ACTA HISTRIAE

Sailing Through Time

Bowen CHAI — 2025-03-30

Zheng He’s Nautical Chart’ and Portolan Charts were navigational tools used in China and Europe contemporaneously during the early fifteenth century and are visual representations of the navigation techniques practiced by Chinese and European mariners. However, there is a lack of comparative study of the navigation techniques presented in the charts, which often results in misunderstandings. This article bridges the gap by providing a detailed comparison of the navigation techniques through analysing the chart, historical records, and secondary research. It concludes that the similarities between Chinese and European navigation techniques far outweigh the differences. The finding indicates the diversity and unity inherent in human responses when confronted with comparable challenges.

Legitimizing the Mamluk Sultanate

Yusuf ÖTENKAYA — 2025-03-30

This paper examines the legitimation of the Mamluk state, focusing not only on its military victories over Crusaders and Mongols but also on its religious rhetoric, alliances with the ʿulamāʾ, and ties to the Abbasid caliphate. Rulers like Baybars and Qalāwūn consolidated power by invoking the legacy of al-Ṣāliḥ Ayyūb, portraying themselves as divinely chosen defenders of Islam. In a period of natural disasters and eschatological concerns, their successes alleviated societal fears. By analyzing historical chronicles and reassessing existing scholarship, this article explores how political authority was shaped through divine grace, religious discourse, and symbolic connections to the caliphate.

Implementing the Russian Initiative

Darko BAKIĆ — 2025-03-30

In response to the instability in the Ottoman Empire, which became particularly evident in the mid-1890s, Austria-Hungary adopted a plan in late January 1896 to occupy part of the territory in the Sanjak of Novi Pazar, provided it received consent from the Porte. On the other hand, Russia launched an initiative in February of the same year aimed at bringing the Balkan nations closer together, entrusting Montenegro with its implementation, precisely to prevent the Vienna government from exploiting the newly emerged situation in the neighboring empire to fulfill the Dual Monarchy’s territorial ambitions. To this end, Montenegrin Foreign Minister Gavro Vuković visited Belgrade, Sofia, and Constantinople, with the tangible results of his actions culminating in a secret agreement known as the Ugodba.

Reinterpretacija lika dukljanske kraljice Jakvinte Vojislavljević

Ksenija RAKOČEVIĆ — 2025-03-30

U ovom radu bavićemo se likom dukljanske vladarke Jakvinte Vojislavljević (XI. stoljeće), u najstarijem tekstu crnogorske kulture “Ljetopisu popa Dukljanina” (XII. stoljeće), koristeći pri tom instrumente različitih znanstvenih disciplina: studija roda, znanosti o književnosti, sociologije i antropologije. Reinterpretacija se odnosi na ponovno iščitavanje i revalorizaciju starih tekstova, koji Jakvintu negativno oblikuju, a naše istraživanje ukazuje na dinstinkciju između povijesnih događaja i literarnih konstrukcija. Članak sagledava povijesne, kulturne i rodne aspekte, koji su oblikovali percepciju ove značajne ličnosti. Kroz kritičku analizu izvora i reinterpretirano tumačenje Jakvinte razdvajamo povijesne činjenice od legendarnog narativa, što doprinosi ne samo razumijevanju lika kraljice Jakvinte, nego i šireg konteksta Duklje za doba njezinog života.

Entanglement of Nature Worshippers From Posočje With Stones

Polona TRATNIK — 2025-03-30

This article argues that the beliefs and belief system of nature worshippers from Posočje differ significantly from the Greco-Roman or Judeo-Christian hierarchical anthropocentric perspectives, which classify the ecosphere according to its usefulness. The mythical thinking of nature worshippers from Posočje is examined from an ecofeminist perspective. They viewed non-living entities not only as autonomously functional, i.e., without human domination, but as agencies that organize life around them. The intertwining of humans with the ecosphere, including the inanimate world, as found in the mythical thinking of Posočje nature worshippers, is analyzed in terms of accounts of media ecology and machine-oriented ontology, and treated considering some recently discussed posthumanist notions, such as “machinic assemblages” and “folding with the world.” Posočje nature worshippers understood trees and stones with special powers as shaping the actions and social relations of humans. Therefore, these entities should be seen as media, machines, or apparatuses that organize human life.