Early Modern Times
Early Modern Times is a blog that will seek to enlighten and entertain you with news, events, and general insight into the inner workings of the Early Modern Studies Program, or to choose an apposite metaphor, the internal mechanism which makes EMSP’s clock tick.
Early Modern Times is written by Dr. Simon Kow, Director of the Early Modern Studies Program.
Dear readers, Earlier this week, I took a journey to the erstwhile capital of Nouvelle France, the splendid city of Quebec (symbolised by the Chateau Frontenac--one of the most famous hotels in the world--in the photograph above which I snapped on Monday). It is sometimes described as the birthplace of Canada, or at least French…
Dear readers, This week marked the beginning of Section 3 in the Foundation Year Program: The Renaissance and Reformation. This is a historical period also covered by the Early Modern Studies Program, along with Section 4 (The Age of Reason) and the first part of Section 5 (The Age of Revolutions). As Section 3 Coordinator,…
Dear readers, I am pleased to return to Early Modern Times after several weeks' absence! Today's post is devoted to Yasuke, a sixteenth-century African samurai who was also Japan's first foreign samurai warrior (pictured above is Kenneth Trotter's illustration of what Yasuke might have looked like in his full samurai armour and regalia). This recent…
Dear readers, In advance of the 250th anniversary of Captain James Cook's arrival in New Zealand on Oct. 6, 1769, the British high commissioner Laura Clarke has expressed 'regret' over the deaths of nine Maori persons encountering Cook and his crews. While some indigenous groups have applauded the move, there are planned protests against the…
Dear readers, This recent article by Kelly Grovier considers select pieces from a new exhibition currently at the Albertina Museum in Vienna devoted to the paintings of Albrecht Dürer. Dürer, who lived from 1471 to 1528, was born in Nuremberg, studied in other German towns as well as Venice, and returned to Nuremberg in 1495…
Dear readers, Canadians were stunned by the appearance of photographs and a video of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau appearing in brown- and blackface on at least three separate occasions in past decades. One of the few positive outcomes of these shameful revelations is some conversation, for now, around the history of blackface particularly in Canada.…
Dear readers, Last week, John Bercow announced that he would be resigning as Speaker of the UK House of Commons on Oct. 31, which not coincidentally is also the current date for Britain's exit from the European Union. Although Bercow is a Conservative MP, he has been praised by Opposition parties and excoriated by his…
Dear readers, This past week saw two seemingly unrelated events: the UK Parliament's defiance of Prime Minister Boris Johnson's determination that Britain will exit from the EU on Oct. 31, deal or no deal; and the premiere at the Venice Film Festival of The King, a retelling of the life of medieval king and Shakespearean…
Dear readers, Britain is in turmoil after the announcement by UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson that he would be suspending parliament for five weeks. Critics accuse 'boorish Boris' of using this tactic to enable a no-deal Brexit on Hallowe'en. Johnson enacted a long-standing procedure known as 'prorogation'. His detractors may well regard the PM as…
