9 November 2017
Once upon a time, one thousand years ago, Europe was a backward continent compared to the Arab world and the Islamic Penisula. The great Roman and Greek legacy was kept alive by monastries and in Arab libraries. This changed after the new millenium however. From the 12th century, the Europeanization of Europe, in so far … Read more » “Europeanisation of Europe”
30 October 2017
The history of the European courts in Strasbourg and Luxembourg started long before their foundation after the Second World War. The legal history of Europe reveals a long common tradition of cooperation, integration and concepts of the juridical and appellate system, legal practice and legal education amidst a politically fragmented landscape. It is no exaggeration … Read more » “The European Legal Heritage”
30 October 2017
Long before the arrival of the Romans, Celtic and Rhetian tribes that inhabited present-day Switzerland traded with Greece, Italy and regions far beyond. They even used the Greek language in political and trade deals. The territory romanized as part of the Roman Empire from the first century AD onwards and the first mountain passes opened: the … Read more » “The Swiss go their own way and connect Europe”
30 October 2017
The durability of the works by the historian Edward Gibbon (1737-1794) owes nothing to the advantage, or accident, of direct observation, because he did not write contemporary history when he wrote his Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire in the years 1776-1788, one year before the French revolution. In looking back on the Roman … Read more » “Edward Gibbon would have voted Leave”
5 April 2017
The pre-history of the historical Atlas in Europe was a long one. The history of European mapping goes back to Mesopotamia, the Greeks and Romans. Though ancient geography remained prestigious (educational) pursuits, the Bible and maps depicting the Holy land became the significant inspiration in medieval times, but mapping could not be called ‘historical’. Biblical … Read more » “European Regions Back to the Future”