The present study deals with the encounter between the diocese of Luleå and the process of modernising. The main issue is individualism as a part of modern man’s identity. What kind of individualism was it, and how did it find expression in the diocese’s perspective on faith during the first half of the 20th century? A leading idea in the thesis is that the low church profile provided the diocese with a particular readiness to meet the demands of modern culture. The starting-point of the study is Philosopher Charles Taylor’s theory on the rise of modernity’s concept of freedom and perception of the self, which includes a justification of a positive side of modern individualism and a corresponding dismissal of a negative side. This attitude opens the door for the possibility of doing greater justice to the low church emphasis on the individual person. Taylor asks, from his moral-philosophical point of view, as well as the diocese of Luleå did, whether the Christian faith would have any future in modern culture. The low church view on faith becomes dynamic-extential as it dismisses a traditional metaphysical or theoretical explanation of God as a transcendent reality. Instead the subject is given vital importance. This apprehension reflects an influence from expressivism as a new form of consciousness, in protest against the science of the 17th that separated reason from both nature and feelings. This was inherent in the diocese via pietism. However, not an outspoken anthropology, the diocese nevertheless indicates that it considers man a linguistic and self-interpreting creature. This amounts to a more suitable view on the belief in modern culture, which no longer can rely on a commonly accepted belief in an inherent order of the world as an expression of God’s intentions and will. / digitalisering@umu

The northern Iberian Bishopric of Calahorra was re-founded in 1045 by Garcia 111 of Navarre. Between that date and the death of its eighth post-restoration bishop in 1190 all or part of its diocesan territory changed hands seven times between the Kingdoms of Navarre, Leon-Castile/Castile, and Aragon, as they competed over the riojan frontier- zone on which it was located. The position of the diocese on such a volatile secular frontier had consistently profound, but also steadily changing, effects on its political and institutional development. In the initial phase of Calahorra's restoration, its bishop was enormously empowered by his central role in the consolidation of Navarre's southern and western frontiers, but was held back from establishing a centralized diocesan administration by the insecurities inherent in the borderland condition of his see. Following a change of political regime in the Rioja in 1076, the bishopric suffered the severe consequences of its total identification with a defeated secular power when its embryonic diocesan structures were comprehensively dismantled and its bishops subjected to a dominant and hostile crown that effectively undermined their diocesan authority. The debilitation of royal authority in the Rioja and the region's political marginalization between 1109 and 1134 provided the context for the emergence of the see's independent political stance and its notably autonomous and rapid development of a strong cathedral. When Leonese-Castilian regional dominance was forcefully reasserted between 1134 and 1157, the Bishops of Calahorra were able to put the forceful currents of canonical reform that emanated from an increasingly comprehensive and emphatically territorial secular ecclesiastical hierarchy to use in combining their centrality to the north-eastern border politics of the Crown of Leon-Castile with the independent pursuit of a specifically diocesan agenda. When Castile ceased serving Calahorra's territorial interests towards the end of the twelfth century, the see used the political leverage it gained by its inclusion in the Aragonese Metropolitanate of Tarragona to distance itself from Castilian politics, thus revealing its maturity as a frontier power in its own right.

This thesis examines the identities and functions of late Anglo-Saxon royal agents (c. 950-1066), focusing on bishops and ealdormen. To establish who royal agents were, the thesis explores the family relationships among the leading men in the ecclesiastical and secular spheres, especially those linking men administering ealdordoms to the senior clergy. It also examines the offices of royal agents in late Anglo-Saxon England and argues that the duties of ecclesiastical and secular officials were not fundamentally different. While traceable kin networks appear among senior clerics and among high secular officials, few familial links connect the senior clergy to ealdormen. Thus, this thesis divides these kin-groups into those who gained secular offices, 'lay families', and those who sought power through the ecclesiastical positions, 'church families'. The analysis of the strategies adopted by 'lay families' and 'church families' to secure and maintain political power indicates how the aristocracy served both the king and their own ambitions in the governance of late Anglo-Saxon England. Although these royal agents came from different family groups, their obligations as royal agents appear remarkably similar with the exception of their military functions. This information provides a better understanding of the pool of men from whom English kings generally chose their officials, how rulers may have kept this group from becoming too small, and what was expected of these royal agents. The lack of (recorded) nepotism across episcopal and secular lines provides a more nuanced understanding of the aristocracy in Anglo-Saxon England. Furthermore, by offering an examination of both the identities and the functions of royal agents, this thesis provides a better understanding of the late Anglo-Saxon kingdom and its administration. In addition it creates a clearer picture of the aristocracy, the king, and the Church as well as the relationships between all three.

This thesis argues that the Feast of the Discovery of the Cross offered an occasion to refute religious opposition to the cross and crucifixion in the diverse socio-political contexts encountered by Syriac Christians between the fourth and the ninth centuries. At its inception, the Feast of the Cross promoted the cult of the True Cross, Old Testament typology, and the expansion of the Christian faith, and these features were sufficiently malleable to meet new religious challenges and political contexts. John of Dara's ninth-century homily On the Cross is a lengthy exposition on the veneration of the cross, and it showcases how the feast could be used for apologetic ends. The first chapter focuses on the relic of the True Cross and the theologies of the cross of Eusebius of Caesarea, Cyril of Jerusalem, and Ephrem the Syrian, which shaped later festal celebrations. The second chapter traces the development of the legend of Helena's Invention of the Cross and introduces the most popular Syriac invention legends, the Protonike and Judah Kyriakos legends. The third chapter analyses themes in pre-Arab Conquest Syriac homilies for the Feast of the Cross by Narsai, David Eskolaya, Jacob of Serugh, Severus of Antioch, and Pseudo-Chrysostom. The fourth chapter provides an overview of the dramatic changes of the seventh century during the reign of Heraclius and following the Arab Conquest. Chapter five compares inter-religious debate concerning the cross and crucifixion between Christians and Jews and between Christians and Muslims between the seventh and ninth centuries. Chapter six introduces John of Dara's homily for the Feast of the Cross, which uses the traditional themes, together with apologetic topics, to defend the veneration of the cross. Chapter seven explores the influence of John of Dara's homily on later Syrian Orthodox writers, Moshe bar Kepha and Dionysius bar Ṣalībī.

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The master thesis describes life of vicars capitular who lived in České Budějovice in the 20th century. It is specially aimed on Msgre Jan Cais and P. Josef Buchta. My thesis presents progress of St. Nicholas cathedral chapter house in České Budějovice. Readers can understand importance of chapter house at the time of validity Canonic Law Codex made in the year 1983. It shows how state intervened in the life of the Church. It also outlines circumstances of beginning this diocese. This diploma paper stands on archival documents as well as on testimonies of witnesses. It presents conclusions of prestigious historical works (historians) as well as less known sources.

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The Sermo antequam iret in exilium and the Sermo cum iret in exsilium are two homilies allegedly pronounced by John Chrysostom in Constantinople at the end of summer 403, some time between the verdict of the Synod of the Oak and the day he left the city for his first exile. The aim of the thesis is to demonstrate that a new critical edition of these texts is needed before any study of their literary and historical value can be conducted. Chapter one sketches the historical background to which the text of the homilies refers and a concise survey about previous scholarship on the homilies on the first exile, from the time of Montfaucon’s edition until our days. The problem of the authenticity occupies the last part of the chapter. Chapter two investigates the history of the texts and takes into account both the direct and indirect traditions. It discusses the existence of double recensions hitherto unknown and provides the prefatory material for the new critical edition of recensio α of Sermo antequam iret in exilium and of the Sermo cum iret in exsilium. Chapter three comprises the Greek editions of the two homilies, as well as a provisional edition of the Latin version of the Sermo antequam iret in exilium. Chapter four is divided into two parts, each presenting a philological commentary on the text of the new editions. Systematic analysis of all the most important variant readings is offered. The final chapter summarizes the new findings and assesses the validity of previous criteria used for discerning the authenticity of the homilies on the exile.

This thesis reassesses the nature and importance of the Scottish Episcopal Church in Edinburgh and more widely. Based on a microstudy of one chapel community over a twenty-four year period, it addresses a series of questions of religion, identity, gender, culture and civic society in late Enlightenment Edinburgh, Scotland, and Britain, combining ecclesiastical, social and economic history. The study examines the congregation of Charlotte Episcopal Chapel, Rose Street, Edinburgh, from its foundation by English clergyman Daniel Sandford in 1794 to its move to the new Gothic chapel of St John's in 1818. Initially an independent chapel, Daniel Sandford's congregation joined the Scottish Episcopal Church in 1805 and the following year he was made Bishop of Edinburgh, although he contined to combine this role with that of rector to the chapel until his death in 1830. Methodologically, the thesis combines a detailed reassessment of Daniel Sandford's thought and ministry (Chapter Two) with a prosopographical study of 431 individuals connected with the congregation as officials or in the in the chapel registers (Chapter Three). Biography of the leader and prosopography of the community are brought to illuminate and enrich one another to understand the wealth and business networks of the congregation (Chapter Four) and their attitudes to politics, piety and gender (Chapter Five). The thesis argues that Daniel Sandford's Evangelical Episcopalianism was both original in Scotland, and one of the most successful in appealing to educated and influential members of Edinburgh society. The congregation, drawn largely from the newly-built West End of Edinburgh, were bourgeois and British in their composition. The core membership of privileged Scots, rooted in land and law, led, but were also challenged by and forced to adapt to a broad social spread who brought new wealth and influence into the West End through India and the consumer boom. The discussion opens up many avenues for further research including the connections between Scottish Episcopalianism and romanticism, the importance of India and social mobility within the consumer economy in the development of Edinburgh, and Scottish female intellectual culture and its engagement with religion and enlightenment. Understanding the role of enlightened, evangelical Episcopalianism, which is the contribution of this study, will form an important context for these enquiries.