Бележки по въпроса за чужденците в историята на Първото българско царство (680 – 870 г.)
A brief attempt to present some aspects of the problem is made. There are tracked the data for the presence of foreigners in the period of 680 – 870
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A brief attempt to present some aspects of the problem is made. There are tracked the data for the presence of foreigners in the period of 680 – 870
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A brief survey is done of four newly examined Medieval villages, situated in the territory of Radnevo Municipality. Their inserting into scientific circulation together with the newly found out but unexamined two settlements completes the settlement system in the Medieval period. On the basis of investigation done referring to the topography, the building character and numerous excavations material the settlements are dated about the end of 11th century – the beginning of 13th century
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The article is dealing with the area of the western fortress wall, as a result of the carried out field observations of the Trapezitsa hill of the medieval Turnovo. The section of the western fortress wall under consideration with the round tower, postern, diversion facility and the transverse fortress wall to the river allows specifying the planning and making an attempt to build a working chronology of the stages of construction in this part of the fortress.
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The article presents some comments on a source, well-known to the researchers of the medieval Bulgarian history under the name “Venetian Anonym from 1268”, which tells the story about the relics of St. Theodore found in the city of Mesemvria in 1257 and transferred to Venice. The comparative analysis of numerous other sources from the period makes me conclude that the data presented in the Anonym raise serious doubts in their authenticity. It also found out that the earliest securely dated text presenting the story of that event was a “communication” from the well-known chronicle of the Doge of Venice, Andrea Dandolo composed in the 40’s of the 14th century. It seems that the story of the “Venetian Anonym from 1268” accepted until now as authentic is a beautiful, but politically motivated fabrication of the Doge of the Republic Andrea Dandolo.
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The study adds an unknown prayer of Gregory, monk and presbyter, to the corpus of prayers uttered while performing the Holy Communion. The supposed author is Gregory Tsamblak. The Moscow transcript is part of Kanonnik dated to the 17th century – RGB – f. 304.І, No. 284.
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The material is a historical retrospection of the fate of the Western Rhodopes and, more precisely, of the region of Dospat, Devin and Batak. It spans the period between the Slavic settlement of the Balkan peninsula and the time of the Islamization processes in that region during the first centuries of the Ottoman domination. There is a brief review of the chief Medieval objects, evidenced by archeology. With regard to the entering of Islam among the native Bulgarian population, it is represented as a long-running process with the new faith adopted either individually or en masse in a different way – not only by force, but also as a result of gaining tax and social privileges, the inevitable change of people’s mentality, etc. Possibly, in that direction there was an influence from the views of the Medieval Bulgarian Bogomils – a “heretical” community which had its positions in the Rhodopes – as is known, it is in the Rhodopes where the Bogomil community of “Dragovichia” existed. The analogy with Bosnia and Herzegovina is indicative – the followers of Bogomilism the readopted Islam because of the hostile attitude of both the Orthodox and the Catholoc churches which had been demonstrated towards them for centuries.
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The present work is focused on the traditional special funerals of the Bulgarians. These are the funerals of people whose death was unnatural or premature. On the basis of ethnographic data from the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th c., the author examines the funerals of malefactors, sorceresses, drowned persons,persons who were not baptized, young children and teenagers, unmarried girls and boys, newlyweds, women in labour, and some symbolic funerals.
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The Second Crusade (1147-1149) and the Autocephaly of Kliment Smoliatich in Kiev (1147 – 1155) forces Manuel Komnenos, the emperor of Constantinople, and John Komnenos, the archbishop of Ohrid, to reform the churches of which the liturgical language was Slavic (the language of God the Word). In 1150 the diocese of “Justiniana Prima and the whole of Bulgaria” joins the metropolitan of Solun and the residency of the autocephalous Bulgarian church moves from Ohrid to Preslav along with its books, redacted in Strumitsa by John Komnenos. The reform was approved at the antiheretic council in Constantinople in 1156 and Leo was appointed as archbishop, enthroned at the council of the Bulgarian church in Preslav on the 14th of February 1160. The Speech of Cyril the Philosopher of how he converted the Bulgarians (the Legend of Solun) was created to glorify the event. In the Speech it is symbolically reported that a rising of all Bulgarians occurred along with shedding lots of blood for Cyril the Philosopher who was given to them by God the Word.
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The article once again analyzes the information in the tombstone inscription of Ichirgu Boila Mostich from the 10th century, found in the Outer City of Veliki Preslav. The author rejects the hypothesis that Mostich from the inscription and George Sursuvul known from the Byzantine historical writings are the same person. The study suggests the idea that the chronological instruction in the inscription “under Tsar Simeon and Tsar Peter” actually illustrates the situation from the last years of Simeon’s rule when he formally shared power with his second son Peter and specifically the time when Mostich was discharged from his top state position. Looking at the information in the inscription from this point of view and combining it with the information from Chapter 32 of Constantine Porphyrogenitos’ work, it is pointed out that the partial failure of the military expedition to the northwest became a strong reason for Tsar Simeon to remove from the political scene two influential, but unsuitable persons (the heir to the throne Michael and Ichirgu Boila Mostich), having in mind the compromise course taken in 924 in the relations with Byzantium.
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The authors offer a new reading and interpretation of a partially preserved proto-Bulgarian inscription – graffiti on an amphora, produced by a local craftsman towards the middle or the second half of the 10th c. AD. It has been found during excavations in a monastic skete with a cenobitic monastery, dedicated to St. Panteleymon above the “Patleyna” valley. The preserved part of the inscription could be translated as: “…give [the] olovnik to [your] wife to hide [it], 17th [day] of the month August”. The word olovnik is a rare and specific name for a vessel with the beverage olovina, so far familiar from old Russian manuscripts and Bulgarian written monuments from the late Middle Ages and newer times. There it replaces the biblical name of the alcoholic beverage siker/a. The second key word in the inscription is “wife”, inscribed without the expected Dative suffix. The text also contains two verbs. The first one in 2nd person singular, jussive. The second one is a form for 3rd person, singular and is related to an action which needs to be undertaken by the aforementioned wife. With all that in mind, the text appears to be a command from a person towards someone's wife to hide the likely full with olovina amphora – olovnik. The semantics of the large sign engraved under the inscription is also important for the correct interpretation of the text. Arguments are made that it is a cryptic symbol-theonym, which can be deciphered as a designation or an invocation towards Jesus the Saviour. Because the amphora was found in a small, secluded mountain monastery, the authors think it is better founded to consider that the inscription and the accompanying sign on the vessel are delivering an order from above, according to which the olovina (i.e. sikera) contained in the amphora has been placed there under prohibition for consumption. In the books Judges 13:2-25 and in I Kings 1:1-20, the prohibition to consume exactly this alcoholic beverage is the main condition when childless wives are giving a vow in front of God, so they can have a baby. As a consequence of such a vow, famous biblical characters are born: the nazirite and judge of Israil – Samson, as well as the recognised by the church of Christ as a saint – the prophet Samuel. The date at the end of the inscription – the 17th of August, most likely has designated the day of the vow for abstinence from the mentioned wife from Preslav. Based on this the authors assume that it might have been associated with the forthcoming ecclesiastical celebration (the 20th of August) of the holy prophet Samuel, whose name in Hebrew means “asked from God”. If this is the case, the inscription appears to be a written vow made in the mountain skete, formulated according to the lines from the Holy Scripture. All this forms the possibility that the skete close to Preslav has been dedicated to the holy prophet Samuel, whose birthplace and grave in Rama (Hebr. height) are in a mountainous area close to Sion. Placed in the light of the recently reconstructed by A. Kaloyanov Bulgarian text of “Sermon for worship of the Cross” from the 10th c. AD, this looks like the result of a consciously sought after opportunity to liken the Bulgarian capital to the sacred for the Christians city of Jerusalem.
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The article examines the advantages of photogrammetry in the work with incised epigraphic monuments. It looks at the traditional methods of epigraphic survey and contour extraction. The contemporary digital technologies used in the recording and examination of inscribed and/or engraved surfaces are briefly presented. The work offers a general comparison between photogrammetry, laser scanning and structured light scanning in relation to the study, recording and digital conservation of relief epigraphic monuments. Some superior aspects of photogrammetry over the classical and innovative methods are presented as well as the advantages and disadvantages of all examined technologies in relation to the subject. Hybrid and experimental technologies with a potential to the field of study are mentioned. Some of the priorities are related to the capabilities of creating 3D elevation model and its precision as well as its connection to the digital rectification of inscriptions and graffiti. This relates to paleography and its connections with the epigraphic study and also provide options for digital presentation of epigraphy. The article concludes with a summary of the work and offers a potential for a comparison study of some of the technologies.
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In order to analyze the history and architecture of the noble residences of the Principality of Transylvania, we must better understand the manner in which the Renaissance influences were transmitted in this part of Europe. Implicitly, the history of the Transylvanian noble families must be taken into consideration. The Bocskai Castle of Aghireșu represents an iconic manifestation of the Renaissance architectural principles within the Transylvanian territory, its planimetric design being in accordance with those promoted by the great architects of the time such as Baldassarre Peruzzi, Giacomo da Vignola or Sebastiano Serlio. Given the castle’s historical and architectural importance, the aim of this paper is to explore a variety of genealogical, documentary, and material sources in order to reconstruct the ownership and possession intricacies following multiple noble families which, at some point, had a right over it. Consequently, the present study comes to punctually complete the history of ownership over the castle of Aghireșu, from the beginning of its construction until the more recent centuries, an issue approached only fragmentarily in brief scientific contributions. The relevance of this article is linked to the provision of a comprehensive analysis on the history of the castle, at the same time raising awareness about its poor conservation conditions hoping that further action will be taken.
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Abū Muḥammad al-Qāsim b. Farruḥ al-S̲h̲āṭibī (d.590/1194) took his place in history as one of the most distinguished recitation scholars who emerged from the al-Andalus Islamic civilization. S̲h̲āṭibī left al-Andalus and settled in Cairo due to some political pressure he faced in the later phases of his life. In addition to the dozens of students he trained, he authored many works in the field of recitation and has become one of the authority figures in the science of recitation with his works. His poems, especially those he composed based on the works of Abū ʿAmr al-Dānī, another recitation scholar who is from al-Andalus, were considered reference works in terms of recitation science both in the periods when they were written and in later times. S̲h̲āṭibī’s work in this respect, and perhaps the most complimented one is Ḥirz al-amānī wa wajh al-tahānī in which he poetizes Dānī’s work called al-Taysīr fi ’l-qirāʾāt al-sabʿ which contains the differences among seven recitations. It was written to memorize the differences among the seven qirāʾāt (al-qirāʾāt al-sabʿa) easily and has been one of the primary sources of recitation teaching from history to the present. This article deals with the determination of some aspects that S̲h̲āṭibī considers weak in his poetic work Ḥirz al-amānī and their situation in the practice of recitation education. It is understood that S̲h̲āṭibī defined these aspects openly, occasionally with expressions such as not being credible and not being reliable, and occasionally indirectly with expressions such as inconsistent and unstable. It is seen that there are eight of these wujooh in total, two of which are about pronunciation differences and six of which are about farshī differences. In this respect, the article primarily deals with the wujooh with a dual classification as pronunciation differences and farshī differences, as is often observed in classical works written for the variances in recitation. Then, on the one hand, how these aspects were processed by the important scholars of the field of recitation, such as Ibn Mujāhid (d. 324/936), Makkī b. Abū Ṭālib (d.437/1045), Abū ʿAmr al-Dānī and Ibn al-Jazarī (d.833/1429) and on the other hand, the interpretation of Ḥirz al-amānī by its commentators has been conveyed. Considering numerous commentaries on this poem and the volume of the article, not all the commentaries mentioned at this point were consulted, and the most reliable commentaries among them were taken as the basis. To clearly reflect the situations of these aspects both in the past and in the modern period, attention has been paid to the fact that some consist of classical commentaries, and some belong to the modern period. According to this, ʿAlam al-Dīn al-Sakhāwī’s (d.643/1245) Fatḥ al-wasīṭ, Abū S̲h̲āma al-Maqdisī’s (d.665/1267) Ibrāz al-maʿānī and Abū Isḥāq al-Jaʿbarī’s (d.732/1332) Kanz al-maʿānī are the classical commentaries of the article; ʿAlī Muḥammad al-Ḍabbāʿs (d. 1380/1961) Irshād al-murīd, and ʿAbd al-Fattāḥ al-Qāḍī’s (d.1403/1982) al-Wāfī are the commentaries of the modern period. Lastly, the article tries to reveal the situation of these aspects in the practice of recitation teaching activities carried out in Turkiye and the Arab world. Within the framework of all these examinations, it has been seen that S̲h̲āṭibī did not only content himself with the narrations that reached him in his work, but also passed these narrations through a sound filter and made evaluations about them. In this respect, it has been concluded that he hit the mark in his analysis of the relevant aspects. Because, it has been observed that these aspects, which S̲h̲āṭibī points out to be light, are not taught in both classical and modern recitation teaching activities, and these aspects are not included in the teaching of recitation. Besides the encountering of the competent personalities of the recitation field with the authentic aspects despite being described by S̲h̲āṭibī has been interpreted as showing the importance of the oral transfer method in the tradition of recitation teaching. On the other hand, it has been concluded that most of the aspects that S̲h̲āṭibī defines as weak are composed of recitations through Ibn al-Zakwān, but that there is no specific reason to explain this situation and that it is accepted as just a coincidence. Though it is evidently understood that the vast majority of these aspects, which are defined as light by S̲h̲āṭibī, are not taught in the recitation teaching activities carried out currently, it is possible to say that they can still be included in the teaching of the teaching of recitation variances. Because it has been found that the related aspects are described in some other works that contain the differences in recitation. From this point of view, it can be said that there is a belief that teachers who are engaged in different reading teaching between recitations can have their students read these aspects. However, it has been understood that it would be a more appropriate action to make these aspects based only on personal preferences, not attributing them to Ḥirz al-amānī.
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900 years ago, the direction of workforce migration in Europe was the opposite of today: the expertise needed for urban development along the new trade routes generated a transfer of population from the west to the sparsely populated eastern peripheries of the Christian Latinitas. These settlers enjoyed a wide range of fiscal and ecclesiastical immunities and privileges granted by local rulers, thus providing attractive conditions for a better life in their new homelands. One of these environments under construction was Transylvania, at that time a new territorial addition to the Kingdom of Hungary. The first wave of „royal guests” – ca. 2600 Walloon, Flemish and German colonists from today’s Belgium, Luxembourg, and the Low Countries – settled around Sibiu after 1150. During the last century, however, little academic analysis has been attempted to challenge or further appreciate these affirmations. The purpose of this paper is to underline the necessity of bringing a fresh view on the assessments concerning the origin and ethnicity of the first wave of colonists in medieval Transylvania, through updated methodological suggestions and an interdisciplinary apprehension of historical sources, material culture, linguistic elements, church institutions, and social structures.
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Review of: ORBIS MEDIAEVALIS III. Exploring Dwellings and Manufacturing Spaces in Medieval Context (7th–14th Centuries). Proceedings of the International Conference Exploring Dwellings and Manufacturing Spaces in Medieval Context (7th–14th Centuries), Keve LÁSZLÓ, Dan BĂCUEȚ‑CRIȘAN, Ioan STANCIU, Florin MĂRGINEAN (eds.), Târgu Mureș, 27th–30th October 2020, Mega Publishing, Cluj‑Napoca, 2021, pp. 272, ISBN 978–606-020–427-5
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The legendary story about the foundation of the Schola Medica Salernitana tells about the collaboration between four men of Greek, Latin, Jewish and Arabic origin. Created sometime in the 9th century under Lombard rule, Salerno became an increasingly famous “Town of Hippocrates” (Hippocratica Civitas) as part of the Kingdom of Sicily. The Norman rulers and, to a lesser extent, their Swabian successors, were significantly influenced by Byzantine and Muslim traditions. They demonstrated predilection for scholars, medics, philosophers, theologians, and translators of different provenance. These intellectuals resided at the Palermitan court and worked for the Sicilian rulers, notwithstanding any political antagonism. This spirit of cooperation, together with the rising wave of the Twelfth-century Renaissance reinforced the creation of a heterogeneous image of the Kingdom. And indeed, this was perfectly mirrored by another valuable achievement, a fruitful heritage in the heart of the Mediterranean, namely, the medical school of Salerno.
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Our article follows a less conventional line of study for the research of the Romanian Middle Ages, namely the historical and social analysis of this period in terms of ideology and ideological processes that mark the second half of the ninth century in the southeastern part of Europe. We will try, in the following pages, to show that in this geographical area and in this chronological arc there is a generalized movement at the level of what we can call the “Slavic world”, a tendency to absorb the Constantinopolitan ideology, and that we have reason to believe this movement affected the political formations of 9th century Transilvania.
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The article analyzes the process of development in the architecture of Old Rus on the basis of transplanted elements of the Byzantine cathedral construction of its own tradition, which is vividly embodied in the original forms of arch-gabled and pillar-shaped churches. The formation of the archgabled church took place in the second half of the 11th century in Kyiv, where in the early 12th century, it acquired finally completed forms. Almost simultaneously in Chernihiv and Novgorod in the first quarter of the 12th century, and later in other cultural centers, there appeared regional variants of arch-gabled church, of which the Chernihiv variant quickly became interregional, spreading in the south-western regions of Rus. The first signs of pillar compositions are recorded in the first decade of the 12th century also in Kyiv within the newly formed arch-gabled cathedral. In the middle of the 12th century in Polotsk there existed already a purposeful search for an aesthetic model of a pillar-shaped church, which in the 80’s of the 12th century moved to Smolensk. The crystallization of the completed forms of the vertically oriented composition occurred at the end of the 12th century, after which the pillar-shaped church took over the role of interregional type, displacing the arch-gabled cathedral, apparently completely until 1240, when the development of Old Rus architecture was interrupted by the Mongol invasion.
More...Das Programma, die Apologia und der ,Methodenteil‘ in seiner Islampolemik „Widerlegung des Korans“ (Ἀνατροπὴ τοῦ Κορανίου)
The article explores the argumentative context of the anti-Islamic work by Nicetas of Byzantium (9th century) titled Refutation of the Qur’an (Ἀνατροπὴ τοῦ Κορανίου). The study is based on three core passages of his work: Through a philological examination of the work’s foreword, the symbiosis of secular and ecclesiastical power expressed in the so-called Programma is examined. Then, the Apology of the Christian faith is unfolded in its main lines of philosophical argumentation presenting Nicetas’ train of thought from the “power of God” to the “Trinity of the Godhead”. Finally, the polemic’s Methodological Passages are examined, in which Nicetas sets out the foundations of his subsequent argumentation against Islam. The opus magnum of Nicetas of Byzantium is one of the most influential within Byzantine polemics against Islam until the Palaiologan Era. The present study is intended to contribute to a closer examination of his oeuvre and to place it in the historicaltheological context of his time.
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In 1995 I suggested that a pattern of material evidence might relate to a group of visitors to, successively, the courts of the Byzantine emperor Theophilos (827–842) and his western counterpart, Louis the Pious (812–840). This article revisits the suggestion in light of material evidence and secondary literature published since which bear, directly or indirectly, on the visits paid by the Rhos to Louis at Ingelheim and, some three years later, by Theodosios Baboutzikos to Lothar at Trier. Without fully engaging with the burgeoning secondary literature or every item of material data of conceivable relevance, I discuss archaeological, numismatic and sigillographic finds relevant to the original report in the Annales Bertiniani from three areas where fresh archaeological data is in play: Riurikovo Gorodishche, Gnezdovo and the Baltic Rim (with particular reference to Birka, the Jutland peninsula and Zealand). Account is also taken of a couple of broader considerations offering the historical background to the finds. The first encompasses the ups and downs of Theophilos’ reign: his ambitiousness for victories at the expense of the Abbasids, meeting with disaster and humiliation at the hands of Caliph Al-Mu’tassim in 838, and his subsequent diplomatic, naval and military demarches in order to regain ‘ face’. The second historical point is broader still: the longstanding Byzantine alertness to distant sources of high-calibre military manpower and corresponding interest in the topography and communications of faraway regions. The Byzantines’ interest in northwest Europe is attested for the later sixth century, where literary evidence converges with that of artefacts from such sites as Prittlewell and Sutton Hoo. A similar alignment of Byzantine artefacts and literary evidence may yield comparable results, signalling a flurry of diplomatic overtures and Theophilos’ recruitment efforts over a short period, from c. 835 to 842.
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