Journal of Ancient and Medieval History
December 2001
It is with great joy that we present to
the academic community the first issue of the Journal Mirabilia (www.revistamirabilia.com).
This is a dream we have had for a long time and that now comes true: by INTERNET
we are able to offer to the Brazilian public, students and scholars, the best
of the international production in the field of Ancient and Medieval History.
Moreover, we wish to show that in our country, despite all the difficulties
present in the everyday of the universities, we can and we are capable of having
ideas connected with what is produced in the major international centres. And
maybe this is the best word to define this project of Mirabilia: harmony.
For this first issue, we decided to keep open the thematic trends and invited various colleagues to participate. We have not imposed any restriction so that they could show us what they knew best, what their research is interested in and the subjects which they currently develop in their centres. Thus, we offer you 14 papers by colleagues from Brazil, Argentina, Spain and Germany.
Curiously, the articles we received present a certain thematic harmony. Basically, they deal with the woman, the Art and Lullian studies. The exceptions are the papers by Edrisi Fernandes (UFRN) - who treats the way how the Jñâna Yoga was taught by the School Vedânta, founded by Bâdarayana (c. 300-100 a C.), an important aspect of the Hindu tradition; Gilvan Ventura da Silva (UFES) - who analyses the history of the different historiographical trends that deal with the fall of the Roman Empire -; Francisco Bertelloni (UBA) - whose article is about the political thought at the end of Middle Ages - and Alexander Fidora (J. W. Goethe-Universität), who deals with the usage of the texts of Isidore of Seville by Dominicus Gundissalinus and the School of Translators from Toledo. All of them are instigating papers, which navigate among complex themes but always in a smooth way.
I will tell some short words with regard to our prestigious contributors. About the Greek woman - one of the most fascinating subjects in present-day, the so-called History of Gender -, we have the articles by Maria Regina Cândido (UERJ - Brasil) about the myth of Medea; Moisés Romanazzi Tôrres (UFRJ - Brasil) and the woman's condition in Classical Greece. Rafael Ramón Guerrero (University Complutense of Madrid - Spain) - one of the greatest Islamists of our days - tells us about the conception of love and eroticism, from Plato to the Thousand and One Nights, in a refined knowledge that leads from Plotinus, Saint Bernard, Algazel, Ibn 'Arabi of Múrcia, Avicenna, Ibn Hazm of Córdoba, just to the history told by the eternal and attractive Sherazade (Sahrazad). Ramón Guerrero takes us to a fantastic loving world through a magical way and full of subtle day-dreams.
At last, Jordi Pardo Pastor (Barcelona - Spain) explains the image of the perfect knight depicted in the Chivalry Books as well as the influence of the Jewish texts to originate the female image Ramon Llull deals with in the literary works Blaquerna and Book of Marvels. The feminine associated to the desire of lust; the manner how the chivalrous hero, ascetic and pure, should escape from the temptations of the flesh to follow an ascetic life that conducts him to eternal life.
The History of Art attracts each time more readers and researchers. In this aspect we hope that Mirabilia offers a useful bibliography and a beautiful iconographic material in order to provide visual delight. Our first issue could not be better structured: there are four articles that analyse works of Art. These offer an advanced methodology which may stimulate the reflections of all those who are interested in the connections between History and Art.
José Francisco de Moura (UFRJ - Brasil) presents an interesting analysis of Greek vase and discusses the concept of Art connected to that period. Patricia Grau-Dieckmann (UBA - Argentina) discusses the influence of apocryphal histories in the artistic Christian representation of the Sacred Family's escape to Egypt, analysing four beautiful images. Adriana Zierer (UFF - Brasil) deals with the medieval simbology of the apple, in Celtic tradition and in the chivalrous literature, such as the case of Geoffrey of Monmouth. Nora Marcela Gomez (UBA - Argentina) develops the subject of the apocalyptical corpus of "Los Beatus", an artistical trend which had very much success in the Middle Ages, with more than thirty codices from the 9th to 13th century.
At last, we have the articles related to Ramon Llull (1232-1316). As it is known, the systematic publication of Llull's works either by Raimundus Lullus Institut (ROL, Freiburg) or by the Patronat Ramon Llull (NEORL, Palma) has greatly increased the studies concerned with this important medieval philosopher all around the world. In Brazil, the Brazilian Institute of Science and Philosophy Ramon Llull, whose seat is in São Paulo, closely follows this academic editorial boom and offers the direct access to the Lullian sources – not to mention the work of translation and analysis of the Lullian sources developed by myself at UFES together with medieval groups of studies, which is also connected to the Institute. In this way, the Journal Mirabilia has accepted 3 papers that deal with the pious catalan: Ciléa Dourado (UFRN - Brasil) develops the subject of Lullian ethics and its subordinate topics: the correlatives, the freedom to practice the good, the conscience of the existence of the evil and the practice of the virtues as a moral shield to the salvation of the soul; Ricardo da Costa (UFES - Brasil) analyses the political situation in the reigns of Majorca and Aragon in Llull's time and his performance in the problems resulting from de nobiliarquical disputes; Jordi Pardo Pastor, of whom we have already spoken, uses the image of the ascetic Lullian knight to deal with the sin of lust and the feminine image associated to the sin.
We believe that this team of collaborators greatly honours the first issue of the Journal Mirabilia. We present ourselves to the world with them. Long life to Mirabilia!
[Return]
