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A large decorative tile stolen from a medieval mausoleum will be going home, thanks to an Oxford scholar and the British Museum.
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Formation of the Vilnius Cathedral Chapter was a long process since its inception in 1388 to the middle of the sixteenth century. As the capital city of the cathedral chapter of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania from the beginning of its existence in the system and the organization was inspired by the Cracow Cathedral Chapter. Under the papal foundation bull by pope Urban VI Pontifex Maximus to erect bishopric of Vilnius the first two of the Prelature were founded (provost and dean) and 10 canonries. All of them were endowed in 1387 by king Vladislav II Jagiello. The next four prelate names: custodian, archdeacon, scholastic and cantor, and two canonries were developed under the efforts of successive monarchs, bishops and Chapter. The structure of the Chapter was finally clarified around 1525, which since then consisted of six prelates and 12 canons. In such organizational frameworks the Vilnius corporation canons and prelates survived until the end of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. Individual members of the Chapter had a specific range of privileges and obligations which in the case of prelates were assigned to each of the dignity of the individual. Competence of canons were evolving, depending on the current needs. In the reporting period, the corporation prelates and canons in gremio constituted under the church law a control body of the actions of diocesan bishops, which was de facto institution co-managering of the diocese.
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The aim of this paper is to show the history of personal hygiene in medieval Serbia. The everyday use of water in personal hygiene (washing of one’s face, hands and feet, bathing, laundry) is documented in medical writings, archaeological findings and visual art. There is a suppression of public baths during the Middle Ages, but the emergence of private baths is evident, along with arrangement of spas (public baths) at thermal sources.
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The aim of this paper is to show the history of personal hygiene in medieval Serbia. The everyday use of water in personal hygiene (washing of one’s face, hands and feet, bathing, laundry) is documented in medical writings, archaeological findings and visual art. There is a suppression of public baths during the Middle Ages, but the emergence of private baths is evident, along with arrangement of spas (public baths) at thermal sources.
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The development of medical services in Venice started in the mid 14th century and it was predominantly influenced by the outbreak of the plague (Black Death), after which the first health care regulations were introduced. Several decades on, the organization of the health care service was finalized. Regulations passed by the Senate in the mid 15th century were of major importance. Several decades later, a separate Magistrate (Magistrato alla Sanità) was set up to deal with public health care. This institution continued to operate in an almost unchanged form until the final fall of the Republic of Venice in 1797.
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This paper constitutes an introduction to the pedagogical thought of Dōgen Kigen, who is considered to be one of the most outstanding representatives of Japanese culture. The author makes the reader acquainted with the historic, cultural and social determinants existing in Japan and in China in the years in which the Japanese Buddhist in question was living, and he also presents the vicissitudes of life, and the writing, of this teacher of Buddhism. In turn, he presents the philosophical views of Dōgen, in particular, those connected with metaphysics and ethics. He also places emphasis upon the significance of the religious aspect of the activity and writing of this Japanese Zenji, connected with religious anthropology, and also with eschatology and soteriology. In more detail, he focuses his attention upon the ideal of education in the pedagogics of Dōgen in his principal treatise Shōbōgenzō, referred to as the Great Human Being. He presents as well the essential pedagogical values in the writing activity of the master being discussed, such as dialogicality, authentism, commitment and responsibility, akin to the output of Western existential pedagogics, and also other values of social character.
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John, the eighth archbishop of Soltaniensis, that is Persian Sultania, is one of the most mysterious figures in the Mongol-European relations at the turn of 14th and 15th centuries. He devoted his life not only to God but also to diplomacy, travelling and writing, and the mystery surrounding his life has been increased by numerous errors in academic attempts to identify him. Undoubtedly, he enjoyed an exceptional position in Timur’s court and was called the Mongol ruler’s “special friend.” He was the initiator of the mission to the European rulers, which began in 1402, as he planned to evangelize the Chagatai Khanate with the support of the West. He hoped that on his mission he would manage to recruit volunteers to support his missionary activities in the East. Trade and the colonies established by Western merchants along the trade routes in the East were a pretext and a natural incentive for missionary activities, and that is why they were discussed in correspondence between Timur and European rulers. However, the outcome of John’s mission was not significant – the results were merely superficial and he did not manage to change the negative perception of Timur in Europe.
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In this hermeneutical study on a canto that represents the emblematic center of all Dante’s Inferno, we find a reflection about the extensive network of symbols which is related with the vice of greed, highlighting for the first time the hidden kinship between apparently different faults: usury, blasphemy and sodomy. Geryon the monster appears at the beginning, connecting us with mercantilism as a socio-historical phenomenon rapidly evolving when Europe sees its transition from feudalism to proto-capitalism. Later, the animalized figure of Reginaldo Scrovegni, in this same alienating context (the sole infernal canto which is entirely coloured as a fresco), suggests the implicit, ironic and disturbing presence of Giotto, with a secret moral reference (as a cruel contrappasso) to his famous masterpiece of Padua. Immediate horror and beauty come grotesquely together thus, in this hellish space, with a specific and surprising sarcastic power.
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Dr Yuriy Nikolaevic Bohan was founder of weaponology in the Belarusian historical science, he sucessufly researched in different aspects of military history, urban geography and material culture of XIVth–XVIth century Great Duchy of Lithuania. The sudden decease of this man of science is a big loss for belarussian historical science.
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Rapid development caused by, among other things, the constitution of the University of Prague and the establishment of the local church province, occurred in the mid-fourteenth century in the Kingdom of Bohemia, the cradle of the so-called First Reformation (that is, Hussitism). The founding of the University, along with the activity of a widely-spread parish network, should have become the basis of the country’s religious and cultural life. However, the parish clergy was poorly formed. Frequent diocesan synods and, especially, synodal preaching became the main instruments for improving the formation of priests under the guidance of the Archbishop. Synodal sermons were designed to serve as a exemplars or patterns for what priests might preach in their own parishes. The ideas contained in these synodal sermons were thus copied repeatedly. They spread quickly to all parts of the Kingdom. From the 69 documented synods of Prague up to the beginning of the Hussite period, 24 sermons from the years 1365–1407 can be attributed to the synodal program. These were presented by 12 different preachers, always appointed by the Archbishop. A synodal sermon belongs to the “sermones ad clerum” genre, of course. We know the dates of each synod by the feats that occurred during it (for instance, the Feats of Saint Vitus or Saint Luke), and the themes of the sermons were inspired by the liturgical texts of those feasts. The article follows both the content and the formal development of all sermons researched, ranging from the academic or scholarly sort of sermon, in which abstractions such as Good and Bad are used, to more vivid and nearly poetic sermons that often make reference to the negative experience of listeners and refer disdainfully to contemporary “decadence”. This latter type of sermon was particularly prominent in the late 1380s and early 1390s. The oldest three sermons, from the 1360s, are unique because of their author, the reform preacher Jan Milíč of Kroměříž. He was atypical because he was not part of the academic community; the other preachers selected by the Archbishop were usually university professors. Most often, the preachers were theologians. In one case, a professor of canon law was invited to speak. A Dominican lecturer was given the pulpit once, too. Beginning in the 1380s, synodal sermons sometimes referred to important ecclesiastical controversies (like the one surrounding indulgences) or legal controversies (such as the debate about escheatage), but they still conveyed the basic moralist attitude inspired by the treatise De Vita et Honestate Clericorum. In the last few sermons authored by John Hus, Wycliffe’s thoughts are discernable. The development of synodal preaching was finished by an arenga, compiled for the Synod of 1413, which was summoned by the King. In the appendix of this article there is an index and overview of the synod terms connected with the sermons, including the number of known manuscripts, a list of sermons whose dates are unknown that are not covered in detail in this article, and references to other sources on the topic of synodal preaching in Prague.
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The period of the High Middle Ages was a basic in the process of European urbanization. During this time there was the formation of a new way of life in Europe and England. This way of life was most attractive. That is why the most people in the world now lives in cities. The British were the first urban nation.In medieval England we can investigate the characteristic features of everyday life of urban residents through original sources. Since the High Middle Ages until now remained only three anonymous works of urban literature of England of High Middle Ages written in Middle English language – "Dame Siriz", "Of the Fox and the Wolf" and "Land of Cockayne".The earliest among Middle English fabliau is "Land of Cockayne". It is conserved in a single copy, which is now found in the British Library (manuscript Harley 913, between 1250 and 1315). In the story we can separate four parts: comparison of Cockayne with the Christian Paradise; describing the country and the abbey there; the flights of monks and their shameful life; an instruction how to get to this "paradise".A very valuable resource, which is analyzed in this article, is "Dame Sirith". The manuscript of the fabliau is Digby 86 of the Bodleian library in Oxford (dates the second half of the thirteenth century). 450 lines of the poetic text narrating the adventures of Wilekin in attaining love to Margery, a wife of a merchant. This ability of Dame Siriz (neither fortune-teller, nor simply smart women) helps the hero.The fabliau "Of the Fox and the Wolf" was widely known in medieval England (written in second half of the thirteenth century). It was the English version of the story of Fox Renard. The manuscript of the humorous story is the same as the "Dame Siriz".Studying the Middle fabliaux of XIII century we discover a number of problems relating to the everyday life of townspeople of High Middle England.The features of the chronotope of everyday life of English cities during the period were accuracy and well-regulation of life. The locations of scenes in the middle English fabliaux are clear for audience, there are no necessary to characterize it. Detailing of the places leads to confusion in the "Land of Cockayne". Cities include the suburbs – the abode of monks, the outskirts of the forest, suburban roads, rivers and so on. There are no description of the walls of the city. The urban area is a part of the nature. Important elements of the space of the city was churches, cathedrals. It were described in fabliaux very vividly.In the vernacular fabliaux timeframes are conventional: "nizt and dai", "to nizt", "monizer", "monidai", "hit com to the time", "Zurstendai" and others. Calculating of the time was designated by a bell.The level of material culture of the town-livers of Medieval Albion very high. The house is very comfortable one. The daily life was concentrated around the house. That is why the subject of the fabliau focused around house too. Apartment divided into several areas – hall and rooms. Particular attention is paid to bed in the Middle English fabliaux. Obviously they covered by textiles, which also decorated the walls. This was a way for indicate a wealth of home owners, their status in society, as well as keeping a "space hygiene".A characteristic feature of the fabliaux is the lack or maximum brevity of descriptions of the characters, their clothes and so on. Obviously, the closings of the heroes are clear to the readers, listeners of viewers of fabliaux. There are the emphasis on key terms. The main features of the description of clothing in the "Land of Cockayne" are the absence of parasites; colors of clothing are clearly associated with a particular layer; luxurious textiles, silk. Also fabliaux provide materials about nudity. Apparently these indecencies are normal, natural for medieval morality. Although these erotic phenomena in medieval literature require further analysis. The feature of urban feasting of the High Middle Ages in England was the introduction of "fast food" into everyday life. The "Land of Cokayne" describes "of fleis, of fisse, and rich met, // þe likfullist þat man mei et" and "þe gees, i-rostid on þe splitte, Fleed to þat abbai, God hit wot, // And grediþ, Gees al hote, al hote!" In the system of feasting of the English bourgeoisie in the thirteenth century we view the social hierarchy. Not all products may be available equally to all people. That is why in utopia of Cockayne "man mai þer-of et inog // Al wiþ rizt and nogt wiþ wog…" Special interest medieval town-livers found in spices. And the city created the myth of "food paradise" Cokayne land, where "beþ .iiij. willis … of tereacle and halwei, of baum and ek piement".In general, the earliest examples of Middle English fabliaux offer us a vividly picture of the everyday life of medieval English towns during the High Middle Ages.
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W marcu 2009 r. dzięki staraniom i pełnemu zaangażowaniu swoich sił i talentów ks. Rektora dr Tadeusza Kądziołki, Biblioteka Metropolitalnego Seminarium Duchownego w Lublinie podjęła prace w ramach projektu mającego na celu konserwację i ochronę zbiorów biblioteki. Prace te zostały zrealizowane przez konserwatorów państwa Jolantę i Ryszarda Orysiak oraz Ewę Jodłowską. Zadanie zostało dofinansowane przez Ministerstwo Kultury i Dziedzictwa Narodowego w ramach Programu Operacyjnego „Dziedzictwo Kulturowe”, priorytet 2 „Rozwój instytucji muzealnych”. Interesujące nas obiekty poddane konserwacji zwrócono w grudniu 2009.
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Historical and cultural relationship of the Kyrgyz and Oirat had taken shape until the Mongol onslaught. These relationships continued during the attack of the Naimans and later until Karakhita is attack. As a result; Kyrgyz state was divided into two as Yenisei Kyrgyz and Tengirtoo Kyrgyz. Additionally, Yenisei Kyrgyz and the Oirats, and then Zhungars (Oirat-Kalmyk) had politically and economically close relations. In 1399, Yenisei Kyrgyz founded a state with Oirats. It is known that the ruler Munke-Temir (GüylüchüKashka) was of Kyrgyz origin. This state is mentioned as da-dan (Tatar) in Chinese sources. It is also known that the later state of the Oirats, Zhungaria State (Züüngar), was a significant state with great impact in Central Asia. State-founders were from the aristocratic Choros clan. It is also investigated in the article how the rulers from this clan were in fluential in other states.
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From the very beginnings of 14th century, the Ottomans gained knowledge and experience during the rule of Mediterranean and Black Sea region, providing them with great advantages in the later years as they took over the mariner practices from the western Anatolian seigniors. The empire, which gained the sea rule, did not only make regulations concerning the economic activity and transportation strategy on seas but also rivers and lakes all over the empire. Moreover, military practices were developed by navigation logistics on the lakes and rivers. Ottomans intended to resume the territories they lost and systematize not only the road traffic but also the potential benefit of sea routes by enacting marine law including the regulation of marine activities. This study aims to highlight what kind of efforts were spent by the Ottomans to revitalize the sea trade on the rivers and lakes in spite of the marine technology used by the big powers. Also, what kind of cautions were taken by the Ottomans to stop the danger of overflows appearing in spring and their solution of finding the ways of creating favorable conditions for agricultural activities making use of the rivers will be explored.
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The article studies the problem of the existence of the culture of Potestas among the Sakha in the pre-Russian period. The myth about Tygyn as a leader of the Sakha tribes has a wide historiography. Correlating the folklore materials with the written documents, one can trace the time and conditions of formation of the Sakha sovereign’s folklore type.
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The study refers to the meteoric presence in medieval documents from Transylvania (1355) of an Armenian bishop named Martin of Tălmaciu, vicar of the archbishop of Esztergom. We think it is an interesting case for the implementation of the subordination's policy of the Armenian Rite by the figure of a vicar bishop or a diocesan vicar to the authority of the archbishop that oversees the ecclesiastical discipline in the territory of the provostship of Sibiu. In this business is involved also the cistercian abbey of Cârţa, that may have been implicated in the admission of the Armenians of Tălmaciu under the obedience of the Roman Church.
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Anthroponyms represent an important mirror for the historical situation of the Arad and Bihor counties during the late 12th century and also at the beginning of the following one. Typical of the situation previous to the anthroponymical uniformisation promoted by the Christian Church especially starting with the second half of the 13th century, the names of the period had in view „speak” about the ethnic groups who cohabited in this part of Europe and whose cultural traits gave rise to a unique medieval culture. The anthroponyms vary widely, from Latin, Hungarian and German to Greek, Jewish, Romanian or Cuman. All of these old names, not just the Christian ones, are also characterised by another important aspect: they have a meaning in their original language. Where I could, I established this sense, but in many causes I have failed. Hopefully, future research will solve these important issues.
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Aggression against Bosnia and Herzegovina, along with the genocide and other crimes against humanity committed in this country, greatly resemble the faith which befell Muslims of Andalusia, in the Muslim Spain. Marthiyya, a tragic poem of Abul Baqa Al Rundi laments over the loss of cities; it was made in 1267, in the aftermath of the loss of Sevilla which fell into the hands of Christians in 1248. Enclosed is the poem in its original Arabic version, as well as in Bosnian language.
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Within the discipline, the historical roots of ethnology and anthropology are most often traced through European antiquity, the enlightenment and the modern intellectual traditions of the West. Even though this view is somewhat justified (in that it follows a clear continuity in the development and scientification of the discipline in western universities), it, perhaps unintentionally, leaves out the intellectual efforts of Islamic thinkers and travelers, who had also, in their time, encountered various forms of "cultural otherness" and strived to represent and interpret them to their own readers. This paper focuses on Ibn Battuta’s decades of travel through Muslim lands – and beyond – and is envisioned as a theoretical experiment the purpose of which isilluminating the significance of Ibn Battuta’s writings, not only for the historical but also for the contemporary aspects of our discipline.It is a reflection on the ethnographic aspect of Ibn Battuta’s writings about the people and cultures which he encountered in his travels.
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