No description available.

No description available.

The following study describes the French colonisation in New France and focuses on the inability of the French to establish a presence in North America. This research is based on two essential parts. The first part includes two chapters. The first describes the beginning of the exploration and the first establishment of the permanent French colonies in North America. The second is about the emergence of a strong French empire and the factors that led to the temporary success of the French colonies. The second part consists of the factors that led to the weakening of this empire and contributes to the failure of a permanent French presence in North America.

This study is an attempt to reexamine prevailing views concerning the question of politioal power during the first three and a half decades of the fourth/tenth century Abbisid caliphate.

No description available.

No description available.

The reign of Basil II (976-1025)is widely accepted as the high point of medieval Byzantium. When the emperor died, imperial frontiers were at their most far-flung since the seventh century. Yet despite the territorial significance of Byzantium in this period, there is no comprehensive modern history of the reign. This thesis develops two important foundation stones for a new narrative history of Basil II: a better understanding of the relevant medieval historiography, and an analysis of the economic and administrative structures which underpinned contemporary political society. The first three chapters analyse the main Greek narrative account of the reign composed by John Skylitzes at the end of the eleventh century. The first chapter is a detailed textual study. The second chapter explores the literary, social and political contexts behind Skylitzes' text. The third chapter compares Skylitzes' coverage of Basil's reign with the rest of the medieval historical record, and identifies a hitherto unacknowledged source in the Greek tradition. Read together, these chapters demonstrate how the demands of history writing in the later eleventh century conditioned Skylitzes' narrative. In order to gain a more contemporary view of the reign, chapters four to six examine the economy and administration of the eastern half of the Byzantine empire during the tenth and eleventh centuries. These chapters argue that from the middle of the tenth century onwards, the administration of the eastern half of the empire was predicated on an imperial desire to exploit increasing regional economic prosperity. However, successive emperors, most notably Basil II himself, recognised the substantial practical constraints on the penetration of imperial authority in the locality. As a result the administration of the Byzantine east was characterised by considerable flexibility, and was able to adapt with surprising ease to local conditions.

In the late sixteenth century English commerce expanded under the auspices of the Levant Company into the Ottoman Empire, which resulted in the establishment of an English Embassy at Constantinople, enabling the English Crown to pursue its aspirations as a European power. English Ambassadors involved themselves in the affairs of the Ottoman Empire and surrounding states, including those of the principalities of Moldavia and Wallachia, both Ottoman vassal states. In the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries a number of men claiming to be the rightful rulers of these principalities sought the support of the English Crown and its Embassy in Constantinople; prominent amongst them was Stefan Bogdan. The Introduction discusses various historians' contributions to the study of ?tefan Bogdan's career. Chapter 1 examines Moldavia's relations with the Ottoman Empire and the Kingdom of Poland. Chapters 2 and 3 describe the status and activities of the English Embassy and its early ambassadors. Chapter 4 deals with England's involvement with Moldavian and Wallachian pretenders prior to 9tefan Bogdan's approaches. Chapters 5, 6 and 7 examine Bogdan's aspirations, the steps he took to achieve his goal and the reasons for his ultimate failure and considers the nature of the support accorded him by the English Crown. Chapter 8 discusses the career of Gaspar Gratiani, a former embassy employee, who was appointed Prince of Moldavia as a reward for subsequent services to the Sultan. The Conclusion discusses the preoccupations of English diplomacy in this period as revealed by English policies towards Moldavia. This thesis aims to describe the establishment of one of the first permanent English Embassies abroad and shed light on a difficult period in the history of what is now part of modern Romania.

Using the theoretical work of Hardt and Negri???s Empire and Beck???s Risk Society, I define current experiences of modernity as ???pathological???. The term ???pathological modernity??? is used because it portrays a modernity dominated by ???spirals of crisis??? that are aggravated by the solutions proposed to solve them. Like the ???war on terror??? and environmental degradation, I argue that many crises facing the world today reflect the characteristics of capital as they globalised, branded, hybridised, boundless and endless. ???Pathological modernity??? has various dimensions including a Cartesian logic underscored by an ???eternal truth???, free-market fundamentalism, certainty in decision making, and a scientism which believes all challenges can be overcome. Additional dimensions include an operational form of biopower, pathological reflexivity, and a frontier disposition that continually encloses non-commodified spaces (or commons) creating a crisis of scarcity. Despite its dominance, pathological modernity is being challenged on many fronts. Amongst these is the ???counter-globalisation??? movement (CGM). A heterogenous movement, it represents a qualitatively different form of globalisation and logic that brings it into conflict with pathological modernity. Using participatory research I investigate this movement grounding it within Hardt and Negri???s (2004) ???multitude???. Extending Hardt and Negri???s descriptions, I propose that the multitude ???works in common??? to establish new commons in both the physical and cultural spheres. Concentrating on the ???cultural commons??? I argue that these represent a new form of biopolitics and promote abundance where scarcity once existed. The four cultural commons identified are hope, trust, safety and intellect. Based on the work of Marcel Mauss, I argue that the reciprocal, free and open exchange and sharing of these cultural commons creates ???authentic??? communities based on openness, alterity and abundance. While the CGM works to establish new commons, pathological modernity encloses and commodifies them, turning hope into material aspirations; trust into anxiety; safety into security; and intellect into intellectual property.

Thesis (B. Div.)--St. Vladimir's Orthodox Theological Seminary, 1971. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 43-45).