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Bohemian art of the second half of the fourteenth century is closely associated with the personality of Charles IV, Emperor of the Romans and King of Bohemia (1316--1378). In an effort to legitimize his reign as ruler of the Holy Roman Empire and to raise the profile of his ancestral Bohemian lands, he leaned on the power of history to reveal his heritage as stemming, on one side, from an illustrious line of emperors including Charlemagne, and on the other, from the dynasty of Bohemian sovereigns. He recognized that art could display this legitimization and so implemented a programme of historicism in his artistic commissions. His impact on Bohemian art was indirect as well: his ideas influenced the art patronage of his closest court advisers, as seen in this paper through the examples of two illuminated manuscripts, the Evangeliary of John of Opava and the Liber viaticus.

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Although many historians consider Joseph II's campaign of 1788 against the Ottoman Turks a failure, no one has yet provided a thorough account of it. This study attempts to put something into the void. / Based mostly on original sources found in the Kriegsarchiv (War Archives) in Vienna, it examines the campaign from the perspective of Joseph II. The first chapter tries to explain how Joseph became involved in a conflict with the Porte. The second chapter covers the period of February-July 1788, when Joseph postponed his offensive on Belgrade until the fall and waited in Zemun on the defensive. The third chapter begins with the Ottoman advance into the Banat of Timisoara in early August 1788 and ends with the Habsburg army's retreat to winter quarters in November. / Despite failing to take Belgrade, the Habsburg army captured strategically important positions for the campaign of 1789. The difficulties encountered cannot be blamed solely on Joseph's poor generalship. Other factors, such as insufficient Russian assistance, a difficult climate and terrain and a surprisingly strong Ottoman effort, must also be considered.

Charles I, King of Spain, or Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor, was the most powerful ruler in Europe since Charlemagne. With a Germanic background, and speaking French, Charles became King of Spain in 1516. Yet secondary sources and available sixteenth century Spanish sources such as Spanish Royal Council records, local records of Castro Urdiales in Castile, and Charles's correspondence show that he continued the policies of his predecessors in Spain, Ferdinand of Aragon and Isabella of Castile. He strove to strengthen his power and unify Spain and his empire using Castilian strength, a Castilian model of government, Roman law, religion, his strong personality, and a loyal and talented bureaucracy. Charles desired to be another Charlemagne, but with his base of power in Spain.

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This dissertation addresses the role of recipe writing in the culture and development of empiricism in Spain over the course of the long sixteenth century. In 1516, Charles of Habsburg was named King of Spain, and began his project to consolidate and extend Spanish rule, picking up where his grandparents, Isabel and Ferdinand, left off. While the Iberian Monarchy attempted to control empirical practice and knowledge of the natural world by way of its administrative institutions, Europe was developing a bit of a recipe habit. Across sixteenth and seventeenth century Europe, there was an surge in readership of recipe books, manuals, books of secrets, and artes, as well as any other book containing recipes (including natural histories). Much like today, there was a rich culture of recipe writing and exchange. When it came to household affairs such as cooking, toiletries and cosmetics, cleaning, and pharmaceuticals, most people had their own practices, and many were also willing to share their tested recipes with others. As I argue in this dissertation, local experimentation and the exchange of said knowledge took place among heterogenous networks of practitioners across Habsburg Spain. While the Crown was influenced by these practices and often appropriated them as well, it was not the only force behind the empirical turn in the history of science and medicine in Spain. Rather, local practitioners and cohorts of experimenting nobles and laypeople alike all played a role in the turn toward experimentation as scientific method.