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This article analyzes an English miracle narrative in which a portion of the Holy Cross is implanted within a knight's body in the Holy Land and is translated to Cornwall. The text raises important questions about what implantation means for the relic and human matters so conjoined and their respective agencies. Drawing on ideas about prostheticized bodies developed in disability studies can help scholars better understand the ontological questions raised by the melding of human and nonhuman matters, the profound vulnerability this entails for the devout human subject, and the ways in which this fusion of relic and human matter is socially transformative for the broader community. The article thus outlines some of the complex negotiations of matter and agency that could be imagined as part of the affective world of late medieval and early modern Passion relic veneration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on exploring the paradoxical nature of evil and grace in Christian tradition, particularly through the lens of Ignatian spirituality and the cross. It discusses the dynamic role of the cross in different phases of the Ignatian Exercises, emphasizing the transformative power of grace amidst suffering and the need for a nuanced understanding of theology's limitations in comprehending divine mysteries.

This archaeological note reports on an architectural block from the peak sanctuary at Stelida on Naxos that is inscribed with a mason's mark, the first such example from the island and one of only a handful outside of Crete and Akrotiri on Thera. The context of recovery immediately to the south of the sanctuary leads us to suggest that it originally formed part of the building's back wall, the sign facing Thera, and Crete beyond—signaling a connection to and possibly protection from these important political loci. An alternative hypothesis sees the block as an altar. The design of the mason's mark, a simple cross, is well attested at Knossos and several other sites on Minoan Crete, plus at Akrotiri on Thera, and at Mycenae in the Argolid. It is argued that this mason's mark provides further evidence for Knossian politico-religious influence at Stelida. 1 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

What sacred objects did the Lusignan kings of Cyprus treasure in their collection of holy items? Certainly, they had fragments of the Holy Cross and saints' skulls, but what about Passion relics such as the titulus placed above the crucified Christ, or the white rock to which the cross was affixed? This study explores overlooked fourteenth-century Franciscan apocryphal stories about the life of Christ and didactic narratives which, among other things, cite Passion relics and their respective proprietors. In the following essay, I will turn attention to relics which, according to these texts, were in the safe-keeping of the kings of Cyprus. In addition to evaluating the reliability of such evidence, I will discuss the nature of the relics, identify the mysterious relic-hoarder king, and seek to uncover a representation of such a relic in the 'Royal Chapel' at Pyrga, Larnaca. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Gospel of John reflects several layers of social memory and theological creativity concerning Jesus's death. In the early material, there seems to be a suppressed awareness of Jesus's fate and an unwillingness to unfold it in narrative form - something that recalls the hypothetical sayings gospel Q and the Gospel of Thomas. There is also a search for alternative, figurative ways to visualize the endpoint of Jesus's earthly life. Eventually, the narrative memory of Jesus's passion, as told in Mark and Matthew, was adopted with some modifications. Among the modifications of the passion storyline is the narrativization of the image of Jesus as a Paschal Lamb, an image already known to Paul. The most remarkable innovation, however, was the figure of the "Beloved Disciple" as an eyewitness to Jesus's passion and death. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The topic of this article is religious materiality in a Finnish, Lutheran setting. Reflecting on the altar cross of the Luther Church Helsinki - and more specifically the elevated role the cross played in the re-opening of the church in 2016 - the article supports the argument of recent scholars that Protestant engagement with materiality is not unambiguously negative but rather ambivalent. Using James Bielo's concept of "legitimizing frames" - i.e. boundaries or landmarks within which Protestants feel safe enough to deal with things and objects - the article suggests a so-called heritagization frame. Objects or things used within such a frame induce in people a sense of past events and experiences - preferably events in which God has made himself known in this world. This, in turn, enables people'sengagement with the objects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on John of the Cross's perspective on the spiritual journey towards union with God and the role of the spiritual director in guiding the directee, portrayed as the 'bride' in the context of the Spiritual Canticle. Topics include the transformative process of seeking spiritual health, the bride's relentless pursuit of union with Christ, and the psychological consequences of this union on natural powers, as interpreted by John.

Penal substitutionary atonement (i.e., the notion that Jesus Christ died on the cross to bear the burden of punishment for sin in our place) is a profoundly harmful theology for those suffering from addiction because it exacerbates the sufferer's sense of shame and thus keeps them trapped in the very shame-driven addiction cycle from which they need redemption. Shame is a core problem in addiction in that it often both causes and perpetuates the addiction cycle. That is, people with substance use disorders often use to escape feelings of shame momentarily. However, the use itself often becomes its own source of shame. This generates an addiction cycle in which a person uses to escape shame, only to feel more shame after using, and then uses again to escape that shame. Recovery from addiction therefore requires interventions that free the person suffering from the bondage of shame. Paradoxically, penal substitutionary atonement—a common version of the theological doctrine most suited to the search for freedom from bondage (i.e., salvation)— is often seen as a significant impediment to the pursuit of freedom from the bondage of addiction. A central claim of the theory of penal substitutionary atonement is that we are freed from the bondage of sin through Christ's atoning death. Yet, rather than offering freedom from bondage, penal substitutionary atonement keeps the person with addiction mired in the very shame from which they need freedom by relying on a judicial metaphor, which identifies the divine–human relationship as one between judge and, at best, a forgiven criminal. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

On the Holy Cross Mountains (southern Poland), located within the tectonic zone of the Trans-European Suture Zone (TESZ), numerous former quarries exist, including those of Cambrian quarzitic sandstones and sandstones with pyrite veins. This article presents the results of geochemical studies on the waters of the acidic mine pit lake Podwiśniówka (with an area of 1.5 ha and a maximum depth of 7.0 m) conducted in 2018. The tests were carried out in a vertical water column (every 1 m) in the central part of pit lake. The mean concentration of metals/metalloids, determined using inductively coupled plasma-quadrupole mass spectrometry (ICP-QMS), was found to form the following sequence in decreasing order: As> Cu> Ni> Co> Cr> Zn> U> Pb> Cd> Tl. With increasing depth, there was a general upwards trend in the concentrations of all the determined elements. In all cases, the average value of the single pollution index in the water column greatly exceeds the very strong level in relation to the geochemical background of surface waters globally (As – above 1250 times). The integrated pollution index for the ten trace elements in the water column increases with depth, and its average value exceeding 250 times the highest reference level. At the same time, the cluster analysis carried out showed the existence of two distinct depth zones in the pit lake: upper (0–4 m) and lower (5–7 m), differing in the scale of the water pollution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Wheaton's principal focus is on texts in the final two books of the eleven-book collection of Fortunatus' I Carmina i , probably published posthumously. It is to Wheaton's credit that he has provided such an interesting exposition of Fortunatus' theological writings as well as opening up many fruitful lines for further enquiry. He makes an interesting case for the degree to which Fortunatus shaped it as well, though the evidence for the reception of Fortunatus' ideas appears to be rather meagre. [Extracted from the article]

This article examines the way one nineteenth-century clergyman of the Church of England in Australia, William Gore, was influenced by the Oxford Movement. Gore was the incumbent of the parish of All Saints Church, North Parramatta in Sydney. He implemented liturgical practices valued by the Oxford Movement, including wearing a surplice to preach rather than a Geneva gown, reading the Offertory sentences in the service of Holy Communion in the Book of Common Prayer , celebrating the Holy Communion on the saints days set in the Prayer Book and placing a cross on the holy table. He was supported by his bishop, William Grant Broughton. The reaction from parishioners was surprise, shock and opposition and he was branded as a 'Puseyite'. This article uses local primary material, including press reports of parish meetings, to describe the reactions of parishioners in parish meetings against Gore's liturgical uses. Gore's activities are assessed as an important early example of the Oxford Movement's influence in the Church of England in Australia. Gore's practices, discussed in the public domain, provide evidence that the Oxford Movement was beginning to transform the nineteenth-century liturgical worship of the Church of England in Australia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article explores St. Augustine's views on the care of dead bodies in Christian practices. Augustine argues that relics, such as bones or clothing, can be understood as visible signs of the Church's unity across time and space. He also discusses the role of ad sanctos burial and the intercessory powers of saints. Augustine emphasizes the importance of love and unity in the Church and suggests that the prayers and actions of the living can aid the souls of the dead. He distinguishes between the worship of the Lord and the honor and veneration paid to the saints and their relics, emphasizing that the saints' power is derived from God. The Catholic Church embraces the practice of veneration of saints while acknowledging the potential for confusion. The text also discusses Gregory of Nyssa's alternate view on the efficacy of relics based on the persistent connection between the soul and the body. The text concludes by discussing the theology of icons and their connection to the Cross. Icons and relics serve as mediators of the unity of the Church and can be recognized as objects of holiness. [Extracted from the article]

One is the decolonial perspective on migrant childhoods in the Americas, which states that the historically unequal socioeconomic structure of international migrants can be traced back to European imperialism and colonialism. For this reason, Children Crossing Borders: Latin American Migrant Childhoods is a valuable contribution to migration studies that focuses on excluded migrant populations, i.e. those families and groups of migrants who are racialized, excluded by nationality, gender, age, and immigration status. [Extracted from the article]

The Arma Christi, the instruments of the Passion of Christ, are a fascinating collection of symbols evident throughout the history of Christian art. This article considers the striking re-emergence of visual depictions of the Arma Christi in the contemporary spiritual practice of Bible Journaling. How have these symbols of the Passion made their way back into the popular Christian imaginary and creative expression of Bible readers today? The creative, devotional practice of Bible Journaling is gaining popularity in many countries, notably the US. Almost exclusively practiced by women, Bible Journaling involves making artistic interventions directly in the material artefact of the printed Bible, with different creative media. In considering the value of this practice for women's spirituality, this article employs a social semiotic approach, multimodal analysis, to survey their visual representations and to analyse in detail one specific creative intervention, "I AM THE NAIL", as a reception of a contemporary understanding of salvation through the suffering of Jesus Christ on the cross. Also considered are intertextual readings of the Hebrew Bible (Isaiah 53: 3–5) and the NT. The semiotic influence of popular cultural products such as The Passion of the Christ movie on the visual idiom embraced by the journalers forms part of this analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on a previous study conducted by Colin Plant in 2022, where investigated the status of two moth species, Caloptilia honoratella and C. hemidactylella, in the British Isles. C. hemidactylella is categorized as Endangered/Red Data Book category 1 in Britain. Topics include examines the plant's study presented records of both species collected from various counties, including Norfolk.

Jvari, the Church of the Holy Cross, overlooking the old capital of Georgia, Mtskheta, is a building that is literally and metaphorically on the edge. It is a liminal monument that crosses borders but also creates them. The church lies at the heart of Georgia's Christian history, but in the seventh century it lay on the frontier between the Byzantine and Sasanian empires. Architecturally it belongs to a group of churches found across the Caucasus, but it has often been promoted as an exclusively Georgian monument. Jvari is a single monument that illuminates issues in transnational history, and the changing roles of a building in the creation of identities in the early Middle Ages. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An editorial is presented which raises questions about the relevance of Jesus and the need for salvation in contemporary society. It questions whether the message of salvation from eternal damnation is still valid and suggests alternative perspectives, such as the need for salvation from selfishness, and societal issues.It also explores the interpretation of the cross and the gospel, urging theologians to engage with these questions and seek a clearer understanding of the message of Jesus.

The mystery of the love of God, of the God who is Love (1 John 4:8,16), and of the interrelation between divine and human love, was a central theme in the theology of two enormous luminaries of the early Christian age, Augustine in the West and Maximus the Confessor in the East. This essay compares them with a view especially to their convergences, beginning with their common hermeneutical claim that the entire content of Scripture is tributary to Christ's double love commandment (Mt 22:37-40), and their common belief that creation itself is the outreach of the inner-Trinitarian love, freely extended to the creature in the gift of existence, and supremely exhibited in the cross of Jesus Christ. Both Augustine and Maximus, moreover, respectively meditated on the affectionate and even "ecstatic" nature of the Creator's gracious love for the creature, reciprocated by the different forms of human love, supremely agapê--though unlike Augustine in his Confessions, Maximus offers no autobiographical reflection on experiencing this love firsthand. That said, there are important parallels and contrasts in how the two authors project the conversion of human desire in the mystery of deification. The essay gives detailed attention to how both writers analyse unhealthy and healthy self-love, as well as their views on the important role of self-knowledge in the maturing of godly love. It then turns to the complicated dynamics of the "ordering" of love, the love of neighbour (in the context of the love of God), and the difficulties of equal love of all and the love of enemies. The essay concludes by exploring the compatibility of Augustine and Maximus on love as the supreme "theological virtue" (1 Cor 13:13) in its interconnection with faith and hope. I reflect at last on their views of love within the nature/grace dialectic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines how Holy Cross missionaries in Bangladesh have interpreted the Catholic Church's teachings on social justice and inclusive education and have implemented its recommendations at Notre Dame College. The Catholic Church's documents on education provide direction, purpose, and rationale for Catholics across the globe. These documents advocate Catholic educators toward social justice in education by making education available, accessible, and affordable to all. This leads to the question of how Holy Cross adopts social justice and inclusive education at its elite educational institutions such as NDC, which charges high tuition and enrolls mostly urban meritorious students. The paper is based primarily on a combination of the examination of written documents and fieldwork involving interviews with Holy Cross personnel. The study reveals that the Catholic concept of social justice, social teachings and inclusive education are applied partially at NDC. As recommended by the Catholic Church, Holy Cross educators have taken different educational programs and social projects—both formal and non-formal—to serve the poor and underprivileged at Notre Dame College. However, as the admission policy of the college is based on the results of previous examinations, there is very little scope for the poor and underprivileged groups to get admitted to the college. Furthermore, the institution fails to include children with special educational needs because there are no special opportunities at the college for students with special educational needs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Panthera gombaszoegensis was recorded over from 100 African and Eurasian localities, ranged between 2.5 and 0.3 Myr. Among them, seven cave sites, Żabia, Tunel Wielki, Kozi Grzbiet, Draby 3, Południowa, Biśnik, and Komarowa caves, dated in the range of 1.7–0.3 Myr, were those in Poland. They were located in Sudety Mts, Kraków-Częstochowa Upland, Wieluń Upland and Holy Cross Mts. The material from Polish sites is not very numerous, being represented mostly by isolated teeth, metapodials and phalanges, however it is well informative diagnostically. From each site, except the Biśnik Cave, remains of a single large-sized individual, mostly of males, were found. The oldest record from Żabia Cave, dated on 1.7–1.5 Myr, because of lack of suifficient diagnostic features, was classified as P. gombaszoegensis. Bones from the other sites were assigned to Panthera gombaszoegensis gombaszoegensis , late Early and Middle Pleistocene chronoform widespread in Eurasia. Analysis of a large series of teeth size in the course of time does not showed any particular changes, and the size of the Eurasian jaguar was more or less comparatively large through its entire timespan occurrence. Panthera gombaszoegensis was ecologically flexible species able to hunt in a wide prey spectrum; its size, comparable with that of a small lion Panthera leo (Linnaeus, 1758) or island tiger Panthera tigris (Linnaeus, 1758), guaranteed this jaguar one of the leading position among large carnivores. This was a member of stabile by 1 Myr carnivore paleoguild, single, conical-toothed cat, and it was well adapted to changed environmental conditions initiated by glacial-interglacial cycles. It seems that climate changes do not affected so much on P. gombaszoegensis as previously thought. The main factor responsible for the jaguar decline was the arrival of the Pleistocene lion, which affected negatively and caused strong competition. Because to its flexibility, jaguar was able to survive relatively longer than other ancient carnivores. Gradually as the density and abundance of the lion increased, a compact and wide geographic range started to shrink up to the form of isolated areas. Areas with the last, relict jaguar survivors were located far away one from another and overwhelmed by populations of P. s. fossilis. The final extinction of the species was between 350 and 300 kyr, and among them Polish find from the layer 19ad of Biśnik Cave should be highlighted as one of the latest Eurasian record of Panthera gombaszoegensis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Parameterized bridge modeling with PythonParts in Allplan Overpass structures along a highway section often place similar demands on structural design. This is especially true for structures crossing smaller traffic routes, where the terrain is flat, and for bridge families that are subject to a common design concept. They are similar, for example, in span, constructional details and design, but differ in cross‐section, crossing angle, gradient and integration into the surroundings. The resulting structures are similar but not identical and thus they fulfill the ideal conditions for batch production. Parameterized model creation is a prerequisite for efficient processing of BIM planning in civil engineering. Only by simplifying the processing of planning and its derivation into auditable representations can an effective, and also for structural complexes a correct and thus competitive planning be achieved. Using the example of the overpass structures along the planned extension of the A 20 highway, an attempt is made to achieve batch production of the structural designs by implementing a parameterized model. Ultimately, the goal is to enable planners to focus further on specialist tasks and the development of creative technical solutions by relieving them of routine, menial work. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Which is why Gorski and Perry's new book on the subject is a welcome addition to the existing body of scholarship on Christian nationalism. Simply put, Gorski and Perry use an operational definition of Christian nationalism here, as they do elsewhere, that is overbroad to the point that generic conservatism starts to look a lot like Christian nationalism. Finally, Gorski and Perry speculate as to where Christian nationalist elements on the political scene might be going and what, if anything, might be done to blunt their impact and stave off another event of the same magnitude (or worse) as the January 6 SP th sp insurrection. [Extracted from the article]

The article reports that the note describes their moth recording activities in their garden near Rosemarkie on the Black Isle, East Ross, during the period of late July to early August 2022. Topics include examines to mention using up to three Robinson-type 125W MV moth traps, one of which was placed near mature Norway Spruce trees.

In their book, Gorski and Perry argue that Christian nationalism was largely invisible both to conservative Christians because it was simply "in the air they breathe" and to secular progressives because they viewed the beliefs to be fringe. Gorski and Perry's book has synthesized this material in a compelling and succinct manner, while also illuminating the grave threats that Christian nationalism poses to a religiously and racially diverse democracy. Gorski and Perry craft a historical narrative to demonstrate that white Christian nationalism is not new but is "one of the oldest and most powerful currents in American politics.". [Extracted from the article]

Scratch and meaning represent concepts magically linked in a radical exercise: drawing. Drawing finds in its crudest and most unmediated forms its fullest, introductory, and initiatory meaning. The cross would be among them. And there are two figures capable of making the tuning fork of our plasticist impulse vibrate like no one else: Eduardo Chillida (1924-2002) and Antoni Tàpies (1923-2012). The parallels of their trajectory could help us to recognize some of the inalienable dimensions of every encounter with the sign in our creative work. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The standard theological treatments of theodicy deal in privation, measuring out the fallen creature's diminution from an ideal. The same concept belongs to an older tradition of aesthetics, which measures beauty according to ideals of formal proportion, with ugliness lying at a distance from the ideal. The grammar of "wonder" Brian Brock adopts in his theology of disability troubles both theodicies of diminution and the aesthetics of declension. The author proposes that such accounts of beauty and its declensions have regularly been problematized by the cross of Jesus Christ, requiring theology to revise its concepts. Beauty measured by form opens up questions of irregularity and deformity. The author argues that the form proper to beauty lies not within the constituent part of any particular being, but rather within the relation of the creature to God. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Definition: Ladislaus II Jagiełło (1386–1434). Ladislaus II Jagiełło is the founder of the Jagiellonian dynasty that had ruled over Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania (until 1572), Bohemia (1471–1526) and Hungary (1440–1444, 1490–1526). A Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1377, and from 1386 a king of Poland and lord of Lithuania, which he ruled jointly with his cousin Witold (Vytautas), the son of Kęstutis. Five medieval portraits of Jagiełło survive, four of which date from the period of his reign in the Polish–Lithuanian state and one was executed posthumously. The earliest image, on Jagiełło's Great Seal, was made in connection with his coronation as king of Poland (1386). Two portraits in the Holy Trinity Chapel at the Castle of Lublin (1418) are part of a wall paintings scheme commissioned by the monarch and executed by a team of painters brought from Ruthenia. Furthermore, the sumptuous tomb (before 1430) in Cracow was commissioned by the king. Its top slab bears an effigy of Jagiełło with his suggestively rendered countenance, which undoubtedly reflects the actual facial features of the elderly monarch. An image of the king represented as one of the Three Magi in a panel of an altarpiece in the tomb chapel of Casimir IV Jagiellonian, Jagiełło's son and his successor on the Polish throne, dates from 1470. The chapel dedicated to the Holy Cross, erected at Cracow Cathedral, was in all likelihood commissioned by Casimir himself and his consort Elizabeth of Austria. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The dangerous memory of the crucified and risen Jesus confronts the "lie" of racism, past and present. The cross and resurrection disrupt our forgetfulness about the lie and awaken memory of our complicity in the reality of racism and its ongoing diminishment of the lives of racially-minoritized people. Indeed, the dangerous memory embodied in the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus creates tension that evokes a relational and agitational community of resistance to racist ideas and policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Contemporary Christian witness about the death of Jesus moves in a culture already saturated with an aesthetic or intuitive ethic of the crucifixion. That aesthetic has many features acquired though Christianity's long social dominance. This essay focuses on one aspect, authentically derived from the distinctive understanding Christian faith attributed to the crucifixion. First, I describe the Roman context, and the natural "reading" of the image of a crucified person there, as the background to considering the absence of that image in early Christianity. This leads to exploration of the ways that early Christianity used a variety of typological images to weave a new frame of meaning around the crucifixion of Christ. Then, using Tom Holland's recent historical synopsis of Christianity, I indicate how this new aesthetic of the cross lodged itself in shared cultural assumptions and perceptions. Finally, I consider the crucial American case of lynching, in which White Christian churches betrayed this distinctive meaning of the crucifixion, Black churches affirmed it, and the cultural aesthetic of crucifixion proved itself a key medium for resistance to lynching. Finally, I suggest some implications for church preaching and teaching in relation to the surrounding culture today. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent decades, scholars have come to see 1 Corinthians as a rhetorically unified response to the problem of divisions among Corinthian believers. This essay explores the ways in which Paul presents the cross as the organizing principle that can bind together three different forms of community division: the cult of the personality (1:10–4:21); the freedom to eat idol meat (8:1–11:1); and economic disparities when gathered for a meal (11:17–34). In each case, Paul appeals implicitly or explicitly to the cross as a remedy for the all-too-familiar strains on the fractured community. In the end, Paul's countercultural message about the cross offers a word of exhortation for the American church today, as it navigates a society that shares much in common with first-century Corinth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This essay argues that for Paul and John, the cross is an act of divine self-exegesis, or self-explanation. It reveals the divine attributes of love (including enemy-love), humility/vulnerability, power, wisdom, and righteousness/justice. The cross is also intended to draw us into the life of God to share in these divine attributes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ioannidis's passage also implicates the need for psychologists to open themselves up to alternative methods to the hypothetico-deductive model that pervades the discipline and has hampered meaningful theoretical advancement in the psychology of altruism for many years. In this sense, the review provides psychologists a kind of passage to Ioannidis's passage to altruism. Before getting too excited, however, interested psychologists need to bear in mind that because this book is not written for psychologists it may be difficult for some psychologists to follow. [Extracted from the article]

The parish of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross in Spycimierz is the oldest parish in Uniejów municipality. Historical records about its functioning date back to the beginning of the 12th century. Despite many changes in its functioning, as well as the construction of new churches in the parish, many extremely valuable, historic sacred objects have been preserved inside the present temple. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the topics of transnationalism and Christianity in early Canadian Western literature and films. Other topics include the modern axis of colonialism in North America, the portrayal of symbolic law enforcers in Canadian Westerns, and the symbolism of the image of the cross based on genre, geography, and religion in Canadian and American films and literature.

Albert († 1214), Canon Regular of the Holy Cross of Mortara, became Bishop of Bobbio and later of Vercelli and Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem. He was appointed to carry out diplomatic missions in the service of the Empire and the Papacy. He was also involved as legislator for new religious groups. As a Bishop he took care to update and to improve the life and the organization of the Secular Canons of his see in Vercelli and in the near city of Biella. For these Biella's Canons he wrote new Statutes. He founded the Cathedral School in Vercelli, with Masters and a Library. He was also called to deal with Secular Canons of Genoa and Milan. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Distant hybridization of cereals is often impaired by fertilization barriers. Haploid induction through intergeneric crossing is well developed in wheat but has not been successful in rice due to incompatibility issues. The present study was thus undertaken to identify fertilization barriers that hinder the compatibility of the rice cultivar Punjab Rice 121 with maize and pearl millet lines as pollinators. A total of 37,357 spikelets were pollinated, yielding 494 caryopses upon supplementation with auxins. The resultant caryopses, arising from true intergeneric crosses, lacked embryos. Imaging of the pollinated pistils at different intervals indicated that intense callose depositions block the release of generative nuclei to the ovule in these wide crosses. Rice spikelets pollinated with rice pollen (cis-generic crosses) exhibited positive indicators of fertilization reaction at the micropyle. While the cis-generic crosses initiated true caryopsis formation after 24 h, no comparative reaction was observed in the intergeneric crosses. The current survey underlines that the rice female gametophyte presents a strong pre-fertilization barrier to foreign pollen. This barrier may be modulated in the future by altering genotype and auxin combinations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Medieval European Jews often reacted violently to the cross or crucifix, seeing it as an idolatrous "abomination." Jews encountered the cross in various material forms, whether displayed in the church, or used in procession, or depicted on the clothing of crusaders and religious officials. It was not only a religious symbol, however: it was also a symbol of Christian power, and its virtual omnipresence in medieval Europe would have been a constant reminder of the Jews' political weakness. At times, the Jews' political impotence and violence against them may have provoked real attacks on the cross. The danger that such attacks would predictably result in martyrdom has led some scholars to question whether Christian accounts of such attacks on the cross are reliable, or whether they constitute a "cross desecration libel" fabricated about the same time as the blood libel in medieval Europe. This paper surveys both Latin and Hebrew sources treating medieval Jewish responses to the cross and argues that following the First Crusade, Jewish views of martyrdom may have encouraged abuse of the cross as a defiant sign of Jewish identity. It concludes that accounts of Jews' abusing the cross were not merely Christian fabrications or literary inventions, but likely point to actual behavior. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]