1.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910460482803321

Autore

Hayton Darin

Titolo

The crown and the cosmos : astrology and the politics of Maximilian I / / Darin Hayton

Pubbl/distr/stampa

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania : , : University of Pittsburgh Press, , 2015

©2015

ISBN

0-8229-8113-0

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (329 p.)

Disciplina

133.50943/09031

Soggetti

Astrology - History - 16th century

Astrology and politics

Electronic books.

Vienna (Austria) Civilization 16th century

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Note generali

Description based upon print version of record.

Nota di bibliografia

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Nota di contenuto

Introduction -- Astrology and Maximilian's autobiography -- Astrology as imperial propaganda -- Teaching astrology -- Instruments and authority -- Wall calendars and practica -- Ephemerides and their uses -- Prognostications -- Conclusion : astrology and Maximilian's legacy.

Sommario/riassunto

"Despite its popular association today with magic, astrology was once a complex and sophisticated practice, grounded in technical training provided by a university education. The Crown and the Cosmos examines the complex ways that political practice and astrological discourse interacted at the Habsburg court, a key center of political and cultural power in early modern Europe. Like other monarchs, Maximilian I used astrology to help guide political actions, turning to astrologers and their predictions to find the most propitious times to sign treaties or arrange marriage contracts. Perhaps more significantly, the emperor employed astrology as a political tool to gain support for his reforms and to reinforce his own legitimacy as well as that of the Habsburg dynasty. Darin Hayton analyzes the various rhetorical tools astrologers used to argue for the nobility, antiquity, and utility of their discipline, and how they strove to justify their 'science' on the grounds that through its rigorous interpretation of the natural world, astrology



could offer more reliable predictions. This book draws on extensive printed and manuscript sources from archives across northern and central Europe, including Poland, Germany, France, and England"--

2.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910465491403321

Autore

Penegar Kenneth Lawing

Titolo

The political trial of Benjamin Franklin [[electronic resource] ] : a prelude to the American Revolution / / Kenneth Lawing Penegar

Pubbl/distr/stampa

New York, : Algora Pub., c2011

ISBN

0-87586-851-7

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (280 p.)

Disciplina

973.3092

B

Soggetti

Statesmen - United States

Electronic books.

United States Foreign relations 1775-1783

United States History Revolution, 1775-1783 Causes

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Note generali

Description based upon print version of record.

Nota di bibliografia

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Nota di contenuto

A duel in Hyde Park -- Private letters, public causes -- Imperial over-reach : the political context of the letters -- Harvest of spite : reaction in the London press -- Preliminary hearing -- Showdown in the cockpit -- The verdict -- Circles of support -- Other perils and after shocks -- Second thoughts -- Going home, looking back.

Sommario/riassunto

Benjamin Franklin, it seems, was a reluctant revolutionary. In tracing the course of his political transformation, this book explores the social and political understandings and misunderstandings that both sustained and divided Britain and its colonies in North America. At the center of the story is Benjamin Franklin's decision in late 1772 to use a cache of personal letters that had fallen in his lap in London for revelation in Massachusetts - essentially a Wikileaks for 1772 - and the consequences of that decision for himself and for the cause of an amicable settlement of differences between