Journal articles on the topic 'Military history, Medieval, in literature'

Nihon Senshi (Military History of Japan) was part of the new Imperial Japanese Army’s attempt to tie itself to examples from Japan’s “warring states” period, similar to scholars who created a feudal “medieval” time in the Japanese past to fit into Western historiography, and intellectuals who discovered a “traditional” spirit called bushidō as a counterpart for English chivalry. The interpretations of these campaigns, placing the “three unifiers” of the late sixteenth century as global leaders in the modernization of military tactics and technology, show the Imperial Japanese Army’s desire to be seen as a “modern” military through its invented “institutional” history.

AbstractThis study details how the medieval Central Asian leader, Timur, looked upon by many in the Latin West as a potential savior, came to be vilified as British imperial interests moved from the Ottoman Porte to India and Central Asia. To the vast majority of those to whom his name means anything at all, it commemorates a militarist who perpetuated as many horrors in the span of twenty-four years as the last five Assyrian kings perpetrated in a hundred and twenty ... The crack-brained megalomania of [a] homicidal madman whose one idea is to impress the imagination of mankind with a sense of his military power by a hideous abuse of it ...2

In November 1523 a Scottish army, led by John Stewart, duke of Albany, invaded England for the first time since the battle of Flodden. While this was a major campaign, it has largely been ignored in the extensive literature on Anglo-Scottish warfare. Drawing on Scottish, French and English records, this article provides a systematic analysis of the campaign. Although the campaign of 1523 was ultimately unsuccessful, it is the most comprehensively documented Scottish offensive against England before the seventeenth century and the extensive records detailing the expedition advances broader understanding of military mobilisation in medieval and early modern Scotland. While the national mobilisation drive which sought to gather men from across the kingdom was ultimately unsuccessful, the expedition witnessed the most extensive number of French soldiers yet sent to Scotland. Finally, the article considers how an examination of the expedition enhances understanding of regency rule and the political conditions in Scotland in the years after Flodden.

Abstract The main texts under consideration in this article are two French-language Alexander romances written in the second half of the twelfth century, discussed in relation to the Latin historical, romance, and naturalist traditions that form the backbone of the medieval tradition of Alexander the Great in medieval Europe, and in particular in relation to the literary tradition that starts with Pseudo-Callisthenes’s Greek Romance of Alexander. The aim is to show how Alexander was used not simply as an icon of secular or military power but also as an important figure for understanding the relationship between the imagination, technological invention, and discovery of new knowledge, which necessarily entails questions of prestige and power. Alexander’s ingenuity, which manifests both as verbal trickery and in the invention of new machines, is shown to be fundamental for a certain model of knowledge-acquisition that sees natural truths as hidden and in need of tools to be extracted. This ingenuity is shown, also, to be closely connected to the inventions of writers of romance, and the article suggests the specific importance of the Alexander material in the history of medieval romance literature.

In the medieval romances single combat was the knightly norm. The Italian chivalric epics sought to adapt this convention to the ideals of the Renaissance courtier. In Il Cortegiano, Frederico Fregoso explains “that where the Courtyer is at skirmishe, or assault, or battaile upon the land, or in such other places of enterprise, he ought to worke the matter wisely in seperating himself from the multitude, and undertake his notable and bould feates which he hath to doe, with as little company as he can.“’ But such displays of panache had little place in the massed infantry tactics that dominated the actual battlefields of the sixteenth century. It was disciplined self-restraint that made the Swiss and Spanish pike phalanxes so formidable, relegating cavalry to secondary importance. The Italian courtierknights had been rudely humbled, after all, when Charles XII invaded Italy in 1494 and deployed his excellent artillery.

Historical sociology has long been concerned with the study of organized state violence. Since the mid-1970s, a substantial body of work has come to focus on the importance of warfare to historical processes of state formation. The first generation of this literature proposed that the relentless existential struggle between the warring polities of medieval Europe had favored the survival of states that could adopt ever more efficient means to extract and mobilize resources from the local population to feed the war effort. Early states therefore evolved the institutions to collect taxes and administer territory largely as a functional byproduct of interstate military competition. From this perspective, the logic of war making was the driving force behind the rise of the modern state in Europe.

Although Bianzhou (modern Kaifeng) is well known as the imperial capital of the Northern Song dynasty, its history prior to the tenth century reveals much about the political fortunes of the Tang dynasty, especially after the An Lushan rebellion. A careful analysis of the backgrounds of the Military Commissioners appointed to govern the region indicates that following an initial period of instability, the Tang court was able to maintain control over this strategically vital transportation hub late into the ninth century and to repeatedly appoint commissioners who had passed the civil-service examinations. This experience helps explain the continuing optimism of Tang elites about the dynasty’s prospects and made Bianzhou itself an important example for the educated elite of why civil values were essential to good government and the survival of the Tang dynasty. Si Bianzhou (actuel Kaifeng) est bien connu comme capitale impériale des Song du Nord, son histoire avant le Xe siècle nous en apprend beaucoup sur le destin politique des Tang, particulièrement après la rébellion de An Lushan. L’analyse minutieuse du parcours des commissaires militaires successivement nommés à la tête de la région révèle qu’après une période initiale d’instabilité, la cour des Tang a été en mesure jusque tard dans le IXe siècle de maintenir son contrôle sur ce qui était un nœud stratégique de communications et d’y poster l’un après l’autre des commissaires passés par la voie des examens civils. L’expérience contribue à expliquer l’optimisme persistant des élites des Tang concernant l’avenir du régime, le cas de Bianzhou étant à leurs yeux un exemple important des raisons pour lesquelles les valeurs civiles demeuraient essentielles à la qualité du gouvernement et à la survie de la dynastie.

This paper is devoted to the history and controversies surrounding the outstanding representative of Russian medieval literature from the late 14th century, the famous Zadonshchina. This work glorifies the military victory of the united forces of the Russian troops, led by Grand Prince Dmitry Donskoy, over the Tatar army on 8 September 1380, at Kulikovo Field near the Don River. This article presents arguments in favor of a Ryazan origin of the Zadonshchina text; furthermore, the article offers an explanation of the presence in the text of two “protagonists,” Grand Prince Dmitry Ivanovich and his cousin, Vladimir Andreyevich the Bold, Prince of Serpukhov. The joint rule of the “brothers” was a result of deaths caused by the plague in the Moscow ruling house, which took the dynasty to the brink of extinction. This feature of the political situation is reflected in the Zadonshchina text.

The experience of war of the common people in the medieval East Roman Empire is a topic related to hotly debated issues such as collective identification and attachments, or imperialism and ecumenical ideology. This paper attempts a bottom-up approach to the way warfare was perceived and experienced by provincial populations based on the analysis of selected evidence from the period between the seventh and the twelfth centuries. It goes without saying that the treatment of the topic here could not be exhaustive. My main goal was to problematize the relationship between the objectives of imperial military policies and the pragmatic needs of common provincials for protection of their well-being.

Kashima city is best known for having the oldest martial arts schools in Japan. While some of its martial arts schools, such as the Kashima Shinryū, were officially established in the latter half of the medieval period, there was already a long tradition of martial arts in Kashima region since the Kofun period (the fourth to the seventh centuries AD). This paper focuses on archaeological remains and the landscape around the Kashima Grand Shrine, to clarify the significance and influence of the Kashima Grand Shrine in managing the eastern part of the territory of ancient Japan. This paper examines some characteristics of the region, such as its coastal location that enabled the transportation of materials and soldiers. Another specific aspect of the place could be the advanced metal production evident in the giant sword of the Kashima Grand Shrine made in the early ancient period. Ancient workshops for metallurgy were found at the former local government office in Hitachi-no-kuni, the area of today’s Ibaraki Prefecture. It thus seems no coincidence that Kashima was chosen as a kind of military base. The archaeological findings that have been made in this location provide many reasons why the lineages of various martial arts schools, including the Kashima Shinryū, derived from this city, which led to the formation of later bushi groups in the medieval period of eastern Japan.

This paper seeks to understand why there has been an increase in photographic images exposing military violence or displaying bodies killed by military forces and how they can freely circulate in the public without being censored or kept hidden. In other words, it aims to analyze this particular issue as a symptom of the emergence of new wars and a new regime of their visual representation. Within this framework, it attempts to relate two kinds of literature that are namely the history of war and war photography with the bridge of theoretical discussions on the real, its photographic representation, power, and violence. Rather than systematic empirical analysis, the paper is based on a theoretical attempt which is reflected on some socio-political observations in the Middle East where there has been ongoing wars or new wars. The core discussion of the paper is supported by a brief analysis of some illustrative photographic images that are served through the social media under the circumstances of war for instance in Turkey between Turkish military troops and the Kurdish militants. The paper concludes that in line with the process of dissolution/transformation of the old nation-state formations and globalization, the mechanism and mode of power have also transformed to the extent that it resulted in the emergence of new wars. This is one dynamic that we need to recognize in relation to the above-mentioned question, the other is the impact of social media in not only delivering but also receiving war photographies. Today these changes have led the emergence of new machinery of power in which the old modern visual/photographic techniques of representing wars without human beings, torture, and violence through censorship began to be employed alongside medieval power techniques of a visual exhibition of tortures and violence.

This paper seeks to understand why there has been an increase in photographic images exposing military violence or displaying bodies killed by military forces and how they can freely circulate in the public without being censored or kept hidden. In other words, it aims to analyze this particular issue as a symptom of the emergence of new wars and a new regime of their visual representation. Within this framework, it attempts to relate two kinds of literature that are namely the history of war and war photography with the bridge of theoretical discussions on the real, its photographic representation, power, and violence. Rather than systematic empirical analysis, the paper is based on a theoretical attempt which is reflected on some socio-political observations in the Middle East where there has been ongoing wars or new wars. The core discussion of the paper is supported by a brief analysis of some illustrative photographic images that are served through the social media under the circumstances of war for instance in Turkey between Turkish military troops and the Kurdish militants. The paper concludes that in line with the process of dissolution/transformation of the old nation-state formations and globalization, the mechanism and mode of power have also transformed to the extent that it resulted in the emergence of new wars. This is one dynamic that we need to recognize in relation to the above-mentioned question, the other is the impact of social media in not only delivering but also receiving war photographies. Today these changes have led the emergence of new machinery of power in which the old modern visual/photographic techniques of representing wars without human beings, torture, and violence through censorship began to be employed alongside medieval power techniques of a visual exhibition of tortures and violence.

Abstract The idea that physical features and character traits are inherited from ancestors is central to the self-identification and representation of pre-modern elites. For the 12th-century Byzantine aristocracy, the idea of family and ancestry was of major importance. Members of the military elite frequently had themselves depicted as the latest scions of a lineage of brave warriors. The ruling Komnenoi and Angeloi tried to establish dynastic claims to the throne by presenting their families as being more fit to rule than any other. To support these claims, panegyrists turned to nature in search of legitimizing comparanda. The idea that animal species reproduce unchanged and pass on their specific traits from one generation to the next, provided a suitable model. Comparisons of emperors or aristocrats and their sons with lion and lion cub or eagle and eaglet were popular images in court poetry. Through a detailed examination of this imagery, the paper exemplifies how writers and orators made use of theories from ancient/medieval natural science and created legitimizing models for socio-political needs.

Purpose. The article is dedicated to the research of harvesting tools that were excavated on the territory of the Shaiginskoe site. For the first time, the full statistics of the material are given, its new classification has been developed, and the data reveal the role of agriculture in life in the military-agricultural settlements of the State of East Xia. The Jurchens’ walled towns dating back to the period of the Eastern Xia State are qualified as military and agricultural settlements. Fortification structures of the sites imply their military functions, whereas findings of agricultural equipment affirm respective activities of the citizens. The agricultural implements excavated on the site of Shaiginskoe include hand-held tools typically used by the Jurchen people for harvesting cereal crops or cutting grass for hay. The article covers a complete statistic of the archaeological findings, provides a new type of their classification and demonstrates the scientists’ efforts to determine the specific features of social relations in military and agricultural settlements. Results. A total of 113 items have been found in the Shayginskoe settlement, which can be attributed to tools for harvesting. According to morphological features, they can be divided into species A – sickles and species B – scythes. Having analyzed the unearthed material, the authors conclude that the tools had a cross-purpose and their functions were not clearly separated. The Jurchens’ sickle appeared to be similar to the sickle-scythe used by the Manchus. They correspond to each other in size, shape and functionality. The only difference lies in a manner of fastening the blade to the handle. Conclusion. Judging by the number of agricultural equipment found in almost one in three dwellings of The Shaiginskoe fortification, it can be concluded that many residents of the city, to varying degrees, engaged in agriculture, supplemented by fishing and hunting, providing themselves with food, however agriculture played an important role in the economy of medieval fortifications of Primorye, and formed the basis of agricultural activity of the Jurchen.

Purpose. This article considers and analyzes the information, contained in ancient and medieval sources, about residence areas of the Yenisei and Central Asian Kyrgyz during particular historical periods, including late Antiquity, Early and High Middle Ages. These periods are related to the time of existence of political and military domination in the Central Asian Region of the ancient and medieval Turkic and Mongolian nomads, including Xiongnu, Xianbei, Turkic, Teles and Khitan nomadic ethnic groups. Results. During one of those historical periods, after the defeat of the Uyghur Khaganate, the Kyrgyz themselves dominated over Central Asian steppes. Resettlement areas of the Kyrgyz in Central Asia and Southern Siberia changed considerably on several occasions. During various historical periods, the Kyrgyz resided in the territory of Eastern Tian Shan, within the bounds of modern Xinjiang and during the following historical periods in Minusinsk Basin as well, followed by the vast territories of the Sayan and Altai Mountains and a major part of Central Asia, as well as within the bounds of the Western Tian Shan mountain range. The article analyzes the available informative historical data in ancient and medieval sources about the main resettlement areas of the Kyrgyz in different territories in definite time periods of their residence within the bounds of the Central Asian historical and cultural region. Conclusion. Since their repeated resettlement into the eastern Tian Shan region in the era of the Kyrgyz Great Power, the Old Kyrgyz descendants could have reclaimed the mountains and valleys of Tengir-Too. They could have also restored their statehood at the turn of historical modernity, firstly in its capacity as a republic within the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics and during the last decades by way of the independent state of the Kyrgyz Republic in the Commonwealth of Independent States. Despite all existing current complexities, the Kyrgyz keep their State.

In 1934, construction began on training centers for the upper echelons of future NS leadership: the Vogelsang in the Eifel, Krössinsee (Polish Złocieniec-Budowo) in western Pomerania, and Sonthofen in Allgäu. Through the enormous efforts of the German Labor Front (DAF) the training centres, called Ordensburgen (literally: ‘castles of the orders’), were completed in 1936. In the meantime, much literature has been published on all of the NS Ordenburgen, yet an investigation of the genesis and analysis of their form is still lacking, which this essay partially attempts to address. The intention was undoubtedly to build Ordensburgen on the southern, western and eastern fringes of the Reich distanced less than 60 kilometres from the border. Rosenberg, who had made a statement to this effect in a speech in 1934, coined the name ‘Ordensburg’ in connection with the Teutonic Order – the proud champion of ‘Germanness’. The name evoked other echoes from history: young men who were trained for warfare and administration and who lived a life closed of from outside influences. The name also recalled the medieval orders of knights who exercised their power as a military authority along the frontiers of Christianity from Spain to Palestine. If we go beyond a formal interpretation of the Ordensburgen, what can be seen in all the three structures is the important symbolic function of towers (two rectangular brick towers were erected in Kroessinsee in 1939). In all of them so-called Tingplätze were built, a kind of open-air theatre for political rallies. Moreover, the architect Clemens Klotz embraced the modern age. In adhering to contemporary thought, he blended the cosiness of the Heimatstil with the monumentality and pathos of Neoclassicism. Other forms are also found, such as oval risalites derived from ‘Neues Bauen’ or the protruding window reveal, or the use of unworked stone blocks, something that was particularly characteristic of NS architecture. Yet despite the name ’Ordensburg’, formal references to medieval architecture are sparse. The most apparent examples are seen in the Sonthofen architecture of Herman Giesler in the proportions of the main tower or the vaulted ceilings of the tavern (the so-called Fuchsbau). After 1945, the Ordensburgen became the military barracks of the victors: Vogelsang was British until 1950, then Belgian; Sonthofen was American until 1956 and then turned over to the German Bundeswehr; Krössinsee was used by the Soviet army from 1947 or 1948, and afterward became the Polish Budowo. Vogelsang was opened to the public in 2006. Today, we face ongoing questions about the preservation and new uses of the Ordensburg structures and facilities. The designation of the former NS training centres as memorial sites, in which the juncture between Ordensburgen and the NS crimes finds physical expression, will presumably be the sole way to ensure their continued existence. Between 1939 and 1940, approximately 260 Ordensjunkers (the name derived from ‘Junker’: a nobleman from the landed class) were sent from Krössinsee on military assignment to the area of Poznań (‘Warthegau’), from where up to a half a million Poles and Jews were expelled to the Government General. Further documentation shows the involvement of the Ordensjunkers in the Holocaust during 1941 in the occupied Soviet territories. In making the buildings of the Ordensburgen accessible to the public, while at the same time laying bare the reality behind the mystique, it seems necessary to proceed on a different path than that which has been taken up to now. ‘Domesticating’ the testimonies of a terror regime has been expressed in ways such as the oversized colourful pillows for visitor seating at the Wewelsburg Castle or the garish plastic forms in Vogelsang. Tus, in addition to taking stock of the buildings and making a case for their preservation, the serious question that must be asked is how to deal with this kind of legacy. (translated by Sharon Nemeth)

RESUMENLa pretensión de este artículo es ofrecer una serie de reflexiones y valoraciones metodológicas sobre la historia medieval de la Iglesia y la religiosidad partiendo de algunos aspectos destacados de la producción historiográfica reciente y esbozar ciertas propuestas en la misma clave metodológica. Este ensayo reflexiona sobre temas, enfoques y perspectivas, sobre los niveles de estudio de lo religioso y sobre la integración de la historia de la Iglesia y la historia social, y aboga por una historiasocial de la Iglesia.PALABRAS CLAVE: Historia Medieval, Historia de la Iglesia y la vida religiosa en la Edad Media, Metodología histórica, Liturgia y sociedad, Tendencias historiográficas.ABSTRACTThe aim of this article is to offer a series of reflections and methodological evaluations on the medieval history of the Church and religiosity based on some outstanding aspects of recent historiographical production, and to outline certain proposals in the same methodological vein. 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The article considers the strengthening of the Turkic factor in Egypt after the Mamluk Emirs, natives from the Khwarezm, Turkmen and Kipchak tribes, who came to power in the second half of the XIII century. The influence of the Turkic factor affected all aspects of life in Egypt. Under the leadership of the Turkic Emirs, the Egyptians defeated the crusaders who invaded Egypt in 1248. This defeat of the 7th crusade marked the beginning of the General collapse of the Crusades. Another crushing defeat of the Mamluks led by Sultan Kutuz caused the Mongols, stopping their victorious March through the Arab world. As a result of these brilliant victories, Egypt under the first Mamluk Sultans turned into a fairly strong state, which developed agriculture, irrigation, and foreign trade. The article also examines the factors contributing to the transformation of Egypt in the 13-14th centuries in the center of Muslim culture after the fall of the Abbasid Caliphate. Scientists from all over the Muslim world came to Egypt, educational institutions-madrassas were intensively built, and Muslim encyclopedias were created that absorbed the knowledge gained in various Sciences (geography, history, philology, astronomy, mathematics, etc.). Scholars from Khwarezm, the Golden Horde, Azerbaijan, and other Turkic-speaking regions along with Arab scholars taught hadith, logic, oratory, fiqh, and other Muslim Sciences in the famous madrassas of Egypt. In Mamluk Egypt, there was a great interest in the Turkic languages, especially the Oguz-Kipchak dialect. Arabic and Turkic philologists write special works on the vocabulary and grammar of the Turkic languages, and compile Arabic-Turkic dictionaries. In Egypt, a whole layer of artistic Turkic-language literature was created that has survived to the present day. The famous poet Saif Sarayi, who came from the lower reaches of the Syr Darya river in Mawaraunnahr was considered to be its founder. He wrote in Chigatai (old Uzbek) language and is recognized a poet who stands at the origins of Uzbek literature. In addition to his known the names of eight Turkish-speaking poets, most of whom have nisba “al-Khwarizmi”. Notable changes occurred in Arabic literature itself, especially after the decline of Palace Abbasid poetry. There is a convergence of literature with folk art, under the influence of which the poetic genres, such as “zazhal”, “mavval”, “muvashshah”, etc. emerge in the Egyptian poetry. In Mamluk Egypt, the genre of “adaba” is rapidly developing, aimed at bringing up and enlightening the good-natured Muslim in a popular scientific form. The works of “adaba” contained a large amount of poetic and folklore material from rivayats and hikayats, which makes it possible to have a more complete understanding of medieval Arabic literature in general. Unfortunately, the culture, including the fiction of the Mamluk period of Egypt, has been little studied, as well as the influence of the Turkic factor on the cultural and social life of the Egyptians. The Turkic influence is felt in the military and household vocabulary, the introduction of new rituals, court etiquette, changing the criteria for evaluating beauty, in food, clothing, etc. Natives of the Turkic regions, former slaves, historical figures such as the Sultan Shajarat ad-Durr, Mamluk sultans as Kutuz and Beybars became national heroes of the Egyptian people. Folk novels-Sirs were written about their deeds. And in modern times, their names are not forgotten. Prominent Egyptian writers have dedicated their historical novels to them, streets have been named after them, monuments have been erected to them, and series and TV shows dedicated to them are still shown on national television. This article for the first time examines some aspects of the influence of the Turkic factor on the cultural life of Mamluk Egypt and highlights some unknown pages of cultural relations between Egypt and Mawaraunnahr.

Always historicize!—Fredric Jameson, The Political UnconsciousEurocentricity is a choice, not a viewpoint imposed by history. There are roads out of antiquity that do not lead to the Renaissance; and although none avoids eventual contact with the modern West's technological domination, the rapidly changing balance of power in our world is forcing even Western scholars to pay more attention to non-Latin perspectives on the past.—Garth Fowden, Empire to CommonwealthThe last decade or so has seen an explosion of interest in “mediterranean studies.” a half century after the original publication of Fernand Braudel's La Méditerranée et le monde méditerranéen à l'époque de Philippe II (1949), scholars in a number of disciplines have once again found the Mediterranean a productive category of analysis, as evidenced in a proliferation of conferences, edited volumes, journals, and study centers. This renewal of Mediterranean studies is part of an upsurge of interest in “oceanic studies,” or, alternatively, “the new thalassology” In recent years, as Kären Wigen writes,[h]istorians of science have documented the discovery of longitude and the plumbing of underwater depths; historians of ideas have mapped the conceptual geographies of beaches, oceans, and islands; historians of labor and radical politics have drawn arresting new portraits of maritime workers and pirates; historians of business have tracked maritime commerce; historians of the environment have probed marine and island ecologies; and historians of colonial regimes and anticolonial movements alike have asserted the importance of maritime arenas of interaction. (717)In the field of medieval literature, on the other hand, “Mediterranean studies” has found much less purchase. An MLA database search for the keywords “Mediterranean” and “medieval” or “Middle Ages” yields a total of thirty-two entries, over half of which treat topics in intellectual or art history. Taking that asymmetry as a point of departure, this essay explores the different ways “medieval Mediterranean literature” might be conceived; how it would relate to the study of the medieval Mediterranean in other disciplines; and what linguistic, thematic, and theoretical modifications or challenges it would offer to the field of literature as currently configured.

The article considers some evidences about military medicine in the Eastern Europe, especially on the modern Ukrainian territory, in 11th–13th centuries. Analogies from the West-European history are represented. The information from contemporary chronicles illuminates medieval medical thoughts in the practice of Rus’ physicians. Some facts are leaded out the logical way. Connections between contemporary conditions and the next development of medicine in late-medieval Ukraine are followed. Research Methodology. As the main method, a logical analysis is used that allows supplementing missing information by comparison with analogous situations in other regions, investigating the text in order to find additional data, in some cases, to suggest the most likely option. A chronological method for supplying the material was also used. Results. It is concluded that military medicine in Kievan Rus’ of the 11th–13th centuries was not inferior to Western European analogues. Some differences are associated with the earlier and strong influence of Byzantine and local traditions. Military medicine at that time was not so clearly separated from the civilian. Some lagging behind Western Europe is noticeable in the theoretical part - in Russia medical schools have not been formed, unlike the universities of Italy, France, England and Spain. Some monks and priests collected Byzantine medical treatises, sometimes supplementing them with descriptions of local traditions, but no more. Secular doctors had good practice, as evidenced by the description of the anamnesis of illnesses and wounds in the annals, but their knowledge was passed only to their own children. This is one of the reasons that in the subsequent there was a backlog from Western Europe. Novelty. Separate articles of the Old Russian chronicles are presented as a source of not only political and cultural, but also medical information. For the first time, a fairly profound knowledge of the ancient Russian chroniclers in this field has been demonstrated. A similar theme is quite common in foreign historiography, but still remains little studied in the domestic. The practical significance. The material of the article can be used to prepare general works from the history of medicine or for further scientific work in this direction.

The role of the noble families in Medieval Serbia, as in other states of that time, was of great importance-their social status affected the character and the success of the statehood. They represented social elite, which influenced the development of various processes, one of them being migration. The migration process could be voluntary or involuntary, but it shadowed inner colonisation as well as the conquest of new territories. It determined the establishment of the governing structures in the newly acquired territories, as well as their integration into the state. Bearing in mind that many wars were waged during the Middle Ages-hence the constant redrawing of the borders-it is not surprising that migration was an ongoing process of various intensity and direction. Both the dependent population and the nobles took part in the process. However, following the migration flow of the noble families through history is much easier. The great expansion of the Serbian territory started during the reign of King Milutin and ended with the death of the Tsar Dušan (1282-1355), whose reign was especially marked by great conquests and extensive migrations. Though conquests are mainly attributed to rulers, the noble families often initiated them. This is confirmed in the historical sources and the research literature, which cites the growing dissatisfaction of the nobles and their desire for further conquest as the main reasons for the change in the Serbian throne after the great victory at Velbazhd in 1330. Such views are further substantiated by the early years of the reign of Stefan Dušan when significant territories in Macedonia were annexed. According to several sources, the main driver of change was the number of noble families close and directly subordinate to the young king. It is well known that Dušan inherited the governance of Zeta and western Serbia from his father in 1322. He managed those territories during the whole reign of Stefan Uroš III (Stefan of Dečani). The previous contention that the nobles drove the change in the throne is also validated by the relocation of the noble families to the newly annexed regions. A certain number of high born families originated from the western Serbian areas which is proved by the primary historical sources, while other families are loosely associated to the area by stories and legends. Neither is simple to confirm. Some of those nobles from the western Serbia are: the Braković familiy, the Mrnjavčević family, the Great Duke Nikola Stanjević, Ostoja Rajaković Ugarčić, Radoslav Hlapen, Nikola Bagaš, Andrija Gropa, Lord Žarko, and most probably Caesar Preljub, among others. They all received inheritance and governance of various territories as a reward for their loyalty and accomplishments, which can be traced back through their titles. Namely, military titles indicate that the person gained their status owning to their warrior abilities.

The studies of Assistant Professor Masahiko Mita, Graduate School of Humanities, Nagoya University, Japan, have included the early medieval history (6th to 13th centuries) of Rajasthan. Recently, he has been investigating the later medieval period and beyond (after the 14th century). By interpreting satellite images of forts, Mita has constructed an understanding of the typology of forts and their historical change. He found that 8th to 18th century Rajasthan forts as royal capitals are classified into three major types: large-scale hilltop fort; minor hilltop fort + fortified palace-city; and flat fortified city. In addition, he discovered that the large-scale hilltop fort was comparatively popular before the 13th century but from the 16th century onward, especially in the 17th century, both the minor hilltop fort + fortified palace-city and flat fortified city had become standard as major Rajput kingdoms became stable as regional royalty under the Mughal rule. Mita is interested in expanding on his findings to date in order to elucidate how the changes related to the state system, military conditions, urban settlements and socio-economic systems of those times. He will consider the politico-economic meanings of the changes from the aspect of the relation of kingship and commerce. Mita is also working to explain the structural transformation of royal capital cities by considering the changing Rajput state formation of the same periods. Ultimately, this work will shed light on historical trends from a different viewpoint and methodology to former studies that used literary sources.