Thesis (MPhil (Ancient Studies)--University of Stellenbosch, 2008. / Ammißaduqa, penultimate king of the Ôammurabi dynasty in the Old Babylonian period, reigned from 1646-1626 BCE, and issued a mēšarum edict which Finkelstein described as “a single tablet, inscribed with a most unique text of an importance for the socio-economic life of Babylonia second to no other.” It is essential to define ancient royal edicts within their cultural context. This thesis examines, within the broad legal, religious, political and social background of the Ancient Near East, the design of royal edicts, their aims, beneficiaries and legal implications. The primary goal of this thesis is to improve our understanding of the motives for the promulgation of mēšarum decrees within the ancient cultures, and in particular, the motives for Ammißaduqa’s first edict. There is a strong scholarly tendency to seek the motives in the economic faction, even likening this decree to a “modern-day economic stimulus package,” a type of “RDP”. Kraus noted that the first promulgation was designed and executed for ideological purposes, subsequent mēšarum edicts were economic emergency measures. Nel agreed that the proclamation of a mēšarum was part of the propaganda strategy to strengthen the royal administration and to legitimize its power. The mēšarum was not designed to bring prosperity, but to stimulate agricultural production and prevent uncontrolled urbanization. Olivier noted that the mēšarum was intended, not to reform the economic system, but to remedy the unbearable economic situation. The economic motive is therefore of prime importance for all subsequent edicts, although an overlapping of all three motives – ethics, ego and economy – is highly likely. The base-line conclusion is that the motive and the occasion are inseparable. The aim of this thesis was to produce sufficient evidence that king Ammißaduqa was primarily inspired by ethics and ego, and not economics, when declaring his first mēšarum edict.

Proefschrift--Groningen. / "De Franse tekst is van de hand van de heer Louis Laurent." Bibliography: p. 9-25.

Proefschrift--Groningen. / "De Franse tekst is van de hand van de heer Louis Laurent." Bibliography: p. 9-25.

Despite a vast amount of research on Late Antiquity, little attention has been paid to certain figures that prove to be influential during this time. The focus of historians on Constantine I, the first Roman Emperor to allegedly convert to Christianity, has often come at the cost of ignoring Constantine's predecessor, Diocletian, sometimes known as the "Second Father of the Roman Empire". The success of Constantine's empire has often been attributed to the work and reforms of Diocletian, but there have been very few studies of the man beyond simple biography. This work will attempt to view three of Diocletian's major innovations in order to determine the lasting effect they had over the Roman Empire and our modern world. By studying 1) Diocletian's assumption of new, divinely inspired titles; 2)Diocletian's efforts at controlling prices in the marketplace; and 3)Diocletian's Persecution of the Christians in the Roman Empire at the turn of the fourth century CE, we can gain valuable insight into the ways through which Roman Emperors extended their authority throughout different facets of Ancient World, including developments that would shape the future of Western Civilization for the next 1400 years.

En 1685, l’édit de Nantes est révoqué. La législation royale et les dragonnades contraignent les protestants à abjurer. Si certains acceptent la conversion au catholicisme, d’autres choisissent l’illégalité, à savoir l’exil vers les Pays du Grand Refuge ou la pratique clandestine de leur religion. L’édit de Fontainebleau est enregistré par le conseil souverain de Tournai, cour érigée en parlement en 1686. Les représentants de la justice du roi sont chargés de faire respecter lesdispositions de l’édit dans une province nouvellement conquise qui possède sa propre histoire religieuse et dont la situation frontalière favorise l’exil.L’objet de cette étude est d’analyser l’application de la Révocation dans les provinces de Flandre et du Hainaut-Cambrésis et ses conséquences sur les protestants locaux. Les magistrats et les intendants, influencés ou non par les particularismes de ces provinces, ont-ils favorisé l‘exécution rigoureuse de la législation ou au contraire ont-ils préféré la clémence? L’exil massif des protestants,surtout d’autres provinces françaises, et la crainte d’une détérioration de l’économie du royaume rendent en effet difficile l’application stricte de la législation. / In 1685, the Edict of Nantes is revoked. Royal legislation and “dragonnades” compel the Protestants to abjure. If some accept conversion to Catholicism, others choose illegality, more precisely emigration to the protestants Countries or clandestine practice of their religion. The edict of Fontainebleau is enacted by the sovereign council of Tournai, a court erected in parliament in 1686. The representatives of the king's justice are responsible for enforcing the provisions in a newly conquered border province which has its own religious history and favors, due toits situation, exile abroad.The purpose of this study is to analyse the application of the Revocation in the provinces of Flanders and Hainaut-Cambrésis and its consequences on local Protestants. Did the juges and the intendants, influenced or not by the specific characteristics of these provinces, favor the enforcementof legislation, or, on the contrary, were they rather lenient? The massive exile of Protestants of other French provinces and the fear of a deterioration of the Kingdom's economy made it difficult to enforce the legislation strictly.

Le travail de recherche que nous proposons a pour cadre la prédication au XVIIe siècle dans la période de l’édit de Nantes (1598-1685) et concerne l’expression de la vanité dans des oeuvres oratoires (sermons catholiques et protestants) et picturales (Vanités, tableaux d’autel). Ces dernières années, l’étude de la rhétorique a ouvert la voie à de nouvelles perspectives intéressantes à exploiter. La problématique qui guide cette recherche concerne la manière dont le concept de la vanité permet de renouveler, à cette époque, la rhétorique de la prédication. Autrement dit, il s’agit de montrer que le concept de vanité est, dans la prédication, un enjeu théologique et littéraire. Ma démarche consiste donc à étudier lescaractéristiques d’un discours, héritier des conceptions antiques, remodelé pour s’adapter aux circonstances qui imposent une nécessaire réflexion sur la nature et le pouvoir de la parole exprimée dans les sermons et les tableaux de Vanité. Le concept de vanité témoigne non seulement d’un douloureux constat anthropologique, mais est aussi employé, dans le discours, comme un argument moral, religieux, tout en étant source paradoxalement de fascination esthétique. Nous reconsidérons donc plus précisément les thèmes privilégiés de la prédication (mort, mépris du monde, pénitence…), et les stratégies discursives mises en place par les prédicateurs protestants et catholiques pour étudier les paradoxes du discours sur la vanité. / This research is set within the framework of XVIIth-century preaching during the Edict of Nantes period (1598-1685). It regards the expression of vanity in oratorical works (Catholic and Protestant sermons) as well as pictorial works (Vanitas, altar paintings). These last years, the study of rhetoric opened new paths that are interesting to explore. The issue at thecore of this study is the way the concept of vanity led to a renewal of the rhetoric of preaching in that period. In other words, I will show that for preachers the concept of vanityis both a theological and a literary concern. Thus my approach is to study the characteristics of a form of speech which, while it is heir to ancient conceptions, is also remodeled in order to adapt tonew circumstances that demand necessary reflections about nature and the power of speech as expressed in sermons and in Vanitas. The concept of vanity isnot only evidence of painful anthropological assessments, but is also used as a moral and religious argumentin sermons, while paradoxically generating an aesthetic fascination. I will thus consider moreparticularly the preachers’ favorite themes (death, scorn for the world, penitence) and their speech strategies, as Catholics and as Protestants, in order to study the paradoxes of speeches about vanity.

Potsdam hat ein neues Potsdamer Toleranzedikt. Das 100-seitige Edikt ist das Ergebnis eines knapp achtmonatigen Stadtgesprächs, das in Potsdam im Jahr 2008 stattgefunden hat. Oberbürgermeister Jann Jakobs stellte das Buch am 10. Oktober 2008 zusammen mit Projektinitiator Prof. Heinz Kleger, Universität Potsdam, der Öffentlichkeit vor. Es ist anders als das historische "Edikt von Potsdam", kein Erlass von oben, sondern wurde in einem offen angelegten Diskussionsprozess von den Einwohnerinnen und Einwohnern der Stadt Potsdam auf vielfältige Art und Weise gestaltet: auf den stadtweit aufgestellten Diskussionstafeln, in zahlreichen Gesprächen auf Veranstaltungen, in Diskussionsrunden, durch eingesendete Postkarten, erarbeiteten Selbstverpflichtungen und eingebrachten Diskussionsbeiträgen im Internet. Das neue Potsdamer Toleranzedikt besteht aus drei Teilen. Beginnend mit einer Präambel, die den Begriff Toleranz für die Potsdamer und das gemeinsame Zusammenleben beschreibt, wird im ersten Teil ein historischer und aktueller Zusammenhang hergestellt. Der zweite Teil enthält die Ergebnisse des Stadtgesprächs, die detailliert ausgewertet und erläutert wurden. Im dritten Teil wurden die Selbstverpflichtungen unterschiedlichster gesellschaftlicher Akteure aus Potsdam abgebildet. Das Projekt Potsdamer Toleranzedikt ist ein Kooperationsprojekt der Landeshauptstadt Potsdam und des Vereins proWissen Potsdam e.V, unterstützt vom Stifterverband der Deutschen Wissenschaft.

L’empoisonnement est une infraction qui est apparue tardivement, bien que le poison soit depuis longtemps utilisé comme une arme criminelle redoutable. En 1682, il fait l’objet d’une réglementation spécifique qui le distingue du simple homicide et qui encadre de manière rigoureuse le commerce des substances vénéneuses. Depuis cette date, l’empoisonnement a toujours été incriminé de façon autonome dans le droit français. Aussi, cette nouveauté juridique soulève de nombreuses questions d’une part sur la constitution de l’infraction et, de l’autre, sur sa répression par les tribunaux. L’empoisonnement étant un crime difficilement démontrable, la question de la preuve se pose à chaque instant. Par conséquent, il faut interroger la justice criminelle pour comprendre l’apport de cette nouvelle législation et les spécificités qui sont propres au crime d’empoisonnement, tant dans le déroulement de la procédure criminelle que dans la sanction appliquée aux empoisonneurs. / Poisonning is a violation which appeared lately, though poison has been used as a powerful criminal weapon for a long time. In 1682, a specific regulation distinguished it from a manslaughter and supervised the trade of poisonous substances in a rigorous way. Since then, the poisoning has always been incriminated independantly in the French law. So a lot of question was raised by this new law ; in one hand on the constitution of the breach and on the other hand on its repression by the courts. As poisonning is a crime which is hard to proove, evidence have to be found all the time. Therefore, we have to ask the Criminal Justice to understand this new legislation and these specificities which are particular to poisonning, both in the progress of the criminal procedure and in the penalty applied to the poisoners.

This thesis will attempt to introduce a history of the Dardanelles Jewish community during the early years of the Tanzimat, i.e. between 1839 and 1845. It analyzes the cultural and economic structure of the community and its relations with the Ottoman state in light of developments following the Baltalimani Convention of 1838 and the proclamation of the Tanzimat. This study, based mostly upon Ottoman archival documents, first will touch upon the initial Jewish settlement in the Dardanelles and the demographic composition of the city during the early years of the Tanzimat. Then it will provide information about Jewish communal organization in the Dardanelles, as it will explain the institutions, religious and lay leadership and some cultural aspects of the Jews. Next, it will bring forth, mostly in statistical tables, properties owned by the Dardanelles Jews, as well as occupational divisions among them such as in crafts, trades and agriculture. The study further will examine their economic stratification in comparison with the non-Jewish communities in the Dardanelles, and briefly outlines their commercial and diplomatic relations with the European states. This thesis also will attempt to cover the community&amp / #8217 / s relations with the Ottoman state with respect to Tanzimat reforms and in connection with the foundation of the Grand Rabbinate in 1835, the changes brought to communal administration, and adjustments on taxes paid to the Ottoman state. The fire of 1845 that totally destroyed the Jewish quarter, and its aftermath will be discussed in the last part, thus ending the thesis.

Henri IV met fin aux guerres civiles de religion en 1598 en décrétant la mémoire des troubles « éteinte et assoupie, comme de chose non advenue ». Comment se positionne le théâtre français par rapport à cette politique d’oubli, quel espace mémoriel offre-t-il ? Nous considérons la tragédie qui s’écrit entre 1629, fin officielle des guerres civiles et date de la dernière tragédie d’actualité, et 1653, fin de la Fronde et d’une nouvelle menace de division intérieure. La tragédie semble se détourner d’une actualité trop déchirante, en ce sens elle oublie, mais elle se trouve pourtant travaillée par cet oublié. En partant du plus visible : la mise en scène des princes cléments, nous montrons que cette forme d’oubli officiel et volontaire est très représentée sur la scène tragique. Mais l’oublié est aussi ce qui travaille les tragédies dans la représentation qu’elles offrent du conflit familial qui fournit bon nombre des sujets tragiques du temps. La tragédie fait donc affleurer le présent du passé, la mémoire de la division, par le détour allégorique. À un théâtre mélancolique où le passé pèse sur le présent de tout son poids s’oppose un théâtre de relance historique dans lequel peut s’ouvrir un avenir nouveau. Enfin, l’oubli apparaît dans ces années de théorisation dramatique comme un idéal pour le spectateur absorbé dans le spectacle, et comme une menace quand il conduit à l’oubli de soi chez certains comédiens ou spectateurs naïfs. L’oubli, dans son équivocité fondamentale, permet donc d’articuler théorie politique, dramatique et images scéniques, dans un premier dix-septième siècle où l’on ne cesse de penser la violence qui menace le lien et la communauté au risque de la division. / Henry the 4th ends the religious civil wars in 1598 by ordaining that the remembrance of troubles is « extinguished and abated, like something that did not occur ». How does French drama stand in relation with this politics of oblivion ? What kind of memorial space does it open ? We consider tragedies written between 1629, official end of the troubles and date of publication of the last usual times tragedy, and 1653, end of a new internal division threat embodied by the Fronde. In appearance, tragedy seems to forget a harrowing recent past by turning away from it, but it is simultaneously deeply influenced by what has been forgotten. By starting with what is most visible, the staging of merciful princes, we demonstrate that this official and voluntary oblivion is very much represented on the tragic stage. But forgetfulness is also influencing tragedies in their displaying of family feuds, a frequent tragic topic of these times. Tragedy thus makes surface the present of the past, the memory of division, through allegoric detours. A double-face drama emerges : one of melancholy in which past weighs on present, one of historical reset with an ouverture for renascent prospects. Last, in these years of dramatic theorization, forgetfulness appears to be, for a spectator absorbed by the play, an ideal, as well as it can drag the most naive of them and some comedians into forgetting about their selves in denial of reality and confusion with fiction. The fundamental ambiguity of forgetfulness enables to articulate political theory, drama and staging, in a 17th century where violence is thought to threaten the community with division.