Ancestors of Governmentality: Accounting and Pastoral Power in the 15th Century

Foucault identified the roots of governmentality in religious beliefs and religious history with its genealogical core the equivalent of pastoral power, the art of governing people by relying on a dualistic logic; individualization and totalization. This technology of power arose and matured within the Roman Catholic Church and provided a model for many states in the achievement and exercise of power. Informed by the work of Foucault on pastoral power the present work examines the genealogical core of governmentality in the context of the Roman Catholic Church at a time of great crisis in the 15th century when the Roman Catholic Church was undergoing reform instituted by Pope Eugenius IV (1431-1447). The contributions of accounting to pastoral power are shown in this study to have been pivotal in restoring the Church’s standing and influence. Accounting was one of the technologies that allowed the bishops to control both the diocese as a whole and each priest, to subjugate the priests to the bishops’ authority and, thereby, to govern the diocese through a never-ending extraction of truth.

Detecting the environmental impact of the Baltic Crusades on a late-medieval (13th-15th century) frontier landscape: palynological analysis from Malbork Castle and hinterland, Northern Poland

Palaeoecological analysis of peat deposits from a small bog, combined with pollen analysis of sediments infilling the moat of the nearby Teutonic Order castle at Malbork, have been used to examine the ecological impact of the Crusades on the late-medieval landscape of Northern Poland. Studies of the environmental impact of the Crusades have been almost exclusively informed by written sources; this study is the first of its type to directly investigate the environmental context of Crusading as a force of ecological transformation on the late-medieval Baltic landscape. The pollen evidence from Malbork Castle and its hinterland demonstrate that the 12th/13th–15th centuries coincide with a marked transformation in vegetation and land-use, characterized by clearance of broadleaved woodland and subsequent agricultural intensification, particularly during the 14th/15th centuries. These changes are ascribed to landscape transformations associated with the Teutonic Order’s control of the landscape from the mid-13th century. Human activity identified in the pollen record prior to this is argued to reflect the activities of Pomeranian settlers in the area. This paper also discusses the broader palaeoecological evidence for medieval landscape change across Northern Poland.

Inferring animal husbandry strategies in coastal zones through stable isotope analysis: new evidence from the Flemish coastal plain (Belgium, 1st-15th century AD)

In a proof-of-concept study, Britton et al. (2008) demonstrated that the isotopic composition of halophytic plants can be traced in the skeletal tissues of their animal consumers. Here we apply the method to domestic herbivore remains (n = 303) from nine archaeological sites in or near the Flemish coastal plain (Belgium), where, prior to embankments, salt-marshes offered extensive pasture grounds for domestic herbivores. The sites span a period of ∼1500 years (Roman to late medieval period), during which the coastal landscape was progressively transformed from little managed wetlands to a fully embanked polder area. The bulk collagen data show variations between sites and over time, which are consistent with this historical framework and are interpreted as reflecting environmental change and differences in animal management in the coastal plain throughout the late Holocene. The study demonstrates the immense value of faunal stable isotope analysis for characterising coastal husbandry strategies beyond the means of traditional zooarchaeological techniques.

Greek printing outside Greece, from the 15th century to e-books

An exhibition of rare Greek printed books, with printed items dating from 1488 to recent decades, and rarely seen in one setting. This exhibition focuses on the typographic continuity of Greek literary culture.

Naẓm al-Jamīʻ al-ṣaghīr, [late 15th century?].

Fine copy of Abū Naṣr al-Farāḥī's (d.1242) versification of al-Jamīʻ al-ṣaghīr fī al-furūʻ, the well-known legal treatise by Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥasan al-Shaybānī (d.804). Excerpts from Kashf al-ẓunūn addressing these two works appear on leaf affixed to 'title page' (p.5).

An account of a copy from the 15th century of a map of the world engraved on metal,

Mode of access: Internet.

Pride, or the heir of Craven; a tale of the 15th century. In six cantos.

Mode of access: Internet.

The renaissance of modern Europe : a review of the scientific, artistic, rationalistic, revolutionary revival, dating from the 15th century ; being a lecture delivered before the Sunday Lecture Society, the 24th November, 1872 /

Mode of access: Internet.

The romance of Guy of Warwick. The second or 15th-century version.

Mode of access: Internet.

al-Asmāʼ al-ḥusná mustakhrajah min al-Qurʼān al-ʻaẓīm wa-Kitāb al-Ṭibb al-nabawī, [15th century?].

A work on prophetic medicine (or the Prophet's medicine) by al-Maqdisī (d.1245) preceded by a short treatise of uncertain authorship on the beautiful names of God.