The term Polabian Slavs is a generic name applied to the westernmost branch of the Western Slavs, now almost extinct. Those people are often referred to as Wends, but mainly in older historiography. In the Middle Ages they occupied the territory more or less corresponding to the former state of East Germany, the region enclosed by the Baltic Sea in the North, the Oder-Neisse rivers in the East, the Ore mountains in the South and the Elbe-Saale rivers in the West (see map 1). In Central Europe, with the exception of the Baltic Prussians and Lithuanians, some of the Polabian Slavs resisted Christianisation and remained stubbornly pagan until the middle of the twelfth century. In the course of history the Polabian Slavs came under increasing political pressure from the Franks and later from the Empire, in the period between the eighth and the twelfth centuries. From the north they were also hard pressed by the Danes and in some periods from the east by the growing strength in Poland of the Piast dynasty. By the end of the twelfth century most of the Polabian Slavs fell under German or Danish political control. Some of them in the central region, what is now the Land of Brandenburg, and the tribes in the South were fully incorporated into the Empire. Others, like the Obodrites and some of the Veleti in Western Pomerania, became part of the Empire as autonomous duchies ruled by the local princes, while the island of Rügen and the adjacent mainland territories, although they continued to be ruled by the Slavic dynasts, had to acknowledge Danish suzerainty. The whole territory, despite some areas being under the Danish crown, became subject to strong German political and cultural influence. Assimilation and German colonization facilitated the process of the Germanization of almost the entire area between the Saale-Elbe and Oder-Neisse rivers. Over the centuries the Polabian Slavs have almost entirely disappeared as a distinct people. However, the process is not fully completed even today, for a small Sorb minority still retains its distinct cultural identity. The modern Sorbs, numbering around 100,000 people are living today in eastern Germany in the region of Lusatia (Lausitz in German or £užica in Sorbian), mainly around Bautzen and Cottbus. Approximately 60,000 of them still speak a Slavonic language. Although this work does not deal directly with the Sorbs of Lusatia, it is dedicated to those surviving Polabian Slavs. [No abstract available - text taken from Introduction]

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of California, San Diego, 2005. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 300-320).

No description available.

Doctor of Philosophy / Department of History / Robert D. Linder / In England, 1532‐1649 was an era during which questions about obedience to rulers dominated ethical discussions. Most English people also respected biblical authority for governing certain behaviors. Obedience was central to the monarchy’s survival and the Bible was central to reformation of an English Church laden with medieval accretions. St. Paul’s Epistle to the Romans 13:1‐7 was the most important biblical passage for understanding the Christian’s relationship to civil authority during this period, and interpreters had such high regard for biblical authority that the backing of this passage was crucial to the acceptance of any political theory that involved ideas about obedience or disobedience. Though eisegesis was not out of the question as a technique among these interpreters, societal and political circumstances motivated most exegetes to examine the text more closely than they might have if St. Paul’s meaning had been irrelevant. These conditions led to creative handling of the text that permitted the exegetes to continue to submit to biblical authority while advocating their varied opinions on obedience to civil authority. Some interpreters moved outside the constraints of traditional views of monarchy and obedience to develop a theory that God mediated his call to rulers through those who elected them. Acceptance of this theory finally brought about rejection of divine right monarchy, as symbolized by the execution of Charles I in 1649. By too quickly concluding that these English expositors merely sought biblical justification for their views after the fact, scholars have failed to appreciate how Romans 13 positively shaped Reformation views of the Christian’s relationship to the state. As the title suggests, this study will examine the discernable shift from seeing Romans 13:1‐7 as a text that commands non‐resistance to rulers to one that not only permits disobedience, but requires it. Thus, Romans 13 is not simply an influential political text, but stands as the most important political text of the period under consideration. This dissertation supplies a needed analysis of representative exegesis of Romans 13:1‐7 during this critical period of English history and considers the influence of these expositions on the development of republian ideals.

Doctor of Philosophy / Department of History / Marsha L. Frey / Donald J. Mrozek / Jesuits presented evidence in both French and Chinese to defend Christianity by citation of legal and historical precedents in favor of the "Teaching of the Lord of Heaven" (Catholicism) even after the Yongzheng Emperor's 1724 imperial edict proscribed the religion as a heterodox cult. The Jesuits' strategy is traceable to Matteo Ricci's early missionary approach of accommodation to Chinese culture, which aimed to prove grounds for a Confucian-Christian synthesis based upon complementary points between Christian theology and their interpretation of Yuanru (Original Literati Teaching). Their synthesis involved both written and oral rhetorical techniques that ranged from attempts to show compatibility between different religious values, to the manipulation of texts, and to outright deceit. Personal witness, observation, and interpretation played a key role in Jesuit group translation projects. French and Chinese apologetic texts composed to prove grounds for the repeal of the 1724 proscription edict contain these approaches. The Lettres edifantes et curieuses ecrite par des missionnaires jesuites (1702-1776) contain examples of this approach, as well as the Ruijianlu (1735-1737). Memorials in the Ruijianlu cited favorable legal precedents and imperial patronage rendered to Xiyangren (Men from the West). Jesuits presented their case for toleration of Christianity in the Ruijianlu in terms of Chinese notions of hospitality, diplomacy, and defense found in texts from as early as the Zhou dynasty. They cited an enduring Chinese defensive notion of "welcoming men from afar" (rouyuanren), but the court refused to return to this soft policy. The Qianlong Emperor rejected the Kangxi era policy of "welcoming men from afar" regarding established missions. In 1735 the imperial Board of Punishments re-enforced the proscription order against Christianity in military units and also ruled that baptism of abandoned infants by a Chinese convert constituted religious heterodoxy based on the Qing Code (Article 162). The twenty-one Jesuits (not expelled in 1724) remained in imperial service and at liberty to practice their religion among themselves. Officials pursued a severe policy of punishing any cult deemed heterodox according to statutes of the Code. Persecution of Christians increased throughout the eighteenth century, but abated during the reign of the Daoguang Emperor (1821-1851) when most anti-Christian edicts were rescinded and a subsequent imperial edict pardoned those Christians who practiced the faith for moral perfection.

Jean-Stanislas Mittié, un médecin de la région parisienne, développe et tente de faire approuver un remède végétal contre la syphilis entre 1777 et 1795. Le mémoire présenté ici propose une analyse des différents documents textuels qui entourent ses démarches afin de relever l’impact qu’aura la fin de l’Ancien Régime et la Révolution française sur sa pratique médicale. Son parcours permet de mettre en relief les transformations qui ont lieu dans les structures de pouvoir qui régissent la médecine au XVIIIe siècle, sur le plan institutionnel, politique, et culturel. / Jean-Stanislas Mittié, a medical doctor from the Paris region, develops and attempts to gain approval for a vegetal cure to syphilis between 1777 and 1795. The present memoir proposes an analysis of the various textual documents surrounding his endeavours in order to assess the impact of the end of the Ancien Régime and the French Revolution on his medical practice. His individual story reveals the important transformations of institutional, political and cultural power structures regulating medicine at the end of the 18th century.

While Scotland was politically unified before the First Scottish War of Independence (1296-1328), it was only nominally so. Scotland shared a rich cultural unity amongst the clans, and it was only through the invasion from England, and the war that followed, that Scotland found a true political unity under King Robert the Bruce. This thesis argues that Scotland had a shared cultural identity, including the way it waged war, and how it came to be united under one king who brought a sense of nationalism to Scotland.

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The thesis deals with current cultural landscape and reflection of individual social topics in Europe. The installation consists of three objects that solve the individual theme, using material experiments. Their reactions shift these topics further to certain associations.

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