Martyrs and Missionaries: Strategies of Jesuit Sainthood between the Suppression and the Restoration

This article explores the promotion of “Jesuit sanctity,” in the delicate passage between the suppression and the restoration of the Society of Jesus, as a reflection of the process of revival of the order. The strategies of sainthood that were fostered by the ex-Jesuits during the suppression and by the restored Society reveal fundamental information about the self-image that the order wanted to show to the world. These strategies emerge clearly from the activity of the General Postulation for the Causes of Saints of the new Society of Jesus, which in the nineteenth century focused in particular on two models of sanctity: martyrs and missionaries (and often martyred missionaries). Presenting important case studies of Francesco De Geronimo and Andrzej Bobola, this article investigates the reasons why the Society of Jesus promoted these typologies of sanctity in lieu of the trauma of the suppression, which emerges as “martyrdom” in Jesuit sources, and in the process of re-establishment of the order. It eventually explores how this “policy” of sainthood fits more broadly in the history of the Catholic Church in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.

The Legal Treatment of Religious Dissent in Western Europe: A Comparative View

This article examines the legal treatment of religious dissent from a comparative perspective, by focusing on the legal evolution from intolerance to toleration, and from toleration to emancipation in France, Italy, Norway and the United Kingdom. Historically, in Europe, only people professing the official religion were regarded as full members of the political community. Those who professed another religion were expelled, persecuted, discriminated or – in the best cases – merely tolerated. Over the course of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, in different degrees and forms according to the country concerned, European states started separating citizenship from religious belonging – a fundamental step in the process of secularisation of law in Europe. This development led to the emancipation of religious dissenters through the recognition of both the principle of equality of all citizens before the law, regardless of one's religion or belief, and the individual right to freedom of religion and belief.

“Is it gonna be fun?”: Lolabelle, Dog Pianists, and Musical Réussite

This article examines historical dog pianists and the pianistic training of Lolabelle the rat terrier to explore a musical question beyond structure and intention: what might musical encounters between human and nonhuman animals make possible? Reviewers of Laurie Anderson’s film Heart of a Dog, in which some of Lolabelle’s performances appear, rarely center either Lolabelle or her pianism and frequently distance themselves from indicating belief in the musicality of the activity. The tone of this reporting is consistent with that of other Western reporting on dog pianists in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. While piano-playing dogs have historically strengthened the human-animal divide by reinforcing dogs’ status as never-human, the frames for anthropomorphic acts are what strengthen this divide rather than something inherent in the anthropomorphic activity itself.

tumba de hierro del empresario Francisco Peña Vaquero

El cementerio Nuestro Padre Jesús de Murcia atesora una tumba de hierro única, impulsada por Francisco Peña Vaquero, un industrial propietario de una de las fundiciones más importantes de la Murcia en el cruce de los siglos XIX y XX, para el que el trabajo lo era todo. Sobre ese material se proyectaría un programa iconográfico que combina elementos tradicionales del mundo de la muerte con un repertorio centrado en los propios útiles de su actividad profesional. La suma de todo ello daría como resultado un catafalco desde el que se proclamaban los ideales de la resurrección cristiana a partir del esfuerzo laboral desarrollado durante la vida. Analizar estos aspectos y vincularlos con los aportes económicos y funerarios de su contexto nos dará las pautas para abordar el análisis de su significado. The cemetery of Nuestro Padre Jesús in Murcia treasures a unique iron tomb, promoted by Francisco Peña Vaquero, an industrialist and owner of one of the most important foundries in Murcia at the crossroads of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, for whom work was everything. An iconographic program was projected on iron combining traditional elements of the world of death with a repertoire centered on the tools of his professional activity. The sum of all this would result in a catafalque from which the ideals of Christian resurrection were proclaimed from the labor effort developed during life. Analyzing these aspects and linking them with the economic and funerary contributions of their context will give us the guidelines to approach the analysis of their meaning.

E Pluribus Unum

Polarization is a critical problem confronting American politics and society today. The history of the Netherlands serves as both a warning and an opportunity for the United States in its quest to solve pernicious partisanship. The eighteenth-century Dutch Republic demonstrates how continued division without compromise can easily lead to revolution and civil war. In contrast, the nineteenth and twentieth centuries of the Netherlands show how a pluralist political culture created a society of compromise and tolerance. This article suggests several ways in which the United States can start to create a similar society of E pluribus unum and mitigate some of the effects of polarization in contemporary American politics.

Toward a Global Intellectual History of “Minority”

The term minority is today applied to describe beleaguered, persecuted, and exiled people whose subordination is preserved or merely “tolerated” by majoritarian politics inherent to modern states. As this introduction indicates, however, during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries minority politics became a rubric for sociopolitical emancipation, providing a framework for intellectuals in colonized Asia and Africa to question European powers' treatment of marginalized communities. Bar Sadeh and Houwink ten Cate contend that “minority” has unique value as an instrument for historical analysis that is restricted neither solely to minority-majority relations nor to debates about (political) representation. Instead, the authors propose a global intellectual history of “minority” as a concept and experience, which is explored in the essays compiled in this special section, “Minority Questions.” By examining the diverse genealogies of the concept of minority, the essays that follow provide a valuable contribution to efforts to redress historical wrongs, even as they offer a range of explanations for the enduring legacy and power of this multifaceted concept.

Hacia un diálogo entre ciudad y naturaleza. Una revisión histórica para fundamentar una futuro ambiental menos incierto = Towards a dialogue between city and nature. A historical review to build a better environmental future

ResumenExiste un interés cada vez mayor por conseguir ciudades responsables con el medio ambiente y que dialoguen mejor con la naturaleza. Son muchos los elementos que intervienen en este diálogo: apostar por la sostenibilidad, reformular el paisaje urbano, profundizar en la relación de la ciudad con su entorno circundante o comprender mejor los flujos de energía y materia que en ella tienen lugar. Pero existen varios obstáculos. Al menos a lo largo de los últimos tres siglos, naturaleza y ciudad han sido entendidos en gran medida como opuestos. Es necesario superar la divergencia entre ciudad y naturaleza para poder plantear futuros escenarios urbanos ambientalmente adecuados. Esta investigación analiza históricamente cómo ha ido madurando la división entre ciudad y naturaleza para entender cómo se ha producido esta escisión. El trabajo tiene dos objetivos: 1) rastrear tanto el discurso urbano como el ambiental que a lo largo del siglo XIX y XX fue reforzando la escisión entre ciudad y naturaleza; 2) Identificar en el pasado autores urbanistas (a través de tres actitudes urbanas: paisajística, sostenible y ecológica) que se esforzaron por el encuentro entre ambas realidades. Comprender el pasado urbano y ambiental a través de un mismo discurso permite descubrir los propósitos ambientales que el urbanismo debería perseguir y ayuda a reforzar las estrategias y planteamientos urbanos futuros.AbstractThere is a growing interest in ensuring cities that are in better dialogue with nature. In this dialogue, many elements are involved: a commitment to sustainability, a reformulation of the urban landscape, a deeper inderstanding of the relationship between the city and its surrounding environment or a greater comprehension of the fluxes of energy and matter that take place in the city. There are, however, notable barriers. For at least the last three centuries, nature and city have been understood largely as opposites. From an environmental approach, the divergence between city and nature needs to be overcome if suitable urban solutions are to be found in the future. This research analyses, in a historical perspective, how the city-nature división has developed in order to understand how this split has come about. The study has two objectives: 1) to trace both the urban and environmental discourse that throughout the nineteenth and twentieth centuries reinforced the city-nature rupture; 2) To identify past city planners that strived for the convergence of both realitiesthrough three urban attitudes (landscape, sustainable, and ecological). Understanding the urban and environmental past through a single narrative allows us to explore the environmental goals that urban planning should chase and helps to reinforce future urban strategies and approaches.