Alexander Batson’s research while affiliated with Yale University and other places

This article examines a crucial argument in seventeenth-century maritime law: the concept of mare tutum , or ‘the secure sea’. According to this idea, the sea was characterized by chaotic piracy and required a strong central governing authority to impose order. Once the sea was secure, the ruler would reap the rewards of commerce and tariff revenues. Mare tutum espoused the idea of sea sovereignty for the goal of economic growth. Crucial to this idea was Thucydides’ account of the Cretan King Minos. The jurists Nicolaes Bonaert, Pietro Battista Borghi, and Giovanni Palazzi used the model of Minos’ Aegean thalassocracy to argue for Portuguese, Genoese, and Venetian control of the seas. The article illuminates the hitherto unknown importance of Thucydides in maritime law. It also complicates the traditional mare liberum / mare clausum framework by positing a third option which focused on control of the seas as a means to fostering trade and economic growth.

Th e distinction between East and West is among the most prominent and infl uential cross-cultural tropes in both academic scholarship and public discourse. However, in most cases, this attention tends to focus narrowly on certain instances or iterations of this binary. In particular, Edward Said's infl uential analysis of 'Orientalism' has led to a relative fi xation on the dynamic between Western Europe and the 'near' and 'far' East in the 19 th century. However, the East-West polarity has been a defi ning feature of at least the last 2,500 years of human history. It is, moreover, a complex and contested binary, whose boundaries and contours have constantly shift ed. Th is paper therefore highlights these complexities through a 'psycho-historical' approach, namely, exploring the psychological nature and dynamics of this distinction through a historical lens. Th us, we explore variations on the East-West theme throughout six key historical eras: prehistory ; the Classical Age; the rise of Christianity; the medieval world; the Enlightenment; and the Cold War. It is hoped that our analysis not only off ers a useful introduction to the evolution of the East-West distinction but also encourages scholars to adopt a more subtle and nuanced approach to its dynamics.

This article examines how Philip Melanchthon utilized classical Greek texts in the confessional conflicts of the Reformation. In 1521, Melanchthon published a Greek edition of Aristophanes’ Clouds as a critique of sophistry, and in 1527 he produced a Latin translation of Demosthenes’ speeches Against Aristogeiton as a rebuke of Johann Agricola's antinomianism. In the 1540s, when the Reformation came under political pressure from the Holy Roman Empire, Melanchthon used a 1540 edition of Xenophon to plead for political aid from the French crown and a 1547 edition of Demosthenes to critique Charles V's aggression. Finally, in 1548, as Melanchthon came under fire from Catholics and Gnesio-Lutherans, he turned to Athenian oratory to defend himself in the Augsburg Interim controversy. As these episodes show, Melanchthon's Greek scholarship was intimately connected with his career as a reformer, and Greek proved to be a powerful tool in addressing doctrinal controversy and political conflict.

This collection offers a fresh assessment of John Calvin and the tradition of Calvinism as it evolved from the sixteenth century to today. The essays are written by scholars who present the latest research on a pluriform religious movement that became a global faith. The volume focuses on key aspects of Calvin’s thought and its diverse reception in Europe, the transatlantic world, Africa, South America, and Asia. Calvin’s theology was from the beginning open to a wide range of interpretations and was never a static body of ideas and practices. Over the course of his life his thought evolved and deepened while retaining unresolved tensions and questions that created a legacy that was constantly evolving in different cultural contexts. Calvinism itself is an elusive term, bringing together Christian communities that claim a shared heritage but often possess radically distinct characters. The handbook reveals fascinating patterns of continuity and change to demonstrate how the movement claimed the name of the Genevan Reformer but was moulded by an extraordinary range of religious, intellectual, and historical influences, from the Enlightenment and Darwinism to indigenous African beliefs and postmodernism. In its global contexts, Calvinism has been continuously reimagined and reinterpreted. This collection throws new light on the highly dynamic and fluid nature of a deeply influential form of Christianity.

This collection offers a fresh assessment of John Calvin and the tradition of Calvinism as it evolved from the sixteenth century to today. The essays are written by scholars who present the latest research on a pluriform religious movement that became a global faith. The volume focuses on key aspects of Calvin’s thought and its diverse reception in Europe, the transatlantic world, Africa, South America, and Asia. Calvin’s theology was from the beginning open to a wide range of interpretations and was never a static body of ideas and practices. Over the course of his life his thought evolved and deepened while retaining unresolved tensions and questions that created a legacy that was constantly evolving in different cultural contexts. Calvinism itself is an elusive term, bringing together Christian communities that claim a shared heritage but often possess radically distinct characters. The handbook reveals fascinating patterns of continuity and change to demonstrate how the movement claimed the name of the Genevan Reformer but was moulded by an extraordinary range of religious, intellectual, and historical influences, from the Enlightenment and Darwinism to indigenous African beliefs and postmodernism. In its global contexts, Calvinism has been continuously reimagined and reinterpreted. This collection throws new light on the highly dynamic and fluid nature of a deeply influential form of Christianity.