Professor Colin Imber's Books

The Crusade of Varna, 1443-45

By: Professor Colin Imber

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The Crusade of Varna of 1443-45 was one of the decisive events of the late Middle Ages. Following the temporary Union of the Greek and Latin Churches in 1439, Pope Eugenius IV created an alliance which aimed to 'liberate' Byzantium and the Balkan Peninsula from the domination of the Ottoman Empire. The Ottoman Sultan, Murad II, held the Crusaders during the winter war of 1443, finally securing victory at Varna in November, 1444. The Crusade petered out in 1445 with the expedition of the Burgundian fleet on the Danube. More than any other single event, it was Murad's victory at Varna that secured Ottoman domination of the Balkan Peninsula, with consequences which are still apparent today. Three important works, hitherto largely unnoticed in western historiography, provide eyewitness accounts of the dramatic events of 1443-45 from the Christian and the Muslim side: an anonymous Ottoman text on The Holy Wars of Sultan Murad; a section of the Anciennes Chroniques d'Angleterre by the Bugundian, Jehan de Wavrin, and a German ballad on the Crusade by Michel Beheim. These are presented here for the first time in English translation, supplemented by a series of shorter contemporary texts relating to the events of the crusade, with an introduction and annotation.

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415

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Ashgate Publishing, Ltd.

Published Date

ISBN 10

1472416945

ISBN 13

9781472416940

Commedia dell' Arte and the Mediterranean

Charting Journeys and Mapping 'Others'

By: Professor Erith Jaffe-Berg

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Commedia dell' Arte and the Mediterranean

Charting Journeys and Mapping 'Others'

By: Professor Erith Jaffe-Berg

Drawing on published collections and also manuscripts from Mantuan archives, Commedia dell' arte and the Mediterranean locates commedia dell' arte as a performance form reflective of its cultural crucible in the Mediterranean. The study provides a broad perspective on commedia dell’ arte as an expression of the various cultural, gender and language communities in Italy during the early-modern period, and explores the ways in which the art form offers a platform for reflection on power and cultural exchange. While highlighting the prevalence of Mediterranean crossings in the scenarios of commedia dell' arte, this book examines the way in which actors embodied characters from across the wider Mediterranean region. The presence of Mediterranean minority groups such as Arabs, Armenians, Jews and Turks within commedia dell' arte is marked on stage and 'backstage' where they were collaborators in the creative process. In addition, gendered performances by the first female actors participated in 'staging' the Mediterranean by using the female body as a canvas for cartographical imaginings. By focusing attention on the various communities involved in the making of theatre, a central preoccupation of the book is to question the dynamics of 'exchange' as it materialized within a spectrum inclusive of both cultural collaboration but also of taxation and coercion.

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185

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Ashgate Publishing, Ltd.

Published Date

ISBN 10

1472418166

ISBN 13

9781472418166

The Crusade of Frederick Barbarossa

The History of the Expedition of the Emperor Frederick and Related Texts

By: Professor G A Loud

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The Crusade of Frederick Barbarossa

The History of the Expedition of the Emperor Frederick and Related Texts

By: Professor G A Loud

This is the first English translation of the main contemporary accounts of the Crusade and death of the German Frederick I Barbarossa (ruled 1152-90). The most important of these, the 'History of the Expedition of the Emperor Frederick' was written soon after the events described, and is a crucial, and under-used source for the Third Crusade (at least in the Anglophone world). The account begins with two letters describing the disaster of Hattin and Saladin's subsequent conquest of most of the Holy Land (the second of these is addressed to the duke of Austria). It goes on to describe how the emperor took the Cross, the preparations and recruitment for the Crusade, the diplomatic contacts of Barbarossa with the Byzantine Emperor and the Sultan of Iconium in an attempt to secure a peaceful passage for the expedition, and the Crusade itself: the journey through the Balkans and the gruelling march through Asia Minor, beset by Turkish attack, until its arrival at Antioch on 21st July 1190, eleven days after the emperor had drowned while crossing a river in Cilician Armenia. The 'History' gives a vivid account of the sufferings of the German army as it traversed Asia Minor. The account of the expedition itself appears to be, or to be based upon an eyewitness record, cast in the form of (often) a daily memoir. However, it concludes with an account of the captivity and release of Richard I in Germany, Henry VI's conquest of the kingdom of Sicily, and of the preparations for a new Crusade under his leadership. In addition, a number of further accounts related to, and expanding, the 'History of the Expedition' have also been translated, including a contemporary newsletter about the death of the emperor, as well as the narrative of Otto of St Blasien, placing the Crusade into context twenty years later, and a contemporary account of the capture of Silves in Portugal by German crusaders on their way to the Holy Land in 1189. This collection is a valuable companion volume to the three other volumes relating to the Third Crusade in this series: The Conquest of Jerusalem and the Third Crusade, trans. Edbury, the Itinerarium Peregrinorum et Gesta Regis Ricardi, trans. Nicholson, and The Rare and Excellent History of Saladin, trans. Richards.

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245

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Ashgate Publishing, Ltd.

Published Date

ISBN 10

1409480909

ISBN 13

9781409480907

Letters from the East

Crusaders, Pilgrims and Settlers in the 12th–13th Centuries

By: Mr Keith Bate,Professor Malcolm Barber

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Letters from the East

Crusaders, Pilgrims and Settlers in the 12th–13th Centuries

By: Mr Keith Bate,Professor Malcolm Barber

This volume presents translations of a selection of the letters sent by crusaders and pilgrims from Asia Minor, Syria and Palestine. There are accounts of all the great events from the triumph of the capture of Jerusalem in 1099 to the disasters of Hattin in 1187 and the loss of Acre in 1291. They convey the immediacy of circumstances which were frequently dramatic and often life-threatening, and show us the feelings of those who lived in and visited the crusader states. Some of the letters translated here are famous, others hardly known, but all offer unique insight into the minds of those who took part in the crusading movement.

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210

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Ashgate Publishing, Ltd.

Published Date

ISBN 10

1472413954

ISBN 13

9781472413956

Hospitaller Piety and Crusader Propaganda

Guillaume Caoursin's Description of the Ottoman Siege of Rhodes, 1480

By: Professor Donald J Kagay,Dr Theresa M Vann

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Hospitaller Piety and Crusader Propaganda

Guillaume Caoursin's Description of the Ottoman Siege of Rhodes, 1480

By: Professor Donald J Kagay,Dr Theresa M Vann

Guilelmus Caoursin, Vice-chancellor of the Order of the Hospital, wrote the Obsidionis Rhodiae urbis descriptio (Description of the Siege of Rhodes) in 1480. It was the first authorized print account of the Order’s activities, and became one of the best sellers of the 15th century. With introductory chapters by Theresa Vann, this book is the first modern Latin edition with an English translation of the Descriptio. Two other eyewitness accounts: Pierre D’Aubusson’s Relatio obsidionis Rhodie and Jacomo Curte’s De urbis Rhodiae obsidione a. 1480 a Turcis tentata, also appear in modern Latin edition and English translation, as does John Kay’s Description of the Siege of Rhodes and an English translation of Ademar Dupuis’ Le siège de Rhodes.

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Page Count

401

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Ashgate Publishing, Ltd.

Published Date

ISBN 10

0754637417

ISBN 13

9780754637417

Nicholas of Cusa – A Companion to his Life and his Times

By: Professor Morimichi Watanabe

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Nicholas of Cusa – A Companion to his Life and his Times

By: Professor Morimichi Watanabe

This work is a guide to the life, thought and activities of Nicholas of Cusa (1401-1464), the great fifteenth-century philosopher, theologian, jurist, author of mystical and ecclesiastical treatises, cardinal and reformer. It is intended not only for advanced scholars, but also for beginners and those simply curious about a man who has been called 'one of the greatest Germans of the fifteenth century' and a 'medieval thinker for the modern age'. The book provides a series of detailed but readable essays on ideas, persons, and places, a work developed over the course of nearly three decades. First, it contains articles on the important events and concepts that affected Cusanus--philosophical, religious, intellectual and political. Then it turns to his precursors and contemporaries, both friendly and critical. These include philosophers, theologians, politicians, and canon lawyers. And third, the book follows the footsteps of the man from Kues and examines various sites where he lived, studied, or visited. Because the author has also visited many of these sites, he can contribute personal observations to enliven the journey. To add to the book's usefulness as a resource and reference tool, each entry is followed by a bibliography containing both recent and older works. The purpose of the volume is to gain a greater appreciation of Cusanus and his legacy by striving for a total view of his thought and experience instead of narrowly focusing on specific philosophical, theological or intellectual ideas, or certain periods of his activities in isolation from other facets of this compelling figure.

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438

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Ashgate Publishing, Ltd.

Published Date

ISBN 10

1409482537

ISBN 13

9781409482536

Reviving the Islamic Caliphate in Early Modern Morocco

By: Professor Stephen Cory

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Reviving the Islamic Caliphate in Early Modern Morocco

By: Professor Stephen Cory

Historians have long grappled with the question of how Islamic civilization - so clearly dominant during the medieval period - could fall completely under Western hegemony in the modern age? Many Western writers answer this question by referencing European ingenuity, initiative, and transformative energy in contrast with Islamic parochialism, passivity, and resistance to change. This book challenges such assumptions by studying the career of an aggressive sultan in early-modern Morocco, Mulay Ahmad al-Mansur (r. 1578-1603), who dared to take on the international super-powers of his day and sought to redraw the map of Islamic Africa. Al-Mansur is best known for launching a bold invasion across the Sahara desert to conquer the West African Songhay Empire. Most historians ascribe strictly economic motives for this assault, stating that the sultan wished to capture the prosperous gold trade that had traveled for centuries from West Africa to the Mediterranean. Dr Cory argues instead that Mulay Ahmad was pursuing more expansive goals than simply stuffing his coffers with West African gold, as evidenced by audacious claims made on his behalf in numerous panegyric texts produced by the sultan's court. Through a detailed analysis of official histories, documents and correspondence, writings by European observers, and architectural evidence, he contends that the sultan sought to establish a Western caliphate that would eclipse the Ottoman Empire. Mulay Ahmad advanced this agenda through panegyric literature, elaborate court ceremonies, grand constructions, stunning military conquests, and astute diplomacy with European powers, Ottoman officials, and sub-Saharan rulers. Such assertions of universal caliphal authority had not been seriously promoted in Islam for over three hundred years before al-Mansur's reign. Thus al-Mansur sought to move his country forward into the modern age by returning to an institution that had governed Muslim lands during the fabled golden age of the Abbasid and Andalusian Umayyad caliphates. Through an investigation of the sultan's ambitions and achievements Dr Cory provides new insight into the history of relations between Muslim states and the West.

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475

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Ashgate Publishing, Ltd.

Published Date

ISBN 10

1472413989

ISBN 13

9781472413987

The Limits of Bodily Integrity

Abortion, Adultery, and Rape Legislation in Comparative Perspective

By: Professor Ruth A Miller

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The Limits of Bodily Integrity

Abortion, Adultery, and Rape Legislation in Comparative Perspective

By: Professor Ruth A Miller

This volume argues that legislation on abortion, adultery, and rape has been central to the formation of the modern citizen. The author draws on rights literature, bio-political scholarship, and a gender-studies perspective as a foundation for rethinking the sovereign relationship. In approaching the politicization of reproductive space from this direction, the study resituates the role of rights and rights-granting within the sovereign relationship. A second theme running throughout the book explores the international implications of these arguments and addresses the role of abortion, adultery and rape legislation in constructing 'civilizational' relationships. In focusing on the Ottoman Empire, Turkey, France and Italy as case studies, Miller presents a discussion of what 'Europe' is, and the role of sexuality and reproduction in defining it.

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218

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Ashgate Publishing, Ltd.

Published Date

ISBN 10

1409493369

ISBN 13

9781409493365

Lest We Forget

Remembrance & Commemoration

By: Professor Maggie Andrews,Nigel Hunt,Charles Bagot Jewitt

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Lest We Forget

Remembrance & Commemoration

By: Professor Maggie Andrews,Nigel Hunt,Charles Bagot Jewitt

Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn. At the going down of the sun and in the morning, we will remember them.' These words, spoken at war memorials across the United Kingdom and around the world on 11 November every year, encapsulate how we commemorate our war dead. Lest We Forget looks at how we remember not only those who died in battle, but also those whose memory is important to us in other ways. This wide-ranging review considers such topics as Holocaust Memorial Day, the Hillsborough Disaster, memories of the Spanish Civil War, the genocide in Rwanda, Diana, Princess of Wales and the role of the Cenotaph and the National Memorial Arboretum. With an endorsement from The Royal British Legion, which celebrates its 90th anniversary in 2011, this is a timely study, and is relevant not only to people in the United Kingdom, but recognises the universal need to remember.

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254

Publisher

The History Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

0752473344

ISBN 13

9780752473345

Book's by Professor Colin Imber

The Crusade of Varna, 1443-45

The Crusade of Varna, 1443-45

Commedia dell' Arte and the Mediterranean

Commedia dell' Arte and the Mediterranean

The Crusade of Frederick Barbarossa

The Crusade of Frederick Barbarossa

Letters from the East

Letters from the East

Hospitaller Piety and Crusader Propaganda

Hospitaller Piety and Crusader Propaganda

Nicholas of Cusa – A Companion to his Life and his Times

Nicholas of Cusa – A Companion to his Life and his Times

Reviving the Islamic Caliphate in Early Modern Morocco

Reviving the Islamic Caliphate in Early Modern Morocco

The Limits of Bodily Integrity

The Limits of Bodily Integrity

Lest We Forget

Lest We Forget

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