This thesis investigates whether lead mining can be detected using palaeoenvironmental data recovered from freshwater loch and marsh sediment. Using radiometric time-frames and geochernical analyses the environmental impact of 18th and 19th century mining on Islay, Inner Hebrides, Scotland, has been investigated. The model of known mining events thus produced has been used to assess previously unrecorded (early) lead mining activity. Previous mining in the area is suggested by 18th century accounts that record the presence of 1,000 "early" workings scattered over the north-east limestone region. While there is little to support the often repeated assertion that lead mining dates back to the Norse Period (circa lOll th centuries) it is clear that it may well have been an established industry prior to the time of the first historical records in the 16th century. In order to use a palaeoenvironmental approach to the question of mining history and its impact, the strategy has been to use integrated loch and catclunent units of study. The areas considered are; Loch Finlaggan, Loch Lossit, Loch Bharradail and a control site at Loch Leathann. Soil and sediment geochemical mapping has been used to assess the distribution of lead, zinc and copper within the catchments. Environmental pathways have been identified and influx of lead, zinc and copper to the loch sediment has been detennined through the analyses of cores from each loch basin. Archaeological fieldsurvey and the re-examination of the results from mineral prospecting data across the study region provides new evidence on the geographical extent and contaminatory effects of leadmining in this area. This study shows how the effect of lead mining can be identified in the palaeoenvironrnental record from circa 1367 AD onwards, so mining in Islay does indeed predate the earliest known archaeological and historical records.

O objetivo desta dissertação é debater o lugar e importância dos elementos de origem católica nas práticas políticas no reino do Congo nas ultima quatro décadas do século XVIII. Evitamos lidar com tais elementos através de uma ideia de simples incorporação passiva ou imposição cultural, que seria um equivoco tratando-se da complexidade do processo histórico do reino do Congo. Nosso olhar direciona-se para a agência histórica dos congoleses, sobretudo das elites políticas ligadas ao poder central, assim como local (das províncias). O material que a pesquisa analisa são três relatórios redigidos por missionários que habitaram e trabalharam no Congo, em diferentes contextos, durante as quatro ultimas décadas do século XVIII. Além dessas fontes mais consistentes, dispomos de alguns documentos mais fragmentários, principalmente correspondências trocadas entre agentes das missões, autoridades congolesas e autoridades lusitanas em Luanda e no reino de Portugal. Ao empreendermos o trabalho histórico com as fontes notamos a centralidade dos elementos do cristianismo (africanizados e incorporados no contexto congolês) no funcionamento do complexo sistema político operante no período pós-restauração. Neste contexto, os sacramentos, insígnias, especialistas, rituais católicos tornam-se importantes ferramentas para a rememoração da tradição política do período da centralização, no qual se fundou a vinculação entre catolicismo e o poder político no Congo. / The objective of this work is to discuss the importance of the Catholicism in 18th century Kingdom of Kongo political system. We avoid dealing with those elements through an idea of cultural imposition or simple incorporation, which would be a mistake when we deal with the complexity of the historical process in Kongo. We focus on the African agency on the historical process, mainly the political elites acting in central or provincial powers. The research analyzes three reports written by catholic missionaries who lived and worked in Kongo in the last four decades of the 18th century. Besides these (more consistent) sources, we analyze a few other documents: mainly letters exchanged by Congolese authorities, missionaries and Portuguese authorities in Luanda and Lisbon. In our historical research we note the central importance of the catholic elements (Africanized and incorporated to the Congolese context) to the functioning of the operating political system of the post-restoration period. Our proposition does not focus on the Catholicism in a context of the missions or the cultural contacts between Europeans and Africans. Beyond that discussion; we choose to look to the Catholic elements as insights to understand the political practices and the solidification of a Congolese political identity. In this context; the catholic rituals, sacraments, specialists and insignia are seen as important tools of re-memorization of the political tradition that connected Catholicism and political power in the Kingdom of Kongo.

No description available.

Analyzing the crimes of women murderers and how they fared in the criminal justice system demonstrates that though perceptions of gender evolved, resistance to sentencing women to death often persisted. The nature of homicides committed by women in Oregon set them apart from their male counterparts. Women were, and are, more likely to commit domestic homicides -- murders that involve a family member or partner. These crimes are typically not equated with crimes that warrant capital punishment. As a result, no woman has been subjected to the death penalty in the state. This thesis analyzes the twenty-five women who were convicted of homicide in Oregon between 1854 and 1950. During these years the majority faced all-male court and penal systems. As such, they were handled differently in accordance with various social, cultural, and legislative shifts relating to women's roles as citizens. Through an examination of contemporary newspaper articles, inmate case files, and other Oregon State Penitentiary records, this thesis studies three distinct periods relating to these shifts: 1854-1900, 1901-1935 and 1936-1950. The assumption that it was impossible for a woman to commit murder linked claims of insanity with criminality. The six women defendants between 1854 and 1900 were either deemed insane and transferred to the asylum or quickly released from prison to avoid potential controversy or additional expense. The twelve women convicted of homicide between 1901 and 1935 all received manslaughter convictions, an occurrence unique to this era. Following the Progressive Era, sentimental juries felt more comfortable convicting women of manslaughter. Many received indeterminate sentences of one to fifteen years and were released on parole. The initial first-degree murder charges between 1936 and 1950 signaled a new period in the treatment of women charged with homicide. After gaining the right to vote and serve on juries, women began to be viewed more equally in the eyes of the law. During these years there was a more even distribution of manslaughter, second-degree murder, and first-degree murder convictions for the seven women defendants. This is due in part to women's growing presence in the public sphere. In conclusion, the idea that women were submissive creatures that required the authority and protection of men in the courtroom began to fade by 1950. Each period of study demonstrates how the contemporary perception of women and their roles as citizens affected trial outcomes. However, even when women were charged with first-degree murder they were not sentenced to the death penalty -- likely due to the domestic nature of their crimes.

This diploma thesis deals with population in the town of Telč in 18th century, based on sources of town and cadastral provenance. The issue is of particular interest as it has not been researched in greater detail yet. At first, the thesis provides an introduction to the extant literature covering the history of Telč, assessing the authors' approach, what historical epoch they consider most prosperous and their perspective of the town in 18th century. Chapter II addresses sources of town and cadastral provenance, thus introducing and evaluating the sources the thesis is based on. Chapter III addresses the regulated municipal authority in Telč. Chapter IV provides an insight into the development of town population in the Bohemian lands in 17th and 18th centuries, which enables contextualizing Telč within the development. Chapter V is dedicated to the town itself, focusing on its history in the relevant period, the town's inhabitants, external description, the Inner Town and eventually, the social pattern of the inhabitants. The social pattern is described in a detailed analysis of three houses located on the town square and their owners. In the end I will describe property structure of the town councillors who were serving in office in 1762, 1766, 1768 and 1770.

Au début du XVIIIe siècle, les récits à la première personne abondent dans les lettres françaises. Parmi les narrateurs soucieux de retranscrire le cheminement de leur vie se signalent plus spécifiquement des personnages de philosophe. De 1721 à 1731, les lecteurs découvrent par exemple Usbek, le spectateur français, l’indigent philosophe et Cleveland, quatre personnages de fiction romanesque qui sont autant d’épistolier, de journaliste ou de mémorialiste philosophes. Auteurs, ils exercent leurs pensées sur le fond de leurs expériences intimes. Notre travail tend à examiner de quelle façon, à l’époque de Marivaux, Montesquieu et Prévost, la littérature de fiction à la première personne place le philosophe face à lui-même, nouveau Narcisse censé réfléchir le sens d’une existence. Intégré à la trame narrative, le philosophe (ou le moraliste) du premier XVIIIe siècle n’est plus cet observateur d’une objectivité détachée qui se retranche derrière des discours : il devient lui-même figure, c’est-à-dire forme observable livrée à l’appréciation des lecteurs. Ils ne manqueront d’ailleurs pas de relever les ambiguïtés de cette figure paradoxale qui ne parvient pas toujours à concilier les impératifs de la sensibilité et ceux de la raison. Précisément les œuvres du corpus interrogent les conditions du déploiement de la pensée dans l’esprit humain et dans le monde des choses concrètes. Les implications – littéraires et philosophiques, mais encore poétiques, esthétiques, morales ou cognitives – de la figuration du philosophe dans la fiction constituent ainsi l’objet de notre étude. / In the early 18th century, first-person novels would abound in French literature. Philosophers would become a prominent figure among the various kinds of narrators that specify their personal way of life. From 1721 to 1731, readers discovered Usbek, the spectateur français, the indigent philosophe, and Cleveland, four fictional characters who are letter writers, journalists or memorialists. As authors, they were inspired by their personal life experience and wrote to share their thoughts. The purpose of this work is to analyse at the time of Marivaux, Montesquieu and Prévost how the first-person literature makes philosophers face up their own image. Therefore, the philosopher becomes a new Narcissus supposed to reflect the meaning of existence. While integrated into the narrative, the philosopher (or the moralist) is no longer an objective observer who could hide behind a speech: he is himself a figure facing the judgment of readers. Moreover, they point out the ambiguities of this paradoxical figure that does not always manage to deal with sensitivity and reason. The works of the corpus are questioning the conditions for the deployment of thought in the human mind and the world of concrete things. The implications of the representation of the philosopher in fiction are the object of this study, whether on the literary or philosophical fields, but also on the poetic, aesthetic, moral or cognitive fields.

Bien qu’elle participe à une redéfinition de la pratique historiographique à l’Âge classique, l’œuvre historique de Voltaire a été peu étudiée. On s’est peu interrogé sur l’art de l’historien, et on a souvent résumé la conception de l’histoire et de la politique qui s’y exprime au rôle majeur joué par les « grands hommes ». Notre étude met à l’épreuve une telle conception et fait valoir la complexité de la lecture voltairienne de l’histoire, tant dans les ouvrages circonscrits à un règne que dans son histoire universelle, l’Essai sur les mœurs. Face aux apories des systèmes politiques élaborés par ses contemporains, et que Voltaire dénonce, l’écriture de l’histoire est le lieu privilégié où se déploie une conception réfléchie du pouvoir et des enjeux du politique. S’il est indéniable que Voltaire n’en propose pas de théorisation systématique, sa compréhension des ressorts du déroulement historique et l’interprétation qu’il en donne reposent sur un ensemble de principes relativement cohérents, tant du point de vue de l’appréciation des fondements du pouvoir – si importants au regard des enjeux de légitimation portés par l’écriture de l’histoire –, que de ses réalisations. L’œuvre historique ne s’intéresse ainsi pas seulement à l’action de quelques souverains ; elle prend aussi en compte l’action collective des peuples, et porte attention aux mutations des rapports de pouvoir qui infléchissent les politiques contemporaines. L’œuvre est alors en prise avec une actualité politique et polémique qui confère à l’écriture de l’histoire une tonalité spécifique, et qui conduit à s’interroger sur la délimitation même de ce qu’est le corpus voltairien des œuvres historiques. / Although the historical work of Voltaire takes part in a redefinition of Enlightenment historiography, the art of the historian or his conception of history have been little studied so far. His political view in his historical work has often been reduced to his praise of ‘great men’ and of their action in history. Our study puts this interpretation to the test and highlights the complexity of Voltaire’s reading of history, either in his works dealing with a single reign, or in his universal history, the Essay on the Manners. In order to face the shortcomings of the contemporary political systems, Voltaire uses history writing as a way to express considered conceptions of power and political issues. Voltaire does not expound a systematic theory of political facts; nonetheless, his understanding of historical progress relies on a coherent set of principles. Our study examines his appreciation of power and politics, of theirs foundations – where issues of legitimizing, so important in history writing, are at stake –, and of their achievements. The historical work does not exclusively focus on the action of a few monarchs; it takes also into account the collective action of peoples, and turns its attention to transformations which affect the balance of power and contemporary policies. Then, the work is in touch with current affairs and burning issues, which gives to history writing specific characteristics, and in particular a polemical tone. But it leads also to question the limits of his historical work as well as its definition.

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[Typescript] Includes bibliography.