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15 pages, 7306 KiB

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Ecclesiastical Adaptation and Reformation: The Evolution of Dutch Reformed Urban Church Architecture in Sri Lanka (1658–1796)

by Sagara Jayasinghe

Religions 2025, 16(4), 529; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel16040529 - 18 Apr 2025

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Abstract

Sri Lanka, then known as Ceylon, was ruled by three Euro-Christian colonisers for over 450 years. Alongside their pursuit of trade and wealth, these colonial powers—the Portuguese (1505–1658), Dutch (1658–1796), and British (1796–1948)—sought to establish their distinct forms of Christianity: Catholicism by the Portuguese, Reformation by the Dutch, and Anglicanism and other Protestant denominations by the British. The missionary strategies and religious policies of these European colonisers varied significantly. Unlike Catholicism, which closely aligned with the external rituals of local religions such as Buddhism and Hinduism, the Dutch Reformed religion emphasised Christian doctrine and biblical scripture, distinguishing itself in its liturgy, art, and architecture. This paper examines the origins and development of Dutch Reformed urban church architecture in Sri Lanka through archival, cartographical, and morphological research, complemented by an architectural survey of the surviving Dutch Reformed churches. The study reveals that the Dutch initially repurposed several Portuguese churches for Reformed worship, and later, they introduced the “Meeting House” typology, aligning with Reformed ecclesiastical and liturgical principles. Over time, this evolved into larger “Greek Cross Plan” churches, a trend that continued until the rise of Anglicanism. Full article

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15 pages, 495 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Buildings, Lands, and Rents: Understanding the Process and Impact of Monastic Suppression in Spain

by Rosa Congost

Religions 2024, 15(11), 1382; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel15111382 - 14 Nov 2024

Viewed by 1102

Abstract

In Ancien Régime Spain, ecclesiastical wealth consisted of not only land, but also the rental income raised from tenancies of which the Church was proprietor. Therefore, the suppression of monasteries and convents in Spain cannot be studied only in terms of the transfer of their principal estates. The incoming Liberal State appropriated the Church’s rents for its own use, although many had fallen into abeyance before the suppressions began. To assess the true impact of ecclesiastical confiscation, it is necessary to consider how far developments in religious sensibility, whether or not associated with new conceptions of property, before and after the liberal revolution, may have affected the treatment of these rents. In this article, I aim to examine the geographical distribution of the different property rights of the regular clergy in Spain under the Ancien Régime and to observe the role of the Liberal State in their evolution and in the fate of monastery and convent buildings. We will see, in all cases, the significant roles of the payers and receivers of different types of rents. Thus, territories with the same legal regime and similar institutions passed through the process in very different ways. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Dissolutions of Monasteries)

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17 pages, 2161 KiB

Open AccessFeature PaperArticle

Þingeyrar after the Dissolution

by Jakob Orri Jónsson

Religions 2023, 14(6), 778; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel14060778 - 12 Jun 2023

Viewed by 1348

Abstract

After the Reformation, many monasteries in Scandinavia were provided new purposes or maintained parts of their former functions, serving as everything from hospitals to city halls. In Iceland, however, this did not happen; the monasteries were abandoned, and their functions in society, both ecclesiastical and secular, were, in time, forgotten. This was despite attempts to open schools in some of the former monasteries. While the reasons for the failure of these institutions to transition from being run by ecclesiastical to secular authorities in Iceland remain unknown, the common perception is that these sites remained centers of some influence, power and wealth. This paper will use the monastery site of Þingeyrar, Northern Iceland, as a case study, discussing ceramic data from ongoing excavations there as well as historical data on landholdings to examine the continuity of influence and wealth at monastery sites in Iceland following their dissolution. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Between Man and Nature: The Making of Benedictine Settlements in Medieval Iceland)

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27 pages, 7516 KiB

Open AccessArticle

The Construction of Sacred Landscapes and Maritime Identities in the Post-Medieval Cyclades Islands: The Case of Paros

by Athanasios K. Vionis

Religions 2022, 13(2), 164; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel13020164 - 14 Feb 2022

Cited by 4 | Viewed by 5083

Abstract

The Cyclades islands in the South Aegean initially attracted the attention of prehistorians approaching islands as ‘laboratories’ for the study of cultural development, examining the notions of ‘isolation’ and ‘connectivity’, or, more recently, by introducing new terminologies, such as ‘seascape’ and ‘islandscape’. The wealth of material remains of the post-medieval era in the Cyclades islands (e.g., ecclesiastical architecture, ceramics) and the textual record available (e.g., Ottoman tax registers, travellers’ accounts) provide fascinating evidence regarding the construction of sacred landscapes, self-expression, community, and maritime identities throughout the period of Ottoman domination. The main aim of this article is to examine the historical contingencies and the distribution of a vast number of rural churches, primarily as evidence for religious expression, in order to capture island dynamics and the formation of religious and community identities, as imprinted onto the sacred landscapes of the island of Paros. By shifting our focus from the imperial Ottoman to the local Cycladic, we come to appreciate islanders as decisive agents of their maritime identities, creating rituals and sacred spaces, sometimes beyond the strict borders of institutional religion. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Unlocking Sacred Landscapes: Religious and Insular Identities in Context)

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18 pages, 373 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Res aut res publica: The Evidence from Italian Renaissance Manuscripts and Their Owners

by John M. McManamon

Religions 2012, 3(2), 210-227; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel3020210 - 11 Apr 2012

Viewed by 6311

Abstract

This paper examines a key tension in Renaissance culture as reflected in the origin and provenance of manuscript books. Were Renaissance manuscripts the private property of individual owners or the common wealth of a lettered public? Even an officially public library could not escape that tension, whether through abuse of borrowing privileges or plundering of vulnerable holdings. Market forces encouraged theft, while impoverished scholars used their knowledge to supplement meager incomes. Alternatively, a sense of common wealth is reflected in an ex-libris indicating that a codex belonged to an individual “and his friends.” Book collecting, finally, becomes a helpful clue in discerning to what a scholar is committed. Some Renaissance clergymen used culture as a way to promote their ecclesiastical careers, while others collected and shared manuscripts as a way to promote tolerance. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue From the Renaissance to the Modern World)

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