This article focuses on the Council of the Thebaid of 362. A close examination of Theodoret's version of events reveals that, upon the recall of the pro-Nicenes from exile, Eusebius of Vercellae organised in the Thebaid a non-rigorist meeting, which laid the groundwork for the Council of Alexandria of the same year. The Council of the Thebaid may have also included lapsed pro-Nicenes who had reverted to their original views after being deposed at Constantinople in 360, and may even have seen the participation of members of the homoiousian alliance.

This article examines the complex historiography of the establishment of a Miaphysite hierarchy in Iraq in the early seventh century and proposes a reconstruction of the events themselves. As the Sasanian conquest of the Roman Empire progressed, the monastery of Mar Mattai in particular played a role in staffing and organising Miaphysites in conquered territory. Roman victories in 628 led to a complete reorganisation of the Miaphysite East, with the creation of Takrit as the premier centre for Miaphysites in Iraq and the official down-grading of Mar Mattai. Nevertheless, in practice, Mar Mattai continued to be a significant centre under the Umayyads.

Crusade preaching in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries has often been studied as a centralised programme devised and deployed by the papacy for reform purposes. This article examines the career of John of Cantimpré, a relatively low-profile priest operating at the local level, who none the less was deeply engaged in crusade campaigns as integral to the moral reform of European society. This study first analyses an unusually sophisticated ritual performance in which a usurer was transformed into a crusader as part of a preaching event orchestrated by John of Cantimpré on the eve of the Fourth Crusade, and then investigates the representation of him as a methodical preacher who associated local concerns, such as usury and predatory lordship, with the crusading enterprise.

In the library of Winchester College is a multi-lingual psalter formerly owned by the diplomat and scholar, Richard Pace (c.1483–1536). Pace left extensive notes in this volume, the product of his study of the Hebrew Scriptures in comparison with the Vulgate and Greek Septuagint. They demonstrate his engagement with a variety of Jewish, patristic and humanist learning. A broader set of theological and devotional themes also emerge. For Pace, the Psalms were primarily a prophetic text, foretelling the coming of Christ and the Gospels, but they likewise reflected an interest in devotion, rhetoric and prayer typical of humanists of the period.

A patriarchal culture, reinforced by church discipline, has been ascribed to Wesleyan Methodism in the first half of the nineteenth century. This article returns to the same archives, Hinde Street Church in London, to present a more nuanced view of Methodist discipline. There were women who held influential positions in Methodist chapels, and they resisted ministerial authority with the support of male as well as female members. During this period, the Church was increasingly focused on maintaining a supportive community, with signifiers of status other than gender, such as perceived ‘usefulness’ in the church community.

This article traces the history of twentieth-century Ethiopian Orthodox student movements formed in response to modernity, especially the influential Maḫbärä Qəddusan, ‘Association of Saints’, established in 1991 when Ethiopia's Communist regime fell. It explores parallels in Egyptian and Indian miaphysite Churches; balances the prevailing narrative of explosive Pentecostal growth which has obscured the influence of such movements; provides insight into networks that have stimulated renewal and responses to contemporary challenges through strong engagement with traditional literary and intellectual heritage; and explores training and publications promoting contemporary reflection on this heritage, the revival of important religious practices and the targeting of influential ecclesiastical and public positions.

This note identifies three dated sermons delivered at St Paul's Cross in 1597 which do not appear in Millar Maclure's Register of sermons. These sermons are recorded in an anonymous notebook probably written by a member of the Exchequer's staff.