Questions tagged [church]
Questions related to houses of worship.
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Was there an economic reason for Protestants' iconoclasm?
Europe underwent major economic upheavals during the creation of Protestantism (cf. E. Michael Jones, Barren Metal or Goy Guide to World History). Is this one reason why Protestants upheld iconoclasm? ...
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What do the inscriptions in Pomposa abbey say?
I've recently visited Pomposa Abbey, a Benedictine monastery in northern Italy near Ferrara, and while visiting I've stumbled upon these inscriptions below a fresco depicting an Hydra.
I have ...
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What's the point of the transept?
(If there is a different, more suitable stack exchange site, let me know.)
I recently visited Bourges cathedral, which does not have a transept, and the interior seemed much cleaner than the usual ...
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How old is the practice of wearing your "Sunday Best" to church?
I was wondering how old the idea of wearing your "Sunday Best" (nicest clothes) to church. It only became common to have different sets of clothes in the last few centuries. And even then ...
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Was it inappropriate in 19th century Canada to wear flowers in a hat to church?
(Not sure if this should be on the Literature SE)
From the novel Anne of Green Gables, Anne wears a hat with flowers in it to church, and is criticized by her neighbour and adoptive parents for it:
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What is the name of a particular architectural structure from a Gothic Church?
I'm sorry if this is not the right forum to ask such a question, but I'm interested in finding out the name of a particular structure from a 15th-Century Gothic Church that is located in Saschiz, ...
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What does it mean to grant a church to a priory?
I am trying to piece together the early history of Eversholt Church in Bedfordshire, UK. The earliest record found so far is in The Cartulary of Newnham Priory from 1166. Simon [II] de Beauchamp, who ...
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How to understand the gift of tithes to a priory in 1166 [closed]
I am trying to piece together the early history of Eversholt Church in Bedfordshire, UK. The earliest record found so far is in The Cartulary of Newnham Priory from 1166. Simon [II] de Beauchamp, who ...
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How did the Church of England view the local legend and festivities surrounding Gog and Magog?
From multiple sources I've read of legends regarding one or two giants, Gogmagog or Gog and Magog. It appears in Irish and English folklore, as well as other regional tales.
Gogmagog was a legendary ...
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What media did Irenaeus used to write his letters?
Eusebius of Caesarea (AD 260/265 – 339/340) in his work Church History (Book V, Chapter 20 "The Writings of Irenaeus against the Schismatics at Rome") said:
Irenaeus wrote several letters ...
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What is or was a Bond Major?
In our parish church we have a clock with an engraving on it that says 'The Gift of the Hon. Edward Trelawny the Bond Major 1737'. Does anybody know what a Bond Major was/is?
Unfortunately I have no ...
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How controversial were "updates" of churches in the past?
Following the disastrous fire of Notre Dame de Paris, heated discussions are taking place in France to decide on how to restore our cathedral.
There are many ideas, with two rough camps: the ones ...
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Did the Catholic Church have a police force in the medieval period?
Did the Catholic Church have a police force in the medieval period?
For example, if a British king was accused of heresy by the church, who would have arrested him?
I’m specifically interested ...
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Where in a city would a cathedral be built?
I am creating a medieval style village in a video game I am developing. Trying to be as accurate as possible I have studied the basic form Gothic Cathedrals and come to a pretty good understanding.
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What is the source for the Middle age tale, "Falling off a church and surviving by falling on someone"?
I'm looking for the original story of a tale I've been told years ago back in high school by my history teacher.
A worker in France was working on a church and lost his balance and fell. He landed on ...
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Representative early Anglican hymns?
Are there any church hymns that would be in use in the early (16th to early 18th centuries) Anglican church, and would be distinctly Anglican? (In the kind of way in which Ein Feste Burg is distinctly ...
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Who was Krusenstern's scandalous priest?
Krusenstern, captain of the first Russian circumnavigation, wrote a refined book on the voyage. He visited Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky in about 1804 and remarked without any further detail that "The ...
user18968
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Tombstone-covered floor in Churches
I recently visited the Basilica di Santa Maria in Aracoeli in Rome and found that the floor was covered with tombstones. Some of the tombstones simply contained text and decoration, while others ...
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How was Galileo's approach to mathematics different than Descartes's approach?
According to Galileo "the world is written in the language of mathematics," and a natural philosopher must learn to read it. How did this approach differ from Descartes' notion of a mathematical ...
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How much knowledge of the past was destroyed during the Dissolution of the Monasteries?
Apart from the buildings themselves, what items of particular historical value were lost during Henry VIII's reign? Wikipedia's 'Dissolution of the Monasteries' makes some mention of libraries but ...
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What is the origin of how people are arranged in Mass/Worship Service?
I've noticed in most Christian gatherings, such as Mass, "Worship Service", etc., the arrangement of the participants follows a general pattern, regardless of denomination:
1) The congregants, or ...
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Was Hagia Sophia built over a pagan temple?
According to Britannica's online article on Hagia Sophia:
The original church on the site of the Hagia Sophia is said to have been built by Constantine I in 325 on the foundations of a pagan temple.
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What clergy went on the second Bering expedition?
Vitus Bering led two seaborne expeditions to explore the Russian Far East. On the second expedition, he founded Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky by building a "City-Nativity" church [Богородско-Рождественской ...
user18968
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Do any churches continue to display length measures?
In 864, Charles the Bald issued what is today known as the Edict of Pistres.
One of his demands was that copies of the standards of measurements (e.g.
versions of a foot) were to be displayed on the ...
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Has there ever been any examples of persecuted people hiding treasure in British churches before they flee somewhere?
(I'm writing an historical fiction story.) Have there been cases of persecuted people who hid their wealth in a church? Who would they be? Who are they fleeing persecution from? Why were they being ...
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What did the administrators of secularized California missions do?
The Alta California missions built in the Spanish period were initially run by Franciscans, then secularized in the 1830s, becoming regular parish churches. Some lay people officially served to "...
user18968
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Was there a church around 1800 in Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky?
Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, founded in 1742, had just 85 residents in 1792. According to "So Far From Home" (Farris, ed.), a priest named Yakov Volkov was there in the 1790s. Was there a church? Because ...
user18968
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Was the interior of Hagia Sophia in Constantinople ever covered with mosaic icons?
The Church of Hagia Sophia has several prominent surviving icons that have stood the test of time and still exist today.
A list of the surviving mosaics and their estimated dating are as follows:
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Was Henry II's ". . . turbulent priest. . . " quote accurate?
I remember reading somewhere (might have been Simon Schama) that Henry II's famous quote of:
Who will rid me of this turbulent priest
Was inaccurate, and he actually said something much stronger. ...
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Could a nobleman / lord join the clergy in the middle ages? [closed]
First of all, perhaps my terminology is dodgy here, but by nobleman I mean A member of a noble family, of noble birth and by lord I mean a ruler -- that is, the Duke of Somewhere would be a lord; his ...
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