The miracle of St Cuthbert's incorrupt corpse has been the subject of much fascination since his death over thirteen-hundred years ago, inspiring pilgrims, monks, and even the construction of Durham Cathedral itself. Throughout the centuries, Cuthbert's coffin has been opened on six occasions. For the first time, accounts of these openings have been brought together in a single volume, providing a unique history of the saint from his death to the present day. Including details of his death and burial, the moment when monks first discovered his remains to be incorrupt, and the most recent exhumation of his relics in 1899, David Willem brings alive the mystery and intrigue of the life of Cuthbert's corpse, and tries to answer questions such as, "When did the corpse decay?" and, "Is Cuthbert still buried in Durham Cathedral?" "Elegant, accessible, and movingly written." - Giles E. M. Gasper, Associate Director, Institute of Medieval and Early Modern Studies, Durham University "In Christian traditions, curiosity, piety, and awe almost inevitably frame that sensed affinity our own embodiment finds with holy bodies. St Cuthbert's body is no exception as this book shows in tracing varieties of hope, faith, and experience down the Christian centuries." - Prof. Douglas J. Davies, Director, Centre for Death and Life Studies, Durham University About the Author David Willem is the author of Kicking: Following the Fans to the Orient and a former correspondent for The Guardian and The Times.

Black Rood tells the fascinating story of one of Scotland's oldest and most significant crown jewels. Once as famous as the Stone of Scone, the Black Rood was a gold and jewel-studded reliquary for a piece of the True Cross. This profound and holy treasure was smuggled into Scotland after the Norman invasion by the sister of the last Anglo-Saxon king of England. On her marriage to King Malcolm III, the Black Rood passed into the Scottish royal family, and so became a symbol of the authority and legitimacy of Scotland's kingship. Giving its name to the abbey and then the palace and now the parliament of Holyrood, the Black Rood was to help define Scotland as a kingdom which was at least the equal of England in the eyes of God, and in some ways superior to it. David Willem tells the story of the Black Rood though the lives of the kings and queens of Scotland and England who honoured it, treasured it, enacted themselves through it, fought over it, and who sometimes died clutching it, so creating a history in vivid human detail that ranges over a thousand years of Scottish and English history. At the same time, the author tells the story of two other similar reliquaries of the True Cross - the Croes Gneth of Wales and Ireland's Cross of Cong. Like the Black Rood, these Irish and Welsh crown jewels helped define the autonomy and independence of their nations, and both were to follow similar trajectories through time. The book ends with the mystery of what happened to the Black Rood, and explores the possibility that, like the Cross of Cong, it might still exist and be waiting to be found. Together these stories create a new and compelling perspective on the relationships between Scotland, England, Wales and Ireland, just when those relationships are changing again for the first time in hundreds of years.

Magisterarbeit aus dem Jahr 2008 im Fachbereich Germanistik - Semiotik, Pragmatik, Semantik, Note: 1,0, Ruhr-Universitat Bochum, 33 Quellen im Literaturverzeichnis, Sprache: Deutsch, Anmerkungen: Erstgutachter: Die Arbeit ist sowohl hinsichtlich ihrer theoretischen Grundlegung wie auch hinsichtlich der empirischen Umsetzung hervorragend. Auch wenn der Verfasser zwei grundlegende Thesen seines Lehrers aufgreift, so geht seine Studie bezuglich ihrer Differenziertheit und ihrer materiellen Genauigkeit weit daruber hinaus und birgt genugend Potenz fur die Ausbau zu einer Dissertation., Abstract: Was 'n Wetterchen ruft ein Madchen begeistert. Ja, wunderbar erwidert ihre Freundin, wahrend sie ein Fadchen von ihrem neuen Rockchen zupft. Sie sitzen auf einer Terrasse in der Sonne. Unter den Holztischchen tummeln sich Spatzchen. Trinken wir noch ein Weinchen? Die beiden Blondchen schauen sich schelmisch an. Warum nicht, ein Stundchen haben wir ja noch. Am Tischchen nebenan sitzt ein altes Mutterchen, das die Kellnerin mit der Anrede 'Fraulein' herbeiruft. Die Madels schmunzeln. Nachdem sie nochmal bestellt haben, tauschen die beiden Anekdotchen uber die Sommerferien aus. In einem Buchlein zeigt das eine Madchen, wie putzig das franzosische Dorfchen war, in dem sie mit ihren Eltern Urlaub gemacht hat. Dann steht eins der Madchen auf. Na, wollen wir mal fahren? Wie fahren? Du hast doch getrunken Ach, das waren doch nur zwei Glaschen Naja, okay. Aber wenn's ein Knollchen gibt, zahl ich nicht mit "1 Im oben stehenden Text haben die kursiven Worter eins gemeinsam: sie werden in der Linguistik als 'Diminutive' bezeichnet. Als deutsches Wort dafur tritt - vor allem umgangssprachlich - 'Verkleinerungswort/-worter' auf. Schon ein fluchtiger Blick auf die kursiven Worter genugt jedoch um zu erkennen, dass es sich keineswegs in allen Fallen um blosse Verkleinerungen handelt. Nur bei Fadchen und (Holz-)tischchen liegen eindeutig Verkleinerungen vor, in einigen Fal