ABSTRACT
In this period, the generations of the middling ranks were actively shaping their world. We have seen how they were reinterpreting their Christian heritage and building commercial and professional institutions from existing forms of property. A turn of the kaleidoscope brings into view further facets of their project: a range of organizations and behaviours helped contain the tension between intense application to business and religious goals. These focused on careful regulation of spatial, temporal and social categories. In finding a cosmic and mundane place for themselves, no task was greater than that of definition and demarcation: of people, places, time and matter. The content and boundaries of categories were delineated by constant discussion, trial and negotiation.
