This thesis conducts a reconceptualisation of historical time as a means of reorienting feminist historiography and changing the ways that we construct and approach histories of feminism. Various feminist theorists have argued that feminist theory requires a multilinear, multidirectional model of historical time, to enable productive encounters and exchanges between past and present feminisms, and account for the coexistence of parallel, intersecting feminist trajectories. This is particularly crucial in light of the continuing dominance of the phasic ‘wave’ model of feminist history, which is bound to notions of linear succession and teleological progress, and severely curtails the ways in which diverse feminist histories can be mapped, understood and related to one another. However, whilst alternative, multilinear, multidirectional notions of historical time have been mooted, there is rarely any clarity or elaboration on what exactly what this might mean or how it might work. This, I suggest, is because ‘historical time’ is itself an under-investigated and under-articulated concept. My contribution in this thesis, therefore, is to offer a detailed study of historical time, which makes sense of the idea that historical time is multilinear and multidirectional. In the course of this investigation, I develop a ‘polytemporal’ model of historical time, arguing that historical time is generated through a mix of different temporalities and fields of time, including the ‘time of the trace’, ‘narrative time’, ‘calendar time’ and ‘generational time’. Analysing each of these ‘times’ in turn, the thesis offers a thorough and internally complex account of historical time, demonstrating how thinking history ‘polytemporally’ can work, and how historical time can be understood as multilinear and multidirectional. Further, it offers concrete suggestions as to how this reconceptualised model can translate into a more nuanced and effective feminist historiographical practice, which opens up conversations between past and present feminisms in order to positively transform our presents and futures.

This thesis analyses the gendered choices made by bourgeois French women as creators and consumers of art, décor, fashion and feminism during the Third French Republic 1870-1914. Specifically, it examines the extent of female agency and individuality in fashioning a self-image, and how this issue relates to the limitations on women’s exercise of professional and political choice. The first of three core chapters (Chapter 2) establishes that women were able to construct a self-image as a creator and/or consumer of art, décor and fashion but this ability was limited by both the gendered discourses inherent in the French art world and, more widely, by the ideals of womanhood prescribed by bourgeois social mores. Subsequently, the complex and potentially confusing nature of the conflicting textual and visual images that bourgeois French women were exposed to as creators and consumers is discussed in Chapter 3, and exposes the many tensions and contradictions in their aesthetic roles. Finally, the correlation between female agency, aesthetics, and participation in the feminist movement is examined in Chapter 4 leading to the eventual conclusion that an increasing emphasis on physical appearance and aestheticism meant that few French women chose to fully discard domesticity and traditional notions of femininity in favour of a career and/or feminism. Instead, many gravitated towards less radical and publicly visible forms of feminist action whilst others renounced feminism entirely. By illustrating the importance of aesthetics in the personal, professional and political lives of bourgeois French women, this thesis brings to the discipline an ability to interconnect the study of cultural representations with more detailed evidence from women’s everyday lives. Furthermore, it will contribute to the history of female agency, individuality and political power by providing a richer, more informed picture of just how women in the Third Republic were shaped by aesthetics.

This thesis asserts that an Irish dimension reflects approaches towards diversity within the English History Curriculum. An Irish dimension is explored within the context of Multicultural Britain, debates over ways in which the past has been constructed and changes in the history curriculum. A series of ‘fuzzy generalisations’ of an Irish dimension in the curriculum emerge from questionnaire and interview case studies. This approach is based on Bassey’s (2001) premise that case studies can lead to tentative generalisations, which are subject to being challenged by findings drawn from different contexts. This study explores the perceptions of primary and secondary teachers, together with participants in Irish related projects and key ‘movers and shakers’ working outside the classroom. The research findings suggest that a respondent’s perceptions of the importance of an Irish dimension in the curriculum reflect a range of influences including values, pragmatism, subject knowledge and expertise. The researcher accepts that the extent to which an Irish dimension contributes to the history curriculum will vary between different school contexts. However, the thesis argues that the way in which an Irish dimension is developed and how it relates to the teaching of diversity within the history curriculum is of more importance than the amount that is taught.

Notwithstanding the enduring and rich “legacy of islah (Islamic reform)”, the study of it is relatively scarce and remarkably limited to modern times. The present study attempts to shed some light on this legacy by evaluating the contribution of an outstanding pre-modern Muslim scholar, al-Ghazali. Surprisingly, some studies create an absolutely positive picture of him, while others portray him in an extremely negative light. Thus, this study raises the question of whether it is justifiable to classify him as a muslih (Islamic reformer). In the light of the analysis of the concept “islah” and the complexity of Al-Ghazali’s time, the study demonstrates his life-experience and verifies that he devoted himself to general islah at a late period of his life, after succeeding in his self-islah. Further the study assess his islahi teachings in general, namely those formulated in the Ihya’ and evaluates the claimed effects of his attempts at islah. The study also highlights a number of strengths and weaknesses of al-Ghazali’s efforts and critically discusses some of the criticism directed at him. By weighing up the points for and against al-Ghazali, this study concludes by asserting that classifying him as a muslih appears to be fairly justified.

This study examines the manifestations of French humanism in sixteenth-century intellectual culture, through an analysis, for the first time, of the entirety of the works of Pierre Boaistuau. An eminent French humanist writer, on whose life little information exists, Boaistuau emerges far more prolific than any previous study has hitherto recognised. Thus, on a first level, his case offers the opportunity for an exploration of the developments of French print culture at the time. In addition, careful examination of the contents of his widely circulated works sheds new light on the ways humanist themes and values were incorporated into contemporary literary production, and were used for different purposes which surpassed the mere celebration of ancient learning. Boaistuau employed seven genres in order to compile seven books of different natures, all of them however grafted onto a humanist framework. Associated with narrative fiction, Renaissance philosophy, political theory, the study of history, and natural philosophy, his works demonstrate how the classical past and the humanist values of virtue, erudition, and self-discipline were used in a variety of ways in mid sixteenth-century France: for promotion of a moralising message, praise of the French monarchy, bolstering the Catholic faith, and enhancing the understanding of the natural world.

This thesis departs from the traditional historiographical views that portray Philby as having no political influence either while he was serving his country or after his resignation from government service when he was settled in Saudi Arabia. It also departs from picturing him as a man who tended to undermine British policy, arguing that he was loyal to his country, as was plain during his years of service. The thesis examines his background, from his early years to the work he did for his country in India, Iraq and Transjordan and takes an analytical and historical approach. It seeks to present a more comprehensive understanding of Philby’s mission to Arabia, its objectives and outcomes, focusing on his political work in Arabia and his efforts to solve problems which otherwise might have threatened British interests. This thesis deals with Philby’s efforts in the conflict between Najd and Hejaz and his actions in the border dispute between Ibn Sa‘ūd and his rival, Hussain, and assesses whether Philby played a major part in the collapse of the Hejazi kingdom. It considers Philby’s contribution to the American recognition of Saudi Arabia. It examines Philby’s method of settling political conditions after the Idrisi revolt against Ibn Sa‘ud. It asks why Philby visited Yemen and if it would somehow have enhanced Ibn Sa‘ūd’s position. It focuses on Philby’s role in the Buraimi crisis between Britain and Saudi Arabia and illustrates the persuasive arguments by which Philby upheld the Saudi opposition to Britain’s demands over Buraimi.

This thesis analyses the Lord Edward’s lordship of the county of Chester between 1254 and 1272 and the impact it had on local inhabitants. The first chapter investigates the general administration of the county, including its financial structure, and the officials and men recruited by Edward to control his Cheshire estates. This chapter shows that Edward, in spite of his father’s influence, led an independent policy by relying primarily on the justiciar and on local tenants to govern the county. The second chapter tackles the organisation of justice and the law administered in Cheshire. It demonstrates that the judicial machinery in Cheshire was preserved during Edward’s lordship with its distinctive characteristics inherited from the earls of Chester, and that Edward was far more involved in the administration of justice in the county, and in the rest of his apanage, than previously envisaged. The third chapter considers the relationship Cheshire maintained with Wales in the thirteenth century, and more precisely, how Edward’s lordship of the county disrupted the stability that existed in the area. It shows that he was not directly responsible for the tensions that existed, but that his inability to address them eventually led to the outbreak of 1256. It also demonstrates that Edward failed to protect his estates despite multiple attempts, and how he progressively lost interest in his Welsh dominions. The fourth chapter discusses Edward’s relationship, and the difficulties he had, with his Cheshire tenants, especially during the baronial movement of reform and rebellion (1258-67). It analyses how problems in the county mirrored those elsewhere in the realm, because of the financial pressure and of the desire of local communities to have their laws and customs preserved, and how Edward’s considered approach and political discernment were eventually successful in restoring order in the county.

In 1893, an internal schism occurred within the British Women’s Temperance Association (BWTA), creating the National British Women’s Temperance Association (NBWTA) and the Women’s Total Abstinence Union (WTAU). The Women’s Total Abstinence Union (WTAU) has since received very limited critical attention, having been historically dismissed as a conservative organisation, only concerned with temperance work, when compared to the more radical National British Women’s Temperance Association (NBWTA). Via a critical examination of the WTAU’s periodical, Wings, from 1892 to 1910, and associated Union materials, this project interrogates the presumptions made concerning the apparently conservative nature, aims and actions of the group and the women within. Contributing to the burgeoning research area of print and periodical culture this project reflects on how women managed the contradictions posed by gender – which shaped women as private domestic individuals – and political identity – when encouraged to undertake reform work outside of the safety of the private sphere. This thesis provides an original contribution to knowledge through utilising an interdisciplinary methodological approach combining periodical culture with a study of community and gender. Its main contribution lies in the study of a neglected group, the WTAU, and their unexplored periodical, Wings. Significant research has centred around radical and/or conservative constructions of nineteenth-century femininity but the voice of the quiet majority in between, and their everyday experiences, remains largely underexplored. This project examines gender constructions within female reform work, specifically temperance, and argues that Union women used a respectable area of social reform work in a potentially progressive way. The WTAU was not solely conservative, nor was it instead radical, rather, its members, aims and actions can be placed on a sliding scale, encompassing conservatism and progressivism alongside radicalism. Moreover, this thesis suggests that this should be replicated for other female reform workers and groups more broadly, in order to provide a better understanding of the sector and how issues of middle-class, feminine respectability influenced women within. It also provides a contribution to knowledge in its methodology, utilising a three layered approach to address the complex issue of readership. It focuses firstly on a broad implied readership, secondly, using census research on a cross-section of Union membership, and finally, undertakes two case-study analyses of Union women on opposing sides of the respectability debate. In examining the Union and its members in three ways, this thesis provides a new way 7 of examining female reform work and periodical readership, and uncovers the complexity of the WTAU, situated within a wider connected world of campaign, print and platform.

Previous historiography on propaganda has focused on particular themes or time periods; this thesis provides a comprehensive and inclusive analysis drawing on a multidisciplinary approach to encompass the period c.1377-1485. The main conclusion is that propaganda was more prevalent and involved a larger proportion of the polity than previously thought. A conceptual framework based upon certain criteria used in Jacques Ellul’s, Propaganda the Formation of Men’s Attitudes, has been adopted to help define and identify propaganda. One of the dominant themes is the prerequisite of communication to enable the propagandist to reach his audience and the opportunities available to do so. An examination of the various methods available, from official sources to rebel manifestoes, together with the physical communication network required demonstrates that there existed a nationwide environment where this was possible. The literary media used for propaganda include proclamations, poetry, letters, and bills. The political audience was broad in terms of understanding of literary and visual forms of communication and their ability to use the available mechanisms to convey their opinions. Whether it was a disgruntled magnate, merchant or yeoman farmer, there was a method of communication suited to their circumstances. Visual propaganda was particularly important in politically influencing an audience, particularly for a largely illiterate population. This is an area that is often overlooked in terms of political influence until the Tudor period. The use of the human body will be a particular focus along with the more traditional aspects of art, such as heraldry. The thesis considers the relationship between kings’ personality, policy and propaganda. What emerges is that the personality of the monarch was essentially more influential than the use of propaganda. Finally, incorporating the analysis of the previous chapters, the North, is examined as a regional example of the presence and impact of propaganda. The North was a subject of propaganda itself and there was a two-way flow of communication and propaganda between the North and Westminster revealing the political consciousness of the region and its role as an audience. The overall argument of the thesis is that communication within the late medieval polity was essential and extensive. Propaganda was frequently used through a variety of media that could reach the whole polity, whether literate or not and not only in times of crisis.

This study is concerned with the manner in which Byzantium manifested itself through the exterior of its buildings. The focus is the Black Sea from the ninth century to the eleventh. Three cities are examined. Each had imperial attention: Amastris for imperial defences; Mesembria, a border city and the meeting place for diplomats: Cherson, a strategic outpost and focal point of Byzantine proselytising. There were two forms of external display; one, surface ornament and surface modelling, the other through the arrangement of masses and forms. A more nuanced division can be discerned linked with issues of purpose and audience. The impulse to display the exterior can be traced to building practice at imperial level in the capital in the early ninth century. Surface ornament continued to be linked with the display of secular authority. Display through structure was developed in Cherson and the north Black Sea region to project the presence of Orthodoxy and was closely associated with conversion activity. By the end of the tenth century, through that external presentation, the form of the church building had itself become symbolic. External display can be seen as a vehicle for the expression of regional forms and evidence for the tenacity of local building “dialects”.