On Salisbury Cathedral

Abstract

In his last will and testament, dated January 1514, Sir Henry Vernon detailed his intent that a chapel should be founded at the collegiate church of St Bartholomew at Tong, as a final resting place for himself and his wife, and as a chantry for the souls of his family. Completed, it seems, by early 1519, the form of the chapel and its decoration indicates that Sir Henry was commemorated in the artistic language of the very finest contemporary chantry projects. Indeed, a number of the chapel's features are directly copied from the most illustrious of all late medieval chantries: Henry VII's chapel at Westminster Abbey. The chapel, physically and institutionally, also offers insight into the nature of late medieval piety. Unusually, the foundation makes no explicit charitable provision, long established as a central element of the contemporary doctrine of salvation. Yet the chantry-chapel was a physical and institutional appendage to a 'family' mausoleum, whose collegiate function had a strong charitable element. As such, the chapel suggests that, although chantries and tombs were themselves intensely personal, spiritual legacies were viewed in the same way as territorial interests: as inherited familial institutions, which could and should be augmented, rather than enterprises by, and limited to, individuals. In short, through its location, form and decorative scheme, the chapel demonstrates that, whilst numbering in their hundreds by the Reformation, such chapels were far from simply formulaic expressions of piety. Rather, they could serve as the vehicle for the creation of a very specific identity for the chapel's founder.     

The Anglian Cathedral of North Elmham,Norfolk

DISPERSED REFERENCES to weights and balances in England dating to the late Saxon period (9th to 11th centuries) are collated and assessed. A classification of types is presented, and comparisons drawn with Irish and Scandinavian material.     

A Fifteenth-Century Painted Sermon at the Door of the Cathedral of Bressanone

Abstract

This article argues that a portion of the fifteenth-century frescos at the entrance door from the cloister to the cathedral of Bressanone can be seen as a painted sermon. The analysis draws on the frescos of two vaults and the interaction between words and images. In the first vault, just above the entrance of the church, the frescos present not only the contents of a sermon, but also its structure, namely an episode from the Gospel, a catechetical pattern, the quotation of auctoritates and a social goal to be achieved. The frescos of the second vault represent the contrast between virtues and vices using the pairs presented in Matthew 24. 40–41. This text was read by the medieval exegetical tradition as a scheme for the different status of Christian life, thus this vault could be seen as an elaborate catechetical pattern with a large system of biblical quotations. Moreover, the structure of the frescos of the second vault can be read as a sermo modernus based on the divisio of Matthew 24. 40–41. Finally, the comparison with a portion of a sermon by Bernardino da Siena on the theme of avarice confirms that the elements represented in Bressanone were really used both by preachers and painters.

In this way, the images of the cloister are a sermon, which continually preaches to anyone entering or leaving the church, thus organizing the public space as a 'theatre of memory' and offering a message readable at different levels.     

徐州新征集的汉画像石研究

徐州汉画像石馆新征集到一批画像石,包括扳手腕、出行、舂米、宴饮杂技等图像,有的图像在本地区是首次发现。这批画像石的发现,为我们研究汉代这一时期的社会生活与汉代文化提供了新的实物资料。     

The Great East Window of Gloucester Cathedral and its Heraldic Glass

Although the coats of arms in the great east window of Gloucester Cathedral are often associated with Edward III’s 1346–47 military campaign in France, the window’s function as a commemorative monument has never been thoroughly studied. The aim of this paper is to provide a political and social contextualisation to the heraldry of the east window, while considering its symbolic meaning (and possible intention) in the framework of the window’s iconography and spatial setting. In regarding the heraldry as thematically connected to the window’s overall theme, and by examining the window in correlation to contemporary discourse on England’s military victories, this paper demonstrates how the window’s composition evokes the exalted social position of Edward III’s military companions after the victories in the first phase of the Hundred Years War. Additionally, this paper argues that the window coincides with Edward III’s kingly ideals by celebrating his rule and lineage as divinely blessed, while affirming his right to the French throne.     

西汉县级行政首长略论

西汉县令长及其在西汉行政系统中的特殊地位问题,在传世文献资料与尹湾汉简的材料中都有反映。如董仲舒言：“今之郡守、县令,民之师帅,所使承流而宣化也;故师帅不贤,则主德不宣,恩泽不流。”通过分析西汉基层行政,可进一步了解西汉县令长行政类别,行政权限以及县令长与地方王候的微妙关系。     

Land Reforms at Centre Stage: The Evidence on West Bengal

The debate on the agrarian problem in developing countries has alternated between a stress on the necessity for land reforms and an emphasis on the introduction of productivity-enhancing technology, leading to a trickle-down effect. In the Indian state of West Bengal, the former strategy has been pursued since the mid-1970s. Most observers agree that this approach has stimulated a ‘virtuous circle’, leading to higher production, a decrease in poverty and in polarization, and a perceptible improvement of the human development index. This article addresses the causality sequence, namely, whether land reform or irrigation has acted as the kick-start mechanism to these improvements. The irrigation figures are not impressive, either in comparison with the outlay in other Indian states, or in terms of crop coverage. The explanation for activation of a virtuous circle may therefore be found in land reform, at least if land reform is considered and implemented in its comprehensive meaning: intervention in the relations of production, the forces of production and the broad social and political parameters.