Offended and insulted. The authors of French anti-courtier works of the XVth century. The article presents the hypothesis that some of the XVth century works, criticized the court manners, were written by formerly successful people who had made a career at court, but later forced for some reasons to leave it. Perhaps, this particular biographical fact induced them not only to be engaged in literary creativity, but also to criticize the court in his writings. Being in favor, the courtiers have not taken up a pen to criticize the court. On the examples of the Alain Chartier`s «Le Curial», the Jean de Lannoy`s letter for his son, the Jean de Bueil`s «Le Jouvencel», the anonymous work «Abuzé en court» and Octovien de Saint-Gelais`s «Le Séjour d`honneur» Yu.P.Krylova, restoring the historical context, comes to the conclusion that only those persons who considered themselves unfairly offended, undertook writing. Not hoping to return to the court, they tried in such a way to restore justice.

В статье рассматривается тема влияния творчества Джозефа Конрада на произведения Михаила Булгакова, прежде всего романа "Победа" на "Мастера и Маргариту". Отмечается также литературное влияние Конрада на дилогию И. Ильфа и Е. Петрова об Остапе Бендере, - вероятно, не прямое, а опосредованное воздействием Булгакова. This paper examines the influence of Joseph Conrad’s writings on Mikhail Bulgakov, primarily the novel "Victory" on "The Master and Margarita". Conrad's literary influence on I. Ilf and E. Petrov’s dilogy about Ostap Bender is also considered – perhaps, it was not direct, but mediated through Bulgakov’s impact.

The French writings of the 15th century are characterized by a great anticourtier mood of the authors. In this regard, it would be quite natural to ask: how the central character at court — the governor — is represented in these texts? If the court society hardened in sins, so what is a prince`s behavior then (king or duke etc.)? How does the literary tradition develop if the 17th century French writers already habitually employ such thought as «the brighter the sun, the darker the shadows». On the example of some narrative writings («Le Curial» of Alain Chartier, the «Lettre à son fi ls» of Jean de Lannoy, the anonymous «L’Abuzé en court», «Le doctrinal du temps présent» of Pierre Michault and the “Panégyric du chevalier sans reproche, Louis de La Trémoille” of Jean Bouchet), that criticizing the court life, the article deals with an image of the 15th century sovereign drawn by the authors. The writers` discourse of courtiers `perversity remains invariable, while the ways of description of the governor image vary. The authors choose different strategies in their writings: at one — any governor is absent at all, at others he (she) is represented as indiff erently looking at behavior of his (her) courtiers, at third — the situation is more interesting, because the statements about the governor change throughout the text under the influence of the author’s life events. Th us the topic of condemnations of court life does not change, but the images of sovereigns vary depending on the person of the author and the governor himself at the same time, and also from the described situation.

Mighty America, who brought a human to the Moon, has the right to be proud of his great son John F. Kennedy, who became for America what the god Apollo was for Hellas. The Heaven has sent us bright signs to prove this. // Могучая Америка, доставившая человека на Луну, вправе гордиться своим великим сыном Джоном Кеннеди, ставшим для Америки тем, чем был бог Аполлон для Эллады. Небо послало нам яркие знаки, подтверждающие это.

Клинописные тексты начала II тыс. до н.э. из Южной Месопотамии не содержат прямой информации о социальной структуре городского общества. Отдельные сведения об имущественном положении и правовом статусе городской элиты города Ларсы XIX–XVIII вв. до н.э. можно найти в документах раздела имущества (YOS 8 42, 98; TCL 11 224), судебных актах (VS II(XVIII)101) и письмах (AbB 10 161). Эти сведения в определенной степени подтверждаются и данными археологических раскопок на месте одного из жилых кварталов Ларсы. Cuneiform texts of the old Babylonian period from South Mesopotamia contain little information about the social structure of urban societies. Some data on the social status and property of Larsa urban elite — called in the texts “the noble and the great” (kabtu ù rabū) — can be found in the contracts of property division (YOS 8 42, 98; TCL 11 224), court decisions (VS II(XVIII)101) and letters (AbB 10 161). Archaeological excavations of one residential quarter of Larsa increase and confirm this information.

«Коррупция при дворе Короля-Солнце» Винсента Джозефа Питтса — книга о жизни суперинтенданта финансов, виконта де Во, Никола Фуке, и рассматривать ее стоит, скорее как тщательное и захватывающее биографическое описание, основанное на репрезентативных документах и исследованиях мира финансов эпохи короля Людовика XIV, чем как историческую сенсацию. Судьба Никола Фуке, изобилующая яркими триумфами, завершается многолетним тюремным заточением, а затем и смертью (23 марта 1680 года) в пьемонтской крепости Пиньероль всеми забытого, прежде весьма могущественного вельможи. Изучению судебного процесса над опальным суперинтендантом финансов Никола Фуке — события не до конца, осмысленного — посвящена безусловно заслуживающая внимания книга Винсента Дж. Питтса.

The English successes in the 1410s–1420s after the revival of the Hundred Years war were not only due to their military supremacy but also to the deep political crisis in France which made it possible for the English king to be proclaimed heir to the French throne by the Treaty of Troyes (1420). In the 1420s the English claim to the French throne was able to attract support of some Frenchmen and bring them into the Lancastrian service. The paper looks at some of these so-called ‘faux françois’, the Frenchmen who were active in the service of the Lancastrian regime, exploring the routes which brought them into Lancastrian administration, the role played by them in the process of government and their destiny after the Treaty of Arras (1435) broke the Anglo-Burgundian alliance and effectively ruined any chances for the house of Lancaster to unite France under its rule.

“Ceux qui corrigent la fortune” Les Aventuriers des Lumières

The article is devoted to examination of the biography of prince Antiochus, the eldest son and co-ruler of the King Antiochus III the Great. The author pays particular attention to such events of the heir’s life as his coronation, the chronological and geographical scope of his official life and the marriage to his sister Laodike in the context of the Seleucid matrimonial policy. The deeds of Antiochus the Younger as a co-ruler of his father are considered separately; there were several directions: a political settlement of relations with Greek city-states of Western Asia Minor, diplomatic-representative role, participation in war campaigns (including a personal command of some contingents). A special attention is given to official royal titulature of the co-ruler, which apparently underwent a change on the turn of the 3rd and 2nd centuries BC. So, the biography of the prince Antiochus the Younger gives a perfect example that allows to analyze the position of the co-ruler and his formal status, more clearly define the nature of his authorities and reveal his role in the system of government as a whole.