„KRYZYS MONARCHI PIASTOWSKIEJ” I PROBLEM TZW. REAKCJI POGAŃSKIEJ OKIEM ARCHEOLOGA

The turmoil of the 1030s in the Polish territory has so far attracted attention of historians. A detailed analysis of the information available in the written sources has strengthened a position in the result of which (in line with the reference to the events in question) the pagan backlash was to stem primarily from religious reasons. This interpretations suggests and provokes reception of Mieszko II’s domain as a completely Christian organisation. Consequently, at least officially it suggests that the pagan communities had been pushed to the margins of the society. Scholars have no doubts that these communities existed because they are regarded to have affected the events of the 1030s. Was it really the case? An analysis of archaeological sources, previously not used in the discussion of the pagan backlash, does not answer the questions so unambiguously. There is a strong indication that the followers of the old values did not have to flee from persecutions or the missionary ideology. It also looks like they did not have to fear financial exploitation for the benefit of the established church structures which could have easily operated parallel to venues referring to the traditional religious symbols. If we assume that it was the case, were the events of the 1030s in fact a pagan backlash? This question was at the basis of the considerations presented in this text.

England's Second Reformation

England's Second Reformation reassesses the religious upheavals of mid-seventeenth-century England, situating them within the broader history of the Church of England and its earlier Reformations. Rather than seeing the Civil War years as a destructive aberration, Anthony Milton demonstrates how they were integral to (and indeed the climax of) the Church of England's early history. All religious groups – parliamentarian and royalist alike – envisaged changes to the pre-war church, and all were forced to adapt their religious ideas and practices in response to the tumultuous events. Similarly, all saw themselves and their preferred reforms as standing in continuity with the Church's earlier history. By viewing this as a revolutionary 'second Reformation', which necessarily involved everyone and forced them to reconsider what the established church was and how its past should be understood, Milton presents a compelling case for rethinking England's religious history.

The Established Church

Chapter 4 provides an overview of the role played by migration in creating the Church of Ireland and its body of adherents. It discusses the manner in which secular Protestants derived great benefit from their religion and the manner in which they came to emphasize religious ‘reliability’ as a touchstone of loyalty, and the central role of the rebellion of 1641 in developing Irish Protestants’ understanding of their situation and role in Ireland. The chapter demonstrates the profoundly migratory character of Early Modern Irish Protestantism and the manner in which its leadership was dominated primarily by British-born bishops and then secondarily by New English migrants, to the almost complete exclusion of figures of native provenance. As a result, both the church and its community acquired a migrant stamp which contributed to its evangelical inefficacy in Ireland.

Anglican Rites of Consecration and the Delineation of Sacred Space, ca. 1689–1735

Between 1712 and 1715, the Convocation of the Church of England attempted to replace the existing informal orders used for the consecration of churches, chapels, and churchyards with a single uniform rite. While these efforts have been associated with the erection of the Fifty New Churches to provide for the populous and expanding suburbs of London and Westminster, the discussions actually arose out of the political divisions between the bishops and the Lower House of Convocation. The efforts to establish an official order of consecration was also a response to the changed ecclesiastical climate that followed the Toleration Act of 1689, which allowed for the registration of Dissenter chapels. The Established Church found its religious hegemony threatened and the particular status of its places of worship, achieved through consecration, challenged. The church responded to the criticism of their existing forms of consecration by reforming the liturgy as well as demonstrating the historical and legal basis for the practice. The sermons preached at the consecration or reopening of these churches provided a further opportunity for the clergy to justify the ceremony as well as to draw comparisons between these churches and Dissenting meetinghouses.

Championing the 'Alien Church': The Religious Politics of Late Victorian and Edwardian Wales – in Cartoons

J. M. Staniforth was a popular cartoonist working (from the early 1890s until his death in 1921) for the Cardiff Western Mail and the Sunday News of the World. Himself an Anglican, he took a keen interest in the religious politics of the day, particularly those which involved Nonconformist and Liberal attacks on the position of the Established Church. Recognized as an important commentator by both opponents (such as David Lloyd George) and fellow Anglicans (including a number of Anglican clerics), Staniforth's cartoons challenged the assumptions which governed the arguments in favour of disestablishment and disendowment, as well as critiquing the motives and ethics of their proponents. A study of his work affords fascinating insights into the visual culture of some of the most hardfought debates of late Victorian and Edwardian Wales.

A New Reign

This chapter sets out the religious expectations on Victoria at her accession in 1837—a blend of the new and the old. While she inherited her dynasty’s commitments to the maintenance of Protestantism and the established church, she was also subject to the new emotional intensity with which religious people regarded their monarchs. The chapter’s survey of religious responses to the deaths of Victoria’s immediate predecessors illustrates how this intensity took hold. It argues that reactions to Victoria’s coronation and to early assassination attempts against her show that she remained, in the eyes of her new subjects, not just a moving, but also a sacral, providential figure. If, in these ways, Victoria was the last Hanoverian, then she quickly distanced herself from the political Protestantism of her predecessors.

The Response of the Auld Kirk in Haddington to the Disruption

This article will provide a case study of how the Auld Kirk in Haddington responded to the Disruption of 1843. It will show that despite the diversification of the church in the burgh during the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, in 1843 the Church of Scotland was by far the largest denomination and that, despite two ministers and just under 500 members ‘coming out’, it retained its dominance during the remainder of the nineteenth century. This article will identify a number of factors which enabled the established church in Haddington to respond effectively to the Disruption, including the speed with which it reacted to the events of 1843; the reluctance of parishioners to leave the ancient parish church of St Mary's; the relative weakness of other denominations in the town; its ability to attract able and energetic ministers; and, its willingness to pursue a form of ‘territorial ministry’.

The First Evangelization of Indigenous Peoples of New France: The Radical Way to Martyrdom of Jesuit Missionaries

The French Jesuits played a significant role in the first evangelization of the indigenous peoples of North America in the early 17th century. They focused on the evangelization of the Huron and Iroquois tribes which remained in constant conflict with each other. In their work they cut themselves off from the commercial interests of colonial countries, especially of France. After a dozen or so years, they were already able to convey evangelical values in tribal languages, being firmly immersed in the local culture. Thus, they were precursors of the inculturation of the Gospel. The missionaries were characterized by deep Christological spirituality, founded on contemplation of the cross, and, therefore, able to endure boldly the hardships of evangelization. As the result of the vile strategies of colonial powers stirring up tribal disputes, they faced numerous misfortunes, and, ultimately, many of them suffered martyrdom. Consequently, their missionary effort became a path to personal holiness and an irreplaceable contribution to the strengthening of the newly established Church communities on the American soil.

Religion and Atheism

The video focuses this large topic round a relatively few well-known literary writers. The established Church of England, central in Jane Austen’s novels, may not have been over-concerned about doctrine, but people who did included Calvinists both within and outside the established churches of England and Scotland. Dissenters outside the Church also included the Unitarians who influenced Coleridge for a period, and more fringe groups like the Swedenborgians who influenced Blake. The use of non-Christian mythologies to question Christianity is also considered, and Shelley’s outspoken atheism is related to the frequent imprisonments of the lower-class atheist publisher Richard Carlile.