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Hariulf’s History of St Riquier is usually consulted for detail on liturgical, architectural and political history, but is rarely considered in its entirety. It was written in the changing and competitive world of the late eleventh century, when there were challenges for established communities, both in terms of innovative approaches to monasticism and the emergence of new political entities and potential patrons. In the past that Hariulf creates St Riquier had been the focal point of Ponthieu for generations and had stood the test of time as the conduit of royal patronage and liberality, symbolised by its great Carolingian church built by Abbot Angilbert. It remained, in Hariulf’s view, a centre of monastic excellence, whose abbots responded to and practised contemporary spirituality, and it had adopted strategies to strengthen its position, including care for its patrimony, securing new relics and memorialising its past. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bernardo de Toro (Seville 1570–Rome 1643) was a devotee of the Immaculate Conception and the last leader of a mystic group called the Brotherhood of La Granada. This article analyses what Toro did to create two shrines dedicated to the Brotherhood in the convents of La Concepción (Lebrija) and La Encarnación (Seville) of which neither has survived. This article reassembles their original components, which included the remains of the four leaders of the Brotherhood and investigates how Toro combined the relics of the four men, their portraits and the image of the Immaculate Conception in order to safeguard their spiritual legacy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]