The Making of The Book of Margery Kempe: The Issue of Discretio Spirituum Reconsidered
Devotion to the Holy Spirit was a fundamental aspect of the Christian faith in the late Middle Ages and discretio spirituum was understood as a prerequisite for fully embracing the gifts of the Holy Spirit. The problem of discretio spirituum is embedded in the entirety of Margery's Book, which bears witness to the way the ideological political struggles in which clerical authority increasingly cast doubt upon female spiritual experience. Lying behind Margery's Book, and undoubtedly influencing her treatment of the issue of discretio spirituum, are the two Church Councils in her lifetime. On her pilgrimage to Jerusalem, Margery passed through Constance as the city was preparing for the forthcoming Council (1414–18). One of the major issues of the Council was the authenticity of St Bridget's revelations. Even after her canonization and its subsequent confirmation, many delegates questioned the divine origin of her visions and connected the issue with schism and heresy. The tension continued into the Council of Basle (1431–49), which was in progress when Margery revised the first version of her Book. Following the chronological development of the controversy over Bridget's revelations, this article contextualizes the Book within the specific international climate of the early fifteenth century and makes links to then evolving thinking about discretio spirituum in order to illuminate its impact on the creation of Margery Kempe's spiritual autobiography.
St. Birgitta of Sweden
Introduction: between history and myth. Part 1 The Swedish roots: geography society the Church the early-14th century Birgitta's parentage - her date and place of birth. Part 2 Childhood, marriage and motherhood: childhood visions marriage Birgitta's views on marriage Birgitta and Ulf children piety in marriage life at court Santiago de Compostela. Part 3 Widowhood at Alvastra: the calling vision self-doubt and support Cistercian milieu Books I and II France and England at war the Russian crusades Magnus's bequest to Birgitta the Liber Questionum departure from Sweden. Part 4 The Rome years: Milan the state of Rome early years the Sermo Angelicus Katarina Ulfsdotter restoration of the papacy. Part 5 The last pilgimage: Alphonso of Jaen predictions of the pilgrimage Giovanna I of Naples Cyprus the vision of the Passion the vision of the Nativity death. Chapter 6 The making of the saint: preparations the canonization, 1391 apologists and opponents. Chapter 7 The Birgittine legacy: approval of the Order the Rule Vadstena the Order outside Sweden the post-Reformation survival St Birgitta's legacy - the active and contemplative life.
MT and the Swiss language service providers: an analysis and training perspective
Switzerland is perceived as a highly multilingual country, with four national languages and a solid translation tradition in official, administrative and corporate settings, now even extended to include English. A research case study was set up to investigate the understanding and use of translation and language technologies by Swiss language service providers. This paper highlights some findings, particularly focusing upon the issue of translation automation processes in multilingual documentation production, with a view not only to spot preconceptions or knowledge gaps about MT, but also to 
suggest some training principles. We will argue that training activities ought to present MT systems as 
key aiding components of translator workbenches and, their output, as a valid linguistic resource for further human refining, if necessary. Moreover, in line with the idea that MT can be part and parcel of multilingual content production cycles, we will look at the interaction of MT with controlled language, CAT tools and terminology work. In sum, we will make explicit the usefulness of MT against the 
widespread prejudice that investing in MT does not return any benefits given the ‘low and hilarious quality of its output’, as quoted by most of the interviewees of our case study.