Calvinist and Catholic cities – urban architecture and ritual in confessional Europe

This publication is with permission of the rights owner freely accessible due to an Alliance licence and a national licence (funded by the DFG, German Research Foundation) respectively.Urban history, at least in Germany, has mainly concentrated on the Medieval and Reformation cities on the one hand and Industrial and Contemporary cities on the other. However, recent debates among Early Modernists have produced the view that ‘confessionalization’, that is the formation of three or four modern church systems based on specific confessions of faith, was one of the most influential factors in producing the fundamental changes that occurred between 1550 and 1650 in Europe. This had a huge effect on the cities of Europe and their inhabitants. This paper compares Catholic and Protestant cities in Europe around 1600 with regard to their specific architecture and their religious and civic rituals. Rites and other religious functions or institutions have always been an important part of urban life. Lewis Mumford refers to religious funeral rites in his magisterial analysis of urban life in a universal perspective: ‘The city of the dead antedates the city of the living. In one sense, indeed the city of the dead is the forerunner, almost the core, of every living city.’ In Europe, the relationship between the Church and the towns or cities was especially close and, in a sense, fundamental because of the medieval history of the European towns and the structure and profile of pre-modern European societies in general. We start with a brief overview of these preconditions for urban life during Europe's confessional period, and then go on to take a closer look at the confessional city itself.Peer Reviewe

Innovation through Migration: The Settlements of Calvinistic Netherlanders in Sixteenth- and Seventeenth-Century Central and Western Europe

Nearly one hundred thousand Calvinists driven out of the Southern Netherlands between the 1530s and the 1590s settled in many parts of western Europe. This study examines their influence in western Germany. Including both skilled craftsmen and large businessmen, they were a major force in the economic modernization of their new homes. They remained socially isolated, however. As modernizing entrepreneurs, they came into conflict with both elites and guild members in the older towns. As Calvinists, they were excluded from political power in both Lutheran and Catholic areas, though sometimes encouraged by princely territorial governments interested in economic growth. Their position as an "early modern business bourgeoisie" owed less to their Calvinist religion than to their social and political isolation and the strong family networks which resulted and sometimes survived into the nineteenth century. Près de cent mille calvinistes ont été chassés des Pays-Bas du Sud à partir de 1530 environ jusqu’au début du XVIIe siècle et sont allés s’établir dans diverses régions d’Europe de l’Ouest. Le présent article traite de leur influence, en Allemagne occidentale surtout. Les émigrants, qui comprenaient à la fois des artisans qualifiés et des hommes d’affaires importants, ont été pour leur pays d’adoption des agents de modernisation déterminants, sur le plan économique. Sur le plan social, cependant, ils sont demeurés isolés. En tant qu’entrepreneurs progressistes, ils sont entrés en conflit tant avec les élites locales qu’avec les membres des guildes des cités anciennes. Comme calvinistes, ils ont été exclus du pouvoir politique en territoire luthérien aussi bien qu’en territoire catholique. Dans certaines principautés, toutefois, d’aucuns ont pu, à l’occasion, jouir de l’appui d’un prince intéressé au développement économique. Ainsi, c’est moins à leur foi calviniste qu’à leur isolement politique et social et aux solides réseaux de relations familiales qui en sont issus, et qui ont parfois survécu jusqu’au XIXe siècle, que l’on peut attribuer leur statut de bourgeoisie d’affaires du début de la période moderne

Le Saint-Empire à l’époque moderne : un système partiellement modernisé résultant d’une adaptation incomplète à l’émergence, dans les principautés territoriales allemandes et les pays européens voisins, de l’État de la première modernité

I. Prononcer, devant un tel aréopage d’experts du Saint-Empire, un exposé portant un titre aussi monstrueux revient pratiquement à s’immoler en public. Et ce d’autant plus qu’il me faut prendre la parole à la fin d’un colloque si riche en nuances et en enseignements, et immédiatement après une intervention dont l’intitulé, aussi bref que stylistiquement et esthétiquement convaincant (« L’Empire à l’époque moderne : l’État de la nation allemande »), véhiculait un message dont on peut envier le..

The MID1 protein: a promising therapeutic target in Huntington's disease

Huntington's disease (HD) is caused by an expansion mutation of a CAG repeat in exon 1 of the huntingtin (HTT) gene, that encodes an expanded polyglutamine tract in the HTT protein. HD is characterized by progressive psychiatric and cognitive symptoms associated with a progressive movement disorder. HTT is ubiquitously expressed, but the pathological changes caused by the mutation are most prominent in the central nervous system. Since the mutation was discovered, research has mainly focused on the mutant HTT protein. But what if the polyglutamine protein is not the only cause of the neurotoxicity? Recent studies show that the mutant RNA transcript is also involved in cellular dysfunction. Here we discuss the abnormal interaction of the mutant HTT transcript with a protein complex containing the MID1 protein. MID1 aberrantly binds to CAG repeats and this binding increases with CAG repeat length. Since MID1 is a translation regulator, association of the MID1 complex stimulates translation of mutant HTT mRNA, resulting in an overproduction of polyglutamine protein. Thus, blocking the interaction between MID1 and mutant HTT mRNA is a promising therapeutic approach. Additionally, we show that MID1 expression in the brain of both HD patients and HD mice is aberrantly increased. This finding further supports the concept of blocking the interaction between MID1 and mutant HTT mRNA to counteract mutant HTT translation as a valuable therapeutic strategy. In line, recent studies in which either compounds affecting the assembly of the MID1 complex or molecules targeting HTT RNA, show promising results.Functional Genomics of Muscle, Nerve and Brain Disorder

Electron energy relaxation in disordered superconducting NbN films

We report onthe energy relaxation of electrons studied by means of magnetoconductance and photoresponse in a series of superconducting NbN film with thickness in the range from 3 to 33 nm. The inelastic scattering rate of electrons on phonons obeys Tntemperature dependence where the exponent is in the range ????≈3.2÷3.8and shows no systematically dependence on the degree of disorder. At 11K electron-phonon scattering times are in the range11.9 -17.5 ps.We show that in the studied NbN films the Debye temperature and the densityof phononstatesare both reduced with respect to bulk material. In the thinnest studied films reduced density of states along with the phonon trapping slowsdown the energy relaxationofelectrons by afactor of 4 as compared to the prediction of the tree dimensional phonon mode

Electron energy relaxation in disordered superconducting NbN films

We report on the inelastic-scattering rate of electrons on phonons and relaxation of electron energy studied by means of magnetoconductance, and photoresponse, respectively, in a series of strongly disordered superconducting NbN films. The studied films with thicknesses in the range from 3 to 33 nm are characterized by different Ioffe-Regel parameters but an almost constant product q_Tl(q_T is the wave vector of thermal phonons and l is the elastic mean free path of electrons). In the temperature range 14-30 K, the electron-phonon scattering rates obey temperature dependencies close to the power law 1/\tau_{e-ph} \sim T^n with the exponents n = 3.2-3.8. We found that in this temperature range \tau_{e-ph} and n of studied films vary weakly with the thickness and square resistance. At 10 K electron-phonon scattering times are in the range 11.9-17.5 ps. The data extracted from magnetoconductance measurements were used to describe the experimental photoresponse with the two-temperature model. For thick films, the photoresponse is reasonably well described without fitting parameters, however, for thinner films, the fit requires a smaller heat capacity of phonons. We attribute this finding to the reduced density of phonon states in thin films at low temperatures. We also show that the estimated Debye temperature in the studied NbN films is noticeably smaller than in bulk material.Comment: 23 pages, 6 figure

Fomitiporia mediterranea M. Fisch., the historical Esca agent: a comprehensive review on the main grapevine wood rot agent in Europe

International audienceFomitiporia mediterranea M. Fisch. (Fmed) is a basidiomycete first described in 2002, and was considered up to then as part of Fomitiporia punctata (P. Karst) Murrill. This fungus can degrade lignocellulosic biomass, causing white rot and leaving bleached fibrous host residues. In Europe Fmed is considered the main grapevine wood rot (Esca) agent within the Esca disease complex, which includes some of the most economically important Grapevine Trunk Diseases (GTDs). This review summarises and evaluates published research on Fmed, on white rot elimination by curettage or management by treatments with specific products applied to diseased grapevines, and on the relationship between wood symptoms and Grapevine Leaf Stripe Disease (GLSD) in the Esca disease complex. Information is also reviewed on the fungus biology, mechanisms of pathogenicity, and their possible relationships with external foliar symptoms of the Esca disease complex. Information on Fmed control strategies is also reviewed