Political Culture in the Holy Roman Empire

This article reviews six essay collections and one monographon late medieval and early modern political culture in the HolyRoman Empire. Following a general survey of historiographicaltrends and a discussion of the specific contributions of theworks under review (covering topics from international relations,state formation and the role of language to representative assembliesand the exercise of power in towns and villages), it attemptsa preliminary sketch of the basic parameters of pre-modern politics.Prominent insights include shifts in the balance between oral,ritual and written communication, the significance of informalbonds and the negotiated quality of developments at all levelsof government. The conclusion assesses the potential of the‘new’ political history and calls for renewed effortsto link discourses, representations and perceptions to the norms,structures and socio-economic conditions with which they interacted.     

Aristocratic families and social stability in eleventh-century Provence

For many aristocratic families in southern France and Catalonia, the eleventh century was a period marked by a series of challenges to their estates, and therefore to their economic and social well-being. Studies on this subject have shown that these families responded by turning inward, relying upon the strengths and sacrifices of each of its members, and by adopting an aggressively defensive posture towards the rest of society. While this tightening of links among family members often resulted in conflicts with other groups and individuals in society, it had other less obvious results — it gave individual relatives the authority to speak for, and assume responsibility for, the actions of one another. If this new family unity was often disruptive to society, in other ways it had an important stabilizing influence in society.     

Roman soil and Roman sound in Irish hagiography

ABSTRACT

Irish hagiography displays considerable interest in communication between Ireland and Rome, particularly as this featured saints, popes and relics. While people and objects travel between the two places, there is also concern to circumvent the distance involved. This article discusses an episode of miraculous communication in the Irish Life of St Colmán Élo. Here messages and messengers travel from Rome, but time and space are also telescoped through aural and material means: the sound of the bell marking the death of Pope Gregory the Great and a gift from him of Roman soil to be spread on Colmán Élo’s cemetery. The article considers how the two elements function within their hagiographical context to connect Rome and Ireland, and how these places shaped the account. The roles of bell and soil both draw on their associations in Ireland and relate to papal communication as this was experienced and imagined more widely.     

文化与综合国力

综合国力的提高有赖于教育、科学、文化的发展。而文化作为综合国力的组成部分以及体现综合国力的重要标志,它对社会的经济、政治起着巨大的推动作用。只有大力推进有中国特色的社会主义文化建设,才能不断地解放和展生产力．才能不断地增强综合国力．以保证我国在二十一世纪激烈的国际竞争与较量中应有的国际地位。     

盂兰盆节与日本人的祖先信仰

盂兰盆节是日本最重要的节日之一,其一系列仪式是与已逝祖先相关的祭祖活动。因此,通过盂兰盆节可以了解日本人的祖先观念、灵魂信仰等。本文拟通过考察日本盂兰盆节的仪式,揭示日本人的祖先观念、灵魂观念等,并考察当今社会盂兰盆节所被赋予的新的内涵。另外,通过研究盂兰盆节可以了解日本传统节日的深层文化内涵以及日本人精神世界。