The Politics of Chaucer's Boece
By focusing on the historicity and politics of translation, I discuss in this paper the political motive and functions of The Boece, Chaucer's translation from Boethius's De Consolatione Philosophiae. After examining the political implications of Boethius's work, I argue that the Latin source provides an insight into the nature of royal power, especially its perversion into tyranny. From the investigation of the history and politics in the early 1380s when the young Richard began to establish his sovereignty firmly, I suggest an educational motive of Chaucer's Boece for the king: the translation might have been aimed at giving the young king lessons about what constitutes a tyrant, thus warning him of the vices and dangers of aggregating excessive governing power. I also suggest that, during the period from the mid-1380s to 1399 when the king became more and more tyrannical, The Boece may have had potential resonance with the concerns of the king's opponents, his magnates, about the misuse of royal power. I conclude with the observation that, contrary to Chaucer's expectations of diverting the king from the dangerous road of excessive power, his Boece could have served as one of the tools of attack for the magnates to confront, and eventually depose, Richard Ⅱ.
Bond Men Made Free: Medieval Peasant Movements and the English Rising of 1381
Rodney Hilton's account of the Peasant's Revolt of 1381 remains the classic authoritative text on the 'English Rising'. Hilton views the revolt in the context of a genral European pattern of class conflict. He demonstrates that the peasant movements that disturbed the Middle Ages were not mere unrelated outbreaks of violence but had their roots in common economic and political conditions and in a recurring conflict of interest between peasants and landowners. Now with a new introduction by Christopher Dyer, this survey is still a leading source for students of medieval English peasantry.
Electrophysiological Studies of Penticainide (CM 7857), a New Antiarrhythmic Agent, in Mammalian Myocardium
The intracellular electrophysiologic properties of a new antiarrhythmic substance, penticainide, were studied in isolated rabbit, dog, and guinea pig myocardial preparations superfused or perfused with oxygenated Tyrode's solution. “Therapeutic” concentrations of penticainide (1.5 to 3 x 10-5 M) had little effect on sinus node automaticity; sinoatrial conduction was slightly delayed. In atrial, Purkinje and ventricular fibers, amplitude, and maximal rate of rise of phase 0 (dV/dtmax) were decreased by penticainide; Purkinje-ventricle conduction velocity was depressed. Penticainide did not significantly modify action potential duration (APD) of rabbit atria and dog ventricle and reduced APD and effective refractory period (ERP) of dog Purkinje and guinea pig ventricular fibers. Penticainide reduced APD heterogeneity of Purkinje-ventricle junction with a preferential effect at the gate and decreased tension amplitude of perfused papillary muscle in dog heart. The effect of penticainide on dV/dtmax was voltage and rate dependent; the resting block was weak. Thus, penticainide is a class 1 antiarrhythmic agent with properties of class 1B agents such as APD reduction and properties of class 1C agents such as slow recovery kinetic of rate-dependent block.