Spanish ribbed vaults in the 15th and 16th centuries

Proceedings of the First International Congress on Construction History : Madrid, 20th-24th January 2003

Introduction to the literature of Europe in the 15th, 16th, and 17th centuries./

Vols. 2-4 have half-title: Collection of ancient and modern British authors. v. 166-167 bis.

Staro��ytne przypowie��ci z XV, XVI i XVII wieku [Ancient sayings of the 15th, 16th and 17th centuries]

Based on the collections of Salomon Rysi��ski and others.

Early illustrated books; a history of the decoration and illustration of books in the 15th and 16th centuries.

Includes index.

The Scottish Parliament in the 15th and 16th centuries

Earlier histories of the Scottish parliament have been somewhat constitutional in emphasis and have been exceedingly critical of what was understood to be parliament's subservience to the crown. Estimates by constitutional historians of the extreme weakness of parliament rested on an assessment of the constitutional system. The argument was that many of its features were not consistent with a reasonably strong parliament. Because the 'constitution' is apparently fragmented, with active roles played by bodies such as the lords of articles, the general council and the convention of estates, each apparently suggesting that parliament was inadequate, historians have sometimes failed to appreciate the positive role played by the estates in the conduct of national affairs. The thesis begins with a discussion of the reliability of the printed text of APS and proceeds to an examination of selected aspects of the work of parliament in a period from c 1424-c 1625. The belief of constitutional historians such as Rait that conditions In Scotland proved unfavourable to the interests and. effectiveness of parliament in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, is also examined. Chapter 1 concludes that APS is a less than reliable text, particularly for the reign of James I. Numerous statutes were excluded from the printed text and they are offered below for the first time. These statutes have been a useful addition to our understanding of the reign of James I. Chapter 2 analyses the motives behind the schemes for shire representation and concludes that neither constitutional theory nor political opportunism explains the support which James I and James VI gave to these measures. Both these monarchs were motivated by the realisation that their particular ambitions were dependent on winning the support of the estates whose ranks should include representatives from the shires. Chapter 3 examines the method of electing the lords of articles, the composition of this committee, and some aspects of its operation. The conclusion is that in the main the estates were the deciding force in the choice of the lords of articles. The committee's composition was more a reflection of a desire for a balance between representatives from north and south of the Forth and for the most important burghs and clergy to be selected than an attempt at electing government favourites. The articles did exercise a significant control over the items which came before parliament but this control was not absolute and applied to government as well as private legislation. Chapter 4 questions the traditional view that the general council and convention of estates were the same body. It is argued that they were two different institutions with different powers, but that they nevertheless worked within certain limits and were careful not to usurp the authority of parliament. Chapter 5 concedes that taxation was sometimes decided outside parliament; that the irregularity of taxation certainly weakened the bargaining power of the estates and that the latter did not appear to capitalise on these occasions when taxation was an issue. But the tendency was to ensure that, whether in or out of parliament, the decision to impose taxation was taken by a large number of each estate. The infrequency of taxation was a direct consequence of an unwillingness among the estates to agree to a regular taxation and their preference to ensure for the crown an alternative source of income. Moreover taxation was one issue, which more than any other, would be subject to contentious opposition by the estates, and could lead to the crown's defeat. Chapter 6 is concerned with ecclesiastical representation after the Reformation and the church's attitudes to the possibility of ministerial representation. Some ministers had doctrinal misgivings but the majority came to believe that the church's absence from parliament bad severely reduced. the influence of the church. That no agreement was forthcoming on a system of ministerial representation, particularly after 1597, is attributable to the estates' unwillingness to compromise and, not to the strength of opposition in the church. Chapter 7 examines the institutions which are sometime seen as 'rivals' of parliament and concludes that institutions such as the privy council were generally very careful in matters which needed the approval of parliament, and seemed aware of the greater authority of parliament. Chapter 8 which illustrates how parliament had the right to be consulted in all important matters of state, brings together the main points of the earlier chapters and offers further illustrations of the essential role which parliament played in the conduct of national affairs. Whether or not the system can be regarded as constitutionally sound, the estates in Scotland could observe parliament's day-to-day operation with some satisfaction. All in all, there is little convincing evidence that parliament was as weak as some historians would have us believe.

Calcium sulfate fillers and binders in Portuguese 15th and 16th centuries: Ground layers from a family painting workshop ��� Study by multianalytical spectroscopic techniques

This study presents results on a developed methodology to characterize ground layers in Portuguese workshops. In this work a set of altarpieces of the 15th and 16th centuries, assigned to Coimbra painting workshop was studied, overall the masters Vicente Gil (doc. Coimbra 1498���1525), Manuel Vicente (doc. Coimbra 1521���1530) and Bernardo Manuel (act. c. 1559���94), father, son and grandson, encompassing from late gothic to mannerist periods. The aim of the study is to compare ground layers, fillers and binders of Coimbra workshop, and to correlate their characteristics to understand the technical evolution of this family of painters, using complementary microscopic techniques. The cross-sections from the groups of paintings were examined by optical microscopy and the results were integrated through the analysis obtained by ��-X���ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy with energy dispersive X���ray Spectrometry, ��-confocal Raman and occasionally with ��-Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy imaging. Ground layers are of calcium sulfate, present as gesso grosso (mainly anhydrite with small amounts of gypsum) in the first and last phases of the workshop and gesso mate (mainly gypsum with small amounts of anhydrite) in an intermediate period. Binders have protein and oleic characteristics.

Municipal Self-Government in the Ukrainian Lands: 14th-16th Centuries

This project considered the development of municipal self-government (particularly the Magdeburg-law type) in Ukraine through the late Middle Ages in the context of central and eastern European history, using a comparative analysis of different forms of self-government. The Magdeburg Law was brought to the lands of old Rus by German colonists in the period of the Galician-Volhynian State (in the late 13th-early 14th centuries). Municipal self-government based on this law in Ukraine was now however an external artificial phenomenon, but rather an intrinsic need that emerged during the historical development of the society. The Magdeburg Law reached Ukraine through Poland and acquired certain features which were different from the form used in German towns, and Ukrainian towns further adapted the Magdeburg model to their own circumstances. It was "purest" in the western part of the region, while further to the east Magdeburg-Law-type municipal government appeared later, was further removed from its original form, and had a weaker influence on the historical development of the towns. The Magdeburg Law came to be a legalisation of a historically determined process of the emergence of an urban estate.

Linajes urbanos y Parientes Mayores en Guip��zcoa a finales de la Edad Media (1450-1520)

[ES]Durante el tr��nsito de la Edad Media a la Edad Moderna los linajes urbanos y los Parientes Mayores siguieron compartiendo intereses comunes y estrechos lazos sangu��neos y econ��micos, que les permitieron monopolizar el poder de las villas guipuzcoanas y copar la mayor parte de los cargos concejiles, dando lugar a un proceso de oligarquizaci��n. El trabajo de investigaci��n se vale de m��todos prosopogr��ficos para analizar una serie de fuentes in��ditas o escasamente utilizadas hasta la fecha, complementadas por otras suficientemente conocidas, para demostrar que, a pesar de lo que ha venido manteniendo la historiograf��a, los Parientes Mayores no fueron vencidos y desplazados por los linajes urbanos, si no que se produjo una simbiosis entre ambos, lo que les permiti�� seguir controlando la vida pol��tica local y provincial de forma directa o indirecta.

The scramble for the seas : the ballad evidence of Sir Andrew Barton

The presence and importance of the sea as a factor that has helped shape the history of England since at least the Roman invasions of 55-54 BC (less successful, incidentally, than most of Caesar���s other military ventures ...) need no particular urging or demonstration. Nonetheless, a bird���s-eye view would necessarily survey the waves of invasions and settlements that, one after the other, came dashing over the centuries upon England���s shores; not to mention the requested invasion of 1688, Angles and Saxons, Scandinavians, Normans, they all crossed the whale���s path and cast anchor in England���s green and pleasant land. In the course of this retrospective voyage through the oceans of History, one would inevitably stop at the so-called ���Discoveries��� of the 15th-16th centuries, meet their navigators, sailors and pirates extolled by Richard Hakluyt (1553?-1616), face an anonymous crowd of merchants and witness the huge expansion of trade, largely to the benefit of the ���discovering��� countries as prescribed by the economic Gospel Adam Smith (1723-90) would later baptize as ���mercantilism���.

[Ressenya del llibre Els nous horitzons culturals a Mallorca al final de l'Edat Mitjana, de Maria Barcel�� i Gabriel Ensenyat]

Ressenya del llibre Els nous horitzons culturals a Mallorca al final de l'Edat Mitjana, de Maria Barcel�� i Gabriel Ensenyat. L���obra tracta sobre l���humanisme a Mallorca, la conclusi�� de la qual ��s que, tenint en compte que l���humanisme en estat pur no va existir ni tan sols a It��lia, es pot parlar de l���humanisme catal�� comptant amb les seves reminisc��ncies de l���Edat Mitjana de les que no se sostreuen enlloc

Edizione commentata della Cronaca di Venezia di Giovanni Tiepolo (XVI-XVII sec.)

Il seguente studio propone l'esame di una cronaca veneziana del XVI secolo, inedita, dalle origini al 1538/39, che parte della tradizione manoscritta attribuisce al Patriarca di Venezia Giovanni Tiepolo (1619-1631), parte ad Agostino degli Agostini, (1530-1574), un patrizio veneziano il cui nome �� legato essenzialmente ad una cronaca dal 421 al 1570. Indipendentemente da chi sia il primitivo autore, la cronaca, di discreto pregio per la storia interna e il funzionamento delle istituzioni veneziane, presenta elementi di spiccata originalit�� dal punto di vista compositivo e formale che la pongono in una prospettiva storiografica alternativa al dualismo tra la storiografia ufficiale promossa per pubblico decreto e l'iniziativa privata dei diaria del XV-XVI. La cronaca veneziana, abbandonata per formule pi�� sofisticate e innovative di diffusione dell'informazione pubblica, sopravvive, formalmente immutata nella sua arcaicit��, rinnovandosi nella tendenza a creare compendi ricchi di documenti e di elenchi, destinati ad aiutare la nobilt�� ad orientarsi nel mondo socio-politico contemporaneo. Si consuma cos�� il divorzio fra l'informazione tecnico-politica utile al patriziato nello svolgimento del suo lavoro e la storiografia pubblica che, di fronte alle varie esigenze e ai diversi generi letterari, sceglie ideologicamente di abbracciare il genere delle laus civitatis e della storiografia laudativa ed encomiastica. In questo contesto si inserisce la Cronaca esemplata dal Patriarca Giovanni Tiepolo, chiaro esempio di un tentativo di razionalizzazione dell'informazione in cui le notizie e gli elementi non ritenuti immediatamente utili come le lunghe liste dei 41 elettori, le promissioni ducali, nonch�� singoli episodi ed eventi trattati, trovano una collocazione esterna alla cronaca, in quello che Reines definisce l'ormai nascente archivio politico del XVI secolo.

Late Gothic German Vault Design Methods and Its Relationship with Spanish Ribbed Vaults

The arrival of European master masons to Burgos and Toledo during the mid-fifteenth century was essential for the promotion of the late Gothic ribbed vault design techniques in Spain. The Antigua Chapel in Seville Cathedral, designed by the Spanish master mason Sim��n de Colonia on 1497, provides an outstanding case study on this subject. This vault is characterized by the interlacing of the ribs near the springing, reflecting the influence of German ribbed vault designs. This paper analyses the relationship between German ribbed vaults and their design methods with those of Spanish ribbed vaults; with particular attention to the presence of ribs that cut through one another above the springing, materialized in the work of Sim��n de Colonia. This characteristic is reflected in some manuscripts in the German area, like the Wiener Sammlungen (15th-16th centuries) and the Codex Miniatus 3 (ca. 1560-1570), but no Spanish documents of the same period make reference to it.