Monks and children: corporal punishment in Late Antiquity1*

This article examines the place of corporal punishment in early monastic discipline. By comparing the role assigned to corporal punishment in a variety of monastic rules from across the late antique Mediterranean, from the Rules ascribed to Pachomius (d. 348), to the Rule of Benedict from the mid-sixth century, it demonstrates that late antique monastic writers had a sophisticated and ordered approach to this type of penalty. This approach drew both on the concept of the absolute authority of the punishing father in Scripture, and on the limitations of Roman social expectations and ancient educational values to such absolute authority. As a result corporal punishment was seen either as a last resort when all other disciplinary measures had failed to bring about a reasonable response, or the appropriate punishment for an offence that originated from irrational conduct. Contrary to ancient household practices, however, which seem to have reserved corporal punishment for small children and slaves – conventionally perceived to lack ability to reason – late antique monastic rules invoked corporal punishment as a possibility for every member in the community who demonstrated irrational behaviour. In this way they blurred traditional boundaries between children, slaves and adults.     

Political Culture in the Holy Roman Empire

This article reviews six essay collections and one monographon late medieval and early modern political culture in the HolyRoman Empire. Following a general survey of historiographicaltrends and a discussion of the specific contributions of theworks under review (covering topics from international relations,state formation and the role of language to representative assembliesand the exercise of power in towns and villages), it attemptsa preliminary sketch of the basic parameters of pre-modern politics.Prominent insights include shifts in the balance between oral,ritual and written communication, the significance of informalbonds and the negotiated quality of developments at all levelsof government. The conclusion assesses the potential of the‘new’ political history and calls for renewed effortsto link discourses, representations and perceptions to the norms,structures and socio-economic conditions with which they interacted.     

Abbots and Aristocrats: Patronage,Art and Architecture at Hailes Abbey in the Late Middle Ages

This article focuses on the art and architecture of the Cistercian abbey of Hailes, home of a famous relic of the Holy Blood, in the two centuries before the Suppression. It is intended to be a contribution to evolving literature on late medieval monasticism, showing the enduring spiritual vitality and relevance of Hailes between the 14th and early 16th centuries. The article discusses the planning and architecture of the late medieval monastery, the extent of and motives for the internal and external patronage and the relationship of the monastery with its sister Cistercian houses, especially those in northern England.     

Against War! Regional Identity Across a National Border in Late Medieval and Early Modern Scandinavia

During every war between Denmark and Sweden from at least 1505 to 1676 popular peace treaties were concluded by common men on both sides of the national border. These treaties were negotiated in contrast to the aggressive policy of the political leaders and to the nationalistic discourse of the elite. The aim of this article is to use archaeology to give an economic, social, and mental background to these treaties, and to the regional identity across the border that they presuppose. Above all a specific building tradition seems to have given the peasants a mental affinity across the border.     

Natural encounters: climate,weather and the Italian Renaissance

This paper examines a key issue in the history of the climate in the pre-instrumental period, that is, how to use narrative sources which make frequent references to weather events, but which need contextualised interpretation. The paper follows an argument that climatological techniques for deriving temperature indices from chronicles, though they have become increasingly elaborate and refined, nevertheless leave out much that is of interest to the social historian. This paper explores the area of the what-is-left-behind when chronicle narratives are reduced to numerical indices. Investigating a broad range of Latin and Italian chronicles from fourteenth and fifteenth-century Italy, the paper draws three main conclusions: that sensitivity to weather events not only varied greatly among writers (as one might expect) but so too did their use of severe weather to serve the purposes of narrative (through sequencing, metaphor and analogy); that sensitivity to meteorological anomaly changed during the period, especially in the fifteenth century with the spread of prognosticating verses; and that the broadening of chroniclers' interests in weather, both ordinary and extraordinary, and in its effects on everyday, material life may allow a connection to and re-evaluation of the Burckhartian idea of the Renaissance ‘discovery of the world’.     

Agriculture in sixth‐century Petra and its hinterland,the evidence from the Petra papyri

Since their discovery in 1993 the Petra papyri have drawn the attention of both historians and archaeologists because of the amount of information they contain. They deal with the property of Theodoros, son of Obodianus, and his family in Petra and its vicinity in the period between AD 537 and 593. This paper focuses on agriculture and its importance in Petra and the surrounding area in the sixth century AD, according to the information derived from the scrolls. It appears that agriculture played a major role in the economy of Petra and its hinterland at the time these documents were written. The papyri repeatedly mention agricultural lands throughout the region and in many cases specify their locations and toponyms. Some of the latter are significantly still in use. There is also information about springs, some of which are still active and contribute to local agriculture. Some papyri even contain information about the type of plants grown in the area. Finally, the authors present the current state of agriculture at selected places and compare it with the state of agriculture in the sixth century AD in the study area.     

The voice of the dead king Chindasuinth: poetry,politics, and the discourse of penance in Visigothic Spain

Around ad 653, Eugenius II, bishop of Toledo, composed a first‐person poetic epitaph for the deceased Visigothic king Chindasuinth (r. 642–53) in which the monarch is made to speak with self‐deprecating candour. This paper offers a reassessment of the poem's language and rhetorical strategy by situating it within contemporary discourses surrounding royal admonition and penance. Rather than interpreting Eugenius's composition as an act of defamation, as the majority of critics have done, it reads the poem as a dignifying literary expression of atonement. This reading corresponds with other specimens of Eugenius's poetry and evidence from a developing literary culture at Chindasuinth's court.     

On Microlithic Quartz Industries at the End of the Pleistocene in Central Africa: The Evidence from Shum Laka (NW Cameroon)

The rock shelter of Shum Laka, situated in the Grassfields of northwestern Cameroon, was occupied during the later Pleistocene and Holocene. Plant remains reveal that there were no drastic changes in the immediate environment of the shelter between 30,000 and 10,000 bp. The industry is microlithic during this entire period. Quartz was deliberately chosen as the preferred raw material and there were no changes in technology or raw material usage over time. A comparison with similar sites in the northeastern Democratic Republic of Congo reveals that the microlithic quartz tradition was apparently appropriate for the exploitation of a wide variety of environmental settings. This flexibility may represent an adequate technological response to the environmental changes in Central Africa at the end of the Pleistocene.L'abri sous roche de Shum Laka, situé dans les Grassfields au nord-ouest du Cameroun, a été occupé depuis la fin du Pléistocène. Les restes de plantes montrent qu'il n'y a pas eu de changements importants dans l'environnement immédiat de l'abri entre 30,000 et 10,000 bp. L'industrie est microlithique pendant toute cette période. Le choix du quartz comme matière première préferentielle était délibéré par ailleurs, ni la technologie, ni l'utilisation des matières premières n'ont subi de modifications conséquentes au cours de cette période. Une comparaison avec des sites similaires du nord-est de la République Démocratique du Congo nous montre que la tradition microlithique sur quartz aurait été appropriée dans l'exploitation d'une grande variété d'écosystèmes. Cette flexibilité pourrait traduire une réponse technologique adéquate face aux changements environnementaux qui ont eu lieu en Afrique Centrale à la fin du Pléistocène.     

Palaeopathology in late Pleistocene and early Holocene Central Plains bison: dental enamel hypoplasia,fluoride toxicosis and the archaeological record

Multiple formative agents are cited for dental enamel hypoplasia (DEH) in modern and fossil mammals. Here, four late Pleistocene-early Holocene bison assemblages from the Central Great Plains are analyzed for DEH and other bone pathologies to investigate the possible influence of chronic fluoride toxicosis, a condition that may have presented a long-term source of duress for prehistoric bison and devalued them as nutritional resources to human hunters. Although DEH is present in all the analyzed assemblages, the lack of corroborating dental and post-cranial anomalies consistent with chronic fluoride toxicosis speaks against it as a primary factor of DEH formation or general ill health in these bison. Rather, maternal nutritional stress, weaning, and seasonal forage condition are invoked as probable promoters of DEH formation. Other identified abnormalities are discussed in reference to their contribution to reduced feeding efficiency and lameness, as are their roles in developing palaeoecological models applicable to archaeological questions about ancient human lifeways.     

晚清直隶教案诱因分析--以1860年11月～1898年10月为中心

关于教案的发源,目前学术界大致有四种观点：1．侵略说;2．中西化冲突说;3．三重危机说;4．多种因素说。①笔以为,笼统地将晚清近两千起②教案发生的原因归结为列强侵略或两种异质化之间的冲突等都未免失之简单,应作具体分析。在晚清直隶,引发教案的原因是多方面的,主要有：由传教士查还旧址、租买房产以及民教互争公产地亩引发的地产之争;摊派各种庙会和修庙钱引发纷争;细故口角争殴;教堂或传教士、教民遭劫窃引发;反教谣言、揭贴引发;民教双方由相互猜疑进而捏情上控引发教案等。     

Pollen analysis of 15th century cesspits from the palace of the dukes of Burgundy in Bruges (Belgium): evidence for the use of honey from the western Mediterranean

Pollen analysis of two late medieval cesspits from the palace of the dukes of Burgundy in Bruges (Belgium) revealed the presence of pollen from several food plants and their associated weeds. Also a large amount of exotic taxa was found, most of which are not commonly used as food plants. This last group of taxa shows 4 common characteristics: (1) their distribution is restricted to the Mediterranean region, (2) no macrobotanical remains from these taxa have been found (3) they are insect-pollinated and (4) most of these taxa are important elements in pollen assemblages from modern honeys from SW-Spain and S-Portugal. The presence of these pollen types can therefore most probably be attributed to the use of honey originating from this region. The consequences for the palynological analysis and interpretation of pollen assemblages of medieval and post-medieval cesspits and other types of waste deposits are discussed.     

Two Unusual Benign Tumours in Skulls from the Ossuary at Křtiny (Czech Republic)

Among 554 skulls of adult individuals from the ossuary at K𝔯̌tiny, Moravia (late thirteenth to the mid-eighteenth centuryAD ), three (0.54 per cent) showed evidence of malignant tumours and two others (0.36 per cent) had changes suggestive of unusual benign tumours, which are described in the present article. The calvarium of a 20–25-year-old female has two osteoplastic overgrowths in the region of the left tuber parietale and in the left lateral part of the frontal bone. A macroscopic section showed a porotic structure with regularily arranged trabeculae. This was confirmed by radiographic examination, which detected two similar smaller shadows, and by histology and scanning electron microscopy, which showed the non-lamellar, unevenly calcified structure of these curious multiple osteomatous formations (osteomas, hyperostosis). A calvarium of a 40–50-year-old male showed a horseshoe-shaped excavation in the posterior part of the processi palatini of the maxilla, with destruction of the lower half of the nasal septum and the paramedial structures of the nasal cavity. These defects were well delimited macroscopically, radiographically and histologically, and seemed to be the result of pressure atrophy, perhaps from a slow growing benign tumour such as a fibroma or angiofibroma.     

Post-Roman crop production and processing: Archaeological evidence from Goldthorpe,South Yorkshire

The remains of a ditched field system dating from the late Iron Age to the early post-Roman period, and two associated corn drying ovens (dating to the 5th–6th centuries AD) were revealed during archaeological excavations at Goldthorpe, South Yorkshire. The site was excavated during 2012 and 2013, during which bulk environmental samples were taken in order to retrieve any surviving botanical remains from deposits associated with the corn drying ovens, and other features across the excavated area. Early post-Roman occupation is under-represented in the archaeological record, especially in northern England, as such human activity and subsistence during this period are currently not well understood. This paper combines evidence for the field system, the physical remains of the corn drying ovens and their associated botanical remains to further understand early post-Roman change and continuity in landscape use and crop production and processing practices.     

Eight Byzantine Shipwrecks from the Theodosian Harbour Excavations at Yenikapı in Istanbul,Turkey: an introduction

Excavations at Yenikap? in Istanbul, Turkey, related to the Marmaray Project, have unearthed remains of Constantinople's Theodosian Harbour, including 37 Byzantine shipwrecks of 5th‐ to 11th‐century date. Eight of these shipwrecks, six round ships and two of the first long ships, or galleys, to be excavated from the Byzantine period, were studied by archaeologists from the Institute of Nautical Archaeology. These well‐preserved shipwrecks are an important new source of information on the maritime commerce of Constantinople and the gradual shift from shell‐based to skeleton‐based shipbuilding in the Mediterranean during the second half of the first millennium AD.     

Kuggmaren 1: the first cog find in the Stockholm archipelago, Sweden

In 1998 a wreck in the Stockholm archipelago of the Baltic Sea came to the attention of the maritime archaeological community. It seemed to have cog-like characteristics, although opinions about its building tradition were initially divided. Subsequent survey and dating analysis not only established that this was a medieval, cog-like vessel but that it is relatively early. Its find spot, however, is consistent with medieval trading enterprise. This paper summarizes the results of the work to date and raises questions for future research.     

Monks and lay communities in late antique Gaul: the evidence of the Eusebius Gallicanus sermons

The Eusebius Gallicanus sermons reveal the congruity in late antique Gaul between the models of pastoral care for monks and lay Christians. For these Gallic clergy, there was little antagonism between monastery and world. Preachers to both audiences share a common central concern with the defence of community and in this respect they differ from some of their contemporaries. The sermon collection demonstrates that the ascetic world in Gaul was far from monolithic and that pastoral care could be highly individualised and responsive to the demands of local communities.     

河南罗山县擂台子遗址发掘简报

擂台子遗址位于河南省罗山县城西偏北16公里处。1991年秋,为探讨淮河流域古代文化面貌及与周邻文化相互关系这一学术课题,河南省文物考古研究所等对该遗址进行了发掘,发掘面积75平方米。其文化遗存可分三期,年代分别相当于仰韶文化晚期、龙山文化中晚期、商末周初。     

从“无讼”到“好讼”:明清时期的法律观念及其司法实践

明清两代正处于一个社会的变迁时期。若以法律诉讼为视角,社会史层面确乎发生了巨大的转向,亦即从"乡土社会"逐渐向"好讼"社会转变。于是,"无讼"的理想与"好讼"的现实必然产生冲突。其冲突的结果,则使明清两代的学者与官员对"无讼"重新进行理性的思考,认定"无讼"并非是一种无为而治的理想世界,而是通过具体的"听讼"过程而达到司法公正。随之而来的则是"息讼"观念的流行,以及"息供"、"省词讼"一类司法实践行为的普遍化。     

Money, majesty and virtue: the rhetoric of monetary reform in later sixteenth-century France

Monetary inflation accompanied the period of the French civilwars of the later sixteenth century. It provoked an animateddiscussion among France's notables, especially its monetaryexperts. The debate is largely known through Jean Bodin's famousResponse de Jean Bodin à M. de Malestroit (1568). Thisarticle seeks to recover the moral and intellectual dimensionsof that debate, placing then in the context of how public policywas arrived at in this period. It analyses a lengthy memorandumon monetary issues, prepared for the Estates General of Blois(1576–1577). Hitherto ignored, it is ascribed here toJean Bodin. The article situates the great monetary reform ofSeptember 1577 and the introduction of the écu as theFrench money of account, within the moral and intellectual frameworkswhich underlay wider attempts at the reformation and pacificationof the French kingdom in this period.