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Histories, Volume 2, Issue 1 (March 2022) – 7 articles

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5 pages, 2443 KiB  
Article
Nasrid Granada: The Case for Spain’s Cross-Cultural Identity
by Elizabeth Drayson
Histories 2022, 2(1), 75-79; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/histories2010007 - 04 Mar 2022
Viewed by 3347
Abstract
For 2000 years, the history of Granada has been the story of its peoples—native Iberian, Roman, Jewish, Muslim, Christian and gypsy—who bequeathed a multi-cultural heritage to the city, forged by momentous racial, religious and political conflicts. That heritage is central to Spain’s vexed [...] Read more.
For 2000 years, the history of Granada has been the story of its peoples—native Iberian, Roman, Jewish, Muslim, Christian and gypsy—who bequeathed a multi-cultural heritage to the city, forged by momentous racial, religious and political conflicts. That heritage is central to Spain’s vexed quest for its own identity, and pre-eminent in that quest is the encounter between Islam and Christianity that took place there. Based on historical sources including oral and written testimonies, early historiography and contemporary historical views, this article considers the answers to two key questions, with specific reference to the Nasrid dynasty of Granada: (i) how did the Nasrids contribute to the culture of Andalusia and the late medieval Mediterranean, and (ii) was religious difference an obstacle to cultural dialogue in Granada in the late Middle Ages? The contention is that Granada’s importance as a meeting place between Islam and Christianity hinges on its apparent transition from Muslim state to Christian enclave, an event crucial to our understanding of the history of the Iberian Peninsula, and also of Europe. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Revisiting the Legacy of Al-Andalus)
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7 pages, 202 KiB  
Brief Report
Foreign Banks of Issue in Prewar China: The Notes of the Netherlands Trading Society, Deutsch-Asiatische Bank and the International Banking Corporation
by Niv Horesh
Histories 2022, 2(1), 68-74; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/histories2010006 - 02 Mar 2022
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 2180
Abstract
To date, much of the scholarly literature on anti-foreign boycotts in prewar China focused on cigarettes. However, foreign banks were also targeted, particularly regarding their most visible infringement of Chinese sovereignty: banknotes. Piecing together note circulation data on the smaller European and American [...] Read more.
To date, much of the scholarly literature on anti-foreign boycotts in prewar China focused on cigarettes. However, foreign banks were also targeted, particularly regarding their most visible infringement of Chinese sovereignty: banknotes. Piecing together note circulation data on the smaller European and American banks operating in Shanghai is a work in progress. In this research note, I present provisional data about three of the most important second-tier foreign banks in Shanghai: the Netherlands Trading Society, the German Deutsch-Asiatische Bank and the International Banking Corporation. Tentative conclusions can already be drawn. These banks by and large lost traction in the 1930s insofar as banknote circulation volumes were concerned. On the other hand, the political vacuum that befell the Chinese market following the downfall of the Qing was the single biggest boon of the banks under review. The redemption freeze on Chinese bank notes of 1916 seems to have had a partial effect in terms of regaining Chinese trust in Chinese banknotes at the expense of foreign ones. Unlike British banks, Netherlands Trading Society circulation figures never recovered in the early 1920s. Needless to say, much more work can be carried out in that regard as the pertinent archives are situated right around the world. Full article
21 pages, 4244 KiB  
Article
Pedra Branca off Singapore: A Historical Cartographic Analysis of a Post-Colonial Territorially Disputed Island
by Brenda Man Qing Ong and Francesco Perono Cacciafoco
Histories 2022, 2(1), 47-67; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/histories2010005 - 22 Feb 2022
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 8817
Abstract
At the eastern entrance of the Singapore Strait lies Pedra Branca, an island of granite rock situated in hazardous waters. Its unexceptional presence belies a rich cartographical history and infamous reputation for leading ships to grief since antiquity. Pedra Branca was first pushed [...] Read more.
At the eastern entrance of the Singapore Strait lies Pedra Branca, an island of granite rock situated in hazardous waters. Its unexceptional presence belies a rich cartographical history and infamous reputation for leading ships to grief since antiquity. Pedra Branca was first pushed into the spotlight when the British constructed the Horsburgh Lighthouse in 1851. It later caught international attention when a heated territorial dispute for the island between Singapore and Malaysia arose, lasting from 1979–2018, with the International Court of Justice (ICJ) eventually granting rights to Singapore. The ensuing legal battle led to renewed interest in the geography and post-19th century history of the island. The most recent breakthrough, however, provides a glimpse into an even earlier history of Pedra Branca—and by extension, Singapore—as shipwrecked remains dating from the 14th century were uncovered in the surrounding waters. Historical research on the ancient history of Pedra Branca has been mostly neglected by scholars over the years; thus, this paper aims to shed some light on this enigmatic history of the island and at the same time establish its history and significance by utilizing pre-British-colonization historical cartographical data from as early as the 15th century. Full article
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1 pages, 151 KiB  
Editorial
Acknowledgment to Reviewers of Histories in 2021
by Histories Editorial Office
Histories 2022, 2(1), 46; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/histories2010004 - 09 Feb 2022
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Abstract
Rigorous peer reviews are the basis of high-quality academic publishing [...] Full article
13 pages, 78131 KiB  
Article
Artistic Interchange between Al-Andalus and the Iberian Christian Kingdoms: The Role of the Ivory Casket from Santo Domingo de Silos
by Inés Monteira
Histories 2022, 2(1), 33-45; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/histories2010003 - 02 Feb 2022
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 3294
Abstract
The ivory casket made in Cuenca in A.D. 1026 and signed by Mohammad ibn Zayyan constitutes invaluable evidence for the study of artistic transfers between Al-Andalus and the Iberian Christian kingdoms. In the 12th century this piece was transformed in the monastery of [...] Read more.
The ivory casket made in Cuenca in A.D. 1026 and signed by Mohammad ibn Zayyan constitutes invaluable evidence for the study of artistic transfers between Al-Andalus and the Iberian Christian kingdoms. In the 12th century this piece was transformed in the monastery of Santo Domingo de Silos (Burgos) with the addition of Christian-themed enamels and reused as a reliquary. The appropriation of this object within the ideological context of the Christian expansion in the Iberian Peninsula allows us to reflect on the meaning given to it by the Silos monks. Moreover, a comparative study of the casket with Romanesque sculpture shows the existence of important iconographic influences of this piece in Christian art that have not been sufficiently studied until now. Its analysis offers clues about the way in which figurative motifs could be transmitted from Andalusi to Christian art and about the symbolic purposes with which they were used. This work highlights the need to study conjointly the transfer of artistic pieces and the transmission of figurative motifs from one context to another in addition to proposing a methodology for their study. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Revisiting the Legacy of Al-Andalus)
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18 pages, 2443 KiB  
Article
‘Clan’ and ‘Family’: Transformations of Sociality among the Wampar, Papua New Guinea
by Bettina Beer
Histories 2022, 2(1), 15-32; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/histories2010002 - 14 Jan 2022
Viewed by 3202
Abstract
Changes in what anthropologists understand “clan” to refer to, and the social relations that many sociologists think of as constituting a “nuclear family” are at the centre of this article. It is based on ethnography among Wampar speakers in north-eastern Papua New Guinea [...] Read more.
Changes in what anthropologists understand “clan” to refer to, and the social relations that many sociologists think of as constituting a “nuclear family” are at the centre of this article. It is based on ethnography among Wampar speakers in north-eastern Papua New Guinea (PNG). Among the Wampar, different, sometimes conflicting, transitions relevant to the emergence of the family as an accentuated social entity can be observed; yet all are a result of Christianisation and the local effects of capitalism. Nominally patrilineal clans (sagaseg), after a period when they seemed to have a somewhat diminished social significance, are again crucial social units: a result of the government’s requirement that statutory Incorporated Land Groups (ILGs) form the sole legal basis of compensation for land use. At the same time, there has been an increasing emphasis on the nuclear family, which, along with the aspiration for modern lifestyles (and their associated consumption patterns) and education for children, has reconfigured the gendered division of labour. Ideals of companionate marriage and values specific to the nuclear family have become much more critical to social practices. In some families, traditional notions of descent have lost importance to such an extent that some young people are no longer aware of their sagaseg membership. Wampar men and women discuss these conflicting tendencies and argue about the different values that ground them. Which argument prevails often depends on the specific position of the person confronting them. Full article
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14 pages, 293 KiB  
Article
Federalists and the Beginnings of the Council of Europe: Converting Institutions and Opinion to Supranationality (1949–1951)
by Bertrand Vayssière
Histories 2022, 2(1), 1-14; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/histories2010001 - 24 Dec 2021
Viewed by 2586
Abstract
In 1949, it seemed that Western governments were ready to accept some delegation of sovereignty, which met the ambitions of increasingly well-organised Europeanists. One of the most ambitious advances was the proposal for a European Assembly, which could have heralded the beginning of [...] Read more.
In 1949, it seemed that Western governments were ready to accept some delegation of sovereignty, which met the ambitions of increasingly well-organised Europeanists. One of the most ambitious advances was the proposal for a European Assembly, which could have heralded the beginning of an integration process. However, on this point, as on many others, there was not total agreement between the unionists and the federalists: for some, the Assembly was simply a co-operation structure, while others thought it should be a constituent body. The federalists—who had been united since December 1946 within the European Union of Federalists (EUF), which claimed to have no fewer than 150,000 members—were very demanding. After the adoption of the Statute of the Council of Europe on 5 May 1949, the EUF Central Committee approved a “motion on the Consultative Assembly” in which it openly demanded the drafting of a federal pact that would lead to real European power. Faced with the modest intergovernmental status of the Council of Europe, the EUF proposed that the Assembly of this Council should be transformed from a “consultative” to a “constituent” assembly, which amounted to condemning any kind of conciliatory attitude. Therefore, the constituent path was becoming more and more important within the federalist organisation: it was now a matter of pressing, without restraint, for the triumph of ideals freed from initial reluctance, in the most diverse forums. The most important of these remained the Council of Europe, which was, in the eyes of the federalists, an institution that could be improved. Defending an integrated Europe, the federalists called for the creation of a democratic power on the scale of the challenges of the time, which seemed to them to exceed that of the nation states. To achieve this, they defended a “political” vision of integration, of which the Council of Europe could be the spearhead. It is this struggle, which took place at a time when the construction of Europe seems to be based on a simple but firm act of will, that this article will examine. Full article
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