Humanities desk
< April 29	<< Mar \| April \| May >>	May 1 >

Welcome to the Wikipedia Humanities Reference Desk Archives
The page you are currently viewing is an archive page. While you can leave answers for any questions shown below, please ask new questions on one of the current reference desk pages.

April 30

Medieval Charters from Northern French Communes?

Hi,

I am looking for the English translation of the charters of communes in Northern France in the Middle Ages (other than Laon). I don't suppose this is possible to find? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 140.233.172.250 (talk) 01:01, 30 April 2016 (UTC)[reply]

I wonder who would take the trouble to translate such things? So far I have found one scholar who works with these manuscripts. He does publish in English, so perhaps he would be a good person to ask for further direction. [1] (You certainly can get some in French: see [2] or [3].) 184.147.128.57 (talk) 15:08, 30 April 2016 (UTC)[reply]

That would be great, wouldn't it? It would be interesting to read them in a modern translation, but there are many dozens of thousands of documents, at least. It would be an enormous effort, and the audience would be pretty limited. The most useful thing is to find a good edition in the original language, typically Latin, sometimes French depending on when they were written. Sometimes you can find certain documents translated in other works, as an appendix to a relevant book, or as part of an online "digital humanities" project for example, but not usually an entire cartulary. In addition to the above links, another person who works on this sort of thing in English is Theodore Evergates. There are many many others who write in French and English. Do you have any particular communities in mind? There are a ton of editions of cartularies from all over northern France (and all the rest of France). Adam Bishop (talk) 00:11, 1 May 2016 (UTC)[reply]

Abbeville would be the best, but anywhere in Northern France really. I just need the English translation of some of the statutes for a school project. Just to know what sort of things they discuss. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 140.233.172.250 (talk) 15:29, 1 May 2016 (UTC)[reply]

Do you know which statutes you need in particular? We could probably help you translate them here. Adam Bishop (talk) 17:38, 1 May 2016 (UTC)[reply]

Well, my assignment is to write a charter for a fictional but historically credible town my team is creating. It's a commune in Northern France with a Benedictine monastery. I've found some statutes from Laon and Lorris here: http://www.gutenberg.org/files/39227/39227-h/39227-h.htm but other than that I really don't know. Also I found this book but I don't speak French and it doesn't seem like it quotes charter provisions directly so I don't know which parts to try to translate: http://www.gutenberg.org/files/39227/39227-h/39227-h.htm

Also thanks for responding! I wasn't expecting anyone to answer :) — Preceding unsigned comment added by 140.233.172.250 (talk) 18:12, 1 May 2016 (UTC)[reply]

And to answer: no. I don't know what exactly I'm looking for. Anything really. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 140.233.172.250 (talk) 18:15, 1 May 2016 (UTC)[reply]

Oh, that sounds really interesting! The Customs of Lorris are an excellent place to start because they were very popular and were used by many other cities all throughout France (and even beyond). I see that book by F.A. Ogg translates some of them, but this book has the full text at the end. I guess you could use the ones translated by Ogg as the basis for your charter, since those are the main points. I don't see a longer translation anywhere, unfortunately. You'd want to include information about taxes and markets, legal rights (what the inhabitants can and can't be forced to do, what happens when there are disputes/violence, etc), buying and selling property, that sort of thing. Also, another thing to remember is that your Benedictine monastery would be pretty much separate from the town and would follow the Rule of St. Benedict. Adam Bishop (talk) 01:39, 2 May 2016 (UTC)[reply]

Thank you so much! — Preceding unsigned comment added by 140.233.172.250 (talk) 11:48, 2 May 2016 (UTC)[reply]

Aquitaine

What happen to the Duchy of Aquitaine between Eleanor of Aquitaine's second marriage until it only consisted of Gascony during Edward III's reign? The Angevins lost a quite bit of it. --The Emperor's New Spy (talk) 01:55, 30 April 2016 (UTC)[reply]

The Hundred Years War, or the lead up to it. See War of Saint-Sardos mostly. The loss of the bulk of Aquitaine was seen as the pretense for the deposition of Edward II of England. The King of France had always claimed full suzerainty over all of Aquitaine anyways, Edward II's terrible military exploits defending it removed practical control over much of it back to Philip the Fair. The Hundred Years War (and the conflicts before it) offered many swaps of land in the Aquitaine area between the Plantagenets and the Valois. Starting with the Treaty of Paris (1259) through the next several centuries, Aquitaine swapped hands every few decades, it was mostly under Valois control following the War of Saint Sardos, returned to the Plantagenets in the Treaty of Brétigny, returned to the Valois following the conquests of Bertrand du Guesclin, etc. Plantagenet control was only ever secure in the long term in the area around Bordeaux (Guyenne proper). --Jayron 32 03:29, 30 April 2016 (UTC)[reply]

Turkey

Hello! I am looking for sources on the following:

The Ergenekon incident in Turkey
The Susurluk incident in Turkey
The Turkish "deep state" in general.

As this is a controversial and shady topic, I would appreciate the most neutral, reliable and academic sources available. Feel free to email me if need be.

Thanks,

GAB^Hello! 02:25, 30 April 2016 (UTC)[reply]

As it says at the top of the page, we don't email questioners. I take it you are referring to Ergenekon (allegation), Susurluk scandal, and Deep state. I have no knowledge of these articles or the incidents they cover, and no view of how neutral or comprehensive the articles are. You can check each one's page history and talk page, and look at the reference sections, to help you decide how much you want to rely on them. If you can improve them, with academic sources, Wikipedia would appreciate your help. Carbon Caryatid (talk) 20:54, 30 April 2016 (UTC)[reply]

Kazakhs, Turkmens, Kyrgyz, and Tajiks in USA

How come there are no articles about Kazakhs, Turkmens, Kyrgyz and Tajiks in the US? and also where do they mostly live in? Please and thanks. Donmust90 (talk) 04:14, 30 April 2016 (UTC)Donmust90Donmust90 (talk) 04:14, 30 April 2016 (UTC)[reply]

To answer question 1) the answer is "because no one created the articles at Wikipedia yet". If you want information on various ethnicities and ancestral nationalities in the U.S., use the American FactFinder service from the U.S. Census Bureau. They have online searchable data bases, and you can absolutely find the answer to your question if you play around with it a bit. You can access it here and use the "advanced search" section to find the information you want. --Jayron 32 04:53, 30 April 2016 (UTC)[reply]

And note that there are (improvable) articles on Kazakh Americans (not to be confused with Kazakhstani Americans) and on Tajikistani Americans (not to be confused with Tajik Americans). ---Sluzzelin talk 11:32, 1 May 2016 (UTC)[reply]

Economy - are low interests for savings account a global thing?

Most savings accounts in dollar only pay some 0.0x% yearly. Are savings accounts in other currencies around the world also suffering from these low interests?--Scicurious (talk) 16:16, 30 April 2016 (UTC)[reply]

No, it's going to depend on the inflation rate on the currency in use. Interest rates should be similar to those, so in nations with hyperinflation, like Venezuela, interest rates should be much higher, as long as those accounts are in the local currency: [4]. (Of course, that doesn't mean those customers do any better. In fact, they may do far worse, if they are taxed on that interest without subtracting the inflation rate, in which case they can lose money relative to inflation, and also have to pay taxes for the privilege of losing that money. Under hyperinflation, you generally want to spend money as fast as you get it, or convert it into a more stable currency.) StuRat (talk) 17:18, 30 April 2016 (UTC)[reply]

Britain has very low savings rates which are below the rate of inflation. On the continent some countries are imposing negative interest rates - that is, a firm has to pay the bank a percentage of the funds it has deposited. I believe Japan is looking into this as well. 92.23.52.169 (talk) 18:44, 1 May 2016 (UTC)[reply]

"No" in Japanese names

What does "no" in Japanese names mean, such as Sugawara no Michizane? It looks like modern names don't have it. Was it something like "de", "von" or "di" in European surnames, meaning "of some place"? Thanks. 93.174.25.12 (talk) 17:53, 30 April 2016 (UTC)[reply]

This is explained in the article Japanese names. It is indeed like the equivalents you suggest, except that the clan name comes first. Sugawara no Michizane is actually Michizane of the Sugawara clan. This clearly has less relevance in modern Japan, where the clan system is no longer of much significance, hence the form now being uncommon. 81.132.106.10 (talk) 18:02, 30 April 2016 (UTC)[reply]

"No" is the ordinary Japanese word for "'s". (i.e. it means "of", but the other way round).--ColinFine (talk) 08:55, 2 May 2016 (UTC)[reply]

Hinduism and Buddhism

How are these two religions interrelated with each other? — Preceding unsigned comment added by Sahil shrestha (talk • contribs) 06:39, 30 April 2016 (UTC)[reply]

See Indian religions#Similarities and differences. Loraof (talk) 20:34, 30 April 2016 (UTC)[reply]

The Buddha was born a Hindu. 81.132.106.10 (talk) 21:04, 30 April 2016 (UTC)[reply]

Well, sort of. The Buddha was born into the Vedic religion, which is a precursor of the Hindu religion (much as Judaism is a precursor of Christianity). StuRat (talk) 22:39, 30 April 2016 (UTC)[reply]

I believe that there is clear historical continuity from the Vedic religion to modern Hinduism, while Buddhism is a quite distinct faith which separated from Hinduism. In the same way Christianity separated from Judaism in the 1st century. Modern Judaism is the heir of the Old Testament religion, as modern Hinduism is the heir of the Vedic religion. 81.132.106.10 (talk) 17:29, 1 May 2016 (UTC)[reply]

Is Christianity a "precursor" of Islam? ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 05:06, 1 May 2016 (UTC)[reply]

Not really, but Judaism is. I think they do list Jesus as a "prophet", but that's rather minimal compared with how much they borrowed from Judaism. StuRat (talk) 05:18, 1 May 2016 (UTC)[reply]

Jesus is considered an historical figure, not "listed as a 'prophet'." See Judaism's view of Jesus for a discussion. -- Deborahjay (talk) 10:55, 2 May 2016 (UTC)[reply]

See Jesus in Islam for the details. Alansplodge (talk) 17:22, 1 May 2016 (UTC)[reply]

I think the average Jew would be a bit rankled by the notion that Judaism is a "precursor" to either Christianity or Islam. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 18:23, 1 May 2016 (UTC)[reply]

Jews are thoroughly aware that a Christian reference to "the Bible" includes what are referred to as the "Old Testament" and the New Testament, the so-called "Old Testament" being the Jewish scriptures called in Hebrew "Tanakh" - a Hebrew acronym for its three sections: Torah (the "Five Books of Moses"), Nevi'im ("Prophets") and Ketuvim ("Writings"). Anglophone Jews who don't use Hebrew terms have adopted the word "Bible" as synonymous with the O.T. -- Deborahjay (talk) 11:13, 2 May 2016 (UTC)[reply]

I'm not sure what "A--------- J--- who don't use H----- terms" means. All J---, so far as I am aware, use H----- terms and most of them appear to speak English. Ultra - orthodox Chasidic J---, when writing or speaking English will naturally use the word "Bible" to describe the Old Testament, which is identical to the H----- canon, and I would expect that Reform J--- do the same. 92.23.52.169 (talk) 13:58, 2 May 2016 (UTC)[reply]

Why is the Anon censoring the words "Anglophone", "Jews" and "Hebrew"? Does it show that Anon subscribes to some sort of combined anti-Semitic / Anglo-phobe ideology? --PalaceGuard008 (Talk) 10:02, 3 May 2016 (UTC)[reply]

Nah. This is Edit Filter 731, presumably designed to shut up the anti - semitic troll. 92.23.52.169 (talk) 10:13, 3 May 2016 (UTC)[reply]