Academic literature on the topic 'Saint Assumption'

In this paper, we first introduce an abstract viscous hyperbolic problem for which we prove exponential decay under appropriated assumptions. We then give some illustrative examples, like the linearized viscous Saint-Venant system. In order to achieve the optimal decay rate, we also perform a detailed spectral analysis of our abstract problem under a natural assumption satisfied by various examples. We finally consider the boundary stabilizability of the linearized viscous Saint-Venant system on trees.

Beam theory plays an important role in structural analysis. The basic assumption is that initially plane sections remain plane after deformation, neglecting out-of-plane warpings. Predictions based on these assumptions are accurate for slender, solid, cross-sectional beams made out of isotropic materials. The beam theory derived in this paper from variational principles is based on the sole kinematic assumption that each section is infinitely rigid in its own plane, but free to warp out of plane. After a short review of the Bernoulli and Saint-Venant approaches to beam theory, a set of orthonormal eigenwarpings is derived. Improved solutions can be obtained by expanding the axial displacements or axial stress distribution in series of eigenwarpings and using energy principles to derive the governing equations. The improved Saint-Venant approach leads to fast converging solutions and accurate results are obtained considering only a few eigenwarping terms.

The paper presents the outcomes of the field research oriented towards studying the usage of urban space by female labor migrants from Uzbekistan and Tajikistan in Saint Petersburg in comparison with the practices that they have developed in their places of origin. The paper is based on the sociology of everyday life. The authors focus on the migrants’ transnational practices and a scope of their integration into the host society, as well as the perception of the urban space of Saint Petersburg in comparison to the migrants’ homelands. The informants for the study were 28 legal transnational labor migrants. The methods of the research are in-depth interviews in combination with mental maps. The hypothesis of the study includes two assumptions. The first is that migrant women from Uzbekistan and Tajikistan have transnational practices that indicate their inclusion in the social networks of both the country of origin and the host society, while their everyday life will be characterized by a rather low degree of integration into the host society. The second assumption is that the mental maps of St. Petersburg that were drawn by the informants are detailed and diverse compared to the mental maps of the place of residence in their homelands. These assumptions were partly confirmed. Results of the inquiry raise new research questions that demand further research of migrant workers to be answered.

This article provides a detailed analysis of character construction in the fifth century passio Caeciliae (Bibliotheca Hagiographica Latina 1495 – 1495a – 1496). Our analysis sets out to challenge the general assumption that character construction in the late antique passions can correctly be described in terms of stereotypes. The passio Caeciliae appeals to and inverts reader expectations based upon traditional patterns in erotic narrative. We also argue that it individuates the different characters (Caecilia and her fellow martyrs) by documenting one specific area of their representation, namely rhetorical ability. In this thematic area, Caecilia is set apart from her husband Valerianus: unlike him, she displays elaborate rhetorical aptitude which allows her to obtain the dominant position in the marriage and to achieve her aims. But the art of rhetoric is also a skill that can be learned as is shown by the character of Valerianus whose rhetorical approach changes in the course of the passion. Our analysis suggests that this passion from a literary point of view constitutes a more interesting text than is generally assumed.

SynopsisThe equilibrium equations for elastic deformations of an infinite strip are considered. Under the assumption of sufficiently small strains along the whole body, it is shown that all solutions lie on a six-dimensional manifold. This is achieved by rewriting the field equations as a differential equation in a function spaceover the cross-section, the axial variable taken as time. Then the theory of centre manifolds for elliptic systems applies. Thus the local Saint-Venant's problem is solved. Moreover, the structure of the finite-dimensional solution space is analysed to reveal exactly the two-dimensional rod equations of Kirchhoff. The constitutive relations for this rod model are calculated in a mathematically rigorous way out of the constitutive law of the material forming the strip.

This paper presents a new method to conveniently calculate the stress intensity factors for the cracked flattened Brazilian disks under mixed-mode loading. The finite-element method is employed to confirm an assumption that the formula of the stress intensity factors for the cracked Brazilian disk subjected to pressure can be directly used to calculate the stress intensity factors for the cracked flattened Brazilian disk. The calculated results show that the assumption is valid and reliable. The calculated results also confirm that the Saint-Venant’s principle is still valid in fracture mechanics. In addition, the present paper proposes a concept of optimum load distribution angle.

Scholars agree that European Christians in the thirteenth century were enthusiastically devoted to the Virgin Mary. Even when they debated Mary's immaculate conception or her assumption body and soul into heaven, medieval Christians are not thought to have wavered in their desire to rely on her intercessory powers. While today some argue that Mary's virginal maternity set an impossible ideal for women and that her place below the Trinity sanctioned women's subordinate role within Christianity, medieval women supposedly did not assess Mary negatively. Given these widely held assumptions about thirteenth-century attitudes toward Mary, any uncertainty about honoring Mary warrants investigation. Any thirteenth-century Christian who rarely sought Mary's direct intercession but instead asked Christ to intercede with Mary deserves study. Attention especially ought to be given when questions about devotion to Mary are found in an unexpected place: the writings of a female saint renowned for her orthodoxy.

Saint Sampson, whose feast is celebrated on June 27, was depicted among holy physicians. However, his images were not frequent. He was usually accompanied with Saint Mokios (in Saint Sophia in Kiev, the Transfiguration church in the Mirozh monastery and the church of the Presentation of the Holy Virgin in the Temple in the monastery of Saint Euphrosyne; possibly also in Saint Panteleimon in Nerezi and Saint Demetrios in the village of Aiani near Kozani; furthermore, in the church of Saint Nicholas in Manastir and, afterwards, in the katholikon of the Vatopedi monastery). In a later period, he was usually shown in the vicinity of Saint Diomedes (in the churches of Saint Achillius in Arilje, Saint George in the village Vathiako on Crete, Saint Nicholas Orphanos in Thessaloniki, the Annunciation in Gracanica, the narthexes of the Hilandar katholikon and the church of the Holy Virgin in the monastery of Brontocheion at Mistra, the katholicon of the Pantokrator monastery and the church of Saint Demetrios in Markov Manastir). There are no substantial data regarding the identity of the saints depicted next to him in the metropolitan Church of Saint Demetrios at Mistra, while in a number of cases the image of the saint shown next to him has not been preserved (e.g. Saint Irene in the village of Agios Mamas on Crete, Gregory?s Gallery in the church of Saint Sophia in Ohrid and the church of the Holy Virgin (Panagia Kera) near the village Chromonastiri on Crete). On the other hand, in the church of the Holy Virgin in Mateic, Saint Sampson is, exceptionally, depicted among bishops, while in the church of the Holy Archangels in Prilep and the chapel of the Holy Anargyroi in Vatopedi, he is, as usual, surrounded by holy physicians but his mates are not featured - neither Saint Mokios, not Saint Diomedes. The earliest known commemorative text dedicated to him is the extensive hagiography - Vita Sampsonis I, composed in the seventh or the early eighth century. Other hagiographies, which mostly date from the tenth century, are completely based on the earlier writing. Such a composition can be found in the Synaxarion of the Church of Constantinople. In the extensive text (Vita Sampsonis II), Symeon Metaphrastes added a part that included detailed descriptions of a number of posthumous miracles, mostly healings; all these events are also mentioned in the short Hagiography. Finally, in the late thirteenth century, Constantine Akropolites wrote the still unpublished Hagiography (Vita Sampsonis III), in which he presented an account of events from the later history of the Saint?s hospital. The hagiographies inform us that Sampson was a Roman by birth and a kin of Emperor Constantine. He inherited a fortune, which he distributed to the poor. Then, he departed for Constantinople, where he found a modest home. Patriarch Menas ordained him a priest. Relying on the medical knowledge, Sampson was saving the sick and he even cured Emperor Justinian from an incurable disease. For that reason, the Emperor found a large house, in which he established and fully equipped a xenon (hospital, ?????), whereas Sampson was appointed as the skeuophylax of the Great Church. The Blessed continued to work there until his death. His venerable leipsana, which rested in the church of Saint Mokios, constantly issued the cures. His feast was celebrated in the hospital founded by him. Long time had passed between the period in which the Saint had lived and the epoch in which his earliest hagiography was compiled. During that time, some events could have fallen into oblivion and accounts of other events could have been invented. Accordingly, the results of the researchers of Saint Sampson?s xenon?s history are valuable. The hospital was housed in Sampson?s home, where he provided not only health care, but also food and bed. It was presumably founded in the fourth century. The xenon was burned in the Nika riots in 532 and Emperor Justinian had it renovated and expanded. Based on some documents issued in the Empire of Nicaea, it may be concluded that the xenon had vast estates. The Crusaders first sacked it, to subsequently use it for their own needs, as they established the Order of Saint Sampson. The hospital soon received many properties in Constantinople and its environs, Hungary and Flanders. It seems that after the liberation of Constantinople, the activities of Saint Sampson?s hospital were ceased and that there was a monastery at its place in the Palaiologan period. Anyway, the reputation of its holy founder persisted throughout the thirteenth century. Constantine Akropolites wrote the already mentioned Hagiography, and in one of his letters he spoke of the Saint, who was also mentioned in a poem by Manuel Philes (died around 1345). In Constantinople, the veneration of Saint Sampson had two centres - the hospital named after him and the church of Saint Mokios, where his leipsana rested. According to the synaxaria of the Typikon of the Great Church and the Church of Constantinople, the feast dedicated to the Saint was celebrated at his xenon. The former text informs us that the service was held by the Patriarch, whereas Symeon Metaphrastes relates that the vigil on the eve of the feast took place over the relics in the church of Saint Mokios. The Patriarch celebrated the feast dedicated to Saint Sampson with hospital clergy in the church within the xenon, both mentioned by Metaphrastes. It was either this church or a shrine from a later period that housed the iconostasis noted down by Constantine Stilbes, an eyewitness of the Latin capture of the Byzantine capital. Written sources and archaeological finds are consistent in that the hospital was located between the churches of Saint Sophia and Saint Irene. However, the first excavations carried out at the site of the xenon were not properly documented, whereas archaeologists involved in further investigations could not rely on reliable data, though they carefully examined all finds. The question arises why Saint Sampson was at first usually depicted in the company of Saint Mokios, a presbyter who died a martyr?s death in Constantinople (May 11), and later, together with Saint Diomedes, the physician who died in Nicaea (August 16). Therefore, this paper briefly presents the hagiographies of the two saints and the churches in the Byzantine capital where their relics rested - the monastery of Saint Mokios, which did not exist in the mid-fourteenth century, and Saint Diomedes, which was counting its last days in the fourteenth century, reduced to a small monastery. Dobrynja Jadrejkovic (subsequently Antony, archbishop of Novgorod) noted down around 1200 that the saint?s stick, epitrachelion and robes were kept at the hospital of Saint Sampson, whereas in the church of Saint Mokios, under the altar, rested Saint Mokios and Saint Sampson. He also mentioned that water flew from the latter?s grave, as well as that the church of Saint Diomedes was near the Golden Gate and that the relics of Saint Diomedes rested there. However, the Russian pilgrims who visited Constantinople during the Palaiologan period mentioned neither Saint Sampson?s hospital, not the church of Saint Mokios, whereas the church of Saint Diomedes, but not his relics, was noted down only by an unknown traveller who described the pilgrimage undertaken between the late 1389 and the early 1391. The answer to the question of what happened to the leipsana that once laid in these churches is not possible to provide. The fate of the relics of Saint Sampson, previously kept in his xenon, is not known, nor is it known where the commemorations of the three saints were held in the capital during the Palaiologan period. Anyway, the depictions of Saint Sampson accompanied by Saint Diomedes - whose oldest examples are preserved in Arilje - indicate that the connection of these two priest-physicians had already begun by the time when the church was painted (1295/1296), but, judging by the available sources, the only evidence on the process is given by the paintings. Although Saint Sampson founded the hospital which was probably the oldest in Constantinople, and though his leipsana, kept in the church of Saint Mokios, had healing powers, while his relics in the xenon were visited by pilgrims, it seems that the respect for this saint in the Byzantine capital was not reflected in the frequency of his images among holy physicians: he was fairly rarely shown among them. As a matter of fact, the earliest representations of Saint Sampson originated from Constantinople. They can be found on lead seals made for the hospital in the second half of the sixth and during the seventh century. On the other hand, there is no any known preserved depiction of this saint in the mural decoration of the early churches. Accordingly, it may be assumed that the veneration of Saint Sampson was initially limited to Constantinople, and that it was only later, since the time when his short hagiography was included in the synaxarium and his extensive hagiography was written for the Metaphrastes?s comprehensive work, that it was adopted in other areas of the East Christian world. It may seem paradoxical that the preserved images of the Saint dating from the period when his xenon flourished are less numerous than those from the time when the hospital, in all probability, did not exist. It seems that after the liberation of Constantinople from Latin rule, Saint Sampson was earnestly honoured and that the believers frequented the monastery at the site of the old xenon, though the hospital did not exist anymore. The former assumption is corroborated by the writings of Constantine Akropolites and Manuel Philes, whereas the latter is supported by the coins from the Palaiologan period found in the sacral building within the complex that once belonged to Saint Sampson?s hospital. Although his miraculous leipsana rested in the church of Saint Mokios, the posthumous miracles of Saint Sampson, described in later hagiographies, mostly took place in his xenon, which housed the relics that were visited by pilgrims and where commemorative services dedicated to him were held. The veneration of the Saint was long fostered within the institution founded by him - the ancient hospital where trained doctors worked - i.e. it was nurtured between the reputation of medical skills based on secular knowledge and miraculous healings.

The manuscript sources of the Mozarabic or Old Hispanic liturgy have been thoroughly described and analyzed, with the exception of an early-eleventh-century book of saints' offices that has been considered missing since the late nineteenth century from the Cathedral Archive of Toledo. In October 2001, I identified this lost book as manuscript B2916 in the library of the Hispanic Society of America in New York, where it has been since its acquisition by the Society's founder, Archer Huntington. HSA MS B2916 is the only codex of the Old Hispanic liturgy preserved outside Europe. This manuscript is a curious book, comprising the offices for the feasts of Saint Martin (November 11), Saint Emilianus or Millán (November 12), and the Assumption of the Virgin (August 15). The matins lessons of the first two offices consist of the entirety of, respectively, theVitaeof Martin by Sulpicius Severus and of San Millán by Braulio of Saragossa. Because the manuscript was in a private collection and has remained uncatalogued, it has gone unnoticed for the last century, a period that saw the maturation of modern study of the Mozarabic rite. The contents of the book were not unknown during this time, however, because some specialists have consulted the copy (today in the Biblioteca Nacional in Madrid) made in 1752 by the polymath Jesuit Andrés Marcos Burriel. Indeed, it was Clyde Brockett's remarkably accurate handmade copy of the Burriel copy that made the identification of the manuscript possible, even at two removes. While the Burriel copy is useful, many important aspects of the original manuscript deserve notice.

La thèse a pour objet d’établir le catalogue critique de l’œuvre d’Albrecht Bouts (1451-55 / 1549). Fils de Dirk Bouts (1410-1420 / 1475), peintre officiel de la ville de Louvain, Albrecht et son frère aîné, Dirk le Jeune (1448 / 1491), héritent de l’atelier de peinture à la mort de leur père. L’œuvre de l’aîné reste très controversée, aucun tableau ne pouvant lui être attribué avec conviction. Il en est autrement du puîné, Albrecht, à qui la paternité du Triptyque de l’Assomption de la Vierge des Musées royaux des Beaux-Arts de Belgique peut être donnée avec beaucoup de vraisemblance. Le corpus de son œuvre, établi, en 1925, par Max J. Friedländer et, en 1938, Wolfgang Schöne, autour de ce retable autographe, comprend un nombre important de peintures. Ce catalogue n’a, toutefois, jamais fait l’objet d’une révision par les historiens de l’art. Seules quelques peintures ont été publiées de manière ponctuelle. Devant l’abondance des tableaux attribués au peintre, il convenait donc de réaliser une étude fondamentale afin de distinguer ses propres créations de celles de ses collaborateurs.

La thèse se compose de cinq chapitres. Le premier établit une biographie complète, sélective et chronologique, se basant sur les sources livrées par les archives de la ville de Louvain. Leur interprétation critique renouvelée et enrichie livre ainsi de nombreux arguments pour mieux définir l’individualité d’Albrecht Bouts et justifier le développement de sa carrière.

Le second chapitre concerne l’étude de l’œuvre d’Albrecht Bouts et débute par un examen approfondi de la seule peinture au caractère autographe reconnu, le Triptyque de l’Assomption de la Vierge. L’examen combiné du style et de la technique d’exécution de cette œuvre de maturité du maître permet de mettre en exergue les influences de Dirk Bouts et d’Hugo van der Goes et de définir la personnalité artistique singulière d’Albrecht Bouts. Suite à cette analyse, le catalogue de son œuvre est reconstitué de façon linéaire, depuis sa genèse jusqu’à son terme. Chacune des peintures qui lui sont attribuées est ensuite étudiée de façon chronologique et détaillée, précédée d’une notice technique préliminaire reprenant les données matérielles et bibliographiques, dans le cinquième chapitre consacré au catalogue raisonné.

La révision du corpus de l’œuvre d’Albrecht Bouts est fondée sur un travail d’attribution reposant à la fois sur l’approche stylistique traditionnelle et sur les résultats fournis par les documents de laboratoire. Une importante documentation photographique et technologique des œuvres, dont certaines inédites, a ainsi été rassemblée et sa confrontation constitue un support essentiel à la démonstration.

Le troisième chapitre propose, à partir des hypothèses émises à propos de la biographie et du catalogue des œuvres d’Albrecht Bouts, une analyse de la production de son atelier, particulièrement intense à partir de la première décennie du XVIe siècle. Dans cette partie, l’objectif n’est pas d’établir un exposé circonstancié et complet de chaque peinture abordée, mais plutôt de rassembler des groupes cohérents d’œuvres, également fondés sur une approche combinée du style et de la technique d’exécution. Un même principe de renvoi aux notices dans le catalogue raisonné est adopté.

Enfin, le quatrième chapitre est consacré à la réalisation en série d’œuvres de dévotion privée dans l’atelier du maître. De nombreuses généralités et quelques études ponctuelles ont préparé le terrain, annonçant l’importance de ce phénomène sans, toutefois, en mesurer l’ampleur. C’est pourquoi, nous lui accorderons une investigation la plus exhaustive tant sur les pratiques en vigueur dans l’atelier, que sur l’iconographique et le contexte socio-économique de la création de prototypes par Albrecht, dans la foulée de l’héritage des modèles paternels.

Ainsi, ce travail permettra de mieux cerner la personnalité d’Albrecht Bouts, de retracer son individualité artistique, mais aussi de réévaluer la participation de son atelier, afin de rétablir chacun de ces éléments à leur juste place au sein de la peinture flamande de la fin du XVe siècle et du début du XVIe siècle

The subject of the thesis is to establish a critical catalogue of Albrecht Bouts’ (1451-55/1549) work. Son of Dirk Bouts (1410-1420/1475), official painter to the city of Leuven, Albrecht and his elder brother, Dirk the Younger (1448-1491), inherited their father’s workshop after his death. The work of the elder son, Dirk the Younger, is still a discussed topic since no painting could be attributed to him with certainty. It is quite different for Albrecht who is the likely author of the Tryptich of the Assumption of the Virgin from the Musées royaux des Beaux-Arts of Belgium. The corpus of his work, established in 1925 by Max J. Friedländer and in 1938 by Wolfgang Schöne based on this autograph altarpiece, includes an important number of paintings. This catalogue has however never been revised by art historians since then. Only some paintings have occasionally been published.

Considering the high number of paintings attributed to the master, there was a need to undertake a deeper study in order to distinguish Albrecht Bouts’ own creations from those of his workshop.

The thesis is divided into five chapters. The first one includes a complete, selective and chronological biography of the master, based on the data found in the archives of the city of Leuven. A newly enriched critical interpretation of these documents has allowed a better definition of Albrecht Bouts’s personality and a clearer understanding of the development of his career.

The second chapter is devoted to the study of the master’s work and starts with an in-depth examination of the Tryptich of the Assumption of the Virgin, the only painting recognized as an autograph work. The combined examination of the style and the technical execution of this altarpiece, painted during the mature period of his career, underlines both the influences of Dirk Bouts and Hugo van der Goes and helps to display his original artistic personality.

From there, the catalogue of his work is re-established, in the last chapter, from the very beginning to the end of his working life. In the last chapter devoted to the catalogue, each painting attributed to the master is carefully studied, on a chronological basis and in details, with an introductive technical note giving material as well as bibliographical information.

The review of the corpus of Albrecht Bouts’ work is based on a traditional stylistic approach and on the results given by laboratory documents. An important photographical and technological documentation of his works – some of them unpublished until now- has been gathered. Their comparison brought forward essential arguments on which our demonstration is based.

The third chapter, which builds on the two first ones, consists of an analysis of Albrecht Bouts’ workshop production, which was particularly active at the beginning of the XVIth century. The purpose was not to study thoroughly each painting but to extract coherent groups of works thanks to the same combined examination of style and technique. Like the master’s autograph work, each painting is subject to a careful study in the critical catalogue.

Finally, the fourth chapter is dedicated to the serial production of private devotional works carried out in the master’s workshop. There were already many general writings and some occasional studies on the subject, but none of them really measured the importance of the mass production. We therefore undertook a deep and thorough research on the workshop practices ,on the iconography and on the social-economical context of the realisation of works by Albrecht following the prototypes created by his father.

The thesis contributes to a better knowledge and understanding of the life, the personality and the work of Albrecht Bouts and re-evaluates the participation of his workshop. This will give to each of these elements its proper place in the Flemish Masters Painting of the end of the XVth and the beginning of the XVIth centuries.

Doctorat en Histoire, art et archéologie
info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublished

The Saint-Venant equations are usually the basis of numerical models for landslide flows. They are nonstationary and nonlinear. The theory for translatory waves in a prismatic channel and a funneling channel can be used for landslides using the assumption of either turbulent or laminar flow in the slide. The mathematics of translatory waves traveling over dry land or superimposed on another flow are developed. This results in a new slope factor controlling the flow velocity, together with the Chezy coefficient used in previous applications of the translatory wave theory. Flow times for the slide to reach a given destination, slide depth, and velocity can be calculated using the initial magnitude of the flow in the slide. The instabilities of the wave tail are discussed. Three case studies are presented: a submarine slide that started the Tohoku tsunami in Japan, the Morsárjökull rock avalanche in SE Iceland, and the Móafellshyrna slide in central N Iceland.

Abstract This chapter discusses Blaise Pascal’s famous wager concerning God’s existence. The first section briefly introduces Pascal’s life and works. The second section introduces the concept of expected payoff via an example of a simple coin toss. The third section presents Pascal’s wager—that is, his argument that belief in God has a greater expected payoff than not believing in God. The fourth section considers a number of background assumptions to Pascal’s argument, including assumptions about background evidence, voluntary control over belief, the earthly benefits of non-belief, and the assumption that God must either exist or not exist. Finally, the fifth takes up possible objections and replies to Pascal’s wager.

This chapter examines the role of nurturance in Gregory of Nyssa’s understanding of the progressive perfection of the soul. Reflecting the social ideology of his time—in which maternity and breastfeeding functioned as indexes for social legitimacy and the transfer of cultural identity—Gregory regularly emphasizes the symbolic power of nourishment in the formation of the soul. Throughout his work, milk is described as a transformative meal, a form of subsistence that is the essence of salvation and the way toward perfection. The chapter begins with a comparison of Gregory’s Encomium on Saint Basil and the Life of Moses in order to demonstrate how these texts emphasize the maternal food given to an infant as the foundation of and guarantor for later intellectual prowess and social position. The chapter turns next to the Homilies on the Song of Songs and the ways in which maternity, infancy, and breastfeeding enable the various transformations of the soul that take place throughout Gregory’s interpretation. For Gregory, the Song of Songs is an itinerary of trophic mutations premised on the assumption that all food contains an essence that perfects the one who eats it.

Brigid, Ireland’s only female patron saint, reveals relationships between Ireland’s indigenous traditions and its adopted Christianity as well as the power and authority available to at least some women up until the twelfth century, a time of seismic change for the island. Multiple medieval sources insist she was ordained as a bishop, a status that her successors as abbess of Kildare shared until Ireland’s ecclesiastical hierarchy was drastically revised in 1152. Several sources also show her performing a miraculous abortion for a grateful nun, a miracle several other Irish saints, all male, are recorded as performing as well, challenging conventional assumptions about Catholic sexual morality. Her status as most beloved of all Irish saints in the Middle Ages is attested throughout western Europe; despite this great devotion, or perhaps because of it, Brigid’s historicity remains elusive. Her cult is steeped in conflicting claims of competing political factions, and each locality of her devotion stamped her image with its own mark. In addition, her cult has been influenced by the cult of the Goddess Brigid. Some have rejected the saint’s historical existence entirely, seeing her purely as an euhemerized deity, a Goddess made mortal but without incarnation—a textual, archaeological, and ideological translation from one faith (Paganism) to another (Christianity). Though such a position is not entirely unwarranted, it seems more likely that the cult grew around an actual fifth- and/or sixth-century woman who dedicated her life to God, exemplified exceptional charity and devotion, and established religious communities and churches. Or she may not have been only one woman, but a composite character who incorporated the attributes and accomplishments of several early Christian women, as well as those of indigenous Goddesses and Mary, the Jewish mother of Christ. Whether she was more Goddess than woman, one woman or several, Brigid was a preeminent Christian saint, representing to the Irish important truths about what it meant to be Christian as well as representing virtues of the Irish themselves.

The figure of Ahmad Yasavi has taken on iconic status as a saint particularly associated with the Turks, and with their Islamisation; the notion that he was somehow instrumental in the spread of Islam among the nomadic Turks of Central Asia is one of the standard assumptions about his historical and religious role to be found in most of the longer or shorter accounts of him in the secondary literature. The notion of Yasavi as an Islamising saint rests on several foundations. In the first place, that reputation is now entrenched ‘on-site’, so to speak, namely at his shrine in southern Kazakhstan. To some extent this reflects a standard ‘latter-day’ motif in hagiological traditions, particularly in the post-Soviet world, where virtually any and every shrine may be linked with a saint who tends to be identifi ed as a bringer of Islam, in part as a result of the loss of any awareness of the historical role or legacy of the saint in question. ‘Who was such-and-such a saint, buried here?’ ‘He brought Islam here’ is now the default answer.

This chapter uses the white garments given to the saints in the book of Revelation to probe the importance of aesthetics, social status and class in depictions of heaven. It argues that the shining garments of Revelation are encoded with systems of wealth and privilege and that depictions of the resurrection, similarly, are bound up in cultural assumptions that link beauty and wealth.

In this chapter the author analyzes the ritualistic inner experience in female sacred places. The author shows the centrality of the body and the “ritual of the body in motion.” As mentioned in the book’s introduction, in the Holy Land, places of veneration and rituals are based on canonical texts or mythologies of particular saints. As such, the assumption was that rituals are a product of texts and their translation into action. However, this chapter shows different dynamics of these rituals. Although the canon and its physical manifestations are robust, it is mostly “the body in motion” that shapes the experience.

In flexible multibody systems, many components are often approximated as beams or shells. More often that not, classical beam theories, such as Euler-Bernoulli beam theory, form the basis of the analytical development for beam dynamics. The advantage of this approach is that it leads to a very simple kinematic representation of the problem: the beam’s section is assumed to remain plane and its displacement field is fully defined by three displacement and three rotation components. While such approach is capable of capturing the kinetic energy of the system accurately, it cannot represent the strain energy adequately. For instance, it is well known from Saint-Venant’s theory for torsion that the cross-section will warp under torque, leading to a three-dimensional deformation state that generates a complex stress state. To overcome this problem, sectional stiffnesses are computed based on sophisticated mechanics of material theories that evaluate the complete state of deformation. These sectional stiffnesses are then used within the framework of an Euler-Bernoulli beam theory based on far simpler kinematic assumptions. While this approach works well for simple cross-sections made of homogeneous material, very inaccurate predictions result for realistic sections, specially for thin-walled beams, or beams made of anisotropic materials. This paper presents a different approach to the problem. Based on a finite element discretization of the cross-section, an exact solution of the theory of three-dimensional elasticity is developed. The only approximation is that inherent to the finite element discretization. The proposed approach is based on the Hamiltonian formalism and leads to an expansion of the solution in terms of extremity and central solutions, as expected from Saint-Venant’s principle.