Title: The Last Princess of Luxembourg. The Life Elizabeth of Görlitz in the Period between Years 1390 - 1425. Abstract: The thesis aims to describe the life of the last princess of the House of Luxembourg, Elisabeth of Görlitz. Based on an analysis of narrative and diplomatic material spanning between 1390 - 1425 it describes her life from birth until the moment she ultimately became a widow. Elisabeth of Görlitz (1390 - 1451) was the granddaughter of the emperor Charles the IV. and the Swedish king Albrecht I. During a significant period she used to be the only heir of the House of Luxembourg and therefore since her childhood she was an important woman from the political point of view. She married Anthony Duke of Brabant after several unsuccessful engagements. This marriage led Elizabeth to the Western Europe, where she spent the rest of her life. Thanks to this marriage, Luxembourg became the property of the newly married couple. After few years Anthony died in one of the most famous battles of Hundred Years' War - The battle of Agincourt. Soon after that, Elizabeth got married for the second time. Her second husband was John III the Pitiless, the former Prince-Bishop of Liège, which was during this time most known for his efforts of acquiring Holland and Zeeland. However, John died a few years after the...

This study investigates different ways of efficiently educating learners to become bi- or multilingual. In the introduction relevant background information concerning the definition of bilingualism is given and related issues are being discussed, such as language learning, language awareness, bilingual instruction and bilingual education models. Human beings are characterised by language, but also by social and cultural tradition. In the context of globalisation pluralism and multiculturalism are common factors affecting even previously isolated communities. Bi- and multilingualism are some of the strategies of adaptation to this reality. It can be assumed, that this development will continue rapidly as the inhabitants of the global village grow in and adapt to this realisation. In countries with a history and tradition of multilingual and bilingual education like South Africa, Canada, Luxembourg and Belgium and also in countries where immigration results in issues of multilingual and bilingual challenging society like in the USA one finds a great variety of answers to these problems posed. The situation in Germany is different, because bilingualism became an issue only fairly recently due to the actual demands brought by the European union. In South Africa the social context determines largely that people are inclined to bi- and multilingualism and the educational system tries to promote this predisposition by means of bi- or multilingual models in schools, so that the learners become efficient facing the bi- and multilingual challenges of their diverse and pluralistic society. In the USA on the other hand the need arises to provide for minority groups, so that they can retain their mother tongue (e.g. Spanish) while becoming fluent in the predominant language (i.e. American). Lastly the new development of the European Union has led Germany to actively promote bi- und multilingual education to aid the integration of Germans in the Union. The various models developed in these countries are studied in the wide variety of their different social and historical contexts. The main part of the study comprises a systematic overview of the various bilingual education models that are being implemented in different countries. These countries include the USA, Canada, Germany, Luxembourg, Belgium and lastly and more detailed, South Africa. A number of different circumstances surrounding bi- or multilingualism in the various countries have given rise to a large variety of models attempting to address the challenges posed by the various issues. A number of different goals have been addressed and the results have been just as varied. This leads to a concluding comparison of the western and European models with those of the South African models. Much research has been done on bi- and multilingualism and specifically bilingual education, as humans since earliest times were concerned with this subject. For my study I have relied mainly on more recent sources (1990 to the present) from the USA, Canada and Germany. However as the academic study of this issue has been going on for quite a time in some countries like South Africa, I have also referred to older books and journals (1945<). Due to the overwhelming information about this subject a drastic limitation of sources was necessary. / Dissertation (MA (German))--University of Pretoria, 2005. / Modern European Languages / unrestricted

Posant la question de l’enracinement napoléonien entre Rhin et Meuse (1810-1814), ce travail est, du fait de sa nature franco-allemande, différent des nombreuses études consacrées, depuis le XIXe siècle, au traitement de l’opinion publique. Il l’est également dans la mesure où il se fixe pour objectif de répondre, de manière comparative et dans un cadre transnational (France, Allemagne, Belgique, Luxembourg), à la question du rôle joué par l’opinion publique dans l’apogée du régime napoléonien (1810), puis dans son effondrement (1814). Au moyen de l’approche prônée par l’Histoire croisée, nous avons dégagé un certain nombre d’indices qui, sous l’Empire, nous semblent avoir été autant de pommes de discorde. De cette étude, il ressort tout d’abord qu’il existait des éléments structurels constituant, indépendamment de la conjoncture économique et de la politique napoléonienne, un frein à l’enracinement du nouveau régime. Il s’agit du fossé culturel et du souvenir des dominations d’Ancien Régime (Prusse, Autriche). Ensuite, les éléments relatifs à la politique (centralisation, ordre social, système économique) révèlent en quoi, indépendamment des structures et de la conjoncture, le régime napoléonien parvenait ou non à se faire progressivement accepter aussi bien des « anciens Français » que des « nouveaux Français » vivant dans les départements réunis. Enfin, les éléments conjoncturels se devaient également d’être abordés, indépendamment des précédents. Dans l’optique que soit définitivement tournée la page exagérée des histoires nationalistes, nous nous sommes attachés à écrire ce que l’on pourrait finalement considérer comme une Histoire ouest-européenne de l’opinion publique à l’époque napoléonienne. / Owing to its Franco-German nature, this historical study, which analyses the Napoleonic system’s implantation between Rhine and Maas (1810-1814), differs from the numerous studies devoted to public opinion since the 19th century. It is different in the sense that it innovatively sets out to address, from a comparative angle and within a transnational framework (France, Germany, Belgium and Luxembourg), the question of the part played by public opinion between climax (1810) and fall (1814) of the Napoleonic regime. By means of ‘Histoire croisée’, I have identified a certain number of fields which seem to have been, under the Napoleonic Empire, quite contentious issues. From this study emerges, first of all, that structural elements, independent of economic cycles and Napoleonic policies alike, curbed the new regime’s rooting. Instead, the latter was hampered both by cultural gaps and the memory of the preceding rule of the ‘Ancien Régime’ (Prussia, Austria). Second, the elements concerning the polity (centralisation, social order and economic system) reveal to what extent, independent of both structural elements and the economic situation, the Napoleonic regime succeeded, or failed to succeed, in being progressively accepted by ‘old Frenchmen’ as well as by ‘new Frenchmen’, i.e. those who had become annexed by the Republic and then found themselves being subjects of the Empire. Finally, the economic factors are addresses, independent, once again, of the previous ones. Leaving behind histories traditionally nationalist in tone, the present thesis may be considered as a Western European History on public opinion during the Napoleonic era. / Die vorliegende Arbeit beschäftigt sich mit der Frage nach der napoleonischen Verwurzelung zwischen Rhein und Maas (1810-1814) und unterscheidet sich aufgrund ihrer deutsch-französischen Natur von vielen anderen historischen Studien, die sich seit dem 19. Jahrhundert mit der öffentlichen Meinung beschäftigen. Sie hebt sich auch in der Hinsicht ab, als dass sie eine neue Fragestellung verfolgt, nämlich jene nach der öffentlichen Meinung zwischen dem Höhepunkt (1810) und in dem Zusammenbruch (1814) des napoleonischen Regimes, der mit einem komparativen Ansatz und in einem transnationalen Rahmen (Deutschland, Frankreich, Belgien, Luxemburg) nachgegangen wird. Mithilfe des Ansatzes der Histoire croisée wird eine Reihe Themen untersucht, welche schon unter Napoleons Empire Zankäpfel gewesen zu sein scheinen. Aus dieser Studie geht als Erstes hervor, dass einige Strukturmerkmale unabhängig von der wirtschaftlichen Konjunktur und von der napoleonischen Politik die Verwurzelung des neuen Regimes begrenzten. Hierbei geht es um kulturelle Gräben und um die Erinnerung an die vorangegangene Herrschaft der vorrevolutionären Regime (Preußen, Österreich). Als Zweites wird anhand mehrerer auf die Politik bezogener Parameter (Zentralisierung, soziale Ordnung, Wirtschaftssystem) untersucht, inwieweit es dem napoleonischen Regime gelungen ist, unabhängig von strukturellen und ökonomischen Faktoren, sowohl unter „Altfranzosen“ wie auch unter der durch französische Annektionen zu „Neufranzosen“ gewordenen Bevölkerung Akzeptanz zu finden. Darüber hinaus wurden die konjunkturell bedingten Faktoren analysiert, wiederum unabhängig von den vorigen Elementen. Im Kontrast zur stark nationalistisch geprägten Historiographie des 19. Jahrhunderts wird hier eine Arbeit vorgelegt, die als eine westeuropäische Untersuchung zur öffentlichen Meinung im napoleonischen Zeitalter Napoleons betrachtet werden darf.

DOCTORAL THESIS Ivana HERGLOVÁ --- KINGDOM OF BOHEMIA - NEIGHBOUR OF BAVARIA IN THE LATE MIDDLE AGES AND IN THE EARLY MODERN TIMES --- Abstract --- The thesis is dedicated to research in the field of Bavarian-Bohemian relations, mainly in the field of politics, in the 15th and early 16th century. Main interest is given to the contacts between the Kingdom of Bohemia and the four partial duchies into which Bavaria was subdivided in this period - (Lower) Bavaria-Straubing, Bavaria-Munich, Bavaria-Landshut and Bavaria-Ingolstadt. The work is divided into four large parts. The first goes on the Hussite Wars (1419-1434/36). The second part analyses Czech royal election of the year 1440 and the motives of the selected candidate, the duke Albrecht III of Bavaria-Munich, to finally decline the election. This chapter is followed by a summary of the political cooperation between Czech kings Ladislaus Posthumus (1453-1457) and George of Podiebrad (1458-1471) and the duke Louis/Ludwig IX of Bavaria-Landshut. The last chapter of the thesis describes the attempt of the Bavarian dukes (of the now reunited Duchy of Bavaria) William/Wilhelm IV and Louis/Ludwig X to become the kings of Bohemia as a part of their competition for hegemony in the middle European region with the house of Habsburg.