Charles of Anjou,Pope Gregory X and the crown of Jerusalem

This article seeks to dispel the popular myth that Pope Gregory X (1271–6) wanted to change the government of the kingdom of Jerusalem by putting Charles of Anjou on its throne through the purchase of the claim of Maria of Antioch. A study of the Angevin chancery records – little used by crusade historians – demonstrates that Charles had an interest and influence in the kingdom before Gregory became pope. An examination of Gregory's papal registers shows that he consistently treated Hugh of Lusignan as king of Jerusalem and that the pope had no desire for anything to disrupt the peace in Christendom that he deemed necessary for his crusade.     

Biopower, genetics and livestock breeding: (re)constituting animal populations and heterogeneous biosocial collectivities

Genetic techniques have become increasingly prevalent in livestock breeding, associated with new types of knowledge-practice and changes in the institutional and geographical relationships related to animal husbandry. This paper examines the value of Foucault's concept of 'biopower' to theorising livestock breeding and the implications of the rise of genetic knowledge-practices in agriculture, developing the concept to apply to nonhuman animals and to situations where humans and nonhuman animals are co-constituted through particular knowledge-practices and corporeal meetings. It focuses on the idea of 'population' as a central component of biopower, and relates this to conceptualisations of biosocial collectivity. Reacting to the inherent humanism of Foucault's outlining of biopower, the paper argues for its relevance in relation to nonhuman populations, and for heterogeneous conceptualisations of biosocial collectivity. Drawing on research with UK beef cattle and sheep breed societies, the paper explores how, in practice, populations are constructed in relation to the production of particular sorts of truths concerning, and particular modes of intervention in, the lives of nonhuman animals. It explores how heterogeneous biosocial collectivities are constituted around these interventions. The emergence of genetic techniques is shown to transform the processes constituting populations and heterogeneous biosocial collectivities, and this is discussed in terms of a new inflection of agricultural biopower associated with novel interventions in the lives of livestock animals.     

A kingdom without a capital? Itineration and spaces of royal power in Castile,c.1252–1350

In the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, Castilian kings were constantly in motion, travelling through their kingdom, an activity which has traditionally been linked with the absence of a single capital in Castile. This paper re-examines the role played by royal itineration in this period and the reasons which inhibited the consolidation of an undisputed capital in the kingdom. In doing so, the changing importance and functions of the main cities of the realm, Toledo, Seville, Burgos and Valladolid – the spaces of royal power – will also be discussed. The main factor which precluded the rise of a single capital was the kingdom's specific territorial configuration, not bureaucratic under-development. The Reconquista led to the creation of a ‘composite kingdom’, in which kingship was exercised differently in some regions compared to others.     

西汉铜座漆耳杯及相关问题的讨论

南京博物院院藏的一件汉代铜座漆耳杯，风格与蜀汉产品极其相近，由此可见当时各地的文化交流和商品流通之一斑。     

Between two kings: Pope Honorius III and the seizure of the kingdom of Jerusalem by Frederick II in 1225

The consensus on Pope Honorius III (1216–27) is that he was a conciliatory politician who lacked the harder edge possessed by Innocent III, his immediate predecessor, and Gregory IX, his successor. Yet, using overlooked evidence regarding the role of Honorius in Frederick II's seizure of the kingdom of Jerusalem from John of Brienne in 1225, this article reveals that he was capable of acting in a ruthlessly pragmatic manner. It provides a rare case study of the duplicitous uses that could be made of the papal chancery by an early thirteenth-century pope while navigating a difficult diplomatic path between two kings.     

Raising Practices of Neolithic Livestock Evidenced by Stable Isotope Analysis in the Wei River Valley,North China

Although a patchwork of projects shows a process of agriculture intensification in North China during the Neolithic, the impact of cereal farming on animal husbandry and their mutual interaction remain cloudy. This study reports bone collagen δ¹³C and δ¹⁵N of humans and animals from Wayaogou (ca 6.5–6.0 kyrs bp ) and Dongying (ca 5.9–5.6 kyrs bp , 4.6–4.0 kyrs bp ) to explore temporal trend of livestock raising and particularly the importance of millet fodder to stock raising practices in the Wei River valley, North China. The isotopic evidence overall shows that millet products increased in human and domestic animal diets during the mentioned chronological span. δ¹³C values of pigs and dogs at Dongying are higher than those at Wayaogou, implying that the importance of millet nutrients increased to animal husbandry diachronically. Interestingly, δ¹³C results of domestic cattle of Dongying late phase (−14.1 ± 1.1‰, N = 5) are more enriched than Wayaogou wild Bos (−17.8 ± 0.3‰, N = 3), indicating that millet fodder had taken a significant place in early cattle husbandry. Besides, differences between Bos species of the two periods also imply that δ¹³C values of bone collagen constitute a potential indicator for tracing the origin of cattle husbandry in North China. In addition, domestic sheep at Dongying produced similar isotope data to wild ovicaprid at Wayaogou, suggesting that they possibly had grazed for the most in grassland and therefore experienced a different lifestyle from cattle. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

From ‘ovoid jars’ to ‘torpedo jars’: Investigations into bitumen-lined transport containers in the Gulf and the Indian Ocean in antiquity (second century BCE–third century CE)

Research into bitumen-lined ‘torpedo jars’, widely distributed throughout the Gulf and the Indian Ocean between the third and ninth centuries CE, has developed considerably in recent years, shedding new light on maritime trade connections during the Sasanian and early Islamic periods. Based on pottery finds from Failaka (Kuwait) and Thaj (Saudi Arabia), recently studied by the author, this article draws attention to an earlier type of bitumen-lined jar characterised by an ovoid profile and a greenish fabric, including vegetal temper. These ovoid jars, presumably of Mesopotamian origin, are commonly found on ‘Classical’/pre-Sasanian sites located along the Gulf’s shores, and their specific fabric has also been identified recently in Oman and southern India. They provide evidence for the existence of extensive Mesopotamian trade, probably in wine, with the Gulf region and more broadly with the Indian Ocean during the late Seleucid and Characenian periods.     

The Political Trinity of Conservative Laestadianism: God,His Kingdom and Authorities

This article aims at analyzing the concept of the authority in the theology of Conservative Laestadianism, the biggest revival movement inside Finnish Lutheran Church. Author argues that the concept of the authority has a form of a political trinity, where God, the Kingdom of God and secular authorities rule the world of the believer. Furthermore, Laestadianism is a particular and seemingly somewhat functional answer to the difficult challenge of combing a conservative religion and secular modernity.     

Precarial grants: approaches of the clergy and lay aristocracy to landholding and time

Throughout the middle ages, the possession and ownership of land was not only the primary source of wealth and power, but of disputes and violence as well. In this regard, one of the least obvious but nonetheless fundamental elements was the attitude that the two dominant groups in society — the clergy and the aristocracy — had about time. The different ways that these two classes regarded time helps to account both for their approach to acquiring land and, in the event of a dispute, whether it would be settled by compromise or violence.     

楚俑研究

楚俑的造型、纵然单纯,却已饱蕴着弥漫于六朝的"秀骨像"的情趣,她已孕育着的"以形写神"、"气韵生动"的美学风格,对中国造型艺术的进程,无疑起到了巨大的积极的推动作用。