The thesis, which is based on a first-hand examination of six contemporary cases of religious stigmatisation, offers a new approach to the study of stigmata in the Christian tradition. Stigmata are the wounds of Christ's passion, which, in this context, are those displayed in physical form on the human body to which a spiritual, devotional or pietistic significance is attached and about which claims of preternatural origins are made. The thesis suggests that most previous studies of the subject have been (...) intrinsically restricted in their approach by maintaining a false dichotomy: that religious stigmatisation must either be fraudulent or genuine, that is created in order to deceive, or, created by supernatural means for a divine purpose. This study finds that while claims were made of the modem stigmata that they were of divine and supernatural origin, no witness evidence was found to corroborate the suggestion that the marks had been produced in any other than a natural way. Yet neither was a common human or natural explanation identified. The marks were produced in various ways which differed from case to case. Their significance however depended not on their cause, but on their validation through the interaction of the stigmatics with the communities which sustained them. It was from this process of interaction that reports of the supernatural and the miraculous emerged. As the stigmatics came to be seen by witnesses and worshipping congregations as living allegories of Christ's passion, significant events, which incorporated elements of spiritual renewal, occurred. Stigmata of human origin appeared to be capable of deepening the faith of both the stigmatics and those who witnessed their marks; they led both groups into a greater awareness of the divine; and provided the opportunity for members of both groups to explore their own spirituality. (shrink)

The term autobiography did not exist in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. If, as I argue in the thesis, autobiography is itself a difficult genre to place, then texts which precede the moment of their formal classification as autobiographies would appear to pose an even greater problem of categorisation. At the same time, an exploration of texts which can be thought of as belonging to a pre-history of autobiography offers the possibility of excavating the problematic archaeology of autobiography itself. Central (...) to my analysis of the life texts examined in the thesis is the very problem of classification: how to class or situate oneself, and, more broadly, how to make sense of a variable social existence. The Autobiography of Thomas Whythorne, The Memoirs of Robert Carey, The Life of Sir Thomas Bodley, the Loose Fantasies of Sir Kenelm Digby, each, in different ways, negotiates this problem. The absence of genre demarcations and the heterogeneous movement of the lives and writings of the individuals whose texts I explore, is mirrored in the mosaic organisation of the thesis itself. I do not restrict myself, for example, to an analysis of texts which more or less correspond to later notions or formal definitions of autobiography. Thus, together with the analyses of the disparate social and textual materials which are later classified as autobiographies, are discussions of news books, news diaries, commonplace books, and the romance autobiography and scientific treatises of Kenelm Digby. Although I trace developments towards career specialisation, and relate these developments to the emergence of a new information system, and to the conception of lives and life histories as reliable, documentary objects, the thesis does not itself attempt to offer a systematic record, or unifed developmental master-narrative of the period. The key thematic strand running through the thesis of a variable self's orientation to a variable social world is resistant to the idea that subjectivity and self-consciousness emerge as lucid or uniform categories. (shrink)

Abd al-Qadir al-Jilani, a Muslim scholar who lived in Baghdad during the eleventh and twelfth centuries was active in da'wah during his lifetime. Baghdad at the time was the capital of the Abbasid caliphate and the centre of the Muslim world. This thesis is an attempt to analyse al-Jilani's contributions to the methodological studies of Islamic da'wah. He is commonly known as a great sufi and the founder of the Qadiri Order. However, in this study I would like to highlight (...) other dimensions of al-Jilani's expertise, namely those in the field of Islamic da'wah. Al-Jilani's methodology in; da'wah can be taken largely from his books al-Fath a1-Rabbani and al-Ghunyah. After examining the contents of these books, besides V other sources which ware written by historians and biographers, his methodology in"da'wah can be summarised as follows: da'wah by goodly counsel, education, fatawa (legal decisions or interpretations), exemplary conduct. and providing services and aids.; In his capacity as principal of his school in Baghdad, al-Jilani was responsible for the spread of Islam among the people. His preaching instilled "faith in dead hearts" whilst simultaneously initiated productivity and energy in the people. As a sufi al-Jilani introduced a method of spiritual education for his disciples and made regulations for them to follow and practise in his book, al-Ghunyah. Al-Jilani frequently delivered fatawa and he often gave religious opinions as guidance, in addition to being a prolific writer. Al-Jilani was therefore, an outstanding figure in the field of da'wah in his time. His powerful personality and broad knowledge coupled with his spiritual strength helped him to spread Islam worldwide. The combination of sufism and shari'ah in his works showed his general spirit of reform in the Held of da'wah. The connections between sufism, reform and da'wah are thus examined and discussed for their importance in Islam. (shrink)

A prosopographical study, this thesis traces the emergence of religious factions among the governors of the city of Norwich in the decades preceding the English Civil War. Although a celebrated puritan citadel, as established in Elizabeth I's reign, Norwich contained groups dissatisfied with the dominant forms of godly piety. Coinciding with Bishop Samuel Harsnett's efforts to subvert the city's native puritan tradition in the 1620s, prominent lay citizens became attached to a variety of 'avant garde conformity', which matured into a (...) fully-fledged `Laudianism' during the episcopate of Bishop Matthew Wren. The impact of Laudian reform provoked a godly backlash, which rebounded on Wren's lay and clerical supporters during the Long Parliament. However, by examining lay worshippers aligned with the religious ideals of the Caroline church, the following investigation seeks to address current historiographical issues relating to England's unresolved 'Long Reformation' and the complex nature of religious conformity under the first two Stuarts. Finally, a case will be made for Laudianism as a potent force in borough politics during Charles I's Personal Rule. By converting specific laymen to their vision of the church, Caroline divines contributed towards the formation of a Royalist contingency in Norwich, of relevance to the taking of sides in England's localised 'wars of religion' in the 1640s. (shrink)

This study takes as its subject the sacred element in neo-classical gardens of the 18th and late 20th centuries. This element may be represented in the classical idiom, or translated into the terms of the Christian religion as practised in England. The study argues that sacred ideas are an important motivating force in garden design, and moreover have a prominent socio-political content. It demonstrates this force at work by focussing first on the devotional aspects of Alexander Pope's garden, which, it (...) is argued, displays an ecclesiastical ichnography informed by Roman Catholic values. In the middle of the 18th century, by contrast, political and cultural hostility to Roman Catholicism finds expression in the design of the landscape garden. During the second half of the century the constitutionally assured supremacy of the Church of England is also reflected in landscape garden design. Duncombe Park with Rievaulx Terrace, and Sledmere House, provide examples of these changes. Sacred neo-classical gardening emerges from 19th century eclipse to find its fullest contemporary expression in the work of Ian Hamilton Finlay, whose garden in Scotland is tested here for consistency to the 18th century tradition he often invokes. His work also provides the material for a modern definition of the sacred idea. While it is still connected to political ideas, the sacred is now divorced from involvement with the Christian Churches and allied to imaginative and poetic effects of gardens and landscape. Throughout the study evidence from literature, painting and architectural history is brought to bear on the subject, and it is argued that the connection between signs of the sacred in the garden and actual sacred practices in society is essentially a rhetorical one. (shrink)

The purpose of this thesis is the presentation of the interaction between the successive inhabitants of Pontus in antiquity, indigenous Anatolians, Greeks, Persians and Romans. Limited archaeological evidence cannot determine the precise extent of interaction, although the available information substantiates the notion of a slow, but steady amalgamation. Initially, the intermingling was based on mutual trading links. Although the Hellenic cultural element tended to surface, Eastern factors remained visible. The Mithridatic dynasty was established around the vicinity of Pontus, creating the (...) 'Kingdom of Pontus' which reached its height under Mithridates VI. His administrative and military policy appears to have placed the foundations for the later, Roman corresponding structures. His policies-propaganda reflected the GraecoEastern image of a king, which appealed to the Greek and Persian-Eastern inhabitants of his kingdom, Asia Minor and, to a lesser extent, mainland Greece. This GraecoEastern image might have nourished the concept of a shared history among the inhabitants of Pontus. Their interactions appear to have given rise to an unnamed, local culture, which was enriched with the relevant Roman practices. Around the third century A.D., the Roman administrative patterns might have established an externally defined appellation. During Roman times, Christianity started to be established in Pontus. Although it was not yet a socio-political factor, its non-racial nature prevailed in later centuries. The influence of the Roman-Christian elements can still be observed in the modern Ponti an identity. In antiquity, evidence indicates that no group defined themselves as 'Pontics' or 'Pontians' and an internally defined Pontic identity is unlikely to have existed. However, people associated themselves with the geographical area of Pont us, cultural and religious concepts were frequently amalgamated, while the notion of a common descent and a shared history might have been unconsciously fostered. These factors can assist in the understanding of the 'Pontians' today. (shrink)

This thesis examines the changed status of the instrument maker in the London-based scientific community of the nineteenth century, compared with the eighteenth century, and seeks to account for the difference. Chapter 1 establishes that the eighteenth-century maker could aspire to full membership of the scientific community. The following chapters show that this became impossible by the period 1820-1860. Among reasons suggested for the change are that the instrument maker's educational context to some extent precluded him from contributing to scientific (...) innovation, and also the changed market for his products in an industrial Britain required that he devote more time to his business, thus decreasing the time available to pursue new developments. However, the decline is attributed mainly to the tendency of the scientific community to refine its own criteria of membership, in an era in which its self-consciousness as a distinct group increased, and its members articulated claims to status in terms of their value to the State. This ideology and its consequences are analysed in a number of studies. Chapter 2 deals with the burgeoning of collective identity in the context of the Royal Society, while the next four chapters study individual members of the scientific elite - Wheatstone, Babbage, Airy and Faraday, and their relationships with instrument makers. The studies demonstrate that the philosopher recognised the artisan's work as important, but not as vital as his own, and not classifiable as scientific work. As an institutional manifestation of the motives of the leading philosophers, the B.A.A.S. is the focus of Chapter 7. The final case study centres on the maker's tactics of self-promotion in business terms, thus linking more fully the factors at work in ensuring the rise of the philosopher and the decline in status of the artisan in the scientific community. (shrink)

For more than a thousand years, Islam has been the hostile `other' of the West. Not only does the West feel threatened by Islam, but also many Muslims feel threatened by the West. The dialectical relationship between Islam and the West has gained a new impetus since the destruction of the twin towers of the World Trade Centre in Manhattan on September I Ith, 2001. A central issue in this dialectic is what is perceived and understood by `Islam' by both (...) Muslims themselves and by non-Muslims. Whilst conflict may suggest support for Samuel Huntington's `Clash of Civilisations' thesis, with Islam as the prime candidate for this clash, this thesis will aim to show that such a clash is a consequence of only one of many understandings of Islamic identity. Islam and the West, it will be argued, are not as incompatible in a civilisational or ideological context as history might suggest. Compatibility can be better appreciated by examining what are regarded by Muslims as key paradigms that make up Islamic identity: that of the Qur'an, Muhammad, Medina as the first `Islamic state', and the four `rightly-guided' (rashidun) caliphs. To be Muslim is to accept certain archetypes as central to belief. This is not what is in contention. However, what is a matter of contention is how one approaches these paradigms, particularly amongst such renowned Islamic revivalist scholars as Mawlana Mawdudi, Muhammad Iqbal, Sayyid Qutb, and Jamal alDin Afghani. This thesis argues that the approach has been dominated by what is termed the `Transhistorical': mythologizing the paradigms to the extent that they have become `idols' which its adherents are unwilling to question or even, if necessary, to shatter. The Muslim philosopher Mawlana Mawdudi will be represented as symbolising this Transhistorical approach. However, another approach can be usefully adopted, that of the Historical, that perceives the paradigms within the context of time and place, thus allowing for flexibility of constant renewal and reassessment. The German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche can be helpfully employed in examining the Historical approach. Whilst Nietzsche rarely spoke specifically about Islam, his admiration for it as a religion is in sharp contrast to his criticism of Christianity. Whilst Nietzsche was addressing an audience of a different culture and age, this thesis aims to show that his philosophy can make an important contribution to the dialectical understanding between Islam and the West. `Returning' to Islam in what is perceived as its Golden Age is nothing original nor would be seen by Islamists as unorthodox. However, Nietzsche's own originality, creativity, and psychological, philological and historical insights allow for a fresh and enlightening approach to key Islamic paradigms that show that Islam and the West are quite capable of ideological and civilisational reconciliation. (shrink)

This book is open access under a CC BY license. The first of its kind, this 'Report' gives an overview of the humanities worldwide. Published as an Open Access title and based on an extensive literature review and enlightening interviews conducted with 90 humanities scholars across 40 countries, the book offers a first step in attempting to assess the state of the humanities globally. Its topics include the nature and value of the humanities, the challenge of globalisation, the opportunities offered (...) by the digital humanities, variations in funding patterns around the world, and the interaction between humanities and society. Despite the stereotypical view of humanists as scholars locked away in their ivory towers, the picture that emerges from this report is that they are deeply committed to the social value of their work and appreciate the long-term importance it has for addressing global challenges. The report will be of interest not only to researchers and students in the humanities themselves, but also to administrators and funders. (shrink)

This article is a discussion of the theoretical implications of the observation that the ethnographic encounter is pervaded by events that remain 'unsaid', that is, a long and diversified series of ethnographic occurrences that do not depend on discursive communication between the ethnographer and the people studied. The essay focuses on the long history of quantification in ethnographic practice by reference to Bourdieu's notion of strategy. Finally, by taking recourse to the work of Donald Davidson, the essay attempts to overcome (...) the sociocentric dispositions that continue to be buried within normal modes of anthropological practice. (shrink)