Article
-
Isabel de Villena: Prayer and Franciscan Spirituality
Lesley K TWOMEY
Published in Isabel de Villena (1430-1490)
Keywords: Franciscan prayer techniques, Franciscanism, Middle Ages, Orality, Passion.
This essay examines traces of the oral in the prayers written by Isabel de Villena (1430-1490), abbess of the Santa Trinitat convent in Valencia. The essay compares the prayers of Christ in the Garden of Gethsemane in the Vita Christi with St Francis’s Office of the Passion. It finds that whilst there are some similarities between St Francis’s Office and Villena’s Vita Christi, this is because of technique in using phrases from the Psalms rather than direct influence.
-
The Sasanian Tradition in ʽAbbāsid Art: squinch fragmentation as The structural origin of the muqarnas
Alicia CARRILLO
Published in Isabel de Villena (1430-1490)
Keywords: Islamic architecture, Middle Ages, Muqarnas, Sasanian, Tripartite squinches, ʽAbbāsid Caliphate.
Islamic architecture presents a three-dimensional decoration system known as muqarnas. An original system created in the Near East between the second/eighth and the fourth/tenth centuries due to the fragmentation of the squinche, but it was in the fourth/eleventh century when it turned into a basic element, not only all along the Islamic territory but also in the Islamic vocabulary. However, the origin and shape of muqarnas has not been thoroughly considered by Historiography. This research tries to prove the importance of Sasanian Art in the aesthetics creation of muqarnas.
-
Ramon Llull and the Liber contra Antichristum
Esteve JAULENT
Original title: Raimundo Lúlio e o Livro contra o Anticristo
Published in Ramon Llull. Seventh centenary
Keywords: Faith and Reason, Liber contra Antichristum, Logic, Metaphysics, Ramon Llull, Theology and Philosophy.
A superficial interpretation of the “Book Against the Antichrist” may lead to several misunderstandings of Llull’s thought regarding the relation between Philosophy and Theology: this is particularly true for Llull’s purported rationalism that would despise knowledge through faith and lead to a false equivalence among religions. This article presents a new approach to Llull’s works from a metaphysical and a logical point of view: while holding the truths of faith in abeyance, Llull draws exclusively rational consequences which, however, correspond to revealed truths.
-
Nosce teipsum in Ramon Llull’s work
Jaume MEDINA
Original title: Nosce teipsum en l’obra de Ramon Llull
Published in Ramon Llull. Seventh centenary
Keywords: Anthropology, Catalan Literature, Ethics, Medieval Philosophy, Middel Ages, Ramon Llull, Theology.
Even though the presence of the Delphic precept «γνῶθι σαυτόν» («nosce teipsum») in Ramon Llull’s work is scarce, the research done in the present study reaches a twofold conclusion: firstly, the master's knowledge of the precept; secondly, the importance he gave to it in some central passages of his production.
-
What things Llull accepts from Muslims
Josep PUIG MONTADA
Original title: Llull, i quines coses accepta dels musulmans
Published in Ramon Llull. Seventh centenary
Keywords: Conversion into Christianity, Islam, Raimundus Lullus.
Raimundus Lullus claims to have written some of his works first in Arabic but no evidence is available. No doubt he knew Islamic philosophy and theology and the article tries to answer which elements did he integrate into his doctrine; it looks as if most of them were of formal nature.
-
Homo, animal pacificans: Toward an interpretation of Llull’s system in anthropological key
Julián BARENSTEIN
Original title: Homo, animal pacificans: Hacia una interpretación del sistema luliano en clave antropológica
Published in Ramon Llull. Seventh centenary
Keywords: Human télos, Lullian Anthropology, New interpretation, Peace, Ramon Llull.
In this paper we present the fundamental guidelines for a general interpretation of Llull’s system that takes as points of support the conception of man put forward by Ramon Llull and the specific role of the human being, his télos, in this world. Also, in the course of our research we use elements taken from current interpretations to show, finally, their compatibility in the light of our proposal.
-
Considerations about Liber Contemplationis in Deum
Matilde CONDE SALAZAR, Carmen Teresa PABÓN DE ACUÑA
Original title: Consideraciones en torno al Liber Contemplationis in Deum
Published in Ramon Llull. Seventh centenary
Keywords: Faith, God, Hope, Infidels, Liber Contemplationis in Deum, Mercy, Parallel schemes, Repentance.
The aim of this brief study is to offer some characteristics that have caught our attention in the very broad “Liber contemplationis in Deum”. These aspects are, from a formal point of view, the use of schemes, generally in the form of very carefully designed parallel patterns throughout the Liber; the overwhelming passion that is reflected in the wealth and variety of adjectives that invoke God; and above all, and underlying all the text, the continuous manifestation of Llull’s deep regret and repentance as a sinner, the need to share his faith with infidels and the song of hope and trust in the mercy and pity of God, which marks the culminating points of each chapter.
