Spiritual writings and religious instruction

As soon as a would-be writer picked up the pen in this period, he (or just occasionally she) had to make a far-reaching decision: whether to write in English, Anglo-Norman or Latin. The answer would emerge from the intersection of the text's genre and of the gender, social and religious status of both the writer and the planned audience. Until around 1300, Latin texts would be read almost exclusively by male clerics and vernacular texts by the laity of both sexes and by women religious, though Anglo-Norman texts might be aimed at a slightly higher social class than those in Middle English. But Latin texts might also function as scripts for oral transmission by priests to their parishioners in English, while male clerics did read, and own, texts in French and English as well as Latin. In the fourteenth century, however, `a new, more pragmatic view of the appropriate language' developed. The choice of French or English became `fundamentally a political decision - whether to address the rulers or the ruled. The writers themselves, nearly always clerics, are those with education who are for that reason part of the establishment of power. In composing in English they are addressing the unlearned, sometimes to edify, sometimes to entertain, always to instruct.

Infancy and education in the writings of Gertrud the Great of Helfta

The German Benedictine nun Gertrud the Great of Heifta c.1256-1302 was one of the most highly educated of medieval women mystics. Unlike most religious women of the Middle Ages, she not only read Latin but also wrote it fluently and prolifically. Latin is the language of almost all her surviving writings: The Herald of God's Loving-Kindness, The Spiritual Exercises and (probably also written by her) The Book of Special Grace. The Herald consists of five books, although only Book 2 comes, quite literally, from the pen of Gertrud herself. The opening describes how she snatched up the writing tablet at her side and wrote the first section under divine inspiration (II, Prologue)

On the anti-automorphism of the Steenrod algebra: II

The relations of Barratt and Miller are shown to include all relations among the elements $P^i\chi P^{n-i}$ in the mod $p$ Steenrod algebra, and a minimal set of relations is given.Comment: 6 page

Beyond safety to wellbeing: How local authorities can mitigate the mental health risks of living in houses in multiple occupation

The regulation of houses in multiple occupation (HMOs) by local authorities focuses on ensuring the physical safety of occupants through adequate standards of building quality, safety provision and management suitability. However, it has been suggested that HMOs may also pose a particular threat to the mental health of residents. In this paper we consider the suitability of current regulations to tackle the possible risks to the mental health of HMO residents and then outline how the current public health agenda may present an opportunity for environmental health professionals to tackle these issues in new ways. Using a framework which encompasses the psychosocial processes thought to link residents? mental health with their housing conditions, we describe how local authorities can address some of the mental health risks posed by HMOs but that the current enforcement culture, in which prosecution is seen as a last resort makes decisive action against landlords very difficult. In recognising the many vulnerable households living in HMOs, we argue that local authorities dealing with housing standards and environmental management are strategically placed to be more ambitious and proactive in protecting the health of local residents particularly through the developing public health and wellbeing partnerships. We call for empirical research to look at how local authorities actually use current legislation as well as other strategies to manage HMOs and protect the mental health of tenants