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The Symbolic and Moral Interpretation of the Hippocratic Oath

Hélio Angotti-Neto

Original title: A Interpretação Simbólica e Moral do Juramento Hipocrático

Published in Mirabilia Journal

Keywords: Aristotle, Hippocrates, Hippocratic Oath, History of Medicine, Medical Humanities.

The Hippocratic Oath remains as one of the most famous ethical texts in Medical Ethics and Bioethics. The objective of this essay is to clarify its poetic and symbolic interpretations, searching for the adequate comprehension of the Oath using a critical narrative approach with the Aristotelian Theory of the Four Discourses and the interpretation of its direct, indirect, specific and general moral prescriptions. The Oath is a poetic text, which can be used to cause a powerful impression upon the new physician, helping in his moral education and in his commitment with the moral community of Medicine. This analysis makes evident that the Hippocratic Oath still can be used for medical education and professional inspiration, rather than just be discarded as a historical curiosity. The conclusion is that the Oath can be approached more properly with specific literary and philosophical tools that can decode its meanings to better comprehension for the contemporary physician.

The Templars in France: Between History, Heritage, and Memory

Philippe JOSERAND

Published in Medieval and Early Modern Iberian Peninsula Cultural History

Keywords: France, Historiography, Memory, Myth, Templar Order, XIIth-XXIth Centuries.

A comprehensive scholarly study of the Templars in France has not been published yet. Yet their order, from the outset, was closely linked to the French present space: most brethren were born there, and the langue d’oïl rapidly stood as the official tongue of the institution. For two centuries, the Templars used the Capetian kingdom as the main operations base to act in the Latin East and to sustain their singular vocation merging prayer and warfare into the same religious move. After the trial which opened in 1307 on King Philip the Fair’s initiative, the Templar order, although suppressed, did not entirely disappear from the French landscape: some buildings remained and, even more, a myth took shape, from which an historiography gradually emerged. This scientific movement strengthened from the end of the twentieth century and it now allows to shed new light on the French Templar presence, and to question the generally accepted ideas in order to better understand a medieval reality, which is still fascinating, but often strangely evoked.

The Unicorns – Virtue and Treason – An enigmatic iconographic proposal by Salvador Dalí (1904-1989)

Patricia GRAU-DIECKMANN

Original title: Los Unicornios – Virtud y Traición – enigmática propuesta iconográfica de Salvador Dalí (1904-1989)

Published in Medieval and Early Modern Iberian Peninsula Cultural History

Keywords: Alchemical Hermetic Androgyne, Bestiary, Hunting of the unicornio, Salvador Dalí, Unicorn.

“Whether or not a real unicorn existed, it may not itself be as exciting or as important as the things that men dreamed, thought and wrote about it” (Shepard). Of all the stories woven around the mythical figure of the unicorn, one that is repeated over and over again is that only a true virgin can be used as a decoy. Her aroma leaves the unicorn defenseless in front of the hunter who would kill it for its valuable horn. An unexpected iconography is the one proposed by Salvador Dalí in his small statue of The Unicorn.

The Vece of Novgorod after the revolution of 1136

Aldo C. Marturano

Original title: La Vece novgorodese dopo la "rivoluzione" del 1136 d. C.

Published in The chivalry and the art of war in the Ancient and Medieval World

Keywords: Boyars, Lord Novgorod the Great, Posadnik.

The Virgin of the Annunciation: A Paradigm of Humility in Medieval Doctrine and Imagery

José María SALVADOR GONZÁLEZ

Original title: La Virgen de la Anunciación, un paradigma de humildad en la doctrina y la imagen de la Edad Media

Published in Emotions in the Ancient and Medieval Mediterranean World

Keywords: Annunciation, Humility, Iconography, Medieval Art, Patrology.

In recounting the event of the Annunciation, the Gospel of Luke describes the sublime lesson of humility given by the Virgin Mary by proclaiming herself the Lord’s slave while she received the announcement of her election as Mother of God. Such a moral stance soon became an outstanding example of modesty and obedience for all Christians, as it was showed by many Church Fathers, theologians and religious thinkers throughout the centuries. Our paper aims to highlight that this significant lesson of humility and submission by the Virgin, reported by the Gospel and frequently interpreted in patristics and theological sources, often reflected also in art works, as we try to put evident through the analysis of twelve medieval paintings.

The War of Granada: Translation from Latin into Spanish and English and Study of Historical Fragments by Elio Antonio de Nebrija (1444-1522)

Enric MALLORQUÍ-RUSCALLEDA

Original title: La Guerra de Granada: traducción del latín al español e inglés y estudio de fragmentos históricos de Elio Antonio de Nebrija (1444-1522)

Published in Intercultural Mediterranean

Keywords: Elio Antonio de Nebrija, Latin translation, Medieval Literature, Reconquest, War of Granada.

Language:

This paper presents a series of direct translations of Nebrija’s Latin and the edition and annotation of fragments of the historical work Guerra de Granada (De Bello Granatensi) by Elio Antonio de Nebrija. Based on the outstanding edition of the Latin text by Prof. Dr. María Luisa Arribas Hernáez, the article is addressed to scholars, students of classical philology and history, and anyone interested in the history of the Reconquista and medieval literature. This first instalment of what is expected to be a complete translation of Nebrija’s text in both English and Spanish offers an invaluable tool for researching and studying this text published in 1545. In addition to improving the Spanish translation and creating an English version, cultural notes have been included to enrich the understanding of the text.

The Woman and the Androgyne in Leonardo da Vinci’s (1452-1519) pictorical work

María del Carmen BREA REINA

Original title: La Mujer y lo andrógino en la obra pictórica de Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519)

Published in Music in Antiquity, Middle Ages & Renaissance

Keywords: Androgyne, Cinquecento, Leonardo da Vinci, Madonna, Quattrocento, Renaissance, Virgin.

Leonardo da Vinci is one of the main exponents of Italian Renaissance painting. In his work the female characters or Madonnas stand out, in many cases with a leading role of great symbolism. Leonardo makes this concept evolve into the figure of the androgynous person, mixing feminine and masculine features to bring a new perspective to his production.

The abolition of the right of ecclesiastical foreigners in Mallorca: attitudes and linguistic uses

Rosa CALAFAT VILA

Original title: L’abolició del dret d’estrangeria eclesiàstica a Mallorca: actituds i usos lingüístics

Published in

Keywords: Abolition with civil alienation, Abolition with ecclesiastic alienation, Charles III, Councillors of Palma, Majorca.

The Decree of Nova Planta (1707-1715) ends with civil alienation in the Catalan-Aragonese Crown and, by extension, in 1723, with ecclesiastic alienation in Aragon, València and Barcelona; but not in Mallorca, where it is preserved until 1808. Using unpublished documentary contributions based on the declarations of the councillors of the city of Palma in the plenary meeting of January 12, 1808, we analyze the reasons argued by the local authorities to continue with ecclesiastical alienation, as well as the arguments of those who, out of love for the new state, stood against it. The abolition of such right is placed within the framework of what dictates the royal cedula of June 23, 1768. We also review the significance for the extension of Spanish language in the dioceses of Barcelona and Palma, of the presence of two Andalusian bishops whose mandates coincided partially; namely, Gavino de Valladares (Barcelona, 1775-1794) and Juan Díaz de la Guerra (Palma, 1772-1777).

The abortion of useless life: the life between secularization and the sacred

Euler Renato WESTPHAL

Original title: O aborto de vida inútil: a vida entre a secularização e o sagrado

Published in

Keywords: Bioethics, Cultural Heritage, Sustainability, Theology, Universal Human Rights.

This article approached the utilitarian ethic view about the human dignity. According to utilitarianism, the human life does not have dignity and it does not have worth by itself. The infanticide could be a possibility to free the parents of children who have any handicaps. Human life only has value if there is self-consciousness and a life project. From that moment on, the genetic improvement would also be justified by the PGD (Preimplantation Genetic Diagnosis) so that children would not get serious diseases. Which are the limits between eugenics and therapy, among utility and human dignity? Alberto Giubilini, Francesca Minerva, Peter Singer, Hannah Arendt, Jürgen Habermas, Joachim Jeremias, Oscar Cullmann were partners of discussion in this article. It is remarked that the human dignity, the universal rights of human being are heritages of the Judeo-Christian theology. God unconditionally loves the sinner, the patient, the weak and the excluded. From that moment on, the Christian theology indicates to the solidarity of God to those who are considered, by the liberal eugenic, “not worth living”. The critical dialogue among bioethics and theology has the aim of seeking criteria so that the human life will not be instrumentalized by interests of human designers.