Ubi Sumus

Sources, which have so far often been overshadowed by chronicles and normative literature, are also the focus of interest of this book. Treatises against unacceptable innovations, pilgrims guidebooks, travel reports, prosopographical and biographical writings, journals and diaries, folk novels, documents and law manuals can provide us with valuable information. But what generally applies for Mamlukology is the fact that an enormous amount of fundamental work in the edition of texts remains yet to be done. Many Mamlukists are primarily engaged in this activity. It may also have been this unavoidable focus on handwritten materials that resulted in the fact that the scholars studying the Mamluk Era have only very rarely occupied themselves with interdisciplinary questions or theoretical hypotheses. Nevertheless, during the last ten years a lot of innovative research has been done in this field. For the first time, this book presents the state of the art with regards to the Mamluk Empire.

This volume seeks to critically review the contemporary state of maritime historiography, as it stands at the volume’s publication date of 1995. The volume is comprised of thirteen essays, each focused on the recent research into the maritime concerns of a particular geographical location, listed as follows: Australia; Canada; China; Denmark; Germany; Greece; Ibero-America; India; the Netherlands; the Ottoman Empire; Spain; the United States; and a final chapter concerning historians and maritime labour in Britain, Australia, and New Zealand. One concern made evident by the collection is the lack of stable identity and cohesive aims within maritime history, the subject holds many conflicting definitions and concepts. The purpose of this volume is to explore the recent developments in maritime history, plus the growth of scholarly interest, to provide a ‘beacon and stimulus for future work’ and to clearly direct and define maritime historiography toward a solid position in the field of history.

Ziel dieses Bandes ist, neue Akzente in der Mamlukenforschung zu setzen. Die Beiträge berühren eine Reihe spannender Themen: Heirat, Ehe und Scheidung, narrative Strategien in den Biogrammen hanbalitischer Richter, Wissensvermittlung, die zeitgenössische politische Ordnung, Wirtschaftswachstum, islamische Philosophie, die Präsenz der Zawawi-Gruppen in der Ayyubiden- und Mamlukenzeit sowie die Islamisierung von Ägypten und Syrien. Alle Beiträge tragen dazu bei, zu einem besseren, differenzierten Verständnis der Mamlukenzeit zu gelangen.Die Autorinnen und Autoren dieses Bandes, Fellows des Bonner Annemarie Schimmel Kollegs »History and Society of the Mamluk Era«, präsentieren in diesem Band die Ergebnisse ihrer am Kolleg durchgeführten Forschungen.

These studies show how the British Empire used its maritime supremacy to construct and maintain a worldwide defence for its imperial interests. They rebut the idea that British defence policy in the late 19th and early 20th centuries was primarily concerned with the balance of power in Europe.