The Latin doctors of the Church on sexuality

The Latin doctors of the early Church, Jerome, Ambrose and Augustine, are well known for their advocacy of virginity or chastity. Jerome was so vociferous in his praise of the virgin life that he was accused of denigrating marriage as the Manichaeans had done. Ambrose earned the title of Doctor of Virginity for his many writings on the subject, and Augustine's well-known conversion was associated with his adoption of a celibate life. The preponderance of tracts and letters on virginity and general continence within the corpus of patristic writings suggests that their view of sex might be summarized by two words: ‘avoid it’. However, the view of sexuality that shaped their visions of chastity was more complex than that, and this paper will explore the sexual beliefs that underlie such an important part of patristic writings. While they shared an advocacy of the celibate life, the three Latin doctors did not share a single view of sexuality. In fact, they represent two distinct positions on the subject. Jerome and Ambrose present one view that was shared by many of the earlier church Fathers, including Tertullian, Gregory of Nazianzen and others. Augustine represents a change in the analysis of human sexuality.     

晚清天主教会与耶稣教会的冲突

1891—1911年间,中国天主教会与耶酥教会的矛盾激化,屡屡发生历史上前所未有的天主、耶酥教派冲突。目前主要史籍中有案可查的这类冲突共有42起,经分析归纳其有五大特点,七种原因。中国政府对教派冲突问题非常重视,对它的处理不同于对其他教案,具有两种特点。     

The Cyprus Proposition: Lord Curzon and Cyprus in British Imperial Strategy, 1914 to 1919

Abstract

Debate about the strategic importance of Cyprus to Britain during and immediately after World War I has been overlooked by historians. During this period several key departments, politicians and officials argued strongly and in a concerted way for British retention of the island. This article investigates their reasoning and the arguments of those who championed its cession to Greece. Particular attention is given to the opinions of Lord Curzon, whose career was steeped in long-standing Anglo-Russian rivalries in Asia and the strategic doctrines which underpinned it. Reference is also made to the political, diplomatic and strategic context in which Curzon and his colleagues debated the issue.     

The early Ottomanization of urban Cyprus

SUMMARY: In 1571, the Ottomans completed the conquest of Cyprus. In order to consolidate their new territory, the Ottomans introduced a policy of imperial control that was centred on local accommodation and negotiation to facilitate stable governance. This study examines the process of the conquest and the extent to which the conquest changed the character of the urban landscapes of Cyprus. Architecture and urban reshaping represented a central facet of this process of colonial change and introduced a new visual language of control and Islamic presence. Nicosia was established as an administrative provincial capital and underwent redevelopment that followed an urbanscape replicating core features of an Ottoman town. This pattern of redevelopment was replicated elsewhere across the island as its economic infrastructure was strengthened. However, this period remains contested within the context of contemporary conflict on the divided island.     

The Historian and the Church

DEREK BEALES AND GEOFFREY BEST, eds. History, Society and the Churches: Essays in Honour of Owen Chadwick. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1985. Pp. x, 335. $49.50 (US).     

'On of the Princypalle Havenes of the See': The Port of Famagusta and the Ship Graffiti in the Church of St George of the Greeks, Cyprus

In its 1000-year history the port has been the source of triumph and tragedy for the city of Famagusta, being the conduit through which flowed both enormous wealth and destruction. Today the French medieval and Greek Orthodox churches, and the Venetian walls, though ruined, still carry physical traces of this turbulent society in the form of ship graffiti. Though such images are often classified as 'low-art', they are nevertheless imbued with a deep social significance, which the maritime historian can yet use to get a glimpse of an important, though virtually-forgotten, heritage in the Eastern Mediterranean.
© 2007 The Author     

The Church of Saint-Jouin-de-Marnes in the Eleventh Century

Abstract

One bay of the choir, the transepts and most of the nave survive from the eleventh-century church of Saint-Jouin-de-Marnes. Construction probably began in the first quarter of the century with the choir and transepts and proceeded, with a change of style, through a remodelling of the transepts to the nave. Completion might have been delayed until the third quarter of the century. The architecture and sculpture betray a transition from early medieval to Romanesque forms, the former in the choir and the latter in the nave. Early Romanesque Corinthian capitals and ornate archivolts exist alongside archaising block capitals, and all reveal new combinations of traditional forms, leading to Romanesque innovations.