The historicity of Jordan Fantosme's chronicle

A reassessment of the literary and aesthetic value of his Chronicle, undertaken in the course of preparing a new edition of that work, shows Jordan Fantosme to be vastly different from the feeble versifier, unable even to dispense accurately the twelve syllables of an Alexandrine line, he has sometimes been taken for. He is a highly competent and innovating prosodist and a talented story-teller quite capable of inventing or manipulating episodes for stylistic reasons, as is shown by reference to three of the vivid historical vignettes for which the Chronicle is frequently and somewhat misleadingly praised. It is suggested that historians should show caution before accepting as factually true incidents detailed by Jordan Fantosme which are not supported from other sources.     

The Protestant working class in Belfast: education and civic erosion – an alternative analysis

This paper explores and reassesses the issues of social decline, educational underachievement and civic erosion in relation to the Protestant working class in Belfast. Prior to the ‘Troubles’ the Protestant working class in Belfast had at its heart a civic-mindedness which was in tune with working-class communities across the UK at the time. This civic-mindedness encouraged the growth of extended communities and placed an importance on church attendance and educational achievement; something which has been conveniently ignored in most analyses. Owing to population movements in Greater Belfast which followed the violence that followed the introduction of internment without trial in August 1971 Protestant church congregations dwindled and school attendances dropped significantly. The paper ultimately seeks to provide a ‘long view’ of the Protestant working-class experience in order to assist those who are concerned with the problems facing it in the current era.     

Some manuscript maps recently acquired by the departement des Cartes et plans of the bibliotheque nationale,Paris

Abstract

This paper examines the significance of a rediscovered medieval map (Public Record Office, MPCC 7) of part of the Fenlands of eastern England, previously dated to the mid‐sixteenth century but now recognized as mid‐fifteenth century. The map portrays realistically two important monastic churches, Sempringham Priory and Spalding Priory, which did not survive the Reformation and for which no other contemporary representations are known to exist. Documentary evidence suggests that the map was made at Spalding Priory to record rights to pasture animals in Pinchbeck Fen, and that it passed to the Duchy of Lancaster at the dissolution of the monasteries.     

Seamen on Land? A Preliminary Analysis of Medieval Ship Graffiti on Cyprus

This article reports on the results of a research project entitled ‘KARAVOI. The Ship Graffiti on the Medieval Monuments of Cyprus: Mapping, Documentation and Digitisation’, during which 233 ship graffiti were recorded in 44 different monuments on the island, dating from the 15th to the 20th centuries. Innovative recording techniques have been used to mitigate the effects of the subjective or partial recording of graffiti lines on tracing paper. Apart from the study of ship graffiti as iconographic sources, particular emphasis has been given to their geographical and social context through a comprehensive analysis of the graffiti types and their spatial distribution in the monuments as well as the monuments location on the island.     

The Influence of Indoor Climate Control on Risk for Damages in Naturally Ventilated Historic Churches in Cold Climate

This article analyzes the indoor climate that creates risk of damages in naturally ventilated churches in the cold climate of Estonia. Indoor temperature and humidity were measured over a one-year period and the results were analyzed on the basis of damage functions: mold growth, risk of cracking and fracturing of wooden objects, and delamination of the gesso layer of panel paintings.

In unheated churches, one of the most dominant problems was very high relative humidity throughout the year, creating a high risk for mold and algae growth. Churches may need background heating to avoid freezing during a long cold winter that causes low surface temperatures of massive walls during the spring–summer period. It was found that mold risk was significantly lower in heated churches than in unheated or intermittently heated churches. The risk of mold growth was not decreased by the use of intermittent heating.

In heated churches, overheating (room temperature >+10ºC) causes a RH below 50% during cold periods, and the favorable period for irreversible response of panel paintings was significantly longer, so there is a higher risk that the gesso may crack or delaminate. From the point of view of the cracking and fracturing of wood, indoor climate conditions are in the safe range for most of the year.     

Heroic History and Chiefly Chapels in 19th Century Tahiti

ABSTRACT This article seeks to understand mass conversion to Christianity in early 19th century Tahiti as the re‐materialisation of a heroic social field. Beginning with a re‐consideration of Sahlins' notion of ‘heroic history’, I argue that heroic Tahitian history was a distinctive combination of chiefly and collective action. The cultural structure of this history was reflected in three architectural moments: the building of a chapel for the high chief, Pomare, at Mo'orea, the generalised replication of this act through the construction, within a very short period, of some 70 chapels at Tahiti, and the building of a monumental chapel for Pomare at Tahiti. This article is a ‘prequel’ to an earlier publication on mass conversion to Christianity and church construction in Rarotonga.     

Unsettling “Inner City”: Liberal Protestantism and the Postwar Origins of a Keyword in Urban Studies

The term inner city first achieved consistent usage through the writings of liberal Protestants in the USA after World War II. Its genesis was the product of an era when a largely suburban mainline Protestantism was negotiating its relationship to American cities. Liberal Protestants’ missionary brand of urban renewal refocused attention away from the blight and structural obsolescence thought to be responsible for urban decay, and instead brought into focus the cultural pathologies they mapped onto black neighbourhoods. The term inner city arose in this context, providing a rhetorical and ideological tool for articulating the role of the church in the nationwide project of urban renewal. I argue that even as it arose in contexts aiming to entice mainline Protestantism back into the cities it had fled, the term accrued its meaning by generating symbolic and geographic distance between white liberal churches and the black communities they sought to help.     

Scab Ministers,Striking Saints: Christianity and Class Conflict in 1894 Chicago

Throughout 1894, Chicago's churches were as divided by class as the nation itself. During the Pullman strike and boycott, the city's leading Protestant and Catholic authorities hewed to an ideology of contract freedom that precluded support for the American Railway Union. Meanwhile, a handful of young Protestant ministers championed the strikers, echoing the criticisms of those working-class Protestants who had long decried the established churches’ ties to capital. This latter bloc expressed its frustration not merely with words but also through uprisings within local churches and even by founding a church of its own. In light of these findings, the author argues that a grassroots social Christianity preceded an elite Social Gospel; and furthermore, that the participation of working-class persons in the contests over the shape of modern Christianity demands a rethinking of the boundaries of both religious and working-class history.     

Analysis of the collapse mechanisms of medieval churches struck by the 2016 Umbrian earthquake

The 2016 Umbrian earthquake caused the collapse of several medieval churches, while it was noted that ordinary buildings only reported moderate or little damage. Researchers and technicians are looking to these religious constructions with the aim of understanding their structural behavior under seismic action. Depending on the direction of the seismic action, the typical collapse mode was the overturning of the side walls or of the church façade. This often produced the collapse of the roof structure. In many situations, the overturning was facilitated by a weak connection between the load-bearing walls. In this article, the collapse modes of three mediaeval churches are investigated. The article goes into some detail about what considerations are relevant when analyzing a historic masonry construction. The churches object of this study are located in Campi, a hamlet of Norcia, Italy. Between 2000 and 2004, a research team from the Technical University of Milan in collaboration with the Italian Ministry of Culture carried out an extensive investigation on the historic buildings of Campi, providing interesting data about the maintenance level and a summary of the structural state of the churches. These data were used in this article for a critical analysis of the causes of collapse, performed in combination with numerical simulations of the global behavior and local instability.     

Struggling with ‘this gender relations thing’ in the Papua New Guinea Church Partnership Program

Gender equality and women's empowerment has become a cornerstone for successful development. Religious teachings and practices, like ‘traditional culture’, are often viewed as contributing to gender inequality and oppression. The increased engagement by donor agencies with religious organisations prompts questions about how religion, gender and development intersect in particular places, and the implications this intersection has for the transnational ‘gender agenda’ of development agencies. This article focuses on the dialogue about gender in the Papua New Guinea Church Partnership Program. Analysing the struggles taking place, it argues that the processes that shaped local Christianities are also at work in the churches' translations of the ‘gender agenda’. These churches are gradually emerging as agents for gender justice as they develop their own approaches to gender work that support the churches' mission to ‘live the Gospel’ in their practice of holistic integral human development. However, to progress further, in recognising the necessity for men to lead the struggle for gender justice, the dialogue must focus on the personal transformation of men in relation to their understanding of masculinities and gendered power dynamics. From this foundation, structural and political change can be advanced.