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The article discusses Washington Irving's tale "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow," focusing on the characters of Ichabod Crane and the Headless Horseman. It explores the themes of foreign mercenaries invading a Dutch valley for economic gain, drawing parallels between the two characters. The story highlights cultural tensions, the impact of the Revolutionary War, and the supernatural elements of the tale. Ultimately, it delves into the fate of Ichabod Crane and his connection to the Headless Horseman, emphasizing themes of conquest, loss, and cultural preservation. [Extracted from the article]

Among the major exploration narratives of seventeenth-century North America, Pierre-Esprit Radisson's remains enigmatic; rarely read, and poorly understood. This article seeks to build a more nuanced understanding of Radisson when he composed his voyages in 1665–9, as a multilingual, multi-cultural renegade, mercenary, and translator, the author of a deeply nuanced personal narrative. Radisson chose to self-translate into English tales he had told in other tongues, and his skills as an interpreter/translator were not literary but practical. He survived his adventures only by virtue of his linguistic self-transformation and self-possession. His voyages should be read as an inter-lingual document, as well as one of the earliest captivity narratives and most complex exploration memoirs of colonial North America. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article examines the play "The Double Marriage" by John Fletcher and Philip Massinger, focusing on the characters Desdemona, Martia, and Sesse. It draws comparisons between these characters and Shakespearean figures like Miranda, Jessica, Cordelia, and Cleopatra. The play concludes with Sesse opting for self-imposed exile and assuming the role of a banished duke with a loyal daughter. The article also highlights the presence of references and allusions to Shakespeare's works throughout the play. [Extracted from the article]

Copyright of Foro Internacional is the property of El Colegio de Mexico AC and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

In recent years, the Wagner Group has significantly increased its presence in several African countries. Russian mercenaries have become involved in many conflicts in an effort to expand their influence. One of their main tasks was to fight against terrorism. The analyses carried out, in which the author used qualitative methods and sources relating to the theoretical and practical dimensions of the issue at hand, indicate that the Wagnerists have been posing as their operations in order to maintain military presence on the African continent. Intensifying the Wagner Group's presence is a long-term strategy of the Kremlin, which pursues interests along two tracks - benefiting from cooperation at the state level and engaging mercenaries. Countries of the wider West (members of the North Atlantic Alliance and the European Union) are also seeking to develop cooperation with African partners. Terrorist organisations also intend to fight for influence on the continent. In this regard, it is necessary to constantly monitor Russia's proactive foreign policy aimed at the rivalry as it affects the presence of Poland and its allies in Africa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Insofar as, in the context of privatized war, the mercenary's job entails enforcing rights on behalf of a state, not independently, the state must grant, through contract, a moral permission to the mercenary to use force on its behalf in order for I that i use to be non-arbitrary. Soldiers - and, as we shall see, only soldiers - can be regarded as extended agents of the state, because one essential feature of the status of soldier, as defined by the constitutive rules of soldiery, is that they respond to the I chain of command i within the official structure of the military. In turn, the state should not consider itself wronged if the mercenary fails to comply, for this failure is only possible as a result of the state's previous wrongful failure to release the mercenary. If, by contrast, the state (wrongly) accepts the mercenary's promise, it would still be wrong for the state to demand that the mercenary comply with the offer's terms. Therefore, whenever a state attempts to enforce that duty on the mercenary - including, for example, by threatening them with economic sanctions if they do not perform - the state wrongs the mercenary. [Extracted from the article]

The purpose of the present paper is to emphasize the way mercenaries integrated in the world politics. It offers an overview of the historical context, highlighting short details about the early appearance of mercenary troops who, although not yet bearing that name, acted in the same way. What is more, it pursues the evolution of mercenaries from their very beginning to the contemporary era, making a short stop to the Middle Ages, and then to the pre-modern period. Furthermore, it describes the metamorphosis of mercenaries in the contemporary period, giving birth to the new 'dogs of war' under different names. However, these transformations came with behavioural changes as well. They changed their attitude and their chaotic actions on the battlefield, fulfilling, sometimes, a different role, but for the same purpose, which labelled them as 'new mercenaries' from the outset. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article cites the Italian inscription left by Tudor mercenary and courtier Giovanni Battista Castiglione in the Tower of London in England when he was held and tortured in 1556 on suspicion of disseminating scandalous and seditious things. It considers the similarity of the text to that found surrounding the title-page woodcut device in products of the printing house Al segno della speranza owned by Giovanni della Speranza, thought to be a pseudonym of Giovanni Ferrerio Francesi.

The article presents a comparative analysis of the material maintenance forms of the professional troops of the Cossack Hetmanate and the Ottoman Empire -- serdyuks and janissaries through the prism of their subcultures. Ottoman influences on the military and political practices and daily life of the Hetmanate became very intense and noticeable in the middle and second half of the 17th century thanks to a series of alliances and joint military campaigns. In the system of providing and maintaining professional mercenary troops of the Hetmanate, not only the traditions that came from the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, but also borrowings from Ottoman military traditions are followed. The distribution of ready-made clothes, special premium payments and other forms of incentives to the hetman's serdyuks indicate many common features with the maintenance practices of the elite units of the janissary corps -- the serden-geçtiler. These formations served as a model for the creation of permanent Serdyuk infantry regiments in the Hetmanate during the reign of Petro Doroshenko (1665--1676). Later, such contingents joined the armies of the left-bank Hetmans Ivan Samoilovych (1672--1687) and Ivan Mazepa (1687--1709). Along with the form of recruitment, traditions of material support of serdengechti were obviously borrowed. Special payments to serdyuks "for boots" and special monetary bonuses on the eve of campaigns, which have direct analogues in Ottoman practice, are applied to themselves. One of the notable features characteristic of the janissary subculture was purchases by the hetman's treasury for the mercenaries' cauldrons (kazan), which were the symbols of the military community that received food from the hands of the Hetman. Cauldrons were widely used in the Cossack army, but were bought with private money and were common camp implements. Food ("bread"), along with clothing ("barwa"), which, like that of the janissaries, was of the same type of the uniform, received by hetmans' serdyuks were a sign of subjection and obedience. Paying mercenaries a salary ("zhold"), special monetary bonuses, clothing and products (in addition to a utilitarian role) also had a deeply symbolic meaning, marking the patronage and special care of the ruler over them. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Livonian War was typical of early modern conflicts; the most widespread forms of violence were associated with raiding, pillaging, and plundering. Drawing upon wartime correspondences, chronicles, and archival records, this article explores the characteristics and consequences of those activities as practiced by both foreign invaders and hired mercenaries. Raiding and pillaging often have been treated as merely symptomatic of early modern warfare. This article demonstrates how their pervasiveness dictated tactical and strategic considerations, influenced military policy, and shaped civil-military relations. It also argues that prolonged exposure to wartime brutality could play a significant part in breaking down longstanding social mores, transforming societies, and normalizing violence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The private military industry has sparked great interest in the media and literature in the past thirty years. While debates on whether the industry should be regulated or abolished are extensive, little has been written about the mechanisms used to contract the employees within this massive industry. The few scholars who have focused on employees providing non-military labor have highlighted that these workers are systematically oppressed. On the other hand, most writers who focus on employees who provide military labor portray them as cold-blooded individuals who would do anything for material gain. As this Note would argue, despite popular belief, Private Security Contractors (those who bear arms) are more vulnerable than they appear. For over twenty years, through multiple layers of contracting and subcontracting, the private military industry has been recruiting, transporting, transferring, and harboring contractors from developing countries for its military functions through deceptive, coercive, and forceful means for the purpose of exploitation. Even though the Palermo Protocol to Prevent, Suppress, and Punish Trafficking in Persons ("Trafficking Protocol") forbids the commission of these acts, stereotypical views of victimization and harm obstruct the application of this legal instrument to such contractors. To debunk myths in the literature, this Note focuses specifically on the application of the Trafficking Protocol to contractors who provide military or security functions. By highlighting the progress already made in the fight against human trafficking, this Note presents the Trafficking Protocol as a promising international legal instrument that can address exploitation in the industry. This Note also considers the challenges that must be overcome to prevent trafficking, protect victims, and punish perpetrators. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In many of his comedies, Menander puts on stage the figure of the mercenary soldier. A survey of extant plays confirms that these characters are no lawless brutes but sympathetic figures, good Athenian citizens who act according to the laws and social norms of the polis. Previous scholarship has interpreted Menander's characterization of soldiers as a stylistic innovation from the stock type of the braggart soldier. Instead, I argue that his comedies reflect Athenian popular perception of mercenary service. A comparison with the depiction of mercenaries in Isaeus' speeches confirms that Athenians did not look down on individuals who chose to serve abroad for money. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Archaeology: Possible Evidence for Yahwistic Presence in Egypt in the Seventh-Sixth Centuries... There are hints of Yahwistic presence in Egypt prior to the Persian period (and even arguably in the second millennium bce).[27] Some indirect evidence of the presence of I Yhwdy i in Egypt in the seventh-sixth centuries bce might be detectable in the archaeological data. All he knew was an account of a campaign by a certain Psammetichus against "the king of the Ethiopians" - a character that played a central role in the Greek-Hellenistic I imaginaire i , from the myth of Memnon[32] to Herodotus[33] and down to Josephus.[34] At the same time, a myth about a well-known historical campaign would allow the fully Hellenized Egyptian Jews to boast of a relatively longstanding connection to Egypt's history and people - from a time when indigenous rulers still ruled Egypt. In fact, Egypt is not mentioned in the text and there is no direct allusion to Egypt (with the one exception being a mention of "linen" brought to Nineveh from Egypt in column XX). Dynastie)", in MDAIK 49 (1993): 170-81. 48 La'da, Csaba A, "Ethnicity, occupation and tax-status in Ptolemaic Egypt", Egitto e Vicino Oriente 17 (1994): 183-89. 49 Leuchter, Mark, "The Exegesis of Jeremiah in and beyond Ezra 9-10", VT 65/1 (2015): 62-80. 50 MacLaurin, Evan C. B., "Date of the Foundation of the Jewish Colony at Elephantine", JNES 27/2 (1968): 89-96. 51 Manning, Joseph G., "Land and Status in Ptolemaic Egypt: The Status Designation 'occupation title + b k + divine name'", in Grund und Boden in Altägypten (rechtliche und sozio-ökonomische verhältnisse) Akten des internationalen Symposions Tubingen 18.-20. [Extracted from the article]

Copyright of Prague Egyptological Studies / Prazské Egyptologické Studie is the property of Charles University Prague, Faculty of Arts and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The article informs on the preachings of Huldrych Zwingli. It mentions Zwingli was convinced that the system of mercenary service in Catholic central Switzerland went against God's will, because the sums foreign powers paid the local ruling classes for recruiting mercenary troops financed a wasteful lifestyle characterized by immorality and godlessness, and felt impelled to warn his contemporaries about the impending divine judgement for these abuses.

The article discusses the mythologization of the Bouvines Battle based on the data of the official chroniclers of King Philip II Augustus. The author examines the image of the warring opponents, their mythology and sacred appearance, presented in the presentation of the French side. An alternative conclusion is proposed about the discrepancy with the reality of the thesis characterizing the Battle of Bouvines as the first French national event. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article discusses the anti-mercenary city-leagues, or taglie , of Renaissance Tuscany. Anti-mercenary leagues were coalitions of cities tied together for protection against foreign companies of French, English, German, and Hungarian mercenaries. While these leagues flourished in the middle of the fourteenth century (1347–96) among the cities of Tuscany, taglie often failed militarily or collapsed after only a few months. Earlier scholarship has blamed these failures on military competition among Italian cities and an incipient culture of deception. By examining diplomatic correspondence, legal statutes and texts, and army musters, this article shows instead how the taglie were in fact corporate associations (societas) that provided not only military protection, but financial co-ordination, social control, and a common ideology of urban autonomy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the reason a play was staged and become successful as an acted drama and to assess the significance of its performance. Topics discussed including the mercenary troops should be dismissed, and after beseeching the citizens; final straw came when Bunn decided that Shakespeare's Richard III should be staged, but only its first three; and advertising as the play was to be performed for one night only.

The purpose of this article is to reconsider the combat efficiency and motivation of the Spanish infantry during the Italian Wars in light of the unfounded and misguided conclusions of both sixteenth-century and present-day perceptions of professional and mercenary soldiers. The humanistic admiration of the citizen-soldier embedded a fundamental fear and suspicion of the supposedly untrustworthy and greedy professional soldier that only began to dissipate during the last few decades. Yet, combat efficiency and initial motivation to serve in early modern armies seem to be mangled together. The Spanish infantry soldiers of the Italian Wars are the most conspicuous example of the fact that early modern soldiers often joined the army for the prospect of financial remuneration and rewards, but their high level of combat efficiency was maintained by a highly cohesive warrior society, infused with a strong sense of esprit de corps, making them fierce, efficient, and dependable soldiers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article introduces the Commercial Military Actor Database (CMAD), a dataset able to support research on civil war and commercial military actors. First, the CMAD covers all civil wars from 1980 to 2016 across all of the world's regions except Europe, which enables the investigation of long-term regional and global trends. Second, the CMAD encompasses the corporate market segment and mercenary outfits, which facilitates the analysis of how those actors have impacted conflicts differently. Third, containing detailed information about the relationships behind exchanges, the CMAD allows users to disaggregate market exchanges. Using the CMAD's new data, we examined trends in the market for force, and demonstrate the data's added value. We re-examining Akcinaroglu and Radziszewski's study on how private military and security companies affect the duration of civil war. The findings show that the market's influence on conflict can only be fully understood by including corporate and mercenary actors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines cinematic representations of mercenaries from the era of silent movies to the 1980s. It argues that cinema has been selective in the choice of historical periods to depict mercenaries and soldiers of fortune, ignoring for the most part the centuries of European state building in which mercenaries played a significant role. Most mercenary films are anchored in the near present and the paper focuses on Mexico and the Congo as terrains of political breakdown and external intervention. Since the 1950s, a range of films depict mercenaries in these terrains seeking money, adventure, and the thrills of killing, and the paper examines mercenary movies through the character structures of hero, anti-hero and villain. These three structures have shaped the portrayal of mercenaries in westerns and war movies as well as action and sci fi movies, where they have become hardened in the last two decades into range of stock stereotypes [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article will explore the differing attitudes among British parliamentarians towards the use of German soldiers in 1756 and 1776. Utilising speech act theory, it will be shown that German soldiers were constructed as mercenaries in 1776 because they were being employed to fight against British subjects – the North American colonists. However, when nearly identical German soldiers were employed to fight against a French adversary in 1756, they were not constructed as mercenaries. It will be concluded that the mercenary as a figure of war is not a static, transhistorical concept with universal characteristics. Rather, the mercenary is socially constructed, and, as such, is only made possible in specific historical and socio-political contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the early modern period, there were some parts of Europe that tensions never ended. As part of the great Ottoman expansion, skirmishes, robbery, and taking slaves occurred almost on a daily basis in Dalmatia from the 15th to 18th centuries. At the beginning, the Venetian defence of the Dalmatian coastal communities was based on small mercenaries' troops and locally recruited men. The establishment of a complex defence system of Military Border i.e. Krajina based on new human power provided by Morlach immigrants was possible only after few great wars in the 18th century. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]