The aim of this article is to analyze the conditions conducive to obtaining the status of subject in France and the narrative strategies employed for the purpose of obtaining lettres de naturalite by immigrants from the British Isles during the eighteenth century, in order to examine what being legally bound to the state signified for foreigners under the Ancien Regime. Having arrived in France for political, religious and/or economic reasons and by and large favorably received by the king (or, royal authority), the British immigrants became participants in French society through participation and solidarity in such compatriotic communities as the Stuart court in exile in Saint-Germainen-Laye, Irish regiments in the French Army, British-founded convents and colleges, and merchants' colonies in the Atlantic seaports. It's within this process of socialization that the naturalization was requested, and by analysis of the organizational features of those naturalized in terms of geographical distribution and socioprofessional profiles, the author concludes from her observations on their motives and backgrounds that the choice of naturalization was indirectly facilitated by the historical relations and cultural bonds between immigrant communities and French society and influenced by wavering inbred Stuart loyalties and political persecution, but was directly decided out of the desire to guarantee one's personal property and/or occupation. That being said, such self-serving motives were by no means revealed in the actual lettres de naturalite; rather, one observes applicants adopting such strategies designed to more easily obtain these letters as insisting that they were endowed with many of the exemplary attributes sought after within French society. From the personal accounts included in the lettres de naturalite of British immigrants, we find the enumeration of such desirable national attributes as contributions made to the monarchy through military, medical and commercial service and religious orthodoxy, while at the same time there are accounts of their everyday occupational activities, touching upon past personal experiences of loyalty to the House of Stuart, apostasy and conversion to the Catholicism and the religious persecution they suffered in their homeland. All indicate clearly the adoption of strategies geared to taking advantage of their "otherness" as foreign-born residents. From the above analysis, the author makes the general conclusion that naturalization not only constitutes an expansion in the breadth of alternative strategies for survival within the foreigners' host society, but at the same time did not presume full assimilation into French culture; rather allowing them to preserve their identity with the historical and cultural heritage of their native lands.

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This article focuses attention on the Mgar Family, which during the late 7th century monopolized power within the Tibetan Empire (吐蕃) after it rose up on the Tibetan Plateau and embarked on the conquest of the kingdom of Tuyuhun 吐谷渾, which was accomplished in 670. Specifically, the author analyzes 1) how the Mgars were involved in ruling Tuyuhun, 2) what policies the Tufan Empire enacted after its invasion of Tuyuhun and 3) how the purge of the Mgars in 698 influenced the way in which Tuyuhun would be ruled. With respect to objective 1), Mgar Stong rtsan acted as commander-in-chief of the Tuyuhun expedition between 659 and 666; and after his death in 667, military activities in the occupied areas of Tuyuhun were commanded by his sons Mgar Khri 'bring and ^*Mgar Btsan ba. Next, regarding objective 2), after the conquest, the Tibetan Empire enthroned its own king of Tuyuhun, while at the same time embarking on a proactive agenda aiming at taking full advantage of Tuyuhun as a base of operations for the invasion of Tang China. The author argues that in the Mgars played a leading role, similar to their military command, in the implementation of this agenda. Finally, concerning objective 3), as the result of the 698 purge, the Mgar Family, which had taken charge of the Tibetan agenda for Tuyuhun, was for all intents and purposes completely removed from power, and the incident also provided the Tuyuhun people with the opportunity for a large scale estrangement from the Tibetan Empire. Consequently, the author argues that a major crisis in Tibetan rule over Tuyuhun followed from the 698 purge. After the fall of the Mgar Family, the 'Bro, Dba's and Cog ro Families took control of the Tibetan Empire's central government; and during almost every year between 706 and 714 dispatched ministers appointed from among their family members to Tuyuhun, in addition to arranging the marriage of a Cog ro woman to the king. The author argues that through these diplomatic moves, the Tibetan Empire was able to reestablish relations of trust with Tuyuhun. Consequently, around 714 the Tibetan Empire was once again able to reopen its invasion of Tang China with Tuyuhun as its front line base of operations.

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This article examines the early stages of the widespread acceptance and use in Japan of a new indicator of ranked status in the attachment of the prefix "yomei" 揚名 to the names of bureaucratic posts, a practice that is first seen in 10th century. The author takes up the actual case of attaching the prefix yomei to the post of provincial governor (kokushi 国司), clarifying its origins and historical development. Yomei-kokushi was used in the case of appointees who were considered to be of equal rank to a provincial governor, but were not entrusted with the actual duties of the post. Beginning with their appearance in the mid-Heian period, there is no doubt that the earliest yomei-prefixed appointments included neither official duties nor salaries. However, concerning the situation from the late Heian period on, the research to date diverges in opinion, leaving no solid conclusions. This state of affairs is what prompts the author to reexamine the related source materials from the period and in so doing finding three different definitions of "yomei", on of which consists of the prefix attached to the name of office and meaning, "an official title with no actual authority". The custom of attempting to obtain such a title began in the capital (Kinai 畿内) region during the 10th century, then spread to the outer provinces during the 11th century. The motives by which such a title was obtained were not only pecuniary through outright sale of the office, but also the desire on the part of patrons to bestow titles upon their subordinates for the purpose of strengthening ties of clientship. Up through the 11th century, the number of available yomei appointments was limited to less than the number of qualified applicants and involved a continuous turnover rate of from several months to a year. Later on, the title gradually decreased in value, until even yomei titles of low level local administrators became viewed as worthless. That being said, titles based on the bureaucracy defined by the ancient Ritsuryo legal codes, which by the beginning of the medieval period had long been empty of meaning, now became worth obtaining as expressions of ranked status throughout medieval society. The appearance of the title yomei-kokushi in the 10th century can therefore be placed within the context of symbols determining ways of thinking about how medieval Japanese society was supposed to function.

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