Medieval History

Ornas (also Hornach) appears in the mentions of several Latin authors in the mid-thirteenth century as an important city deep in Asia that had been conquered by the Mongols. There have been several past suggestions by scholars for its identity; the scattered mentions of Ornas (Hornach) have been variously suggested to refer to Tana, Otrar, or Konye-Urgench. The present paper argues that these references, though confused on matters of geography since the Western European authors were writing about largely unknown regions that they did not personally visit, are typically references to the city of Konye-Urgench. The Latin authors' descriptions of its fall to the Mongols unquestionably draw parallels with Middle Eastern, Rus' , Chinese, and Mongol accounts. This paper argues that the Latin references to Ornas' proximity to a nearby sea are related to the Aral Sea which had southerly stretches very close to Konya-Urgench as is indicated, for instance from Russian survey maps of the nineteenth century. This identification allows us to place John of Plano Carpini's description of the fall of Ornas within a larger, cohesive narrative which, though confused on points, offers insights on the fall of the Khwarazmian Empire in the early 1220s.

"Rarely in modern scholarship do researchers get the chance, with but a single volume, to establish the state of the art for an entire discipline. With the publication of Caucasian Albania: an International Handbook, we can rightly say this has been achieved for the study of the ancient Caucasian Albanian people, who ruled much of the lower-middle Kura river basin in what is now Azerbaijan from the earliest attested texts to the Islamic era in the 8th century C.E. By bringing together scholars with expertise in historiography, palaeography, linguistics, ecclesiology, archaeology, anthropology, sociology, and conflict studies, the authors of this volume have created, like a richly endowed library laid out with all wings visible from a single point, a kaleidoscopic panopticon of this poorly studied civilization and state of the late antique Caucasus."

This paper focuses on the analysis of the ways which areas of collective use were created and claimed in the Middle Ages, through the case of the devasos of Ciudad Rodrigo. They were lands used preferentially to the grazing of cattle and to the collection of firewood; the inhabitants of the town of Ciudad Rodrigo as well as the neighbours of the villages that surrounded those areas had rights of entitlement to access. The means of claiming communal rights over those spaces between eleventh and fifteenth centuries have been studied thanks to a combination of archaeological record and written sources. The main hypothesis is the use of a claiming strategy based on sacralisation. First, burials linked the territory to the ancestors during early Middle Ages, and after the construction of buildings with religious functions, small churches that were not parishes, would have been a key to preserve the commons. Those politics of the sacred coexisted with the progressive identification of the...

This anthology is about the representations and uses of medieval saints, heroes, and heroic events as elements of popular, local, and national culture during the 19th and 20th centuries in the Baltic Sea region: Scandinavia, Finland, Baltic countries, Northern Germany and NorthWestern Russia. Authors examine the processes of how medieval saints and heroes have been remembered, commemorated, interpreted, used, and refl ected during modernity, and by whom.

In questo fascicolo è contenuta la sezione Confronti (monografica), che è dedicata alla New Diplomatic History. Preceduta da una premessa metodologica di Francesco Storti, sono raccolti un gruppo di contributi che traducono le più significative riflessioni emerse da un recente convegno internazionale di studi dedicato alla NDH dal titolo A ‘New Diplomatic History’, methods and research perspectives, Salerno - Fisciano, 5 giugno 2023, organizzato da Imma Petito. Si tratta del primo convegno dedicato interamente sul tema in Italia.

Questa sezione accoglie i saggi di Isabella Lazzarini, Malika Dekkiche, Imma Petito e Gianluca Falcucci.

https://www.radiofrance.fr/franceculture/podcasts/la-question-du-jour/les-cathares-ont-ils-existe-3710110
Alors qu'une exposition à Toulouse propose à partir du 5 avril, de revenir sur la fameuse croisade des catholiques contre les "cathares" dans le sud de la France au 13e siècle, quelle réalité historique se cache derrière le terme "cathare" ? Pourquoi fait-il l'objet de débats entre historiens ?
Avec
Julien Théry Archiviste-paléographe, professeur à l'Université Lyon 2, spécialiste de l'histoire des hérésies au Moyen Âge
Alors que le terme "cathare" est encore largement employé, l'expression fait débat au sein de la communauté d'historiens depuis quelques années. Quelle est la réalité historique derrière cette appellation ? En quoi ce terme a-t-il été selon certains historiens, entièrement inventé par l'Église catholique pour justifier sa répression au 13e siècle ? Quelles croyances, organisations et pratiques se cachent derrière ces communautés résistantes dans le sud de la France à cette époque ?
Des formes de résistance à l’Église catholique romaine
Au 12e siècle, l'Église catholique de Rome se lance dans une vaste campagne pour mettre au pas les communautés locales qui désobéissaient à son modèle et refusent ses injonctions. Cependant, des débats fleurissent sur la réelle hérésie de ces communautés. Comme l’explique Julien Théry, archiviste-paléographe, professeur à l'Université Lyon 2, spécialiste de l'histoire des hérésies au Moyen Âge, la seule certitude est l'existence “de gens qu'on appelle les bons hommes et les bonnes femmes. C'est l'un des rares éléments que l'on peut affirmer avec certitude sur les manières de vivre le rapport à Dieu dans ces communautés-là". Les historiens remettent en question les arguments avancés par l'Église : "on a un rejet de la normalisation imposée par une institution romaine en cours d'édification. Elle va rencontrer des résistances partout dans la chrétienté, mais elles vont être beaucoup plus fortes dans certaines régions qui, comme par hasard, n’ont pas d'autorité centrale très prononcée, où il y a une concurrence des pouvoirs et où les cités, c'est-à-dire les villes, s'autogouvernent”.

Geoelectrics is a branch of geophysics which studies and monitors electrical and, along with geomagnetism, electromagnetic fields of the Earth. Possibility for application of geoelectrical explorations is based on the fact that minerals, that composed the rock complex, have different electrical, and partially magnetic characteristics. Electrical methods study natural and artificial electrical flows in the Earth and give data for distribution of the rocks with different electrical features. Geoelectrical mapping and sounding represent two basic methods of geoelectrical research of Earth interior structure. Using geoelectrical mapping, as a part of this method, is measured specific electrical resistance along the profile, with constant distance between the probes or constant depth of exploration. This paper will present process of geoelectrical measurements of Strumica valley or terrain around Bansko spa. Described is procedure of measurement, data processing, the obtained models and ...

The « fama communis » or « publica » (« common fame » or « renown ») held an increasingly important place in judicial sources from 1150-1200 onwards. Its new significance should be correlated with the development, within ecclesiastic and secular jurisdictions, of procedures of an inquisitorial nature. « Fama » and inquisitorial justice were indissociably at the heart of a judicial and governmental revolution that was also, more broadly, socio-political and cognitive.
It is difficult for medievalists to escape the inclination to consider « fama » to be factual data, as it is presented in the sources. But « fama » always required the validation of the judicial authority to take effect – meaning to hold value as an element of proof, to instigate a trial, to authorise a testimony, or to justify the use of torture. It was the key-element of a system of communication dominated by the central authorities. Far from being a force that emanated from the self-organisation of the social world, « fama » was indissociable from relationships of power involving the central institutions that were developing, with a public vocation, and the communities that they brought under their control. « Fama » amounted to a framework of « negotiations » between institutions and society, specific to the first centuries of central power in the West. The competence and prerogative of veridiction, monopolised by public authorities, were the foundation of a specific governmentality, the strategies of both the individual players and the institutions being organised according to the « fama »/« veritas »couple.

At the beginning of this history, in the ninth century, Iceland was uninhabited save for fowl and smaller arctic animals. At its end, in the middle of the sixteenth century, it had embarked on a course that led to the creation of a small country on the outskirts of Europe. The history of medieval Iceland is to some degree a microcosm of European history, but in other respects it has a trajectory of its own. As in Medieval Europe, the evolution of the Church, episodic warfare, and the strengthening of the bonds of government had an important role.

Unlike the rest of Europe, however, Iceland was not settled by humans until during the Middle Ages and it was without towns and any type of executive government until the late medieval period. This is a review of Icelandic history from the settlement until the advent of the Reformation, with an emphasis on social and political change, but also on cultural developments such as the creation of a particular kind of literature, known throughout the world as the sagas.

A view of medieval Icelandic history as it has never been told before from one of its leading historians. It will be of interest to students and scholars alike interested in Icelandic and medieval history.

امتلك الملأ في القرآن الكريم سلطة الحكي، ولكنه لم يمتلك سلطة الحجة الظاهرة، فانطلق بإيعاز من نفوذه المادي ولغايات الحفاظ عليه يحاجج الأنبياء –عليهم السلام- وأتباعهم، فكان حجاجا مراوغا تقنَّع بالصلاح وإرادة الإصلاح، ودرء المفاسد التي ستتجرعها المجتمعات جرَّاء الدعوات النبوية "الطارئة"، مع أنه استبطن إرادة خفية تصارع الأنبياء الذين هدّدت رسالاتهم الشريفة سلطانهم الدنيوي، ونيّاتهم النفعية.           ستجيب هذه القراءة عن سؤالها المركزي: كيف تجلى النسق الظاهر المقنَّع، والباطن الخفي في الآيات التي نقلت خطاب الملأ؟ هذا الخطاب الذي سيكون ميدان التطبيق، وبمنهجية النقد الثقافي/ النسقي المشتغل أساسا على فضح الحيل الثقافية وأساليبها المقنّعة، وإذ جوَّز هذا النقد الثقافي استثماره المدارس والمناهج النقدية وصولا لغاياته، وإتقانا لحفرياته المعرفية، فقد اتكأت القراءة على الحقل اللساني ونظرية الحجاج لتبرز الخواء العقلاني الذي تميز به الملأ في صراعهم مع الأنبياء، الأمر الذي أفضى بهم إلى المخاتلة والإيهام في كلّ خطاباتهم الممتدة في فضاءات عديدة، حتى لكأنها خطاب واحد، وهو الخطاب الذي انهزم أخ...

ObjectivesDegenerative joint disease in the spine is heavily influenced by genetic, environmental, and epigenetic factors, as well as exacerbated by physical activity and injury. The objective of this study was to investigate the multivariate relationship between known predictors of degenerative joint disease in the spine, such as age and sex, with mortuary indicators of economic access such as grave inclusions, burial location, and burial type.Materials and MethodsThe presence and severity of vertebral osteophytosis (VO) and vertebral osteoarthritis (VOA) was recorded for the vertebral columns of N = 106 adult individuals from the Late Medieval period at the rural monastery of San Pietro at Villamagna in Lazio, Italy (1300–1450 AD). Multiple skeletal indicators of degenerative joint disease, morphological sex, and age were compared with differences in mortuary treatment across four regions of the spine.ResultsThere are marked differences in severe joint disease outcome between grou...

El presente trabajo aborda el estudio arqueométrico y arqueológico de un pequeño fragmento de escultura monumental romana procedente del asentamiento urbano de El Forau de la Tuta (Artieda, Zaragoza, España). Dicha pieza, fabricada en mármol de Luni-Carrara, representa una mano izquierda con pátera umbilicata que formaría parte de una estatua de gran formato datable entre la segunda mitad del siglo I y comienzos del II procedente de un edificio público, un templo posiblemente, ubicado en el foro de la ciudad. A partir de los paralelos iconográficos conservados, pensamos que esta estatua podría haberse tratado de una imagen de culto imperial, hipotéticamente un Lar Augusti o un Genius Augusti.

Pregnancy constitutes not only a challenge for the body of the woman, but also a developmental and psychological task for the mother-to-be, her partner and the entire family. Considerable amount of research has been published on the subject of the puerperal period and treatment options of various disorders emerging after pregnancy. However, data on psychiatric disorders and their treatment during that period, although available, remain insufficient. The paper reviews the literature on mental disorders occurring in pregnancy taking into account the overall emotional situation of the pregnant woman.

O artigo trata a profecia joaquimita dos tres grandes homens na sua recepcao e adaptacaopelos franciscanos medievais. Entende-se que essa profecia provem de Joaquim de Fiore,porem, a primeira aplicacao a figura de Francisco de Assis, como o anjo que traz o selo deDeus vivo, se deve ao franciscano espiritual Geraldo de Borgo, condenado como heretico em1255. A prova de que Francisco cumpre com a profecia joaquimita decorre do fato de que eleassinava e selava suas cartas com a letra tau (τ), simbolo ate hoje ostentado no habitofranciscano, como tambem de haver recebido em sua propria carne os estigmas de Cristo.Boaventura, por sua vez, de forma nao tao declarada, assume essa interpretacao profetica quenao vem da leitura direta das obras de Joaquim de Fiore, como muitos afirmam, mas daversao dos franciscanos espirituais, em especial de Geraldo de Borgo.

In a number of complex codices from different Castilian monastic archives there are tantalising glimpses of early cartularies in Visigothic script that predate in some cases what is generally regarded as the first of its kind in Castile, the Becerro Gótico of Cardeña (1086). The best-known cases come from the factitious Becerro Gótico codex of Valpuesta where there are two multi-folio sequences from the mid-eleventh century, while one is a monothematic dossier referring to Buezo, the larger sequence of twenty-two folios can be understood as the precursor of the genre in Castile. From the same century are two deteriorated folios conserved at the end of the San Millán Bulario which, despite such exiguous remains, also seem to coincide with a broad-ranging cartulary that predates the lost San Millán Gótico. Finally, from Santo Domingo de la Calzada we have two further examples which, while slightly later (mid-twelfth century), underline just how widely established this methodology was across Castile from relatively early.

This is the abstract of a paper that is currently under peer review by *Medical History*, where our original essay, "Plague and the Fall of Baghdad (1258)," originally appeared in 2021. An embargoed copy of the complete paper has been uploaded to Humanities Commons: https://doi.org/10.17613/xpwv-2r48. Questions? Write me at monica.h.green@gmail.com.

Resumo:  A representacao da face de Jesus Cristo no campo das artes visuais tem variado muito ao longo dos seculos. Este artigo se propoe a mostrar a evolucao dessa imagem simbolo ao fiel cristao ao longo dos tempos, desde os anos iniciais do cris- tianismo ate a epoca barroca, ainda na fase colonial da Historia do Brasil. O Cristo Crucificado existente no interior do claustro do Mosteiro de Sao Bento do Rio de Janeiro e uma forma de representacao muito conhecida para o homem contempo- râneo, mas nem sempre o crucifixo foi visto como uma imagem simbolo do cris- tianismo. Razoes historicas pesaram de maneira expressiva na escolha da figura arquetipica do Salvador em cada epoca da evolucao do mundo ocidental. Palavras-chave:  Bom Pastor. Pantokrator. Cristo Juiz. Arte escatologica. Crucifixo. Mosteiro de Sao Bento do Rio de Janeiro. Abstract:  The representation of the face of Jesus Christ in the field of the visual arts has varied greatly over the centuries. This article proposes to ...

The first part of this paper has shown that the burghal territories of burhs created in the early
tenth century in what later became Buckinghamshire and south-west Northamptonshire
comprised one or more large ‘proto-hundreds’, typically of around 300-350 hides. As new
cadastral units, these burghal territories are seen as essential aspect of the infrastructure of
burghal formation. This hypothesis carries the implication that these units were subsequently
subdivided into the hundreds of Domesday, which were typically of around 100 hides. From
both a spatial and functional point of view these became subdivisions of the new shires which
would have been formed at the same time. This thesis is examined in the second part of this
paper in relation to the development of burhs in the area of the shires of Bedfordshire,
Hertfordshire and Middlesex, and of Huntingdonshire and Cambridgeshire further to the east.
(The development of burhs in Essex is not considered here). By the end of 917, as the
Chronicle makes clear, all this area (with Essex and East Anglia) had been taken under the
control of King Edward the Elder, in effect extending the area of the West Saxon hegemony to
the east coast.

Diplomová práce se zabývá vznikem královského města Čáslav a podmínkami, které jsou pro vznik královského města určující. Začíná přírodními podmínkami, které jsou rozhodujícím faktorem pro dlouhodobé lidské osídlení. Následně navazuje osídlením regionu Čáslavska v době prehistorické. Poté v rámci jednotlivých kapitol rozkrývá problematiku přerodu knížecího hradiště v rozvinutý městský organismus královského města Čáslav a sleduje již vzniklé město. Práce využívá syntézy historických a archeologických studií. Přináší komplexní pohled na založení města Čáslav a jeho fungování v prvním století své existence.

The relative frequency of the common phenylalanine hydroxylase (PAH) mutation R408W and its associations with polymorphic RFLP, VNTR, and short-tandem-repeat (STR) sites in the PAH gene were examined in many European populations and one representative North American population of defined European descent. This mutation was found to cluster in two regions: in northwest Europe among Irish and Scottish peoples, and in eastern Europe, including the Commonwealth of Independent States. This allele was significantly less frequent in intervening populations. In eastern European populations, the R408W mutation is strongly associated with RFLP haplotype 2, the three-copy VNTR allele (VNTR 3), and the 240-bp STR allele. In northwestern European populations, it is strongly associated with RFLP haplotype 1, the VNTR allele containing eight repeats (VNTR 8), and the 244-bp STR allele. An examination of the linkage between the R408W mutation and highly polymorphic RFLP, VNTR, and STR haplotypes su...

The aim of the study is to explore the medieval concepts on the voluntary death of severely sick people, as they emerge through the endura (endurance) of the heresy of the Cathars in France (twelfth to fourteenth centuries). The endura was the prerequisite act of repentance that would allow the fallen soul to return to heaven. The endura was a necessary act of repentance, after the performance of a ceremonial purification of the soul (consolamentum), and consisted of the patients' voluntary abstention from vital food. The consolamentum and endura could be performed in the final stage of a disease with the consent of the patients or their relatives. The role of the Cathar physician was only to determine the severity of the disease and the forthcoming death of the patient. The physician was not allowed to take steps that would deprive the life of the patient, and the performance of the ritual endura was duty of the spiritual leaders of the community. The modern ethical approach to...

Le spectacle de la violence et de la mort  et ses conséquences (1999) . Quelle est la responsabilité des images dans l’ accroissement de la violence adolescente aujourd’hui en France comme aux Etats-Unis? Le phénomène n’est pas  nouveau mais les sociologues soulignent la banalisation d’une violence liée au temps passé sur les réseaux sociaux, aux jeux vidéos etc.  Les ados aujourd’hui baignent  dans un monde ultra-violent d’images qu’ils visionnent (porno) ou i’ls produisent eux-mêmes ("happy slapping" ).

The elaborated entitled ‘Blessed Dorothea of Montau – a Europe-renowned mystic in the Pomesanian cathedral’ shows the blessed Dorothea of Montau’s mystic experiences that in view of similarity of her experiences with spiritual experiences of other women and men from the Middle Ages make her belong to the group of prominent Christian mystics.
Similar to the blessed Dorothea of Montau, the experience of mystical espousal applies also to St. Hildegard of Bingen, St. Mechtilde of Hackeborn, St. Gertrude the Great, St. Bridget of Sweden, St. Catherine of Siena, and St. Mechtilde of Magdeburg. This spiritual experience also applies to such mystics as St. John of the Cross, St. Vincent Palotti, blessed Honoratus Koźmiński, and St. Padre Pio.
Stigmata, the wounds that appear in the same places as Jesus’s wounds – on the forehead, palms, feet and side – were experienced by the blessed Dorothea of Montau, St. Lutgardis of Tongeren, St. Mechtilde of Hackenborn, St. Angela of Foligno and many other mystics, including St. Francis of Assisi, St. Catherine of Genoa, St. Teresa of Avila, and St. John of the Cross.
The mystical experience of ‘exchange of hearts’ was vividly described by St. Lutgardis of Tongeren. The ‘Exchange of hearts’ was also experienced by St. Mechtilde of Hackeborn and St. Gertrude the Great who had lived before the blessed Dorothea of Montau.
The experience that puts the blessed Dorothea of Montau in the group of great medieval mystics is also a gift of prophecy. Prophetic visions were also received by St. Hildegard of Bingen and St. Bridget of Sweden. The spiritual experiences of the blessed Dorothea of Montau, described in the elaboration, demonstrate that she reached the peaks of her inner life, recognized and highly valued by human spirituality specialists.
In view of the lack of proper attention given to this mystic and recluse, the need for greater promotion of knowledge of spiritual experiences of engagements, espousals, prophetic visions and stigmata that the blessed Dorothea of Montau experienced has been highlighted.

Medieval Bulgarian medicine from the iX-Xv c. was characterized by the low occurrence of medical services, by their inaccessibility, as well as by the widespread disappointment in learned physicians. This led to the search for alternative healing practices. different means and methods were developed for filling up the deficit of healthcare services: • Self-treatment and self-proclaimed healers, • Healing through sacred objects, • Faith in saints and their relics. evidence of the existence of a Bulgarian tradition of healing practices can be found in the considerable number of medical medieval works of utilitarian application, such as manuals, intended to be used by both-healers and patients. Pagan practices of worshipping magic items were transformed into the worship of objects of religious function-the cross, the Scriptures, holy water, holy oil, icons, etc., to which miraculous healing and saving powers were attributed. The cult of saints is highly utilitarian and focuses on the m...

Na fé e cultura dos povos originários da América, os ritos funerários não só facilitam a viagem do finado até a região dos mortos como também os impedem de retornar ao mundo dos vivos. Na pandemia de coronavírus (COVID-19), indagamo-nos: Nas aldeias Pataxós, como os povos originários sepultaram os seus entes queridos, vítimas da COVID-19? Neste trabalho, objetivamos pesquisar o sentido dos ritos fúnebres do povo Pataxó. Partindo da historiobiografia — método terapêutico-educativo de redescoberta do sentido da vida por meio da compreensão da história pessoal, cunhando por Dulce Critelli —, entrevistaremos três membros, adultos, da aldeia de Coroa Vermelha, situada no Território de Identidade Costa do Descobrimento — estado da Bahia (Brasil). Delinearemos uma pesquisa qualitativa fundamentada na experiência pessoal dos participantes, nos documentos da Igreja e na obra “Sulla teologia della morte”, de Karl Rahner. Neste sentido, abordaremos a morte não como um mero fato social, mas com...