Nous traitons ici de l’enseignement en Irak sous l'Empire Ottoman, aux XIXe et XXe siècles, dans un pays autrefois multi-ethnique et pluri-confessionnel. Pendant les Tanzimat, l'Irak bénéficia des réformes du gouverneur Midhat Pacha. Plusieurs écoles Chrétiennes, Juives et des différentes communautés existaient avant les missions religieuses occidentales (Carmes, Dominicains. Alliance Israélite Universelle). L'évolution des différents établissements et leurs liens éventuels sont décrits ici. À partir d'archives françaises et iraquiennes, un panorama précis de l'enseignement irakien s'établit après 1908. Nous mettons en évidence le rôle des écoles privées des missions françaises catholiques et juives qui ont diffusé la langue et la culture (laïcité) françaises en Irak (imprimerie, traductions, presse), avec l'appui de la diplomatie française au-delà du gouvernement de Vichy. Sept portraits d'intellectuels irakiens illustrent l'influence française en même temps que la réhabilitation de la langue arabe. Nous pensons contribuer ainsi à une meilleure connaissance de l'Irak au XIXe siècle et revivifier les échanges culturels entre notre pays et la France. / We are dealing here with education in Iraq under the Ottoman Empire, in the nineteenth and twentieth century's, in a once multi-ethnic and multi-confessional country. During the Tanzimat, Iraq benefited from the reforms of Governor Midhat Pasha. Several Christian, Jewish and different communities' schools existed before Western religious missions (Carmelites, Dominicans, Alliance Israelite Universally). The evolution of the different institutions and their possible links are described here. From French and Iraqi archives, a precise panorama of Iraqi education is established since 1908. We highlight the role of the private schools of the French Catholic and Jewish missions which disseminated French language and culture (secularism) in Iraq (printing, translations, press), with the support of French diplomacy till and after the government of Vichy.Seven portraits of Iraqi intellectuals illustrate the French influence as well as the rehabilitation of the Arabic language. We believe we contribute in this way to a better knowledge of Iraq in the nineteenth century and to revitalize the cultural exchanges between our country and France.

Madeleine duBois de Fontaines (1578-1637) was the first French prioress of the Teresian Carmelites in France. During a period of over thirty years as a Carmelite nun, Mere Madeleine de Saint-Joseph served as mistress of novices and was elected prioress for two tenns in the Carmel of the Incarnation, faubourg St. Jacques in Paris. She established and was elected prioress of a second Parisian Cannel nt the rue Chapon; and helped to establish and stabilise the Carmels in Lyon and Tours. Madeleine de Saint-Joseph's contribution to the development ofCannclitc life and French spirituality was a significant one due to many factors. Among these were: her leadership of the Carmelite community in Paris; her association with Pierre de Berulle; her influence on the members of the French aristocracy; and her deftness at spiritual direction. Within the corpus of her writings, there is significant evidence of what may be called theistic mystical experience. An analysis of the writings of Madeleine de Saint-Joseph also indicates mystical practice and doctrine that Mere Madeleine developed during the course of her lite. The present study introduces the study and presents a survey of relevant literature written by or about Madeleine de Saint-Joseph. Secondly, it explores the notions of mystical consciousness, knowledge, experience, offers a working definition of mysticism, relating these to Lonergan's cognition theory and work on religious experience, and to the feminist critique of philosophy of religion. Thirdly, the study contextualises the life and work of Madeleine du Bois de Fontaincs within sixteenth and seventeenth century french civil and ecclesiastical society. Fourthly, it determines by theological, phenomenological, and philosophical analysis that Mere Madeleine de Saint-Joseph is a true mystic; and finally, it presents the mystical doctrine and teachings of Madeleine de Saint-Joseph within a theological context. Thereby, it is hoped that this study recognises the valuable contribution to mystical literature of this relatively unknown and unreCQgnised woman. / Christian Spirituality, Church History and Missiology / D.Th. (Christian Spirituality)

This thesis aims to establish Jessica Powers (1905 – 1988) as a metaphysical poet, to augment the composite definition of metaphysical poetry, and to add two emphases to Christian literary theory. A comprehensive library search on Powers reveals that no scholarly work has been written on her poetry since 2005. A meta-analysis of existing work on Powers demonstrates that the metaphysical aspect of her poetry has not yet been comprehensively examined. Though Powers wrote in a time commonly called ‘post-modern’, my contention is that it would be more accurate to describe her as a metaphysical poet in the traditional sense of that term, as used, for example, of George Herbert (1593 – 1633). I endorse the view that the central theme of all metaphysical poetry is the relation between body and soul (Tanenbaum 2002: 211). It will be seen that this relation is the central concern of Powers’ metaphysical poetry. My close reading of Powers’ work as metaphysical is according to a Christian literary theory which agrees with Hass ‘that the study of the text and textual hermeneutics in the twenty-first century will continue because of a particular resurgence of religion’ (2007: 856). It is augmented by two emphases, a scientific (based on Gallagher’s 2009 study of the neurophysiology of attention), and a philosophical (based on Fromm’s 1976 analysis of the ‘being mode’, and on Buber’s 1947 analysis of attentiveness to the present moment). My study thereby contributes to Christian literary theory. There are one hundred and eighty two poems in The Selected Poetry of Jessica Powers. This thesis refers, to greater or lesser extents, to one hundred and seventy six of the poems, and comprehensive examination of their metaphysical aspect is the primary focus of the thesis. My examination of the poems demonstrates that Powers’ poetry can justly be described as metaphysical, which definition of her work serves to highlight an important and hitherto neglected aspect of her work, that she is a metaphysical poet of the finest calibre, and that renewed attention to her work is timely. / English Studies / D. Litt. et Phil. (English studies)

This study is an art history of Santa Maria dei Carmini, Venice, from its foundation in c. 1286 to the present day, with a special focus on the late Renaissance period (c. 1500-1560). It explores a relatively overlooked corner of Renaissance Venice and provides an opportunity to study the Carmelite Order's relationship to art. It seeks to answer outstanding questions of attribution, dating, patronage, architectural arrangements and locations of works of art in the church. Additionally it has attempted to have a diverse approach to problems of interpretation and has examined the visual imagery's relationship to the Carmelite liturgy, religious function and later interpretations of art works. Santa Maria dei Carmini was amongst the largest basilicas in Venice when it was completed and the Carmelites were a major international order with a strong literary tradition. Their church in Venice contained a wealth of art works produced by one of the most restlessly inventive generations in the Western European tradition. Chapter 1 outlines a history of the Carmelites, their hagiography and devotions, which inform much of the discussion in later chapters. The second Chapter discusses the early history of the Carmelite church in Venice, establishing when it was founded, and examining the decorative aspects before 1500. It demonstrates how the tramezzo and choir-stalls compartmentalised the nave and how these different spaces within the church were used. Chapter 3 studies two commissions for the decoration of the tramezzo, that span the central period of this thesis, c. 1500-1560. There it is shown that subjects relevant to the Carmelite Order, and the expected public on different sides of the tramezzo were chosen and reinterpreted over time as devotions changed. Cima da Conegliano's Adoration of the Shepherds (c. 1511) is discussed in Chapter 4, where the dedication of the altar is definitively proven and the respective liturgy is expanded upon. The tradition of votive images is shown to have influenced Cima's representation of the donor. In Chapter 5 Cima's altarpiece for the Scuola di Sant'Alberto's altar is shown to have been replaced because of the increasing ambiguity over the identification of the titulus after the introduction of new Carmelite saints at the beginning of the century. Its compositional relationship to the vesperbild tradition is also examined and shown to assist the faithful in important aspects of religious faith. The sixth chapter examines the composition of Lorenzo Lotto's St Nicholas in Glory (1527-29) and how it dramatises the relationship between the devoted, the interceding saints and heaven. It further hypothesises that the inclusion of St Lucy is a corroboration of the roles performed by St Nicholas and related to the confraternity's annual celebrations in December. The authorship, date and iconography of Tintoretto's Presentation of Christ (c. 1545) is analysed in Chapter 7, which also demonstrates how the altarpiece responds to the particular liturgical circumstances on the feast of Candlemas. The final chapter discusses the church as a whole, providing the first narrative of the movement of altars and development of the decorative schemes. The Conclusion highlights the important themes that have developed from this study and provides a verdict on the role of ‘Carmelite art' in the Venice Carmini.

A deep visual analysis of Ludovico Carracci’s 1588 Madonna and Child, Angels, and Saints Francis, Dominic, Mary Magdalene and the Donor Cecilia Bargellini Boncompagni with an emphasis on the role of the patron, the significance of the locality, and the visual semiotics of the Virgin Mary’s gaze in prompting conversion in the repentant prostitutes of the Carmelite convertite convent associated with Ss. Filippo and Giacomo in Bologna, Italy. Including a commentary on contemporary social expectations of modest behavior and the painting’s deliberate incorporation of inappropriate female behavior towards a religious purpose. A discussion of uniquely Carmelite iconography, the use of Ignatian mental prayer in convents, and self-determination in imagery by a Bolognese aristocratic woman.