Syracuse University Research Facility and Collaborative Environment

Hart, Audrey

English

And if thy right hand offend thee, cut it off : Human Sterilization, The Press & Universities, and  The Science of Surgery  in Oregon, 1904-1940

Parekh, Eashaa Devang

15 
Thomas Paine’s Independence 
Thomas Paine, the son of an English Quaker,(Sharp) published Common Sense 
anonymously in 1776 in order to sprout the idea of American Independence from the 
British (Sharp). He argued that liberation was quintessential to America’s full economic 
development as a nation and that the prolongation of colonial occupation would make it 
harder to accomplish. By the mid eighteenth century, Britain had held firm reigns over the 
American economy and liberties by parliamentary ordinances such as the Stamp Act, 
Townshend Act, Tea Act and the Coercive Acts. These laws escalated tensions between the 
colonists and the British, fueling discontent among Americans, thus weaving an 
atmosphere of resistance by 1774. The Revolutionary War was a result of this 
dissatisfaction amplified by the growing concerns of the exploitation of American economy. 
Although it began as a war of revolution, it gradually transformed into one of 
independence, encouraged by the ideas presented in Paine’s Common Sense. His tone of 
urgency fused with his simple language, “sound logic and unanswerable reasoning”(Sharp) 
provoked the movement toward Independence in 1776. 
Paine, in his argument, identified that not only was it in America’s best interest to 
separate from Britain in order to maximize her potential as a nation, but also that the 
longer independence was delayed, the harder it would become to attain it. He argued 
that Britain was exploiting American economy, thus consuming her wealth. By the mid 
1770s, Americans had been through an assortment of experiences that made them 
receptive of the arguments laid out in his pamphlet. These ranged from rigid economic 
reforms such as the Townshend Act, The Stamp Act and the Tea Act to the Coercive Acts 
of 1774 and augmented much resentment among Americans, especially from the 
resistance leaders, pushing them on the brink of revolution. 
   Throughout Common Sense, Paine asserted that America would not thrive 
commercially if it continued to linger in a state of foreign dependency, “cramped and 
fettered by legislative powers.” (Sharp) He emphasized that even though America’s 
power was unparalleled with that of other nations, it was hardly comparable to the 
capability it would reach under liberation. In his argument, he compared Britain and 
America to France and Spain, contending that their interdependence would ultimately 
topple the economy. He exemplified the case of a powerful financial system in two 
independent states, France and Spain, thus providing support for his theory. He also 
attested that Britain was simply colonizing America as a monetary benefit, as opposed to 
protecting her out of altruistic purposes. Furthermore, he vindicated his claim of 
commercial exploitation by demonstrating the unjust extension of Canadian borders 
arguing that the back lands, which some states had been unfairly deprived of, were 
organically valued at five pounds sterling per hundred acres; but now amounted to 
twenty-five million Pennsylvania currency. (Sharp) 
Paine’s second argument stated that prolongation would make independence a 
difficult feat to accomplish. He insisted that if they waged a war for independence in 
1776, when they had the military ability and experience to do so, they would achieve 
liberation because their military had just undergone the Seven Years War, which ended 
with the Treaty of Paris in 1763. However, if they waited a few more years, there was a 
probability that they would be ruptured of the same capability thus making 
independence an impossible stroke to accomplish. Furthermore, he advocated that 
16 
waging a war of independence was a “single simple clear line”(Sharp) where as 
reconciliation was “exceedingly perplexed and complicated” (Sharp)thus making the 
former a default preference. He also emphasized the impracticality of reconciliation- 
arguing that it would spiral into a web of complexities because America’s condition in 
1776 was “truly alarming.” (Sharp) He further contended that America was 
inadvertently in a state of independence, combating for dependence and that 
prolongation encouraged Britain to fully conquer her. 
By the mid eighteenth century, Americans had experienced financial drain in the 
form of various government reforms. These included the Stamp Act, the Tea Act, the 
Townshend Act and the Coercive Acts. The Stamp Act of 1775, introduced by George 
Grenville, levied tax stamps on most printed materials, thus affecting nearly every 
colonist, especially merchants and members of the colonial elite. In addition, it also 
required that tax stamps be purchased with scarce sterling coins. Americans viewed the 
law as an oppressive design stimulating the destruction of their economic liberty. 
Similarly, the Townshend Act of 1767 extended the Navigation Acts by enforcing tax on 
trade goods such as paper, glass and tea. It specifically applied to items imported into 
colonies from Britain, not to those from foreign countries, thus violating the mercantilist 
theory, which aimed at minimizing imports that cost the nation money and maximizing 
exports that generated income. In addition, the revenues were used to pay colonial 
officials, which meant that assemblies could no longer deter the cooperation of officials 
by withholding their salary. The Townshend Act was met with much anger and 
disapproval from merchants because it put their profits in jeopardy, thus conforming to 
Paine’s theory of economic drain. Parliament passed the Tea Act in May 1773, which 
primarily aimed to save the East India Company from bankruptcy. According to the Tea 
Act, solely the East India Company’s designated agents could sell legal tea in America. 
Resistance leaders interpreted this law as a device to make them admit Parliaments 
right to tax them, because the cheaper tea was still to be taxed under the Townshend 
Act.  Another sector of Americans viewed it as an attempt of an East India Company 
monopoly in colonial trade. The movement against the Tea Act comprised an eclectic 
mix of Americans including blacksmith, doctors, farmers and so forth and was a key 
factor in shaping their perception of Paine’s arguments in Common Sense. (Norton) 
         The Coercive Acts of 1774 were the last dose of reforms that pushed the Americans 
toward a revolutionary war. Parliament adopted a set of four laws that were later 
known as the Intolerable Acts of the mid eighteenth century. The first law closed part of 
Boston until the tea was paid for, thus hindering all but coastal trade in food and 
firewood. Later that spring Parliament passed the Massachusetts Government Act 
revising the province’s existing charter and substituting the appointed council for an 
elected one, complimented by an increase in the governor’s powers and the prohibition 
of most town meetings. The third act, the Justice Act, stated that a person accused of 
committing murder in the course of suppressing a riot would be tried outside the colony 
at the location of the incident. Finally, the Quartering Act allowed military officers to 
lease privately owned buildings. In addition, Parliament also passed the Quebec Act, 
which allowed more religious freedom for Catholics in Quebec, thus alarming Protestant 
colonists. As a result of these laws, resistance leaders feared deliberate oppression by 
the British. The stipulations threatened the security of the ports in New York and 
Philadelphia, the royal charters of the other colonies, the occupation of America by 
17 
military forces and the inevitable spread of the favored Catholic Church all over the 
country. (Norton) Thus, the oppression embroidered by these Acts and experiences 
pushed Americans into revolution and cultivated their commitment toward resistance, 
ultimately provoking a strong, positive response to Paine’s Common Sense. 
While the experiences Americans faced pre- 1776 played a vital role in their 
positive response toward Common Sense, the crisp language, urgent tone and systematic 
content backed by evidence made it a popular uproar in the1770s. Paine stated his 
arguments in an orderly fashion, making them concise and coherent, thus enabling 
Americans of nearly every occupation capable of comprehending them. He combined 
these with a tone of persistence, exemplified in sentences such as “The Rubicon is 
passed”,(Sharp) thus effectively conveying the seriousness of the situation. Besides that, 
his discourse was structured by evidence at nearly every step. For instance, when he 
asserted the claim of economic stagnation, he strengthened it by exemplifying the case of 
Spanish and French economy. Moreover, he ignited the nationalist excitement of the 
“birth of a new nation” (Sharp)whose diversity and prosperity would be comparable to 
that of Europe’s. By the same token, he offered a rational method of waging a war of 
Independence, i.e. one that began with legislation, so as to cultivate a finely tuned nation 
after liberation. These factors made Common Sense well favored in 1776, making it a 
significant tool of instigating Independence. 
 
        Thus, economic oppression in the form of various government reforms pushed 
Americans into a state of resistance. In Common Sense, Paine critically examined sections 
of these reforms to conclude that Independence was not only imminent for economic 
growth but also for practical reasons (for instance, it was simpler than reconciliation). 
His methodical arguments combined with the simplicity in language, made Common 
Sense a popular beacon of nationalism and ultimately pulled the trigger for the American 
War of Independence in 1776. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 


Thomas Paine\u27s Independence

Schultz, Kayla

Shaping the Public Memory about the Vietnam War through Dramatization

Dvalidze, Irina

Undetermined

Effects of the Ice Trade Development in 19th Century Transatlantic America

Ross, Nicholas A.

Anorexia Mirabilis                                                                                   3
AnorexiA MirAbilis: A seculAr seduction
Nicholas a. Ross
Hagiographical accounts of  the late Middle Ages emphasize an asceticism centered on food that 
became specifically a female genre. These accounts of  selfless denial were intended to inspire the masses in 
times of  doubt. Particularly with women, as they were ‘susceptible’ to demonic influence, the accounts began 
to follow a prototypical model. Saint Catherine of  Siena’s story, “Leyenda,” written by her confessor and hagi-
ographer, Fra Raimondo da Capua della Vigne, reveals this ‘holy’ struggle. Her dual goals of  faith and purity 
were pitted against her family’s worldly endeavors in an increasingly secular period.1 The hagiography tells of  
her growing desire to please everybody, beginning in childhood and continuing up to her untimely death. The 
struggles of  her life culminated in this saintly denial of  food like many other female ascetics of  her time. Saint 
Catherine’s story labels her relationship with food as anorexia mirabilis, a divine loss of  appetite. A psycho-
medical examination of  her situation, however, forces one to ask: was her condition really divine in origin, or 
was the weight of  society’s unreachable goals too great, inducing a compulsive need for self  discipline mani-
fest outwardly as this obsessive concern with food?
To answer this, one must consider women’s role as nurturers and their subsequent association, literally, 
as food. Close examination of  Catherine’s denial of  food in the context of  her disturbing childhood leads one 
to see that Catherine most definitely suffered from acute anorexia nervosa, heretofore considered a modern 
phenomenon. The increased attention given to anorexia nervosa has spurred a historical revision in the in-
terpretation of  anorexia mirabilis, revealing that, underneath its possibly divine inspiration, there exist ties 
to a deeper, emotionally twisting, struggle. It can be seen that her denial of  food, although possibly divinely 
inspired, places the origins of  anorexia nervosa much before modernity.
 
 Catherine Benicasa was born on 25 March, 1347, entering the world in the midst of  the Great Plague. 
People were dying in the streets, blurring the distinction between the private and the public. The religious and 
the secular were no longer in a position of  power as everybody was at risk with this disease. It was an increas-
ingly dismal time as “the dead seemed to outnumber the living.”2 The inability of  elites and laymen to render 
these tragedies explicable made for a turbulent epistemological and psychological environment. It is possible 
that Catherine was affected by these communal stresses. Additionally, her familial environment added to this 
anxiety, as she survived her frail twin, Giovanna, at birth. One cannot be certain whether the disappearing 
social structure affected her development adversely, yet it can be inferred that she was impacted greatly by 
the guilt that she bore in being chosen to survive her twin.  Fra Raimondo emphasizes Catherine’s strength in 
dealing with her own survival; her life played out in an inspiring tale of  fervor.
As Catherine grew older, economic misfortune drove her mother, Lapa Piacenti, to obsess over the 
family’s socioeconomic future. Catherine had always sought to please Lapa, offering herself  as a means to 
solve the Benicasa family problems. Historian Rudolph Bell suggests that the mother did everything possible 
to prepare her daughter for marriage, a common means to increase family wealth, “keeping after her to scrub 
her face and put on makeup.” Although Catherine involved herself  with these affairs out of  a sense of  duty, 
“such prettiness did not sit well with the child.”3 Catherine’s older sister, Bonaventura, also coaxed her to fol-
1 Caroline Walker Bynum, Holy Feast and Holy Fast (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1988) 85.
2 Rudolph Bell, Holy Anorexia (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1985), 31.
3 Ibid, 31.
4                                                       Chronos The Undergraduate History Journal 
low their mother’s advice, explaining that she had found wealth and happiness in the same way. In acquiescing, 
the young girl, “became more worldly, yet never evil or unmindful of  the Church’s teachings, a shy and hesitant 
participant in the doings of  Siena but increasingly a participant.”4 Catherine yearned to exceed both her filial 
obligations but also the religious expectations to remain a beautiful virgin. These goals present themselves as 
opposing ideals, creating an irreconcilable conflict for the mere mortal.
Although setting Catherine up for disappointment from the start, her hagiographer had faith in her 
superhuman nature. Again, it is important to note that this retelling of  her life came from the work of  her 
confessor. As such, her story inevitably follows the prototypical model that is to depict a saintly candidate torn 
between the secular and the spiritual. It is therefore difficult to decipher whether this conflict was indeed real, 
or a literary construct, serving to dramatize her portrayal as an ideal woman exemplifying the standards of  
religious authorities.
Nonetheless, it is without question that Catherine was left feeling more helpless and guilty as we see ev-
ery element of  continuity and security taken away from her.  One can see a turning point in Catherine’s mental 
state with the death of  Bonaventura, who passed away during childbirth in 1362. Catherine blamed herself  for 
this death, citing her own involvement in worldly affairs as a reason as the cause of  God’s punishment.5 Feeling 
betrayed, she began to distance herself  from her family and the secular; “[she] was repelled by all worldliness, 
absolutely refused to take any bridegroom but Christ, and entered upon the conquest of  her body.”6 Bell argues 
that Catherine turned to the spiritual, seeking control over what she identified as the source of  her problems: 
the profane.7 She began flagellation, took a vow of  silence for three years (except for confession) and reduced 
her sleep to less than thirty minutes per day. She also refused to eat meat, developing a “strong repugnance 
for its very odor,” and soon ate nothing but bread, water and vegetables.8 Catherine soon lost half  her body 
weight. These austerities were considered extreme even by the rigorous standard of  the time. 9 Such compulsive 
behavior is indicative of  increasing mental instability.10 Given that this psychological breakdown coincided with 
debilitating circumstances, her ascetic practices become even less likely an expression of  spirituality.11
A series of  misfortunes continued to plague Catherine’s situation. Soon after this tragedy, her younger 
sister, Nanna, who had been the family’s ‘replacement’ for Catherine’s twin, died at the age of  fourteen. Twice 
now, Catherine was left with the guilt of  being a survivor.12 Catherine felt even more obligated “to be a good 
girl.” Moreover, as the only surviving daughter, she became her mother’s sole focus to secure her family’s social 
standing. Catherine showed signs of  opposition and rebelliousness by cutting off  her hair, to which her mother 
responded, “vilest girl…do you think perhaps that you are not going to do what we wish? ...Your hair will grow 
back and even if  your heart should break, you will be forced to take a husband...”13
In 1370, Catherine’s mother fell gravely ill. Catherine’s sense of  duty overcame the longstanding ten-
sions between the two. She pleaded with God to restore her mother to health, in exchange for a life of  “hard 
penance and solitude.”14 Raimondo describes this “personalized sense of  guilt for the sins of  others,” which 
was particularly telling of  saintly nature.15 Soon, her father fell ill, and as he lay dying, Catherine pleaded with 
God to grant him immediate entrance into heaven in exchange for a cross that she might bear here on earth: 
more physical suffering. 16 His death seems to mark the end of  her childhood, and life as the family knew it.17
4 Bell, 38.
5 Ibid, 38.
6 Bell, 39.
7 Ibid, 45-46.
8 Ibid, 43.
9 Ibid, 43.
10 Ibid, 52.
11 Ibid, 43.
12 Ibid, 40.
13 Ibid, 41.
14 Bell, 47.
15 Ibid, 37.
16 Ibid, 40.
17 Ibid, 40; 48.
Anorexia Mirabilis                                                                                   5
Twice now, Catherine’s efforts to save her family, while keeping with spiritual teachings, had failed. Her 
inability to realize either her secular or spiritual obligations pressed her mind to desperate action.18 It is thus with 
great caution that one must examine her anorexia: was Catherine’s change in appetite a holy departure of  hunger, 
inspired by her commitment to the salvation of  others, or was she experiencing a mental implosion that forced 
her to subconsciously seek stability by any means of  self  control?
Pressed to this point of  desperation, Catherine pleaded with her mother to let her join a nunnery. Initially, 
Lapa refused. She feared the loss of  her last daughter. Catherine then became feverish, with boils that covered her 
body. Her mother invested all her energy in taking care of  her even submerging her in boiling water. These efforts 
proved unsuccessful; it was not until Catherine fell gravely ill that her mother conceded to her request.
In joining the Sisters of  Penance, a tertiary monastic order, Catherine retained her youthful virginity, and 
also continued with her denial of  food. Fra Raimondo sees this as a ‘holy’ rejection of  the physical body.19  But 
was it? Catherine’s mind turned to conquer the one thing remaining in its control: food. Why food? Women and 
food were intrinsically linked in the Middle Ages. The role of  serving merely as a ‘vessel’ for reproduction and 
nourishment for the developing child was imposed on women; they were food. This imposition, however, had 
positive connotations. Like Christ, lifting his shirt so his followers might suckle from his wound, women did the 
same for their children. In so doing, they performed the symbolic and necessary duty of  physical strengthening, 
which allowed for the growth of  a soul.
On the other hand, the same association of  women as food could have negative connotations. Dogma 
related, “woman is to man as flesh is to spirit.”20 Flesh became associated with the physical: it was merely food.21 In 
such a way, women as bodies held a contradictory role: on one hand as food, which led to the nourishment of  the 
soul, but on the other hand as flesh (food) as a source of  sinful desire. Here we see why food, and the rejection 
of  food, becomes particularly important to the female saint.
Catherine was practically encouraged to bring out her relationship with food as society continued to 
segregate ascetic trends along gender lines, making the Eucharist miracle “almost entirely a female genre.”22 We 
find that Henry Suso was the sole male occurrence of  similar holy refusal of  food according to data collected 
by Richard Kieckhefer.23 Carolyn Bynum states, “[it] was important for only one type of  male saint—the hermit 
(who was often a layman)—whereas it was a crucial component of  the reputation of  holy women,” society had 
labeled “food as a female concern,” for without conscious denial it was impossible for the female to dominate 
the physical in search of  the spiritual.24
Yet, this does not explain why Catherine’s denial of  food reached extremes so rapidly. Surviving practi-
cally without eating, many labeled her as an “unholy egotist.”25 Even Church leaders began to question whether 
her affliction was truly anorexia mirabilis, as she was suspected of  consciously manipulating her lifestyle in a quest 
for sainthood.26 She tried to dispel these rumors by forcing herself  to eat in front of  others, despite the painful 
vomiting that ensued, which she saw this as penance for her sins.27 Her legend tells that she came to maintain 
nourishment from the host alone; to the chagrin of  her critics, she still seemed healthier than those around her!28 
After an official investigation of  her practices, they were deemed truly Orthodox. She quickly developed a group 
of  religious followers. Raimondo highlights her miraculous lifestyle as she survived without food at all under the 
increasingly popular model of  transubstantiation.
18 Ibid, 42
19 Bell, 40.
20 Bynum, 263.
21 Ibid, 262.
22 Ibid, 76.
23 Richard Kieckhefer, Unquiet Souls: Fourteenth Century Saints and their Religious Milieu (Chicago: University of Chicago 
Press, 1984), 172. 
24 Bynum, 275.
25 Bell, 29.
26 Ibid, 29.
27 Ibid, 28.
28 Ibid, 26.
6                                                       Chronos The Undergraduate History Journal 
Coined by Hildebert de Lavardin in the 11th century, the idea of  transubstantiation holds that the host, ini-
tially bread in appearance and ‘substance’, is transformed ‘substantially’ into Christ’s body. It remains bread only in 
‘accidents’ (i.e. appearances). In such a way, the Eucharist is purified of  the profane as it becomes truly divine: “body 
as locus of  the divine had become so powerful by the thirteenth century that the consecrated host was frequently 
compared to the bodies of  the saints and even revered as a relic of  the Church.”29 In the eyes of  her hagiographer, 
Catherine’s miraculous loss of  appetite represented the holiest self  sacrifice. Denying food, she denied herself, as 
women were food. In such a way, anorexia mirabilis was divine, as it was denial for the sake of  self  control, allowing 
one to release the spirit from the body, to unite with God.
Interestingly, monastic orders are frequently cited as the beginning of  the modern obsession to conquer the 
physical to maximize output of  the body; the same was Catherine’s curse that led her to her saintly death. As Michel 
Foucault says, such discipline seeks a “functional reduction of  the body,” allowing one to control the mortal flesh 
through self  improvement.30 Yet, Catherine deemed her efforts crushed as she felt useless, unable to resolve the con-
flict of  the Papacy during the times of  Urban VI. Furthermore, her unrealized hopes to lead her followers to establish 
a community of  religious purity, in light of  the Great Schism, left her completely isolated. Her eating and vomiting 
patterns began to resemble those of  an acute anorexic. In a childish reversion, she gave up, helpless, and brought 
about her own death in refusing even water. Her final month, spent in delirium and self-hatred, represents the socio-
biological and neuro-biological breakdown and imbalance attributed to anorexia nervosa.31
In modernity, the Science of  Man looked to identify a “norm.” The definition of  a statistical norm allowed 
society to locate, more effectively, the ‘abnormal.’32 Mass produced representations of  earthly perfection led individu-
als to strive for unrealistic goals, resulting in a hopeless cycle of  self-disapproval, compounded by an inextinguishable 
sense of  failure. One can locate similar trends with the Medieval ascetic. Their quest to realize self-control of  the 
body was reached through denial of  self. The modern acute anorexic’s quest to realize self-control of  body image is 
reached through denial of  food.
In the final analysis, can anorexia mirabilis be so different from anorexia nervosa? Anorexia mirabilis was iden-
tified as feminine, divine in origin, and positive in its ends. Anorexia nervosa has become a medical concern to males 
and females alike, grounded in the secular, with destructive and superficial tendencies. Ultimately, however, in seek-
ing a common end, self-control, through similar methods of  physical denial, the two clearly are born from the same 
mental imbalance. As such, anorexia mirabilis must be seen as a medical condition; anorexia nervosa can be located 
in a context far before modernity.
29 Bynum, 255.
30 Michel Foucault, Discipline and Punish: The Birth of the Prison (New York: Vintage Books, 1977) 165; 149.
31 SA Wonderlich, LR Lilenfeld, LP Riso, S Engel, JE Mitchell, “Personality and anorexia nervosa,” International Journal of Eating 
Disorders, 37 (2005) S68-71.
32 Foucault, 184.
Anorexia Mirabilis                                                                                   7
WORKS CITED
Bell, Rudolph. Holy Anorexia. Chicago: University of  Chicago Press, 1985. 
Bynum, Caroline Walker. Holy Feast and Holy Fast. Berkeley: University of  California Press, 1988.
Foucault, Michel. Discipline and Punish: The Birth of  the Prison. New York: Vintage Books, 1977.
Kieckhefer, Richard. Unquiet Souls: Fourteenth Century Saints and their Religious Milieu. Chicago: University of  Chicago 
Press, 1984.
Wonderlich, SA, LR Lilenfeld, LP Riso, S Engel, JE Mitchell. “Personality and anorexia nervosa.” International Journal 
of  Eating Disorders. 37 (2005): S. 68-71.


Anorexia Mirabilis: A Secular Seduction

TABLE OF CONTENTS 
Letter from the Editors .......................................................................................... 1 
New Faculty ............................................................................................................ 3 
Marriage, Succession and Elizabeth I 
Jennifer Gramer ................................................................................................ 6 
The Little Red Paper: A Brief Sketch and Analysis of the Thought and 
Action of Chairman Mao 
Abram Brown ............................................................................................... .. 13
Cholera and the Transformation of Public Health in America 
Susanne Vroman ............................................................................................ 19 
I Am a Bedouin Raider 
Spencer J. King ............................................................................................... 29 
Underneath the Beret: The Reality of the U.S. Special Forces in Vietnam 
Alex DiGregonio ............................................................................................ 33 
Inoculating the Future Generations: A Look at the Nazi Educational System 
Evan Weiss ..................................................................................................... 48 


King, Spencer J.

28 
Works Cited 
Barry, John M. The Great Influenza: The Epic Story of the Deadliest Plague in His­
tory. New York: The Penguin Group, 2004.
Bernheim, Bertram M., M.D. The Story of the Johns Hopkins: Four Great Doctors
and the Medical School they Created. New York: McGraw-Hill Book Company,
Inc., 1948. 
Duffy, John. The Sanitarians: A History of American Public Health. Urbana: Uni­
versity of Illinois Press, 1992. 
Feldman, Maryann P. and Pierre Desrochers. "Truth for its Own Sake: Academic 
and Technology Transfer at Johns Hopkins University." A Review of Science, 
Learning, and Policy. Vol. 42, No.2 (2004): 105-206 
Garret, Laurie. Betrayal of Trust: The Collapse of Global Public Health. New York: 
Hyperion, 2000. 
Jenson, Vernon J. "Thomas Henry Huxley's Address at the Opening of Johns Hop­
kins University in September 1876." Notes and Records of the Royal Society of 
London. Vol. 47, No. 2 (Jul, 1993): 257-269 
Rosenberg, Charles E. The Cholera Years: The United States in 1832, 1849, and 
1866. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1962. 
Rosenberg, Charles E. Explaining Epidemics and Other Studies in the History of 
Medicine. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1992. 
<if 
FOREWORD: My Name Is Red is a novel by Turkish Nobel laureate Orhan Pamuk. 
In 16th-century Istanbul, an elite group of miniaturist painters secretly toil over a 
book, ordered by the Sultan himself, to be rendered in the "heretical" Frankish style. 
Each chapter is told from a different characters perspective, sometimes even from the 
lips of a drawing displayed in one of the city s notorious coffeehouses. This piece is an 
attempt to replicate Pamuk s distinctive style, and to humanize one of history s more 
elusive cultural identities. 
I AM A BEDOUIN RAIDER 
Spencer J. King 
29 
No doubt that in your current state of mind, stimulated as you are by the rich cof­
fee steaming in your cup, you are induced to seek out much merriment and sources of 
joviality. But look no further, friend, than to the eloquent drawing before you now as it is 
displayed by that graying miniaturist with such pride. Behold the regality of my turban, 
the sure step of my disciplined camel, the noble ferocity with which I tote my ornamented 
spear. Surely to your prying urban eyes I must appear somewhat of a novelty, or even 
rather buffoonish, especially due to the bizarre manner of my rendering. But rest assured, 
friend, that in my native desert I am the master of all that I can see. Also know that I 
wasn't always confined to this simple piece of parchment as you see me now, but that 
once I felt the wind in my hair as you feel it, and loved women as you love them. 
In truth, I was once a brave warrior of the Juhayna tribe and won many battles. 
Our herds were vast, with sheep stretching as far as the eye can see and the noblest 
camels in all the deserts; alas, in my day my brothers knew greatness. Our herds 
provided us with food, shelter, fuel for burning, and all the necessities of life. When 
we were in wont of rich fabrics, weapons, or jewelry for our women, we took them in 
great number from the caravans who traversed the dunes. Now, understand that as I 
have traveled to all comers of your Sultan's glorious empire within the confines of this 
fading piece of parchment, I am quite familiar with much of your esteemed literature. 
Try to contain your surprise as I quote that fork-tongued Mustafa Ali, who held my 
brothers in an even lower regard than he did those plundering Tatars: 
Ready to commit the most abominable acts [ are those] Bedouin horsemen ... 
Other packs, even while evil footed, content themselves with stealing property 
as their daily bread. [The Bedouin] are indeed of evil character, injurious, and 
corrupt (Ali 54). 
As poisonous as are these words you may be shocked to find that I take no of­
fense, for a Bedouin tribe confined to horses is likened to your Sultan confined to an 
30 
outhouse. Only a tribe lacking in strength or pride would forego the camel in favor 
of a common horse, and what room is there for a galloping horse when your home is 
a mountain of shifting sand? So I know Ali cannot have been referring to me or my 
noble brothers. As for the charges of banditry among the Bedouin, let me ask you 
this: when your woman expresses her desire for a fine cloth or a new piece of jewelry, 
do you not pursue her object of interest with the utmost fervor for fear of her mighty 
Temper! 
You see, we are not so different, you and I. You are bound to the banalities of 
urban life, and so come to commit sin in the coffeehouse out of the necessity of your 
being. I am bound to the hardships of the unforgiving desert, and so come to commit 
sins on the Pilgrimage Route out of the necessity of mine own being. But I'll stop 
boring you with my pleas for your sympathy, at least for the time being, and tell you 
of how I came to reside upon this parchment as you see me now. This, of course, was 
long before I murdered my brother, that coward, and became the greatest sheikh the 
Juhayna had ever known, before my accumulation of the fine drawings I came to trea­
sure so dearly, before my heinous execution at the behest of your illustrious scholars. 
When I was a young man, I had no equal in all the deserts under the gaze of 
Allah, may He be exalted. Naturally you must think me a braggart for making this 
declaration so assuredly, but let me explain. I fought many battles with sword and 
spear, and no man of any size or temperament ever bested me. I drove the herd of my 
father the sheikh and never lost a single sheep to bandit or jackal or for lack of water. 
The camel I chose as my steed was the most ill-tempered camel that ever strode the 
desert, but he bowed to me as I was his master. My wife was the most beautiful vision 
of Allah that ever did grace His earth, and when she would remove her golden mask 
it was as if the sun were rising for the very first time. So take your scoffs elsewhere, 
friend, and know that I once was a great man. 
Upon a certain glorious day, my elder brother and I had led a party of Bedouin 
out to a remote reach of the Pilgrimage Route where we intended to procure some 
trinkets for the women. After a brief period of idleness, we caught sight of a small and 
poorly-guarded caravan treading across the way. Immediately we descended upon 
them with great speed and ferocity, easily dispatching the guards with mighty throws 
from our spear arms, until we had the whole of the caravan under our quarter. This is 
something you city dwellers often fail to understand, as demonstrated by your disposi­
tion to flee on foot from we Bedouin raiders: a properly trained and well-fed camel can 
easily outrun a man when spurred by a rider that has mastered it. We dismounted our 
steeds and proceeded to examine the contents of the wagons. 
-
Imagine our surprise, though, when we found one wagon to be populated not 
by Arabs or Turks, but by white-faced Infidels! An old man and his daughter, a fine 
specimen by all counts, sitting amidst wagon filled with useless inks, brushes, and 
parchment. Now, this Frankish beauty was like nothing the men had ever seen, incit­
ing a lustful frenzy, and after my brother nodded his approval they proceeded to have 
their way with her. 
"Stop!" cried the old man, standing up and extending his pale wrinkled arms. 
His voice was surprising in its depth and confidence, and he spoke in the tongue of my 
brothers and cousins. "I beg of you to stop! Please spare the girl her honor, as she is 
all I have left at the end of this long life. I beg of you, allow the girl to pass freely and 
take me in her place." Now, friend, join with me in a chuckle when I point out that the 
anus of an old man is a very foul thing indeed and hardly a substitute for the softness 
of a young woman. We recounted this to him, and here is what he had to say: "In my 
homeland which is very away, I am praised as the greatest of painters. Let the girl pass, 
and I shall bind myself to you and paint great works to glorify your people, if it should 
please you." 
31 
My elder brother, the great imbecile, considered this and thought how it might 
please my father to have the greatest of the Frankish painters as his retainer. Though 
I objected that there was little room to display such works even in the large tent of 
our father, my brother ordered that the girl be spared and proceeded to tie some of our 
beasts to the Frank's wagon. We then let the caravan pass on, as is our custom, the girl 
with them and the old man with us, and rode back to our encampment. 
Upon our return we found that my father was dead. This may seem a very 
melancholy tum for a simple coffeehouse yam, but he was an old man and had nobly 
struggled against the fever for some time, so his death did not come as a surprise. My 
brother, being the eldest, was the rightful successor but I cringed at the thought of my 
people falling under the sway of such a weak and short-sighted man. I challenged him, 
and we rode out to the desert that very day. Only I returned, as sheikh of the greatest 
tribe in the domain of Allah, may He be exalted. As the Bedouin say, "I against my 
brothers, I and my brothers against my cousins, I and my brothers and my cousins 
against the world" ( en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bedouin). 
Naturally, I busied myself with the many duties of my new position but sum­
moned the Frank to my tent each day, as I had inherited him into my charge. On the 
first day he brought me a bizarre rendering of a camel in the desert, with all manner 
of minute trees dotting the horizon. Upon receiving this I exclaimed, "This is not the 
manner of painting to which I am accustomed; I wish for you to try again." And the 
32 
old Frank said with a shrug, "I do not know to which manner of painting you are ac­
customed, my lord," to which I replied: "I wish you to see the camel as Allah would 
see it." 
The Frank and I carried on much like this the second day, and the third day, and 
again the fourth day and so on for fifty days. At this time he began to bemoan and 
weep, not knowing whether his daughter were alive and unable to let her know that he 
was still alive. Seeing him so weak filled me with disgust, and I let out upon his ears 
fifty days' worth of my frustrations. Who was he to put himself on the plane of Allah 
by depicting the world from his eyes rather than through His own? How dare he insult 
the tent of the great sheikh with such blasphemy? I spit fire upon him in my wrath. 
The old Frank was careful and respectful with his reply, which pleased me. He 
said, "God gave me this brush so that I might recreate the joys of His children, not for 
His own joy; for the beauties He has known are too great for me to ever express." I 
was taken aback, as the words of this wise old man had truly stirred me. Promptly I 
sent him away and pondered in my tent. Laid out before me were fifty bizarre camels 
to keep company. After an eternity of bafflement, finally I saw my herd as I knew 
them, smelled their musk and relived our journeys. I wept for my happiness. 
And so, up until his death, the old Frank brought me much delight with draw­
ings of all manner of things. He even drew the becoming portrait you see before you 
today. When the herd moved I bound them up in skins and kept them with me, and 
they were my greatest sources of gladness and reminiscence. 
When I was an old man, my raiding party was captured by a squad of brash 
janissaries. Searching my person their captain found my drawings, including the por­
trait of myself I often gazed at to remember what it felt like to be young and strong. 
Naturally he found them highly offensive and heretical, and so I died by his sword that 
very day. He gave the drawings to a miniaturist, who happened to be in accompani­
ment by request of the Sultan, and ordered that they be destroyed. But the miniaturist 
served his art more than he served the Sultan, and hid the paintings away for their nov­
elty. When times were tough the drawings had to be sold, and it is after a most long 
and arduous journey that I arrive here before you today in this dim coffeehouse. 
So, friend, I do not implore or expect you to gaze upon me with the same loving 
glare you show the beardless boy on your knee. I know what I am, a bizarre depiction 
by Frankish Infidels, and I used to see myself in the same way you must be seeing me 
now. But know at the least, my friend, that once I was a great man. 
p 
UNDERNEATH THE BERET: THE REALITY OF 
THE U.S. SPECIAL FORCES IN VIETNAM 
Alex DiGregorio 
The many branches of the United States military have always challenged individu­
als to push their own limits. Join up, they say, and be a part of something big, powerful 
and unique. "Be All You Can Be," the Army asks its prospective soldiers. "Aim High," 
the Air Force challenges pilots. "Semper Fi," vow the Marines. All claim to be able to 
push a man beyond his normal abilities, to hone him and make him something more. All 
have reputations for being able to do just that. But, since the 1960s there has been one 
military group whose reputation surpasses the rest. This group has been able to hold the 
interest of all kinds of people, from war buffs and conspiracy theorists, to simple video 
gamers and moviegoers. A mystique has been built around them and so, to many who 
would hear of them later, their actions would become exaggerated into legend. This group 
is the U.S. Army's Special Forces, and Vietnam was the setting for their activities. But, 
what is the truth about what happened there? Where can we draw the line between actual 
military operations and exaggerated pop culture nonsense? What were these people re­
ally capable of? The answers lie in the accounts of the soldiers themselves. 
FACT OR FICTION? 
Looking at the reality of the situation, one can easily see why the Special Forces 
became iconic. For a moment, imagine a group of six men moving silently through a 
dark jungle. They are predators, despite being far away from home and deep in enemy 
territory. They are camouflaged to the point of being invisible, and quiet as ghosts. They 
hunt the enemy, despite being outnumbered and outgunned, and they are known to be 
lethally dangerous. In 1990, Tim O'Brien novelized this through the eyes of regular in­
fantry in Chu Lai. "Secretive and suspicious, loners by nature, the six Greenies would 
sometimes vanish for days at a time, or even weeks, then late in the night they would just 
as magically reappear, moving like shadows through the moonlight..." 1 There was an air 
of mystery about them, even among the rest of the military who were, for the most part, 
oblivious to their orders. For some time that knowledge was kept tightly sealed. Stars 
and tripes, the military newspaper, admit that at the time they would not have published 
anything regarding the activity of the Special Forces. However, despite the secrecy and 
general ignorance of the public, the popularity of these units skyrocketed. 
For years following the peak of Special Forces activity in Southeast Asia, Ameri­
can culture spawned numerous imitations of their actions. In film, Sylvester Stallone's 
Rambo character (1982) perpetuated the image of a super soldier who could do any­
thing and may as well have been able to win the Vietnam War alone. Francis Ford Cop-
I Tim O'Brien, Th· Things They arricd (New York: Broadway Books, 1990) 92. 
33 


I Am a Bedouin Raider

6 
• 
FACULTY RESEARCH 
Imagine sitting in a library in France, reading parchments and manuscripts, 
fragmented and in Latin, lost in the Middle Ages, immersed in a world of histo­
ry. This is the ideal place where Professor Samantha Herrick enjoys pursuing her 
passion of researching saints' lives and hagiography. Hagiography is a category of 
documents that pe1tain to saints. The documents include the stories of saints' lives, 
their miracles and information about their relics (bodies) such as if they are moved, 
discovered or stolen. 
Herrick's fascination with saints began when she was in college working as 
an au pair in Italy where she visited the church of Saint Ambrose in Milan and was 
intrigued by the fact that the body of Saint Ambrose was actually there in the church 
behind the altar even though he had died in the fourth century. Why would people 
want to preserve a body for so long? she wondered. That was a question that de­
served some attention. From that point on, Herrick has researched saints' lives, their 
miracles and deaths with an unadulterated zeal. 
This burning curiosity about saints' lives and medieval history has led Profes­
sor Herrick into numerous research projects. In March 2007, Herrick published a 
book entitled, Imagining the Sacred Past: Hagiography and Power in Early Nor­
mandy. Herrick describes Imagining the Sacred Past as "an examination of three 
saints' lives (Taurinus of Evreux, Vigor of Bayeux, and Nicasius of Rouen) from 
the duchy of Normandy, which was created in 911 when a Viking raider was grant­
ed territory downstream from Paris in return for converting and settling down. It 
dates the texts' composition to (probably) the early eleventh century, and argues that 
they imagine the origins of Christianity in what would later become Normandy in 
ways that legitimate the dukes' power by attributing the region's conversion to saints 
whose behaviors in many ways resemble the dukes'." 
Herrick's research for this project was long and very involved. "The research 
1 
for the book involved reading many saints' lives associated with Normandy and 
studying the duchy's history deeply, through reading what other historians have un­
covered about it and a number of primary sources from charters to chronicles to 
archaeology. It also required examining many manuscripts closely� to see when 1 
the texts at the book's heart were recorded, where, how the texts varied from copy to 
copy, and how they were used. To see how the lives worked, I had to see how they 
used biblical and other religious sources. Finally, in order to understand how these 
texts were different from those of other regions, I had to read lots of hagiography 
from other regions." 
s, 
'.l-• 
"r 
)r 
8, 
;I, 
ts 
s 
h 
e 
r 
--
f .. 
Over the course of her research career, Herrick has read mHny interesting 
'facts' about saints. Here is just one example: "One of the saints my book foc:use:-; on 
is said first lo have had his assistant bind a dragon with his scarf and drag it into the 
saint's prescm:c (where lhc sninl smashed it t·o bits by making the sign or lhc cross), 
then after a Roman omcial had the saint �md his assistants cxecut�cl. the dead bod­
ies rose, picked up their severed heads, and kept walking to the river they had been 
aiming for before tht!ir deaths. While hard to accept as 'true,' these stories make for 
interesting reading." 
Saints' lives hold a lot of mystery. It's hard to understand their lives and their 
miracles, which is why Herrick is so intrigued by their stories. By studying and re­
searching saints' lives, she attempts to make sense of things that are hard lo under­
stand. 
Herrick's research journey usually begins with a question that she develops as 
she reads abm1I saints' lives in various manuscripts. When she has her research ques­
tion in mind, she begins to explore various documents to find more information on 
the question that currently engulfs her intellectual curiosity. While she is pursui11g one 
research question, another question pops up in h�r mind that she wishes to examine 
rurther. Many ideas surface, bul only one question can be studied at a time. Herrick de­
sc1ibcs this overload of questions as being like an airport in her head that is just backed 
up wilh ideas. But this is how she gels ideas for future research projects. 
Herrick encounters many problems during her research journey. First of all, 
ii 's hard lo find out information about the Middle Ages and saints' lives as much 
of the world doesn't really know about these societies during the Medieval period. 
Information found on saints' lives is usually in Latin and lh1gmented in lots oflittle 
pieces in numerous documents. At this point, the research project becomes like a 
puzzle. The documents need to be translated and put together piece by piece. As the 
puzzle is put together, only then can Herrick pull information out of the project. 
Currcnlly, Herrick is researching lrngiogrnphicnl legends from France, studying 
and researching parchments and manuscripts lhal were written between 700 and 1200. 
ft Was during this period thal sainls, according to 'history', are represented as apostles 
because of their preaching or Christianity and setting up numerous French dioceses. 
I [errick hopes her resc.arch projecl will " ... explain what the conccpl of 'apnstolicity'
rneum Lo medieval authors, how ii changed over lime, what agendas it promoted, and 
how such claims contributed to u pa1iicular understanding or French religious history."
Herrick will be taking a leave of absence in Fall 2007 and she will be spending some 
lirnc in Fnmce to do her research for this pro_jcct. Bon //ovage. Professor_!
Kari Foley 
7 


Faculty Research

CHRONOS - The Syracuse University Undergraduate History Journal 
Volume 3, Issue 1 
Spring 2007 
Editorial Staff 
Kelly Bogart - Editor 
Nicole Sanford - Co-Editor 
Cassandra Austin - Junior Editor 
Kari Foley - Junior Editor 
Lydia Stamato - Junior Editor 
Advisor: Professor Samantha Herrick 
Published by the History Department of Syracuse University, 2007 
Cover photo: Maxwell Hall 
Photo provided by: Syracuse University Archives 
.,. 
C1t1wt /hs 
The Syracuse University Undergraduate History Journal 


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I Am a Bedouin Raider

Faculty Research

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