This chapter contains the translated text ofDe divortio. It has several underlying sections, responding to the questions that Hincmar initially received. These sections were, however, further divided to make the twenty-three responses which appear in the manuscript. The original sections are as follows: the procedure at the councils of Aachen, rules on marriage, divorce and remarriage, the validity of ordeals, the next steps in Theutberga's case, the sodomy charge, Lothar's relationship with Waldrada and sorcery, Lothar's possibilities of remarriage, and the response of bishops towards appeals to them and the case of Engeltrude. De divortio also deals with seven further questions which Hincmar received six months after the first: who is able to judge the king, can the king avoid further judgement in the case, the case of Engeltrude, and the effects of communion with the king.

It is difficult or impossible to define what a romantic comedy is because all Hollywood films (except some war films) have romance and all have comedy. While the pervasive presence of romance and comedy is undeniable, there are different levels of representational convention. All Hollywood genres implicitly belong to the broader traditions of American narrative film; romance and comedy are common narrative conventions, hence their ubiquity. This chapter describes the genre, cycle and critical traditions of Hollywood romantic comedies. On the basis of the dominant concept of a film, particular genres can be characterized not only as the only genres in which given elements, devices and features occur, but also as the ones in which they are dominant, in which they play an overall organizing role. Thus, the formation of a couple takes place in many fictional texts as a narrative convention, but it plays the dominant, organizing role in two genres: romance and romantic comedy.

This chapter surveys the absurd present in prose writing of the latter half of the twentieth century, considering the more recent developments in drama and briefly referencing several theoretical, popular and general areas. It starts with a section on Boris Vian, one of the contributors to absurdist theatre and the writer of I Spit on Your Graves, and then identifies a number of American and English-language absurdist novels, including John Fowles's Mantissa and Joseph Heller's Catch-22. The discussion also explores European absurdist prose, such as the works of Roland Topor and Cees Nooteboom, and women absurdist writers. The final part of the chapter discusses Sarah Kane, whose plays deal with human relations and usually involve extreme acts of sexuality and violence, and looks at absurdism in popular culture, thoughts and science.

Understanding policing models is particularly frustrating for historians. In the case of the colonial police model, the colonial population varied considered from colony to colony. It has been argued that accounts of the emergence of policing in Britain in the nineteenth century must take stock of the wider context of British colonial policing. The overlapping between the Irish-colonial and Metropolitan-English policing models was noticeable throughout the British Empire. The Indian Police was the first and largest colonial police force to be shaped by the Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC). Both the Indian and the Ceylon Police provided officers for colonial police forces up until their disbandment in 1947. The 'Irish model' was transported to India and Ceylon as it was throughout the 'old' Empire. Yet the number of officers who took their policing traditions to other colonial constabularies is limited when compared to the numbers of Palestine Police officers.

When people remember Myrna Loy and William Powell, they inevitably think of their roles as Nick and Nora Charles in The Thin Man films. The Thin Man highlights the intimacy and companionship of married life and the film virtually introduces modern marriage to the screen. Loy and Powell's star personae were remodeled to build on the film's success. The Thin Man was one of the films of 1934 that marked the emergence of the new comic style. Although Nick and Nora display screwball traits, the film's plot revolves around a murder mystery, rather than unconventional courtship. This chapter analyses the concept of making marriage fun considering the roles Myrna Loy and William Powell played in their films. In Love Crazy, Powell's character, Steve Ireland, feigns insanity and masquerades as his own spinster sister. These are precisely the kinds of role that in a supporting character would be definitively coded as effeminate, and yet Powell remains decidedly masculine.

Through translated and annotated sources, this chapter explores scientific explanations for plague.

The law contained in Article 330 of the Penal Code of 1810 had the unique characteristic of appearing exogenous to the juridical order that had invented it. In the logic of Article 330 it was important to discern whether this act took place on the right or the wrong side of the wall of modesty. The Penal Code of 1810 had confirmed the major changes in definitions of sexual crime that the French Revolution had initiated. The separation between criminal law and religion made France at once an example and an exception among Western nations. Sexual relations outside marriage were tolerated by the criminal law to the extent that they were consensual. Public modesty was the offense that divided visible space into two spheres, each with conflicting rules in relation to the exhibition of sexuality. Prostitution was severely reprimanded, and very broad police ordinances could punish certain forms of "shamelessness".

Through translated and annotated sources, this chapter explores the religious response to the plague.

This introduction presents an overview of key concepts discussed in this book. The book focuses on France in the thirteenth century, particularly southern France, where the surviving sources are richest, but also includes some largely neglected evidence for northern France. It discusses the most interesting aspects of the academic study of heresy and inescapability of thinking critically about the sources. The book also focuses on the heretics often called 'Cathars' and 'Waldensians', two groups that demonstrably held some wider appeal in medieval society. Wakefield and Evans focus particularly on heresy, largely ignoring the practical and legal aspects of its repression. The book provides the translations of considerable legislative activity and legal consultation in southern France and two 'guides for inquisitors'. The surviving documentary record reminds the power of the Church, and its determination to crush what it saw as a subversive heretical threat.

This chapter outlines the historical background of the growth of Islamic charities over the last few decades, and of Faith Based Organizations in general. It also discusses the humanitarian consequences of the clampdown on Islamic charities post 9/11, and questions the academic standard of some counter-terrorist studies that have authorized this clampdown. It calls for sympathetic steps to ease the way for those Islamic charities that accept the principles of regulation and monitoring. It argues that high values and ideals are better expressed by actions than by mere dialogue. Islamic Relief Worldwide showed what can be done when it was appointed to represent all the major British relief agencies on television to launch a joint appeal for the Kashmir earthquake in 2005. Failure to recognize the potential of Islamic charities means losing a significant opportunity to defuse the purported "clash of civilizations".