Saturday, August 31, 2024

Some works of Jean Bodin

 Jean Bodin, who is this these days perhaps best known for his musings on Historiography, engaged in problems of religion and tolerance as well. His only posthumously published Conference of the Seven Wise Men on the Hidden Secrets of Sublime Things (Colloquium heptaplomeres de rerum sublimium arcanis abditis) clearly belongs into this category. It's seven speakers represent the views that Bodin was familiar with (summary by ChatGPT 3.5):

  • Coronaeus - Represents traditional Catholicism.
  • Fridericus - A Lutheran who defends Protestantism.
  • Curtius - A Calvinist, representing the Reformed tradition.
  • Torres - A Jew, offering a Jewish perspective.
  • Senamus - A skeptic, embodying the voice of doubt and questioning.
  • Salomon Barcassius - A Muslim, representing Islamic thought.
  • Octavius Fagnola - A Deist, who argues for a natural religion devoid of specific dogma.
  • Late-Antiquity Military Thinking

     In the form of the Stratagems of Polyanus and the writings of Aneas Tacticus.

    Post Roman Migration into England

     A summary article for a Nature article in The Past from 2022.

    Van Houts on Early Norman Poetry

     Elisabeth Van Houts, as so often, offers an exciting interpretation of Jezebel and Semiramis, two 10th century Norman poems that may be related as critiques of Emma of Normandy.

    Economic History of the Fugger

    This post just notes the important research of Aloys Schulte, Die Fugger in Rome, from 1904 (also available on Google Books).