CHARTERS,NORTHUMBRIA AND THE UNIFICATION OF ENGLAND IN THE TENTH AND ELEVENTH CENTURIES

Abstract

This article examines the relationship between the clergy and their secular neighbours in the diocese of Durham in the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries. In particular, it seeks to uncover the extent to which the two spheres experienced a shared sense of identity, in a period when that relationship was being recalibrated as the full impact of the Reformation was making itself felt. For example, the novelty of clerical marriage, within and without the clerical community, as well as oppositional doctrinal and confessional outlooks, were superimposed on to existing associations and networks. In other respects interaction between the clergy and lay society fluctuated between harmonious and positive to contentious and damaging. Meanwhile, preconceptions about the diocese are re-examined in the context of this relationship.     

The Parish Community Through the Vicarage Window: Nineteenth-Century Clergy Visitation Returns

Abstract

This article uses the visitation returns of the clergy to Archbishop Thomson at his primary visitation of the diocese of York in 1865 in order to look at the relationships which defined the parish community as seen, idealised and criticised by the clergymen of this mainly rural diocese. Their collective view highlights key elements which helped make or break the community with the parish church at its centre: the support given by local landowners; the central importance of the school; and the relationship with the farmers of the parish and impact of farming practices on church attendance. Though the ideal parish community rarely existed it inspired conscientious clergymen to work for its creation in sometimes difficult circumstances. The study also illustrates the value of visitation returns for the local historian and gives pause for thought as the closure of village schools and churches to-day undermines the communities our forebears strove to create.     

Italian religious historiography in the 1990s

Abstract

This article examines Italian religious historiography of the past decade, taking into account the difficulty of this national limitation, given the increasingly frequent arid profitable exchanges among the diverse European traditions. The review first examines some general works and then focuses on certain themes that mark the historiographical trends: ecclesiastical institutions, with particular reference to the period of the Reformation and the Counter‐Reformation; religious complexity, with special reference to heterodox movements, to Jewish culture and to the Islamic presence; and people's religious experiences, with particular emphasis on those of women, in their interaction with both cultural production and social history.     

Riforma e Rinascimento,Protestantism and Catholicism in Antonio Gramsci's writings on Italian history, 1926 – 35

Abstract

This article readdresses Gramsci's use of Italian history, focusing on his judgement that the Italian Renaissance marked the start of a specifically Italian course of historical failure because it led directly to the Counter-Reformation, the Risorgimento and Fascism. It shows that Gramsci's political strategy after 1923 – on the need for a mass socialist movement – informed his historical opinions. His view of a regressive Renaissance contrasted the dominant historiographical consensus that saw it as the start of European modernity. Gramsci conceptualized modern European history according to a Reformation–Renaissance dichotomy that also determined his general sense of culture. By contrasting Catholic Italy (whose Renaissance had failed to lead to a Reformation) with the Protestant north (whose general Renaissance had formed a harmonious couplet with the Reformation), Gramsci reveals that his single greatest debt as a historian was to Weber rather than Marx or Croce.     

Whatever Happened in Torres Strait?: Interpreting the Anglican split of 1998

Recent movements within world Anglicanism towards a more democratic representation of the church are in contrast to Torres Strait Islanders' assertion of their own male-led conservative and hierarchical body. These characteristics have marked Torres Strait Island Anglicanism for many years. On the surface, the various strands leading to a conflict over a choice of leader in 1997 focused upon discordant relationships and faulty decision-making procedures, especially the surrender of the diocese of Carpentaria to the adjacent diocese of North Queensland and a subsequent choice of a bishop where Torres Strait clergy claimed that the terms of the surrender had been dishonoured. Yet below the surface, the cleavage between Island and European leadership was also a sign of the ideological shift which was occurring in the Anglican Church of Australia. Supported by European elements within that church opposed to the ordination of women, Islander clergy charged that the mainland body was deserting the faith and order of the 'church of the fathers'. With the Islanders newly empowered, as they perceived it, by the Mabo judgement of the High Court of Australia in 1992, their perception appears to have been that, in spirit, the mainland church denied what the High Court's decision recognised: the ultimate control by Islanders over their own affairs.     

Elemore Colliery and the Hetton Coal Company

Abstract

Elemore Colliery in Tyne and Wear but formerly in County Durham (NZ 356456), now stands disused but earmarked for preservation (see Plate 1). The colliery surface buildings are to be preserved and opened to the public. To the industrial archaeologist the most interesting feature of the colliery is the early nineteenth century single cylinder vertical winding engine which stands in its original, though slightly modified, house. It is the only engine of its type known to survive in situ; the other mine buildings are predominantly Edwardian. The colliery, which before nationalization had been owned by the Hetton Coal Company, the Lambton and Hetton Collieries Ltd and the Lambton, Hetton and Joicey Collieries Ltd, closed in 1973/4. Elemore holds no special position in the history of coal mining in general nor indeed in the history of the Durham area, other than as a member of the prosperous and influential Hetton groups of collieries. However, its origins and its development make an interesting study which not only illuminates its own past but also sheds light on the development of the area and the industry as a whole.     

EDWIN SANDYS,ARCHBISHOP OF YORK 1577–88, ‘STIFF-NECKED,WILFUL AND OBSTINATE’: CONFLICT IN THE ELIZABETHAN CHURCH

Abstract

This article examines the events that, as legend has it, resulted in the foundation of Balliol College (c. 1263) by John (I) Balliol (d. 1268). The Balliol family had long been at odds with successive bishops of Durham over certain lands in Sadberge, the homage of which the bishops believed they were owed. John (I) began his struggle just after his inheritance in 1229 and the dispute reached its height in 1255–60, at which time an intense argument broke out. Other factors, including his actions whilst serving as one of Henry III's English representatives in the Scottish government (1251–55), led to Balliol's ultimate submission to Bishop Kirkham (d. 1260) at Durham Cathedral in 1260 and the foundation of Balliol College at Kirkham's instance. The theory remains, as one historian argues, that Balliol's penance was to give the long delayed homage to the bishop for these lands and not to establish Balliol College. However, there are no surviving records of homage and other possibilities remain, including perhaps that the penance called for Balliol's youngest son, John (II), the future King of Scotland, to be educated at a Durham school.     

Surviving the Mid-Fifteenth-Century Recession: Durham Cathedral Priory, 1400–1520

Abstract

'Surviving the Mid-Fifteenth-Century Recession: Durham Cathedral Priory, 1400–1520'. The exact chronology of the fifteenth-century recession and its impact on medieval landowners is still far from clear, whilst the stimulus and timing of recovery are even more uncertain. Recent research has shown that the economy of the North-East of England stagnated after the recession with few signs of recovery. Despite this, successive bursars of Durham Priory were able to reduce arrears, waste and decay from a combined total of £540 in 1453/4 to a meagre £18 by 1519/20, whilst simultaneously raising overall rents by £130. This was made possible by the responsiveness of the bursars of Durham Priory who consciously adapted their style of management, rent collection process, and even repairs, all in the pursuit of increased efficiency. Landlords did not become passive with the leasing of their lands, and this concerted effort by a northern landowner to improve efficiency is in evidence across England. This was not a period of continuous decline or stagnation, even in the North-East, and the improvement in rent collection found here may reflect upon recovery in the region that other economic indicators, such as cash tithe receipts, are not sensitive enough to register.     

The William Bruntons and their Buddle

Abstract

The Brunton buddle was a common lead ore separation device in the Northern Dales, supposedly invented by William Brunton at Allendale in Northumberland in 1847. This article outlines the biographies of the two William Bruntons and corrects the supposition about the place and date of invention of the buddle. The buddle is described using William Brunton's words and its method of working outlined. Reference is made to some results of recent calculations which illuminate the range of operation of the buddle. The whole is stimulated by Durham County Council's restoration programme for the Brunton buddle discovered at the Killhope Lead Mining Centre in Upper Weardale in Co Durham.     

New Mills in Bowden Middlecale: Domestic Textiles in the Rural Economy before the Industrial Revolution and the Change to Factory Cotton

Abstract

The year 1996 is being celebrated as Visual Arts Year in the North of England. From 21 September 1996, an Exhibition ‘People and Patterns’ at The John and Josephine Bowes Museum, Barnard Castle, County Durham, will describe the local carpet industry, which supplied the London and provincial trade for many years during the nineteenth century. The Exhibition closes on 5 January 1997     

Reviews

Abstract

It is widely held that the hazardous nature of their occupation made miners unusually susceptible to the appeals of evangelical religion. Data relating to Methodist chapel membership and attendance and to Easter communication in the Church of England are presented for overlapping time periods in three contrasting mining areas of County Durham. These show that the lead miners of Upper Teesdale were exceptionally Methodist; the colliers of the Deerness Valley and the east coast villages of the Easington area were not. The differences between the three areas are explained by the interaction of cultural and social-structural features.     

Some manuscript maps recently acquired by the departement des Cartes et plans of the bibliotheque nationale,Paris

Abstract

This paper examines the significance of a rediscovered medieval map (Public Record Office, MPCC 7) of part of the Fenlands of eastern England, previously dated to the mid‐sixteenth century but now recognized as mid‐fifteenth century. The map portrays realistically two important monastic churches, Sempringham Priory and Spalding Priory, which did not survive the Reformation and for which no other contemporary representations are known to exist. Documentary evidence suggests that the map was made at Spalding Priory to record rights to pasture animals in Pinchbeck Fen, and that it passed to the Duchy of Lancaster at the dissolution of the monasteries.     

Apocalypse and the Spirit of Revolution

Abstract

The article identifies some typical traits of apocalyptical thinking by analysing the approach of Martin Luther and Thomas Müntzer to apocalyptical texts. They both applied apocalyptical perspectives on historical events but they had conflicting views concerning its social and political consequences. The author asks whether the Reformation may be called an apocalypti-cal movement and why the Reformers are split on the question of political revolt. After studying the conflict between Müntzer and Luther in some detail, he proceeds to Engels’ analysis of Müntzer in the aftermath of the revolution in 1848, seeking an answer to the following question: How and to what extent have the biblical apocalypse and apocalyptical movements contributed to the formation of Marxist theory of revolutions?     

The Urban White Paper and The Churches

Abstract

Has the Church of England, post Faith in the City, become the ‘Marks and Spencer’ of the English urban scene? Many people lament the Church's absence from the high street but few wish to enter the ‘store’, let alone give it their ‘allegiance’ and ‘custom’. As an Anglican priest working in an urban parish, vicar of a large ancient and historically important town-centre Church, and being the first Social Responsibility Officer in the diocese of Peterborough, I fantasize that the Church is both M/S and S/M to want to persist with such an irrelevant parochial structure and outdated theological model of mission. The recently published Urban White Paper and other recent government reports have given an opportunity to consider possible new mission structures that take seriously the complex social layers of a post industrial urban landscape. Renaissance, regeneration and renewal are needed in the structures of the institutional Church and in our thinking of globalized city living.     

Arnulf of Lisieux and the crisis at Grestain 1164–6: brother bishops,inherited policies and failed leadership

ABSTRACT

This article examines the failed reform of the abbey of Grestain by Arnulf, bishop of Lisieux (r. 1141–81). Faced with a disobedient abbot, in whose absence the monks had resorted to violence and murder, Arnulf saw an opportunity to stamp his authority on his diocese by turning the monastery into a house of canons regular. Arnulf’s policies were shaped by the example of his older brother John, bishop of Sées (r. 1124–44), and his uncle and predecessor in his own bishopric John of Lisieux (r. 1107–41), as well as his mentor Geoffrey of Lèves, bishop of Chartres (r. 1116–49). A close reading of Arnulf’s letters demonstrates that Arnulf's conception of religious leadership and his representation of the crisis at Grestain were formed not only by familial networks, but also by the wider social and educational ideals of the eleventh and twelfth centuries filtered through the Victorines.     

Direct Farming on the Estates of Cheshire Landowners c.1570–c.1700

Abstract

'Responses in the North of England to the Jacobite Rebellion of 1715'. The Jacobite Rebellion of 1715 resulted in significant activity among State, Church and society throughout the North of England, especially because the Jacobite army marched through most of the northern counties, Yorkshire and Durham excepted. Yet, though the responses made in opposition to the rebellion and to its adherents were far from uniform, often slow and piecemeal, they did indicate that Jacobitism had limited appeal as loyalist action outweighed that of the Jacobites.     

Tells,Invasion Theories and Warfare in Fifth Millennium B.C. North-Eastern Bulgaria

Abstract

Violence and warfare have generally played a peripheral role in studies of fifth millennium B.C. farming communities of the Lower Danube. This paper aims to reconsider the archaeological evidence of violent conflict in chalcolithic north-eastern Bulgaria with the notion that inter-group conflict was an essential part of prehistoric social life. The focus here is on the role of warfare within the context of small permanent settlements, essentially settlement mounds, from their establishment around 5000 B.C. to their alleged violent end at the transition between the fifth and fourth millennia B.C.     

Benefactors of the Greyfriars in York: Alms from Testators, 1530–1538

Abstract

The prominent role of the gentry in late medieval local administration has long been acknowledged, and studies of officeholding have been central to the identification and understanding of that social group. Local administration in the liberty of Durham, however, was very different. The liberty's constitutional peculiarities meant that fewer prestigious offices were available to local gentry; furthermore, local office was controlled not by the king, but by the bishop of Durham, who was free to appoint men of relatively low status for extended terms. As a result, many of the liberty's gentry, and the majority of its greater families, had little formal involvement in its administration, which was dominated instead by a small corps of professionals for whom office provided rapid advancement in local society. This paper provides a detailed account of a family that produced several such professionals, who were extremely prominent in the liberty's administration in the first half of the fourteenth century. Their careers illuminate the workings of patronage and lordship in the liberty, and demonstrate the substantial impact of the liberty's distinctive administration on the structure and identity of the local political community. They also suggest some tentative wider conclusions about the relationship between officeholding and gentility.