Throughout the course a long life in which he served as a cleric, a Cluniac monk, and an archbishop, Hugh of Amiens (c. 1085-1164) wrote a number of works including poems, biblical exegesis, anti-heretical polemics, and one of the early collections of systematic theology. This dissertation aims to provide an intellectual biography of Hugh which grants a better understanding not only of his motivations and ideals, but also some of those of the wider clerical and monastic world of the twelfth century. It examines each of Hugh's theological and literary compositions with their manuscript distribution, chronology, and contemporary setting, giving an in-depth exegesis of the texts including their concerns, sources of material, and their meaning within the context of their day. So too does it compare him with contemporaries who were writing similar works, from the compilers of sentences to biblical versifiers. Many themes surface in this work. One of these is the influence that both the scholastic and the monastic worlds had on Hugh. His writings show that he, along with many of his contemporaries, was secure in drawing inspiration from the contemplative spirit of the cloister as well as the methodical and disputatious endeavours of the schools. Another key theme is the extensive influence of St. Augustine, not just upon Hugh's thought, but also upon the thought of most of Hugh's contemporaries. The role of Hugh's works in the origin of systematic theology also emerges, as does their relation to events in the larger religious, social, and political scene, such as the rise of popular heresies and new religious movements, the condemnation of Gilbert de la Porree (c. 1076-1154), and the schism under Pope Alexander III (c. 1100-81). It concludes that Hugh was not only an intriguing individual, but also a representative of many of the important and widespread trends of his day.

Recent observations have suggested that the C III] lambda 1907/1909 emission lines could be alternative diagnostic lines for galaxies in the reionization epoch. We use the F128N narrowband filter on the Hubble Space Telescope's (HST) Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3) to search for C III] emission in a sample of five galaxies at z = 5.7 in the Subaru Deep Field and the Subaru/XMM-Newton Deep Field. Using the F128N narrowband imaging, together with the broadband imaging, we do not detect C III] emission for the five galaxies with JAB ranging from 24.10 to 27.00 in our sample. For the brightest galaxy J132416.13+274411.6 in our sample (z = 5.70, J(AB) = 24.10), which has a significantly higher signal to noise, we report a C III] flux of 3.34 +/- 1.81 x 10(-18) erg s(-1)cm(-2), which places a stringent 3 sigma upper limit of 5.43 x 10(-18) erg s(-1)cm(-2) on C III] flux and 6.57 angstrom on the C III] equivalent width. Using the stacked image, we put a 3 sigma upper limit on the mean C III] flux of 2.55 x 10(-18) erg s(-1) cm(-2) and a 3 sigma upper limit on the mean C III] equivalent width of 4.20 angstrom for this sample of galaxies at z = 5.70. Combined with strong C III] detection reported among high-z galaxies in the literature, our observations suggest that the equivalent widths of C III] from galaxies at z > 5.70 exhibit a wide range of distribution. Our strong limits on C III] emission could be used as a guide for future observations in the reionization epoch.

The medieval castle is one of the most popular topics in medieval historiography and interest in this structure has institutionalized it in modern medieval scholarship. Unfortunately, this does not mean that modern historians understand it. The problem lies in the narrow and isolationist definition used by many scholars who see it as simply a fortified private residence representing and defending power. This thesis will demonstrate that the castle’s contemporaries understood it as an identifiable and distinguishable structure and symbol with a singular yet multi-dimensional characteristics as a fortified, personal, and multifunctional resource. The twelfth-century Anglo-Norman realm has been chosen as a focus for this thesis because of the specific differences between the reigns of Henry I, Stephen, and Henry II. This period, particularly the nineteen years of Stephen’s reign, experienced significant castle warfare, which provides a great deal of material for this study. In chapters 1-3, each of the above characteristics and their corresponding details will be analysed individually. In chapter 4, three case studies will be presented to demonstrate how these independent characteristics were perceived of as acting simultaneously. Chapter 5 will compare perceptions of castles to other medieval buildings. Finally, chapter 6 will test the definition’s legitimacy by applying it beyond the twelfth-century Anglo-Norman realm. This dissertation will demonstrate that there was a contemporary understanding of the castle which encompassed its fortified nature, its personal possession, and its multifunctional resourcefulness. If we are to understand this phenomenon as its contemporaries did, then we need to alter our modern definition and expand our understanding in order to come to a truer and more complete appreciation of this essential resource in the Middle Ages.

In evaluating the Middle Ages on film, this thesis combines two different critical approaches, drawn from historiography on one side and semiotics on the other. In the first chapter, I argue that historiographic criticism has largely undermined our belief in a monolithic, objective History, and that modern historical enquiry contains a tacit admission of its own subjectivity. In Chapter Two, I use these admissions to argue the case for history on film, demonstrating that in terms of the construction of history, the processes of filmmaking closely resemble those of ‘doing’ history, and that criticisms of historical films are often the same criticisms which Historians raise in respect of their own works of ‘pure history’. In the remaining chapters (3-6), I look at specific examples of types of historical character, drawn from the medieval separation of society into “those who work, those who fight and those who pray”, as well as “those who rule”. In each case, I adopt a similar methodological approach, conducting close cinematographic analysis on a range of film extracts in order to see how filmmakers have tried to construct the past visually in their representation of historical characters. Here my arguments move away from historical criticism to focus instead on aesthetics and cinematography. The overall theory is that there exist two fundamental approaches to the medieval past in film: the first iconic and syntagmatic, the second paradigmatic. Iconic approaches, I argue, work to try to recreate the lost medieval referent by using aesthetic ‘signifiers’ in order to communicate their significance to a medieval audience. The paradigm, on the other hand, works in the opposite way; in order to explain a medieval object, the filmmaker casts about for modern equivalents to use as metaphors. Where the icon recreates the object to communicate the concept, the paradigm communicates the object by re-presenting the concept.

Within a few centuries after the collapse of the Roman Empire in the West, the descendants of Romans who had envisioned the world in terms of moral, civilized Romans and the savage barbarian ‘other’ had come to identify with those very barbarians. This thesis explores this shift from ‘Roman’ to ‘Gothic’ and ‘Frankish’ identities in sixth- and seventh-century Spain and Gaul through an examination of the ways ethnonyms were used in contemporary sources. Within the first section on Visigothic Spain, chapter one discusses the ‘Romans’ of the East—that is, the Byzantines—as portrayed by Isidore of Seville and John of Biclar. Chapter two covers ‘Romans’ of the West—the Hispano-Romans—who appear in John of Biclar’s Chronicle, a hagiographical Life, and civil and canon law. Chapter three discusses the use of ‘Goth’ as an ethnic descriptor, a religious identifier, and a political term. Chapter four begins the Gaul section with an examination of Gregory of Tours’ writings, showing that he wrote with a Roman mindset. Chapter five illustrates that Gregory’s contemporary, Venantius Fortunatus, selected ethnic labels like ‘Roman’ and ‘barbarian’ in his poems as rhetorical tools to allude and flatter. Chapter six shows how Fredegar, in the seventh century, employed ‘Frank’ as a political term more than his predecessors had, suggesting a change in mindset. Chapter seven confirms this change in hagiographical texts across the two centuries. Chapter eight examines the contemporary expectation that separate law codes should be written for each ethnic group and concludes that, while this encouraged ethnic diversity, it did not prevent individuals from identifying with the Franks politically. By distinguishing among different modes of identification these ethnonyms represented, we see that changes in political language facilitated changes in more traditionally ethnic language, and the shift from ‘Roman’ to other ethnic identities.

The Church always shown interest in the world of sick and those suffering. In its activities it was inspired by opinions and example of Jesus Christ. Help to those in need was considered as integral part of Churches mission. It responded to this challenge by organising help and care. Middle Ages were hard period afflicted by famine, epidemics or wars. Many due to these adverse conditions therefore found themselves in need of Churches care and cried for its help. The first part of the thesis was tasked with defining the term charity and focuses on the problematic of charity in period of early Christian Church. It briefly elaborates on Christian charity as a history of love, with Jesus Christ in its beginning as an impulse for apostles, first Christian communities, Christians living in age of persecution and later in times of free Church. The second part is dedicated to Middle Ages. It attempts to provide intellectual and social frame in which charity in this time found itself. In sub-chapters it determines the historical period of Middle Ages, characterises living conditions in that period with focus on social and economical aspects. Also a short excursion into Middle Age man's mind is taken. The last and the largest part of the thesis consists of description of charity work in the Middle Ages. It's...

Luminous high-redshift quasars can be used to probe of the intergalactic medium in the early universe because their UV light is absorbed by the neutral hydrogen along the line of sight. They help us to measure the neutral hydrogen fraction of the high-z universe, shedding light on the end of reionization epoch. In this paper, we present a discovery of a new quasar (PSO J006.1240+39.2219) at redshift z = 6.61 +/- 0.02 from Panoramic Survey Telescope & Rapid Response System 1.Including this quasar, there are nine quasars above z > 6.5 up to date. The estimated continuum brightness is M-1450 = -25.96 +/- 0.08. PSO J006.1240+39.2219 has a strong Ly alpha emission compared with typical low-redshift quasars, but the measured near-zone region size is R-NZ = 3.2 +/- 1.1 proper megaparsecs, which is consistent with other quasars at z similar to 6.

Osteoarthritis is one of the most common general diseases in modern society Sweden. It is also one of the most common diseases traced within archaeological human remains. The aetiology of osteoarthritis has been widely debated within the field of medicine and paleopathology. The initial claim that the degenerative disease is caused by activity and ageing has been questioned and factors such as environment, diet and genetic markers has been brought up and to some extent studied. Even though osteoarthritis being one of the most common diseases recognized among archaeological human remains, it has during recent years often been neglected within the field and referred to mostly in different palaeopathological atlases. By studying human remains from the medieval churchyard of St: Hans in Visby, Gotland, the notion of osteoarthritis as a general disease in the past is discussed in the following study. The concept of a medieval “general public” is examined by looking at social strata through grave placement on the studied graveyard.

Thesis advisor: David Gill / The idea that mankind's history is one of regress rather than of progress has been seen as central to the classical outlook on life. Bury and others have gone so far as to state that the idea of Progress in its modern sense could not have even occurred to the Greeks. This is perhaps too extreme, but it does reflect an important point: if regression over time was not the only idea for the Greeks, it was at least the dominant one. No story in classical literature reflects this idea more clearly than the Myth of the Ages. The earliest extant version of the story comes in Hesiod's Works and Days (c. 700 B.C.), after which it appears dozens of times throughout ancient literature. The myth in its standard form tells that the history of mankind takes the form of four ages, each represented by a metal: the first is a happy and virtuous Golden Age; the next is a less perfect Silver Age, followed by a warlike (and even worse) Bronze Age; and the last, the most impious and wretched of all, is the current Iron Age. The early Hesiodic version uses this framework merely as a means to show man that he has fallen from divine favor and is left with a life of hardship that he must deal with through honest work and reverence for the gods. As other authors pick up the myth, alluding to it in genres as diverse as philosophy, theology, humor, and panegyric, the story changes in several ways. Each author of course uses it for his own purposes and alters it accordingly. In addition the Myth of the Ages undergoes an overall change: after Hesiod authors such as Aratus, Ovid, Seneca, and Maximus use the myth as a means to pair material progress with moral regression. These authors do not merely tell a story; they present a model, a simple and pre-civilized way of living that they see as vastly superior to modern “advanced” society. These authors look at the results of technological progress and see only negatives; for them the ship and the sword have brought nothing but greed and violence. They present a simple and virtuous Golden Age that lacks the fruits of civilization and a wretched and bloodied Iron Age that is flooded by them. The implication is clear: mankind has fallen from a life of primeval bliss at its own hands as a direct result of technological and societal advances. This becomes the dominant message of the Myth of the Ages, so much so that by the time of the Romans the myth had become little more than a literary cliché for criticizing civilization. / Thesis (BA) — Boston College, 2004. / Submitted to: Boston College. College of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: Classical Studies. / Discipline: College Honors Program.

The two books presented by Walter of Milemete to Edward III in 1326-7 are treated together. Two campaigns of decoration are suggested for the Milemete Treatise: an original campaign c1326-7 and one largely executed by a single artist before Queen Isabella's fall from power c1330. Three campaigns of decoration are suggested for the companion volume the Holkham Secretum. An original campaign, perhaps earlier than that on the Milemete Treatise, but still c1326-7, a second campaign c1327-30 and later work added when the book was repaired c1340-50. The iconography of the Milemete Treatise is related to court models and the 'Flores Historiarum'. The iconography of the Holkham Secretum is seen as having been created in three campaigns related to the different artists who worked on the book. From an analysis of the documentary evidence concerning illuminators in England in the Middle Ages, a model is applied which suggests the existence of three major centres of illumination in England, Oxford, Cambridge and London, as well as minor regional towns which also supported illuminators. The localisation of liturgical manuscripts, the patronage evidence from both secular and liturgical manuscripts as well as iconographical and codicological comparisons, are all used to suggest that the first group of illuminators of the Holkham Secretum were based at oxford. The main group of the Milemete Treatise itself can be associated with these artists, but also with more metropolitan trends and London. The later work on the Holkham Secretum is associated with an 'Ely group' of manuscripts c1340-50, produced by artists who may have been based at Cambridge. 3 it is suggested that some artists may have been trained in one 'centre' or 'workshop', but could be itinerant. other artists appear to be more closely related to Court painting in London through their style and the iconography of their miniatures. At least two of the artists who worked on the Milemete Treatise and Holkham Secretum1 after the initial campaign, but before c1330, fall into the latter category.