Royal burial and the cult of kingship in France and England, 1060–1330

In the late-eleventh and early twelfth centuries, French and English royal burials were relatively unceremonial, low-key affairs, a contrast with the obsequies of other contemporary rulers such as the Holy Roman emperors. One reason for that may be the dominance of reforming ecclesiastics in arranging the funeral rites in England and France; another, the importance attached by the monarchs to obtaining personalised intercession from ascetic monks. By the early fourteenth century, however, the French and English sovereigns were commemorated after death in magnificent ceremonies and monuments. In the intervening centuries, those kings and their followers had shown a growing interest in the creation and promotion of royal saint-cults; in the honouring of royal remains; in public and splendid funeral ceremonies and lawish tombs; and in the creation and development of imposing burial-churches at Saint-Denis and Westminster. During this time there was an increasing emphasis upon the image and panoply of monarchy in both kingdoms which was rooted to a large extent in the personal and political rivalry of their rulers. The new splendours of royal burials can be seen as one important part of those developments.     

殷墟使用朱砂情况的考察

与史前、夏及早商时期一样,朱砂在殷墟文化时期的北方仍是较为稀缺的资源,只存在于规格较高的考古遗存中。通过对安阳殷墟及其他同时期情况进行分析,朱砂的使用从殷墟早期到晚期呈上升趋势。依据使用场合的不同,可分为朱砂葬、朱砂祭祀坑和朱书文字三类。朱砂葬是朱砂使用情况中最为常见的一种。本文通过对殷墟西区、大司空、孝民屯、徐家桥和侯家庄王陵区墓地的朱砂葬进行分析,发现晚商时期只有高等级贵族才有资格使用朱砂。从其使用情况推测,晚商时期朱砂在丧葬活动中的礼仪功能是主要的,用以体现死者的身份等级,同时或具有辟邪的功能。殷墟朱砂的来源,最大可能性仍然是以贵州为中心的我国西南地区,不过特定时期也可能采用了来自陕西秦岭一带的资源。     

Uncrowned kings: rituals and ritual objects in eighteenth–nineteenth century Portuguese royal acclamation ceremonies

ABSTRACT

This article examines the royal acclamation ceremonies of the Portuguese crown in order to grasp the responsiveness of the institution of the monarchy and regime to the challenges of modernity throughout the delicate watershed period of the late eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. The Portuguese Catholic and absolutist monarchy of the ancien régime had a strict protocol and a set of insignia of power that acted together at the moment of the acclamation and legitimation of each new king. The purpose of this research is to assess the adaptation and reinvention of these insignia and rituals according to the revolutionary demands of social change and secularization brought about by the turbulent period of the beginning of the nineteenth century: the French military invasions (1807–11); the departure of the royal family, court and administration to Brazil (1807); the liberal constitutional revolution (1820); and the civil war pitting liberals against absolutists (1832–34). The new constitutional monarchy that came out of this revolutionary flow faced many challenges of legitimacy, including the test of its capacity to create a modern royal imaginary updated to the cultural mindset of national and secular societies, and capable of bonding rulers with their people. The authors believe that the study of the acclamation ceremonies in the Portuguese constitutional monarchy can give us an accurate perspective on the quality of the symbolic image of the crown, therefore assessing the political efficiency of rituals as one of the structural aspects for institutional legitimization.     

Royal inauguration and liturgical culture in the Latin kingdom of Jerusalem, 1099–1187

ABSTRACT

While modern scholars have often assumed that the models of liturgical kingship which prevailed in Latin Christendom during the Early Middle Ages became less prominent in the Central Middle Ages, more recent work has suggested that royal dynasties including those of France and England maintained practices of liturgical kingship between the eleventh and fourteenth centuries. This article contributes to this recent wave of historiography by examining the image of monarchy which was adopted in the kingdom of Jerusalem between 1099 and 1187. It takes as its focus the inauguration ceremonies and associated royal rituals performed by the monarch during this period, considering aspects of each ceremony, including the various constituent rituals, the place or places in which the rituals were held, the prelates who presided, the identity of other individuals who were recorded as having taken part, and the dates upon which the ceremonies were held. It is suggested that the royal dynasty of Jerusalem was attuned to the liturgical potential of inauguration ceremonies, and that it adopted rituals which were aimed at fostering consensus among the political community of the kingdom. The monarchy created an image of liturgical kingship which combined Western practices with elements that were unique to Jerusalem.     

Metamorphoses of the early medieval signum of a ruler in the Carolingian world

This article uses the approach of diplomatic semiotics to explore early medieval signs of authority in charters and on coins, especially the monogram and the sign of the cross used as an individual ‘signature’. Coins and charters used these signs communicating royal or imperial authority differently, addressing diverse regional and social audiences. From the fifth through the ninth centuries, the early medieval signum of a ruler gradually transformed from the individualizing sign of a particular monarch, designed to differentiate him symbolically from other rulers, to the generalizing sign of the king by the grace of God, which as a visual attribute of authority could be shared by several rulers. This transformation signified the inauguration of a new ‘medieval’ tradition in the communication of authority in late Carolingian times.     

Who Built the Scythian and Thracian Royal and Elite Tombs?

This paper discusses the complex and controversial problems of Scythian and Thracian royal and élite tombs of the fifth/fourth centuries BC. The similarities beween them are too great to be explained simply as coincidence. Although the inspiration for the type of chamber tomb might have been local, the architecture, painting and many other features show that Ionian Greeks were constructing them for the local élite. This conclusion is strongly supported by the close similarities between these tombs and those of the rulers and élite of the Bosporan Kingdom in the Kerch and Taman Peninsulas of a similar date.     

中原所见三代权杖(头)及相关问题的思考

以往的研究认为,权杖在传入中国的最初阶段,只是游弋于华夏边缘,中原王朝似乎并未接受这一外来文化特质。本文梳理了以往在河南、山西和陕西考古发现的权杖(头),发现这些权杖均出自三代时期王畿内的高等级墓葬,其使用者包括诸侯国国君、国君夫人、高官、军事首领或高等贵族。从而证明,夏、商、周时期部分社会高层已接纳权杖,并将其与中国传统礼仪器具中的斧钺、青铜礼器并列,共同构成象征王权和身份等级的标志物。这一新认识对深化早期东西文化交流的研究具有重要意义。     

A kingdom without a capital? Itineration and spaces of royal power in Castile,c.1252–1350

In the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, Castilian kings were constantly in motion, travelling through their kingdom, an activity which has traditionally been linked with the absence of a single capital in Castile. This paper re-examines the role played by royal itineration in this period and the reasons which inhibited the consolidation of an undisputed capital in the kingdom. In doing so, the changing importance and functions of the main cities of the realm, Toledo, Seville, Burgos and Valladolid – the spaces of royal power – will also be discussed. The main factor which precluded the rise of a single capital was the kingdom's specific territorial configuration, not bureaucratic under-development. The Reconquista led to the creation of a ‘composite kingdom’, in which kingship was exercised differently in some regions compared to others.     

北京地区的火葬墓及相关问题研究

北京地区发现的火葬墓属于辽、金、元、明、清等时期,这些火葬墓在构筑材料、形制、葬具等方面均不尽相同,墓主有汉人,也有契丹、女真、蒙古、满族等少数民族。辽金元时期北京地区火葬墓较为盛行,明朝时期有所减少,至清朝时又有所增加。火葬习俗的变化与不同民族的丧葬习俗、宗教信仰和统治者对火葬的态度及政策有关。     

江苏淮安山头遗址墓地发掘简报

The Shantou sites is one of the typical-sites of the Qingliangang Neolithic Culture and was identified by the senior generation of archaeologists, like Yin Huanzhang and Zhao Qingfang in the Nanjing Museum. Several hundreds of burials in later periods are now suffering from looting activities. This preliminary report introduces the burials dating from the Eastern Hart Dynasty to the Qing Dynasty. During each period, burials were laid out regularly, representing as various types of burial furniture. Most of these burials were abundant in free funeral goods with typical eharaeteristies of different periods but styles pointing to complicate origins. The discovery of East Han Dynasty burials in Huai ＇an region, without any doubt, is going to play a siguificant role in the study of burial characteristics, funeral customs, arrangement of burial clusters, and even the local cultural history of this region.     

The Insider and the Ethnography of Secrecy: Challenges of Collecting Data on Fearful Komo of the Tagwa-Senufo

As with many other ethnic groups in Africa, Senufo identity was the creation of the French colonial administration during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. In spite of some similarities, those subgroups collectively named Senufo by the French do not share the same artistic and traditional forms and values. For example, while the Poro association and the art related to it are the core of the socio-religious organization of the central and southern Senufo, northern Senufo groups do not have Poro or its associated arts. Northern Senufo groups are invested in the Komo men’s society and its associated objects like their Mande-speaking neighbours. This is particularly true for the subgroup known as the Tagwa, which has a Komo male secret association. The Komo is a sacred mask society with great power and authority, inaccessible to the general public, women and non-circumcised males. This is the most important religious cult of the Tagwa, who have shaped the Komo for their own tradition and customs. This paper describes my experience as a researcher working on sensitive topics such as secrecy and sacred objects among my own people: the Tagwa of Burkina Faso.     

边缘墓葬族属、国别研究——以山东东周墓为例

一、研究缘起位于考古学文化边缘地带的墓葬,尤其是处于两个以上考古学文化交叉地带的墓葬,其文化因素大多比较复杂,其归属问题也多有争议。这一类墓葬自新石器时代以来就大量存在,对研究考古学文化的分布、变迁等有重要意义,有必要对这     

Transnational Migration and the Economy of Funerals: Changing Practices in Ghana

Migrants are increasingly leading transnational lives, impacting the institutions that shape local economies both in their place of residence and in their home communities. One example of this is the institution of funerals in developing countries. Funerals are becoming multi‐sited events as migrants from developing countries play important roles in the organization, financing and practice of funeral ceremonies in their home countries. Funerals thus give rise to flows of money, goods and people across national borders, ultimately affecting different economies around the world. This article uses a multi‐sited research design to follow the flows associated with a funeral held in a village in the Ashanti Region of Ghana. Detailed data were collected simultaneously in four locations involved in the funeral, and a multiplier analysis was used to trace funeral spending in different locations and sectors. The analysis shows that funeral spending supports various economic sectors in Ghana and across the globe, reinforcing the nature of funerals as (partly) economic events, which should be included in economic analyses of remittances and migration. Funeral practices are modified in various ways to accommodate transnational elements. At the same time, funerals continue to act, even in a transnational context, as occasions for reaffirming ties and a sense of belonging; they form a way for home communities, both rural and urban, to keep migrants interested in them.     

English Bordeaux in conflict: the execution of Pierre Vigier de la Rouselle and its aftermath, 1312–24

As capital of English Gascony, Bordeaux was critical to the maintenance of Plantagenet authority in the duchy. Unfortunately for those kings, conditions tended to undermine the fragile power they did have over the wealthy rity. First, the independent-minded, affluent ruling class had for years established themselves in rival factions; at the same time ducal officials had to try to retain their goodwill at the same time as they sought to curb their lawlessness. Second, in the later years of Edward I's reign, the French occupied and governed Bordeaux and much of the rest of the duchy as a consequence of their victory over the English in a relatively minor war. With the resumption of Plantagenet rule over Bordeaux shortly before the accession of Edward II, ducal control was very tenuous indeed, as rival factions now fought each other ostensibly over their English or French sympathies.The problem is clearly illustrated in the case of a Francophilic citizen of Bordeaux, Pierre Vigier de la Rouselle, an ex-ducal official executed for his public criticism of the Gascon government. Following his death and the confiscation of his property, Vigier's heirs and sons appealed for redress to theParlement of Paris, the royal court of Edward II's Capetian overlord. The suit, dragging on there for at least twelve years, demonstrated how weak and inept the English authority was. As the French implicated both ducal officials and pro-English citizens of Bordeaux in the crime, the embarrassed Edward and his Gascon officials sought unsuccessfully to intimidate the appellants, fix culpability on scapegoats, and generally to deny any wrong-doing. Though sources provide no indication that the case ever concluded, it seems apparent that in the dispute over Vigier's death the importence of the English in their own ducal capital was only too clear.     

The dead with golden faces: Dasaretian, Pelagonian, Mygdonian and Boeotian funeral masks

Eleven gold and one gilded silver funeral masks have been discovered in the southern parts of the Central Balkans. They can be dated in the last decades of the 6th–early 5th centuries BC and belonged to the dead nobles of the tribal aristocracy of Dasaretioi, Pelagones and Mygdones. Another gold funeral mask was accidentally discovered in Boeotia and it could be dated to the Archaic period. Although these masks are reminiscent of earlier Mycenaean ones, and although there are several Etruscan and Celtic bronze masks of the 7th century BC, the origin of the Balkan funeral ritual is still obscure. The covering of the faces of the dead aristocrats with gold masks could be connected with their heroization and even deification, and strong belief in the afterlife and rebirth.     

How Pre-modern State Rulers Used Marriage to Reduce the Risk of Losing at War: A Comparison of Eight States

Approaching warfare in pre-modern states from the perspective of risk reduction, we see that royal marriage was one strategy rulers used to reduce the probability that they would lose a war. Judicious marriage exchanges intensified and prolonged patron-client relations between rulers or between rulers and societal elites. Clientelism could affect the size and composition of their armies. The more warriors and troops one could field, the greater the chance of not losing a war (Otterbein 2004; LeBlanc 2006). Examination of eight pre-modern states suggests that their rulers used the same patterns of wife exchange even though most states developed independently. Marriage secured long-term patron-client relationships, which they used to support their military efforts. When rulers married their kin or married them to rulers outside the system (“foreigners”), they did not gain military support. Analysis of these marriage-military patterns reveals several characteristics of pre-modern states. First, marriage alliances helped rulers form networks of support that helped them win wars. Therefore, marriage—and by extension, royal women—is a key component to the study of warfare and a critical mechanism of network formation, as Blanton et al. (1996) write. Second, alliances were based on a different organizing principle from Levi-Strauss’ tribal societies, for rulers selected main wives (for themselves or their kin) based on relative rank rather than particular kinship ties. Third, marriage alliance reveals an important difference between alliance and patron-client relationships, a distinction that is often blurred in the archaeological literature.     

甘肃临潭县磨沟齐家文化墓地

在磨沟齐家文化墓地共发掘墓葬346座,以竖穴偏室墓居多,也有部分竖穴土坑墓。竖穴土坑墓多为单人葬。竖穴偏室墓以单偏室居多,多为合葬,也有少量单人葬。随葬品多为陶器,还有部分工具和装饰品,随葬陶器明显可分为两组。此墓地的发掘,为齐家文化及其埋葬习俗的研究提供了十分重要的新资料。     

The Emergence of Chariots and Riding in the South Caucasus

Summary.   The beginning of the Late Bronze Age, i.e. the late fifteenth–early fourteenth centuries BC, saw the emergence of chariots in Transcaucasia, where rich barrows of this period yielded bronze chariot models. The latter correspond to the type of chariots widespread in the western Near East in the late sixteenth–early thirteenth centuries BC. Hence it can be inferred that, regardless of the ultimate origin of Near Eastern chariots, Transcaucasian specimens belong to the Near Eastern tradition. However, in Transcaucasia, in contradistinction to the Near East, the chariot was merely a prestige marker. The growing role of the horse indicative of horseback riding is attested by some Transcaucasian funeral complexes of the late second millennium BC, which correspond to those of the steppes of south Russia. It seems likely that the builders of these barrows were related to the Iranian population of the Russian steppes.