<p>This dissertation examines the social and financial activities of Buddhist nuns to demonstrate how and why they deployed Buddhist doctrines, rituals, legends, and material culture to interact with society outside the convent. By examining the activities of the nuns of the Daihongan convent (one of the two administrative heads of the popular pilgrimage temple, Zenkōji) in Japan’s early modern period (roughly 1550 to 1868) as documented in the convent’s rich archival sources, I shed further light on the oft-overlooked political and financial activities of nuns, illustrate how Buddhist institutions interacted with the laity, provide further nuance to the discussion of how Buddhist women navigated patriarchal sectarian and secular hierarchies, and, within the field of Japanese history, give voice to women who were active outside of the household unit around which early modern Japanese society was organized.</p><p>Zenkōji temple, surrounded by the mountains of Nagano, has been one of Japan’s most popular pilgrimage sites since the medieval period. The abbesses of Daihongan, one Zenkōji’s main sub-temples, traveled widely to maintain connections with elite and common laypeople, participated in frequent country-wide displays of Zenkōji’s icon, and oversaw the creation of branch temples in Edo (now Tokyo), Osaka, Echigo (now Niigata), and Shinano (now Nagano). The abbesses of Daihongan were one of only a few women to hold the imperially sanctioned title of eminent person (shōnin 上人) and to wear purple robes. While this means that this Pure Land convent was in some ways not representative of all convents in early modern Japan, Daihongan’s position is particularly instructive because the existence of nuns and monks in a single temple complex allows us to see in detail how monastics of both genders interacted in close quarters.</p><p>This work draws heavily from the convent’s archival materials, which I used as a guide in framing my dissertation chapters. In the Introduction I discuss previous works on women in Buddhism. In Chapter 1, I briefly discuss the convent’s history and its place within the Zenkōji temple complex. In Chapter 2, I examine the convent’s regular economic bases and its expenditures. In Chapter 3, I highlight Daihongan’s branch temples and discuss the ways that they acted as nodes in a network connecting people in various areas to Daihongan and Zenkōji, thus demonstrating how a rural religious center extended its sphere of influence in urban settings. In Chapter 4, I discuss the nuns’ travels throughout the country to generate new and maintain old connections with the imperial court in Kyoto, confraternities in Osaka, influential women in the shogun’s castle, and commoners in Edo. In Chapter 5, I examine the convent’s reliance upon irregular means of income such as patronage, temple lotteries, loans, and displays of treasures, and how these were needed to balance irregular expenditures such as travel and the maintenance or reconstruction of temple buildings. Throughout the dissertation I describe Daihongan’s inner social structure comprised of abbesses, nuns, and administrators, and its local emplacement within Zenkōji and Zenkōji’s temple lands.</p><p>Exploring these themes sheds light on the lives of Japanese Buddhist nuns in this period. While the tensions between freedom and agency on the one hand and obligations to patrons, subordination to monks, or gender- and status-based restrictions on the other are important, and I discuss them in my work, my primary focus is on the nuns’ activities and lives. Doing so demonstrates that nuns were central figures in ever-changing economic and social networks as they made and maintained connections with the outside world through Buddhist practices and through precedents set centuries before. This research contributes to our understanding of nuns in Japan’s early modern period and will participate in and shape debates on the roles of women in patriarchal religious hierarchies.</p> / Dissertation

The purpose of this study is to investigate ritual in order to establish an intimacy between architecture and its users. The lithurgy of the Roman Catholic Church is used as a point of departure, but the study is especially concerned with personal secular ritual. The intervention will function as an urban retreat. It consists of a series of contemplative spaces that facilitate a spiritual journey. The Retreat is based on ideas surrounding the traditional Roman Catholic Convent, which informed the accommodation schedule to a great extend. The study recognizes the new approach of the Roman Catholic Religion, which entails a holistic ministry that plays an increasingly critical and social role. The Retreat will therefore function as a base for religious and social organizations to work from in the inner-city of Pretoria. The retreat will also offer limited social facilities such as counselling and seminar rooms. The site is situated in the inner-city of Pretoria, in the block directly north-east of Church Square. The site consists of two properties: the northern consists of the National Library of South Africa (NLSA), with the southern being a pan-handle erf that functions as a service courtyard for commercial ventures on Church Street. The Noordvaal thoroughfare runs parallel to the site on its western edge, linking Church and Vermeulen Streets. The site exists unnoticed by pedestrians using the arcade, because of a boundary wall. Of further importance is the 2,8 m slope of the site from south to north over a distance of 140 m. The project directly addresses urban issues as well as spatial and emotional ones. The intervention is seen as part of a process of architectural proliferation. It takes the existing fabric and current conditions and rather than replacing them, creates a synthesis of elements so as to evolve a new urban condition; i.e. how to grow a piece of city rather than how you build it. Design decisions were influenced by Pallasmaa's ideas on fragile architecture: it is concerned with real sensory interaction instead of conceptual manifestations. Problems and opportunities are identified on a small scale and the response is focussed on these: it is an architecture that grows and opens up. / Dissertation (MArch (Prof))--University of Pretoria, 2005. / Architecture / unrestricted

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In the nineteenth century, amidst the rise of anti-Catholicism in the Western world, narratives served as a persuasive medium to influence the reading public. Anti-clerical sentiment was conveyed in various forms of text, often depicting the Catholic convent as a place of sinister confinement. This thesis offers an alternative representation of the French nineteenth-century convent. Considering the prevailing social, economic, and political environment in France, along with the conception of social space, I argue that the convent represents a place of sanctuary and opportunity for some women and girls. Further, in view of Victor Hugo's Les Misérables, I examine the representation of the convent as a place for rebirth. Likewise, in analyzing George Sand's autobiography Histoire de ma vie, I explore the representation of the convent as a haven for reviving creativity. Thus, by close reading and critical examination of these literary representations, I contend that the nineteenth-century convent can provide a place of refuge. / Master of Arts / Following the French Revolution of 1789, two opposing ideologies gathered momentum in France: monasticism and anti-clericalism. Beginning in 1815, enlistment of nuns in religious congregations doubled every fifteen years until the end of the century. During this period, anti-clericalism remained a potent political and social force. As with any institution of power, narratives served as a persuasive medium to influence the reading public. Anti-clerical sentiment was conveyed in various forms of text, often depicting the Catholic convent as a place of sinister confinement. These diverse depictions of the convent as a nefarious enclosure seem to contradict the growth and appeal of female religious orders during the epoch. This thesis offers an alternative representation of the French nineteenth-century convent. Partially owing to prevailing social, economic, and political structures that limited women's opportunities, convents attracted women from middle- or upper-class families who desired to serve in the public domains of healthcare and education. Considering this environment in France, along with the conception of social space, I argue that the convent represents a place of sanctuary and opportunity for some women and girls. Further, in view of Victor Hugo's Les Misérables, I examine the representation of the convent as a place for rebirth. Likewise, in analyzing George Sand's autobiography Histoire de ma vie, I explore the representation of the convent as a haven for reviving creativity. Thus, by close reading and critical examination of these literary representations, I contend that the nineteenth-century convent can provide a place of refuge.

<p>We live in a society where we are not bound to one place. We are encouraged to be mobile and constantly moving between different locations. The life in a convent is a contrast to this; nuns live at a specific place they are bounded to by vows and can not leave. The sisters in the convent of St. Birgitta, Pax Mariae have promised to stay at the same place and live by the rules of the convent. They live within the walls of the convent, an area with clear boarders. In this essay I analyse the meaning of a place, how the convent affects the nuns and their identity. The wall and the restricted area, inner- and outer attributes show where the nuns belong and characterize their life in the convent. The surrounding wall is a symbolic boarder to the nuns, but it also protects from impulses from the society and the outer world. The most evident influence the place has on the identities of the nuns is that they through vows become members of a camaraderie where they call each other sisters, changes their names and wear the same clothes. They become nuns, a ubiquitous identity. Regardless of whom they meet or of where they go, they will be seen as nuns.</p> / <p>I ett samhälle av platslöshet, där vi uppmanas att vara mobila och ständigt befinna oss på olika ställen finns en kontrast; kloster. I kloster är nunnor genom löften bundna till den specifika platsen. Nunnorna i S: ta Birgittas kloster Pax Mariae har lovat att för resten av sin levnad stanna på samma plats och leva efter regler om lydnad, fattigdom och avhållsamhet. De lever inom klostrets murar på ett väl avgränsat område. Denna uppsats behandlar platsens betydelse, hur klostret som plats påverkar nunnorna och deras identitet genom muren och det avgränsade området men även genom inre och yttre attribut som visar på nunnornas tillhörighet till klostret. Muren är för systrarna en symbolisk gräns för deras klausul, det område de inte får gå utanför, men den fungerar även skyddande mot omvärldens impulser. Den mest påtagliga inverkan platsen har på nunnornas identitet är att de genom löftena uppgår i en gemenskap där de kallar varandra för systrar, får ett nytt namn och likadana kläder. De blir i första hand nunnor och kan inte plocka av sig denna identitet. Oavsett vem de möter eller var de befinner sig tillskrivs de rollen som nunna.</p>

We live in a society where we are not bound to one place. We are encouraged to be mobile and constantly moving between different locations. The life in a convent is a contrast to this; nuns live at a specific place they are bounded to by vows and can not leave. The sisters in the convent of St. Birgitta, Pax Mariae have promised to stay at the same place and live by the rules of the convent. They live within the walls of the convent, an area with clear boarders. In this essay I analyse the meaning of a place, how the convent affects the nuns and their identity. The wall and the restricted area, inner- and outer attributes show where the nuns belong and characterize their life in the convent. The surrounding wall is a symbolic boarder to the nuns, but it also protects from impulses from the society and the outer world. The most evident influence the place has on the identities of the nuns is that they through vows become members of a camaraderie where they call each other sisters, changes their names and wear the same clothes. They become nuns, a ubiquitous identity. Regardless of whom they meet or of where they go, they will be seen as nuns. / I ett samhälle av platslöshet, där vi uppmanas att vara mobila och ständigt befinna oss på olika ställen finns en kontrast; kloster. I kloster är nunnor genom löften bundna till den specifika platsen. Nunnorna i S: ta Birgittas kloster Pax Mariae har lovat att för resten av sin levnad stanna på samma plats och leva efter regler om lydnad, fattigdom och avhållsamhet. De lever inom klostrets murar på ett väl avgränsat område. Denna uppsats behandlar platsens betydelse, hur klostret som plats påverkar nunnorna och deras identitet genom muren och det avgränsade området men även genom inre och yttre attribut som visar på nunnornas tillhörighet till klostret. Muren är för systrarna en symbolisk gräns för deras klausul, det område de inte får gå utanför, men den fungerar även skyddande mot omvärldens impulser. Den mest påtagliga inverkan platsen har på nunnornas identitet är att de genom löftena uppgår i en gemenskap där de kallar varandra för systrar, får ett nytt namn och likadana kläder. De blir i första hand nunnor och kan inte plocka av sig denna identitet. Oavsett vem de möter eller var de befinner sig tillskrivs de rollen som nunna.

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The present article studies the case of the black donada Ursula de Jesus (Lima, 1604-1666), whose exceptional religiosity was described by a Franciscan friar and nun, both anonymous. She spent the greater part of her life inside the convent of Santa Clara, which she entered as the slave of a nun of the black veil. Later she obtained her liberty and, supported by certain nuns, entered as a donada. She went on to write a Spiritual Diary in which she described her everyday life in the convent and the vicissitudes of her spirituality. While we know of other Afro-descendants who were recognized for their piety, we know them only through the dominant discourse that shaped their individual experiences to make them fit the models of Western sanctity. In this case, it is the opposite: the Spiritual Diary allows us to hear the voice of an Afro-descended woman. Through an analysis of the Spiritual Diary, written between 1650 and 1661 and published in Lima in 2004, this article studies the identity that Ursula de Jesus constructs in her text, which reinterprets the reigning Catholic dogma and constructs a Black mystical spirituality. / El presente artículo estudia el caso de la donada negra Úrsula de Jesús (Lima, 1604-1666), cuya excepcional religiosidad ha sido retratada por un franciscano y una clarisa anónimos. Ella vivió la mayor parte de su vida al interior del monasterio de Santa Clara, al cual ingresó como esclava de una monja de velo negro. Posteriormente, consiguió su libertad y, apoyada por algunas monjas, profesó como donada y, además, escribió un Diario Espiritual en el que contó su vida cotidiana en el monasterio y las vicisitudes de su espiritualidad. Si bien se tiene conocimiento de otros afrodescendientes que fueron reconocidos por su piedad católica, solo los conocemos a través del discurso dominante que moldeó sus particulares experiencias espirituales para hacerlas calzar con los modelos de santidad occidentales. En este caso, sucede lo contrario: el Diario Espiritual nos permite oír la voz de una mujer afrodescendiente. Por ello, por medio del análisis de su Diario Espiritual, escrito entre 1650 y 1661, y publicado en Lima en el 2004, este artículo estudiará la identidad que construye Úrsula de Jesús en su texto, la cual reinterpreta el dogma católico imperante y construye una espiritualidad mística negra.

Ett konvent för frimärkssamlare kommer äga rum i Stockholm år 2019 där internationella besökare kommer närvara. Studier visar att konventindustrin möjliggör ekonomisk tillväxt för destinationen där konventet hålls. Dessvärre finns begränsad forskning kring ämnet. Det är flera olika aktörer som är inblandade vid genomförandet av ett konvent. En vanlig förekommande aktör är en Professional Congress Organiser (PCO), i detta fall Meetagain som är ansvarig för att erbjuda deltagarna aktiviteter och upplevelser i Stockholm. För att marknadsföra destinationen och dess utbud behöver målgruppen identifieras. Mötesarrangören bör ta reda på vilka de är, vad de vill uppleva och hur budskapet ska kommuniceras till dem. Denna studie visar att målgruppen främst består av äldre frimärkssamlare som reser ensamma eller med en partner och att de uppskattar paketering av aktiviteter. Dock bör inte äldre resenärer generaliseras utifrån sin ålder utan i detta fall ses som storstadsresenärer, där deras intressen styr vad som ska erbjudas i form av aktiviteter och upplevelser i Stockholm. / A convent for stamp collectors will take place in Stockholm in 2019, where international visitors will be present. Studies have shown that the convent industry enables an economic growth to the destination at which the convent is being held, unfortunately the scientific research about this topic is limited. There are multiple different actors involved with the implementation of a convent. One of the more commonly used actor is a professional congress organizer (PCO), in this case Meetagain, who is responsible for presenting the visitors with activities and experiences available in Stockholm. In order to market the destination and it’s supply the target group needs to be identified, who are they, what would they like to experience and how is this message best communicated towards them. This study shows that the target group is mainly represented by elderly stamp collectors who travels alone or in the company of a partner, and would appreciate a package solution with activities provided for them. An elderly traveler should not be generalized by his or her age, but should be considered as a city traveler, where the person's interest controls what should be presented in forms of activities and experiences in Stockholm.

This diploma thesis deals with brewing and malting as a way of livelihood of ecclesiastical and secular goods in the territory of the Czech kingdom. This work is also aimed at showing our traditional and national beverage as an important part of our culture and tradition. It wants to introduce beer not only as an alcoholic beverage, but mainly as a business article. Its production and trading with it has been a source of high income not only in the treasuries of cities and nobility, but also in the treasuries of the church. As an example of the Church Brewery, the Conventional Brewery was chosen in Vyšší Brod. The first chapter of the work attempts to show the history of beer brewing closer. The thesis does not aim to describe the history of beer production, but to focus on the first references to it and the production methods used from the oldest cultures, such as Mesopotamian, Babylonian or Egyptian, to our closest Slavonic culture. Another chapter tries to map the production of beer and the struggle for it on the territory of the Czech Crown in the period of its rise, prosperity and mild decline in the middle of the seventeenth century. The last chapter is focused on the Conventional Brewery in Vyšší Brod, which was chosen as a characteristic example for the selected theme and above all as a monument...