The Architectural Background of the Ely Octagon

Abstract

Ely octagon is usually regarded as an original invention of the architect Alan of Walsingham. However, the ground plan of the Norman church, with both eastern and western transepts and two axial towers, has affinities with the plans of some Romanesque churches in the Rhineland which also possess octagonal central towers. The presence of an octagonal Norman tower at nearby Swaffham Prior, a church which has belonged to Ely since before the Norman Conquest, suggests that the Norman church at Ely may also have had an octagonal central tower.     

Further Notes in Reference to the Discoveries at Ickleton and Chesterford

Abstract

Although it is generally well-known that a number of cathedrals and major abbeys in medieval England especially had detached bell towers, the towers themselves have never been considered as a group. Nor has a ‘complete’ listing been attempted. Their existence is difficult to explain because the majority of these buildings also had central towers and some had western towers. No doubt because so many of the detached towers have been destroyed, they are less well-known than the examples on the Continent, especially in Italy. Surprisingly, towers seem to have been rare in Romanesque and Gothic France and Germany. The Insular ones appear to have been less ‘standardized’ in their design and more variable in their location vis-à-vis the church building than those of Italy. The history of detached towers in England (and Scotland) is here traced from their earliest appearance, in wood in the 12th century and in stone c. 1200, to the end of the Middle Ages.     

On Some Forgotten or Neglected Roman Inscriptions Found in Britain

This paper subjects to critical scrutiny a recent claim, based principally on a stylistic analysis of Huntingdonshire church towers, and in particular on the significance of the newel notch, that there was far more church building after the Reformation than previously believed, and finds it unconvincing.     

The building of the church of St Sophia in Kiev

The subject of this study is the much-debated question of when and under what circumstances the cathedral of St Sophia in Kiev was built. After an analysis of the primary sources and a critical review of the arguments in favour of a date of construction between 1017 and 1031, the author substantiates the view that the entire church, including towers and external ambulatories, was built and decorated between 1037 and 1046, and not, as some think, over a period of nearly a century.Because of the complexity of the sources, the construction of St Sophia is seen against the background of the cultural, political and ecclesiastical history of Kievan Rus' in the late tenth and eleventh centuries, including the building of the cathedrals of Cernigov and Novgorod, and the church of the Tithe and the katholikon of the Caves monastery in Kiev.The study sheds new light on the early history of Kievan stone architecture which, as some reasonably assert, was closely linked with the architectural school of Constantinople. The construction of the capella regia, known as the church of the Tithe in the 990s, by Greek masters, who followed the Porphyrogenite princess Anna to Kiev, was an isolated episode which was followed by a hiatus of forty years. The extensive building programme begun by Jaroslav the Wise after 1036, which continued after his death in 1054, was completed by Byzantine masters with local help, permitting the formation of native cadres of masons, artists and other specialists. It was the project of Faroslav which laid the groundwork for an indigenous stone architecture in Rus'.     

The building of the church of St Sophia in Kiev

The subject of this study is the much-debated question of when and under what circumstances the cathedral of St Sophia in Kiev was built. After an analysis of the primary sources and a critical review of the arguments in favour of a date of construction between 1017 and 1031, the author substantiates the view that the entire church, including towers and external ambulatories, was built and decorated between 1037 and 1046, and not, as some think, over a period of nearly a century.Because of the complexity of the sources, the construction of St Sophia is seen against the background of the cultural, political and ecclesiastical history of Kievan Rus' in the late tenth and eleventh centuries, including the building of the cathedrals of Cernigov and Novgorod, and the church of the Tithe and the katholikon of the Caves monastery in Kiev.The study sheds new light on the early history of Kievan stone architecture which, as some reasonably assert, was closely linked with the architectural school of Constantinople. The construction of the capella regia, known as the church of the Tithe in the 990s, by Greek masters, who followed the Porphyrogenite princess Anna to Kiev, was an isolated episode which was followed by a hiatus of forty years. The extensive building programme begun by Jaroslav the Wise after 1036, which continued after his death in 1054, was completed by Byzantine masters with local help, permitting the formation of native cadres of masons, artists and other specialists. It was the project of Faroslav which laid the groundwork for an indigenous stone architecture in Rus'.     

THE BYZANTINE CHURCH OF THE NUTRITION IN NAZARETH REDISCOVERED

Abstract

Although Nazareth has usually been seen by scholars as a relatively minor Byzantine pilgrimage centre, it contained perhaps the most important ‘lost’ Byzantine church in the Holy Land, the Church of the Nutrition – according to De Locis Sanctis built over the house where it was believed that Jesus Christ had been a child. This article, part of a series of final interim reports of the PEF-funded ‘Nazareth Archaeological Project’, presents evidence that this church has been discovered at the present Sisters of Nazareth convent in central Nazareth. The scale of the church and its surrounding structures suggests that Nazareth was a much larger, and more important, centre for Byzantine-period pilgrimage than previously supposed. The church was used in the Crusader period, after a phase of desertion, prior to destruction by fire, probably in the 13th century.     

Anglicanism and Nationalism in Australia,1901–1962

In recent years Australian nationalism has attracted considerable attention from historians, but most of the literature has been written from a secular standpoint. The present paper focuses on the contribution of the Anglican Church to the development of nationalism in the period between the coming of Federation and the attainment by the church of a new constitution that gave it autonomy. The first part of the paper examines the English character of the church and its attitudes towards empire, monarchy and "White Australia." The second part explores the emergence of a more distinctively Australian identity within the church. Although importannt, this was not strong enough greatly to influence the church whose presence helped perpetuate the hold of British cultural values in ways and to an extent not hitherto fully appreciated.     

Parishes under Pressure ‐ The Church of England in South Buckinghamshire 1913–1939

Secularisation, or the reducing social significance of religion in the twentieth century, has been widely researched in terms of “demand” factors, but less so on the “supply‐side,” considering the contributory effects of the strategies and actions of religious organisations themselves. This article explores these strategies in a group of Anglican churches in South Buckinghamshire in the period leading up to the Second World War, as industrial and population development shifted proportionally to the southeast. This rapid growth and accompanying demographic change posed major challenges to the Church of England, subjecting the parish system to severe pressure. The availability, allocation, and suitability of clergy were a constant concern. The very basis of the Church of England's “offer” to the average citizen — of being the established, national church, there for everyone — seemed under threat: in some places, there was simply no church to “belong” to. Money was in short supply — perhaps both a cause and a symptom of other problems. A general issue was how to reach young people, but a specific concern was the funding of church schools. More widely, the church seemed to be losing touch with the changing cultural and moral landscape in which it operated.     

The Two Kingdoms: The Norwegian Seamen's Church in London 1865–1905

The Norwegian church in London began its life as a mission to Scandinavian seamen in 1868, after an evangelical society for this group had been founded in Bergen in 1864. Throughout the period covered, the former was involved in extensive cooperation with the other Nordic missions in the British capital. Yet it was always a congregation rather than just a mission and, as time went by, it became more self‐consciously Norwegian too. Evidence presented here suggests the mission was a place of worship for its domiciled compatriots before 1872, when the church building was completed. In common with many foreign Protestant churches in London, the Norwegian congregation experienced some conflict. There were restrictions on it owing to Norway having entered a forced union with Sweden in 1814. The Swedish church saw itself as catering for both nationalities and would not brook competition from what was officially a service for Scandinavian seamen. The clergy were not natural supporters of Norwegian nationalism. But as their country became more self‐assertive within the union from 1880, they began demanding enhanced rights for their church. It was only when Norway had unilaterally declared its independence in 1905 that the clergy became full‐blown adherents of this.     

Unity from disunity: law,rhetoric and power in the Visigothic kingdom

This paper explores the relationship between the ‘Church’ and the ‘State’ in the Visigothic kingdom of sixth- and seventh-century Spain. The authors examine the copious legal material from this period – both church council records and royal legislation – to see what it reveals about the significant degree of interpenetration of the two spheres. For example, the royal laws gave bishops an important role in the supervision of judges, while a church council could not be called without the permission of the king, who often attended along with his officials and set the agenda for the meetings. There has been significant debate on this issue over the past two centuries, and the authors' analysis will be situated accordingly. The extent to which the Visigothic evidence emerges out of late Roman practices and precedents or is independent of it will also be addressed.     

Beyond the Discontinuity Paradigm: Towards a Pan-African Church History

The purpose of this article is to suggest: (1) That a particular model of writing African church history inherited from the historiography of European mission has influenced the way in which the trans-African history of Christianity in Africa has been presented. It is argued that this model has encouraged an episodic view of the Christian past, through its documentary emphasis on the last two centuries. (2) That this model was both implicit and unchallenged in the theological trends of the post-colonial period, with their programmatic emphasis on indigenization and inculturation. The work of the vast majority of African theologians, and hence of church historians outside Africa, envisaged a model of the 'discontinuous past' premised on the idea that Christianity was to be understood in terms of export and import or 'early' north African and 'later' southern African engagement. This model is here labelled the 'discontinuity paradigm'. (3) That a new model for the writing of church history in Africa should be attempted. An 'adaptive similarities' model is proposed which sees the history of the church in Africa against the template of analogous conversion–adaptation–fissiparation movements in the earlier periods of the church's existence. The essay proposes a pan-African church history 'project' which focuses its work on constructing this model from regional church history efforts (Sundkler) and which attempts to isolate the recurrent themes and patterns of African Christianity (the thematic–chonological matrix) as interpreted within the wider African context (the geographical–cultural matrix).     

从教会契约文书看邵武美部会与民间社会的互动——兼论教会契约文书在地方史研究中的史料价值

以邵武美部会契约文书本文引用的契约文书均为福建师范大学社会历史学院所藏,引用时加注其原始编号。为研究范本,考察同治十二年(1873)至民国20年(1931)邵武美部会与民间社会围绕置产这一经济活动而发生的互动,认为教会契约文书可以提供教士回忆录、教会报刊杂志、年议会录等传统教会研究资料和正史、地方志等官修著述均未记载的历史资料,构建新的区域教会史研究范式,客观、真实、全面地展示区域教会发展历史,进而不断充实和丰富地方历史全貌。     

The Concepts of imitatio and translatio: Perceptions of a Viking‐Age Past

The author presents the results of excavations at Mare Church, North Tr?ndelag. Medieval sources indicate that Mære was the religious centre for Inner Tr?ndelag in pre‐Christian times. It was also the place where the first church (shire church) in Sparbyggjafylke was erected. At Mære if anywhere, therefore, it should be possible to test archaeologically the theory about cult continuity from pagan to Christian times.

Under the present church, which dates from the end of the twelfth century, the remains of an early wooden church surrounded by a churchyard were found, together with vestiges of at least two buildings from pre‐Christian times. On the evidence of loose finds, the oldest of these can be dated to the Migration Period (c. A.D. 500). A series of gold plaquettes were found associated with the later of the two buildings. This find is interpreted by the author as indicating that the building may have been a pagan cult building.     

Marriage,Sex, and the Church of Scotland: Exploring Non‐Conformity Amongst the Lower Orders

The history of marriage amongst the Scottish lower orders in the eighteenth century has largely been a story of sexual discipline by the Kirk (Church of Scotland). As much of this history has been produced through kirk session records — the arm of the church that monitored sexual morality and marital conformity — this is often construed as a story of contest between the church and a resistant lower orders, trying to negotiate alternative forms of family life. Using kirk session and secular court records and popular literature, this article explores how religious belief shaped sexual and marital behaviour, particularly non‐conformity, during this period. It examines the Kirk's interpretation of chastity and marriage, how these ideas filtered into popular culture and were used by the lower orders to negotiate their own sexual and marital behaviour and relationship to the Church. It argues that the Kirk's varying attitude to marital and sexual non‐conformity meant that marital non‐conformity was less significant than sexual sin in the popular and religious imagination.     

历史文化名楼 肩负城市的文化品位和景观功能

中国历史文化名楼既有多层面建筑风采,也有浓郁的文化品位与人文情怀。一座名楼本身就是一个文脉遗产累积的过程,它所肩负的文化使命,延伸了城市生活的时空,丰富了城市文化的景观。名楼遗产无疑有益于人们用地域文化优势提升城市文明,用远久历史文脉延续城市文化,用名楼突出的普世价值激活城市活力,这是我们已经做了或正在努力的方向。如何让厚重的历史文化名楼重放异彩,不仅是领略建筑的精彩,更重要的是文化的魅力。然而今天的历史文化名楼面临着在城市规划中被"过度化",在城市品牌建设中被"低俗化"、在城市主体中被"离心化"的危机。我们需要围绕文物价值,文化品位和景观功能看待历史文化名楼,让它们更具魅力风采。     

Castle Acre

This is the report of research excavations and salvage recording both inside and outside the standing Romanesque church. Evidence was seen of three pre-Conquest churches. The first was a ground standing timber building. The second was a Brixworth-type stone building. The third was a T-shaped church with a continuous transept and a tiny eastern apse. The evidence for these interpretations is presented. Documentary evidence is given and parallels are discussed. Additional information about the succeeding Romanesque church is presented. It had a rectangular crossing and tower, and evidence of a large added eastern chapel, reasoned to have been a new setting for the Holy Cross of Waltham, is discussed. Finds include floor tiles and stone. A burial close to the first church probably dates to the seventh century and suggests that Waltham was a minster church from the early years of the conversion. A herring-bone masonry wall is attributed to Harold.     

The identification of the medieval church of St Sabas in Jerusalem in the light of new documentary evidence

ABSTRACT

For over a century the church that the Greek monks of Dayr Mar Saba are known to have possessed inside the walls of Jerusalem in the twelfth century has usually been associated with a chapel surviving inside the Disy family house opposite the police barracks south of the Citadel, while the Zāwiyyat al-Shaykh Ya?qūb (Ya?qūbiyya), on the east side of Christ Church, has been identified as having originally been built in the twelfth century, possibly by Monophysites, as a church dedicated to St James the Persian, or the ‘Cut-up’ (Intercisus). New documentary research, however, now makes it appear more likely that Mujīr al-Dīn was correct in attributing the building of the Ya?qūbiyya to the Greeks and that it was also the church referred to by pilgrims in the twelfth century as that of St Sabas. This means that the identity of the church in Dār Disy, if indeed it was a church, remains to be determined.     

Effects of Geometrical Features on the Seismic Response of Historical Masonry Towers

ABSTRACT

Historical masonry structures are often located in earthquake-prone regions and the majority of them are considered to be seismically vulnerable and unsafe. Historical masonry towers are slender structures that exhibit unique architectural features and may present many inadequacies in terms of seismic performance. The seismic protection of such typologies of structures and the design of effective retrofitting interventions require a deep understanding of their behavior under horizontal loads. This paper presents the results of the seismic performance evaluation of historical masonry towers located in Northern Italy. A large set of case studies is considered, comprising a significant number of towers with high slenderness and marked inclination. First, a preliminary assessment of the dynamic behavior of the different towers is carried out through eigenfrequency analyses. Then, non-linear dynamic simulations are performed using a real accelerogram with different peak ground accelerations. A damage plasticity material model, exhibiting softening in both tension and compression, is adopted for masonry. The huge amount of results obtained from the non-linear dynamic simulations allows a comparative analysis of the towers to be performed in order to assess their seismic vulnerability and to show the dependence of their structural behavior on some geometrical characteristics, such as slenderness, inclination, and presence of openings and belfry. The evaluation of different response parameters and the examination of tensile damage distributions show the high vulnerability of historical masonry towers under horizontal loads, mainly in the presence of marked inclination and high slenderness. Some general trends of the seismic behavior of the towers are deduced as a function of the main typological features.     

The custom of the English Church: parish church maintenance in England before 1300

A division of responsibility for parish church fabric and contents between rector and parishioners first appeared in English ecclesiastical legislation in the early thirteenth century and was to remain in place until the mid-nineteenth century. It is often suggested that this responsibility was forced onto parishioners by a clergy keen to limit their own financial liability and that this marks the point at which parishioners first become involved in their local churches. This article looks at the development of these statutes from their origins in the Anglo-Saxon period through to their full realisation in the later thirteenth century. It argues that there were many among the thirteenth-century ecclesiastical hierarchy who were opposed to this change, and that far from being forced on parishioners, allowing parishioners to take responsibility for part of the church was a pragmatic solution to problems brought about by changes to both parishes and parish churches.     

The custom of the English Church: parish church maintenance in England before 1300

A division of responsibility for parish church fabric and contents between rector and parishioners first appeared in English ecclesiastical legislation in the early thirteenth century and was to remain in place until the mid-nineteenth century. It is often suggested that this responsibility was forced onto parishioners by a clergy keen to limit their own financial liability and that this marks the point at which parishioners first become involved in their local churches. This article looks at the development of these statutes from their origins in the Anglo-Saxon period through to their full realisation in the later thirteenth century. It argues that there were many among the thirteenth-century ecclesiastical hierarchy who were opposed to this change, and that far from being forced on parishioners, allowing parishioners to take responsibility for part of the church was a pragmatic solution to problems brought about by changes to both parishes and parish churches.