Article
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Palaeochristian Art: Mirror of the worldview of the early Christians
Rosa Maria Blanca CEDILHO, Ana Paula Bernardo de SOUSA
Original title: Arte Paleocristã: espelho da visão de mundo dos primeiros cristãos
Published in Mulier aut Femina. Idealism or reality of women in the Middle Ages
Keywords: Christianity, Iconology, Imperial Rome, Pagan Art, Paleochristian Art.
This research aims to present what are the main aspects of Paleochristian art. This artistic representation was intended to convey the gospel message and educate the followers of this new , who lived between the ages II and IV. However, according to research, it is clear that the Christian themes are mixed with pre-existing pagan art, or with classical art.
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Urraca Téllez: Social ancestry and political-religious projection of a prioress of Santo Domingo el Real de Toledo (ca. 1352 - †1431-32)
Francisco de Paula CAÑAS GÁLVEZ
Original title: Urraca Téllez: Ascendencia social y proyección político-religiosa de una priora de Santo Domingo el Real de Toledo (ca. 1352 - †1431-32)
Published in Mulier aut Femina. Idealism or reality of women in the Middle Ages
Keywords: Gutierre Gómez, María de Casilla, Order of Preachers, Tel Fernández de Toledo, Teresa de Ayala, Trastamara royalty.
The following pages are intended to reconstruct the biography of Urraca Tellez, nun and prioress of Santo Domingo el Real in Toledo, with particular emphasis on the political, social, spiritual and cultural contexts that came together in the first stage of Santo Domingo el Real Toledo to make it one of the most prominent centers of power of the Crown of Castile in the the late Middle Ages.
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Benedicta in mulieribus. The Virgin Mary as a paradigm of women in the patristic tradition and its possible reflection in Spanish Gothic painting
José María SALVADOR GONZÁLEZ
Original title: Benedicta in mulieribus. La Virgen María como paradigma de la mujer en la tradición patrística y su posible reflejo en la pintura gótica española
Published in Mulier aut Femina. Idealism or reality of women in the Middle Ages
Keywords: Iconography, Mariology, Paradigm, Patristics, Spanish Gothic painting., Theology, Women.
From the first centuries of the Christian era the Virgin Mary became in respect of the believers a sublime and inimitable model of human, moral and spiritual virtues. This fact has been staged by researchers on Marian iconography as a self-evident axiom, which need not be explained or justified documentarily. Going against this uncritical stance, this paper aims to explain, through a lot of theological and patristic citations, three fundamental aspects or attributes, in which, among many others, the paradigmatic character of Mary becomes real: her supereminence in comparison with the other women, her supereminence in comparison with the other creatures, including angels and saints, and her intercession before God on behalf of human beings. We complement our study by a comparative analysis through which we attempt to relate these patristic and theological sources with some Spanish Gothic paintings in which the three mentioned aspects of the analyzed Marian doctrine could be reflected in some way.
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The Rejection of the Epicurean Ideal of Pleasure in Late Antique Sources: Not Only Misunderstandings
Ilaria L. E. RAMELLI
Published in Pleasure in the Middle Ages
Keywords: Christian reception, Epicureanism, Gregory Nazianzen, Origen, Pleasure.
Epicureanism was seen by its opponents, both ‘pagan’ and Christian, as the philosophy of pleasure and atheism. From the theological point of view, the accusation of atheism was incorrect, since Epicurus and the Epicureans admitted of the existence of deities, and posited them as models of moral perfection, while denying their interest in human affairs, i.e. providence. This denial aimed at guaranteeing their imperturbability (ataraxia). From the ethical point of view, the ideal of pleasure (hēdonē), on which I shall concentrate here, was grossly misunderstood or distorted by the opponents of Epicureanism, who generally did not take into consideration the moderation, equilibrium, and serenity that the superior ‘catastematic pleasure’ (Epicurus’s real ideal of pleasure) involved. I shall analyse the attitude of late-antique sources, especially Christian, toward Epicureanism and its ethics. A great many of Usener’s and Arrighetti’s fragments of Epicurus indeed come from Christian late-antique authors, such as Clement, Origen, Eusebius, Lactantius, and Augustine, but other patristic authors should be added, such as Basil and Gregory of Nyssa. Even if patristic interest in Epicureanism is often critical, and sometimes imprecise or distorted, nevertheless it is tangible. I shall focus on the authors who make the most interesting use of Epicurean sources, particularly with respect to the ethical doctrine: Origen, Dionysius of Alexandria, Lactantius, Ambrose, Jerome and Augustine, Gregory Nyssen, and Nazianzen, the only one who really understood and praised Epicurus’s notion of hēdonē. I shall also argue that the fading away of the availability and use of good sources on Epicureanism, along with the disappearance of the Epicurean school itself, brought about an impoverishment in the understanding of, and hostility to, Epicurus and Epicureanism.
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Why Did People ‘Invent’ Relics in the Roman East Between the Fourth and Sixth Centuries?
Estelle CRONNIER
Published in Pleasure in the Middle Ages
Keywords: Church, Inventions, Politics, Relics, Roman East.
The cult of relics did not exist in the first centuries of the Christian era, but only came into being in the fourth century. After the Peace of the Church and the Christianisation of the Roman Empire, it became a constitutive element of the new religion. However, a very small number of holy graves known to exist and could be pinpointed. This could explain why a series of ‘inventions’ or miraculous discoveries happened in this time – first of all in the Eastern provinces of the Empire –, that is to meet the needs of worship. But relics were not found at just any time or place. A careful examination of the different cases in their historical context gives us a better understanding of this phenomenon.
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Gregory of Tours, Political Criticism and Lower-Class Violence
Michael BURROWS
Published in Pleasure in the Middle Ages
Keywords: Authority, Class, Gregory of Tours, Merovingian Gaul, Political Critique.
The aim of this paper is to add to the growing scholarship on Gregory of Tours’ Histories by investigating a series of episodes of lower class violence that occurred in Book VII of that work. It is hoped that this study will demonstrate an additional layer to Gregory’s work, and add to our understanding of his perception of authority in contemporary Merovingian society. It is also hoped that, in addition to investigation Gregory’s agenda, some light will be cast on the lower classes of Merovingian Gaul and their potential for ‘independent’ acts of violence.
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The Reception of Latin Grammar Knowledge in the Early Middle Ages: Bede and Donatus
Maya PETROVA
Published in Pleasure in the Middle Ages
Keywords: Bede, Donatus, Grammatical knowledge.
The article treats the grammatical tradition of Late Antiquity and its reception in the early Middle Ages. Bede’s rhetorical and grammatical works are analysed in the context of medieval school practice; the question of the extent to which Bede’s texts depend on Aelius Donatus’ Ars grammatica is considered; the parallels and differences between their texts are discussed.
