From the President's desk
To all members of the SSCLE
Dear Fellow Members,
Proposed Amendments to the Constitution
When
the Executive Committee met earlier this year we spent some time
reviewing the Constitution in response to points which were raised by
some of you at the Annual General Meeting at Avignon in September,
2008.
Appended to this letter you will find:
a. A text of the present Constitution.
b. A text of the Constitution incorporating the proposed amendments.
Under
the terms of the present Constitution changes can be made only if they
receive the support of two thirds of the membership. If these changes
are to become effective it is imperative that you cast your vote.
Speaking on behalf of the Executive Committee, I urge that you accept
the proposed amendments to the constitution of the SSCLE.
Will you please return the attached slip to the Treasurer, Professor James D. Ryan,
either by e-mail: james.d.ryan@verizon.net
or, if you are voting by post: to 100 West 94th Street, Apartment 26M, New York, NY10025, USA
With all good wishes,
Bernard Hamilton
President
*************
From the Secretary
Dear colleague and member,
Subscriptions
to the Society for the Study for the Crusades and the Latin East for
2010 are now due. Payment entitles you to membership and to receive
either the journal Crusades (Vol. 9 for 2010) or Number 30 of the
Bulletin, depending on the type of membership selected. Please
note that the rate for a subscription with journal has been increased.
Membership and receipt of the Bulletin #30:
Individual: £10, US $20 or €15;
Student: £6, US $12 or €9;
Joint membership: £15, US $30 or €21.
Membership and receipt of the journal Crusades Vol. 8 (which includes the Bulletin): (One rate only) -- £25, US $46 or €32.
Joint members receiving the journal: pay additional £7, US$13 or €9.
Payment may only be made in the currencies listed, but there are many ways to pay the subscription fee.
1)
If paying by cheque/money order, please make payable to ‘SSCLE,’ and
send to the treasurer at the address below. Cheques must be drawn
on a British bank in sterling, on an American bank (or an American
correspondent or branch bank) in dollars, or on a euro-zone bank in
euros. Personal checks, whether in pounds sterling, dollars, or
euros, that do not meet these criteria will not be accepted.
Please do not send cash.
2) Payment can also be made by bank transfer, using IBAN numbers and SWIFT code:
For
payments in Sterling: IBAN GB34 BARC 2063
2530 8394 77 SWIFTBIC BARCGB22
For payments in US $: IBAN GB22 BARC 2063 2549 2766 77 SWIFTBIC BARCGB22
Beneficiary: Society for the Study of the Crusades and the Latin East
Bank Address: Barclays Bank PLC, Nottingham High Street, UK
For payments in Euros: IBAN FR76 30003 03952 00037266786 32 SWIFTBIC SOGEFRPP
Beneficiary: S.S.C.L.E.
Bank Address: Société Generale (30003), at the branch in Sucy Centre (03952), account # 00037266786.
Please use the codes appropriate for the currency in which payment is made, and clearly identify the payee.
3)
Members in the United Kingdom can pay by standing order. If you
currently pay by standing order please notify your bank and increase
the amount if you subscribe to the journal.
4) Members can pay
by credit card through Paypal. Log on to https://www.paypal.com/
and follow the instructions for establishing a new account. The
vendor is the Society for the Study of the Crusades & the Latin
East, and the account email address is
<james.d.ryan@verizon.net>. Payments MUST be made in US $
with a surcharge to cover the extra fees Paypal collects from
vendors. For a subscription with journal or back issues of
Crusades, add $2 each. For other categories of membership add
$1.
Whatever method of payment is used, please return
the attached form to the treasurer, by post or email, along with the
data sheets with your information for Bulletin #29.
Costs for
the journal/Bulletin are settled in UK £, and the annual subscription
fee in other currencies is recomputed each year, based upon prevailing
exchange rates. The fee for subscription with the journal was
increased to £25 at the business meeting of the SSCLE in Avignon in
August 2008, and subscription with the journal in dollars and euro have
been adjusted accordingly. Please note that when the membership
list is periodically purged the names of those who have not paid dues
for a period of three years or longer are removed,
If anyone wishes to prepay subscriptions, it is now possible to pay three years at once, prepaying two years.
Sincerely yours,
Dr. James D. Ryan
Treasurer of SSCLE
100 West 94th Street #26M
New York, NY 10025 USA
Email: james.d.ryan@verizon.net
Please type or print legibly, and return this form with your payment before 15 December, 2009
NOTE:
You are encouraged to supply this information as a computer printout or
as a return via email rather than using this sheet. Please follow the
divisions listed below.
Copies of back issues of the journal
Crusades (Vols. 1 through 7) are available through the SSCLE at £30
(US$ 56, €40) per number. This is a substantial discount on the
list price. If you wish to order back issues, please so indicate
on the attached sheet.
NOTE: If you encounter difficulty replying to this email please forward your rejected reply to Prof. François-Olivier Touati who will send it along to J. D. Ryan
*************
From the President's desk
Dear Fellow Members of the SSCLE,
The
Committee of the Society met in April, and among the matters it
considered was a request from Dr Adrian Boas to sponsor the Montfort
Castle Project which he is directing. As you will see from his
accompanying Report, this project is an interdisciplinary undertaking,
involving an international team of distinguished scholars. The
Committee has agreed unanimously to sponsor this important work
Unfortunately
the Society is unable to give financial support because our funds are
too limited, but it is our hope that our sponsorship will enhance the
academic status of the project and facilitate efforts by Dr Boas and
his team to obtain grants from international sources. Regular progress
reports about this work will be published in the Society’s Bulletin,
and these will be updated on the Society’s website, while publications
arising from the project will bear the Society’s name on the title
page.
The Committee would welcome requests from members involved
in other important and wide-ranging research projects on crusading
history which they would like to be considered for Society sponsorship.
With all good wishes,
Bernard Hamilton
Dear Members of the SSCLE,
On
behalf of the Zinman Institute of Archaeology at the University of
Haifa I am currently directing what is planned to become a large-scale
and long-term research project at Montfort Castle in the Western
Galilee, one of the important Crusader castles of the Latin East. The
following is an outline of the project aims as they are currently
conceived.
The Montfort Castle Project (MCP) is now in the third
and final year of a pilot project (funded by a three-year grant
from the Israel Science Foundation). The principal aim at this stage is
to improve our understanding of the manner in which the architecture of
the castle developed in the 45-year period between 1226 when the
Teutonic Order first began its construction and 1271 when the
castle was occupied and destroyed by
the Mamluk army under
Baybars. This pilot project also aims at paving the way for
excavations, extensive conservation work, restoration of a Gothic hall
and mill below the castle and development of the site as an
archaeological park and nature reserve. The principal achievements at
this stage have been the preparation of detailed plans and drawings of
the main castle building (the area that was excavated by an expedition
of the Metropolitan Museum of New York in 1926), preparation of plans
of the outer fortifications (now underway), a photographic survey of
the castle and the building in the valley below it to the north
(possibly the castle guesthouse) recording masonry techniques, a
photographic survey recording damage to the structures to be used for
future conservation work, the drawing up of a conservation plan, the
collecting of archival material (from the Rockefeller Museum in
Jerusalem, the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York and the New York
Historical Society) containing letters, documents, field diaries and
photographs from the 1926 expedition), the collection and preliminary
study of all historical sources relating to the castle from the
thirteenth century to modern times. In the latter efforts, Professor
Hubert Houben (of the University of Freiburg, Germany and the
University of Lecce, Italy) will be working on contemporary sources of
the Teutonic Order and Professor Reuven Amitai (of the Hebrew
University of Jerusalem)
is completing work on the Muslim documents recording the siege of 1271.
During
our initial architectural survey an aerial photogrammetrical survey and
limited 3-D laser scanning of the western end of the castle were
carried out. A team from the Institute of Architecture at the
University of Florence under Professor Marco Bini are hoping to carry
out a large-scale 3-D laser scanning project of the entire castle.
We
plan in the future to carry out archaeological excavations in different
parts of the site including the outer ward adjacent to the lower
fortifications, the area around the western gate tower, the upper floor
hall of the “guesthouse” below the castle and the castle quarry site
and village at nearby Khirbat Nahat. The Gothic hall of the guesthouse
can be restored after excavation (all of the collapsed vaulting is on
the site) and refurbished for use, possibly as a study centre. In the
long term the Teutonic castle, Castellum Regis in the nearly village of
Mi’ilya could be incorporated into the project.
On a non-academic,
but no less important level, the MCP has significant social
ramifications, being located in an area of Jewish and Arab settlements
and it is our hope and intention that this project will include direct
involvement of these communities and will be to their benefit. In this
regard we have begun to work on an outline for the planning of an
archaeological park/nature reserve and visitors’ centre and intend to
work in cooperation with the people of the region. We also hope to
involve physically disabled groups in work at the site and in planning
for their needs.
These are only initial thoughts. We welcome the
support of the Society in sponsoring this project and look forward to
any suggestions regarding possible ways in which SSCLE involvement can
develop. It is our desire that additional members of the Society be
involved in the planning stages of the project and participate in
future excavations and workshops at the castle. Understandably, with
its limited funds, the
Society can not be expected to supply
financial support for a project of this size. In this regard I would
also welcome suggestions regarding possible external financial
support, grants or organisational cooperation.
Sincerely,
Dr. Adrian Boas
Director of the Montfort Castle Project