The first part of this thesis, which is closely connected to the second part and reliant on the concordance data therein, considers a selection of vocabulary data from heterodox texts associated with the range of positions often referred to as Wycliffite or Lollard. As the more flagrantly heretical statements, for example on dominion, translation, pilgrimage, or transubstantiation, have already received much scholarly attention, this study also seeks evidence of Lollardy in vocabulary that is less commonly associated with the heresy. This vocabulary, which forms the basis of the four chapters, is clearly linked to Wyclif, and reveals Lollardy both in the more and in the less vituperative texts. Following the Introduction, the concordance results frame the four supporting chapters, showing the extent to which less obvious topics such as Chapter 1's Contemporary Poverty, Chapter 2's Pious Practice, Chapter 3's Substantive Law, and Chapter 4's Anticlerical Style are Lollard concerns, whereas there is statistically less representation of the more notorious vocabulary. This apparently innocuous vocabulary often links back to Wyclif, reveals misconceptions about the heresy, and functions as alternative doorways into more notorious heretical positions. The second part of this thesis presents the first publication, in Lollard studies, of a concordance, designed to provide quantitative data both for the present study and to supplement further qualitative examination of Lollard discourse. This Select Concordance of 395 headwords is drawn from 432 of the vernacular texts generally treated as having Lollard affinities. All concordanced texts treat at least one, if not more, of the four chapter areas. As the Conclusion states, the Select Concordance encourages consideration of issues thought heretofore to be less than heretical and hints at what else these Lollard texts might impart about their heterodoxy and about their connections to John Wyclif.

'Best Intentions' is a study of the contacts between German pietists and Anglo-American evangelicals in Germany from the period immediately following the end of World War II in 1945 until after the first evangelistic meetings of Billy Graham in summer of 1954. This thesis takes into particular account the German perceptions of the Anglo-American efforts to bring about reform among German conservatives within the German church, German pietism and the free churches. It also attempts to carefully reconstruct the events as they occurred during the period in question. Current research in the German language on the developments in 19th century pietism has been dealt with in greater detail in providng an understanding of the German reactions. German archival sources containing information on the founding of the World Evangelical Fellowship (1946-1951) and the meetings of Billy Graham in Germany (1954) help in providing an understanding of the German reactions to Anglo-American influences during this period. The British and American evangelicals and German pietists who interacted in the year immediately following World War II shared many of the same historical antecedents and religious convictions. Their recent origins are to be found in the British Keswick movements. The study volunteer movements of the late 19th century gave rise to individuals and organizations whose destinies were inseparably linked following the collapse of Germany in 1945 and during the efforts of conservative evangelicals and pietists to find and establish the new raison d'^etréfor their respective movements in the light of the new developments in world evangelicalism, particularly the rise of the World Council of Churches. The traditional commitment of German pietism to the German <i>Volkskirche</i> and the antithetical goals and methods of the North American New Evangelicals would mean that in spite of a common heritage, the best intentions were to cause considerable confusion during a period of great historical importance for those concerned.

We add an appendix which contains a short biography of Laurence Tomson, together with an account of his works and a summary of the relationship between his New Testament and the AV. This is intended as an example of the English Puritans' attitude to Beza during the late sixteenth century.

Theodore Stoudite (759-826) was at the centre of a revival of patristic learning which equipped him to apply the weight of the Christian tradition to the Byzantine image controversy of the eighth and ninth centuries. In this recovery of the tradition Theodore discovered how the epistemological and ontological demands of both radical divine transcendence and divine active agency in the creative order are met in the incarnate Christ. He concluded that the liturgical expression of this developed theology requires the presence of the Christ- єikwv. The structure of this thesis reflects the single argument of the three-part ‘Avtρρητικοι κατα єικουομάxwv(c. 816). Antirr I and II describe the content of the 754 and 787 Councils, revealing the causes of the theological impasse which prevented the resolution of the controversy. In Antirr I and II Theodore also establishes the ground for his argument in Antirr III by distancing the eighth century Christ- єikwv from its function in former centuries as symbol, pure narrative painting and relic. Theodore defines its contemporary function as liturgical, devotional and doctrinal in character. Written in response to the 815 Council, Antirr III is Theodore's apology for this Christ- єikwv as a legitimate object of лροσκύvησs-. The argument is established within the parameters of the tradition as Theodore carefully defends the circumscribability of Christ in accordance with Chalcedonian Christology. My analysis of the Antirr, assisted by a reading of his letters, reveals that Theodore understands the Christ- єikwv as playing a key role both in the ascetic struggle to free the mind from λογισμοι (distracting thoughts), and in the practice of θєwρια(contemplation) within the Liturgy. The liturgical, doctrinal and devotional Christ- єikwv has become a revealed and formal means by which the worshipper receives a Dionysian άυαγwγη(spiritual uplifting) to the divine presence.

My thesis offers an edition and study of a collection of sermons attributed to the theologian and bishop Robert Grosseteste (c. 1168-1253), preserved in a single manuscript, Durham Dean and Chapter Library MS A. III. 12. The starting point for my study is MS A. III. 12 itself. The first chapter summarises and evaluates the physical evidence of the codex and what can be determined of its history and provenance. Chapter II considers the material on fols 78-87 and 104-127 as a collection. Noting that many of the texts are not in fact sermons but short theological notes or sets of biblical or patristic sententiae, I analyse the material according to its form and function and demonstrate its utility for preaching. I also explore the relationship between this particular collection and Grosseteste's Psalms commentary and Dicta collection since the three works have a number of texts in common. I highlight two sermons in particular which appear to be in reportatio form and compare them with more developed versions of the same material found in Grosseteste's Dicta collection; the differences between the reportationes and the Dicta offer an insight into Grosseteste as preacher and Grosseteste as teacher, adapting his material for a wider audience. Chapter III focuses specifically on the twenty-four sermons in the collection, analysing their structure and content. I consider the way in which the various elements of the thematic sermon and particular types of argumentation are deployed, before surveying their pastoral message and their approach towards their udience(s). The final chapter considers the authorship of the collection by reading the texts in the light of what is known of Grosseteste's theological and homiletical method. Many of the texts are securely attributed to him because of their presence in his authoritative Dicta collection and this study concludes that these particular folios, and the manuscript as a whole, demonstrate a clear intention to compile a collection of authoritative and useful preaching material associated with Grosseteste. The study is accompanied by an edition of the twenty-four sermons from this collection.

This thesis seeks to provide a grassroots study of the diocese of Middlesbrough (1779-1992), in order to contribute to the history of the English Catholic community since it emerged from the Penal Times. Secondly, it is an examination of the manifestation of revivalism and renewal in Catholic devotional practice. The geographical extent of the study covers an area of Yorkshire with a strong recusant history, and that period has been well-served in Catholic historiography. However, writing on the period following the easing of the Penal Laws on Catholics and into the nineteenth and twentieth centuries is remarkable for the paucity of references to the diocese and the area that it covers. Therefore this study sheds light upon a particular Catholic community that has been largely invisible to historians. Although the Catholic community itself might appear to be invisible, the devotional practice within it offers many insights, such as the extent to which the social culture influenced the practice of faith. Therefore it teases out and examines the changing nature of devotional practice, and compares it to aspects of Evangelical revivalism that provided the surrounding religious culture. It also examines the influences that came to bear upon the community itself, assessing their importance in the revival and renewal of faith of the people within it. By examining the history of Catholic devotional practice in this area of Yorkshire, it comes to the conclusion that revivalism and renewal are integral elements in Catholic devotion and as a result Catholics and Evangelicals have more in common with each other than their adherents have been ready to acknowledge.

In Scotland, the fact that the Scottish church was not reformed until quite late, at least in comparison to most of the rest of the Protestant churches on the continent, has meant that many historians and theologians have concentrated more on contemporary parallels of the 1550s and 1560, particularly Geneva, and tended to ignore other possible origins for the ideas of the Scottish Reformation. Certainly during the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, when Humanism finally ended the academic monopoly of the medieval Scholastics, Scots were familiar figures in the universities of France and western Germany. This would have allowed many Scottish students to experience the 'magisterial reformation' of the 1520s. This development of reform ideas by university magisters had its roots in the conciliar movement of the fifteenth century and in the radical nee-realist philosophy of Wyclif and Hus. In Scotland this can be traced as a tradition of progressivism which was passed down from one academic generation to the next. After the nee-realists who had been at Cologne during the 1440s, returned to Scotland in 1450, they helped to establish an academic atmosphere which encouraged continued study at Paris, Cologne and Louvain, and facilitated the introduction of Humanism by Bishop Elphinstone and Hector Boece towards the end of the fifteenth century. The reform ideas of these progressive academics were then adopted by John Adamson who was responsible for reforming the Dominican order in Scotland after 1511. Significantly, many young friars of this order appeared among the Scottish supporters of Luther a generation later. When Cologne and Paris Universities both condemned the Humanist Reformers during the 1520s, Scottish progressives were left with three broad options: acceptance of revived scholasticism at Paris, adoption of the radicalism of Zwingli in Zilrich, or support for the German reform of Luther. Few chose to make the long, unfamiliar trip to Switzerland, and many Scots took the first choice. Some however, chose to follow the trade routes to Denmark and the Baltic in order to reach the previously avoided nominalist centres of eastern Germany, particularly those Scots who had been influenced by the study of Greek which is associated with Erasmus. There they were exposed to the conciliatory personality and slightly more radical Lutheran teachings of Philip Melanchthon. These characteristics of the Greek lecturer at Wittenberg soon began to appear frequently in the lives of Scots who had contact with that university. Thus, the nonconfrontational yet progressive example of Melanchthon becomes a factor in the appearance of unity which emerged among reformers in Scotland in 1560. In this way, the long-established academic tradition of educated Scottish society can combine with the Baltic trade of the early sixteenth century to bring an example of moderate foreign reforms to the north-east of Scotland by the 1540s. Also, since most supporters of the reform movement in Scotland in 1560 had at least as great an association with Lutheran ideas as with the more recent developments of Calvinism, the study of the Scandinavian/Lutheran example helps to explain the origins of the regional diversity of ideas and practice in Reformation Scotland.

The practice of confessional subscription, or giving assent to a confession of faith through signing a formula of approbation, was the subject of debate among Presbyterian Churches in the early eighteenth century. While other studies have examined the local controversies, this thesis offers a comprehensive examination of the question of subscription and the connections between the debates among English Dissenters, in the Church of Scotland, the General Synod of Ulster, the Synod of Philadelphia and the Presbytery of Charleston. It identifies the common background and influences, especially in questions of ecclesiastical authority in the Church of England that preceded and greatly influenced the subscription controversy, which itself was essentially a debate over Church power. The discussions within the different Church bodies are reviewed with the connections between the bodies being highlighted. The debates began with the attempt to introduce subscription among English Dissenters leading to the Salters’ Hall Debate of 1719. Although there was not an open challenge to the Westminster Confession of Faith in the Church of Scotland, the tradition of subscribing inherited from emigrants and the involvement of ministers in correspondence with other Churches influenced the developments elsewhere. Next the development of Irish Presbyterianism from both English and Scottish traditions is shown followed by a discussion of the actual controversy in the General Synod of Ulster. In a chapter on the Synod of Philadelphia an interpretation of the American Adopting Act (1729) within the context of the international debate is offered. The closing chapter covers the much overlooked Presbytery of Charleston with insights from sources that have not previously been studied for that Church’s history.

The stated purpose of the Society in Scotland for the Propagation of Christian Knowledge was the establishment of charity schools which were complementary to statutory parochial schools in the Highland parishes of Scotland. The parochial schools were demonstrably unsuited for these parishes due to terrain, weather, infrastructure, the nature of settlement, and their vulnerability to the Catholic mission. Historians and commentators have tended to see the society through a cultural and linguistic lens, imputing to it the weak condition in which Gaelic finds itself today. A ban on teaching Gaelic literacy, which was not lifted until the 1760s, has been considered part of an overall strategy to eliminate Gaelic in the hopes of greater civilization in the Highlands. This perspective overlooks a broader significance of the society, which, as a corporation, extended charity beyond the landed classes and nobility, to the rising professions and also common labourers and tenants, through its use of the parishes to collect donations. It was also a sustained effort at establishing a joint-stock company in the wake of the Bank of Scotland and the Company of Scotland, and instituted transparent business practices to foster a reputation for financial probity. The moral aspect of its mission required good and pious behaviour from its teachers, for them to serve as an example for the schools’ communities and to persuade, rather than coerce, children to attend. The society was also very much of its time, with a role in a completion of the Reformation which was a common theme in contemporary religious and social circles. This completion was structural, with the Church of Scotland trying to secure its presbyterian establishment throughout the country, but also moral, with the Societies for Reformation of Manners in England and Scotland, and the Society for Promotion of Christian Knowledge in England, building the legacy of the Reformation and the providential revolution through an encouragement of moral behaviour. These were private groups, however, and while the SPCK developed a channel for charitable activity for the rising professional and middle classes, the SSPCK worked to produce a national corporate effort to support reformation and education in the Highlands.

This thesis has investigated the geological origin of diamonds from the Ural Mountains. A set of inclusion-bearing diamonds from alluvial deposits in the western part of the Urals was characterised on the basis of their morphological features, nitrogen contents and nitrogen aggregation states, carbon and nitrogen stable isotopes, mineral inclusion geochemistry and radiometric isotopic ages of the inclusions. The vast majority of the studied diamonds are rounded dodecahedra, which indicates that the diamond population has experienced major resorption after crystallisation. The majority of the diamonds are affected by radiation damage and display evidence of transportation. Non-abraded diamonds exhibit similar surface features to those abraded, so they are probably of similar origin. The studied inclusion-bearing set of diamonds shares some characteristics with the overall, mostly inclusion-free, diamond population from the Ural Mountains. This similarity in physical characteristics strongly suggests that the Ural diamonds are all part of a single population. A Fourier Transform Infra-Red (FTIR) spectroscopy study allowed both the concentration of nitrogen and the aggregation states of this element to be quantified. Diamonds from other known primary deposits in the East European Craton (EEC) have FTIR signatures that do not match that of the studied population. Nitrogen thermometry results suggest that the Ural diamonds probably crystallised under similar pressure-temperature conditions. If a similar overall regime of formation for the Urals alluvial diamonds is considered, then a single primary diamond source or a spatial proximity between primary contributory sources seems likely. The variations in δ15N – δ13C measured in the Ural diamonds of the peridotitic and eclogitic paragenesis suggest derivation from a similar, initially homogenous, mantle carbon source which has been subjected to metasomatic-induced isotopic fractionation. However, for some δ15N-enriched – δ13C-depleted eclogitic diamonds, the possibility of crystallisation from subduction-related metasomatic fluids/melts cannot be excluded. Based on the chemical composition of syngenetic mineral inclusions recovered from the Ural diamonds, the eclogitic paragenesis (60%) dominates over the peridotitic (26%), with a minor websteritic assemblage also present (2%). The remaining 12% are diamonds with sulphide inclusions of unknown paragenesis. The chemistry of the mineral inclusions almost completely overlaps that of previous electron microprobe studies of inclusions in diamonds from worldwide localities. Geothermobarometric calculations show an overall agreement between the equilibration conditions of the three inclusion parageneses. The Ural diamonds crystallised at temperatures of 1050-1300°C, at minimum depths of about 165 km, within a diamondiferous lithosphere extending to at least 230 km at the time of diamond formation. The Re-Os isotope genesis age data for syngenetic sulphide inclusions and the 40Ar/39Ar laser probe eruption ages of syngenetic clinopyroxene inclusions were determined. Six eclogitic sulphide inclusions, two of which coexist in the same diamond, gave an isochron age of 1280 ± 310 Ma which may be associated with rift-related magmatism that affected the EEC at ca. 1.3 Ga. The determined genesis age is also similar to genesis ages reported for eclogitic diamonds from a number of mines in southern Africa, and this is probably indicative of a global diamond formation event at that time. Five eclogitic clinopyroxenes recovered from four diamonds yielded similar 40Ar/39Ar ages averaging 472 ± 28 Ma, which likely approximate the time of source kimberlite/lamproite eruption. This age indicates that the Ural diamonds are not derived either from the diamond-bearing kimberlites of the Siberian craton, nor from presently known Russian and Finnish kimberlite provinces on the EEC. An integrated model for the genesis, eruption and accumulation of the Ural diamonds in the context of the evolution of the EEC is proposed. The Urals placer deposits are mainly confined to 407-397 Ma sedimentary rocks along the western side of these mountains, with diamond size distribution indicating sediment transportation at that time generally from the north-west. The diamondiferous sedimentary accumulation in the Urals is envisaged as being analogous to that presently found along the Namaqualand / Namibian coastal belt in the western margin of southern Africa. During the construction of the Ural Mountains, the diamondiferous sediments became part of the western accretion zone when the EEC united with the Kazakhstan and Siberia plates during late Devonian through to late Triassic times. The evidence presented in this thesis suggests the existence of an undiscovered kimberlite/lamproite primary source, probably on the Volgo-Uralia crustal segment of the EEC, which gave rise to the Urals diamond deposits.