How Teresa and Maria Margaretha migrated to Nordstrand: Translation of Relics and Transformation of a German Island into a Catholic Dutch enclave in the 17th century

When on 26 May 1662 the founding first stone was laid for a new church on the island Nordstrand at the coast of Schleswig, relics of Teresa of Avila (1515-1582) and of the Dutch Carmelite abbess Maria Margaretha ab Angelis (1605-1658) were inserted. This church was built for Dutch dyke builders who were called to reconstruct the island after its destruction by flood in 1634; coming from a Catholic background and from the Dutch Republic which was at war with Spain at that time, the dyke builders and their families were guaranteed religious freedom in the Lutheran duchy of Holstein. In this paper, the reasons for the choice for the Spanish mystic Teresa of Avila and for the Dutch Carmelite abbess Maria Margaretha are discussed. The latter patroness was never beatified but had died in the smell of holiness; after her death several miracles were ascribed to her. It is understandable that migrants brought relics of their appreciated holy persons who would remind them of their homeland. The paper will first shortly introduce the two patronesses of the church. In the second part, the reasons for this choice will be discussed. Behind this translation of relics not only spiritual reasons played a role. The function of the translation of the saints was first to keep up geographical and political connections with the old country (both Spain and the Netherlands), secondly to perpetuate personal-familial relationships (esp. with Maria Margaretha), thirdly to strengthen the confessional identity in a non-Catholic environment. Fourthly the transfer brought a certain model of Christian life and reform to the new place of living, which in the second part of the 17th century became marked as ���Jansenist���. The paper shows the transformation of the island into an enclave of Dutch Catholic culture.

Female Imitatio Christi in early modernity ��� the search for strong virgins like St Wilgefortis

At first glance you think that this is Christ crucified. At a second glance, you recognize a woman hanging on a cross. This is not an invention of the 20th century but reaches back to history where we we can find women cross-dressed or even bearded as men. St Wilgefortis or St Uncumber was a bearded and crucified woman who was venerated widely in northern Europe during the fifteeneth and sixteenth centuries. Wilgefortis is a corruption of the term ���virgo fortis��� (���strong virgin���). She and other female saints were considered as ���imitations of Christ���. The paper deals with the reasons why this saint became so popular and how even today ideas about such strong virgins which mirror androgynous symbolism live on in popular culture.

Transregional Interactions between Jansenists, other Catholics, and Protestants in Seventeenth Century Northern Europe

This paper discusses the theological and cultural exchanges between Catholic clergy and theologians, and specifically between the neo-Augustinian-minded, the so-called ���Jansenists���, and other Catholics, in Northern Europe during the seventeenth century. It also explores the Jansenists��� encounters and theological engagement with Protestantism. In this period, interaction and transfer between French Jansenist Catholics and other Catholics in other countries took place in various ways: 1. Via traveling and migration: French theologians and clergy returned home from their travels with reports about the situation of Catholicism and Protestantism in other countries; moreover, in the second half of the 17th century, French Jansenists fled to the northern Netherlands. 2. Via networking: it is little known that for a brief period on the North Sea island of Nordstrand, adherents to Port-Royal were buying land, and clergy of the Flemish Oratory provided pastoral care for the island���s Catholics. This project was not successful, but at the end it strengthened the network between French ���Jansenists��� and Catholics in the Dutch Republic. 3. Via publications by leading Jansenists and their counterparts. In this paper, the focus is on the view of Protestantism held by Jansenist writers.

Ein Tag mit Bernhard von Clairvaux

Bernhard von Clairvaux (1190-1153) ist der wohl bekannteste Zisterzienser. Mit seinen Schriften, Predigten und Briefen gewann er einen grossen Einfluss im Abendland. Bernhard hielt sich mehrmals in der Schweiz auf, auch in der Nordschweiz (Basel, Konstanz, Schaffhausen, Z��rich). Bernhards Texte wurden an vielen Orten gelesen, wohl auch in Olsberg, als es noch ein Kloster war. Der ���Tag mit Bernhard von Clairvaux��� beginnt mit einer Einf��hrung in Leben und Werk Bernhards. Anschliessend werden einige seiner Predigten zum Hohelied der Liebe gelesen und besprochen. Welche Spiritualit��t spricht aus ihnen? Was k��nnen heutige Leserinnen und Leser mit diesen Texten anfangen, sind sie brauchbar f��r heutige Lebensfragen oder rein historische Zeugnisse? Der Tag wird mit einem gemeinsamen Abendgebet in der ehemaligen Klosterkirche Olsberg abgeschlossen.

Katholisch, nicht ultramontan. Das altkatholische Engagement f��r die Entstehung einer katholischen Internationale

Die altkatholische Bewegung war von Anfang an international. Dies zeigt nicht nur die Pr��senz von Anglikanern, Orthodoxen u.a. bei den ersten Kongressen der Altkatholiken ab 1871, sondern auch das Korrespondenznetzwerk f��hrender Altkatholiken und die Initiativen f��r die ���Wiedervereinigung der Kirchen���, wie sie u.a. Gestalt annahmen in den ���Bonner Unionskonferenzen��� von 1874/75 und in der Gestaltung der Beziehungen zu Anglikanern und Orthodoxen danach. Im Vortrag wird aufgezeigt, wie im fr��hen Altkatholizismus Kontakte gekn��pft wurden zur R��misch-Katholischen Kirche der Altbisch��flichen Klerisei in den Niederlanden und zu den armenischen Katholiken, die in der altkatholischen Presse als ���Altkatholiken��� bezeichnet wurden. ���Altkatholisch��� bezeichnete damals eine bestimmte Gesinnung und Richtung innerhalb des westlichen Katholizismus, in der der Widerstand gegen die vatikanischen Papstdogmen aber auch das Anliegen kirchlicher Reform eine wichtige Rolle spielten. Der Vortrag gibtl einen ��berblick dar��ber, wie und auf welcher Grundlage diese Kontakte vertieft bzw. lockerer wurden, und wie in den Folgejahrzehnten Beziehungen zu weiteren katholischen Gruppen in anderen L��ndern gekn��pft wurden. Die Formierung einer katholischen Internationale von katholischen Kirchen und Gruppen, die nicht ultramontan waren und nicht mit Rom in Gemeinschaft standen, war dabei der Ausdruck von Anliegen, die im Kern theologischer, ekklesiologischer und ��kumenischer Natur waren (Reform der Kirche, Wiedervereinigung der Kirchen, ���altkirchliche ��kumene���). Das Eintreten f��r diese Form des Katholizismus war bis ins 20. Jahrhundert mit starker anti-ultramontaner und anti-r��mischer Polemik verbunden.

The Role of the European Imperial Powers throughout the Armenian Schism in the 1870s

The Bull "Reversurus" (1867) and its dogmatic legitimization at the First Vatican Council in 1870 caused not only ecclesiastical controversy and Schism in the Armenian Catholic Church, but it had also wide political consequences for the Armenian Catholics in the Ottoman Empire. The conflict originally between the Armenian Catholics and Rome attracted very soon the attention of the European imperial Powers. France, the British Empire, the German Empire, Austria-Hungary and Russia were the main political powers who were involved in the Armenian affair. A full picture of the role of all these powers for the course of the Armenian Schism is missing. Mostly the role of France is foregrounded in the printed sources, as the main power, which supported the papacy to win during the Armenian affair. The role and the motives of the other imperial powers is almost missing. This article will try to describe as completely as possible the historical and political background, which brought to the escalation of the Armenian conflict beyond the national frontiers and led to number of conflicts at the international and transnational level. It will be shown that the imperial policy in Europe in the 19th century have played an enormous role throughout the Armenian Schism. It will be explained that several historical circumstances in Europe, especially the relation of the European imperial powers to each other as well as their expectations from the Ottoman Empire and its Armenian subjects were decisive for the duration and conclusion of the Armenian Schism.

The Character of Christian-Muslim Encounter: Essays in Honour of David Thomas

The Character of Christian-Muslim Encounter is a Festschrift in honour of David Thomas, Professor of Christianity and Islam, and Nadir Dinshaw Professor of Inter Religious Relations, at the University of Birmingham, UK. The Editors have put together a collection of over 30 contributions from colleagues of Professor Thomas that commences with a biographical sketch and representative tribute provided by a former doctoral student, and comprises a series of wide-ranging academic papers arranged to broadly reflect three dimensions of David Thomas��� academic and professional work ��� studies in and of Islam; Christian-Muslim relations; the Church and interreligious engagement. These are set in the context of a focussed theme ��� the character of Christian-Muslim encounters ��� and cast within a broad chronological framework.