Charles Davenant (1656–1714) went down in the history of Great Britain not only as a publicist, historian, and statesman, but also as a participant in Anglo-Scottish negotiations on a union treaty in the early 18th century. The purpose of this study is to characterize the theorist’s attitude to the problem of the unification of Great Britain. Until now domestic or foreign historiography has barely touched this topic. The article considers the evolution of the theorist’s attitude to the problem of the Anglo-Scottish Parliamentary Union, and also identifies the main arguments used by Davenant in formulating his position. It also seems important to compare the views of the publicist with his English and Scottish contemporaries’ approach to the problem of the union. On the basis of the analyzed sources, it can be judged that Davenant’s attitude to the issue of the union changed under the influence of the political situation and his own career considerations. In the late 17th century Davenant, who at that time aligned himself with the Tory opposition to the government, was an opponent of the union. However, at the beginning of the next century, he returned to public service and supported the union project. The theorist’s new standpoint was reflected in the text of the Memorial relating to a Union between England and Scotland, written by him on the eve of the conclusion of the union. A comparison of Davenant’s views with the work of his contemporaries suggests that his beliefs generally fit into a certain trend in the British public thought of the early 18th century, which characteristically appealed to the idea of economic feasibility of the Anglo-Scottish association. Не considered it possible to “tie” Scotland to England economically, with intensified trade relations and migration between the north and south of Great Britain, which would strengthen the political unity of the two countries. Davenant’s views were also original, as he believed that the unity of Britain could be ensured not only through economic integration, but also through active print propaganda to the people of both parts of the island.

The article provides an example of the use of the Books of Ranks for reconstruction of military careers of the Russian military and political elite in the 16th–17th centuries. The Books of Ranks are the most important source for biographical studies of the period in question, since they contain the information on the most significant appointments to the positions in army regiments and fortress garrisons. Prince V.I. Shuisky, the future czar, attracted the scholarly attention mainly as a political figure of the Time of Troubles. There is still no research on the initial stage of the prince’s career and his military activities. The objective of this article is to reconstruct the military service of Prince V.I. Shuisky in the last third of the 16th century and to fill the gap through studying the Books of Ranks. The work characterizes the official position of the Shuiskys, who occupied an important place in the military hierarchy. The Rise of Prince I.A. Shuisky after the Polotsk campaign shows an increase in the influence of the middle branch of the family. The author analyzes the early years of Prince V.I. Shuisky’s service, represented only in the Books of Ranks, and concludes that the prince fell behind in his career growth. The study reveals the relationship between the prince’s official appointments and the service of his ancestors and relatives. A sharp change of the prince’s official position occurred, most likely, at the will of the czar. The author stresses the link between the military ranks and involvement in the political struggle under Feodor Ivanovich and Boris Godunov. Prince V.I. Shuisky possessed significant military and administrative experience and he was in demand by the army, but did not belong to the most active noblemen in the military service. Despite his high noble status and the subsequent fate of the prince, the information on the first years of his life and activity unrelated to politics is contained mainly in the Books of Ranks, and they have to be deployed as a principal source for biography studies of Russian nobles.

Abstract. Cast rings, made of bronze and precious metals, with images on shields and inserts (cameos and intaglios) are found on urban and rural necropolises in many regions of the ancient world. Products of this type are known among finds of predominantly Hellenistic and Roman periods (scholars date them respectively to the 3rd–2nd centuries BCE and the 1st–4th centuries CE), but they also occur in earlier layers. All the items characterized in this article come from the excavations of ancient Lower Don sites. Despite the objects in question were concentrated in a certain area, they were not separated into the items of Greek and barbarian cultures. Tanais (3rd century BCE – 5th century CE) and Elizavetovskoe settlement (6th–3rd centuries BCЕ) were contact sites of the settled and nomadic population, and this determined the features of the local culture. Trade and political links with the Northern Black Sea settlements explain the existence of analogies and allows us to clarify the semantics of images. The main objective of the study was to analyze the symbolic meanings of apotropaic animals’ images on rings. The study of ancient finger rings, their comparison with the products of other settlements allows us to trace common features in the iconography of mythological characters. The “unification” of images is not accidental, since all of them had to go back to a single original image. The relevance of the topic is due to the lack of generalizing analysis of the Lower Don rings and, in particular, protective functions of their images. The author revealed that according to the beliefs of the local population, apotropaic animals, especially very popular lions and griffins, could protect the deceased in the afterlife and his burial from plunder. Part of the material is published for the first time. All finds are also for the first time considered in the context of the semantics of apotropaic animals’ images. The study shows that the finger rings functioned as apotropes and have similar iconography with different objects of the ancient material culture.

The progress of the fine art of the Italian Renaissance is a complex evolutionary process, whose key milestones are represented by outstanding oeuvres of easel and monumental painting. Many of them, especially frescos for large scale mural cycles, were acclaimed during the lifetime of their creators and patrons. For centuries to come, these works of art drew attention of many generations of scholars belonging to various historical schools of thought and representing different trends. The depth of the artist’s creative vision, innovation and a high level of execution — these are the reasons why many of the “key” monuments of the Italian Renaissance have still retained their relevance in modern art history. This article presents the history of the study and perception of one of these historiographic phenomena. The analysis of almost any aspect of the art and culture of the Renaissance Ferrara involves discussing the mural decoration of the Hall of the Months of the Palazzo Schifanoia (1469–1470). This monument of the Ferrara school of painting was the starting point for a number of trends in history and art history studies. At the same time, the perception of the ensemble of the Hall of the Months changed over the centuries depending on various factors – the political situation, the change in the stages of development of academic thought and the evolution of the methodology of art history. The analysis of the attribution process of frescoes permits one not only to reconstruct the development of art history in the second half of the 19th – early 20th centuries, but also to comprehend the life of the Ferrarese scholarly community at that time. In the 20th century, the murals of the Palazzo Schifanoia were decisively proclaimed paramount works of the Early Renaissance art. Continuous attempts to interpret the astrological motifs of the decoration of the Hall of the Months entailed the birth of iconology, a new trend in modern art history. Studying the modern historiography devoted to the decoration of the Hall of the Months delineates current trends in the study of the art of Ferrara. The article also provides archival data that shed light on the dramatic history of the palace itself, which is associated with the names of many prominent representatives of the d’Este dynasty.

The article deals with metal items discovered at the beginning of the 20th century near the village Nikol’skoye in the Nurimanovsky district of the Republic of Bashkortostan, in the eroded bank of the Ufa River. Scholars have repeatedly turned to the material of the collection, but there has been so far no consensus regarding its origin. According to A.V. Shmidt, these artifacts point to the existence of a necropolis in this area, which, along with the Novikovsky, Bakhmutino and Birsk burial grounds, can be attributed to the late sites of the Bakhmutino culture identified by Shmidt. A.P. Smirnov defined the discovered items as a hoard belonging to representatives of the clan nobility of the “late Bakhmutino or post-Bakhmutino period”. The author of the present article analyzes the finds in terms of morphology, typology, chronology, functional purpose, and genesis. In regard of functionality, these objects can be divided into the following groups: 1) head and headgear ornaments (temporal pendant); 2) neck and chest decorations (fragments of torques, beads, sulgam fibulae, plaques, pendants); 3) arm jewelry (bracelet); 4) belt fitting (buckles, false buckles, pad). These types are represented both by items of local origin and objects produced in other places in different cultural settings that evidence the variety of the Bakhmutino tribes’ contacts with neighbouring population. The author accepts A.V. Shmidt’s hypothesis of the existence of an unfound burial ground in the Ufa–Belaya interfluve area, whose separate burials could have been destroyed by water flows of the Ufa River. Judging by the discovered artifacts, the Nikol’skoye burial ground could be used in the III–VII centuries. The complexes of the Bakhmutino burial ground can be fitted into the same chronological framework, and, in comparison with the burials of the Birsk burial ground, they were less susceptible to foreign cultural influence. These conclusions remain hypothetical. The relevant archaeological surveys have to be conducted to clarify whether the Nikol’skoye burial ground really existed.

The article deals with the images of horses and “horse-like” animals on items from the archaeological sites of the Tagar culture, as well as from the sites of the same period from neighbouring regions (Tuva and Tomsk region), represented in this work as fully as possible. A historiographic review of the research topic has revealed the lack of stylistic analysis of the image of a horse in Tagar art that would take into account all the up-to-date data. This study purpose is to fill the gap. It involves the images published in literature, as well as the objects studied and sketched by the author directly in the funds of the State Historical Museum and the Institute for the History of Material Culture of the Russian Academy of Sciences. These images are not numerous, but quite stylistically diverse and made on a wide variety of items. It should be noted that most of the samples belong to the category of random finds, and the “horse-like” images noticeably prevail over the ones of horses. The article is an attempt at systematization and stylistic analysis of the images that were divided into two large categories (fullfigure and reduced representations) with further identification of groups and types within each category. The analysis allows new interpretations of already known images, previously correlated with the horse representation. It also allows revealing the dynamics of the development of the horse image in Tagar art. The two chronological stylistic groups of images, very shortly overlapping, have been distinguished. The early group is performed in the “Minusinsk style” (related to the Karasuk pictorial tradition), and the later one is represented by the “Altai style” images. Their analysis allows to conclude that stylistic changes in Tagar art were linked with the penetration of new ethnic groups into the Minusinsk hollow. In general, the influence of horse-breeding culture on the life of the settled Tagar population is quite noticeable..

The influence of the medieval literary tradition, having survived through centuries, is manifested in diverse areas in present-day life of Iceland. The article identifies main sources of knowledge about the medieval literary tradition available to Icelanders today through, for example, education. Interviews, place names, museum exhibitions, academic and local journalistic publications show the presence of “Sagas of Icelanders” and skaldic poetry in the country’s cultural, social, political and economic life. The names of rivers, lakes, bays, mountains, and particular areas remain unchanged from the time of the settlement of Iceland, just as they are reflected in medieval literature. Many streets of the towns and villages bear names associated with the names of the main characters of sagas. Significant events mentioned in the medieval literary tradition are reflected in local and national holidays. The people of the country get acquainted with the “Sagas of Icelanders” already in kindergartens. They study them at schools, universities and secondary special educational institutions. Many museums, architectural and cultural complexes located throughout the country are devoted to “Sagas of Icelanders”. Fundamental knowledge in the field of “Sagas of Icelanders” is also spread among priests, who mention them communicating with their parishioners. Ancient texts are still used as evidence in litigations regarding land ownership rights. The author demonstrates the importance of the Icelandic literary heritage at all levels, from villages and families to the Althing and government. The study results are presented in the context of the historiography of the world epic heritage and the Icelandic medieval literary tradition. Its most scholars have seen this tradition in the historical, cultural and literary contexts of the relevant period of history. The works on the impact of this tradition on certain aspects of the country’s life in the 21st century have recently begun to appear. However, comprehensive research on this subject is still to be done.

The conclusion of the Locarno Accords in 1925 that defused to some extent the tense situation in Europe contributed to the appearance of other draft regional pacts — the Balkan, Baltic and East Locarnos. One of these draft treaties covered the Mediterranean region where there was no effective security system after WWI. The article discusses Barthou’s diplomatic measures for concluding a Mediterranean agreement. This idea dates back to the turn of the 1920s. Since this subject has not been adequately dealt with in the literature, the author, on the basis of various sources including little-known material from the archive of the French diplomat R. Massigli, analyzes the attitude of the French foreign minister to the agreement, specific measures that were taken for its implementation, and its significance among other French regional initiatives. The agreement covering the Mediterranean countries was to become one of the elements of the security system that the French minister was working on, although it did not play a primary role in his foreign policy since the French diplomacy regarded as the main threat Germany. Being the foreign minister, Barthou repeatedly evoked the idea of the pact, while modifying the list of its members due to the international situation. The simultaneous participation of Italy and Yugoslavia was fundamental. Their support was necessary in building the French minister’s security system. Nevertheless, he himself did not intend to initiate the conclusion of such an agreement, attempting to present it as a regional project. In the case of implementing the Mediterranean pact, Barthou thought to achieve rapprochement with Italy and to strengthen the influence of France in the Balkan region. However, this agreement did not meet the interests of other Mediterranean countries, and therefore, the French Minister’s attempts to include the draft pact in the international agenda were unsuccessful.

The article concerns the Russian policy in the Balkans on the eve of the Russo-Turkish war of 1877–1878 and focuses on the activity of the Russian ambassador to Constantinople, Count N.P. Ignatiev, and his associate, General R.A. Fadeev, that was carried out outside the scope of the official policy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. A few years before the armed conflict, they proposed a plan for the destruction of Turkey in the result of a combined attack from the south (by the forces of the khedive of Egypt, Isma’il Pasha), from the Balkan Peninsula (by the uprising of Slavic peoples instigated by Russia) and, finally, by direct military operations of the Russian army from the Caucasus. It was assumed that such an attack would lead to Egypt’s independence, restoring the Slavic states in the Balkans, and establishing Russian control over the Black Sea straits and Constantinople. This adventurous project was not entirely viable, since it neglected the international context. However, some its elements were implemented during the uprising in the Balkans that started in 1875, when Russia helped the Bulgarians and Serbs, and, finally, certain ideas of the Ignatiev–Fadeev plan were reflected in the content of the preliminary San Stefano Peace Treaty. But the most important was that Saint Petersburg simultaneously followed two different directions in its policy – the Ignatiev–Fadeev plan, worked out to resolve the Balkan problems between Russia and Turkey, “one on one”, and the official policy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs headed by Prince A.M. Gorchakov, who relied on the decisions of the “concert of powers”. This ambivalence was evident at various levels, including Alexander II’s decisions. It predetermined the considerable differences between the terms of the San Stefano Peace Treaty and the 1878 Berlin Congress. Such a split of Saint Petersburg’s foreign policy resulted in a decline in the role of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on the global stage. This decline further evolved and affected the situation in the 1880–1890s.