This is a repost of an edition of Carnivalesque that was hosted on November 5, 2004, on a previous version of this site.

Welcome to the second incarnation of Carnivalesque [new link: Carnivalesque], the Early Modernists’ Carnival. The past two months have been as busy and distracting as can be, but there have still been some great posts on the early modern period. Tonight’s theme is “Illuminations” - so prepare to be enlightened!

First of all, since it is the Fifth of November, it’s fitting that Claire at Beddgelert’s grave  has a post on Guy Fawkes Night in the Seventeenth Century. [link broken]

Claire is also testing out the possibility of an early modernists’ group blog. [link broken] If you’re interested in being a regular contributor or occasionally cross-posting something from your own blog, contact her.

Then we have Sharon’s post at Early Modern Notes on Encountering ‘Them’ Encountering ‘Us’. Discussing the V & A Encounters exhibit, she reflects on early modern perceptions of East and West.

Next, at Philobiblion, Natalie discusses Mary Pix, dramatist, one of the interesting women dramatists (like the better known Trotter) given to us by the early modern period. While you’re there, you might want to see if you have anything that might contribute to the solution of this little puzzle about Christine Audler.

Jim at Anglo-Dutch Wars looks at the role of political leadership in naval battles in the post The effect of political leadership on navies is easily ignored.

Nathanael at The Rhine River is starting a series on Martin Bucer, one of the less remembered giants of the Reformation. He currently has written one post on Bucer’s reputation and another post on his complex attitude toward Catholic practice. Part III will be appearing over the weekend.

Jason at Positive Liberty discusses the use of technology in the discipline of history by looking at a scion of the early modern Encyclopédie in Historians and Technology.

As you might expect, misteraitch at Giornale Nuovo has some great posts related to the early modern period. I picked ‘Behmenists and Philadelphians’, etc., a post on some followers of Jakob Boehme (the name has a number of different spellings), with excellent pictures. Boehme seemed a good choice given the theme of illuminations.

As a sort of sequel to Giornale Nuovo’s post on Behmenites, you might enjoy this brief post on Boehme and Law at Siris; it introduces William Law, who was in his own way a Behmenist.

One reader of William Law (how’s that for a chain of connections!) was John Wesley, as can be seen in this post at John Wesley’s Journal. Wesley was less impressed with Boehme, however: his comment on one of Law’s Boehme-influenced works is, “Philosophical, speculative, precarious; Behemish, void, and vain!”

If you like early modern journals, you might also find interesting Rebecca’s work at David Brainerd’s Blog, blogging the journal of the eighteenth-century missionary. For this carnival I posted the October 28th entry.

Continuing the historical journals theme, did you know that Da Vinci’s diaries are being put online, too? Read page one here, where Da Vinci shows his scientific conscience as well as his scientific interests.

So that’s our carnival this time around. Let others know so they can share the light as well!