Article
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Preface
Adriana Zierer
Original title: Prefácio
Published in Paradise, Purgatory and Hell: the Religiosity in the Middle Ages
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The iconography of Hell in Medieval artistic tradition
Tamara QUÍRICO
Original title: A iconografia do Inferno na tradição artística medieval
Published in Paradise, Purgatory and Hell: the Religiosity in the Middle Ages
Keywords: Hell, Iconography, Middle Ages, Visions of the Otherworld.
This article shall briefly discuss the elaboration of the visual representation of Hell – both in paintings as in plays –, as well as some of the most important iconographic elements of the theme. It is intended to show how Scriptural elements were associated to others of popular origin in order to create the iconography of the theme throughout medieval period. It must be considered that Hell forms Christian imaginary, being an essential part of one of the most important questions to Christianity: man’s fate after death and after the end of the world. Absorbing concepts and traditions alien to Christian religiosity, the iconography of Hell became one of the main elements to indoctrinate the faithful, when presented as an independent theme, but especially when it was associated to the broader representation of the Last Judgment.
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Meaning and importance of Paradise description in the Introducción de los Milagros de Nuestra Señora by Gonzalo de Berceo
Lidia Raquel MIRANDA
Original title: Sentido y alcances de la descripción del Paraíso en la Introducción de los Milagros de Nuestra Señora de Gonzalo de Berceo
Published in Paradise, Purgatory and Hell: the Religiosity in the Middle Ages
Keywords: Allegory, Berceo, Description, Milagros de Nuestra Señora, Paradise.
The Introduction of Los Milagros de Nuestra Señora by Gonzalo de Berceo shows a locus amoenus, where the pilgrim rests, that identify with paradise (c. 14 a y b). The source in that lawn (c. 3) divides in four branches (c. 21) that evoke the rivers of paradise, and the trees that produce healthful and beautiful fruits (c. 4) represent the abundance and happiness preceding the original sin. In this context, Virgin Mary image is the redemption matrix that will repair the fault committed by Adam and Eve because of her mediation between Christ and men. The stanzas’ text by Gonzalo de Berceo we have analyzed focus in theological history of humanity of latest days, the enunciator present, which is understood starting from the originating times. So, the lawn description connotes the lost paradise and paradisiacal state which recovery is a certain possibility to men who believe and devote Virgin Mary.
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The Sense and the Reason of Being of Dante Alighieri’s Paradise
Moisés Romanazzi TÔRRES
Original title: O Sentido e a Razão de Ser do Paraíso de Dante Alighieri
Published in Paradise, Purgatory and Hell: the Religiosity in the Middle Ages
Keywords: Christian Reform, Dante Alighieri, Paradise, Process of the Mystic Union., Theological Blessedness and Human Deification.
Dante, along Commedia, establishes the great process of his Mystical Union. Once freed from sin, our poet can re-enter into possession of his free will and win the Earthly Paradise (the philosophical blessedness). His “long walk” through Hell and Purgatory thus marks the first phase of his union with God and gives the first of two sanctities, the sanctity of nature (the philosophical blessedness). Paradiso of Dante develops exactly the other two stages. In its ascent through the various heavens, Dante gradually breaks away from all connection with the earth, until, enlightened by truth, can gain access to Celestial Paradise (the theological blessedness). This was the second step, which gave him a new sanctity, the sanctity of grace. But it was only a wonder that Dante double blessed can complete the process of Mystical Union. Just then he felt his free will finally merge with the divine will, and has to obey only love that this is the soul of the world and that moves the sun and other stars. Only then Dante can to realize the highest human and Christian perfection, the deification of man. Then he became worthy and capable of performing his providential mission: to cooperate on earth the triumph of truth and Christian order, and finally , join the action of the godsend that one day will complete the reform of the Church and the world.
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The Dante’s Inferno and the seventh circle symbology
Solange Ramos de ANDRADE and Daniel Lula COSTA
Original title: O Inferno de Dante e a simbologia do sétimo círculo
Published in Paradise, Purgatory and Hell: the Religiosity in the Middle Ages
Keywords: Dante, Demons, Hell, Middle Ages, Violence.
The period between XI to XIII century was remarkable for the expansion of Christian hell. The belief in evil increased the fear of unknown and enabled the structure of a punitive hell. The poet, Dante Alighieri, made a geography for Christian hell, paradise and purgatory by means of collective representations of medieval man. We’ll use the concept of representation to discuss the symbolism of Dante’s inferno, focusing in the structure of its seventh circle, where the violent souls are punished.
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Meister Eckhart and the Paradisus anime intelligentis
Matteo RASCHIETTI
Original title: Meister Eckhart e o Paradisus anime intelligentis
Published in Paradise, Purgatory and Hell: the Religiosity in the Middle Ages
Keywords: Being, Eckhart, Paradisus, Return to One, intellect.
The Dominican master doesn't talk about Paradise in his works like a place in the future, because his point of view is not eschatological. In fact, for him there's no a way toward a future happiness, but a return to the origin. In Paradisus anime intelligentis, Eckhart defends the superiority of intellectus and God Himself is defined like it, while the esse (being) reports himself almost exclusively to creatures. The man, to realize his deep calling to be unum with God, has to come back to Him.
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A “floral garment” for the Paradise Garden: the Mudejar plaster-works
Mª Ángeles JORDANO BARBUDO
Original title: Un “vestido floral” para el Jardín del Paraíso: las yeserías mudéjares
Published in Paradise, Purgatory and Hell: the Religiosity in the Middle Ages
Keywords: Mosque Cathedral, Mudejar, Paradise Garden, Plaster-works, Royal Chapel, Sufism.
The Paradise Garden is a constant feature in the Islamic world. As a result of its survival under Christian domain is its representation through the Mudejar plaster-works, especially in the court spaces nourished as a "qubba", where the tree of Paradise and an endless number of leaves and fruits invade the paraments, showing bright colours -golden, red, blue and black.
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The feminine imaginary in Virtuosa Benfeitoria and its mediation between Man and Paradise
Mafalda Maria Leal de Oliveira e Silva FRADE
Original title: O imaginário feminino na Virtuosa Benfeitoria e sua mediação entre o Homem e o Paraíso
Published in Paradise, Purgatory and Hell: the Religiosity in the Middle Ages
Keywords: Infant D. Pedro, Middle Ages, Virgin Mary, Virtuosa Benfeitoria, Woman.
The main goal of this research is to study the female imagery in the medieval work Virtuosa Benfeitoria, written by Infante D. Pedro and based on Seneca’s book De Beneficiis. In this text, there are various ideas about the status of women, conveyed by three specific groups: the Graces, the six maidens and the Virgin Mary. Given the religiosity of Middle Ages, the latter is given a leading role (despite the mythological influences of the three Graces and the allegory of the six maidens): she is the epitome of perfection and is responsible for an important role of mediation between Man and Heaven.
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The death as passing: Earth, Paradise, and Hell in Armer Heinrich by Hartmann von Aue
Daniele Gallindo Gonçalves SILVA
Original title: A morte como passagem: Terra, Paraíso e Inferno em Armer Heinrich (Pobre Henrique) de Hartmann von Aue
Published in Paradise, Purgatory and Hell: the Religiosity in the Middle Ages
Keywords: Death, Literature in Middle High German, Rites of Passage.
There are several discourses about death in the XII century. In addition to the discourses disseminated by the clergy and religious literature, the Middle High German literature also covered the theme in its own manner. Accordingly, the work Armer Heinrich by Hartmann von Aue re-elaborates the knowledge about death and the transience of life, which are presented and discussed here.
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Beyond and the marginalized: notes on their relationship on the Castilian hagiographies in the XIII Century
Andréia Cristina Lopes Frazão da SILVA and Thalles Braga Rezende Lins da SILVA
Original title: O Além e os marginalizados: apontamentos sobre sua relação nas hagiografias castelhanas do século XIII
Published in Paradise, Purgatory and Hell: the Religiosity in the Middle Ages
Keywords: After-life, Devil, Hagiography, Iberian Peninsula, Marginalized.
In this article, we analyze two hagiographies written in the second half of the XIII century, known as Milagros de Nuestra Señora and Liber Mariae. Both were written in the kingdom of Castile, respectively, by Gonzalo de Berceo and Juan Gil de Zamora, clergy members with university education. However, the last was a Franciscan, who maintained relations with royalty, while the first was a priest with strong links with the monastic life. In their writings, the moral and didactical appeal directed to the Christians believers is also remarkable. Thus, through a comparative perspective and considering the historical context of the period, we will examine the representations of the marginalized present in the selected hagiographies, making some parallels between the place of the miracles, their social situation and their postmortem fate. For a better understanding of the question, we are also resorting to the associations that are made on the texts between the marginalized and the characters of the Virgin and the Devil, justly because they exemplify the models of inclusion or exclusion in these narratives.
