Il primo capitolo si occupa degli aspetti culturali e letterari della Milano di inizio Seicento, in particolare attraverso lo studio dello sviluppo del 'genere poema' e il confronto di due opere, pubblicate nel 1611 dallo stesso stampatore Giacomo Como: La risorgente Roma di Giovan Ambrogio Biffi e L'Armidoro del poeta veneziano Giovanni Soranzo. Entrambi gli autori ebbero come patrono il conte di Sale Francesco d'Adda, mecenate, pittore dilettante e cavaliere, dedito all'organizzazione di tornei. Questo tipo di intrattenimento, molto diffuso nelle corti italiane del periodo, è argomento del secondo capitolo. dalla lettura delle cronache sulle giostre allestite a Milano tra il 1605 e il 1606 per festeggiare i natali del delfino di Spagna, cui partecipò lo stesso conte di Sale, sappiamo che il personaggio di Armidoro, cantato nei loro versi sia da Biffi che da Soranzo, altri non è che lo stesso Francesco d'Adda. abbiamo scoperto anche che tra le fonti del poema di Soranzo vi sono le relazioni del matrimonio delle infante di Savoia (1608) e il testo del Balletto delle ingrate del Rinuccini, composto per l'evento, musicato da Claudio Monteverdi. Il terzo capitolo consiste nell'analisi del poema di Soranzo, di circa 36.500 versi, che trae ispirazione dai modelli di Ariosto e Tasso, ma per certi aspetti si mostra in sintonia con le nuove mode poetiche del secolo barocco. / The first chapter deals with cultural and literary aspects of Milan at the beginning of XVII century, through the confrontation of two poems, published in 1611 by the same editor Giacomo Como: the Risorgente Roma of the Milanese author Giovan Ambrogio Biffi and the Armidoro, wrote by the Venetian poet Giovanni Soranzo. Both Biffi and Soranzo were protected from Francesco d'Adda, earl of Sale's county, patron of artists, amateur painter and knight, who delighted in organizing tournaments. This kind of entertainment, very frequent in the Italian courts of that period, is argument of the second chapter. After the reading of chronicles about chivalrous performances, played in Milan by count of Sale from 1605 till 1606 to celebrate the birth of Spanish prince, we know that Armidoro is the mask of Francesco d'Adda. At the same time we detected many important sources of the Soranzo's poem: the commentaries of Federico Follino and Pompeo Brambilla on the marriage between Francesco Gonzaga and Margherita di Savoia (1608), and the Ingrate's ballet of Ottavio Rinuccini, performed in that occasion with music of Claudio Monteverdi. The third chapter consists on analysis of Armidoro, the poem of about 36.500 lines that Soranzo wrote in competition with Ariosto's Orlando furioso and Tasso's Gerusalemme liberata.

This dissertation investigates the extent of knowledge of China in Europe and, more particularly, Chinese influence on European art and architecture in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. It attempts to answer the following questions: 1. What visual and literature resources on China and Chinese art in Europe were available in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries? 2. To which extent was there any understanding of Chinese art and architecture in Europe in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries? 3. To which extent might this understanding have affected European art and architecture in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries? Although European contacts with China began in the early sixteenth century, few scholars have touched on the evidence that exists of the extent of European knowledge of Chinese architecture before 1720, even on the possible impact of the Chinese architectural designs that were depicted on Chinese porcelains and other merchandise imported into Europe for two centuries before that date. This dissertation examines the evidence for the employment of new and differing aesthetics derived from Chinese artifacts and then assimilated in European art, architecture and landscape in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. After examining the variety of resources from which the new aesthetics derived from Chinese artifacts imported into Europe was evolved, the dissertation analyzes Chinese influence in different nations in an order which follows the most consistently open and effective communications to the Far East. In the process, the dissertation quotes the contemporary historical descriptions of those Chinese artifacts as well as attempting to identify their influence on European art and architecture, thus providing evidence that the interaction between China and Europe served as subtle but active, generative force in European art throughout the period. In sum, the thesis attempts to explore the European understanding of Chinese art in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries and to examine the consequences of that influence as they were reflected in European art and architecture. It analyzes some of the most influential and related social, political, and religious aspects that acted as powerful stimuli, which in turn affected in the growth of Chinese influence on European art, architecture and landscape. This dissertation thus attempts to push back the significance of the Chinese influence on aspects of European artistic styles from the accepted date of the early eighteenth century to the seventeenth and even earlier - the sixteenth century.

This thesis explores changes in experimental reporting during the scientific revolution of the seventeenth century. In particular, I examine and compare some of the works of Count Lorenzo Magalotti, namely the Saggi di Naturali Esperienza or Essays on Natural Experiments and the Relazione d'Inghilterra. In 1667, as secretary of the Accademia del Cimento – the Tuscan experimental academy founded in 1657 – Magalotti (1637-1712) authored the Saggi, a collection of experimental reports. These reports included extensive written descriptions of experiments along with dozens of engravings depicting the instruments custom-made for the experiments. Magalotti also served as ambassador and agent of the Tuscan court and in the same year he traveled to England to offer a copy of the Saggi to King Charles II. While in England, Magalotti corresponded extensively with Prince Leopold and with the future grand duke, Cosimo III, reporting his observations of the English court: descriptions of political, military, and intellectual life at the court of Charles II. Magalotti’s account of his experience was compiled as Relazione d'Inghilterra in 1669. My work shows that the Saggi and the Relazione, although different in their content, emerged from the same historical context. I argue that the way information was conceived and organized, whether it originated from experimental practices (Saggi) or diplomatic actions (Relazione), changed over the course of the seventeenth century. Experimental reporting, like political reporting, became parceled into small, discrete units suited for high rates of information exchange.

Castrati were without doubt, an extraordinary phenomenon in the vocal world. Four centuries of history exist from the first evidence of their presence in music, dating from the 1550s, and the death of the last castrato Allessandro Moreschi, in 1922. A tradition almost solely practiced in Italy, the castrati experienced their halcyon days in the seventeenth and eighteenth century. At first, they were recruited and castrated as young boys to sing in the soprano sections of the church choirs. They enjoyed an extensive training in specialized conservatorios and grew to be the most accomplished vocalists the world had known thus far. Inevitably, their art was noticed by opera composers of the time. They flourished and were celebrated in Italy and abroad. Their vocal technique and artistic skills dictated the bel canto style for nearly two hundred years. At the end of the eighteenth century, the growing awareness in moral philosophy, and a series of political shifts in Europe put an end to the overwhelming success of the eunuchs. Yet their influence on opera composition of the time and of the subsequent decades was of immense consequence. An important question should be raised when performing the opera roles written for castrati nowadays. Who will sing the castrato roles? As a logical solution, women or countertenors should adopt these roles into their repertoire. A study of opera roles written for castrati by a baroque master in the genre, Georg Friedrich Handel, sheds some light on the music for these rare birds. The castrato role-study encompasses Handel’s operas written for the First Royal Academy of Music (1720-1728). By disclosing some particular aspects in the music and the drama, it becomes clear what voice type should be singing these roles in present day Handel opera production. / text

This dissertation deals with how the concept of virtue (dygd) is used in Swedish occasional poetry addressed to merchants before 1780. Occasional poetry was the major kind of literature in Sweden in the seventeenth and the eighteenth century, and usually addressed to the nobility and other dominant groups. As a part of the elites’ conspicuous consumption, and mainly aimed to demonstrate the addressees’ virtue, it played an important role in legitimising the social and political dominance of the elite. Merchandise, however, was regarded with moral suspicion. The main purpose of the thesis is to study the argumentative strategies the poets use to honour merchants, and to determine in what ethical traditions they have found the arguments to back up their reasoning. It is thereby possible to detect subtle changes in how they use the concept of virtue. These strategies and arguments are seen from a rhetorical point of view; the poets’ main purpose was to praise the tradesmen persuasively. The dissertation consists of three parts, dealing with, respectively, the period before 1650, the years 1670–1680 and the period 1770–1780. Each part is divided into three chapters: a brief presentation of the main ethical discussion of the period, a concise examination of the occasional poetry written for groups other than merchants, and an analysis of the argumentative strategies used in honouring tradesmen. The earliest merchant prints are constructed as defences rather than actual complimentary poems. Whereas the poems written for other addressees mainly make use of an Aristotelian concept of virtue, focusing on the services done for society and on the honour that follows from this, the merchant poems take a Lutheran law conception of ethics as their starting point. The key point is to claim that the merchant in question has not broken the Ten Commandments, or any other law belonging to man. Neither has he ever done any harm to his neighbours. In the 1670’s, this argumentative strategy is still abundant, but the poets also claim that the merchants have contributed to society, either through Christian charity or, with an allusion to mercantilism, by always trading with the aim of enriching their fatherland. In some cases, economic success in itself is regarded as a ground for honouring the merchant, the claim being that this was necessary for his charity, or by reference to the Lutheran ethics of calling or vocation. A main point is that the poets sometimes use the word virtue to describe these qualities, thereby in effect widening the concept itself. In the 1770’s, all earlier argumentative strategies are still used by the poets. In some cases, however, the texts consist in an attack on the Aristotelian concept of virtue. The poets argue that virtue is an inner, almost invisible quality having nothing to do with performing an occupation or belonging to a special social stratum. Instead they focus on sincerity as a quality essential to real virtue and as an important virtue in itself, thereby also claiming that virtue and glory could and should be separated.

Thesis (M.A.)--Miami University, Dept. of History, 2009. / Title from first page of PDF document. Includes bibliographical references (p. 50-54).

Issus d’une dynastie de maîtres maçons et d’architectes établis à Dreux vers 1500-1516, les frères Louis et Clément Métézeau sont des architectes français actifs de la fin du XVIe siècle à la première moitié du XVIIe. La carrière du premier, Louis (vers 1563 ?-1615), essentiellement parisienne, se confond avec le règne d’Henri IV et se prolonge jusqu’en 1615 sous la régence de Marie de Médicis. En 1594, il fut chargé de superviser tous les chantiers royaux et fut, à ce titre, un des principaux acteurs de la reconstruction et de la modernisation du royaume. Son frère cadet, Clément (1581-1652), suivit ses traces : un temps au service des ducs de Lorraine et de Nevers, il revint en France où il devint à partir de 1615 un des architectes et ingénieurs ordinaires du roi Louis XIII puis de son frère Gaston d’Orléans. Il répondit aussi à de nombreuses commandes privées, tant civiles que religieuses, mais c’est la digue de La Rochelle qui fit sa renommée.A partir de documents d’archives inédits et d’une iconographie plus riche qu’on pourrait imaginer a priori, cette thèse restitue et réévalue les carrières méconnues de ces deux architectes. Une lecture critique des sources inédites rétablit la chronologie de chacune de leurs œuvres et s’attache à répondre aux problèmes récurrents d’attribution. Elle met aussi l’accent sur la polyvalence de ces artistes qu’elle replace au sein même de la communauté artistique parisienne de l’époque. Elle tente enfin de définir, pour chacun, un style architectural mis en regard avec la production des « ancêtres » de la dynastie, puis avec celle de leurs confrères. / Born into a dynasty of builders and architects settled in Dreux around 1500-1516, the brothers Louis and Clément Métézeau are French architects of the end of the sixteenth century and the first half of the seventeenth century. The career of the elder, Louis (ca. 1563?-1615), essentially concentrated around Paris, parallels with the reign of Henri IV and continues until 1615 under the regency of Marie de Médicis. In 1594, he was chosen to supervise all the royal building sites. He was one of the major actors of the reconstruction and the modernisation of the kingdom. His younger brother, Clément (1581-1652), followed his example. After working for the dukes of Lorraine and Nevers, he came back to France where he became in 1615 one of the ordinary architects and engineers of the king Louis XIII and his brother Gaston d’Orléans. He carried on several private projects, both civil and religious, but he became famous with his dike of La Rochelle.Using unpublished archive documents, this dissertation revives the unknown careers of both of these architects. A critical reading of the sources provides us with a new chronology of their works and tries to answer the numerous questions concerning their works, especially the recurrent issues of the attribution of their buildings.

This essay examines the local construction of law in San Damián de Urotambo—an indigenous community in Huarochirí—in the early seventeenth century. In Andean towns, the alcaldes (magistrates), commonly members of the local nobility, had jurisdiction over dispute resolution and made use of Castilian law. These alcaldes, representatives of royal power, were central actors in the circulation of legal knowledge. They were also experts in the usage of Castilian judicial and notarial practices. Likewise, litigants were key agents in the process of creating a new juridical order by invoking both European and Pre-Columbian juridical traditions. This essay illustrates how these two legal spheres—Castilian and Andean—mingled and were negotiated by judges and litigants through a process of interlegality. These legal agents played a crucial role in the making of colonial law within the plural dimensions of the juridical world of San Damián de Urotambo. / Este trabajo examina la construcción local del Derecho en San Damián de Urotambo —una comunidad de Huarochirí— en el temprano siglo XVII. En los pueblos de naturales, los alcaldes, usualmente indios notables y principales, ejercieron activa jurisdicción en su calidad de jueces y, en la resolución de disputas, hicieron uso del Derecho castellano. Los alcaldes, representantes del poder regio, fueron centrales en la circulación de conocimientos jurídicos; ellos mismos estaban muy familiarizados con las prácticas judiciales y notariales castellanas y las pusieron en práctica. Los litigantes fueron igualmente agentes importantes en este proceso de creación jurídica. Invocaron no solamente el Derecho europeo, sino que sus peticiones se apoyaron en las tradiciones jurídicas de origen precolombino. Este trabajo muestra cómo ambas esferas legales —castellanas y andinas— se entremezclaban y eran negociadas por jueces y litigantes en un fenómeno de interlegalidad. Estos agentes locales jugaron un rol activo en la construcción del Derecho colonial y las dimensiones plurales del orden legal en San Damián de Urotambo.

This essay will discuss the unusual rise to power of don Bartolomé Cortés y Mendoza Axaycatzin, who was appointed by viceroy Cadereita to serve as governor of Mexico Tenochtitlan in 1636 without mandate from the community. He had previously served as governor in Puebla de los Angeles—the most Spanish city in seventeenth century Mexico, which had no original native communities before the arrival of Europeans. The paper will explore the problem of native jurisdiction at times when tribute collections fell. It will also explore how names can signify political authority. Axayacatzin, Cortés, Bartolomé, and Mendoza all signified political status for Europeans and perhaps were assumed to connote authority and status to Tenochca and other native peoples resident in Mexico Tenochtitlan at a time when the city’s indigenous population was becoming increasingly diverse. / Este ensayo discutirá el inusual ascenso al poder de don Bartolomé Cortés y Mendoza Axaycatzin, que fue designado por el virrey Cadereita para servir como gobernador de México Tenochtitlan en 1636 sin el mandato de la comunidad. Él había servido previamente como gobernador en Puebla de los Ángeles —la ciudad más española en México del siglo XVII que no contaba con comunidades nativas originales anteriores a la llegada de los europeos—. En el artículo se explorará el problema de la jurisdicción indígena en momentos en que las colectas tributarias decayeron. También se explorará cómo los nombres pueden significar autoridad política. Axayacatzin, Cortés, Bartolomé y Mendoza indicaban una condición política para los europeos, y quizás se asumió que connotaban autoridad y estatus para los tenochcas y otros pueblos nativos de México Tenochtitlan en una época en la cual población indígena de la ciudad se diversificaba cada vez más.

This article analyzes the nature of economic relations which began with the use of credit. In particular, it will study an important seventeenth century limanian family: the Guerra de la Daga. Two members of that family, Lucía and Clara, founders of the monastery of Santa Catalina in Lima, invested their capital in that monastery and guarantied its autonomy with respect to the administration of convent goods. To insure their control, they saturated the patrimony of their brother Antonio, owner of a mayorazgo, with different loans. This situation redefined family relationships between the founding abbesses and their brothers and descendants. / Este artículo analiza la naturaleza de las relaciones económicas nacidas a partir del crédito. Se estudia el caso de una importante familia limeña del siglo XVII: los Guerra de la Daga. Dos de sus miembros, Lucía y Clara, fundadoras del monasterio de Santa Catalina de Lima, invirtieron sus capitales en la dotación del mismo y procuraron la autonomía en la administración de los bienes conventuales. Para afianzar su poder, saturaron el patrimonio de su hermano Antonio, propietario de un mayorazgo, por medio de diversos préstamos. Esta situación redefiniría las relaciones parentales entre las abadesas fundadoras, de un lado, y sus hermanos y los descendientes de estos, del otro.