The siege of Barbastro 1064–65: a reassessment

In 1064 a large army of foreign troops, especially Normans and Catalans, fought against the Muslims at the fortress city of Barbastro, located in Zaragoza. The siege of Barbastro is, for several reasons, one of the most controversial battles of the early reconquest in Spain. Some of the problems that historians of the crusades and the reconquest have struggled with are: the indulgence letter that Alexander II allegedly granted to the soldiers at Barbastro and whether this makes Barbastro the ‘First’ crusade preceding the one called by Pope Urban II. In addition, the extent of involvement by Pope Alexander and the Cluniacs in propagating the ‘crusade’ has been debated. Equally problematic has been the identification of the leader of the Christian soldiers. Candidates chosen for the enigmatic leader have been Duke William VIII of Aquitaine, William of Montreuil, and the Norman, Robert Crispin. A review of the secondary and primary sources reveals that many long-held conclusions are in need of re-evaluation. A complete reassessment of these and other related problems is the intent of this study.     

The Hindu nationalist reinterpretation of pilgrimage in India: the limits of Yatra politics

ABSTRACT. Victor Turner's anthropological reading of pilgrimages in terms of communitas is of utmost relevance in the case of Hinduism: indeed, Hindu pilgrimages produce a relative and temporal obliteration of social cleavages – particularly caste divisions – allowing the emergence of a sense of group belonging. Moreover, the geography of pilgrimage sites maps out the sacred land, marking the area of extension of Hindu civilisation in space. Hindu nationalists have tried to exploit this particular alchemy to offer an ethnic definition of the nation (and its territory) and thereby gather a following by lending some of their demonstrations the appearance of a pilgrimage. This approach asserted itself in the early 1980s thanks to the Ekatmata Yatra (Unity March) in 1983, and was confirmed in 1990 during the Rath Yatra (Chariot festival). Nevertheless, the instrumentalist interpretation of such movements comes up against an issue that is already at the core of subaltern studies' historiography, i.e. that masses do not always mobilise for the reasons put forth by political leaders. More specifically, if women march massively in the streets during these Yatra pilgrimages, it is both because they feel concerned by the reason for demonstrations and because these demonstrations have legitimised their entry into the public space, which still remains relatively closed to them.     

On the Side of Light: Performing Morality at Rwanda’s Genocide Memorials

Abstract

In Rwanda, numerous memorials have arisen to remember the 1994 genocide and its victims. This paper considers the effect of the national genocide memorials on Western tourist visitors, in the context of research on ‘dark tourism’ and Western attitudes toward death and the dead. It draws on the idea that, in a Western context, viewing the remains of violent death can be a kind of ‘soft murder’, and on the concept that the act of witnessing violence creates a community of witnesses implicated in that violence. Western visitors to Rwandan genocide memorials therefore form a community, and their responses are guided by a set of community rules regarding behaviour and experiences during and after the visit. These rules, this paper argues, are rooted in pressures to assert oneself as a properly moral individual through performing morality in a morally ambiguous setting.     

Beyond the landings: the reconstruction of Lower Normandy after June 1944

The image of Lower Normandy evoked by the sixtieth anniversary of D-Day was essentially that of a land scarred by invasion and destruction, making a heavy sacrifice for the liberation of Europe. Beaches, monuments, war cemeteries and museums help structure the process of remembering, but the restoration of farmland and the rebuilding of towns, villages and farmsteads are largely ignored. The spatial complexity of destruction and the frustrations of the emergency phase are revealed through archival records, with a labour force having to be assembled, explosives made safe, ruins cleared and shelter provided. Cooperation formed an essential element in the planning and rebuilding of towns and rural places; material improvement figured prominently in all these schemes. Permanent reconstruction began slowly in the late 1940s, gathered pace in the early 1950s, and reached conclusion in the early 1960s. Nonetheless, many who suffered material loss endured a decade or more in huts or overcrowded accommodation. A message of recovery and renaissance may be detected in the landscapes of Lower Normandy that is profoundly different from the battles, beaches and destruction conveyed by publications and the media.     

‘This War has Produced a Woman Who Can Keep a Secret!’1: The Mulberry Harbour Exhibitions,the Young Woman and the Contested Meanings of a British Wartime Invention

In 1944, the British government was looking for ways to convince the public at home and abroad that the nation’s status as a world power was undiminished. To this end, the Ministry of Information developed a propaganda campaign for revealing the portable Mulberry Harbour that had been designed and built in Britain, and used in that June's invasion of Normandy. The official narrative was overshadowed, however, by public incredulity about a young woman’s work on the project, while a touring exhibition demonstrated that the British story had little resonance overseas.     

One Landscape, Many Experiences: Differing Perspectives of the Temple Districts of Vijayanagara

Landscapes have multiple meanings depending on the perspectives of those who experience them. Uncovering those perspectives for past landscapes depends on multiple lines of evidence, both archaeological and historical. The landscape of the fourteenth- to sixteenth-century south Indian capital of Vijayanagara was the setting for important mythological events, interplays of power between the elite, ritual and pilgrimage for devotees, and ordinary daily activities for residents. This paper explores these different views of the urban landscape through examination of oral traditions and historical data, assessment of architecture and access and routing, and archaeological analysis of grinding stones and ceramics.     

Magnificent entrances and undignified exits: chronicling the symbolism of castle space in Normandy

Recent years have seen an increase in the number of studies on the symbolism of the castle, particularly in relation to lordship. Such studies are interdisciplinary in nature and often employ the language of the use of space in order to determine how castles functioned and how they were perceived. This article considers what the chroniclers of eleventh- and twelfth-century Normandy meant by castle space. This analysis can help us to determine how space was used, its connection to ideas about social relationships, including gender, and the chroniclers' purpose in including the events they described in their narratives. Many of the episodes described by the chroniclers relate to ideas about the authority and legitimacy of both men and women. As such the spatial setting of the castle is a means of holding up good examples of how authority should be exercised as well as illustrations of what happens when people either fail to uphold that authority or appropriate it in an illegitimate manner.     

In-situ Corrosion Studies on Wrecked Aircraft of the Imperial Japanese Navy in Chuuk Lagoon, Federated States of Micronesia

A preliminary in-situ corrosion survey of the submerged Japanese WWII aircraft in Chuuk Lagoon, in the Federated States of Micronesia, has provided information on the way in which the wrecks interact with the marine environment. The aircraft are characterised by a lack of encrusting marine organisms and are clearly identifiable. The values of pH and the corrosion potentials vary with depth and the voltage depends on the composition of the underlying metal alloys. It is possible that with additional data from these non-destructive methods techniques it will be possible to provide marine archaeologists with appropriate diagnostic tools.
© 2006 The Author.     

Kinship and identity in eleventh-century Normandy: the case of Hugh de Grandmesnil, c. 1040–1098

Hugh de Grandmesnil was one of the co-founders of the Norman monastery of Saint-Evroult. It was no doubt his part in this foundation that led Orderic Vitalis, a monk of that house, to provide an account of Hugh's career in his Historia ecclesiastica. The information found there provides an almost unique opportunity to observe an individual of the eleventh century in the context of nearly all of his family connections. This article uses that evidence first to examine Hugh's relationships with his kinsmen and to ask whether they acted together so as to form, in Sir James Holt's words, a ‘mutual benefit society’, and secondly to consider the extent to which Hugh's identity was defined by his relations with his kinsmen. The findings of this inquiry reveal, amongst other things, that the importance of Hugh's relationships with his kinsmen varied over the course of Hugh's career, and that the pool of kinsmen, friends, and allies to whom Hugh could turn in time of need was equally fluid. Hugh's career therefore stands as a corrective to frequently held assumptions that the relationships forged by kinship and marriage between members of the secular elite of eleventh-century Normandy remained stable throughout an individual's life.     

Geophysical investigations of WWII air-raid shelters in the UK

Just before WWII, the British government prepared for an aerial onslaught that was predicted to raze cities and cause mass casualties. By 1938, the Air Raid Precautions Act officially stated that population protection would be through dispersal, meaning evacuation and small-scale protection, local authority responsibility often devolving to householders. Archaeological records of remaining air-raid shelters are relatively rare and under threat. This paper reports on geophysical surveys on three sites in Stoke-on-Trent and London. Results found three intact Stanton shelters in Stoke-on-Trent, located by GPR, electrical resistivity, magnetometry, gravity and electromagnetic methods. In London, partially demolished shelters and an intact, mass public shelter were both detected by EM and GPR methods, with subsequent intrusive investigations confirming results. Study outcomes show hitherto-neglected wartime shelters are in varied condition, with geophysical surveys able to detect, characterise and assess them, helping bring WWII British history into the wider scientific community and public domain.     

Recalling the War in China： The Dahoufang Project in Chongqing and the Restoration of a Legacy

This article presents a rare inside view of a unique project currently underway in China to study and preserve the memory of possibly the single most seminal event in Chinese modern history, the War of Resistance against Japan （1937-45）. The article introduces a multi-faceted program to preserve the wartime cultural heritage; the work is ongoing in the thriving western metropolis of Chongqing, once China＇s bomb-torn wartime capital and international Allied command center. It describes how, seven decades after World War II, scholars, cultural workers, government experts, and artists in China are joining hands in an unprecedented, all-encompassing project to record, restore, and recount the extraordinary legacy of China＇s War of Resistance in its local, as well as national and global contexts.     

Kinship and identity in eleventh-century Normandy: the case of Hugh de Grandmesnil,c. 1040–1098

Hugh de Grandmesnil was one of the co-founders of the Norman monastery of Saint-Evroult. It was no doubt his part in this foundation that led Orderic Vitalis, a monk of that house, to provide an account of Hugh's career in his Historia ecclesiastica. The information found there provides an almost unique opportunity to observe an individual of the eleventh century in the context of nearly all of his family connections. This article uses that evidence first to examine Hugh's relationships with his kinsmen and to ask whether they acted together so as to form, in Sir James Holt's words, a ‘mutual benefit society’, and secondly to consider the extent to which Hugh's identity was defined by his relations with his kinsmen. The findings of this inquiry reveal, amongst other things, that the importance of Hugh's relationships with his kinsmen varied over the course of Hugh's career, and that the pool of kinsmen, friends, and allies to whom Hugh could turn in time of need was equally fluid. Hugh's career therefore stands as a corrective to frequently held assumptions that the relationships forged by kinship and marriage between members of the secular elite of eleventh-century Normandy remained stable throughout an individual's life.     

From Utah Beach toward reconstruction: revival in the Manche département of Lower Normandy after June 1944

As well as joyous liberation, the aftermath of the American landing on Utah Beach in 1944 brought death and destruction to localities throughout the Manche, the westernmost département of Normandy. This article, which forms part of a larger project on post-war revival and reconstruction, examines how eye witnesses recorded these horrific events and then explores the complex ‘emergency phase’ that involved local civilian labour, migrants from elsewhere in France and prisoners of war in erecting temporary accommodation, and removing mines and other explosives. Parallel with these manual tasks came claims for compensation and preparation of plans for rationalizing and rebuilding war-torn towns, villages and farmsteads. Shortages of building materials, appropriate labour and sufficient funds prolonged the process. Now, the scars of destruction have healed, the emergency phase is largely forgotten, and the legacy of post-war reconstruction in the landscape of Normandy is simply taken for granted by most residents and tourists.