Andrew Spicer - Böcker

This collection of essays, edited by Graeme Murdock, Penny Roberts, and Andrew Spicer, developed from a one-day conference 'Religion and Violence in Early Modern France: The Work of Natalie Zemon Davis' which was held in June 2008 at the Shakespeare Institute, Stratford-upon-Avon. Five of the papers published here were initially delivered on that occasion, but the conference also sought to learn from the differing perspectives of violence outside sixteenth-century France. This concern is also reflected in this collection, which seeks to offer new insights and approaches to the relationship and significance of religion and violence as well as paying tribute to the immense contribution made in this field by the writings of Natalie Zemon Davis.

This interdisciplinary volume illuminates the shadowy history of the disadvantaged, sick and those who did not conform to the accepted norms of society. It explores how marginal identity was formed, perceived and represented in Britain and Europe during the medieval and early modern periods. It illustrates that the identities of marginal groups were shaped by their place within primarily urban communities, both in terms of their socio-economic status and the spaces in which they lived and worked. Some of these groups – such as executioners, prostitutes, pedlars and slaves – performed a significant social and economic function but on the basis of this were stigmatized by other townspeople. Language was used to control and limit the activities of others within society such as single women and foreigners, as well as the victims of sexual crimes. For many, such as lepers and the disabled, marginal status could be ambiguous, cyclical or short-lived and affected by key religious, political and economic events. Traditional histories have often considered these groups in isolation. Based on new research, a series of case studies from Britain and across Europe illustrate and provide important insights into the problems faced by these marginal groups and the ways in which medieval and early modern communities were shaped and developed.

The Huguenots formed a privileged minority within early modern France. During the second half of the sixteenth century, they fought for freedom of worship in the French 'wars of religion' which culminated in the Edict of Nantes in 1598. The community was protected by the terms of the Edict for eighty-seven years until Louis XIV revoked it in 1685. The Huguenots therefore constitute a minority group tolerated by one of the strongest nations in early modern Europe, a country more often associated with the absolute power of the crown - in particular that of Louis XIV. This collection of essays explores the character and identity of the Huguenot movement by examining their culture and institutions, their patterns of belief and worship and their interaction with French state and society. The volume draws upon research by leading historians and specialists from across Europe and North America.

The medieval landscape was marked by many sacred sites - churches and chapels, pilgrimage sites, holy wells - places where the spiritual and temporal worlds coincided. Although Max Weber argued that the Reformation brought about the 'disenchantment of the world', this 2005 volume explores the many dimensions of sacred space during and after the religious upheavals of the early modern period. The essays examine the subject through a variety of contexts across Europe from Scotland to Moldavia, but also across the religious divisions between the Catholic, Orthodox, Lutheran and Calvinist Churches. Based on research, these essays provide insights into the definition and understanding of sanctity in the post-Reformation era and make an important contribution to the study of sacred space.

The Huguenots formed a privileged minority within early modern France. During the second half of the sixteenth century, they fought for freedom of worship in the French 'wars of religion' which culminated in the Edict of Nantes in 1598. The community was protected by the terms of the Edict for eighty-seven years until Louis XIV revoked it in 1685. The Huguenots therefore constitute a minority group tolerated by one of the strongest nations in early modern Europe, a country more often associated with the absolute power of the crown - in particular that of Louis XIV. This collection of essays explores the character and identity of the Huguenot movement by examining their culture and institutions, their patterns of belief and worship and their interaction with French state and society. The volume draws upon research by leading historians and specialists from across Europe and North America.

The medieval landscape was marked by many sacred sites - churches and chapels, pilgrimage sites, holy wells - places where the spiritual and temporal worlds coincided. Although Max Weber argued that the Reformation brought about the 'disenchantment of the world', this 2005 volume explores the many dimensions of sacred space during and after the religious upheavals of the early modern period. The essays examine the subject through a variety of contexts across Europe from Scotland to Moldavia, but also across the religious divisions between the Catholic, Orthodox, Lutheran and Calvinist Churches. Based on research, these essays provide insights into the definition and understanding of sanctity in the post-Reformation era and make an important contribution to the study of sacred space.

An overview of an often celebrated, but also contested, body of films. It discusses film noir as a cultural phenomenon whose history is more extensive and diverse than American black and white crime thrillers of the forties. An extended Background Chapter situates film noir within its cultural context.

For ordinary people, the impact of the Reformation would have centred around local parish churches, rather than the theological debates of the Reformers. Focusing on the Calvinists, this volume explores how the architecture, appearance and arrangement of places of worship were transformed by new theology and religious practice. Based on original research and site visits, this book charts the impact of the Reformed faith across Europe, concentrating in particular on France, the Netherlands and Scotland. While in some areas a Calvinist Reformation led to the adaptation of existing buildings, elsewhere it resulted in the construction of new places of worship to innovative new designs. Reformed places of worship also reflected local considerations, vested interests and civic aspirations, often employing the latest styles and forms of decoration, and here provide a lens through which to examine not only the impact of the Reformation at a local level but also the character of the different religious settlements across Europe during the late sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.

For ordinary people, the impact of the Reformation would have centred around local parish churches, rather than the theological debates of the Reformers. Focusing on the Calvinists, this volume explores how the architecture, appearance and arrangement of places of worship were transformed by new theology and religious practice. Based on original research and site visits, this book charts the impact of the Reformed faith across Europe, concentrating in particular on France, the Netherlands and Scotland. While in some areas a Calvinist Reformation led to the adaptation of existing buildings, elsewhere it resulted in the construction of new places of worship to innovative new designs. Reformed places of worship also reflected local considerations, vested interests and civic aspirations, often employing the latest styles and forms of decoration, and here provide a lens through which to examine not only the impact of the Reformation at a local level but also the character of the different religious settlements across Europe during the late sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.

This is an authoritative account of the career of Sydney Box, one of British cinema’s most successful and significant producers. Concentrating on the period 1940-65, it highlights the crucial but often misunderstood role that the producer plays in the film making process and, using largely unpublished material, affords an exceptional insight into the workings of the film industryBox’s career was exceptionally varied and this study analyses the work of his company Verity Films which wartime produced over 100 short propaganda films during the Second World War, as well as Box’s work as a feature film producer and as managing director of Gainsborough Pictures (1946-49). It encompasses the difficulties he experienced as an independent producer in the 1950s and the formation of Sydney Box Associates, his role in early television history, and his imaginative if unsuccessful bids for British Lion and London Weekday Television in the early sixties.This study will be essential reading for scholars and students interested in British cinema and television history, but its focus on the frequently misrepresented or misunderstood role of the producer will make it valuable for students of film generally.

This is an authoritative account of the career of Sydney Box, one of British cinema’s most successful and significant producers. Concentrating on the period 1940-65, it highlights the crucial but often misunderstood role that the producer plays in the film making process and, using largely unpublished material, affords an exceptional insight into the workings of the film industry.Box’s career was exceptionally varied and this study analyses the work of his company Verity Films, which produced over 100 short propaganda films during the Second World War, as well as Box’s work as a feature film producer and as managing director of Gainsborough Pictures (1944­-49). It encompasses the difficulties he experienced as an independent producer in the 1950s and the formation of Sydney Box Associates, his role in early television history, and his imaginative if unsuccessful bids for British Lion and London Weekday Television in the early 1960s.This study will be essential reading for scholars and students interested in British cinema and television history, but its focus on the frequently misrepresented or misunderstood role of the producer will make it valuable for students of film generally.

European Film Noir is the first book to bring together specialist discussions of film noir in specific European national cinemas. Written by leading scholars, this groundbreaking study provides an authoritative understanding of an important aspect of European cinema and of film noir itself, for too long considered as a solely American form. The Introduction reviews the problems of defining film noir, its key characteristics and discusses its significance to the development of European film, the relationship of specific national films noirs to each other, to American noir and to historical and social change. Eight chapters then discuss film noir in France, Germany, Britain and Spain, analysing both earlier developments and the evolution of neo-noir through to the present. A further chapter explores film noir in Italian cinema where its presence is not so well defined. Each piece provides a critical overview of the most significant films in relation to their industrial and social contexts. European Film Noir is an important contribution to the study of European cinema that will have a broad appeal to undergraduates, cinéastes, film teachers and researchers.

The Black Death first hit Europe in 1347. This horrific disease ripped through towns, villages and families. Men, women, children, young and old succumbed to a painful, drawn-out death as pustules, abscesses and boils erupted over their bodies. SUbsequent attacks of the disease, coming almost every decade, so limited the population that it was not until the eighteenth century that it managed to surpass the levels of the 1340s. For over three hundred years, Europeans were stalked by death. In the end, this mysterious disease that had terrorized, terrified and killed millions, disappeared at inexplicably as it had appeared. William Naphy is Senior Lecturer and Head of History at the University of Aberdeen. his other books include Born to be gay and Sex Crimes, both by Tempus. Andrew Spicer is Lecturer in Early Modern European History at Oxford Brookes University.

Holy sites, both public - churches, monasteries, shrines - and more private - domestic chapels, oratories - populated the landscape of medieval and early modern Europe, providing contemporaries with access to the divine. These sacred spaces thus defined religious experience, and were fundamental to both the geography and social history of Europe over the course of 1,000 years. But how were these sacred spaces, both public and private, defined? How were they created, used, recognised and transformed? And to what extent did these definitions change over the course of time, and in particular as a result of the changes wrought in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Taking a strongly interdisciplinary approach, this volume tackles these questions from the point of view of archaeology, architectural and art history, liturgy, and history to consider the fundamental interaction between the sacred and the profane. Exploring the establishment of sacred space within both the public and domestic spheres, as well as the role of the secular within the sacred sphere, each chapter provides fascinating insights into how these concepts helped shape, and were shaped by, wider society. By highlighting these issues on a European basis from the medieval period through the age of the reformations, these essays demonstrate the significance of continuity as much as change in definitions of sacred space, and thus identify long term trends which have hitherto been absent in more limited studies. As such this volume provides essential reading for anyone with an interest in the ecclesiastical development of western Europe from the thirteenth to the eighteenth centuries.

Alastair Duke has long been recognized as one of the leading scholars of the early modern Netherlands, known internationally for his important work on the impact of religious change on political events which was the focus of his Reformation and Revolt in the Low Countries (1990). Bringing together an updated selection of his previously published essays - together with one entirely new chapter and two that appear in English here for the first time - this volume explores the emergence of new political and religious identities in the early modern Netherlands. Firstly it analyses the emergence of a common identity amongst the amorphous collection of states in north-western Europe that were united first under the rule of the Valois Dukes of Burgundy and later the Habsburg princes, and traces the fortunes of this notion during the political and religious conflicts that divided the Low Countries during the second half of the sixteenth century. A second group of essays considers the emergence of dissidence and opposition to the regime, and explores how this was expressed and disseminated through popular culture. Finally, the volume shows how in the age of confessionalisation and civil war, challenging issues of identity presented themselves to both dissenting groups and individuals. Taken together these essays demonstrate how these dissident identities shaped and contributed to the development of the Netherlands during the early modern period.

Until recently the impact of the Lutheran Reformation has been largely regarded in political and socio-economic terms, yet for most people it was not the abstract theological debates that had the greatest impact upon their lives, but what they saw in their parish churches every Sunday. This collection of essays provides a coherent and interdisciplinary investigation of the impact that the Lutheran Reformation had on the appearance, architecture and arrangement of early modern churches. Drawing upon recent research being undertaken by leading art historians and historians on Lutheran places of worship, the volume emphasises often surprising levels of continuity, reflecting the survival of Catholic fixtures, fittings and altarpieces, and exploring how these could be remodelled in order to conform with the tenets of Lutheran belief. The volume not only addresses Lutheran art but also the way in which the architecture of their churches reflected the importance of preaching and the administration of the sacraments. Furthermore the collection is committed to extending these discussions beyond a purely German context, and to look at churches not only within the Holy Roman Empire, but also in Scandinavia, the Baltic States as well as towns dominated by Saxon communities in areas such as in Hungary and Transylvania. By focusing on ecclesiastical 'material culture' the collection helps to place the art and architecture of Lutheran places of worship into the historical, political and theological context of early modern Europe.

Film noir—literally "black cinema"—is the label customarily given to a group of black and white American films, mostly crime thrillers, made between 1940 and 1959. Today there is considerable dispute about what are the shared features that classify a noir film, and therefore which films should be included in this category. These problems are partly caused because film noir is a retrospective label that was not used in the 1940s or 1950s by the film industry as a production category and therefore its existence and features cannot be established through reference to trade documents.The Historical Dictionary of Film Noir is a comprehensive guide that ranges from 1940 to present day neo-noir. It consists of a chronology, an introductory essay, a bibliography, a filmography, and over 400 cross-referenced dictionary entries on every aspect of film noir and neo-noir, including key films, personnel (actors, cinematographers, composers, directors, producers, set designers, and writers), themes, issues, influences, visual style, cycles of films (e.g. amnesiac noirs), the representation of the city and gender, other forms (comics/graphic novels, television, and videogames), and noir's presence in world cinema. It is an essential reference work for all those interested in this important cultural phenomenon.

Transactions of the Royal Historical Society is an annual collection of articles based on papers given to the Society by distinguished invited speakers and winners of RHS prizes. Volume 31 of the Sixth Series includes the following articles: 'Material Turns in British History: IV. Empire in India, Cancel Cultures and the Country House,' 'Responding to Violence: Liturgy, Authority and Sacred Places, c. 900-c. 1150,' 'Baroque around the Clock: Daniello Bartoli SJ (1608-1685) and the Uses of Global History,' 'What Happens when a Written Constitution is Printed? A History across Boundaries,' 'An Ottoman Arab Man of Letters and the Meanings of Empire, c. 1860,' and 'Revisiting RHS's 'Race, Ethnicity & Equality in UK History: A Report and Resource for Change.''

In response to the Covid-19 pandemic, this volume reflects on the way that the Church, from the earliest times, has cared for the sick and for the physical and spiritual health of society. Anointing and praying for the sick have always been combined with medical care. Religious foundations such as leper hospitals cared for the diseased but also isolated them to protect the health of society. The institutionalization of the Church's care for the sick led to the foundation of hospitals and medical schools. Many of the articles focus on the Church's response to sickness, especially pandemics. Others explore the connection between the Church and the medical profession, the clerical experience of sickness, and the ways that sickness has served as a metaphor for understanding the Church and its place in the world.

Studies in Church History 59 addresses the historical development of life events to which the churches have responded with specific rites and ceremonies. The volume contributes to current discussion in life cycle history and the ongoing debate about 'rites of passage,' both ecclesiastical and secular. The major life cycle events, such as birth, marriage and death, are considered; so too are the churching or 'purification' of women after childbirth, confirmation and first communion, and ordination, as well as less widespread rites of passage, such as royal anointing and the renunciation of wealth. The twenty-two papers span Christian history and include contributions from Frances Knight, Thomas O'Loughlin, Elisabeth van Houts and Alexandra Walsham. Taken together, the articles offer clear evidence of the continuing potency of ecclesiastical rites of passage, as well as of their ability to be refashioned for the needs of successive generations of believers.

Volume 60 of Studies in Church History examines the theme of hypocrisy in the Church. This theme touches upon tensions at the heart of Christian teaching and experience: the distance between ideal and lived practice, and conflicts between sincerity of faith and the demands of society and the state. To explore the place of hypocrisy in Christian thought is to highlight issues of deception, dissimulation and double standards - rich themes in Christian history and discourse, encompassing a wide range of topics such as casuistry and priestcraft. The articles in this volume raise questions about the importance of external ritual in relation to internal belief and of dualist approaches to religion in which evil has no conceivable place in the good. They highlight anxieties around the discernment of sin and virtue and explore historical responses to the ethical question of whether lies and deception can ever be deployed for good ends.

This collection investigates how cities have become centres for media industries, examining how local operations are shaped by global flows of finance, technology and creative labour, and how media industries contribute to urban identity and cultural life.Written by field experts and based on extensive primary research, this book provides readers with comprehensive analysis of the complex relationship between media industries and cities across diverse global contexts. The twelve chapters examine examples from Asia, Europe and North America, covering film, television, music, games and journalism to demonstrate how media–city relationships take distinctive forms in specific locations. Readers will gain in-depth understanding of how global media flows interact with local urban contexts, and how these interactions produce cultural, economic, political and social consequences. The collection combines broad theoretical analysis with detailed case studies, advancing debates in the field of Media Industry Studies through analysing the media’s multifaceted relationship to cities in a highly accessible way.This book is essential reading for undergraduates, postgraduates and academic researchers in Communications, Cultural Studies, Media Studies and Film and Television Studies, particularly those studying or researching media industries, global media flows, media economics, cultural production and the intersection of media and place.

This collection investigates how cities have become centres for media industries, examining how local operations are shaped by global flows of finance, technology and creative labour, and how media industries contribute to urban identity and cultural life.Written by field experts and based on extensive primary research, this book provides readers with comprehensive analysis of the complex relationship between media industries and cities across diverse global contexts. The twelve chapters examine examples from Asia, Europe and North America, covering film, television, music, games and journalism to demonstrate how media–city relationships take distinctive forms in specific locations. Readers will gain in-depth understanding of how global media flows interact with local urban contexts, and how these interactions produce cultural, economic, political and social consequences. The collection combines broad theoretical analysis with detailed case studies, advancing debates in the field of Media Industry Studies through analysing the media’s multifaceted relationship to cities in a highly accessible way.This book is essential reading for undergraduates, postgraduates and academic researchers in Communications, Cultural Studies, Media Studies and Film and Television Studies, particularly those studying or researching media industries, global media flows, media economics, cultural production and the intersection of media and place.

Examining how media industries actively shape, and are shaped by, attachments to place and movements across geographical spaces, this volume illuminates the many spatial dimensions of ‘globalised’ media.In an era where music, video and games can be streamed instantly around the world on numerous digital devices, and films and television series are produced across numerous countries often featuring globetrotting characters in an array of exotic settings, it is easy to forget that media industries retain any attachments to space or place. While globalised production, distribution and consumption systems structure contemporary media industries, this collection seeks to document and analyse the many ways in which questions of space and place still matter to those industries.Written by leading scholars in the field, this international collection explores how media industries both occupy and generate spaces and places. Here, spatial dynamics are represented by the formation of global production networks, the impacts of virtual production technologies, media engagements with local communities, questions of accessible participation in film festivals, and the franchising of space at media-themed leisure attractions. Several of the book’s chapters reflect the increasing dominance of streaming media, which also have complex relationships to place and space, even as they actively seek to obscure and even erase these aspects of the media they distribute and, in some cases, produce.Locating Media Industries is essential reading for students and scholars of film, media and/or creative industries.

Examining how media industries actively shape, and are shaped by, attachments to place and movements across geographical spaces, this volume illuminates the many spatial dimensions of ‘globalised’ media.In an era where music, video and games can be streamed instantly around the world on numerous digital devices, and films and television series are produced across numerous countries often featuring globetrotting characters in an array of exotic settings, it is easy to forget that media industries retain any attachments to space or place. While globalised production, distribution and consumption systems structure contemporary media industries, this collection seeks to document and analyse the many ways in which questions of space and place still matter to those industries.Written by leading scholars in the field, this international collection explores how media industries both occupy and generate spaces and places. Here, spatial dynamics are represented by the formation of global production networks, the impacts of virtual production technologies, media engagements with local communities, questions of accessible participation in film festivals, and the franchising of space at media-themed leisure attractions. Several of the book’s chapters reflect the increasing dominance of streaming media, which also have complex relationships to place and space, even as they actively seek to obscure and even erase these aspects of the media they distribute and, in some cases, produce.Locating Media Industries is essential reading for students and scholars of film, media and/or creative industries.

Across Europe, the parish church has stood for centuries at the centre of local communities; it was the focal point of its religious life, the rituals performed there marked the stages of life from the cradle to the grave. Nonetheless the church itself artistically and architecturally stood apart from the parish community. It was often the largest and only stone-built building in a village; it was legally distinct being subject to canon law, as well as consecrated for the celebration of religious rites. The buildings associated with the "cure of souls" were sacred sites or holy places, where humanity interacted with the divine. In spite of the importance of the parish church, these buildings have generally not received the same attention from historians as non-parochial places of worship. This collection of essays redresses this balance and reflects on the parish church across a number of confessions - Catholic, Lutheran, Reformed and Anti-Trinitarian - during the early modern period. Rather than providing a series of case studies of individual buildings, each essay looks at the evolution of parish churches in response to religious reform as well as confessional change and upheaval. They examine aspects of their design and construction; furnishings and material culture; liturgy and the use of the parish church. While these essays range widely across Europe, the volume also considers how religious provision and the parish church were translated into a global context with colonial and commercial expansion in the Americas and Asia. This interdisciplinary volume seeks to identify what was distinctive about the parish church for the congregations that gathered in them for worship and for communities across the early modern world.

Transactions of the Royal Historical Society is an annual collection of major articles based on papers given to the society by distinguished invited speakers, and by winners of the Society's prizes. Volume 26 of the sixth series includes the following articles: 'Presidential Address: Educating the Nation III. Social Mobility', 'Better off Dead than Disfigured'? The Challenges of Facial Injury in the Pre-modern Past', 'Who Was Simon de Montfort, Earl of Leicester?', ''Protestantism' as a Historical Category', 'Tall Histories: Height and Georgian Masculinities', 'Slavery and the Birth of Working-Class Racism in England, 1814-1833', 'Between Poise and Power: Embodied Manliness in Eighteenth and Nineteenth-Century British Culture', 'Last Resort or Key Resource? Women Workers from the Nazi-Occupied Soviet Territories, the Reich Labour Administration and the German War Effort', and 'The Grail of Original Meaning: Uses of the Past in American Constitutional Theory'.

This volume brings together scholars to explore the challenges of translating Christianity. Christianity has been the impulse behind the creation of more dictionaries and grammars of the world's languages than any other force in history. More people pray and worship in more languages in Christianity than in any other religion. It is a religion without a revealed language; a faith characterized by 'the triumph of its translatability'. Christianity is also a translated religion in a very different sense. Many of its ritual practices have been predicated on the translation of material objects, such as relics. Their movement in time and space reveals shifting lines of power and influence in illuminating ways. Translation can be understood not only linguistically and physically but also in ecclesiastical and metaphorical terms, for instance, in the handing on of authority from one place or person to another, or the appropriation of rituals in different contexts.

Transactions of the Royal Historical Society is an annual collection of major articles representing some of the best historical research by some of the world's most distinguished historians. Volume 27 of the sixth series includes the following articles: 'The Cleopatras and the Jews' by Sarah Pearce, 'The Making of Chronicles and the Making of England: The Anglo-Saxon Chronicles after Alfred' by Pauline Stafford, 'Old Words and the New World: Liberal Education and the Franciscans in New Spain, 1536-1601' by Aysha Pollnitz, 'Migration from Within and Without: In the Footsteps of Eastern Christians in the Early Modern World' by John-Paul A. Ghobrial, 'Feminist Political Thought and Activism in Revolutionary Ireland, c.1880-1918' by Senia Pašeta, 'Democracy, Sovereignty and Unionist Political Thought during the Revolutionary Period in Ireland, c.1912-1922' by Colin W. Reid, and 'Languages of Freedom in Decolonising' Africa by Emma Hunter.