kepler might first have been read up to around 1650/ when foreign secondary influences changed the content of English keplerian astronomy. Kepler first attained fame in England in the early 1600s, and from that time, he was in direct communication with English mathematicians and other scholars. As a result, there was an audience awaiting his Astronomia Nova (1609), which contained his first two laws of planetary motion. Some of its readers adopted the first law, which states that the planetary orbits are elliptical. Over the following decade, there was little apparent promotion of keplerian astronomy in England, but in the universities, libraries were beginning to stock Kepler's books, and dons were recommending his writings to their students of astronomy. Thereafter, the assimilation of the first law into English astronomical thought was very rapid, owing to the work of mathematicians in the universities and in London. Some consideration was given also to Kepler's new celestial physics. Until his death in 1630, Englishmen continued to communicate directly with Kepler, for whom they felt fellowship in matters of religion. By 1640, English astronomy was very much keplerian. Kepler's second law of planetary motion, however, was never mentioned directly in this period, and his third, harmonic law was not adopted until, in the late 1630s, Jeremiah Horrox adopted it and verified it by independent observation. Horrox was also the first to attempt, to any great degree, to advance the physical foundation of keplerian astronomy. Kepler's astrology did not prove popular, with the exception of some of his forecasts, which were reprinted at the beginning of the turmoil of the 1640s. In 1645, there began a French influence on English astronomy when English astronomers took over, with modifications, the device of Ismael Boulliaud for circumventing the second law. The second and longer part of the thesis is a collection of six very detailed case studies in which an attempt is made to explicate each man's approach to the new astronomy.

The dissertation examines the close but overlooked relationship between male poetry societies and the sharp rise of literary courtesans in the late Ming. I attempt to identify a particular group of men who devoted exclusive efforts to the promotion of courtesan culture, that is, urban dwellers of prosperous Jiangnan, who fashioned themselves as retired literati, devoting themselves to art, recreation, and self-invention, instead of government office. I also offer a new interpretation for the decline of courtesan culture after the Ming-Qing transition. / Chapter 1 provides an overview of the social-cultural context in which late Ming courtesans flourished. I emphasize office-holding as losing its appeal for late Ming nonconformists who sought other alternative means of self-realization. Chapter 2 examines the importance of poetry by courtesans in literati culture as demonstrated by their visible inclusion in late Ming and early Qing anthologies of women's writings. Chapter 3 examines the life and poetry of individual courtesans through three case studies. Together, these three chapters illustrate the strong identification between nonconformist literati and the courtesans they extolled at both collective and individual levels. / In Chapter 4, by focusing on the context and texts of the poetry collection of the courtesan Chen Susu and on writings about her, I illustrate the efforts by both male and female literati in the early Qing to reproduce the cultural glory of late Ming courtesans. However, despite their cooperative efforts, courtesans became inevitably marginalized in literati culture as talented women of the gentry flourished. / This dissertation as a whole explores how male literati and courtesans responded to the social and literary milieu of late Ming Jiangnan to shed light on aspects of the intersection of self and society in this floating world. This courtesan culture was a counterculture in that: (1) it was deep-rooted in male poetry societies, a cultural space that was formed in opposition to government office; (2) in valuing romantic relationship and friendship, the promoters of this culture deliberately deemphasized the most primary human relations as defined in the Confucian tradition; (3) this culture conditioned, motivated, and promoted serious relationships between literati and courtesans, which fundamentally undermined orthodox values.

This thesis examines the culture and practice of dance in Denmark in the seventeenth century, focussing on the performance practice within festivals, the pervading French influence and philosophical discourse of dance. The repertoire of staged court dance in Denmark comprises ballets and plays performed in conjunction with festival events such as coronations, weddings, and christenings. Typical is the 1634 festival in honour of Prince-Elect Christian and Magdalena Sibylla�s wedding in Copenhagen, a celebration of international significance. Subsequent celebrations during the reigns of Frederik III and Christian V followed similar models. The festival of 1655 in homage of Prince Christian, for example, gave rise to performances of the ballet Unterschiedliche Oracula, and the German-language opera Arion. The programmes from these performances, along with other contemporary descriptions, provide evidence of aspects of the ballet genre, stage construction, machinery, characters, allegory and political themes. The Danish productions, which also include an equestrian ballet, are in many respects comparable to French court ballets produced from the beginning of the century. Evidence that French choreographies were known in Denmark is clearly provided by choreographies in the publication Maître de Danse (Glückstadt 1705) and the Danish manuscript of violin dance tunes Additamenta 396 4�. Evidence that the Danish aristocracy actively sought and coveted French culture can be found as early as the wedding festival in 1634 and well into the eighteenth century. French acculturation is evident elsewhere too, such as in Ludvig Holberg�s comedy Jean de France (1722), in a translation of French dance etiquette for youth, in contemporary accounts of French clothing and language, and by the employment of French musicians and dancing masters at the Danish court. Included is an examination of Andreas Schroder�s treatise De Saltatoribus (Flensburg 1622) and Thomas Bartholin�s dance chapter in his book Qu�stiones Nuptialis (Copenhagen 1670) as significant Danish primary sources. These sources are placed in contrast with contemporary European dance manuals such as Arbeau, De Lauze, Esquivel de Navarro, Caroso and Negri. Danish and other European authors differ in their views on the morality of dance, although they cite many of the same Ancient and Biblical sources for their persuasive arguments. Just as Denmark was connected to other countries of northern Europe in a complex political web, so too did these courts share artistic and cultural traditions, which are reflected in the sources related to dance. Danish dance practices can especially be demonstrated to be akin to those of neighbouring German courts, which, like Denmark, imitated the dance fashions of France.

This thesis examines the culture and practice of dance in Denmark in the seventeenth century, focussing on the performance practice within festivals, the pervading French influence and philosophical discourse of dance. The repertoire of staged court dance in Denmark comprises ballets and plays performed in conjunction with festival events such as coronations, weddings, and christenings. Typical is the 1634 festival in honour of Prince-Elect Christian and Magdalena Sibylla�s wedding in Copenhagen, a celebration of international significance. Subsequent celebrations during the reigns of Frederik III and Christian V followed similar models. The festival of 1655 in homage of Prince Christian, for example, gave rise to performances of the ballet Unterschiedliche Oracula, and the German-language opera Arion. The programmes from these performances, along with other contemporary descriptions, provide evidence of aspects of the ballet genre, stage construction, machinery, characters, allegory and political themes. The Danish productions, which also include an equestrian ballet, are in many respects comparable to French court ballets produced from the beginning of the century. Evidence that French choreographies were known in Denmark is clearly provided by choreographies in the publication Maître de Danse (Glückstadt 1705) and the Danish manuscript of violin dance tunes Additamenta 396 4�. Evidence that the Danish aristocracy actively sought and coveted French culture can be found as early as the wedding festival in 1634 and well into the eighteenth century. French acculturation is evident elsewhere too, such as in Ludvig Holberg�s comedy Jean de France (1722), in a translation of French dance etiquette for youth, in contemporary accounts of French clothing and language, and by the employment of French musicians and dancing masters at the Danish court. Included is an examination of Andreas Schroder�s treatise De Saltatoribus (Flensburg 1622) and Thomas Bartholin�s dance chapter in his book Qu�stiones Nuptialis (Copenhagen 1670) as significant Danish primary sources. These sources are placed in contrast with contemporary European dance manuals such as Arbeau, De Lauze, Esquivel de Navarro, Caroso and Negri. Danish and other European authors differ in their views on the morality of dance, although they cite many of the same Ancient and Biblical sources for their persuasive arguments. Just as Denmark was connected to other countries of northern Europe in a complex political web, so too did these courts share artistic and cultural traditions, which are reflected in the sources related to dance. Danish dance practices can especially be demonstrated to be akin to those of neighbouring German courts, which, like Denmark, imitated the dance fashions of France.

No description available.

This thesis demonstrates the importance of scholastic philosophy and natural law to the theory of religious uniformity and toleration in Seventeenth-Century England. Some of the most influential apologetic tracts produced by the Church of England, including Richard Hooker's Laws of Ecclesiastical Polity, Robert Sanderson's Ten lectures on humane conscience and Samuel Parker A discourse of ecclesiastical politie are examined and are shown to belong to a common Anglican tradition which emphasized aspects of scholastic natural law theory in order to refute pleas for ceremonial diversity and liberty of conscience. The relationship of these ideas to those of Hobbes and Locke are also explored. Studies of Seventeenth-Century ideas about conformity and toleration have often stressed the reverence people showed the individual conscience, and the weight they attributed to the examples of the magistrates of Israel and Judah. Yet arguments for and against uniformity and toleration might instead resolve themselves into disputes about the role of natural law within society, or the power of human laws over the conscience. In this the debate about religious uniformity could acquire a very philosophical and sometimes theological tone. Important but technical questions about moral obligation, metaphysics and theology are demonstrated to have played an important role in shaping perceptions of magisterial power over religion. These ideas are traced back to their roots in scholastic philosophy and the Summa of Aquinas. Scholastic theories about conscience, law, the virtues, human action and the distinction between nature and grace are shown to have animated certain of the Church's more influential apologists and their dissenting opponents. The kind of discourse surrounding toleration and liberty of conscience is thus shown to be very different than sometimes supposed. Perceptions of civil and ecclesiastical power were governed by a set of ideas and concerns that have hitherto not featured prominently in the literature about the development of religious toleration.

This thesis examines the impact in mid- to later-seventeenth century England of the major contemporary religious controversy in France. The debates associated with this controversy, which revolved around the formal condemnation of a heresy popularly called Jansenism, involved fundamental questions about the doctrine of grace and moral theology, about the life of the Church and the conduct of individual Christians. In providing an analysis of the main themes of the controversy, and an account of instances of English interest, the thesis argues that English Protestant theologians in the process of working out their own views on basic theological questions recognised the relevance of the continental debates. It is further suggested that the theological arguments evolved by the French writers possess some value as a point of comparison for the developing views of English theologians. Where the Jansenists reasserted an Augustinian emphasis on the gratuity of salvation against Catholic theologians who over-valued the powers of human nature, the Anglican writers examined here, arguing against Protestant theologians who denied nature any moral potency, emphasised man's contribution to his own salvation. Both arguments have been seen to contain a corrosive individualism, the former through its preoccupation with the luminous experience of grace, the latter through its tendency to elide grace and moral virtue, and reduce Christianity to the voluntary ethical choices of individuals. These assessments, it is argued here, misrepresent the theologians in question. Nevertheless, their thought did encourage greater individualism and moral autonomy. For both groups, their opponents' theological premises were deficient to the extent that they vitiated morality; and in both cases their responses, centring on the transformation of the inner man by love, privileged the moral responsibility of the individual. Their moral 'rigorism', it is suggested, focusing on the affective experience of conversion, represented in both cases an attempt to provide a sound empirical basis for Christian faith and practice in the fragmented intellectual context of post-reformation Europe.

In Scotland the Revolution of 1688 - 1689 has received little academic attention - considered little more than an adjunct of events in England. Traditionally, the political elite have been seen as reluctant to rebel, the resulting Convention Parliament containing few committed protagonists - the reaction of most determined by inherent conservatism and the overwhelming desire to preserve their own interest and status. Motivated essentially by self-interest and personal gain, the predominance of noble faction crippled Parliament - a constitutionally underdeveloped institution - which became nothing more than a platform for the rivalry and ambition of the landed elite. However, this interpretation is based on the dated notion that Scottish history can be considered as simply a protracted power struggle between a dominant territorial nobility and a weak monarch, intent on centralising authority. Nonetheless, the aim of the thesis is not to rewrite the political history of the Revolution or to chart the constitutional development of Parliament - although both aspects form part of the general analysis. Instead, this is principally a thematic study of the membership of the Convention Parliament and what they achieved, in terms of legislation and procedure. Taking into account the European context, including a thorough membership analysis, and revising the practical aspects of the Revolution settlement, it is possible to offer a fresh account of contemporary politics. Introducing the extensive contest that characterised the general election of 1689, and the emergence and progress of court and country politics through 1698 - 1702, study reveals the continuing development of an inclusive party political system similar to that evident in England. In this respect, the objective of the thesis is to address the main themes associated with the Revolution and Convention Parliament, providing an alternative, more accurate interpretation of the Scottish Revolution experience.

This dissertation addresses the heartbeat and the systems of natural philosophy that were used to explain it in the 17th century. Thus, I work in two domains of explanation. The first domain is physiology, in which William Harvey correctly ordered the heart’s systolic and diastolic motions, while René Descartes incorrectly reversed them. By looking at Harvey and Descartes’ more complete physiological models I reconsider the controversy that spun out of their divergent accounts. The second domain is the junction of physics and metaphysics, representing the frameworks of natural philosophy behind physiology. I argue that Harvey’s physiology was correct while his supporting principles were “wrong,” and Descartes’ physiology was incorrect while his supporting principles were “right.” Thus, my thesis is that Harvey was “right” but perhaps for the wrong reasons, while Descartes was “wrong” but perhaps for the right reasons. Of course, this judgement is made from a contemporary perspective. By using a contextualist approach to history, I aim to show how the controversy between Harvey and Descartes resolved in Nicolas Steno, when he discovered that the heart is a muscle.

No description available.