Preaching in thirteenth-century hospitals

This article uses thirteenth-century hospital sermons as a window into the moral and religious environment of these charitable institutions, large numbers of which were founded during the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. What emerges from the reportationes of sermons preached in the hôtel-dieu of Paris and ad status sermons directed at hospitals' personnel and inmates by Jacques de Vitry, Humbert of Romans and Guibert de Tournai is a spirituality that stressed the penitential (and potentially salvific) power of doing works of mercy (in the case of hospital workers) and bodily suffering (in the case of hospital inmates). The particular social context of hospital preaching is also evident in preachers' anxieties about the quality of hospital administration. The sermons that were preached in thirteenth-century hospitals reflect the heightened value placed on caring for the sick and poor, a historical development more often associated with the later middle ages.     

Emblems and enigmas: Revisiting the ‘sword’ belt of Fernando de la Cerda

The belt of Fernando de la Cerda is on permanent display in the Museo de Telas Ricas, Burgos. Presently, scholars believe the belt dates from 1252–75, is of Hispano-Islamic work and was worn as a baldric. This article suggests that the belt is English, that it was commissioned by King Henry III and was worn around the waist. Henry gave the belt to the count of Champagne, Thibault II, during his first diplomatic visit to France. In turn, Thibault probably gave the belt to Fernando de la Cerda, the infante of Castile, in 1269, at Fernando's wedding. The belt's burial with the Castilian infante provides important evidence of the close familial and political relationships that linked the ruling dynasties of north-west Europe during the thirteenth century. Commissioned as a gift and richly decorated, the belt should be seen as an example of the aesthetic accomplishment of Henry III, his use of propaganda and political aspirations.     

自然与城市历史的缠绕 ——草海之城堪萨斯城的变迁

堪萨斯城崛起于密苏里河与堪萨斯河的交汇处,是一个依赖大平原的农牧业所建立的美国中西部都市。铁路助力资本打破了自然的种种限制,令大平原转化为堪萨斯城的腹地。虽然征服自然以实现城市经济的永续增长,一直是堪萨斯城,乃至整个资本主义制度与经济文化的野心,但是成为腹地并不意味着自然完全受到资本与技术力量的操纵,更不意味着自然的消失。作为一种自发的、独立的力量,自然以其丰饶奠定城市发展的基础,也以其极限挑战着城市发展的野心和规划。在堪萨斯城的故事中,1930年代的尘暴与1951年的洪水以灾难的形式迫使这个城市去适应新的生态现实。     

Emblems and enigmas: Revisiting the ‘sword’ belt of Fernando de la Cerda

The belt of Fernando de la Cerda is on permanent display in the Museo de Telas Ricas, Burgos. Presently, scholars believe the belt dates from 1252–75, is of Hispano-Islamic work and was worn as a baldric. This article suggests that the belt is English, that it was commissioned by King Henry III and was worn around the waist. Henry gave the belt to the count of Champagne, Thibault II, during his first diplomatic visit to France. In turn, Thibault probably gave the belt to Fernando de la Cerda, the infante of Castile, in 1269, at Fernando’s wedding. The belt’s burial with the Castilian infante provides important evidence of the close familial and political relationships that linked the ruling dynasties of north-west Europe during the thirteenth century. Commissioned as a gift and richly decorated, the belt should be seen as an example of the aesthetic accomplishment of Henry III, his use of propaganda and political aspirations.     

Plus difficile d'être élu dans une petite municipalité? Perceptions de la fonction élective par certains élus municipaux québécois

In Quebec, 75% of the province's elected municipal officials hold office in municipalities with fewer than 10,000 inhabitants. While we know that the demographic size of a municipality is likely to influence the career path and profile of elected officials and, more generally, the professional nature of elective office, to the best of our knowledge, little has been written about this relationship in Quebec municipalities with fewer than 10,000 inhabitants. This is surprising given the institutional, political, and financial context can vary greatly depending on the size of the municipality and is thus likely to influence the nature of the day-to-day elective office. Using a methodology based on semi-structured interviews with roughly 30 elected officials, our study highlights two specific characteristics. Some believe the nature of their elective office to be the same as that held by their counterparts in large municipalities, so they feel that they are not equipped with the same tools to meet the needs of their office. Some perceive the conditions under which they exercise their office are different, so they note the scope of their task is heavy, impacting their daily lives. These findings point to the need for further studies on the management of these smaller municipalities.     

Quelques repéres historiques sur la théorie des jeux

Résumé  L'article s'attache à dégager le fil rouge qui relie les réflexions de Wilhelm Gottfried Leibniz sur les jeux de société à la théorie des jeux, telle qu'on la trouve dans l'ouvrage de John Von Neumann et Oskar Morgenstern. L'itinéraire décrit passe par les travaux de plusieurs mathématiciens du XVIII^e siècle sur différents jeux de hasard, pour aboutir aux recherches de quelques-uns des fondateurs des mathématiques modernes, comme Ernst Zermelo pour la théorie des ensembles et émile Borel pour la théorie des probabilités. II montre comment une analyse mathématique des jeux de société a débouché sur l'élaboration d'une grille générale d'analyse des phénomènes sociaux. Son cheminement révèle, en outre, la longue parenthèse du XIX^e siècle où ce programme s'est trouvé abandonné et esquisse, en conclusion, quelques hypothèses pour l'expliquer. The paper strives to find the clue which links Leibniz' thoughts on parlour games to the mathematical theory of games in John Von Neumann and Oskar Morgenstern.Magna opera the way goes through the works of several XVIII^th century mathematicians on various games of chance to reach the research of some of the modern mathematics founders, as Ernst Zermelo for the sets theory and émile Borel for the theory of probabilities. The paper shows how a mathematical analysis of parlour games ends at a general framework to study the social phenomena. Its development also reveals how this research program has disappeared, all along the XIX^th century, and suggests, in conclusion, some tentative explanations of this development. Une version préliminaire de cet article a été publiée dans la revue de l'Association historique des élèves du lycée Henri IV,Jeu et histoire, n^o spéc.:L'émoi de l'histoire, 25–26, printempsautomne 2002, p. 94–115.     

Raw stone material supply for Upper Pleistocene settlements in Sierra de Atapuerca (Burgos,Spain): flint characterization using petrographic and geochemical techniques

Microscopy, mass spectrometry and X-ray diffraction methods were used to analyse 415 samples of natural and archaeological flint from Sierra de Atapuerca (Burgos, Spain) in order to define the different types from Neogene and Cretaceous formations in the study area, infer their genetic context and ascertain the supply sources used by hunter-gatherers who exploited this area in the Upper Pleistocene. A statistical classification model was also designed using linear discriminatory analysis and support vector machines which permitted the differentiation of the flint on an age basis.     

RECENT ENVIRONMENTAL CHANGE IN THE SOUTHWESTERN CANADIAN PLAINS

This paper examines 20th-century environmental change in the subhumid southwestern Canadian Plains, specifically in relation to the dominant agricultural landscape and to the climate of the past millennium as reconstructed from proxy data. Anthropogenic landscape change in the last century has been dominated by the conversion of grasslands to ranchland and cropland. This has heightened landscape vulnerability to climatic fluctuations, especially drought. Instrumental climate records, extending back to the 1880s, highlight the variability of precipitation in this region. Proxy environmental records, derived from lake cores and tree-ring analysis, extend this picture into the last millennium and show that drought has been a recurring theme of the Prairie climate. Tree-ring records suggest that some droughts in the last millennium may have exceeded in severity any in the instrumental record. The sustainability of Prairie agriculture depends on adaptation to the amplitudes of climatic change and variability evident in these proxy records. Dans cet article nous examinons les changements environnementaux qui sont survenus pendant le 20^ème siècle dans les plaines canadiennes sèches du sud-ouest, spécifiquement par rapport au paysage agricole dominant et au climat du dernier millénaire qui a été déterminéà partir de données de procuration. La transformation des prairies en ranchland et cropland est le changement du paysage le plus important dont l'homme est responsable, pour le dernier siècle. À cause de ce changement, le paysage est plus vulnérable aux fluctuations climatiques - à la sécheresse en particulier. Les enregistrements instrumentaux de climat, qui reculent jusqu'aux années 1880, mettent en évidence la variabilité des précipitations dans cette région. Les enregistrements environnementaux de procuration, dérivés d'échantillons pris dans les lacs et de la dendroanalyse, étendent cette image dans le dernier millénaire et prouvent que le thème de la sécheresse est apparu souvent dans les analyses du climat du prairie. Les enregistrements de boucles d'arbre suggèrent que, dans le dernier millénaire il y avait des sécheresses qui étaient peut-être si sévères que les instruments n'ont pas pu les enregistrer. Si l'agriculture veut survivre comme entreprise dans les prairies, il faudra qu'elle s'adapte aux amplitudes de changement et de variabilité du climat qui ont été constatées dans les données de procuration.     

北京紫禁城背景环境及其保护

伴随文化遗产诞生与发展的历史过程,其周围的历史人文和自然景观环境构成文化遗产的背景环境,应该加以妥善的保护。紫禁城的背景环境经过长时期的积累,明清北京城的整体格局是它的骨架,传统城市设计与建筑和前人对北京地区自然环境的开发成果构成它的美学和景观特色,众多文物古迹是其中的重点元素。北京城市性质发生革命突变以后,在城市规划上的缺陷造成紫禁城背景环境的改变与破坏。北京历史文化名城保护规划的确定和故宫缓冲区的建立,将净化和恢复紫禁城背景环境。