User:Djwilms
My background
I am British, and grew up in Northamptonshire. I have a BA degree in Classics and a PhD in Oriental Studies from the University of Oxford, worked as an Administrative Officer in the
My books
One of my main academic interests is the history of the Syriac-speaking Churches. My PhD thesis, an academic study of the history of the Church of the East during the Ottoman period, was published in 2000 under the title The Ecclesiastical Organisation of the Church of the East, 1318-1913. My second book, The Martyred Church, a more popular history of the Church of the East aimed at a general readership, was published on 20 September 2011 and can be ordered on amazon.com and amazon.co.uk. The book was warmly reviewed in the Times Literary Supplement on 21 September 2012. My third book, an English translation of the Chronicon Ecclesiasticum of Bar Hebraeus, was published by Gorgias Press in February 2016. I am presently working on (1) an English translation of the Chronicle of Michael the Syrian, already more than half finished; (2) a prequel to EOCE, entitled The Ecclesiastical Organisation of the Church of the East to 1318; and (3) a similar study of the Syrian Orthodox Church, entitled The Ecclesiastical Organisation of the Syrian Orthodox Church. I am determined to sort out the dioceses and map all the toponyms of both Churches. The third book, by far the most ambitious, will draw heavily on my database of around 3,000 West Syrian manuscript colophons. All three books are interconnected, and it has so far made sense to work on all of them simultaneously. The chances are that (2) will eventually pull ahead of the rest of the field and make it to the finishing post first.
Mon grand design ...
Sino-French War
I will shortly be publishing a full-length book on the Sino-French War of August 1884 to April 1885, which draws on both French and Chinese sources, and am presently contributing a series of related articles to Wikipedia. So far I have substantially rewritten the main article
I have also created or edited articles on several Sino-French War personalities. On the French side, these include
I am particularly interested in the organisation of the fleets and armies that fought the Sino-French War. For the French, I have created articles on the
I have recently moved onto the diplomacy of the Sino-French War, with the creation of the articles
I am presently in the process of rewriting or expanding the existing articles on
I have also provided brief linking paragraphs to a range of related articles, including
I have worked on the (perhaps mistaken) assumption that I am one of the few people in the world who either knows (or cares) enough about the Sino-French War to be able to write authoritatively on it. If there are other enthusiasts out there, please get in touch. I would be delighted to hear from you. I would particularly welcome photographs of ships to complete the galleries for the various articles on the French and Chinese naval forces.
Cochinchina campaign
Although I am rather more familiar with events in the 1870s and 1880s, I am also interested in the early years of French colonial expansion in Vietnam, and have recently moved into the 1840s, 1850s and 1860s by creating or editing the articles
Japanese invasions of Taiwan (1874 and 1895)
I am also interested in the
I have also begun to rewrite the article
Church of the East, Assyrian Church of the East and Chaldean Catholic Church
Several years ago, before I became interested in the Sino-French War, I wrote a book on the history of Assyrian Christianity in the Middle East, The Ecclesiastical Organisation of the Church of the East, 1318–1913. The book was the fruit of an Oxford PhD degree, and at its core was a detailed study of the geography of historic Assyrian settlement in Iraq, Iran and Turkey. For this study I brought together evidence from the colophons of hundreds of Assyrian Christian manuscripts, and the book is regularly cited in online Assyrian publications for evidence of Christian settlement in particular villages and for the biographies of Assyrian patriarchs and bishops, including a number of Wikipedia articles (e.g.
Metropolitan provinces, dioceses, monasteries and villages
I have long been wanting to rework this material for Wikipedia, and have recently dipped my toe in the water by editing the 'Eastern expansion' section of the main article
Patriarchs, metropolitans and bishops
I also intend to expand or improve the existing articles on East Syrian patriarchs and bishops and add new ones. I have edited the articles
I have also written an article on the Schism of 1552, demonstrating that Yohannan Sulaqa's supporters secured his consecration as the first patriarch of the Chaldean Church in 1553 by misleading the Vatican.
Literature of the Church of the East
I have also begun to improve Wikipedia's coverage of East Syrian literature, with a brief article on
Syrian Orthodox Church and Syrian Catholic Church
Metropolitan provinces, dioceses, monasteries and villages
I am also interested in the Syrian Orthodox and Syrian Catholic Churches, and have created the articles
Patriarchs, metropolitans and bishops
I hope to contribute a series of articles on the patriarchs of the West Syrian Church, along the same lines as those I have written on the Nestorian patriarchs. I have started by significantly expanding the existing articles
Hong Kong Morris
When I am not chronicling the history of the Nestorian and Jacobite churches or pursuing the stirring deeds of France's soldiers and sailors on foreign shores, I derive great enjoyment from folk singing and
Request for reviews
Some of these articles need more work, but others (particularly the main Sino-French War article) are pretty near complete, and I would welcome reviews of their quality and significance by readers. One article (
3 April 2012
Footnotes
- Joseph Audo and Tonkin Flotilla.
Mes honneurs ...
The High Culture Barnstar | ||
Awarded to Djwilms for his superlative work on the talk ) 04:26, 15 August 2008 (UTC)
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The Epic Barnstar | ||
Awarded to Djwilms for his work on Vietnamese history. YellowMonkey (bananabucket) 06:57, 29 September 2008 (UTC) |
French Barnstar of National Merit | ||
Awarded to Djwilms for his extraordinary and highly knowledgeable contributions on the talk ) 05:40, 17 June 2009 (UTC)
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The Barnstar of Assyria | ||
Awarded to Djwilms for his excellent, well-resourced, authoritative historical account of the dioceses of the Assyrian Church of the East. Ninevite (talk) 21:00, 11 August 2009 (UTC) |
Taiwan Barnstar of Merit | ||
Awarded to Djwilms by Keelung Campaign and Pescadores Campaign articles.30 June 2024 |
ܚܠܥܬܐ ܕܡܪܝ ܐܦܪܡ
The Barnstar of Mor Ephrem | ||
For your exceptional contributions to Syriac Christianity-related topics. | ||
this WikiAward was given to Djwilms by talk on 00:16, 25 July 2011 (UTC)
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Mes projets ...
WikiProjects
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