Twelfth-century Italian confraternities as institutions of pastoral care

When studied through canon law and scholastic pastoralia produced in the universities in the thirteenth century and beyond, medieval pastoral care comes across as spiritual care, more specifically the administration of sacraments and preaching, provided by the clergy for the faithful. This article complicates that view by arguing that in the twelfth century, the laity alongside the clergy was active in the provision and organisation of pastoral care. The sources examined are the surviving statutes of five religious confraternities – along with the obituaries and sermons in two cases – in Italy that flourished in the twelfth century and before. Each of these confraternities was centred around a church, established after an apostolic ideal, included laymen and women and local pastoral clergy of all levels, met regularly to celebrate the Eucharist, prayed for the dead members and made public confessions. Members prayed for and attended to the corporal needs of each other in case of sickness. In the final analysis, these twelfth-century confraternities appear as transitional institutions between the early medieval monastic confraternities focusing on prayer and the late medieval and renaissance confraternities focusing on charity. Their study opens a window onto the lay expectations of and contribution to pastoral care in medieval Italy.     

Confraternal Devotions in Malta, 1670–1798

The aims of this article are twofold. It first discusses how confraternities tried to improve the spiritual worth of their members. The brothers conducted their devotions communally in their oratory, confessing and receiving the Eucharist, hearing mass and listening to sermons. They also participated in processions while the liturgy of the suffrages for the dead was recognised as the special task of confraternities. The brethren also practised their own private devotions, like examination of conscience and the adoration of the host. Second, the brethren were not concerned solely with themselves but they influenced the other parishioners, who followed their example.     

The Early Modern Sensorium: The Rosary in Seventeenth-Century Rome†

My purpose in this article is to explore the relationship between emotion and the senses in relation to the rosary and rosary confraternities in seventeenth-century Rome, with a particular emphasis on the experience of women.The rosary is well suited to an approach grounded in sensory methodology, as it is defined both as a prayer and as an object. As a object it was always kept close to the body. Praying the rosary was not only tactile (each bead was handled during prayer) but also auditory, as the prayer was said aloud. Scented rosaries were also common, adding an olfactory component to the ritual. The sense of sight was also important: as confraternities of the rosary obtained their own chapels, large altarpieces of the Madonna of the Rosary were commissioned as visual aids to prayer. Artists incorporated haptic and olfactory prompts into these images, knowing that the audience would be praying in front of them. The rosary, therefore, constituted a ‘sensorium’, defined here as the intertwining and interdependence of multiple sense modalities.The complex interaction in the rosary between prayer, bead and the scenes from the mysteries, developed gradually from older tradition of prayer beads, which is summarised here.     

The quality of mercy: confraternities and public power in medieval Bergamo

The political transformation of Italian cities during the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries had a significant impact on the social fabric of those communities. This essay examines the effect of political change on the social order in urban Italy through a study of the response of lay confraternities in Bergamo to the demise of the commune and the rise of the Visconti signoria. We examine the administration, the civic commitments, and the charitable donations of the city's largest confraternity, the Misericordia Maggiore, from the late thirteenth century, when it was a close supporter of the commune, to the mid-fourteenth century, when the confraternity came increasingly to resemble the signorial regime. In its emulation of the social values of contemporary government, and its willingness to adapt to suit prevailing political structures, the Misericordia helped smooth the transition from commune to signoria for its membership and the community at large.     

The Public Face of Post-Tridentine Italian Confraternities

Catholic reforming policies and Council of Trent rules encouraged and expanded the more public roles and responsibilities of lay confraternities, changing the nature of some old brotherhoods, and promoting new ones. The public images became more important for members, the wider church institutions including associated religious orders, and the public. This article considers some significant aspects of the "public face": processions, Forty Hour devotions, philanthropy. Confraternities contributed to the theatricality of post-tridentine, "baroque" religion in cities like Bologna, Naples and most especially Rome, where the Spanish national confraternity played a spectacular role.     

The leitmotiv in the mathematical thought of Gerbert of Aurillac

The political transformation of Italian cities during the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries had a significant impact on the social fabric of those communities. This essay examines the effect of political change on the social order in urban Italy through a study of the response of lay confraternities in Bergamo to the demise of the commune and the rise of the Visconti signoria. We examine the administration, the civic commitments, and the charitable donations of the city's largest confraternity, the Misericordia Maggiore, from the late thirteenth century, when it was a close supporter of the commune, to the mid-fourteenth century, when the confraternity came increasingly to resemble the signorial regime. In its emulation of the social values of contemporary government, and its willingness to adapt to suit prevailing political structures, the Misericordia helped smooth the transition from commune to signoria for its membership and the community at large.     

Forms of lay association with the Order of the Temple

The present study investigates the development of three concepts of lay association with the Order of the Temple that have hitherto often been considered as distinctive from each other but that are, in fact, in many ways interconnected: the confrater, the donatus and the miles ad terminum. Examining the motivation of lay men and women to associate with the Temple, as well as the various implications of the forms of association they chose, the study argues that at the turn of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries the constellation of the Order's confraternities underwent drastic changes and that these had been instigated by canon lawyers and formulated in the decrees of Lateran III and IV. As a response the donats, as a particular category of confratres, established themselves as the most prominent expression of lay association with the Temple. What is more, since the concept of the donat gained prominence when that of the Templar novice was in decline, it will also be argued that, for very different reasons, the concept of the Templar donat as well as that of the ‘temporary knight’ (miles ad terminum), which was as old as the Order itself, could eventually have been conceived and employed as two forms of novitiate in disguise, which helped attract the attention of laymen who would have otherwise been reluctant to profess fully into a military order.     

Forms of lay association with the Order of the Temple

The present study investigates the development of three concepts of lay association with the Order of the Temple that have hitherto often been considered as distinctive from each other but that are, in fact, in many ways interconnected: the confrater, the donatus and the miles ad terminum. Examining the motivation of lay men and women to associate with the Temple, as well as the various implications of the forms of association they chose, the study argues that at the turn of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries the constellation of the Order's confraternities underwent drastic changes and that these had been instigated by canon lawyers and formulated in the decrees of Lateran III and IV. As a response the donats, as a particular category of confratres, established themselves as the most prominent expression of lay association with the Temple. What is more, since the concept of the donat gained prominence when that of the Templar novice was in decline, it will also be argued that, for very different reasons, the concept of the Templar donat as well as that of the ‘temporary knight’ (miles ad terminum), which was as old as the Order itself, could eventually have been conceived and employed as two forms of novitiate in disguise, which helped attract the attention of laymen who would have otherwise been reluctant to profess fully into a military order.     

近年来学术界对"封建"及"封建社会"问题的反思

在新时期,越来越多的学者认为中国只有在西周时期才有封建制。从秦到晚清的社会不应被称为“封建社会”。在这一阶段,社会状况与西欧中世纪的封建社会并不相同,也与斯大林所概括的以经济为特征的封建社会有较大的距离。他们批评滥用“封建”的现象,并力图用新的概念来代替“封建社会”,用新的理论体系描述从秦到晚清的历史。一些学者还注意到,中国古代社会的主要矛盾不能简单地归结为地主阶级与农民阶级的矛盾。可以预料,关于封建社会的认识必将有重大的突破。     

"The Human Condition" as social ontology: Hannah Arendt on society, action and knowledge

Hannah Arendt is widely regarded as a political theorist who sought to rescue politics from "society," and political theory from the social sciences. This conventional view has had the effect of distracting attention from many of Arendt's most important insights concerning the constitution of "society" and the significance of the social sciences. In this article, I argue that Hannah Arendt's distinctions between labor, work, and action, as these are discussed in "The Human Condition" and elsewhere, are best understood as a set of claims about the fundamental structures of human societies. Understanding Arendt in this way introduces interesting parallels between Arendt's work and both classical and contemporary sociology. From this I draw a number of conclusions concerning Arendt's conception of "society," and extend these insights into two contemporary debates within contemporary theoretical sociology: the need for a differentiated ontology of the social world, and the changing role that novel forms of knowledge play in contemporary society as major sources of social change and order.     

Limits to Democratic Development in Civil Society and the State: The Case of Santo Domingo

Some scholars see civil society as key to democratization of the political system. In this view, pressure from civil society forces democratization of the state. However, this disregards the fact that changes in civil society's behaviour require changes in political society — changes are reciprocal. The demand–making strategies of grassroots organizations in the Dominican Republic in 1999 provide a good example of this dynamic: the incomplete nature of the democratic transition (specifically, the persistence of paternalism and clientelism) constrained the democratic strategy choices of the civil society organizations. Just as democratization within political society is inconsistent and incomplete, so will be the demand–making strategies of the grassroots towards the state. The Dominican case is of particular interest as it illustrates the blend of personalized and institutionalized elements characteristic of democratic transition.     

Nature and Technology in History

This essay sketches an expanded theoretical conception of the roles of nature and technology in history, one that is based on a social ontology that does not separate nature and society. History has long been viewed as the realm of past human action. On this conception, nature is treated largely as an Other of history, and technology is construed chiefly as a means for human fulfillment. There is no history of nature, and the history of technology becomes the history of useful products. The essay discusses the changes wrought in these understandings by a social ontology that depicts social existence as inherently transpiring in nexuses of practices and material arrangements. The first implication is that the domain of history should be expanded from the realm and course of past human activity to the realm and course of past practice‐arrangement nexuses. In turn, this wider conception transforms the significance of nature and technology in history. Until recently, most accounts of the relationship between society/history and nature have presumed that society and history are separate from nature. On my account, by contrast, nature is part of society: a component of the practice—arrangement nexuses through which social life progresses. Human history, consequently, is a social—natural history that encompasses the varying presence and roles of nature in human coexistence. Technology, meanwhile, is not just useful products, and not just a mediator of society/history and nature. It also is (1) something through which humans manage social life and the nature that is part of it, largely by drawing nature into this site and thereby conjointly transforming society, technology, and nature in history; and (2) something that, over time, plays an increasingly central role in the nexuses where social life transpires. Through technology, in short, social—natural history takes form and advances.     

利益格局变迁与非直接利益冲突

利益冲突是引起现代社会冲突的两种基本因素之一,阶级意识（阶级认同）是阶级社会中从阶级矛盾到阶级冲突行为发生的关键环节。在现代社会,社会公平感是现代社会冲突行为发生的主要中介变量。当今中国群体性事件增多,折射出非直接利益冲突的特点,反映出利益相对剥夺感群体由对物质利益分配的不满转向对社会公平公正价值理念的怀疑,这将会直接削弱统治的“合法性”基础。     

Early Complex Society on the North and Central Peruvian Coast: New Archaeological Discoveries and New Insights

Archaeological data from the north and central Peruvian coast are presented here as a means to explore key themes relating to social complexity, including complex society and its origins, newly resolved chronological issues, the relationship between iconography and society, and the definition of a new culture. Focusing on an early time span, from ca. 3000 to 200 cal BC, we identify key questions about the trajectory through which early Andean complexity developed, and we discuss new ideas about the chronological placement of Cerro Sechín and Chavín de Huántar. We also use an intertextual approach to study the iconography of the complex Sechín Alto polity and as a means to demonstrate duality, social hierarchy, and the origin of symbols within the society’s iconography. Finally, we highlight a newly described polity, centered in the Nepeña Valley, that is important because its urban traits presage later cultural complexity and because the recognition of this polity demonstrates the potential for similar discoveries of comparable small polities.     

Islamic Waqf and Management of Cultural Heritage in Palestine

This paper studies the salient features that characterise the Islamic waqf and the importance of its development through history as a system for management of cultural heritage in Palestine. In an attempt to understand the value of waqf and its developmental role, this paper discusses the significance of waqf development with regard to social and economic growth. The paper concludes that Islamic waqf in Palestine is certainly not an invitation to the authority of the government to dominate the area of benevolent (caring, generous) activities in society but quite the opposite; from its beginning, the establishment of waqf was a clear representation of creating a third sector related to philanthropy (charities) that is kept away from both the profit‐motivated behaviour of individuals and the authority‐dominated action of the government and could be developed and adopted today in our society as a sustainable approach to the management of cultural heritage.     

郭嵩焘与刘锡鸿政治思想的比较研究——以士大夫观和英国政治观为中心

本文是郭嵩焘和刘锡鸿政治思想的比较研究.笔者着重探讨在郭嵩焘和刘锡鸿的政治思想中最主要的问题意识是什么、这个问题意识和他们看到的西方有什么关系这类的课题.笔者想强调的是:第一,我们在他们出使之前的所有的文章中能看到他们的问题意识--"士大夫在那时的中国社会应该担负什么任务?"第二,他们从这个问题意识来观察西方社会,特别关注英国的"官"和"民"的关系.并且他们对英国政治的看法之间有思路的差别.     

Osama or the Georges: Shifting Threats and State Policy towards Civil Society in Uzbekistan

In examining the relationship between the War on Terror and restrictions on civil society, Uzbekistan is an important case, given its emergence as a key player in the operations in Afghanistan, its own terrorist threat, and its particularly stringent policy towards civil society. This article argues that while the ‘crackdown’ on civil society has followed a similar pattern to that of other countries where civil society is perceived as harbouring a threat, there has been a significant shift since the War on Terror began as to the perceived nature of the threat. At the time of 9/11, the government of Uzbekistan took Islamic terrorism to be the main threat; yet within the space of just over two years a new threat was perceived. Western support for civil society, a concession made to the US‐led coalition in return for support against Islamic terrorism, emerged as an even greater threat to the regime. It is this perceived threat that has primarily driven state policy towards civil society, raising important questions about how democracy promotion can be best taken forward in the post‐9/11 world.     

Rural Strategies for Coping with the Spatial Unevenness in the Knowledge Society

Knowledge has long been a motor for societal development. However, the way knowledge is produced, distributed and applied has changed considerably and is regionally differentiated. In this paper, it is argued that different types of spatial profiles are discernable at the broader, national level: (i) Prominent hubs emerge, influenced by the knowledge society. (ii) The knowledge society expands to rural areas, being located between metropolitan regions, forming corridors of development. (iii) Regions with a knowledge society deficit, which might be perceived as a sort of “novel periphery”, remain. Drawing on examples from Germany, this paper examines rural regions which can be seen to fit with these profiles, revealing how planning paradigms change in the knowledge society and how spatially sensitive stakeholders can and do use knowledge as a strategic resource.     

Political economy and archaeology: Perspectives on exchange and production

Traditional approaches to the study of political economy are flawed in two respects. First, traditional approaches have submerged political economy within a discussion of political development and the evolution of complex society. Second, they have emphasized single dimensions of the economy such as production or distribution of resources as being the basis for political power. Current research has demonstrated that political economies are a mix of many different resource mobilization strategies that crosscut the production, service, and distribution sectors of the society. Archaeologists must attempt to identify this mix of strategies as a first step in reconstructing the structure of prehistoric political economy. Elites strive to control and mobilize resources from as many different sources as possible and invoke a common set of principles in doing so. These principles or components of the political economy are the accumulation, context, matrix control, and ideology principles. They are identified here as common mechanisms of resource creation, manipulation, and expropriation that can be applied to societies at different times and at different levels of organization.     

Locating strangers: multiculturalism, citizenship and nationhood in Australia

Questions over identity politics, difference, and associated claims of authenticity, now occupy centre-stage in many countries. In this paper we focus on the nature of multiculturalism, citizenship and identity politics as they are emerging in Australian society. Essentially, we argue that the demands of political recognition of cultural particularity by specific groups are presenting complex challenges to the public institutions of contemporary liberalism that rest on the neutrality of the public sphere in its treatment of free and equal citizens regardless of race, gender or ethnicity. The ideas of nationhood and national consciousness still present themselves as essential aspects of contemporary political life, even though many questions concerning a re-conceptualization of nation and citizenship abound. This is the context through which the paper examines nationhood in Australia, particularly the points of tension arising from contrasting notions of citizenship and national culture. Our intention is to provide a glimpse of Australian society in the face of these changes and to draw some theoretical and analytical conclusions concerning the challenges to state and civil society.