Relics of place: stone fragments of the Holy Sepulchre in eleventh-century France

This article considers stone pieces from the Holy Sepulchre brought to France in the eleventh century. Recent years have seen a growing awareness of architectural replications of the Holy Sepulchre built throughout the Latin West. Less attention has been devoted to its unmediated translation, namely, transporting its matter. Many French pilgrims who set out for Jerusalem before Urban preached crusade to the East in 1095 returned with stone fragments of the Holy Tomb to commemorate their visit and to consecrate architectural copies. Like the bodily remains of saints, these stone fragments acted as parts signifying the whole: they represented their place of origin and lent authenticity to local monuments. They could also act in unusual ways, attracting cults and prompting narratives, visual representations and staging in the church that announced their significance.     

Identification of organic materials in icons of the Cretan School of iconography

The Cretan School of iconography is the last great flowering of the traditional Byzantine painting manner, which is however influenced by different schools and western art. Despite their historical significance, icons of the Cretan School have been rarely studied through modern chemical techniques and therefore very few information is available on the materials used by the Cretan painters. In the present investigation, the organic materials contained in several icons of the Cretan School of Iconography from the collection of the Benaki Museum, Athens, Greece, are analyzed and identified by High Performance Liquid Chromatography coupled to a Diode Array Detector (HPLC–DAD) and Gas Chromatography with Mass Spectrometry (GC–MS).The HPLC–DAD results provide support to a recently published report which showed that kermes used in “Cretan” icons of 15th century and early 16th century was replaced by cochineal which was used in icons dated after early 16th century. This trend is known for western art and it is now proved for Cretan icons, showing thus the influence of the Cretan painters by other European painting schools. Other dyes detected in the historical samples, extracted from Cretan icons are madder (possibly Rubia tinctorum L., according to HPLC profiles) and indigoid dyes. Oils, such as linseed and walnut oil, are identified in samples extracted from the seven icons tested by GC–MS. Egg yolk is identified in the extract of only one icon and animal glue, originated most likely from the gesso ground, is found in six samples. Other organic materials detected by GC–MS were wax, as well as synthetic resins, applied during conservation treatments.     

Adventus in Jerusalem: the Palm Sunday celebration in Latin Jerusalem

Themes of continuity and innovation in the rituals of the church of Jerusalem in the early twelfth century, following the crusader conquest of the city, are examined with a focus on the Latin Palm Sunday procession. Based on the Ordinal of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, which was produced for the use of the patriarch and the religious community of the Holy Sepulchre, and which contains the yearly ritual cycles and major processional celebrations, the study reveals the original characteristics of the Jerusalem liturgy, as well as its components incorporated from pre-crusade practice. It speculates on the earliest organisers of the liturgy, their identity and the sources of their inspiration, as well as the orientations of the early monastic community in Frankish Jerusalem.     

Sub specie mortis: Ruthenian and Russian last judgement icons compared

This article deals with the iconography of the sixteenth–eighteenth century Orthodox Last Judgements. The vertical and horizontal hierarchies of its composition that are fairly standard still leave much room for local preferences and innovations. Using the Ruthenian icons as cases in point and Russian exemplars as controls, the author attempts to discern similarities and differences and to identify, where possible, the sources of change. In the focus of analysis are three compositional elements of the Last Judgement iconography, i.e. ordeals (mytarstva), images of death, and the figure of the Alms Giving Fornicator. The article concentrates on the meaning of its presence vs. absence, placement and typological selection. It allows conclusions to be made about the influence of the Union of Brest (1596) on the shifts in religious mentalities and the reasons for artistic change.     

“In Dubious Battle on the Plains of Heav'n”: The Politics of Possession in Jerusalem's Holy Sepulchre

Debates about the “divisibility” or “sharing” of religious sites continue to engage historians, political scientists and anthropologists. This paper assesses the issue of agency in two of the more salient critiques of religious coexistence before approaching the Holy Sepulchre, or Anastasis, as a site for investigating the way various constituencies, most significantly visiting pilgrims and resident monks, have dealt with issues of “sharing”. It contends that inter-communal antagonisms there originate with elite struggles over the possessions of places—struggles which tend to engage political actors far from the site of the conflicts rather than local communities—and concludes that, rather than accept an “identitarian politics” which assumes a profound “civilisational” attachment of cultures to religious identities, we must carefully assess the “politics of possession” which variously play out in sites of inter-communal engagement.     

A Canadian Scholar'S Views on Geography in Canada and in the USSR

There has long been controversy over the exact location of the middle segment of the great medieval trade route from the Varangians (Northmen) in the Baltic to the Greeks (Byzantium) in the Black Sea. There is no ambiguity about the northern segment, between Novgorod and the Baltic, or the southern segment, from Smolensk down the Dnieper to the Black Sea, but authors have tended to disagree about the various rivers, lakes and portages used by traders in the Russian heartland between Novgorod and Smolensk. A Russian chronicle describing a campaign led by Aleksandr Nevskiy against a Lithuanian force in 1245 sheds light on the alignment of the middle segment of the trade route. It appears that the route originally passed through Velikiye Luki in the 10th century. As this area became embroiled in clashes between warring Russian principalities, the trade route shifted eastward to the Toropets area, which became dominant by the 13th century. The existence of two additional minor routes is also noted.     

East is East,and West is West? Currency iconography as nation-branding in the wider Europe

This article considers European banknote iconography as an indicator of national branding choices from the early twentieth century up to the present. Systematic quantitative content analysis demonstrates that the values and ontologies expressed on Central/East European banknotes have historically tracked closely with the trends visible on their West European counterparts. This pattern is evident not just since the end of the Cold War, but indeed right from the founding of the modern Central/East European states about a century ago. Even during the Cold War, it did not take long for the trends on Western banknotes to appear on Central/East European banknotes as well. Thus, contrary to the conventional assumption of a deep-rooted normative gulf separating the national identity discourses of so-called “New” and “Old” Europe, the article underscores the fact of intense, longstanding normative cross-pollination between them.     

Holy Fire and sacral kingship in post-conquest Jerusalem

ABSTRACT

In 1101 the Holy Fire failed to appear in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre on Holy Saturday, as tradition and liturgy dictated. Less a failure and more a deliberately precipitated crisis born of a political struggle of wills between Patriarch Daimbert and King Baldwin, the resolution of this event enabled the kings of Jerusalem to establish dominance over the ecclesiastical sphere for most of the kingdom’s history. A reading of the narrative sources against liturgical sources casts light on the intersection between liturgy and government and on how the simulation of miracles could be used to advance political causes.     

北朝隋唐入华粟特人死亡观研究——以葬具图像的解读为主

Miho、青州和史君墓围屏石榻或石椁上直接表现丧葬仪式的图像,为我们了解和研究入华粟特人葬俗和死亡观提供了丰富的实物证据和图像资料。结合粟特故地、丝绸之路及其它入华粟特人墓葬的考古资料与中外历史、宗教文献记载,可以看出入华粟特人死亡观主要体现在以下四个方面:从犬视尸毒到事死如生;从善恶二元观到钦瓦特桥审判;圣火与善神崇拜;灵魂不死与天国享乐。     

The children's crusade of 1212

The touching story of innocent children setting out to recover the Holy Sepulchre but suffering a tragic fate was becoming a popular legend within half a century of the actual expedition. Linguistic and social analysis, however, suggests that the crusaders of 1212 were not children, but rather were poor persons on the margins of rural society who were thoroughly imbued with the ideals of the cult of apostolic poverty. They believed that after the failure of the armed crusades, God had judged the powers of this world unworthy to rescue the holy places, and had instead made the poor a divine elect to accomplish this task.     

The children's crusade of 1212

The touching story of innocent children setting out to recover the Holy Sepulchre but suffering a tragic fate was becoming a popular legend within half a century of the actual expedition. Linguistic and social analysis, however, suggests that the crusaders of 1212 were not children, but rather were poor persons on the margins of rural society who were thoroughly imbued with the ideals of the cult of apostolic poverty. They believed that after the failure of the armed crusades, God had judged the powers of this world unworthy to rescue the holy places, and had instead made the poor a divine elect to accomplish this task.     

论中世纪欧洲圣殿骑士团的历史作用

圣殿骑士团的最初职能是保护朝圣者和保证朝圣道路的安全,不久其职能就得以扩展,军事职能遂成为其基本职能.随着军事力量的增长,其政治作用也不断增强.它不仅在十字军国家的政治中具有举足轻重的地位,而且不同程度地影响了欧洲政治.不仅如此,在十字军东侵中它还充当着"银行家"的角色,在12、13世纪的地中海商业中占有一席之地.     

Rewriting the Latin liturgy of the Holy Sepulchre: text,ritual and devotion for 1149

ABSTRACT

An extraordinary reform of Jerusalem’s liturgy took place under the patriarchate of Fulcher of Angoulême (1146–57). The refocusing of Jerusalem’s rite positioned the commemoration of Easter as its central theological theme. This was effected to a level unparalleled in the liturgical traditions of the West. However, rubrics from extant twelfth-century liturgical books from Jerusalem further reveal how this reform was made to coincide with the 1149 rededication of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, and the 50-year celebration of the capture of Jerusalem. From this newly discovered perspective, this study argues that liturgy, through its active rewriting, formed an integral part of a hitherto unexplored religious programme carried out by Patriarch Fulcher. Liturgy, alongside architecture and civic festivities, was used as a central tool to reshape the devotional identity of Jerusalem and the Latin East.     

One city,different views: a comparative study of three pilgrimage maps of Jerusalem

Among the early printed maps of Jerusalem there is a special group of realistic maps, which should be identified as pilgrimage maps. They were based on an actual acquaintance with the city, and drawn by pilgrims or for them. These maps depicted Jerusalem as the Holy City for Christianity; portraying the city through the eyes of the Christian pilgrims, and reflecting their perceptions, excitement and devotion. They often underscored the city's religious sites and traditions, and undermined certain elements of the city's actual cultural and religious landscape.     

The Earliest Naval Ram

Analyses of the Kuyunjik (Kouyunjik) relief and other data suggest Phoenicia probably did not build ships with rams before the Battle of Salamis. A review of Greek literature, iconography, and archaeology suggests the naval ram may have been a Greek invention, appearing at the earliest in the 6th century BC and possibly as late as the 5th century. Its evolution may have led to a shift from laced to pegged mortise-and-tenon joinery in Greek shipbuilding as well as the development of the wineglass-shaped hull and heavier framing. It may also have influenced the development of large-scale bronze-casting in Greece.
© 2008 The Author     

European national poetry,Islam and the defeat of the medieval Church

The Muslim conquest of the Holy Land from Christendom, the invasion of southwestern Europe in the eighth century, and the Christian struggle, ultimately unsuccessful, to regain the Holy Land from Islam in the Crusades dominated European culture, particularly its poetry, for centuries. From the Old French epic, The Song of Roland (c. 1100) to the Albanian epic, The Highland Lute (early twentieth century), a vast popular culture grew in European vernacular languages in response to Muslim invasions and conquests. This article attempts to elucidate in panoramic form a neglected area of nationalism. It argues that from the medieval period until the fall of the Ottoman empire, poetry was instrumental in the rise of European national identities, partly in reaction to centuries of ascendancy of Islam, which undermined the authority of the Pope, the universal Church, the Gospel and Latin. The defeat of the medieval Church opened the way to narrower, more national and cultural concerns, reflected in a cluster of vernacular European poetic traditions.     

THE MIGRATION OF NORTHERN PEASANTS FROM THE 16th TO THE EARLY 18th CENTURY

Data from cadasters and censuses indicate that farmstead abandonment in Pomor'ye was slight before the middle of the 16th century, with migrants going from the European Center and Novgorod Land to western Pomor'ye, from western to eastern Pomor'ye, and later from eastern Pomor'ye to Siberia, attracted by the absence of manorial serfdom, the presence of the landsharing village, and the availability of arable land. From the late 16th century this process was intensified by the development of the White Sea route to Europe, the annexation of Siberia, and improvements in agricultural methods and implements. At the same time, farmstead abandonment increased in response to the economic crisis of Ivan IV's reign, and it increased even more from the late 17th century. Many northern peasants were mobilized by the state as soldiers or workers; many others fled to Siberia or went roaming. (The translation was prepared by James R. Gibson of York University, Toronto.)     

Patterns of Christian activity and dispersion in nineteenth-century Jerusalem

Various Christian communities existed in Jerusalem during the nineteenth century. The three largest ones were the Greek Orthodox, the Roman Catholics (Latins) and the Protestants. These communities were strongly supported by the European Powers, thus enabling them to be very active in the development of the city. Differences in historical background and interest in Jerusalem, plus different culturally based attitudes and values led each community to make a distinct contribution to the developing city landscape. Christian building activity was pronounced: there was the construction of big imposing institutions, churches and convents which usually were used as hospices for pilgrims as well as institutions for education, health and welfare and representative functions. The dispersal of Christian residences took a special form for their locations seem to have been determined by the wish to adhere to historical sites that had special meaning to the various communities. Also the distinctiveness of the religious communal neighbourhoods was confirmed. The contribution of the Christian communities to the urban landscape of Jerusalem during the nineteenth century thus included the construction of prominent buildings which still today dominate the morphology and skyline of the city, and also the strengthening of the special spatial pattern of this historical religious Holy City.     

A supernumerary permanent mandibular premolar of wild boar (Sus scrofa L.) from the early medieval Novgorod,Russia

The aim of this study was to investigate a unique case of polydonty in wild boar from the early medieval Novgorod (second half of 11th century AD). The only preserved distal part of the right mandibular branch shows a rotated transitional permanent extra premolar between P₃ and P₄. This abnormality has the potential to serve as a territorially‐based indicator of past wild boar populations. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.