The Fifth Research Meeting (9 July 2011)
The fifth research meeting of the project was held at the Institute for Advanced Studies on Asia, University of Tokyo, on 9 July. Thirteen members of the project group attended the meeting.
First, Katsumi Fukasawa, leader of the project, explained the budget and research organization for the year 2011 and it was approved to enroll Tomoji Odori and Mamoru Fujisaki as project members. Then the leader presented the state of preparation for and items to be discussed of the second international workshop of this year. It was decided that three scholars would be called on from abroad whose topics are as follows:
Pilar Jiménez Sanchez (Laboratoire CNRS-UMR 5136 FRAMESPA, Toulouse, France): “Les Cathares dans leur contexte. Pourquoi les bons hommes furent-ils mieux accueillis dans le Sud de la France ?”.
Alain Tallon (Université de Paris-Sorbonne, France): “Franchir les frontières confessionnelles au XVIe siècle : quelques exemples français tirés de procès d’inquisition italiens”.
Éric Suire (Université de Bordeaux 3-Michel de Montaigne, France): “Printed religious books in South-West France in the 17th century: a vehicle for denominational tensions?”.
It was confirmed, in addition, that two of the project members would read their paper, one of whom would be Taihei Yamamoto.
Subsequently, a plan of the sixth research meeting was agreed, to be held as a seminar trip to Kongobuji Temple in Koyasan, the headquarters of the Shingon Buddhism. It was reported that, with the intention of learning this religion, instruction and coordination had been requested to Dr. Masahiro Shimoda, professor of the Faculty of Letters, the University of Tokyo.
Moreover, the outline of the symposium in 2012 was presented and it was approved that the session will be held in Japan for two days.
Finally, a publishing program after the symposium was discussed. Project leader’s announcement was concluded by the confirmation of a publishing abroad, not in Japan, in European languages.
Next, Taihei Yamamoto presented a research paper entitled “The ‘Family of Love’: Religious Organization neither Catholic nor Protestant”, showing preceding studies on the “Family of Love” founded by Hendrik Niclaes around 1540, analyzing formation, development, activities, thoughts and prosopography of this religious secret society, and arguing the sympathy aroused among humanists at that time.
Then Tomoji Odori read a paper entitled “Catholics and Protestants in Early Modern Switzerland: An Iconology of Conflict and Reconciliation”. In this presentation he treated a picture of “Kappeler Milchsuppe” (Milk-soup of Kappel) which derives from a legend that the opposing two armies ate milk-soup after the first War of Kappel achieved a peace (June 1529) and traced the process in which this picture took root in the Swiss tradition of thought as a symbol of coexistence and reconciliation of both Catholics and Protestants.
Both papers presented the critical viewpoint to a schema which simply interprets the inter-confessional relationships in early modern Europe as antagonistic and encouraged an active discussion among participants.