The Middle Ages A CONCISE ENCYCLOPEDIA
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The Middle Ages A CONCISE ENCYCLOPEDIA
A map of the known world, centred on the city of Jerusalem, from an English psalter ot the early 13th century (British Library. London).
General editor: H . R. Loyn
The Middle Ages A C O N C I S E ENCYCLOPAEDIA W i t h 250 i l l u s t r a t i o n s
THAMES A N D
H U D S O N
Sources o f the illustrations \umhfrs rr/er t the pa^r t"t i n M j/ir dimtraium a to ht ftvııid. Adrian 137. n o . 157, 1N7, 313: AlmariV Anderson j i a ; Annan/ Brogi 70; -\ 71 m ns biblioihcquc Communalc i73b.. Carhcdral 67; Antwerp: K on i k Mj k Museum voor Schone Künsten 23H; Archives phoTographiijues yfi. 122, 204; Assisi: S. Francesco 1J3; A T A Stockholm to. Lala Aufsherg r 50; Bamberg: Staatsbibliothek 57; H.N. II'-M.I A r c h i v « C « r « u a \ r a g o n i o $ . Bayeux: Musce Je IJ Tr$K*fitfa 4». 74 j y , i j . ; . trf ^ 334 341 RUjifig Imperial t allcry ryo: Bern; BuraccbibBotftcfc 107.1 listorical Museum 6y. Bologna: Museo Civico 101b.. Braunschweig cathedral 167; British i ciunst A u t h o r i t y 73: Brussels: Bihhoihciuic R o y a k P5ILi I 4i* -47. 2rtHa.: Burgos: Archivo Municipal 107, S. D o m i n g o Je Silos, i t ö , ttj; Cimpfwtec Corpus Christi College 46. 204, 2N1; Chart res calhedral 14ft. ZDK: Chan till Y: Musee Conde H>, 34ft; Fwan Clayton i r t i : Clunv: Musce Ochicr y j : C o l o g n e Rheinisches Bildarchiv. Stadl museum. S. Maria m i Capitol 2r>y; C o m m l u k M i e i i ol Public Works in Ireland 1H2: Kenneth Couani y^b.L Constance: Rosj»arleii Museum 103; Copenhagen: Royal Library 3S; Deutsche Fotothek P r d d c n 17: Dublin: Public Record Office 120, T r i n i t y College 14; I ' • .1 1 ( ii -..:r J I.ibrarv ^44; Kdmburgh: University Lihrjrv 133; Flahaye 52; Florence: Bibhotccj Medicca-I.aurenriaua 319, S. M a r c « 30, S. Maria del Carmine "O, S. Maria Novella 114. UfTi/i Gallery 147. Via degli Altani r 57; Fontcvrjult: Abbey Church 1 22; FrcibuTg-im-Breisgau: University Library 2oy; Cerona: Caste 11 de F o i x i 201: Criraudon 33, i u , B2. 14R. 20H. 27". M ? , 313b., 320, 34ft, 347; Clüu 11 11 Nicdersächsischc Staats- und U n i v e r s i t ä t s bibliothek 56; (Trassi 15M, 25s. 2ft?; I l i c Hague: Kooiknjke Bibliothvck A4; F Limburg: Staatsarchiv 127. ifVi; Heidelberg UgivCflity Library »4 Hereford cath-Hral. Trcasiir, 4 11 i r 11: L f yo, 232, 2K6. 313J-; Innsbruck: TirolcT Landesmuscum 224: Irish Tourist Board 1N i The John I Eopkim University o f Baltimore. Courtesy o f the John Garrett Library 310; Allrcd L ä m m e r 121; Lc M IN- cathedral 271; Liverpool: National galleries and museums on Merseyside 222; London: l i r i t i t h Library 12, 15, t y . 20, 2N. 45. -
T
4<jb., 54b.. rtj. MS, iJ4 102, lofi, 107. toy. 120. 12.1^ 12S. 142b.. %
143. 160. iftfi, 179, i m , ni5, 210. 213. 217- 220. 228. 230. 256.
a
2
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S7. 5*- -75. 4> 322, 329, 335. 34«. J49 U h t i i h Museum 13. 24b.. 42. ('7. 244, a g l , 3 JOJ. I.jnibcth Palate l.ibrary 14, 17A National Gallerv j f c 151 Public Uetord OlTife 113, [ W , 220 Itoyal Commission on Historical Monuments 342: Maastricht; Church o f O u r t-ady JAi Madrid: Arehivo I listorico Naemnal 23 Biblioteca Naeional 104 KI Lscorial 24a.; Marburg i j j , rÖ7i aoS. a,S2, iSy. 317; Mas 23. 24a.. I O J . 201. 293; Merseburg cathedral i:y; Mi>sfow: Public UttiTf 17N 1 retvzk- '. < alL'ry 1 ; i ! Ann M ü n c h o w 7y; Munieh: Bayerische Staatsbibliothek 70, So, 31H: Müstidr in Grisons; St Johaimeskirchr 711; Naples: Bihlioteea Na/ionale 234: N e w Y o r k : Metropolitan Museum ot A n . Cifi o f George B h i m e n t l u l , 1941 24V Pkfporrt Morgan Library 3k 11*2. Public Library. Spenser C ^ l k r t i : n 4 J N u r i t i b c r g , C crui^:»i::';lr:. National museum 337: Oslo: Oldsaksaiobng 23^, 24S; O x l u r d : Bodk'ian Library y). 54a., 6ft. 1 in* 11Mb., 174, J26. 344 N e w College 251 University College mtf: Paderborn cathedral 2^2: Padua: Arena Chapel 140L Paris: Hihliotlieque Nationale 9, 30. 37, i
40, Hl, t}fi. 14t. 170. 173a,. tHiS, M, iy6. 200, 231, i j j , 300.
324, 330. 332. 34s Concii-ruerie I O Kcok Pratique des l l j u i o Ptudcs 1 7K Louvre MJ , 301 Musee Cluuv 313h., 347 Notre-1 lame 323 Saint-Denis 264; P.D. Whitting Collection i«4. 304; Pistoia cathedral 1 n;L Prague: University Library ^ h . ; Havciiua: Mausoleum ot l heodonc. S, Vitale J l J , 313a.: Isoger-Violfei 1^3, Home: Angelica l^br-iry 205 If it.Ii ore ^ Aposiolic: Vatir^r.- " , i I to, 1 32. 253: Rothenburg; St Jakobskirche 1 *.o, 3 17; Jean Roubier itj9; San M a r i n o . C A : I L K. I luntin^tou l ibrary 75, K3; Sarajevo: Ar:hj-2,:l.igk"al M u w u n i g j i ' Si-_-;:a: Ar-.-liivi:•. i i Sr^t:: |$S 2$5 Carhedral 1^7'- Soprintenden/a alle Callene (Florence) 20, 114. I I •}. 147; Alan Sorrell 142a.; Stockholm: State Historical Museum fio; Subiaeo: Lower church o f the Sacro Speeo 137; I elierau: Iran Bastan Mnseun: :-o; 214. 223: Warsaw State Archaeological Museum 55a,: Wells cathedral 121; Wiesbaden: J lessische l.andeshibliothek 1 71; Zurieb: Schweiber E .nidesmuseum ICH»
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A READER'S G U I D E T O T H E USE OF THIS BOOK T l i f M i d d l e Ages have l o n g been d o m i n a t e d i n the p u b l i c m i n d b y images o l k n i g h t l y prowess and c o u r t l y ritual, b y the noble zeal and b l o o d y violence o l the Crusaders. Such c o l o u r f u l concepts have tended to obscure the true value ot the p e r i o d as an age of real advance i n every field, o l political and social e v o l u t i o n , o l intellectual and artistic creativity, and o f c o m m e r c i a l and scientific progress. It is a d a u n t i n g task t o do justice to this b r o a d panorama, and w e have had, o f necessity, to be selective. T h e o v e r r i d i n g a i m t h r o u g h o u t has been to p r o v i d e b o t h beginner and specialist w i t h a single v o l u m e that presents a s u m m a r y o t current t h o u g h t on the key protagonists, events and themes relating to the h i s t o r y o f Europe - f r o m Scandinavia to the M i d d l e East — t r o m £ . 4 0 0 to r. 1 5 0 0 . W i t h i n this vast geographical and historical sweep, w e have tried to s t r i k e a balance between concise, factual entries o n the major battles, treaties, i n d i v i d u a l s and locations, and a m o r e discursive treatment o f topics o f l i v e l y b a c k g r o u n d interest. T h e encyclopaedia s h o u l d therefore p r o v e useful b o t h to students and scholars, as an aide-memoire, for c h e c k i n g essential facts q u i c k l y and easily; and as a s t i m u l a t i n g guide and c o m p a n i o n to the e n q u i r i n g reader w i t h a m o r e general interest i n the p e r i o d . A n encyclopaedia s h o u l d be more than an inert collection o f key facts, and, t o enable the reader to f o l l o w a creative line o f e n q u i r y f r o m entry to e n t r y , the cross-references have been specially designed to aid freedom of m o v e m e n t w i t h i n the text w i t h o u t i m p e d i n g readability. M o s t proper names have n o t been cross-referenced, and m a n y m a y be assumed t o have entries o f their o w n . Those subjects listed at the end of an e n t r y , in small capitals, refer the reader t o connected topics n o t already m e n t i o n e d that w i l l p r o v e o f further interest. General w o r k s of reference are suggested i n the Bibliographical note o n p . 3 5 2 . but m o r e specific titles have also been g i v e n w i t h v i r t u a l l y every e n t r y , t o p r o v i d e a t h o r o u g h and up-to-date b i b l i o g r a p h y . W e have aimed to g i v e easily accessible, recent titles, except where older publications remain the standard scholarly w o r k s . For entries where n o b i b l i o graphical reference is g i v e n , cross-references s h o u l d lead y o u t o a longer associated e n t r y , w h e r e relevant titles w i l l be f o u n d . T h e illustrations have been specially chosen for their d o c u m e n t a r y interest: figures in square brackets at the end ot an e n t r y indicate pages elsewhere i n the encyclopaedia w h e r e relevant illustrations can be f o u n d . T h e r e are also t w o general maps on p p . 6 and 7 , and several smaller maps and genealogical tables may be found t h r o u g h o u t the text. T h e m o r e substantial entries are a t t r i b u t e d to their authors according to the k e y given o n p. 8 . w i t h the List of contributors. Foreign names have largely been anglicized, except w h e r e n o c o m m o n English version exists-especially in the case of A r a b names, t o r example. For the order of entries w e have f o l l o w e d the Cambridge
Medieval
History-.
M y debt as general e d i t o r is great to numerous friends, colleagues and research students, w h o have helped w i t h entries appropriate to their expertise. O r A n n e D a w t r y , the late M i s s Jane H e r b e r t , and M r s SaraJane W e b b e r acted as sub-editors for some sections i n the early stages of the enterprise; M r s M i c h e l l e l i r o w n , Dr Elizabeth M . H a l l a m . M r s Elizabeth L o c k w o o d and D r C a t h y H a r d i n g helped greatly in the later stages. M r s M i r i a m van Bers. M r s Helena Reid and M i s s A n n e M a r k i n s o n kept the w o r d - p r o c e s s i n g under c o n t r o l , ensuring that the inevitable c o m p l i c a t i o n s d i d n o t get o u t o f hand. M y thanks go to all, and especially to the editorial staff at Thames and H u d s o n . Henry Loyn
LIST OF CONTRIBUTORS
nit D r D a v i d B a t e s Senior Lecturer i n H i s t o r y , U n i v e r s i t y College, Cardiff
CHK D r C l i v e K n o w l c s Senior Lecturer in History. University College. Cardiff
CB C h r i s t o p h e r B r o o k e D i x i e Professor Of Ecclesiastical H i s t o r y . G o n v i l l e and Cains College. C a m b r i d g e
c m . C . H u g h L a w r e n c e Emeritus Professor ot H i s t o r y , R o y a l H o l l o w a y and B e d f o r d N e w C o l l e g e . U n i v e r s i t y of L o n d o n
RS D r R o s a l i n d B r o o k e Faculty o f H i s t o r y , U n i v e r s i t y of C a m b r i d g e
BL E l i z a b e t h L o c k w o o d Q u e e n M a r y and Westfield C o l l e g e . U n i v e r s i t y ot L o n d o n
MB M i c h e l l e B r o w n Research assistant. Department p i Manuscripts, British Library. London
nut H e n r y L o y n Emeritus Professor o f H i s t o r y , Queen M a r y and Westfield C o l l e g e . University o f London
SO S a r a h B r o w n A r c h i t e c t u r a l Staff o f the R o y a l C o m m i s s i o n on the Historical M o n u m e n t s o i England, L o n d o n
• D a v i d L u s c o m b e Professor of Medieval H i s t o r y . U n i v e r s i t y of Sheffield
A l l e n B r o w n Professor o f H i s t o r y , K i n g ' s College, U n i v e r s i t y o i L o n d o n U A I I R .
1 111 T . J u l i a n B r o w n Professor o f Palaeographv, K i n g ' s College. U n i v e r s i t y ot London DC D a v i d F . L . C h a d d T h e Dean, School o f A r t H i s t o r y and M u s i c . U n i v e r s i t y o f East Anglia WD W e n d y D a vies Professor o f H i s t o r y , University College London An D r A n n e D a w t r y Lecturer i n H i s t o r y , Chester C o l l e g e , Chester I ' D D r P e t e r D e n l e y Lecturer in H i s t o r y , Q u e e n Mars and Westfield C o l l e g e . U n i v e r s i t y ot L o n d o n A D O A l a n D e y c r m o n d Professor o f Spanish. Q u e e n M a r y and Westfield C o l l e g e . University oi Loudon G E D r G i l l i a n E v a n s Fellow o f Fitzwilhani College, C a m b r i d g e | l J i l l F r a n k l i n U n i v e r s i t y of East A n g l i c
CJM P r o f e s s o r G e o f f r e y M a r t i n Keeper o f the Public Record Office, L o n d o n RIM R o b e r t I . M o o r e Senior Lecturer i n M e d i e v a l H i s t o r y . U n i v e r s i t y of Sheffield JLN D r J a n e t N e l s o n Lecturer i n H i s t o r v , King's College. University o f London DN D o n a l d M . N i c o l Kor.ies Professor o f M o d e r n Greek and Byzantine H i s t o r v . Language and Literature, K i n g ' s College, U n i v e r s i t y ot L o n d o n CP C i a r a n P r c n d e r g a s t Royal 1 l o l l o w a y and Bedford N e w College. U n i v e r s i t y o f L o n d o n [ K - s J o n a t h a n R i l e y - S m i t h Professor o f H i s t o r y . Royal H o l l o w a y and B e d f o r d N e w College, U n i v e r s i t y of L o n d o n N H N i c o l a i R u b i n s t e i n Emeritus Professor o f H i s t o r y . Q u e e n M a r y and Westfield C o l l e g e . U n i v e r s i t v ot L o n d o n DJS D r D . J u s t i n S c h o v e Headmaster o f St David's School. l i c c k e n h a m is I a n S h o r t Professor ot French. B i r k b c c k College, U n i v e r s i t y of L o n d o n
PC P h i l i p G r i c r s o n Emeritus Professor and F e l l o w of G o n v i l l e and Caius College, Cambridge
is J a n e S y m m o n s Q u e e n M a r y and Westfield C o l l e g e , U n i v e r s i t y ot L o n d o n
I M i l D r E l i z a b e t h M . H a l l a m Assistant Keeper. Public Record Office. L o n d o n
in D r R o d n e y T h o m s o n D e p a r t m e n t o f H i s t o r y . U n i v e r s i t y ot Tasmania
CH D r C a t h e r i n e H a r d i n g D e p a r t m e n t o f A r t , Queen's U n i v e r s i t y , K i n g s t o n , Canada
iss M r T . S . S m i t h
s-jw S a r a - J a n e W e b b e r Queen M a r y and Westfield C o l l e g e , U n i v e r s i t y o f L o n d o n
[H J a n e H e r b e r t Q u e e n M a r y and Westfield College, University o f London
Sw S t e v e n W i l s o n School o f O r i e n t a l and African Studies, U n i v e r s i t y o f L o n d o n
BH R o s a l i n d H i l l Professor Emcrita o f H i s t o r y , Q u e e n M a r v and Westfield C o l l e g e , University o f London
G Z G e o r g e Z a r n e c k i Emeritus Professor, C O u r t a u l d Institute o f A r t , L o n d o n
I
9 5 1. taking refuge at Canossa. In the same year she married O t t o the< ircal and was crow ned empress 111 9 0 2 . She accompanied O t t o on his third Italian campaign in 9 6 6 . and after Otto's death she remained active 111 government until she quarrelled with her son O t t o I I . In she was reconciled with him and was appointed viceroy in Italy. She played an important part in government during the minority o f O t t o III with Otto ll's w i d o w Thcophano, and was a prominent supporter o f the Cluniac reform movement.
• E. Gilson Heloise md Abelard (19.13); D . E. Luscombc The StkoolofI'eter Abelard (h/k)': Abelard
• K . J . Leyser Rule and Conflict in an Early Medieval Society ( 1 9 7 0 )
Thyself, (•iiinnient.iries cm the opening o f Generis and on the Epistle to the Romans, and the Dialogue between ,i Philosopher, a lew ami.i Christum. Today he
m son Temps ı-d. J. Jolivet (tyHi)
A b i i B a k r (laliph 6 3 1 - 3 4 The first caliph, or succes sor to Muhammad, and father-in-law o f the Prophet. He overcame factions inside Arabia, extended Islam throughout the Arabian peninsula and in the last year ot his life won great victories over the Byzantine forces which opened the way to the conquest o f Palestine. I lis \ l u c i instrument 111 his mihtarv ven tures was the general Khalid ibn al-Walld. 'Sword o f Allah", ultimate conqueror o f Damascus ( 6 3 5 ) . I ' . I Inn History of the Arabs ( M J J 1)
A d e l a r d o f B a l h ( t o y o - i 150) English monk, mathematician and scientist who translated into Latin some o f the work o f the ytb-c. Isla nue mathemati cians, A I - K h w â r i / n u and Abu-M.i'shar. He is also believed to have introduced into the Western world knowledge of the astrolabe, a scientific instrument (inherited through the Arabs from the Greeks) for ti-lling the time through observation o f the sun, and for finding latitudes and calculating altitudes. His translation ol an Arabic version ol Euclid became a standard textbook ol geometry in the Western world. • F.J.I'. Bliemet/rieder Adelhatd von Hath
(1935):
Accursius the Glossator (i. 1 1W 2-12(10) A native o f Florence and professor o f law at Bologna university, he is particularly famous for his commentaries oil
M . d a g c t t Ditlioiniry of Scientific Biography ed. C, C. Gillespie ( 1 9 7 0 }
the Code, Institutes and Digest of |ııstiniaıı.
became the most widely used companion to these works in the medieval universities. He died at Bologna and w as buried in the churchyard o f S. Francesco (the Church o f the Cordeliers). His sou Francis was also a jurist ot considerable renown, taking his doctorate in law at the early age o l 17.
Adbennir (d. toyK) Bishop o f Le Puy. Appointed apostolic legate to the First CfUsadc, he accompanied the crusaders to the East. He negotiated w i t h the Emperor Alexius Comncmis at Nicaea, re-stored some discipline amongst the crusaders and died soon alter the capture o l Antioch. : G.J. d'Adhettiar l.abaume Adhémar Je Monteil,
11 W, Ulhuaun Law and Politic
évoque du l'ııy
which
in the Middle Ages
(lyıo)
0975) A d a m o f B r e m e n (d. c. I 0 8 l ) ("anon o f Bremen w ho became head o f the cathedral school there in 106(1, Fie wrote .111 ecclesiastical history in four books in which he described the spread o f Christian ity in Northern Europe especially in the diocese's o l Bremen and I i.iinhurg. The work ends with .1 valu able treatise on the state o l Denmark In the third quarter o f the t ıth c. L> B Scluiuedler / Itslory ifskearthttîhops Bremen ( 1 9 5 9 )
î/Hamburg
A d e l a i d e . St ( 9 3 1 - 9 9 ) Second wile ol O t t o the Great and daughter of Rudolf II of Burgundy. In 9 4 7 she was betrothed to Lothar. son o f I high, king o f Italy. After l.othar's death in y^o she was captured and imprisoned by Be-retigar. margrave o f Ivrea. because she refused to marry his son. She escaped 111
A d o p t i o n i s t heresy lieliel which held that Christ as man could not possibly he God S son by birth, but only by adoption through bis baptism. Prevalent in Spain in the late Xlh c_. it was chiefly expounded by Elipandus, archbishop o f Toledo, was attacked by Alcuin in his writings and condemned .11 the Councils ol'Frankfurt ( 7 y 2 - y 4 ) , Friuli (7ycji | ^ m y c i . ' t ^ j i o
L
Anglo-Saxon Chronicle Surviving in several manuscripts, three of which take the story of England up to and beyond the crisis ot the Norman Conquest, the Chronicle is a historical source ot maximum importance, especially remarkable for its precocious use o f the vernacular. Traditions of constructing tables o f events and a record o f major happenings were given a new twist during the re'ign of King Alfred, when a decision was made, probably through direct royal inspiration, to write a continuous chronicle 011 an annual basis. Great variety exists in the scope and intensity of the record; it is very full, for example, for the last campaigns of Alfred's reign ( 8 9 1 - 9 6 ) and again for the Danish wars o f Aethelred's tune (991 — 1016). The Chronicle continued to be kept op to date at the abbey o f Peterborough until the m i d 1 1 sos. providing a vivid account o f the troubles o f Stephen's reign in a language which is visibly devel-
Hately (1986)
Chronicle MS A ed.J.
o | i c a " m n ^ i i m gcUec>i)oTi. "|ptUm and Romanesque Afchitettun (1959);
The
P. Frankl Gothic Architecture
Matter Builders.
(1962);
J. Harvey
Architecture fn tin Middle
Ages
(1971)
O f the secular buildings during the Middle Ages, the m o s t impressive are castle's and lortifirations. but there are also, especially- in Italy, important civic buildings. Most ordinary people lived in timber dwellings, and o f these little is k n o w n . It is the houses o f the wealthy, built in stone, that have survived in fairly large numbers. The medieval architect acquired his knowledge
Archpoet (d. c. 1 Ifij) Anonymous Latin poet, probably from the Rhincland, w h o sought the patronage of Hamald o f Dasscl. archbishop o f Cologne and chancellor o f Frederick Barbarossa. His most famous work, the Conjessio, expresses brilliantly the torments and paradoxes o f the 12th-c.
The building of St Albans Abbey, showing use ofa windlass, a ladder and a plumb-level.
34
Armenia renaissance:, heavily constrained by the church and yet rejoicing in its ncw-lound vitality and confidence in reason and nature. See GOUAKDIC POETS o H . Waddell The Wandering Scholars ( 1 0 3 5 ) Arianism Heretical belief which arose in the early church from the teachings o f the Alexandrian priest Al ius ( 2 5 6 - 3 3 6 ) . Facing the theological difficulty o f combining the divinity o f Christ with the unity o f God in the T r i n i t y . Arms advanced the view thai the Son was not co-eternal with the Father. At the Council o f Nicaea (325) the debate raged around the question o f whether the Son was ' o f the same substance' as the Father. Athanasius led the party supporting the view that became orthodox, that Father and Son were indeed ' o f the same substance', and Arianism was condemned. Arius was banished to lllyria and died 011 the ewe o! his reconciliation with the church. I lis teachings remained very influential almost, so it seems, by historical accident. Many o! the Germanic tribes beyond the frontier o f the Roman empire were converted by missionaries led by Wulfila, an Arian bishop, and so Arian Chrisnamtv became the distinguishing characteristic of a number o f the Ostrogoths in Italy (until the mid-oth c ) , the Visigoths in Spain (until the late 6 t h c ) , and the Vandals in N o r t h Africa.
Aristotle ( 3 X 4 - 3 2 2 nc:) Greek philosopher and pupil ot Plato in Athens, c. 34.' he became tutor to Alexander, son o f Philip o f Macedon. O n Philip's death in 3 3 5 Aristotle returned to Athens where he set up the peripatetic school outside the city. Here scientific research was undertaken into such subje-cts as music, physics, metaphysics, mathematics and astronomy in an attempt to increase man's understanding ol the natural world. This scientific interest led Aristotle in his Politics and Ethics to regard man as no more than a superior kin dot social and political animal. Although the writings o f Aristotle were known to the Romans, the study ot his works declined and almost totally disappeared alter the tall ol the Roman empire. Knowledge o f his works was confined to the study o f translations o f two o f his minor works, and a number o f commentaries made by Boethius. In the 12th c. and 13th c , however, the Politics and Tahiti
began to be rediscovered, together with the writings o f other Greek authors such as Plato. Galen and Hippocrates, especially through translations from Muslim sourcesbyjewish scholars in Spam. Aristotle's writings on man as a political and social animal appeared to conflict with the generally accepted Augustinian theology, which agreed that man was naturally social but that his political existence was un-natural and only necessary because o f sin. Many schoolmen, including Aquinas, began the task o f
Aristotle, holding an .istrolalie. teaching students, from his Guide to tin Perplexed (mid-14th c ) .
reconciling Aristotelian and Augustinian philosophy and the ensuing debate continued for more than a hundred years. Sec A Q U I N A S . T H O M A S ; D U N S S C O T U S , jniiN
• F. van Steeuberghen Aristotle in the West (loss;) Armenia Ancient kingdom situated between the rivers Aras and Jura, including the upper waters o f the Euphrates. In 1. 3 9 0 Armenia was divided into two parts under the jurisdiction ot the Byzantines and Persians respectively. Although Byzantine Armenia was quickly assimilated into the empire, there was much resistance in Persian Armenia to the attempts to convert the local Christian population to Zoroastrianism. After 6 3 3 Armenia was at least nominally under the suzerainty ot the Arabs, but remained virtually independent under the Christian rulers. In the I I t h c. the country was devastated by the Seljuk sultans Tughril Beg and Alp Arslan. Many Armenians emigrated to Little Armenia in the western p a r t o f modern Kurdistan. This new kingdom had close links with the West: a t the time o f the First Crusade i t was the Armenians who helped Baldwin du Bourg t o establish the county o f Edcssa whilst
35
Armenia Leo I I ( 1 1 8 7 - 1 2 1 9 ) swore fealty to the Western emperor. Henry V I , and reformed the Armenian administration on Western models. In the 14th e. the murder o f two o f its kings, Guy de Lusignan in 1344 and Constantino I in 1 3 7 4 , caused civil strife in Armenia and left the kingdom unable to resist the Maniluk advance. In 1 37 s the capita] city o f Sis was captured and the last king deposed. • T.S.R.
Boase 'The diktat!
Kingdom
of Armenia
(1978)
A r m o u r There were three types o f medieval armour: (t) sott armour-quilted fabric and leather (2) mail — interlinked metal rings (3) plate-metal, cuir-bouilli (leather soaked in heated wax), whalebone or horn; plate can mean large plates, smaller plates riveted or sewn to fabric (coat-of-plates construction), or small plates laced together (lamellar construction). These were ancient techniques, but following the demise o f the empire, full plate, except helmets, virtually disappeared from Western Europe. Lamellar armour was w o r n by the Vandals, the Franks under Charlemagne, the Vikings and in Eastern Europe. Coat-of-plates persisted, hut until c. I 2 5 0 soft armour and plate were predominant. The Middle Ages witnessed the development from mail to full plate. Mail was followed, c. 1250, by a transitional perioel when plate reappeared, l l y r, 1330 plate defences existed for much o f the body. By the early 15th c. this early plate had evolved into fully developed alwile (white) armour. A t the time o f the Norman Conquest o f England, defensive equipment consisted o f a body garment (hauberk or bymie), helmet and shield. I-Iauberks were often hooded (coif) and o f mail, and were worn over padding for body (akelon) and head (armingcap). Helmets were usually conical with nasal. Segmented spangenhelms and one piece helmet-skulls were also known. Shields were wooden with leather cladding and metal reinforcements. They were long and kite-shaped or, occasionally, circular and convex. Subsequent introductions included the sur coat, perhaps as protection from heat or rain, or for heraldic purposes. Between c. 1150 and the c-arly 13th c . helmets developed through round and cylindrical forms to the 'great' helm (crested for identification). The ancient kettle hat {chapcl-de-Jer), resembling the modern tin hat. also reappeared, and c. 1220 the skull-cap {bascinet or cervellière) became popular, worn beneath helm or with visor. Initial plate reintroduction is obscure. Body reinforcements occurred from the early 13 t h e , with real plate from c. 1230. The commonest 14th-c. body defence was a garment with metal plate lining (coat-of-platcs. later brigandlne). These forms developed and by r. 1330 full equipment incorporated
5«
English miniauiri- of 1.1480: a man being helped into Ins armour, 'when he schal limine on foorc'. aketon, arming-cap, hauberk, coat-of-plates, gambeson (surcoal), vambraces (arm guards), cltaussis (mail leggings), gamboised musts (thigh guards), poleyns (knee guards), sdiynbalds or greaves (shin guards), sabatous (foot guards), spurs, waistbelt, swordbelt, gauntlets, shield, avefttail {eoil replacement), and baseinet, supplemented, i f visorless, by helm. By c. 1410 this early plate had evolved into a more extensive covering. T he breast plate achieved independence and, with back plate, hooped fauld (skirt) and, later, garget (collar), formed the basic defence. Articulated tubular forms developed for the limbs. These solid forms required only the removal o f their frequent fabric coverings to become true alwite armour. With the early [Jth-C, adoption o f alwile, regional styles emerged, northern Italy (Milan and Brescia) and southern Germany (Nuremberg, Landshut and Augsburg) being the chief production centres. Bascinel variants were popular (armet in Italy, sallel and kettlchat in Germany). Shields were now largely redundant. From c. 1460 the German High Gothic style flourished, favouring slender forms with fluting to deflect blows. It should be remembered that most developments only applied to the armour o f the nobility. Gentry forms varied, whilst the common soldiery relied Upon soft armour, with some mail, skull-caps or kettle-hats and bucklers to parry blows. There was also a distinction between plain field and decorative parade armour. For tournaments, reinforced armour supplemented field armour, special tilting pieces aroseand heavier defensive-suits weresoon provided. A horse or sumpter carried the armour, and from the I 2th c. the charger was often covered by a trapper of mail, coat-of-plates or cloth. See HERALDRY; KNKM I T MtK)]);WAK
MB
I I F. M . Kelly and l i . Schwabc A Short History of
Arthur Costume andArmour
veil, i ( 1 9 3 1 ) ; C. Blair European
Armour ( 1 9 5 8 ) ; J. Mann European Arms and vol.
i
Armour
(1962)
A r n o l d - A m a l r i c Abbot of Ckcaux [ 1 9 2 - t 209 and archbishop of Narbonno 1 2 0 9 - 2 5 . Sent as a legate by Innocent I I I to preach against the Albigensians, Amalric assumed spiritual leadership o f the crusade against them after the death o f Peter o f Castelnau in 1207. A t the fearsome massacre at Bcziers. he was credited with the appalling exhortation to the crusaders, all too readily followed: ' K i l l them all. God will choose who is innocent.' • B. Hamilton 'I'iie Albigensian Crusade
(1974.)
Arnold of Brescia ( 1 1 0 0 - 5 5 ) Radical religious reformer. After studying in Paris under Abclard he joined the Augustinians and became prior of Brescia. He emphasized the absolute necessity o f clerical poverty and o f the abandonment of temporal power by the church. Condemned for his views in 1 139, he was banished trom Italy and took refuge in France, teaching at the school o f Mont-Sainte-Gcucvieve in Paris. He was reconciled with the church for a short time under Eugenius I I I , but after he had allied himself with a rebel political party in Rome which attempted to abolish the temporal power o f the papacy, he was excommunicated in 1 14^. He was e-xpe-lled from Rome in I 155, captured by the Emperor Frederick I and handed over to the prefect o f Home who sentenced him to death. His followers, the Arnoldists. were condemned at theCountil o f Verona in 1 1 8 4 . • G. W . Greenaway Arnold of Brescia ( 1 9 3 1 )
Arnulf, St (c.5So-i\64o) Bishop o f Met/ Appointed to his see in 6 1 4 . A r n u l f was a prominent counsellor of the Merovingian King Dagobcrt 1 ( 6 2 8 - 3 9 ) , before resigning his bishopric in favour o f a liteot solitude. He became first a hermit 111 the Vosgcs mountains and then a monk in the monastery o f Rcmiremout on the river Mosel. Arpad (! the Master, an anonymous work composed in Italy some 40 years earlier. Both Rules owe much to the Eastern monastic tradition, especially to the writings ot John Cassian. Although St Benedict recognizes the vocation o f the hermit, he e-n visages a monastery as a completely ecnobitical community living together in one house - a kind o f villa monastery - and directed by a spiritual father, the abbot, w h o is ele-cte'd by the brethren. In common with other early monastic legislators, he assumes that the majority of the monks, including the abbot, w i l l be laymen, a few only being ordained to celebrate the weekly Eucharist, He provides for parents to donate children to the monastery to he- brought up as monks, a practice that became an important source o f recruitment in the Middle Ages. The Rule requires the adult postulant to undergo a year o f probation as a novice before taking his vows, which include a promise of stability - to remain in the same community until death. Benedict regards personal poverty and obe-diemce as central to the monk's profession. The Rule reqtiires the recruit to renounce personal ownership completely: everything is to be the common property o f the community. Benedict assumes that a monastery will be Supported by endowments in the form o f land, which in many cases w i l l be cultivated by tenants, but he doe's not se-em to have envisaged the
The monastery is to he 'a school o f the Lord's service', designed to train the recruit in the spiritual life. To this end the Rule fills the monk's day with a carefully ordered routine o f communal prayer, reading and manual work. The framework o f the day is determined by the hours o f worship, which Benedict calls rhe opus (fei: the eight daily services sung in the monastic oratory (the- night office o f Vigils or Matins, sung in the early hours. Lauds, Prime, Tercc, Sext, None. Vespers and Compline). The monk is enjoined to avoid contact with the outside world and to keep within the e-nclosureas tar as practicable; but the Rule makes hospitality a solemn obligation - the guest is to be received as though he were Christ himself. Although the Rule includes a penitential (a list o f punishments for breaches o f monastic discipline). Benedict's ascesis is not harsh. He allows eight hours ot sleep in winter and six hours with an afternoon siesta in summer. His allowance o f food, it not lavish, is adequate; meat is forbidden except to the sick, but meals can include a measure o f wine. The moderation o f Benedict's Rule and its completeness commended it to monastic founders, but it was some time before it established its position as the standard code o f observance. N o Roman monastery appears to have adopted it before the 10th c In yth-c. Gaul it is referred to (first at Solignae c.629) in conjunction with the Celtic Rule of St Columbanus, as a guide to the cemobitical life. This 'mixe-d Rule' persiste-d in the Frankish abbeys until the Synods ot Aix-la-Chapelle. held in 8 r 6 and 8 1 7 under the auspices o f Emperor Louis the Pious, preseribe-d the Benedictine Rule as the exclusive model o f monastic observance in theCarolingian empire. The emperor's agent in promoting it was a monk drawn from the Gothic aristocracy o f southern Gaul w h o was also called Benedict: St Benedict of Aniane. See HONTEVRAUI T; GERARD OF BROGNE CHL • C.
Butler
Benedictine
Knowles TheMonastic
Monachism
(1901);
D.
OrSer in England ( 1 9 6 3 ) ; C . H .
Lawrence Medieval MonastidsM
(1984)
B e o w u l f Epic poem of some 3 0 0 0 lines, often dared to the 8th c , though surviving in a single manuscript o f c. I O O O now in the Cottonian collection ot the British Library. It is a highly sophisticated poem in strict alliterative metre and is an invaluable source, handled critically, for Anglo-Saxon society, especially with regard to ideals o f kingship, loyalty, service and kindred tics. The poe-t was a Christian and had some knowledge o f Virgil and classical
51
Beowulf traditions, though the substance o f his story was heavily Germanic, dealing w i t h the exploits o f his eponymous hero in Denmark and south SwcdeiiB e o w u l f s three great battles against the monster Grendel. against the even more monstrous motht'r o f Grendel and against the dragon guarding the treasure hoard, rank among the most brilliant passages in early Germanic literature and have been subject to much analysis as allegories o f the conflict o f good and evil. There is a strong school o f modern criticism that would take the construction o f the poem forward to a date nearer that of the manuscript (which some consider the poet's holograph) in the late loth c. or early i i t h c. • J . R . R . Tolkcin. ' B e o w u l f the monsters and the critics', Proceedings of the British Academy 22 ( 1 9 3 6 ) ; D . Whitelock The Audience of Beowulf (it)51);
Tire
C. Chase ( 1 9 8 1 ) ; Beowulf ed. M . Magnusson. S. M a c k i e a n d j . Glover ( 1 9 8 7 )
Dating of Beowulfed.
Berbers The native inhabitants o f N o r t h Africa who successfully resisted the domination first o f the Romans and then o f the Arabs. Voluntarily accepting Islam by 7 1 1 , the Berbers assisted the Arabs in the conquest o f Visigothic Spain. Under the Almoravids, the Berbers ruled both Spain and N o r t h Africa until the 12 th c. Berengar o f T o u r s (f. iOOO-r.88) Theologian and author o f the Eucharistic heresy. Educated at Chames he became superintendent ot the School o f Tours in 103 1, and in 1041 was appointed archdeacon ofAngers. In the 9 t h c. he followed and built upon the teaching o f Ratranmus. who denied the existence o f the real presence in the Eucharist. Berengar held that at the consecration, nansubstantiation did not occur in the elements themselves but only in the sentirnents ot the believers. His doctrines were condemned in 1050, and his views encouraged church theologians such as Lanfranc and Guitmund o f Aversa to tighten up the church's teaching on the Eucharist, [i A.J. Macdonald Berengar and the reform 0] Sacramental Doctrine ( 1 9 3 0 )
iith-c. sculpture' ot a Cistercian abbot, probably B e r n a r d o f C l a i r v a u x (Holland).
Reter Abelard. His o w n writings include a number o f sermons and a theological treatise on the love o f God, but his most famous work is perhaps the scries o f letters addressed to Peter the Venerable, abbot o f Cluny. in which he condemns the ceremonial character and siimptuousuess o f the Cluniac liturgy. For the last decade and more o f his life he was the champion o f Orthodox thought in the West and greatly influent! d 111 i t s political as well as 111 its spiritual life. • J . Leclercq ¡Iludes sur S. Bernard el le texte de ses
Bernard, St ( i o y o - [ 154) Abbot o f Clairvaux, Born at Fontaine in Burgundy, Bernard joined the Cistercian Order in 1112 before being sent to found Citcaux's third daughter house at Clairvaux in 1115. By Bernard's death, Clairvaux numbered some 7 0 0 monks whilst its o w n daughter houses included Ricvaulx in Yorkshire ( 1 1 3 2 ) , and Whit land (1 140) and Margam (1 147) in Wales. Bernard also had great influence in the church as a whole; in 1146 he was appointed by Rope Eugemus III to preach the Second Crusade and he took a leaeling part in the condemnation o f the writings o f
$2
écrits ( I 9 S 3 ) ; Bernard of Clairvaux:
Studies presented to
Dom J, Leclercq ( 1 9 7 3 )
Bernard G u i (i2(il—1331) Inquisitor. A Dominican w h o acted as inquisitorat Toulouse tro ni 1307 to the early 1320s, Bernard produced a formidable tract 1 . 1 3 2 5 , known as the Practica Inqutsitionis Heretice Prayitalis ('Practice o f the inquisition into Heretical Perversity'). It is the most important o f his many writte'n works, setting out the procedures o l the inquisition, their justification, and alsei incidentally shedding much light on the beliefs o f the Walden-
Boccaccio, Giovanni sians, Cathars, Bcguincs, and the Jews. The tract is not completely original, drawing much from earlier writers on the theme, but the practical experience o f the author adds a chilling element to the account o f an arbitrary and much feared institution. • G.G. Coukon Inquisition mid Liberty ( 1 9 3 8 ) Bernard of Chartres (d.r. 1130) One o f the great teachers of the early 12th c. and leading scholar at the School of Chartres up to 1 124. he is now chiefly remembered for the remark attributed to him by John of Salisbury, that the moderns should be compared to the ancients as dwarfs standing on the shoulders o f giants; they can see more and farther, not for any intrinsic virtue of their o w n . but because they are lifted up by the greatness o f the giants. Steeped in the study of grammar and logic, Bernard did much to strengthen knowledge of I'latonism in the West, but it seems clear that his pre-eminence was personal, and that to attribute continued d o m i nance to the School at Chartres after his retirement in 1124 is to distort the true picture. It is Paris, not Chartres, that emerges as the principal centre for scholastic and humanistic inquiry in the second quarter of the 12th c. Sec T W F . I . F T H - C : E N T U R Y R E N A I S SANCE
11 Renaissance mid Reiieii'.i! in the Twelfth Qajtttfy
ed.
popular, and several other houses, including the abbey of Souvigny, were also commended to Berno's care. Before his death Berno nominated St O d o to succeed him as abbot o f Cluny. Beyazet I (Bayazet) Ottoman sultan f, 1 3 x 9 - 1 4 0 2 He consolidated Turkish rule in Asia Minor by suppressing Bulgaria (which had already been conquered by his father. Murad I), by invading Wallachia in 1394 and defeating the crusading army led by John the Fearless, heir o f Burgundy, at the battle o f Nicopolis in 1396. Although he subdued all the lesser Turkish dynasties o f Asia Minor, bringing them under his rule 1 3 9 0 - 9 3 , he failed to take Constantinople,, was defeated by Tamberlaine in 140.Z, and died in captivity. Bezant Name given in Western Europe to the standard Byzantine gold coin (polidus or nomisma), which up to the 1 0 3 0 s was o f virtually pure gold and weighed 4 . 5 5 g. After a period o f debasement, it was re-established in [ 0 9 2 under the name o f hyperpyron (Italian perpero). but was only ao'/i carats tine instead o f 24. This in turn was progressively debased in the 13th c. and 14th c , until in the 1 3 5 0 s it ceased to be struck, though the term hyperpyron was retained as a money o f account.
R.L. Benson and G. Constable ( 1 9 8 2 ) Bernardino of Siena, St ( 1 3 8 0 - 1 4 4 4 ) Born at Massa di Carrera, Bernardino entered the Franciscan Order in 1402 and joined the Observants in the following year, settling first at Colombaio near Siena and later at Fiesole near Florence. In 1417 he began a career as a popular preacher and attracted large crowds all over Italy. In 1437 he became vicar-general o f the Observant Franciscans, and through his influence the number o f their houses increased trom about 2 0 to more than 2 0 0 . He guided the movement away from the eremitical life and encouraged them to take a more active part in the church as preachers and Oeachers. establishing schools of theology at Pe'rugia and Monteripido for their instruction. In 1 4 4 3 Bernardino resigned his office and started preaching once again, but his health began to fail and he died the following year at Aquila. 1 i j . Origo The World of San Bernardino ( 1 9 6 3 )
Berno ( 8 5 0 - 9 2 7 ) First abbot of Cluny. Faltering the Benedictine Order at the abbey o f Saint-Martin at Autun, he reformed the monastery o f Baume'-lesMessieurs, and in 890 founded the abbey at Gigny, before being asked by William the Pious, duke of Aquitainc, to found a new abbey at Cluny in 9 0 9 . His new foundation, which was plae e'd under the direct authority o f the holy sec, was extremely _
Biondo, Flavio ( 1 3 9 2 - 1 4 6 3 ) Humanist, historian of Roman antiquity and secretary to the papal curia. Entering papal service in 1433 he became scriptorof the apostolic letters and except for a short period ( 1 4 4 9 - 5 3 ) he remained in this office until his death. His works include the Decades, a general history covering the pcaiod 4 1 0 - 1 4 1 0 and published in Venice in 1483; Roma Instaurata, a descriptive catalogue of the monuments and ruins ot Rome completed in 1446 and published in 1471; and Italia lllustrata, an archaeological and historical account o f Italy which gives valuable information concerning the monuments extant in i j t h - c . Italy, p D . Hay 'The Decades o f Flavio Biondo', Proceedings of tile British Academy ( 1 9 5 9 )
Black Death see Plague Blonde] Troubadour at the court o f Richard Lionheart. Blondel was reputed, according to i3th-c. accounts o f the captivity ot his royal master, to have identified Richard in his fortress prisem after hearing the king sing one o f their favourite songs, thereby making it possible for negotiations to be opened for his ransom. Boccaccio, Giovanni ( 1 3 1 3 - 7 5 ) Bom in Certaldo e>r Florence, he was early sent into the Bardi bank 53
Boccaccio, G i o v a n n i a n d s t u d i e d l a w b e f o r e t u r n i n g to l i t e r a t u r e . M u c h Ojf hjs y o u t h w a s s p e n t i n N a p l e s , b u t after I 3 4 0 h e returned to F l o r e n c e w h e r e he l i v e d a n active in e m b a s s i e s
to the R o m a g n a .
Milan,
life
Naples and
A v i g n o n ( 1 3 6 5 ) , a n d as o n e o f the F l o r e n t i n e m a g i s trates f o r a t w o - y e a r p e r i o d late i n h i s life. chiefly r e m e m b e r e d for his t r e m e n d o u s
H e is
contribution
t o v e r n a c u l a r l i t e r a t u r e , a b o v e a l l f o r t h e Decameron (Í.13JO), a h u m a n c o m e d y g o o d a n d e v i l i n late concerns
ten y o u n g
STVJMO 9 ¿
based on the extent o f
medieval aristocrats
society. T h e plot w h o retire
to a
F i c s o l a n h i l l s i d e d u r i n g t h e p l a g o e . set u p a c o u r t o f p l e a s u r e a n d relate tales to o n e a n o t h e r o n v a r i o u s themes, m a n y explicitly sexual. T h e i r realism, secular tone a n d lustful p r o b i n g
of h u m a n
n a t u r e , its
greed a n d sexuality, q u i c k l v proved influential O N a E u r o p e a n scale,
even
though
Boccaccio
regretted
manuscript o l his Consolmio I'hitosopliiae.
Boethius ( 4 8 0 - 5 2 4 ) E d u c a t e d i n A t h e n s a n d A l e x a n d r i a , B o e t h i u s h a d a n i m p o r t a n t effect u p o n t h e d e v e l o p m e n t of m e d i e v a l
t h e w o r k ' s l a c k o f gravitas i n h i s later d a y s . H i s later w r i t i n g s in L a t i n ,
B o e t h i u s at w o r k w i t h his w r i t i n g tablets, from a i 2 i h - c .
t h o u g h t . In 510 h e held
produced under the
the c o n s u l s h i p o f R o m e u n d e r the O s t r o g o t h i c K i n g
influence o f Petrarch, react heavily against the spirit
T h e o d o r i c t h e G r e a t , b u t w a s later a c c u s e d o f t r e a s o n
o f t h e Decameron, w h i c h n e v e r t h e l e s s r e m a i n e d o n e
and
of t h e m o s t i m p o r t a n t w o r k s o f E u r o p e - a n l i t e r a t u r e ,
Cortsolatio Philasophiae ( ' C o n s o l a t i o n o f P h i l o s o p h y ' )
admired
in w h i c h h e d e s c r i b e d the p u r s u i t o f w i s d o m a n d the
a n d copied
b y scholars
a n d poets
from
C h a u c e r to l e a d i n g I t a l i a n l i t e r a r y m e n o f t h e 1 6 t h c .
p u t to d e a t h .
W h i l s t in prison he w r o t e the
l o v e o f G o d as t h e t r u e s o u r c e s o f h u m a n h a p p i n e s s .
• C . M u s c e t t a Boccaccio ( 1 9 7 2 ) ; V . B r a n c a Boccaccio:
A l t h o u g h h e i n t e n d e d to t r a n s l a t e t h e w h o l e
the man ami his icorks
o f the w o r k o f Plato a n d Aristotle into L a t i n ,
(1976)
project w a s never completed. B o c c a c c i o w i t h Petrarch; from a F l e m i s h copy o f Des caí
des nobles lipmwt's et Icinmts nuUneUreux.
method
proved immensely
corpus this
His useo f Aristotelian i n f l u e n t i a l i n t h e early-
M i d d l e A g e s . C h r i s t i a n thinkers accepted as o n e o f t h e i r o w n g r e a t t e a c h e r s ,
Boethius
and his w o r k
w a s w i d e l y k n o w n . A l f r e d the G r e a t translated the Consolation i n t o A n g l o - S a x o n . It w a s l a r g e l y t h r o u g h t h e influe-nce o f B o e t h i u s t h a t t h e R o m a n s c h e m e o f dividing education adopted
into the seven
as the basis
learning.
a Boethius:
l i b e r a l arts w a s
o f the medieval
system
of
\jJ4\
His Life,
Thought and Influence e d . M .
G i b s o n ( 1 9 8 1 ) ; H . C h a d w i c k Boethius
(1981)
B o g o m i l s A d h e r e n t s of a h e r e t i c a l s e c t w h i c h first a p p e a r e d i n B u l g a r i a i n t h e i n i d - i o t h e. a n d w h i c h S p r e a d i n t h e I I t h e, t o A s i a M i n o r a n d P r o v e n c e . O w i n g t h e i r o r i g i n s r o M a n i e h a e a n i s m , the B o g o mils w e r e dualists w h o believed in the existence o f both a g o o d G o d , creator o f the spirit, a n d an evil G o d , c r e a t o r o f the m a t e r i a l w o r l d . I n B u l g a r i a itself t h e B o g o m i l s w e r e c r u s h e d i n 1211, b u t t h e y s u r v i v e d in B o s n i a f o r a l m o s t t w o c e n t u r i e s after the T a r t a r invasions.
It w a s o n l y i n 1 3 4 0 t h a t F r a n c i s c a n m i s -
s i o n a r i e s b e g a n t o p r e a c h C a t h o l i c i s m to t h e B o s n i a n s , a n d i t w a s n o t u n t i l I 450 t h a t K i n g T h o m a s r e q u i r e d h i s s u b j e c t s to a c c e p t O r t h o d o x C h r i s t i a n i t y . T h e remaining Bogomil
adherents
then
fled
to H e r z e -
g o v i n a , w h e r e m a n y o f t h e m b e c a m e M u s l i m s . See ALHIGF.NSES D D . Obolensky
54
'The Bogomils
(1948)
Bolcslav I the Great Bohemia Territory which by the early Middle Ages was predominantly populated by a Slavonic people known as Czechs. They were ruled by the Premyslid dynasty r , 8 7 0 - 1 3 0 6 w h o accepted Christianity in the Western form in the 9th e. Relations with neighbouring Slavonic peoples (Moravians and Poles), with Magyars and above all with Germans were uneasy and often turbulent, though by the 13th c. German influence was strong and the Bohemians were accepted as an important political unit within the framework o f the Holy Roman Empire. After 1306. on the death o f the last ruler o f the ancient dynasty, John ot Luxembourg, son o f the Emperor Henry V I I , was chosen as king. The Bohemian kingdom reached its political height under his son Charles I V , Holy Roman Emperor [ 3 4 6 - 7 8 , w h o founded the gre'at university o f Prague in 1 348 and trained an imperial consitutiou (the Golden Bull eil 1 3 5 6 ) , which confirmed the king of Bohemia as one of the seven electors. Later medieval Bohemian hist^rv is dominated by religious struggles in which national Czech aspirations were intertwined with deep religious passions directed against the wealth and doctrines o f the church. The burning o f John Hus at the Council of Constance ( 1 4 1 5 ) precipitated a bitter struggle, in the course o f which the military genius e>f the Hussite general Ziska won substantial independene"e\ confirmed by compromise between the moderate Hussites and the Catholics in 1433. See WF.NCF.St.AS
• F. Dvornik The Making of Central Europe ( ¡ 9 4 9 ) ; R. Betts Essays in Czech History ( 1 9 6 9 ) ; J.P.N. Bradley Czechoslovakia ( 1 9 7 0 ) Bohemund I ( 1 0 5 2 - 1 i l l ) Prince o f Antioch. Eldest son o f Robert Guiscard, Norman duke o f Apulia and Calabria. Bohemund fought with his father against the Byzantine empire 1 0 8 1 - 8 5 , Although The last Premyslid kings of Bohemia: Wciiccslas 111 has the rhree crowns oJ Bohemia, Poland and Hungary.
Detail from the iath-e. bronze doors of C nie/no cathedral showing Boleslav the Greal. ilisinheritcd on his father's death ( 1 0 8 5 ) , Bohemund raised a force and joined the First Crusade in 1096. On 3 June 1098 he was primarily responsible for the capture o f Antioch, becoming its first Latin prince. In 1 loohewasimprisonedbytheamirofCappadocia and on his release was attacked in 1104 by the Byzantine emperor Alexius Conmcnus. who claimed Antioch as a fief o f the empire; the Byzantine fleet devastated many o f Bohcmund's properties in Ciiicia. Returning to the West, Bohemund retaliated by attacking the Byzantines in Dalmatia, but wasdefeated and forced to agree to terms by which he accepted Byzanrinc overlordship ot Antioch. Boilcau, Etienne de (c. 1 2 0 5 - Î . 7 0 ) Flis family ties were with Orleans where he held the office of provost, but he made his reputation as a lawyer and administrator in the service ot St Louis, whom he accompanied on the ill-fated crusade o f 1250. It is a measure o f his importance that a ransom of 2 0 0 0 gold Wires was paid to redeem him from captivity. O n his re-turn to Prance he received royal preferment to the Office ot provost o f Paris, and it was the experience gained in that office whit h enabled him to write hi:; L;rr; des M-titrs ( Book of Crafts'), a source o f first importance for the history of l3th-c. industry and its organization, and indeed, for medieval urban development and the craft guilds. 11 R. de Lespiuasse and F. Bonnardot Lés Métiers et Corporation de la Ville de Paris ( 1 8 7 9 ) ; E. Farci Lti Vie quotidienne au temps de Si Louis (1938)
Boleslav f the Great King of Poland 9 9 2 - 1 0 2 5 Son of Mics/kol, the first Christian prince ot Poland. Boleslav succeeded his father in 9 9 2 . In 9 9 6 he conquered 55
Boleslav I the Great
The mission ol St Boniface to the Frisians and his martyrdom, from the iorh-c. Hdda Sacramcmary. Foincrania and subséquent]y occupied the Czech city o f Cracow. Fie further increased his influence by his championship of the fugitive Adalbert of Prague (who was later martyred) and by his coronation in the year I O O O at the hands of Emperor O t t o III. After Otto's death. ISoleslav took further opportunities for the expansion of Poland. He penetrated to the Elbe and occupied much o f Bohemia before gaining advantageous peace terms at Bautzen in iciK. Before his death he had also attacked Yaroslav, grand duke o f Kiev, whom he routed on the banks of the river Bug, which at that time formed the boundary between Russia and Poland. Bologna, university of Founded in the 11 th c. as the result o f a revival o f interest in the study o f law. the fame o f Bologna was so great by the mid-1 2th e. that the Emperor Frederick 1 called its doctors o f law to Roncaglia to adjudicate in his struggle with the L o m bard communes. Like Paris. Bologna was organized into nations, and by 1265 these included students from as far afield as England, Hungary and Poland. Bologna's reputation rested mainly on rhe work o f two men: Irnerius, w h o in c. I O K O divided the study of law from the other arts, and Gratian. w h o in 1140 unified canon law in his DeiTifllBl and distinguished it from theology. Honorius 111 granted the university a measure ot self-government in 121H, and later in the century it began the development ot a distinguished school o f medicine. 11 C M .
Ady
The Bentivoglio of Bologna ( 1 9 6 9 )
Bonaventura, St ( 1 2 2 1 - 7 4 ) Born at Bagnoreggio near Orvieto. Bonaventura became a Franciscan in
1243, studied under Alexander o f Hales at Paris and in 1253 became master of the Franciscan School there. In 1257 he was elected minister-general o f the Order. Although Bonaventura upheld many o f St Francis' original ideals he rejected the extreme position ol the Spirituals who condemned learning in their search for absolute poverty. Between 1266 and 126N he wrote an exposition o f the Rule o f St Francis which helped to remould the Ordc-r as a whole-, but also succeeded in further alienating the Spirituals. Bonaventura played an influential part in the church as a whole. In 1273 he was appointed cardinal-bishop ol Alhamí, whilst m 1 274 he also played a leading part in the Council o f Lyons which temporarily ended the schism between East and West. A mystical theologian, Bonaventura advocated an emotional approach to the divine mysteries rather than the purely rational method employed by his contemporary Thomas Aquinas. His chief writings include the Brmhmtum,
the
fiiiitrWuiw
Mtntü
ad Ileum and a
commentary on the Sentences of Perer Lombard, p S.
BonaventuTa
¡174—1974
ed-
J.G.
Bougerol
(1973-74)
Boniface, St (r.075-75.4) Apostle ol the Germans. Born Winfrith of Crediton in I levan, Boniface was educated in Exeter and at Nursling in Hampshire. His first missionary expedition to Frisia in 7 1 6 was a failure, but in 7 1 9 he received a papal commission to undertake evangelical work c'ast o f the Rhine. He was consecrated bishop to the Germans in 7 2 2 , archbishop in 7 3 2 and eventually cstablishexl a permanent centre to his sec at Mainz in 7 4 7 . Throughout his career he remained in active touch with his
Books in manuscript homeland which provided him with many missionaries and much material support, h i return, Boniface proved a great source o f spiritual strength to the English church, encouraging, instructing and admonishing both laity and the spiritual order. In Germany itself he founded many bishoprics, including sees at Salzburg, Re'gensburg and I'assau in the south, and at Wiirzburg. Erfurt and Biiraburg in the north. Late in life he set up the abbey at Fulda of which he himself became abbot. The Franks supported his missions with military power, and Boniface became a kc/y figure in events which led to ecclesiastical reform inside Frankia in the 7 4 0 s tinder Pepin the Short. He supported the deposition of the last Merovingian king and in 75.1 consecrated Pepin as king o f the Franks; indeed. Boniface's role in the mission field, as an active reformer, helped to bring Rome and the new Christian monarchy in Frankia into fruitful partnership. In 754 Boniface set out in a last attempt to conve-rt the Frisians, bin on s June was martvred at D o k k u m with some 50 com pan ions, ti W . Lcvison England and the Continent in the Eighth Century
(104ft)
Boniface V I I I Rope 1 2 9 4 - 1 3 0 3 (b. r . 1 2 3 3 ) Bom Benedict Gactani at Anagni in Italy, he studied law at Bologna be-fore becoming cardinal-deacon in [281, cardinal-bishop in 120] and finally pope in 1294. He made substantial contributions to canon law in the Ltber Sextus, an analyst:! of the principal ecclesiastical legal developments from 1234 to his own time. He quarrelled with the kings of France and o f England over the question of taxation o f the clergy, and in his hull Cleric'ts Lakes ( 1 2 9 6 ) asserted the principle that such taxation demanded papal assent i f it were to be legal. In Rome, and in Italy generally, he became incre-asmgly powerful, defeating his arch-rivals, the Colonna family, in 129S and proclaiming successfully the first Holy Year in 1300 (commemorated by Giotto's fresco in the church o f St John Lateran at Rome). Relations with the French King Philip IV grew increasingly stormy, particularly after the imprison incur o f Boniface's friend, Bernard Saisset. bishop of Poitiers, in 1301. Overconfidencc led the pope to issue the bull 1 'nam Sanctam in 1302, and it is one of the ironies of medieval history that this extreme statement o f the case for papal theocratic supremacy in both spiritual and lay matters should be issued at a time when the monarchies o f England and France were building strong state systems which involved eiose control o f the temporalities ot their respective churches. French reaction was epiick and brutal: the pope was captured, roughly handled at Anagni, and died in 1303, largely from the harsh treatment he had received. \H8\ • T.S.R. Boase Boniface VIII
Books in manuscript Several aspects o f manuscripts can be used as evidence for their dates and origins. The most conspicuous o f these is the development o f handwriting, or palae-ography. while archaeological study o f the materials, techniques and personnel involved in the production ol a manuscript, from quire-formarioii to decoration, illustration and binding (codicology). is no less valuable, not only for dating and localization, but as a source o f insight into the character o f particular manuscripts, every one o f which is the product o f a unique set o f circumstan ce s. -
In die sjh and 6 t h c. book production in the West was notable for high standards and high output; and by C. 6 0 0 the skills with which the lay workshops o f c. 4 0 0 had copied pagan texts for senatorial patrons had been passed on to ecclesiastical scriptoria attached to monasteries or basilicas. Most books were in formal script, usually uncial, but scholars copied texts for themselves in literary cursive. A l l documents were still on papyrus, but most books were 011 parchment. The codex, which had been the original form o f all Christian books and which had replaced the roll by f . 4 0 0 , typically consisted o f parchment sheets folded to form quires o f eight leaves, in which facing pages matched each other in Frontispiece to St Ambrose's Opera l 'aria, illustrating how books were made, from sharpening the pens to binding the quires.
(1933)
S7
Books in manuscript whole pages, adding Germanic animal ornament to abstract Celtic designs. In the major Anglo-Saxon scriptoria (e.g., at Canterbury. Wearmouth-Jarrow and Lindisfarnc), where early Italian models were available, layout, script and titling were also further developed, and successful copies o f late antique illustration were painted. During the Carolingiau renaissance (c.775—r.8jo) books in Caroline minuscule achicve'd an impressive synthesis between layout, titling and naturalistic illustration based on late antique models, and major initials of Insular (Anglo-Saxon) inspiration. The magnificence o f the liturgical manuscripts made for Charlemagne (1.800) and Charles the Bald (d.874) was never surpassed. A revised version o f the late antique quire was introduced at Tours C 8 3 0 and was practically universal until c. I1 JO, although catchwords replaced quire numbers (c.1000 onwards) and lead-point replaced hard-point ruling ( 1 . 1 0 7 5 onwards). Books in proto-Gothic minuscule (late 1 1 t h to late 1 2 t h c. - the last flowering o f the monastic scriptoria) were usually taller than before and we're exmspicuous for their excellent polychrome initials and disphv script. Histc.nated major initials often replaced miniatures as the vehicle ftir illustration.
Books in manuscript: detail froth an altarpiccc by Hogicr van dcr Wcyden (r. ijyy-14(14), Magdalene leading. appearance and lines were ruled with a hard point. Text was normally in one or t w o columns, the format was often roughly square, and quires were numbered on the last page. Scribes might begin paragraphs or pages w i t h an enlarged letter, write opening lines in red ink and decorate titles w i t h simple penwork flourishes; drawn and painted initials originated in 6th-c. Italy. Greek and Latin illustrated manuscripts o f pagan authors (Homer, V i r g i l , Terence) and o f the Bible (Genesis, Kings, the Gospels) were produced. In 7th-c. and 8rh-c. scriptoria on the Continent, standards were often lower, and the old mode! ot the quire was not consistently followed. Books became more colourful, i f less elegant, dtie to the development o i the painted initial and titles m painted capitals. In 7th-c. Insular books, parchment o f distinctive preparation was arranged in ten-leaf quires ot primitive execution. Irish scribes never completely abandoned simple forms o f layout and titling, but their innovative initials, decorated with motifs o f Celtic origin and followed by several letters o f diminishing size, were to influence all F.uropc until the 13th c. By r.700 Northumbrian scribes had developed these initials and display letters to fill
S8
After c. 1 2 0 0 books were produced almost entirely in workshops associated either with universities (Paris, Bologna, Oxford) or w i t h centres o f royal or mercantile patronage (Paris, L o n d o n , Bruges, Cologne, Milan). Materials, textual exemplars and writing were the province o f stationers, decoration and illustration, o f illuminators; the work was subdivided between specialists in w r i t i n g , gilding, painting and binding. Since every stage was carefully priced, quality and elaboration varied widely between illuminated books for royal patrons, who sometimes paid retainers to the best artists, and textbooks for university students or popular texts in the vernaculars copied locally by a chaplain or n o t a r y . A f t e r r . i 1 7 5 leaves were r u l e d o n both sides in lead point and later in ink, and the sheets in a quire be'gan to be numbered 1 . 1 2 7 5 . Paper, a Chinese invention which reached the Arabs during the 8 t h c , was used by the Greeks as early as the ytli c. and began to be manufactured in Italy f . 1 2 3 0 . In the West, it was originally used only for letters, notarial registers and account books, but cheaper books on paper, especially in the vernaculars, were common enough throughout the 1 5 t h c. In Italy, specifically humanistic hook production began r . 1 3 5 0 w i t h scholars like Petrarch copying texts for their own use, and many [ sth-c. humanists followed his example. But after c. 1 4 4 0 the writing and illumination o f the luxurious volumes required by rulers and churchmen for thcii libraries ot classical and humanistic texts were organized cither by
Boron (Borron), Robert de stationers, like Vcspasiano da B u t i c d in Florence, or by librarians, .is in Rome .mil Naples. Poggio Bracciolini (r, 1 4 0 0 ) copied from 1 ath-c. Italian models not only liteta antique, but b.ird-poiut ruling .md white vine decoration, all o f which spread from Florence to other centres in Italy. Most humanistic illumination, and especially the originally Paduan style which dominated in Pome, differed considerably trom the late Gothic decoration o l contemporary liturgical books. After r. 1 4 H 0 , when the classical market had been swamped by printed editions, the remaining humanistic scribes had to rely on rare special commissions or on posts as writing masters. See
MANHw'umNi;;
ATION;
IIHHAHIRS;
MANUSCRIPT
ILLUMIN-
M A N U S t a i U ' T STUIJIES
TJH
1 Coditologko ed. A . Gruys and J.P. Gumbcrt ( 1 0 . 7 O - K 0 ) ; S. Hindman a n d J . D . Fartpihar Pen to press ( 1 9 7 7 ) : B liiichott PaHtgtraphti T.: k.uuchen Allertums itmt ties AbendlanJisehen Mitnlalters
(1079)
Books o f Hours In many ways the most impressive written documents o f the later Middle Ages. Hooks of Hours were essentially personal prayer-books Commissioned by. and produced for the aristocratic laity by the leading calligraphers and book illuminators o f the age. They were popular and often very beautiful, w i t h illustrations that provide much information, not only o f the religious, but alsoot the sen \\ lite ;.f the d i \ Their ban*, function was to give a series o f prayers suitable for the canonical hours into which the day was divide"d. They invariable started with a calendar and normally included extracts from the divine offices, popular prayers to the virgin, the I lours o l the Virgin, penitential psalms and the office for the dead. The French and Burgundian courts were particularly noted lor their patronage ol artists engaged i n this special type of hook production. 1 'J. Harth.in Books ol Hants and their Owners ( 1 0 7 7 )
Borgia family Family o f Spanish origin who played an important part in the politics o f Italy. In 1 4 5 5 Alfonso Borgia, bishop ot Valencia, became Pope Calisrus 111. and the family moved to Home. He greatly favoured his relatives, especially his nephew Itodrigo Borgia w h o m he created a cardinal. In I J . 9 2 Rodrigo himself was elected as Pope Alexander V I . and spent much ot his pontificate consolidating the power o f his o w n family. In 1 4 1 / 1 he made his son Giovanni (d. 1 4 9 7 ) duke o f Beneveuto; he created his second son Cesare (b. 1 4 7 6 ) a cardinal in 1 4 0 3 . In 1 4 9 N Cesare was released from his vows, married a French princess and then proceeded ro conquer rhe Ron 1.1 gn. 1 and Umbria, Fie was totally unscrupulous; in order to protect his northern frontiers, he murdered the husband o f his sister Lucrezia and married her to the future duke ot Fcrrara. He also disposed of
Cardinal Paolo Orsini and the duke o f Graviua who were resisting his rule ¡11 Urbiiio. After his lather's death i n I J 0 3 Cesare was banished from Rome by Pope Julius II and imprisoned in Spain, but he escaped and died lighting in Castile ( 1 5 0 7 ) . 1 M . Mallett Thi Borgias (19*19) Boron (Borron), Robert de Writer who inspired a vast Grail-Lancelot cycle o f Arthurian romance and completed it:, C hristianization by assaulting it w i t h biblical history. It is not known w hether lie completed his intended Grant Esloire dou Graal: only t w o fragments survive, his Verse Joseph and Merlin. Prose versions o f these, ihe Didot-Penei:\l. the Mart Arm. the Vulgate or Walter Map cycle and the PseudoRobert cycle have been attributed to h i m . but are n i e i s t like-lv bv later redactors drawing upon his work. He was probably from Boron (Burgundy) and i i f clerical background. He mentions reading his work to Gautier de Montbetiard who lett o n crusade (laoa). and his works were probably produced at Montbe liard (Burgundy) C. IZOO. See H O L Y OR All ;
1 W . A . Nitze. 'Messire Robert ele Boron: Enquiry and Summary', Speculum *K (1051); L. Charvet Des Vans d'Analon a la Queste du Graal ( 1 9 0 7 )
S9
Bosnia Bosnia Originally part i*t Serbia, Bosnia became an inoVpendenl political entity in 960. In the tatfa e. Bosnia was overrun bv the I lungarians and became officially converted 1 0 Latin Christianity under its bans Kulin C o l (V 1 2 0 1 ) and Ninoslav ( d . i 2 j o ) . Ilogoinil heretics, however, continued to l i e numerous in Bosnia until the 1 5 t h e\. when many ol them were converted to Islam after the country came under the control o f the Turks, It was not until 14O3 that Bosnia officially became a Turkish province. • S, Seton-Watson .-1 Short History of the
Yugo-Slovs
Botticelli, Sandra [1445—1510) Florentine painter. Son ol a leather tanner, he was first apprenticed to a goldsmith before studying art under Fra Filippo Lippi. In 1 4 7 0 h e began to work independently, participating in the decoration ofthePalaazodeU'ArtemtheMercan-p zia and executing several Irescoes in the Sistinc Chapel (1481). His major work was in Florence, where he was patronized by the Medici family; it was l o r them that he executed his t w o most famous works: the Prbnovera and the Unfile/1 'ems. In the 1 4 9 0 s he became a Follower of Savonarola, and henceforward his paintings were largely austere and religious in their subject matter. Li It. Lightbown Stnuhv Botticelli ( 1 9 7 8 ) Bouvines, battle o f ( 2 7 J u l y 1 2 1 4 ) Battle in which Philip II o f France won a decisive victory against a coalition of the forces ofjohn o f England and the Holy Roman Emperor Otto IV. The imperial plan ol c a m paign failed when Kingjohn, w h o was supposed to stir up revolt against Philip in western France while Otto and his allies attacked from t h e north, was defeated at La Roche-aux-Nioinesnear Angers on 2 July 1 2 1 4 . Using this victory. Philip turned t h e whole might of his army against OttoandwonaoVcietVi "uetorv it Bouvines in Flanders. The victory greatly strengthened Philip I I . whilst both | o h n of England and Otto IV faced severe internal troubles at home as a result o f their defeat. Bouvines is taken as a symbol o f the emergence o f France as t h e dominant power in I j t h - c . Europe'. • G. Duby Le Dtmmieke Je How-hies
(1973)
Bracciolini, Poggio ( 1 3 8 0 - 1 4 5 0 ) Renaissance humanist anil ealligrapher. Although he served as secretary to the papal curia in 1 4 1 5 and again in 1 4 2 3 , Eraiticlinl spent mans o f his (urinative years visiting monastic libraries all over Europe in search ol t h e lost works of ancient Roman authors. It w a s through t h e study of these works, many of winch h a d survived until Draeciohni's day in y t h - e . copies, t h a t he was led to invent the humanistic style o f writing, based upon Carolingian script. Braeeiolini's most important w orks, winch include He Avaritia
60
(1428-29),
Dt Vorittate Fortunae
(14.31—
Detail of* brartcalc of silver gilt from Gotland (71I1 to c).
9th
and lie Sobilitaie ( 1 4 4 0 ) , stand out from other moralistic writings of the day because of the author's gift for accurate presentation o f human character and conversation. During the later years of his life Bracciolini was less able tti devote time to intellectual pursuits because o f his involvement in administrative affairs as chancellor of the city of Florence (from 1 4 5 3 ) . • E. Walser Pogglus I 'li'ieiiliiius ( 1 9 1 4 ) 48}
Bracteale (Latin bractea, 'leaf) Name given by scholars since the 1 7 t h c. to the thin, unifaee pennies struek in many parts ol northern Germany and some neighbouring lauds (Scandinavia, much ol Central and Eastern Europe) from the m i d - 1 2 t h c, to the end of the 1 3 t h c. Later unilacc pennies of the same regions, w hich are smaller in diameter and ol high relief, are termed HoMpfemtige ('hollow pennies'). B r a c l o n , Henry o f (d. ¡ 2 0 8 ) A royal judge from 1 2 4 S . Braclon had an active career as a busy practical lawyer, serving on the King's Bench, working as a justice in the south-western shires, and in the last ye ars o f his lite aeting as one o l a commission empowered to he'.ir the complaints ol the disinherited after thede Montfort rebellion, l ie also proved to bo one of the outstanding le'gal thinki'rs o l his age', and -
his treatise De Lcgtbus et Consuetudiiiihiis
written in the
I 2SOs.
Anglm;
heeame a standard and allthor-
Brittany itative work for lawyers o f the later Middle Ages. His method o f classillcation and analysis was undoubtedly influenced by Roman law. but the substance ol his treatise, with emphasis on case law and precedent, embodied the essence o f English common law. At the higher constitutional level, he did not follow the arbitrary principles found in Justinian's Code by, for example, his contemporary French colleagues, but rather heid — as he stated in a famous dictum - that tile king was under law: 'The king himself ought not to he under man hut under God and the law, because the law made the king." 11 Bracton on the Lows and Customs ol England trans.
S.E. Thome
(1977)
Brethren of the C o m m o n Life Religious society founded by Gerhard Groote ( 1 3 4 0 - 8 4 ) which was first established at Deventcr in the Netherlands. Although the Brethren lived a common life dedicated to God. they had no Rule and did not take vows. Since such religious freedom was regarded with suspicion and hostility by the clergy, Groote's followers later also founded houses ol Augustinian canons, beginning with the priory of Windcshcim in 1387, where the brothers lived according to a Rule ol preaching and poverty. Although they occasionally founded schools, as ar Utrecht and Liege, the Brethren were primarily engaged in pastoral work and in the copying o f manuscripts for sale. The order was never particularly popular, however, and never spread outside the Netherlands and the area o f northern Germany around Cologne. The strong mystical element attracted some o f the best minds o f the period, such as Thomas a Kempis and Nicholas of Cusa, and they successfully sustained the orthodoxy o f their position at the Council o f Constance in spite of strong opposition. Sometimes k n o w n as the Brethren o f Modern Devotion, they survived as a limited but effective group well into the 16th c. • A . H y m a The Christian Renaissance: A History of the Devotio Modema (1965)
Brethren of the Free Spirit Sect o f mystical thinkers who first appeared in Swabia. the Rhine-land and the Netherlands in the I 3th e. Their beliefs were, at least in part, the result o f an attempt to reconcile the works o f Aristotle with Christian theology, which led them to stress the superiority o f the human will above all else and to live in accordance with what they termed the 'tree spirit' o f piety. They were continually pursued by the Inquisition, but continued to exist until the 16th c. n R. E. Lcrncr The Heresy of the Tree Spirit
(1972)
Bretigny, T r e a t y of ( 1 3 6 0 ) France suffered greatly in the early stages o f the Hundred Years' War from
disastrous military defeats at the hands of the English (Crecy 1 3 4 6 . Roitiers 135(1). compounded by the ravages oft he Black 1 )eath. constitutional turbulence and the pillaging o f the Free Companies. King John II the Good had been captured at Poitiers, but peace was not finally settled until a treaty was negotiated at Bretigny near Chart res in May 1360and sealed at Calais on 24 October. King John was freed from his English captivity, arrangements were made for a ransom of three million gold crowns to be paid in instalments, and a much enlarged duchy o f Aquitaine was ceded to Edward 111 in full sovereignty, together with Calais and Ponthieu. In return Edward abandoned his claim to the French throne. The treaty marked a high point in English fortunes in the Hundred Years' War. though legal loopholes still remained which precluded a settlement o f basic constitutional issues over sovereignty. King John chivalrously returned to England when the terms of his release were not fulfilled, dying in captivity in 1364. n E. Perroy 77te Hundred Years' War ( 1 9 5 9 )
Brian B o r u m h a King of Ireland r. 1 0 0 5 - 1 4 ( h . 9 4 0 In 9 7 6 he became king o f Thomond in place o f his murdered brother Mahon, and in 9 7 8 king o f Minister with his principal seats at "Lara and Cashel. During the next 2 0 years he forced the tribes o f Minister and Cashel to submit to him and defeated the Danes in Co. Dublin. So great was his success, that c. 1005 he forced Malachy. cliicl king o f Ireland, to recognize his sovereignty. In 1014 he again took arms against the Danes, but was killed at the battle o f Clontarf on 23 April. Bridget (Brigit), St (d. '".525) Born o f humble parents at Viumeras near Kildare. she was baptized by St Patrick and became a nun at an early age. Later, she is said to have founded the monastery o f Kildare and thus to have contributed substantially to the spread of Christianity in Ireland. Little else is k n o w n other life which is shrouded in legend, but her cult was certainly popular, being second only to that o f St Patrick himself. Her Life was translated into O l d French, Middle English and German, and in England and Wales many churches, including St Bride's, Fleet Street (London), were dedicated in her honour. See C E L T I C C : H U I « ; H E S n K. Hughes Early Christian Ireland ( 1 9 7 2 ) Brittany Until the fith c. Brittany was k n o w n as Armorica, but on account o f migration from Britain during the preceding t w o centuries, it became known as Brttl.mia Minor or Little E n t i m . Its population i n the early Middle Ages was almost entirely Celtic, speaking a language closely related to Cornish and Welsh; by the 9 t h c. the language boundary ran
ft
Brittany through the east o f the peninsula (excluding Remnes and Nantes). The Prankish kings appeared to control much o f east Brittany during the 6 t h , 7th and early 8th c. The Carolingians made a concerted effort to conquer Brittany completely, mounting many expeditions between 7 5 3 and 8 2 4 . Reaction led by the Breton Nominoe (who defeated Charles the Bald in 845) and his successors was further complicated by Viking attacks in the 8 6 0 s , and resulted in the development o f a distinct political identity in Brittany, in the course o f which its rulers temporarily adopted royal titles. A separate archbishopric for Brittany was set up at D o l . Prom the mid-roth c. a single duchy was effectively established with a continuous history throughout the Middle Ages, and its fortunes were closely intermeshed with Normandv and with its ultimate overlords, the Capetian kings. 11 L Fleuriot Les Origines it la Breiagne ( 1 9 8 0 )
Bruncllcschi, Filippo ( 1 3 7 7 - 1 4 4 6 ) Florentineartist and outstandingly able architect. His early training as a metal-worker led him in 1401 to enter a competition to design the Baptistery doors in Florence (won by Lorenzo Ghiberti), but his career thereafter turned solidly to architecture, where his sense o f proportion, concern with space and perspective, and grasp o f mathematical and scientific laws o f construction enabled him to create, adorn or initiate the buildings which still contribute so much to the grace and dignity o f his native city: thelnnoccnti Hospital, the O l d Sacristy at S. Loremzo, the basilican churches o f S. Lorenzo and S. Spirito, and above all the magnificent cupola o f the cathedral. The influence of Rome (which he is said by his biographer Manctti to have visited in company with Douatello) was great, but attention has been drawn more recently to the equal, or even more potent influence o f Ravenna and Byzantium. a E. Battisti Bmnettesehi ( 1 9 8 1 )
Bruno, St (d. 9 6 5 ) Archbishop of Cologne from Youngest son o f Henry the Fowler ( 9 1 9 - 3 6 ) . brother o f O t t o the Great and also brother-in-law to both the Carolingian king Lothar 1. king o f France 9 5 4 - 8 6 . and the powerful ancestor o f the Capetians. Hugh the Great, duke o f the Franks 9 2 3 - 5 6 . Bruno played a dominant part in European politics, as royal arch-chancellor from 9 5 0 , as duke of Lorraine from 9 5 5 and as supporter o f the move towards the imperial coronation o f his brother Orto at Rome in 9 6 2 . He left a reputation as a powerful spiritual and intellectual leader; he did much to create the socalled Ottoman renaissance and was a prominent church reformer, notably ofthe monastic observance at Lorsch and Corvcy. In French politics he also 953.
62
played a stabilizing role, and his government of the duchy o f Lorraine helped to ensure its continued role as an integral part o f the German kingdom, while its future administration was foreshadowed by Bruno's delegation o f authority to two princes, Godfrey in Lower Lorraine and Frederick in Upper Lorraine. Bruno, St (c. 1 0 3 0 - 1 101) Founder of the Carthusian Order. Educated at Rheims and Cologne, he became a canon o f the cathedral in Cologne before being appointed lecturer in theology and grammar at Rheims i n 1052. He later became chancellor o f the diocese o f Rheims, but relinquished his authority in order to live an eremitical life. He originally joined the followers o f Robert o f Molcsme, but subsequently moved to the diocese o f Grenoble where Bishop Hugh gave them the forested, mountainous laud of"La Chartreuse. In 1084, Bruno and his companions here built their cells and an oratory in which to live a life o f solitude, poverty and austerity. In 1090 he was summoned to Rome by his former pupil. Urban 11. to advise him in matters o f ecclesiastical reform. Refusing thearchbishopricot Reggio, he died at La Torre, which he had founded in Calabria along similar lines to the Grande Chartreuse after his departure from Rome. 1 i A . Ravier Saint Bruno ( 1 9 6 7 )
Bulgaria In origin the Bulgarians were a nonSlavonic people o f Asiatic stock who did not acquire full political organization until the 9 t h c . although by that time they were so heavily mixed with Slavs and other inhabitants that they constituted a virtually new ethnic grouping with predominantly Slav language and customs. Their migration from the Volga to the Balkans had started as early as the 5th C , reaching a peak in the 7 t h c. In 8 6 4 , under their leade'r or khan Boris I (852—89), they were converted to Eastern Orthodox Christianity. There lollowed a period o f expansion and further assimilation under Simeon I (893—927) when, with the title of tsar (Caesar), he ruled his 'empire o f the Creeks and Bulgarians' which stretched from the Adriatic to the Aegean and the Black Sea. Politically the Bulgarians remained a severe threat to the Byzantine empire until their savage defeat at the hands o f the Emperor Basil the Bulgar Slayer in 1014. A second powerful Bulgarian empire came into being in the late T2th c. but. weakened by pressures from all sides and the assertion of independence by lesser princes, the Bulgarians were forced into subordination by the Tartars, the Serbs and finally, in the last decade o f the 14th c , by the Ottoman Turks. Sec SAMUEL
• S. Runciman The Tirst Bulgarian Umpire ( 1 9 3 0 ) ; D . M . Lang The Bulgarians ( 1 9 7 6 ) ; J. V. Fine Jr. The l:arly Medieval
Balkans ( 1 9 8 3 )
Burial customs part o l the kingdom ot France and was ruled by a cadet branch o f the Capetians ( 1 0 3 1 - 1 3 0 1 ) . The kingdom formed a buffer between France and Italy, and consisted essentially ot the lower Rhone valley and territories to the east, including Lyons, Vienne. Arles and the county o f Provence to the Mediterranean. The duchy lay to the east ot the Saône with important centres at Dijon and Autun. and made greatest impact on medie'val civilization through its monastic life in the 1 tth c. and 12th c ; heavily influenced by Cluny, it w as the home o f Vozelay and Citeaux.
Flemish Tapestry ol a Thousand Flowers. B u r c h a r d Bishop ol Worms iooo-2s Ecclesiastical reformer who in 1012 published the Decreium, which contained excerpts from canon law dassifkd by subject matter. This was a great improvement upon earlier collections ot canon law which had adopted a chronological approach. His work on ecclesiastical jurisdiction was regarded as authnrit.itivc in the West for the best part o f a Century and was only slowly replaced with the revival ol Roman law and the writings o f men such as Ivo o f t'hartres and, ultimately, o f Gr.uiau. 1 A . M . Koeniger Burchardvon Wormsunddit deuisthe Kirckt seiner Zell /ooo-ioij (tooj) B u r g u n d y The first kingdom ot Burgundy was created in the >th c. in the vallevs ot the Saonc and the Rhone by the liurgundii. a Germanic people whose traditional homeland lav on the Baltic shore's and the island ol Uoruholm. 1 egends ot their movements and o f their conflict with the 1 Inns in the chaotic years o f the mid-5 th • form the basis o f the greatest German epic poem o f the central Middle Ages, the biibeluugentied. Historically they passed under the control ot the Franks i n the early Oth c , though preserving a measure ot legal and ethnic identity. 1
From the disruption ot the Carolingian empire in theyth c.. two political units emerged: the kingdom ot Burgundy, w hich passed after 1032 into imperial hands, and the duchy o f Burgundy which became
The territorial position was further Complicated in the 1 2th c. by the emergence into virtual independence (after 1 127) o f Cisjurano Burgundy, initially under the counts o f Macon, the so-called FrancheC o m t é , BesançOfl and the rich lands between the northern course o f the Saône and the Doubs, hi the 14th c. the duchy and the county became united ( 1 3 S 4 ) when Philip the Bold, duke o f Burgundy, married Margaret o f Flanders, heiress to theFrancheComtc, thereby initiating a century o f Burgundian greatness. The dukes sought English allies in their efforts to avoid French control, and under Philip die Good ( 1 4 1 0 - 0 7 ) and Charles the Bold ( 1 4 ( 1 7 - 7 7 ) created a powerful political unit along the so-called fault line ot Western Europe dividing the French and the Germans. A colourful revival o f learning, art and uvilizaticn took place within this greater bur^unds of
the
15th
c.
See
MAHY
OF
HUIICUNDY
1.1J. Calmette The Golden Age ojBurgundy ( 1 9 6 2 ) :
R. Vaughan Valois Burgundy ( 1 0 7 5 )
B u r i a l customs During the Middle Ages various methods o f disposing o f the dead were used at different times and in different places. The Persians, for example, exposed the corpses o f their dead in the open air to be devoured by birds o f prey, but in Europe rhe dead were cremated or buried. In rhe pre-Christian eta cremation was much favoured, especially among the Angles. Saxons and Scandinavians, although the Jutes followed the Roman example o f burying their dead. Once Christianity had taken root, however, cremation was abandoned in favour o f burial, so that the dead might have bodies to which they could return em the Day ot Judgement. Another change brought about by the advent o f Christianity was that the dead were no longer buried with grave goods such as weaponry, jewellery and coinage for use in the after-life. In the central Middle Ages stone coffins, often with elaborately carved lids, were used at least for the burial o f the rich, but by the end o f the Middle Ages wooden coffins had become the rule. Occasionally the heart ot intestines o f important people were buried separately from the rest o f their bodies.
¿3
Burial customs Rome, second capital o f the Roman empire, the centre and propagator o f what is k n o w n as Byzantine civilization. Its culture was an amalgam o f Greek, Roman and Christian; its official languagewas Greek, though its citizens called themselves Romans. Their law was Roman law, periodically revised and adapted, and their live-s were permeated by the Christian faith in its Orthodox form.
Flemish, miniature from the Hours of I'hilippe- 1c lion (mid-1 sth c ) : • corpse is prepared tor burial. The most elaborate o f k n o w n medieval burial customs were associated with ship burials, such as tho7th-c. example of the great mound in the cemetery at Sutton I loo - with its brilliant array o f precious grave-goods in gold, silver and garnet - or the superb Oth-C. Norwegian interments at (iokstad and Osebcrg. [i A . Meaney luirly Anglo-Saxon Burial Sites (1064); T.S.R. Boase Death in the Middle Ages (1972) Buridan, John (c. 1297-afti.T t.isN) A pupil o f William of Ockham at Paris, he became rector o f the university therein ] 327 and was still active as a philosopher and teacher in 1358. He represented an extreme nominalist position in the philosophical world, and his commentaries on logic and on Aristotelian thought in general, remained influential throughout the late medieval and early modern period. Fie is best remembered for his independent and sceptical treatment of the question o l tree w i l l , which led logically to the limitation o f such freedom to a merepower to suspend the deliberative process. The simile attributed to him likened tree w i l l to an ass, unable to act and dying o f hunger because placed between t w o equidistant pastures or bundles o f hay. This image (Buridan'sass) is not found in his surviving written work and is assumed to be either a favourite oral teaching device on his part, or a parody of his style put about by his philosophic opponents. D G. Lett Tiri: and Oxjj.rd ( nieersiiii' in the Thirteenth and fourteenth Centuries (ijKM) ;
B y z a n t i u m Ancient Greek city on the Bosphorus. transformed into the city o f Constantinople by Constantine the Great in 330. It became the New64
The conversion o f Constantine to Christianity, and his foundation o f Constantinople determined the future o f the eastern part o f the Roman empire. Whe-n the western part was overrun by barbarians in the j t h c., the New Rome gained still gre-ater importance as seat o f the emperor and o f its bishop, the patriarch o f Constantinople, It was from there in the 6th c. that Justinian directed the reconquest of N o r t h Africa, Italy and Spain, with some limited success. But in the 7 t h c. the Mediterranean world was permanently affected by the arrival of rhc Arabs and the Slavs. The Arabs captured the richest provinces o f Byzantium In the Fast; the Slavs settled in the Balkans and in Greece, driving a wedge d o w n the middle o f the ancient Roman world. Constantinople and its remaining territories were impoverished and cut off from the West; their survival depended on defence. The emperors o f the 7th c. and Sth c . notably Heraelius and Leo 111. divided the provinces into 'themes' or military zones, each under its own commander. The local peasant farmers provided and equipped the soldiers in return for an inalienable right to their land. The earlier social and economic patterns were thus radically change'd. It was the armies o f the themes that ensured survival, driving back the Slavs in Europe and the Arabs in Asia Minor. Missionaries went out among the Slavs and Russians to spread the gospel o f O r t h o d o x Christianity —.and with it. Byzantine culture, art and literacy. A new puritanism was reflected in the Iconoclast movement initiated by Le-o I I I . who decreed that true religion had no need o f visual aids, t lis policy provoked bitter conflict, but when the battle for survival had been w o n . tradition reasserted itself. Iconoclasm also deepened the rift between eastern and western Christians, for the pope tieclared it to be heretical. In fioo he crowned an emperor o f his own in the person o f Charlemagne. The golden age o f Byzantium lasted from about K50 to 1050. The empire once again extended from south Italy to Syria and Armenia. It had a powerful army and navy, and a buoyant monetary economy base'd on its gold coinage. The victorious dynasty o f the MtcedOftliui emperors, beginning with Basil I in 867, reinforced the myth o f its divinely ordained superiority and permanence. They commissioned
Byzantium
C h i e f cilios and provinces o l the eastern Moil it erran can d u r i n g the early B y z a n t i n e period.
B y z a n t i u m : plan o f C o n s t a n t i n o p l e from an Italian m a n u s c r i p t o f 1422. S. S o p h i a is eie-arly visible.
V
some o f the finest products o f Byzantine art and arch i texture: learning and literature flourished under the patronage of such men as the Patriarch Photins and the Emperor Constantine V I I Porphyrogenitus. The soldier-empe-rors, Nicephoras 11 Phocas and John I Tzimisces, carried the frontiers further cast than ever before. Basil I I settled the long-standing problem o f his northern neighbours by ruthlessly annexing Bulgaria. But decline set in shortly after his death in 1025; the t h e m e system was undermined by the growth o f a rieW class o f hereditary landowning aristocrats able to buy out the fre'e peasant farmers, and centralized authority began to break down. In 1071 the Scljuk l urks defeated the Byzantine army at Man/ikort in Armenia and advanced into Asia Minor. In the same year the Normans conquered the last Byzantine possession in south Italy. The decline ot Byzantium ceiineided with the revival o f Western Europe. Westerners came to the P^ast first as pilgrims to the Holy Land, and then as crusaders. Their presence and actions Strengthened Byzantine prejudice against them. The schism between the churches o f Rome and Constantinople, dramatically announced in 1054, was a symptom ot a much deeper ideological divergence. Venetian merchants who followed the crusaders acquired an appetite for the wealth o f Byzantium. In 1204 they satisfied it through the Fourth Crusade, which found (or lost) its way to Constantinople. For a while the New Rome and much o f its
6S
Byzantium territory were under alien. Latin management. Byzantium never fully recovered from the shock o f the fourth Crusade. The Latins were expelled from Constantinople in 1 2 6 1 , and a fragmented empire livedonfor almost 2 0 0 years. In the 14th c. it produced a remarkable renaissance o f art, scholarship and the monastic life. But its structure, economy and defences had been shattered; it found no strength to resist the new and vigorous force of the Ottoman Turks when they broke into Asia Minor. Appeals for help from the West evoked little response; the popes would not come to the rescue o f Christians who were in schism from Rome. In 1 4 3 9 . at the Council of Florence, the emperor sank his pride, and a union o f the Greek and Roman churches was proclaimed. Most o f his suhji'cts denounced i t as a betrayal o f their Orthodox faith, however, and it came too late, for the Turks had already conquered most o f Eastern Europe. Constantinople was isolated. On 2 9 May 1 4 5 3 , after a long and heroic resistance, the walls o f the city which had for a thousand years defended rhc eastern flank ol Christendom were broken by the new technology o f heavy artillery. Byzantine Constantinople became Turkish Istanbul, capital of the Ottoman empire. See C H U I t C H , E A S T H U N OHTIIOIXIX;
IIUCAS
NICAEA, EMPIRE OF;
DYNASTY;
ISAUKIAN
pm-li*fi-i>.?""• -
•'fpu'-op'rrt*'-tjftmm
DYNASTY;
PAi A B i H x a ; T H F . h r z ( ) N i i ,
EMI'IHI D N
OF
11 A . A .
Vasiliev History oj the Byzantine Empire ( 1 9 5 2 ) ; G. Ostrogorsky History ofthf Byzantine Stale ( 1 9 6 8 ) D . M . Nicol The Last Centuries of Byzantium ti6t-t4H ( 1 9 7 2 ) ; D , Obolensky 7"/ie Byzantine Commonwealth ( 1 9 7 4 ) ; I I . Browning The Byzantine Umpire ( 1 9 8 0 ) : C. Mango f l | 1 illlfwia, the Umpire oj S'eie Home ( 1 9 8 0 ) ; M . Angold The Byzantine Umpire 1025-1204
(1984)
c Cade, Jack (d. 1450) O f Irish birth. Cade settled in Kent after serving as a soldier i n France in the later stage's o f the Hundred Years' War. He emerged as the head o l a rebellion in the summer o f 1 4 5 0 , and led the rebels into London on 4 Julv, securing the execution of James Fieimes, Baron Say e and Sole and the sheriff ot Kent, William Crowmcr. Cade then withdrew to Southwark. and o n 6 July was prevented from re-entering London by the citizens. Peace was arranged by the archbishop o f York and the bishop o f Winchester, and Cade was pardoned, but continued to lead the rebels. They broke open Southwark jail and attempted to capture Queenborough Castle. Cade was wounded and captured
66
A drawing ol' Noah's Ark from the so-called Cacdmon mauuseript. on 12 July, but died before standing trial. His rebellion had little lasting effect, but it kept alive the tradition ot agrarian discontent and helped to focus attention on elements of in is government at the royal court, 11 It, A. Griffiths T V Reign of Henry VI ( 1 9 8 1 ) C a e d m o n ( d . r . 6 8 0 ) Bede. in his Ecclesiastical History of the English People, gives a moving account o f Cacdmon, the first English poet known to us by name. He tells how Caedmon. a humble servant on the estates o f the abbess o f Whitby, was so ashamed of his lack ot ability in verse and music that hewould steal away from company when the harp was passed around, until one night, by the intercession of a divine vision which came to him when he was asleep in the stables, the gift o f poetry was passed on to h i m , and he found himself able to transmit passages from scripture and religious writings into me'lodious verse. Abhe'ss I l i l d received him as a brother in the monastery, and Bede preserves a fragment ot the poem that came to him in his vision, which is enough to suggest the existence of a sophisticated tradition til alliterative poetry. 1 1 M . Alexander The Earliest English Poems ( 1 9 7 7 )
Calendars Cacsaropapism Theory o f government by which the exercise ot royal and sacerdotal powers are combined in a single lay ruler. The idea grew from the concept o f the classical Roman emperor as head of both church and state, since he was worshipped as a deity. The first Christian emperor. Constantino (306—37), attempted to control tin- church by laying down the tenets o f religion to be observed by his subjects, and by personally appointing and dismissing church officials. Despite the promulgations of the Council o l Chalce"don (45 i ) . this policy was continued by the emperors Zcno ( 4 7 4 - o j ) and Justinian. Although during the Middle Ages papal authority was largely accepted in the West, the Byzantine emperors continued to exercise a dual role as head o f church and state, and it was this which was partly responsible tor the breach with the Roman church.
Calatrava, O r d e r o f Oldest ol the military orders of medieval Spain. Calatrava combined the monastic and chivalric ideals on the pattern established in the i 2 t h c. by the Templars and Hospitallers. The Order was founded in I 15K by Abbot Raymond ot Fitero. whose monks undertook the do-fence o f the town o f Calatrava against the Almohads. in 1 1O4 the Order was recognized by the pope and formally affiliated to the Cistercian Order, whose Rule it Tree-pruning Scene: calendar entry for part of March and April in a breviary of Queen Isabella of Spain.
adopted. When Alcantara and other military orders were founded, the masters ot Calatrava were given rights as their visitors. In the 14th c. the seat o f the Order was established at Almagro, and at its peak, the Order owned some 350 towns and villages with 2 0 0 , 0 0 0 inhabitants. By the 15th c. its functions and membership bad greatly changed; it was an association o f nobles, involvo-d in polities, and in 1489, therefore, the Catholic Monarchs annexed the mastership to the crown. nJ.F. O'Callaghan The Spanish Military Order aj Orliitrim 1 end its Affiliates: Collected Studies (1975) Calendars The numerous medieval methods ot calculating dates rendered calendars particularly important. Many liturgical manuscripts were prefixed by a calendar, often following the usage o f a particular centre, and the inclusion within these ot specific local saints' days often assists in localizing such works. Calendars also occurred within official documents (as in the English Black Book ot the Exchequer); in private, devotional works; and in products for university use. Much o f the community therefore possessed the means o f chronological assessment, although practices varied. The Middle Ages inherited the Rinnan Julian (Old Style) calendar, used until the introduction ol the Gregorian (New Style) calendar by I'ope Gregory XIII in 15K2, and for even longer in some areas. The Julian calendar, introduced by Julius Caesar in 45 Hriei c ( Tivyr t o
Margaret of York (e. 147s).
Organization o f cathedrals was often complex. The bishop remained a key figure throughout the Middle Ayes, but other ecclesiastical dignitaries, not always in lull accord with the bishop, tended to grow and flourish around the cathedrals. In England, for example', from the 10th c. monks served c athedrals, including Canterbury, Winchester and Worcester, with the bishop exercising the function o l an abbot presiding over a monastic chapter. Alter I he Norman Conquest the system was extended, and monastic chapters were set up at Durham, N o r w i c h , Ely and Bath. Elsewhere cathedrals were more commonly entrusted to a community o f clerics, called canons, formed into chapters, most o f which gained the right to elect their o w n deans. The very existence ot great buildings, which often took a century or more to construct and which demanded constant care and attention to maintain, led to the growth o f a strong corporate sense among the cathedral clergy in most dioceses. The great architectural achievements o f the cathedral builders
75
Caxton, William death in 1441. he went to Bruges to complete his training, and by 1464 had reached the influential position of acting governor of the Merchant Adventurers in the Low Countries. During a visit to Cologne in 1471 he learned the art o f printing. Returning to England, he was responsible for the first English printed book, the Rccityel of the Histories oj Troye ( 1 4 7 4 ) . In 1 4 7 6 he set up a press at Westminster where he pruned yd books, including Chaucer's Canterbury Tales and Malory's Merle A,'Arthur. He was succeeded in the business by his assistant Wynkyu de Worde. Set I'ltiNTTNt: 1 ] N . F . Blake CaxtoH: England's First Publisher { 1 9 7 6 ) ; G . D . PuhteT William Caxton ( 1 0 7 6 ) Celcstine V Pope 1294 ( 1 2 0 9 - 9 6 ) B o m Pictro de Merone, he became first a Benedictine monk and then a hermit in the Abruzzi mountains, where he founded the Celcstine Order for his followers. When elected pope he was already Xs years old. Lacking administrative ability, he became dependent upon Charles I I o f Naples and filled the curia with his supporters: Celcstine was also unsuccessful in his attempts to bring peace between Aragon on the one hand, and France and England on the other. During his pontificate he showed favour towards the Franciscan Spirituals, whom he allowe'd to secede from the Order. After a pontificate o f only five months, Celcstine resigned and Benedict Gaotam was elected as Pope Bonitace VIII in his stead. Since some regarded Celesrine's abdication as unlawful he was not allowed to return to the eremitical life, but was kept in strict confinement until his death.
Celtic churches Christianity reached the Celtic communities in Britain in the later phases o f Roman rule and was extended beyond the old imperial frontier to Ireland and Scotland in the 5th c. and 6 t h c. Celtic Christians made a special contribution to the European scene in two respects: by the inspiration and reputation ot their saints, and by their elire'ct missionary activity on the Contine'iit. Celticsamts Tradirion says that during the Oth c. very large numbers o f people became ascetic saints in the Celtic areas ot Britain, often retreating to islands, and that large numbers ot these saints set off for unfamiliar parts, influencing local populations and founding monasteries as they went. Such tradition exaggerates both the numbers involved and the asceticism, and unduly concentrates the activity in the 6 t h c. However, good evidence exists tor some 6th-c. saints, and there was undoubtedly a movement ot monastic foundation during the later 6 t h c. and 7 t h c. in western Britain and Ireland; the'se foundations were characteristically made in central, not isolated, places. Best evidence is available for
7f>
movements o f Welsh, journeying from Wales to Ireland in the jilt e. and 6 t h c , and to Cornwall and Brittany in the 6 t h e. and 7th c. Since the same saints were venerated in Wales, Cornwall and Brittany, medieval and later writers wrongly supposed that the only possible explanation tor widespread cult was common origins. Yet it does not follow that there was a single Celtic church with a unitary organization and practice common to all Celtic areas. Practice and institutions were extremely diverse in the different regions; Celtic clerics never met as a group and recognized no presiding figure-. They shared one common characteristic however; the veneration o f minor local saints, such as Cadog or Mochutu. with no panEuropean cult, appears to have been far more common and sustained for tar longer, in Celtic, than in other parts. The Celtic mission to the Continent The monastic movement of the 6 t h c. and 7 t h c. encouraged some individuals to seek spiritual lullilme'iit bv milting a journey (jteregrinatio) away from home and country, cutting off all contact with known sources ol support, the struggle of spiritual warfare leading to the overcoming ot the self In the course ot such journeys preaching was undertaken and new monastic Foundations made as a source ot continuing spiritual support for the population, whether pagan or already Christian. The Celtic mission to the Continent was dominated by Irishmen, although it included some British too. The most famous o f these early peregrini was St Columba, who left northern Ireland about 565 and founded rhe monastery o f lona o f f the west coast of Scotland. Though lona was o f considerable importance in missions to the Picts and pagan English C olumba ret lined an interest in Irish p.-.line:: and often returned to Ireland. A more typical peregritnts was St Columbanus. Trained at Bangor, he st-t oeit i . SOQ tor Coutine-ntal Europe, heading tor the Merovingian rulers ot the Franks; with the-ir patronage he made foundations at Anncgray, Luxeuil and Fontaine's. Subse'ipicntly he came into conflict with the rulers, and at one stage was forced to leave the country. Later he travelled through eastern Frankia to Italy, encouraging foundations at St Gallon and finally Bobbio. where he died in 6 1 5 . Others followed, some stopping, like Fursa 1.630. in pagan East Anglia before passing 011 to the Continent; sonic, like Tomianus, bishop ol Angouleme. holding office within the Prankish church; others, like Gillian ol Wiirzburg (martyred 6B9), travelling further east to pagan parts. J
The example o f the Irish led others to establish monasteries in Frankia — Richarius. a noble Irom Picardy who founded Saint-Riquier. and Wandregisl
Charlemagne (Charles (he Great) who founded Saint-Wandrille, lor example. The monastic movement continued during the 7th c. and early 8th e.. hut was overtaken in the mid-8th c. by the English mission to pagan Germany. However, a sphere ol Irish influence had heen established in Switzerland, Austria anel southern Germany, and this was a source ot long-lasting traditions. By the 12th e, monasteries would claim Irish foundation in that area, even if it were untrue, and it remains very difficult 10 distinguish intrinsically Irish characteristics within early medieval Continental mon as racism. The centres established by the Irish, or through Irish influence, were not merely important for spiritual reasons, but contributes! to learning and education; places like Luxemil, its daughter house Corbie, and iiohbio were ol Special significance in the production and copying of manuscripts - classical, patristic and legal works. The main monastic movement may have terminated bv the late 8th c . hut the movement ol Irish individuals did not, and Fr.mkish courts continued to attract Irish scholars in the later Nth C and nth e. The poet and thinker Sedulius and the theologian and philosopher John Eriugena were prominent among the many foreigners who made invaluable contributions to [hcCarolingian intellectual renaissance, and the tradition that associated Ireland w ith learning remained a powerful forcein European development. .See A I M A N , N T wn 11 G . H . Hohle The Saints of Cornwall (iyiio-70); L. Itiele-r Ireland: Harbinger of the Middle Ages (1963); E . G . Bowen Satins, Seaways and Settlements m the Celtic Lands ( i y 6 y )
Chalecdon,Council of (a s 1) "Hie fourth ecumenical council of the church, convoked by the emperor Marcian in 451 and attended by 6 0 0 representatives ol the church. It approve'd the Creeds of Nieaca ( 3 2 s ) and Constantinople (3X1) and accepted Leo I s 'Tome as the basis for further doctrinal reform. More importantly it condemned Monophysitism and affirmed the basic orthodox be-lief that Christ, though one person, possessed two natures, finally, the Council decreed that hencelorth the patriarchate of Constantinople should be regarded as the second most important see in the whole empire, subordinateonly to the see ol Rome. Champagnc, fairs of At the crossing of the roads from Flanders, Germany, Italy and Provence, they became Europe's international marketplace i n the 12th c. and 13th c. English wool. Mediterranean spices and dyes. Ge-rman furs and linens, and leather goods from Spain were the staple coinnioihties ot exchange. The great fairs lasted forty-nine days each, ami were six in number: one at l.agny and at
liar-sur-Aube. two at both Provins and Troves. The tirst week was spent in receiving merchandise and the last 111 settling accounts. Thus the fairs became regular and important hanking centres. The end of the 13th e. saw the decline of the fairs, with the increasing USCof water communications between Northern Europe and the Mediterranean, and the spread of disruptive warfare in Prance. See C O M M F U I T Chanson de geste Generic name tor the Ho to 100 medieval epic poems m Old French, usually anonymous, which form the bulk of the Charlemagne legends. This literature, dominated by feudal and aristocratic preoccupations, narrates the warring deeds ol the great Merovingian and Carolingian barons. I he poems torm two overlapping groups. The first deals with the struggle between Christian France, headed by Charlemagne, and Islam; Roland and its related poems belong to this group. The second series includes the poems of the barons, such as Girart de Roussillon. Doou de Mayeiicc. Ogier the Dane and Raoul de Cambrai. The poems present the new ideal of ,1 hero who dedicates himself to warring against the enemies of God. The characters reflect the values of the audience, sharing the peiets' love of intricate, stylized description. By combining local oral tradition and conventional themes, a literature- ol"complex vitality was produced. 11 M . D , Legge Anglo-Norman Literature and its Background (too}); R.S. Loomis The Development of the Arthurian Romance (i<X>3)
Chanson de Roland The most celebrated and best ol the medieval French epics, the 'Song ol RolaniF survives in its earliest form in an AngUa-Norinan manuscript comprising tyjX assonating decasyllabics. This version, apparently ot Norman provenance, probably dates Ironi the very end of the I tth c. I he narrative gives, in a highly formulaic style, a skilfully structured account of the heroic defeat of the Franks in the Pyrenees ( 7 7 H ) . of the death of Roland, impulsive yet totally committed, the Vengeance wrought by the Christians with God's help 011 the Saracen enemy, and the punishment of Ganelon, whose personal vendetta against Roland led him treacherously to disregard his feudal obligations to his overlord Charlemagne. I D . D . R . Owen 'The Legend of Roland (ii)ll) Charlemagne (Charles the Great) King of the Franks 7 6 8 - 8 1 4 and
Emperor 8 0 0 - 8 1 4 (b.742) A
great figure in legend as in history, Charles sometimes appears almost larger than life. Contemporaries emphasized his physical size; hisstrength his restless ene-rgy (hunting and swimming as well as governing and soldiering), his simplicity and his intellectual
C h a r l e m a g n e (Charles the Great)
Territories included in Charlemagne's empire hy the- end of his reign, with his monogram: Karolus. curiosity and ability. I f he failed to learn to write (this was a skilled occupation in the 8th c. and he was a late starter), he was splendidly competent in other cultural fields, such as reading and disputing; he was an able linguist, as fluent in Latin as in his native German Austrasian tongue, and deeply interested in mathematics, astronomy and especially astrology. His palace school at Aix-la-Chapcllc masterminded by the English scholar Alcuin, became a powerhouse of intellectual life for the Western world. It is sometimes hard to realize how new to royal dignities Charles' family was. The royal title was granted to his father Pepin in 7 5 ] when Charles was nine years old. As i f to emphasize the new Christian nature of the Prankish kingship and the transmission o f royal power from the Merovingians to a new dynasty, the t w o young princes, Charles and his brother Carloman, received consecration in 753. O n Pepin's death (7(18) the Frankish kingdom was divided between the t w o brothers, an unhappy arrangement that nearly led to civil war. Carloman's
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death in 771 left the way clear for Charles to succeed to the whole inheritance, and tor the succeeding 4 0 years and more the Frankish king dominated and reshaped the political life o f the West. His achievements can be summed up simply: he consolidated and refined the Christian kingship o f the Franks inherited from his father; he extended the authority implicit in that kingship over all other existing Christian communities on the continent o f Western Europe up to the boundary with the Byzantine empire in southern Italy; he further extended that authority by a policy o f encouragement to missionary efforts and military strength over all Continental Germanic peoples, establishing a firm military frontier o f marchlands with the Danes and the Slavonic peoples, and routing the Avars, forcing them to recoil to their lands in the middle Danube. At a great ceremony in Rome on Christmas Day 8 0 0 , Pope Leo III crowned Charles as Emperor and Augustus, Emperor o f the Romans. This must have seemed a fitting consummation to the work o f a
Charlemagne (Charles the Great) neighbours to the favoured royal centres in Lorraine, especially at Aix-la-Chapelle. Early campaigns up to 7 8 0 were little more than punitive raids, but for the following 2 0 years, conquest was the objective. The massacre o f prisoners in 7 8 2 , the open use ot the church m the interests o f the Frankish army and rulers, the heroic resistance o f the pagan Saxon leader Widukind, and measures such as the forced transplantation o f peasant populations have darkened the reputation o f Charles and the Franks; but the result was undoubtedly successful. Forcible conversion brought Saxons and Frisians into the new empire; and by paradox, it was from Saxony in the toth c. that the Carolingian empire was in turn revived.
Statue of Charlemagne now dated to the late l i t l i e. military leader who had brought under military and political control the Christian or newly Christianized Romanic and Germanic peoples ol Western Europe. The process o f consolidation o f the Christian communities had started early in Charles' rcngn. In 773 he invaded the Lombard kingdom o f northern Italy, partly to defend papal interest, and defeated the Lombard king (who retired to a monastery), assuming the iron crown o f Lombardy. hi southern Germany the Uavarians had been converted to Christianity, and Charles, by heavy political pressure as well as military force, was able to compel their duke Tassilo to accept Charles as his feudal lord. In Spain, in spite o f a disaster at Roncesvalles (778) in which Count Roland perished. Charles enforced authority on the northern fringe, founding the Spanish March. Extension o f Christian kingship depended essentially on what proved to be the most immediate political problem of Charles' reign, the conquest and conversion o f the Saxons and Frisians,
Government o f such a vast and complex empire (for its age) proved cumbersome and only partly effective, yet there were elements of strength within it, and Carolingian precedent served as a model tor much in the successor Christian kingdoms o f the West. Charles issued capitularies, general statements o f law, that were intended to be ot general application, particularly in the years following his imperial coronation. He relied heavily on the counts, w h o were in charge o f local districts, and on the church, bishops and abbots. From his royal centre he sent out commissioners (Missi Dominici) empowered to supervise the workings o f local government. The interpénétration o f ecclesiastical and secular spheres gave a theocratic flavour to the kingship and to the empire. The empire itselt was too large for the ruralized and manorialized economic base available to support it, and the 9 t h c. saw It divided along what became the familiar medieval pattern into the kingdom o f France, a Middle K i n g dom (Lorraine, Burgundy and Lombardy) and a kingdom o f Germany (eventually closely linked with the Middle Kingdom). Charles' force and dynamic personality were needed to create the empire, and without h i m . disintegrating elements quickly gained the ascendancy. It is a tribute to his personality, as well as to his military and political skill, that so much survived. I lis work stands at the end ot one age, the sub-Roman period, and at the beginning o f the new, the Holy Roman Empire, from which were to emerge the familiar feudal monarchies o f the central medieval w o r l d . .See U B R I C A R O L I N I [ 17] HUL • H . Fichtenau The Carolingian Umpire ( 1 9 5 7 ) ; D A. Bullough The Age of Charlemagne ( 1 9 6 5 ) ; Jlioussard The Civilization of Charlemagne ( 1 9 6 8 ) ; F.L, Ganshof Frankish Institutions under Charlemagne ( 1 9 6 8 ) , The Caroliugiaus and the Frankish Monarchy ( 1 9 7 1 ) ; H.R, Loyn and J. Rercival The Reign oj Charlemagne ( 1 9 7 5 ) ; L. Halphen Charlemagne and the Carolingian Empire ( 1 9 7 7 )
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Charles I the Bald ( 8 7 s ) as Emperor Charles II, but died on 6 October 877.
o Charles the Bald: Conn and Kingdom ed. M . Gibson and |. Nelson ( 1 0 8 1 ) ; R. McKitterick The Frankish Kingdoms under the Caroliugiaus O 9 8 3 )
,4
Jill ''W' S ; j Charles the Bald in majesty, from the yth-c. CWcr .Moiuuciiiis.
Charles I the Bald King o f France 8 4 0 - 7 7 ( b . 8 2 3 ) Youngest son o f Louis the Pious and his only son by Empress Judith. Charles' reign saw the formation o f a West Frankish kingdom that later he'came France, and marked, largely thanks to his patronage o f a r t and scholarship, the heyday o f the Carolingian renaissance. It also offers an exceptionally welldocumented case o f the early medieval pattern o f polities, dominated bv rivalries within the royal family and by associated aristocratic factionalism. Louis the Pious' succession plans involved disinheriting his grandson Pepin II o f Aquitaine in favour o f Charles. On Louis's death (840) his eldest son, the Emperor Lothar, in alliance with Pepin, tried to exclude Charles. In counter-alliance with his other half-brother Louis the German, Charles defeated Lothar and Pepin at Fonteney (June 8 4 1 ) and at Verdun (August N43). thus securing a division ol the Prankish heartlands between himself. Lothar and I ouis. Charles gained the territory west o f the Scheldt, plus Aquitaine: the West Frankish lands, which formed his power base, cave their name to his kingship. In the first half of his reign. Charles faced recurrent factional revolt in Aquitaine, partly linked with support for Pepin, and in Neustria, associated with Breton separatism: these problems were compounded by Viking attacks which peaked r . 8 4 5 - 6 5 . Carolingian rivalries continued: 858 Louis the German exploited dissidencc to spread c'ast o f the Seine and invade Charles' kingdom. Supported by leading nobles and churchmen, Charles quickly regained control. The second halfot the reign saw successes in innovative delelice against the Vikmgs, 111 firmer maintenance of aristocratic support, some centralization o f government in the north-east and the acquisition t i l territory through successive Carolingian repartitions. Finally Charles gained the imperial crown
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Charles V the Wise King o f Prance 1 3 6 4 - 8 0 (b. 1338) Although he did not succeed to the throne until 1364, Charles' political career began as early as [ 3 5 6 when he entered into negotiations with the Engish for the release o f his father John II the Good, w h o had been captured at the battle ol Poitiers. Charles was forced by the treaties o i Brctigny and Calais to attempt to pay a ransom ot three million gold crowns to the English, as well as ceding to them much o f south-western France. Upon Ins father's death in 1364, however. Charles began to re'verse his e'arlier capitulation. With the help and guidance ot the great soldier Bertrand DuGucsclin for he was no military man himself - he restored order in the French territories, reorganized the army and established a navy; by 1375 he had won bac"k many o f the territories formerly ceded to England. In order to strengthen his position, he sought to defeat the over-mighty house o f Brittany and succeeded in depriving the king o f Navarre o f most o f his French lands. Charles was also a patron ot the arts: he built the Hotel de Saint-Pol and redecorated the Louvre as a fitting home for his magnificent library. 11J. Calmette Charles I
7
(1945)
Charles V I the Well-beloved King o f France 1380-1422
( b . 1 3 6 9 ) Crowned at Rheims. Charles
spent his minority largely under the control ot his uncle Philip the Bold, duke o f Burgundy. In I 3 US he began to rule alone", and with the advice o f his father's former counsellors initiated a programme ot governmental reform. By 1392, however, Charles was suffering irom periodic tits of madness, and political control passed into the hands ot the various rival factions o f his family, chief o l whom were Charles' wife Isabella o f Bavaria and his brother the duke o f Orleans. In 141K Charles'son, the dauphin Charles, declared himself regent, but in 1420 Henry V o f England was proclaimed regent and became heir to the French throne upon his marriage ro the royal princess Catherine o f Valois. Charles V I I 'le bien servi' King o f France 1422—61 (b. 1403} After his father's death in 1422 Charles was faced with a serious situation. His rule was only recognized in the south o f France, since the north had accepted as king Henry V o f England, whom Charles V I had designated as his heir, and there also existed a powerful Anglo-Burgundian alliance. In
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F. m pero r Charle* I V ot Luxembourg and his son Won ce si as ar a banquet with Charles V ©f Fcante.
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Charles V I I 'le bien s e r v i ' 1429 however Charles luck began to change, chiefly through the influence o f the Maid o f Orleans, Joan of Arc. She restored the confidence o f Charles' army, liberated Orleans and brought about Charles' coronation as king at Rhcims. After Joan's capture and execution ( 1 4 3 1 ) , Charles continued to follow up his advantage; in 143s he made peace with Burgundy and in 1436 captured Paris, whilst by 1453 he had even conquered Guycnne, thus bringing the Hundred Years' War to an end. Under the influence of his counsellors, who included Pierre de Brc zc and Jacques Coeur, Charles reorganized the administration and overcame his financial difficulties by obtaining the permanent right to k'vy taxes without the permission o f the Estates General. He also strengthened royal authority over the French church in the so-called Pragmatic Sanction of Bourges in 1438. His favouring o f counsellors drawn from the bourgeoisie inspired rebellion on the part o f the nobility throughout his reign, the most famous example being the revolt o f the Pragucrie in 1440, led by Charles' son. the dauphin Louis X L ;
11
:
M . G . A . Vale C/i.ir/es VU
{1974}
Charles I o f A n j o u King of Sicily and Naples I 2 6 6 ¬ 83 (b. 1226) Count o f Anjou and Provence. The younger brother o f King Loins I X of France, whom he accompanied on a crusade o f Egypt 1 2 4 8 - 5 0 , Charles was granted the counties of Anjou and Provence as appanages o f the French crown in 1246. During the 1 2 6 0 s he aided the papacy in its war against the Hohenstaulen, defeating Frederick IPs illegitimate son Manfred at the battle o f BcncvCntO ( 1 2 6 6 ) and capturing and executing Conradin, last surviving member ot the dynasty, in 1268. Charles at this stage held the kingdom o f Sicily asa papal fief. His rule, however, was far from popular; his transference of the capital from Palermo to Naplc-s and his use of French officials sparked otf the rebellion commonly known as the Sicilian Vespers { 1 2 8 2 ) . Charles was expelled from rhe kingdom in 1284 and it was whilst planning a counter-offensive rhat he died.
Charles I V o f L u x e m b o u r g 1 loly Roman Emperor 3 Í S 78 (b. 13 16) Grandson ot the Emperor Henry V I L Charles succeeded his father John as king o f Bohemia in 1346, when the latter was killed at the battle of Crécy, an engagement in which Charles himself also fought. In the same year he was elected to the German throne in place ot the deposed Louis o f Bavaria and in 1355 he became Emperor. As king of Bohemia, Charles centred his administration in that country rather than in Germany itself, and during his reign Bohemia enjoyed a period of great 1
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Portrait of Charles VII - 'le bien servi' - by Jean Fouquet (r. 1415-85)-
prosperity. hi Prague he constructed a bridge over the river Ultava and founded the university in 1348. The Upper Palatinate was annexed to Bohemia in 1355, as were the principalities ofjaue and Sehwcidnitz in Silesia, which forme'd part ot the dowry ot his third wife, the Polish princess Anne (d. 1 3 6 2 ) . Charles was an ally o f the Avignon popes, and this enabled him to gain control o f Burgundy ( 1 3 6 5 ) , In 1376, shortly before his death. Charles also mauage-d to se-cure the Gcrtiian throne for his eldest son Wenceslas, an action unparalleled during the previous century. He is perhaps best known as rhe author o f the Golden Bull of 1 356, which laid down procedures for imperial elections. | i j . i ) • J . Speracek Karl IV ( 1 0 7 8 ) ; F.R.H. du lloulay Germany in tht loiter Middle Ages ( 1 9 8 3 )
—
Charles M a r t c l ( 6 8 8 - 7 4 1 ) Mayor o f the palace o f Austrasia from 7 1 9 . Illegitimate son o f Pepin o f 1 Icrstal. Charles continued the consolidation o f 1 rankich political power characteristic his lather •:, work, extending his authority over Austrasia. Neustria and Burgundy and winning recognition o f overlordship from Aquilaine. Although officially only mayor of the palace, he granted ecclesiastical and secular offices at w i l l and ruled effectively for
China some years without the need to establish a puppet Merovingian king. He drew on the finances of" the church to equip his army, an act which gave him a mixed reputation among ecclesiastical writers. The germs of rudimentary feudal institutions are to be found in his military arrangements. He is chiefly remembered for his great victory over a massive Muslim raid into his territory at Poitiers in 732. now recognized as a symbol of Christian resistance and resurgence, as well as a great military success. The Muslim leader, ' A b d ar-Uahman. was killed and Muslim casualties were heavy; Frankia was safeguarded, while the Muslims were ravaged by civil wars. It was from this victory that Charles gained his by-name Martel, 'the hammer'.
Charles the B o l d ( 1 4 3 3 - 7 7 ) Duke o f Burgundy. Son of Philip the Good, Charles took over the government of Burgundy during his father's last illness and immediately came into conflict with the Frc-nch king, Louis X L Becoming duke in his o w n right in 1 467 he proceeded to extend his rule as far as the Rhine, hut this entailed confrontation with the German Emperor Frederick 111 and the Swiss, who were afraid that an expansion o f Burgundy's territories would upset the balance of power in Europe. It was during this struggle that Charles was killed in a battle with the Swiss outside Nancy in 1477. With his death ended the most ambitious of the Burgundian political schemes. LlR. Vaughan Charles f/re Bold
section of contemporary society, on the journey trom Southwark to the shrine ol Thomas lieeket at Canterbury) owed much to Boccaccio's Decameron. but the treatment is English, original, and especially valuable to all historians interested in the thought and social attitudes o f the late 14th c. • P . Brewer Chaucer, the Critical Heritage 139$— ¡933 ( 1 9 7 8 ) C h i l d r e n ' s Crusade ( 1 2 1 2 ) A curious by-product of the religious enthusiasm o f the early 13th c , the se>-callcd Ohilclreu's Crusade originated in France and the Low Countries when a great crowd of children with a mixtureofaelults-soniesupportive. Others bent on exploitation - set out for the I loly Land to free Jerusalem from the Infidel. The movement ended in fiasco and tragedy. Many ol the children were brought home", but some perished in the Mediterranean and others were shipped from ports in the south o f France to slavery in the Muslim-controlled territories o f N o r t h Africa. China "File Mongol Conquest o f China began c. 1206 when lenghlZ Khan rose to a position o l supremacy amongst the Mongol peoples o f the Steppes and initiated a period of expansion. Allying himscll v- iih the Tangttt state in north-eastern Tibet in 1 aoy, Jenghiz Khan then proceeded to attack the Chin Chaucer depicted in the early 1 sth-c. Ellesmcrc
(1973)
Chaucer, Geoffrey ( 1 . 1 3 4 0 - 1 4 0 0 ) One of the greatest English poets. Chaucer was also ;> man o f business and a Londoner active about the court, principally under the patronage of |ohn of Gaunt, duke of Lancaster. He travelled widely, especially in Italy in the 1 3 7 0 s , and his offices included control o f important aspects of the customs services in London, and a period as clerk o f works at the palace o f Westminster, at the Tower o f London and at St GeoEge*s Chapel. Windsor. His published work began to appear in the late 1 3 6 0 s , hut it is by the productions o f his high maturity, notably Troilus and Creieitfi ((. 1382) and, supremely, the Canterbury Talcs (after Ij86) that he is chiefly remembered. He chose English as the principal medium o f his work at a time when the triumph of the native language over French was by no means assured, and he introduced French and Italian styles o f prosody which came to oust the traditional attachment oi the English to alliterative vcrse> His superb blend o l realism and imaginative insight. Ins humanity and sense o f comedy mark him out as one o f the fine-si creative minds o l the age. The structure ot the Canterbury Tales (told by a party o f pilgrims, a cross-
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China effect deep in the workings o f medieval society. Initially the impact o f the church was great, and the notion o f chivalric behaviour can properly be attributed to a softening o f the epic virtues o f bravery in battle and courage in adversity, to a more gentle attitude invoking a degree ot respect for human life and dignity, even where mortal enemies were concerned. The blessing o f banners, the inclusion in liturgical prayers o f special intercession for warriors defending the Christians against the pagans, and growing interest in the warrior-saints St Michael and St George, anteceded the Crusades but coincided with the rise o f the armed mounted warrior in Carolingian and Ottoman Europe.
Chivalry: a ut clor ions knight is rewarded with a garland by his lady during a tournament (14th c.J. dvnasty. who ruled the northern Chinese state ot Juchen. By 1215 he had captured their capital at Ta-tu (Peking) and had reduced the Chin territory to a small area o f Central China, In 1250 the Mongols resumed their attacks, this time against the Sung dynasty ofsouthern China. Under the leadership of the grandsons ofjenghiz Khan. Grand Khan Mango and his brother Khublai Khan, the Mongols overran the Sung stare and by 1276 also controlled the capital city ot l.in-an (Hangchow). where they established the Yuan dynasty ( 1 2 7 9 - 1 3 6 8 ) . In the governmental sphere, the Mongols brought few changes either to northern or southern China, since they allowed to remain all that seemed best in the existing administration and religion o f contemporary China. The impact o f Chinese civilization on the Western world was minimal, though travellers to 'Cathay', notably Marco Polo, brought back stories troni the 13th c. onwards which helped to enrich the Western imagination. in China among equals ed. M . Rossabi
(1983)
C h i v a l r y Accurately described as 'the secular code ot honour ot a martially oriented aristocracy", chivalry flourished in its Western European context between the m i d - 1 2 t h c. and 16th c. There are many strands in the evolution o f what became a complex set o f rules and conventions that applied primarily to the aristocratic fighting men, hut which also had strong
The evolution ot rcudal society in the central Middle Ages, at home in Western Europe as well as on crusade, brought into being conditions especially favourable to the growth o f chivalric ideals with their twin, but not always inseparable elements o f Christianity and bellicosity. Associated etymologically [eftepa/icfj 'knight') with the mounted elite o f a feudal society, chivalry developed its characteristic institutions, rules and conventions in the course of the 12th c. and 13th c. at the hands o f poets, as much as at the hands ot legislators. Ceremonies of dubbing to knighthood, the giving o f arms, the adoption o f distinguishing emblems and blazons, emphasized the secular attributes of the ruling m i l i tary aristocracy. The formation o f military orders tor the Crusades again brought in a strong religious element. The tournament became the characteristic institution ot the chivalric world, disapproved ot by the church but flourishing, notably in the second halt ot the 12th c. and 13th e. Heralds became important and influential figures, partly because o f the part they played in regulating tournaments, f o r all the dangers o f tournaments - and casualties were often very heavy — the secular feudal w o r l d adopted them as profitable training grounds for young warriors and as great spectacles at which military valour could be cotourtully displayed. Another element entered strongly into the chivalric story: women were present as spectators at tournaments, and ideas o f service to ladies and Courtly Love became entangled with the notion o f the ideal warrior. A 1 Jth-C, poem laid tour obligations on the knight; to eschew false judgment and treason, to honour women, to attend mass twe'ry day and to fast on Eriday. Poets generally, dealing with the matter o f Rome, the matter o f Charlemagne and his paladins, or the matter o f Arthur, Britain and the Holy Grail, helped to implant notions ol chivalric behaviour firmly into Western consciousness. These ideas outlasted the loss o f the Holy Land and were indeed strengthened in the later Middle
Christianity Ages, notably by the patronage o f great kings and dukes and by the formation o f chivalric orders such as the Order of the Garter in England or the Order ot the Golden Fleece in Burgundy. Knights errant, embodying both the spirit o f adventure and the religious quest, the search for the Grail or for union with God, became a significant part o f the poetic consciousness ot the West. Heraldry and interest in genealogy ensured that traditions o f descent and good family remained a strong feature ot the ruling group, but increasing attention was given to the notion that honour and nobility o f manners would signify more than nobility o f race.
between die lines, seeing him as a provocative, even subversive poser o f difficult questions. Chretien's modern readers arc likely to be struck by his constantly changing tone, and in particular by his juxtaposition o f ostensible realism and obvious lantasy. In addition to his versatile handling ol the octosyllable, his dramatic exploitation o f dialogue and rhetoric, and his skill in structuring the narrative, Chretien's unobtrusive learning, his gift tor psychological observation and analysis (particularly of love), his humour and pervasive use o f irony combine to give a sense of easy elegance and sophistication to his work. See I t O M A N S n ' A V F . N T U I l IS
Chivalry slowly but surely civilized a military society that, starting trout rude and violent roots in the epic world o f the early n t h c . blossomed through the romance, secular and religious, o f the 12th and 13th c. into the formal regulated world o f the later medieval period when knights, in theory at least, were also gentlemen. See U H J H T I . Y L O V E ;
1 i j . Frappier Chretien de Tivyes (1957); L. Topsficld Chretien de Troyes: a Study ol the Arthurian Romances
KNKiHTTKKin Hut. • G. Duby The Chivalrous Society ( 1 9 7 7 ) ; M . Keen Chivalry ( 1 9 8 4 ) ; B . B . Broughton Dictionary of Medieval Knighthood .mil Chivalry ( 1 9 8 6 ) ; J. Barker The
Toumament in England 1100-1400
(1987)
C h r é t i e n deTroyes {c. 1 I 35—^3) Writing fora cultivated audience in the aristocratic courts o f northern France between r 165 and 1180 (Marie, countess o f Champagne, and Philip, count o f Flanders, were among his patrons). Chretien stands out as the most innovative and influential figure o f i2th-r, vernacular literature. The founding father ot the romance genre, his works were translated and imitated throughout Europe. Drawing inspiration both from a corpus ol ultimately Celtic Arthurian legend, and from contemporary culture and courtly society, his bestknown works include five long narrative poems: Erec, Clifics, Yvain ou le Chevalier au lion, Lancelot ou le Chevalier à la charrette and Perceval ou le Conte du Graal. Plis principal concern seems to have been the chivairie ethos ot his day and its moral implications. The action o f his romances focuses on the knight errant in search o f adventure who, confronted with various problems and crises, usually precipiiated by love, grows in stature as he acquires an identity and new values, which enable him better to realize his individual potential and to fulfil his role in society. With his last, unfinished romance, Perceval, a religious dimension is introduced where previously love fora woman was presented as the main civilizing and ennobling influence on man. Some critics are content to interpret Chretien's works as illustrating the reconciliation of man s dual need tor love it h m marriage, and adventure. Others prefer to read
(1981)
Christianity According to the definition o f the Council of Nicaca ( 3 2 5 ) , the belief in one God manifested in three persons— Father. Son and Holy Spirit —and in the redemption of the world by the Incarnation, Passion and Resurrection of Jesus Christ. Subsequent Councils at Ephesus ( 4 3 1 ) and Chaleedon ( 4 5 1 ) added further definitions in the field ot Christology. declaring that the Son, who is the Divine Word, became truly incarnate by the Holy Spirit in the flesh of the Virgin Mary, and that he combines within himself, without distinction o f persons, the pertect and complete natures o f God and man. The code o f behaviour which should bind all believers had been laid down by Christ himself in the Golden Rule (Matthew 2 2 ,
v.37-40).
During the Erst three centuries A O the full implications o f this faith had developed slowly, in a society which treated its adherents at best with indifference, and at worst with active persecution. The rulers ol the Roman empire regarded Christians as the tiresome, slightly mad members o f a potentially dangerous secret society. It was not until the Emperor Consrantinc issued his edict o f toleration (312) that Christianity was accepted as a respectable religion, and the assembling o f the Council o f Nicaca was a testimony to the fact that the church had emerged from the state o f a proscribed sect into that o f a fashionable religion. It was not, however, until 3 9 5 that the Emperor Theodosius officially suppressed the public worship o f pagan gods. Between 32 s and 4 5 1 , by the decrees o f ecumenical councils, orthodox Christianity was disentangled from several major heresies (Gnosticism, Arianism, Ncstorianism and Apollinarianism) which had grown up since the end o f the Apostolic period. From r.400 to c. 1 joo Christianity was accepted as the spiritual aspect o f civilized society, at first in those parts o f Europe, Asia and North Africa which had formed part o f the Roman empire. Gradually,
85
Christianity by missionaries, it was spread over the barbarian kingdoms o f N o r t h e m and Eastern Europe, while at the same time the advance o f the Muslims reduced the position o f the Christians in Asia, Africa and the Spanish peninsula ro that o f dependent, though not usually persecuted, minorities.
St Paul, hut from the 6 t h e. onwards Rome and Constantinople increasingly went their separate ways, and their deepening political divisions were complicated by a doctrinal dispute (over the procession o f the Flolv Spirit) which led to a schism, still unhealed, in 1054.
Within the Christian lands it was normally assumed that all people would, at the earliest possible opportunity, be brought into the church by the sacrament o f baptism, and that they would remain in i t . periodically refreshed by the sacrament o f the Eucharist, until the time o f their death. The Fourth l.atcran Council ( 1 2 1 5 } laid down the rule that C o m m u n i o n , preceded by the confession o f sins, was to he received at least once a year, liesides baptism and the Eucharist, the church recognized five other sacraments; confirmation, penance, extreme unction, holy orders and marriage. Since most lay people were unable to read or write (the w o r d dericus means both a man in orders and one who is literate), education - from the simplest teaching by the parish priest to the advanced speculations o f the higher schools o f learning - was the responsibility ol the church, and theology vvas accepted as the supreme branch o f knowledge; Although most people failed to live up to the moral standards imposed by the Christian faith, there is little evidence (after the initial troubles o f conversion) o f resistance to the faith itself. Attacks upon the clergy nearly always arose from social and political, rather than doctrinal or moral disputes, and attacks upon outsiders, Jews, Muslims, heretics and infidels, were more often the result o f popular intolerance than o f official disapproval.
The coercive authority ol the church was embodied in canon law, defined as the branch ol law dealing with five main subjects )U1 judicium, clems, Connubio and crimen. It covered all cases o f sin (as opposed to crime, cognizable by the lay courts), and all cases concerning churches, the persons o f the clergy and their property (except when this was held in lay fee), marriage, legitimacy and inheritance; it also extended special protection to miserabiles personne such as widows, orphans and refugees. It was based upon the scriptures, the teachings o f the fathers o f the church, and the decrees o f general and regional ecclesiastical councils. These were supplemented in the Western church (the patriarchate o f Rome) by the decrees o f successive popes and, before the end o f the i i t h c . by some rnlings made by accredited lay rulers upon subjects such as marriage and the suppression o f idolatry. It was generally accepted that the teachings o f scripture and the decrees o f the first four ecumenical councils - Nicaea ( 3 2 5 ) . Constantinople! (3 Si). Ephesus (431) and Chalcedon (451) - were inviolable, but that other decrees could be modified later by the pope in council, when the church had received further light upon the subject.
The orthodox teaching ofthe church was guaranteed by the doctrine o f the Apostolic Succession. Authority to teach had been given by Christ to St Peter (Matthew 16, v. [8—I9) and confirmed to the Apostles at Pentecost. The Apostles had passed on their doctrine to the bishops, the correctness o f the tradition being guaranteed by the fact that the bishops and all their successors had to receive consecration in the presence o f at least three existing bishops o f accepted orthodoxy. Priests and those in lower orders (door-keeper, reader, exorcist, acolyte, subdeacon and deacon) in tutu received ordination from their local bishop. Bishops were traditionally under the authority o f five patriarchs (of Rome, Constantinople, Jerusalem. Antioch and Alexandria), but from the 7th c. onwards the last three o f these cities were in Muslim hands, and the supremacy of Rome and Constantinople, the t w o ruling cities o f the empire, had been firmly established by the time o f the Council o f Chalcedon ( 4 5 1 ) . The Council had declared the primacy o f Rome, which was the city honoured by the double tradition o f St Peter and
SO
From the 12th c. onwards the canon law ot the Western church was brought together in five great official collections - the Decretiim o f Gratian, the GHgofian Décrétais, the Sc.xt, the Clementines and the Extravagantes - which together make up that section o f canon law which is called Jus Novum. It was held to be binding upon all baptized persons, and was enforced by ecclesiastical courts in every part o f Western Christendom. Final authority rested with the pope, as [he successor o f St Peter, ro whom Christ had given the power to bind and loose. T o h i m , as to the universal ordinary, belonged the power to grant dispensation, alleviating the rigour o f the law. provided he did not reverse its fundamental principles, In the Eastern empire (the patriarchate o f C o n stantinople'), which remained! faithful to Roman law, the scriptural, patristic and conciliar basis o f canon law was accepted, but otherwise imperial legislation covered the law o f the church. Christian emperors such as Justinian made considerable m o d ifications to Roman law for the benefit o f the Christian religion.hut the power o f legislation remained with them alone. The emperor, as viceroy o f God, was the supreme ruler in church and state; '1 am he', in the words o f Leo the lsaurian, ' w h o m God has
Chronicles ordered to feed his flock, like Peter, Prince o f the Apostles'. The only surviving compilation ot canon law, the Exegesis Canontim o! lialsamon or Antioch, dates from about 117.5. Throughout the Middle Ages the b a s i c doctrines o f Christianity were extensively s t u d i e d , hut they were never seriously questioned in Europe e x c e p t by a relatively small n u m b e r o f heretics. Strite between the l e a d e r s of c h u r c h and s t a t e was common and frequently bitter, but it t u r n e d u p o n political and e c o n o m i c rivalries, r a t h e r than u p o n fundamental questions ot b e l i e f . Plowever deplorably Christians f a i l e d in practice, t h e y were u n i t e d in t h e o r y by the c o n v i c t i o n that 'the t r u e end of man is to glorify God and to e n j o y h i m forever'. See C H U R C H , C A T H O L I C ;
CHURCH, EASTERN ORTHODOX; CISM;
citusAHFS; MONASTI-
I'AI'ACV
itH
i R . H . Bainton Tfii Penguin History of Christianity (1967); Oxferi Hi. ury zfthe Chnrihn Church ( 1 9 6 7 - )
Christine o f Pisa (1304—i. 1430) A leading French poet o f her generation, Christine was Italian by birth, the daughter ot a scholar and statesman active in Bologna and Venice, w h o b e c a m e astrologer to King Charles V o f France. Christine married the king's notary and secretary. Etienne du Caste), and after his death (13X1;) concentrated on literary w o r k u n d e r the patronage of the French k i n g s and dukes ol Burgundy. Initially she w r o t e m a n y love p o e m s after
the fashion o f the age.
didactic
and historical
themes.
but turned t o
Her
most
more
J . M . Ptnet Christine tie Pisan ( 1 0 2 7 ) ; Christine de Pisan: The Treasure of the City of Ladies trans. S. Lawson ( 1 0 8 5 ) C h r o d c g a n g , St (d.766) Bishop o f Metz. Born near Liege and educated at the abbey o f Saint-Trond, Chrodcgang became successively secretary, chancellor and chief minister o f Charles Martel. After Charles' death (74 1). Chrodcgang continued to serve his son Pepin the Shore Appointed bishop o f MctZ in 7 4 2 , he was largely responsible for the negotiations between Pepin and the papacy, which resulted in the recognition o f Pepin as king o f the Franks by Pope Stephen III in 754; he also did much to help establish prankish rule in Italy after the overthrow o f the Lombards. He is perhaps most famous for his Pule for canons, which in time became very influential in regulating the life of many cathedral chapters in both Germany and England. 1 1 The Old English version of the Enlarged Rule oj Clirodegaug ed. A.S. Napier (1916)
important
Title pane for an English translation (r. 1521} of the City of Ladies., showing Christine o f Pisa.
1
work was produced in the first decade o f the 15th c. and included a history o f Charles V . tracts in favour of the honour o f women and opposed to the satirical flourishes of the ewer-popular Roman de hi Rose, and suggestions for the literary education o f women. In the last years of her life she wrote a poem in praise o f loan o f Arc. Her work contains much of prime value for the history of court life and for an understanding o f contemporary attitudes to women.
Chronicles Like annals, these played an important part In the development o f historical writing in the Middle Ages. They too describe events, but usually in more detail than annals, sometimes to the point where the chronicler produces acceptable history even i f his work is generally hound to a strict chronological sequence. The fust chronicles were the so-called world or universal chronicles which dealt with history from rhe dare of theCrearion until the writer's own times. The earliest o f these was the chronicle o f Eusebius o f Caesarea written in the 3 r d c . and this was followed by the world chronicle of Sulpericiis Severus in the 4 t h c. Although world chronicles continued to be written until the 1 i t h C, when Marianus Scotus ( 1 0 2 8 - 8 3 ) wrote his Universal History, from the Oth c. onwards more localized chronicles describing the history o f a particular kingdom or abbey became more popular. Examples o f the former include the AngloSavon Chronicle in its different versions (assembled initially into chronicle form during the reign o f Alfred, c.801), the History of the Kings oj Saxony by Thietmar o f Marsehurg in the 10th c , the Gesta Regum o f William o f Malmesbury in the 12th c. and the Polychronicon o f Rami!I I ligden in the 13th c.,
87
Chronicles sions, the second time in 404, and continued to be hounded around the empire until his death at Pontus in 4 0 7 , He is best known for his treatise on the priesthood and for his biblical commentaries on the Epistles and Gospels, In which he insisted upon a literal interpretation ol the scriptures and attempted to apply their teaching in a practical sense to the problems o f his time, i i R, |anin Constantinople byzantine ( 1 9 6 4 )
Catholic church: the College of Cardinals, from an early ijali-r. manuscript of the Decretals of fionificc VIII. whilst famous monastic chronicles include the Bailie Abbey Chronicle in England and the History of At Abbey Si Evroul by Order!cus Vitalis in France, both belonging to the 12th c. Fare in the Middle Ages, chroniclers still prided themselves, notably and selfconsciously in Italy, on their skill in setting down purely factual material, no more and no less, in proper chronological order, even when they were m fact moving towards a new conception Lit history. • L. Green Chronicle into Hisiory
(1072)
Chrysoloras, M a n u e l ( 1 3 5 0 - 1 4 1 5 ) Byzantine nobleman and founder o f Greek studies in Renaissance Italy. He first came to Italy in 131)4 on a mission tor the Emperor Manuel I I . and in 1390 he was madeprofessor o f Greek at the School o f Florence. Alter 1400 he resided permanently in tuarope. teaching at Venice, Milan, Pavia and Rome. Pope Gregory X I I sent him on several missions, and he died whilst attending the Council o f Constance (1414—18). His translations into Latin o f Homer and Plato, and his Greek grammar did much to revive the study o f Greek in the West. His pupils included both Leonardo Hnmi and Guarino o f Verona. • G. Cammeli I iloiii Bizantini e le origifti dell'humanesiiuo: I Manueie Crisolora ( 1 9 4 1 ) C h r y s o s t o n i , St J o h n { 3 4 7 - 4 0 7 ) Bishop o f Constantinople. Born at Antioch. in 373 John became a monk in an austere mountain community. In 381, howewer, he returned to Antioch where he was ordained priest and subsequently became the bishop's chief assistant. In 3 9 7 he was appointed patriarch o f Constantinople and quickly began to attack the immorality which he fomid there amongst the clergy and laity alike. This earned him the hostility o f the Empre'ss Eudoxia who, together with Theophilus, patriarch o f Alexandria, worked to bring about John's disgrace. They were largely successful: John was exiled on two separate occa-
88
C h u r c h , C a t h o l i c Christian church which accepts the doctrine laid down in the Nicene and Athanasian Creeds, as opposed to heretical congregations such as Nestorians or Arians. It was the undividci! orthodox church before the schism o f 1054, and the orthodox church o f Western Christendom throughout the Middle Ages. Catholics accepted the pope, bishop o f Rome and lawful successor of St Peter, as vicegerent o f Christ and universal ordinary (bishop whose authority extende'd throughout the whole church), This doctrine of papal supremacy grew up gradually at Rome during the first six centuries Mi. and was spread north o f the Alps by the fact that (except in the territory which became modem France) conversion to Christianity was carried out by missionaries sent from, or indire'etly dependent on, the church o f Rome. Flic plenitude of papal authority was not finally or universally claimed until the tune o f Gregory V I I ( 1 0 7 3 - 8 5 ) . Thereafter it was made binding in canon law, and elaborated 111 a Series o f general councils from the First Lateran (1 123) to the Council o f Basle (143 1). Decretals and letters issued by the pope in solemn conclave were binding upon the whole church, and his curia was the final court o f appeal in all cases o f canon law. Any deviation from the basic doctrines o f the church was heresy, and as such punishable by penance., imprisonment or, in extreme cases, death, although this penalty had to be inflicted by the secular authority. Papal power was exercised through legates, either sent directly from the curia or permanently resident in each country (legati nati), nuncios (generally concerned w ith financial affairs) and judges de-legate, appointed to deal with particular cases in ecclesiastical courts. The church was organized in provinces (each rulc-d by an archbishop) and dioceses (each ruled by a bishop). By the 12th c . dioceses were sub-divitled for administrative purpose's into archdeaconries and rural deaneries, although the bishop always retained overriding authority and he alone could administer the sacraments ot continuation and ordination. Church discipline was organized through a series o f ecclesiastical courts, ranging from the court of the archdeacon to that o f the senior archbishop o f the country (in England known as the Court o f Arches).
C h u r c h , Eastern O r t h o d o x The lowest unit ot organization was the individual parish; here, responsibility for the cure o f souls lay with the rector, or in the case o f an appropriated church or a dispensed non-resident, with the vicar, sometimes assisted by a stipendiary chaplain. Hectors and vicars were instituted by the bishop ol the diocese, after presentation by the patron o f the living, and normally held secure tenure until death or resignation. They could he removed for misconduct, but this rarely happened. This 'regular', as opposed to 'secular', clergy included monks, nuns, canons regular, iriars and members o f military orders such as the Templars. They lived by Rules imposed by the beads o f their own orders, under the final authority o f the pope. Many , though not all. were exempt from diocesan jurisdiction. They could hold (or in the case o f the Franciscans, have the use of) corporate property, although individual members were vowed to poverty. Members o f such orders could become bishops, but not archdeacons or parish priests. Hermits and anchorites existed, and some became famous, but generally their influence was much less than in the Eastern church. All members o f religious orders and all secular clergy above and including the state o f subdeacon were vowed to celibacy, although before the end o f the n t h c. this rule was not always enforced. All clergy were under the protection ot the canon law. .See CHEAT S C H I S M ! HERESY; I N V E S T I T U R E C O N T E S T ; N I C A E A , C O U N C I L OF; 1'Al'ACY
RH
• R . H . Hainton The Medieval Church (inna); R.W. Southern Western Society ami the Chuixh in the Middle Ages (lş); Tire Poem of tht Cid ed. I. Michael, trans R. Hamilton and J . Perry (is>7S)
C i o m p i , revolt o f the ( 1 3 7 8 ) An uprising of the artisan classes in Florence which was directed against the degree o f control exercised by the major guilds in citv affairs. The re'bcls. who demanded higher wages and .1 share in town government tor the minor guilds, took over control of the munici pality on 22 July and thus brought into being one ol the most democratic governments in the history of Florence. One small group, the Ciompi, or wageearning woodworkers, were dissatisfied with the new regime, however, and in August rebelled against it: the major and minor guilds united with one supreme effort to defeat them. Although after the suppression of the Ciompi the minor guilds remained nominally in control, the major guilds again began to take the initiative, and within four years had regained power. See I . A N I H > , MICHEtBDl I F.
Schevill
Medieval
and
Renaissance
Florence
(1961)
Cisneros, Francesco (Ximenes) (1 J; 3 6 - 1 J 1 7 ) Archbishop of Toledo, Spanish cardinal who. fol lowing the capitulation ot the Moors ot Granada ( 1 4 9 a ) . refused to sanction the promised religious toleration. His actions resulted in a long and bitter insurrection 011 the part of the Muslims, which was only ended by a decree ( 1 5 0 2 ) granting them the choice of either banishment or conversion. Many Moors therefore became nominal Christians or Moriscos. but their religious convictions remained questionable. II J . Garcia Oro Cisneros y la reforma del elero espmiol en liempo de los Reyes Catolicos ( 1 9 7 0 )
The only son of Rodrigo and Jimena died in battle ( 1 0 9 7 ) without issue. One of their daughters marrie'd a Navarre'se prince, and the Other married the count ol Barcelona. Their descendant became king of Castile and Leon in the 12th c . and their blood entered the English royal line in the mid-13th c. through Eleanor of Castile. Rodrigo is depicted by Arabic historians as a cruel Oppressor, but by the 121I1-C.
Historia
Roderici and
the
legends of
the
monastery of S. Pedro de Cárdena (where he and Jimena are buried) as a lay saint. The real man may
Cistercian Order One ol the new religious orders which grew up during the early 12th c. in response 10 the call for greater asceticism. Founded in 109X by Robert, abbot of Molesme, who had lett his own abbey because of the laxity ol its religious observance, ir took irs name from rhc location of its first house at Cîteaus in France. The aim ol the Cistercian Order was to live the Rule of St Benedict, literally interpreted. Although Robert himself was forced to return to Molesme in 1 0 9 9 . his work
Cistercian O r d e r was continued by the next t w o abbots o f Citeaux, Alberic ( 1 0 9 9 - 1 toy), who obtained formal recognition of the Order from the papacy, and Stephen Harding (d. 11 34). who was responsible for tlie compilation o f much o f the first legislative document o f the Order, the Carta Caritatis ('Charter o f Divine
Love'). The greatest expansion o f the Order, however, took place under St Bernard, abbot o f Clairvaux, a leading figure both in the Order itself and in Christendom as a whole. The growth o f the Order was rapid: by 1132 there were Cistercian houses in France, Italy, Germany, England and Spain, whilst the Order later spread as far afield as Norway, Sicily and Rumania. By 1200 there were over 500 Cistercian houses, and the number had increased to .111 estimated 742 by the early 16th c. The Cistercians provided for t w o separate classes o f monks: the choir monks, many o f whom were priests and therefore well educated, and the lay brothcTs who tilled the fields or pursued their trade within the monastery. The Cistercians therefore provided a much needed opportunity tor ordinary men from a non-aristocratic background w h o wished ro lead the monastic life. As a result of their strict interpretation o f the Rule o f St Benedict, the liturgy o f the Cistercians was much simpler than that ot contemporary Benedictines. Their monastic buildings too were plain, with little or no decorative The abhev ot Hicvaids in Norrh Yorkshire, one ol rhe many Cistercian houses founded during rhe rath e.
de'tail. and in the 12th c. at least, most of their churches had plain, square east eaids. In order to resist wordly temptations the Cistercians chose secluded sites tor their abbeys: Fountains and Rievaulx, for example, were established on the Yorkshire moors, whilst some 1 5 houses were situated in the uncultivated wastelands east ol the river Elbe in Germany. Economically, therefore, the Cistercians became very important, since they were responsible for reclaiming much marginal territory in the interests o f agriculture. They aimed at self-sufficiency, growing their o w n corn and rearing their own sheep in order to provide wool for their habits. Unlike the Benedictines, the Cistercians did nof remt out their landholdings te> lay tenants, hot instead farmed them directly through a serie-s of granges or farmsteads administered by the lay brothers. Another striking feature o f the Cistercian Order was the close watch kept by the abbey o f Citeaux upon the other Cistercian houses. Each year, every Cistercian abbot was expected to journey to Citeaux for a general chapter ot the Order, although exceptions were made because o f the distances involved. At this general chapter regulations concerning the whole Order were made, and individual abbots were reprimanded or commended. In addition, the abbot o f each mother house was responsible for the visitation ol all its daughter houses. T he usefulness of this constitutional framework was soon recognized by the w hole church, ami at the Fourth Lateran Council ( i 2 t s ) the duty o l holding regular general chapters was imposed upon all re'ligious orders. A!) 11 Sttiiitto Capiinlornm Generalium Ordinis Cisterciensls
ed. J . M . Canivez vol.
1 (1033);
L ' . N . L . Brooke The
Monastic World ( 1 0 7 4 )
Clara o f Assisi, St (1 194—12$3) Born at Assisi into the Offreduccio family, Clara was so inspired by the life of St Francis that in 1214 she renounced all her possessions and joined him at the Portiuncula, U n w i l l i n g to allow women to participare in his w andering life o f begging and preaching. Francis established Clara and her companions in a house adjacent to the church o f S. Damiano in 1215. thus founding the Order o f Poor Clares. Although they were an enclosed order. Owing much to the traditions of the Rule o f St Benedict, the Poor Clares lived a life ot great ptiverry and austerity and soon became extremely popular. By the end o f the i 3th c. there were 4 7 houses in Spain alone, whilst convents o f Poor Clare-s were also established in England, France and Bohemia. r
uj.
Moorman A
History
of rhe Franciscan
Order
11.B. and C . N . L . Brooke. 'St Clare'. Medieval Women ed. D . Baker (197M)
(1908);
02
Climate IV. Fie exonerated I'hilip in the question o f the trial of Rope lionitace V I I I , w h o m I'hihp had indicted and imprisoned, and at the king's request abolished the Templars at the Council of Vienne in 1 3 1 2 . Clement did much, however, to centralize papal government and also founded the university o f Perugia in 1 3 0 7 [ 1 G, Mollat Tht I'apes at Avignon
C l e r m o n t , Council of ( 1 0 9 5 ) It was here that, following a request for military aid against the Muslims by the Emperor Alexius 1 Comuemus. Urban U launched the First Crusade. Urban's intention was not only to aid the Byzantines, but also to recapture Jerusalem for Christianity, whilst at the same time channelling the troublesome and war-like knightly classes into a useful campaign outside Europe. His preaching was greeted with an outstanding degree o f enthusiasm by those present at the Council, many o f whom rushed to take up their crusading vows with cries o f Dent volt ("God wills i t ' ) , the phrase which became the battle-cry o l the campaign.
Si Clara laments the death of St Francis as the cortège hah) before her convent in Assisi.
[ i H . E . J . Cowdrey, 'Pope Urban IPs preaching of the First Crusade', History ( 1 9 7 0 )
Clarendon, Constitutions of ( 1 1 0 4 ) Decrees by Henry II o! England which attempted to establish a formal relationship between church and state. In the Constitutions, appeals to Rome were forbidden without royal permission; all litigation between clerks concerning benefices was to be heard in the royal court; royal permission was required tor clergy to leave the realm and also for rcnants-in-chicf to be excommunicated. Groat opposition was shown to the decree, which stated that criminous clerks were to be tried lust in the secular court and only then sent to the ecclesiastical court, the secular court also reserving the right o f punishment. Although purporting to declare usages common in the reign o f Henry I . the Constitutions were not accepted bv Thomas liecket and the English clergy; the customs prejudicial to the church were renounced by Henry at Avranehes ( 1 1 7 2 ) after Becker's murder. 11 C. Duggan. 'The liecket Dispute and the C r i m i nous Clerks'. Bulletin
of the Institute lor
Research (1902); W . L .
Warren
Historien!
The Governance
Norman and Angevin England ioStt-1272
(1952)
oj
(1987)
Clement V l'ope 1 3 0 5 - 1 4 After studying canon law at Orleans and Bologna, he became bishop o f Commignes in 1295 and archbishop o f Bordeaux in I 299. A Gascon by birth, he was crowned pope' at Lyons and never in fact entered Italy. In 1309 he transferred the curia to Avignon and appointed nine new French cardinals. For the most part he failed to exert substantial influence on the French King I'hilip
Climate The climate o f Europe in the Middle Ages was usually warmer than in the Little Ice Age that followed ( 1 5 9 0 - 1 K 5 0 ) . the warmest centuries being comparable to the 2 0 t h c , and the cnldest to the 19th c. Evidence for the early Middle Ages comes especially from tree-rings that reflect summer temperature Fluctuations; in the later Middle Ages chroniclers provide information about ice and snow, and it is thereby possible to determine the temperature of every decade. Rainfall fluctuations arc difficult to assess in the early Middle Ages, although changes in the density o f peat verity the hypothesis that at the time o f the .sth-c. migrations, the North European plain was especially dry. The main sequence o f climate change was thus as follows: in 1.400 the weather was both dry and warm, and until 800 it was mainly warm, although cooler summers bad occurred i n the mid-6th c. and late 7th c. The period Soo-950 was particularly cold, but this was followed by a very warm phase ( 9 5 0 ¬ 1 1 0 0 ) , the period in which Greenland was colonized. Summers were cold again in the first half of the 12th c . but very hot in the second half. Minor fluctuat i o n s then occurred, but another cold phase in the m i d - i 5 t h c. was followed by a long warm period beginning in 1470 and lusting until 1560. During the warm periods o f the Middle Ages wine was made in many parts o f northern France and, as Domesday Rook confirms, grapes were grown succe'Sstully in parts o f England.
93
Climate In the period 1 0 0 0 - 1 5 0 0 documentary evidence makes it possible to determine more precisely the characteristics ot almost every decade. Some, such as the 1090s (the lime o f the First Crusade), 1 1 9 0 s . 1316s (when demographic expansion ended). 1 3 4 0 s and 1 3 6 0 s , were very wet in north-west Ktirope; others, such as the 1 130s, 1 2 0 0 s , 1 3 0 0 s and 1 4 7 0 s , were very dry. Crop failures, demographic crises and famine often reflect a series o f wet years in Europe, which led to typhus in winter, ergotism in rye localities, and sheep-rot. with all its disastrous consequences for the economy. In north-west Europe the years 112J.
1151,
1174.
1103,
116$,
'
2 2
4,
1233.
'25ft,
1257, 125"- 1 2 7 1 , 1 2 9 4 , 1 3 1 5 , 1 3 1 6 , 1 3 3 0 were excessively wet. hi Europe 1 2 5 7 - 5 8 excessive rains (possibly- associated with the volcanic eruptions o f that period), led to such a famine that the poor devoured horse flesh, the bark o f trees and things still worse. In 1315 and 131ftthe rains were worse still, and the St Swithin's flood o f 17 July 13 1ftpartly explains the legend. There is good evidence for decades o f warm winters north-west Europe centred c. 1 1 8 7 , r. 111)7, r . 1 2 4 0 . f . 1 2 9 2 . c. 13 K7 and r - 1 4 7 5 . Decades o f cold winters are r . i 128, c . 1 2 0 6 , 1 . 1 2 1 8 , r . 1 3 0 5 , c. 137ft, r. 1 3 9 8 , r. 1 4 0 3 , c, 1 4 2 2 , c. 143ft and c. 1 4 J J . Long cold winters were experienced in 6 7 1 , 7ft4, 8fto, 9 1 3 , in
1074.
1150,
I20S,
I22J,
1282,
1300,
1264,
1299,
1 4 0 8 . 1 4 2 3 , 1 4 3 5 , 1 4 4 3 , 145:8, 1 4 6 0 , 1 4 6 5 . 1481
and
1491.
English evidence is scattered but comparatively rich; it is known, for example, that the winter o f 764 was exceptionally severe, the snow and ice lasting into the spring, and that the year 871, when there was a great mortality o f birds, also experienced a very severe winter. A full picture on a European scale will only be possible when all the evidence is brought together from the south as well as the north o f Europe, with details relating to both drought and cold, to widespread summer fires (as in 7ft4 and 1 0 8 7 in England) and to complaints o f excessive rain.
flooding and other such disasters. Sir 11
OJS
FLEE Lamb Climate: preseni, pası and future
(1972)
Clocks In the early Middle Ages time was kept by means o f sun-dials, waterclocks. sand-glasses and candle-clocks, all ol which had existed in the ancient world. The llrst weight-driven mechanical clocks date from the 14th c ; some, like those at Milan ( 1 3 3 5 ) , Salisbury ( 1 3 8 6 ) and Rouen ( 1 3 8 9 ) . bad a chiming device, although others simply activated an alarm system which alerted a keeper who then rang a bell. These early clocks were very large and had no bands or dials, although a smaller domestic version was soon invented. The first portable timepieces were invented c. I J 0 0 by Peter 1 leulein ot Nuremberg and were driven by a spring. These had an hour hand, but no minute hand, the latter fust appearing in 1 6 7 2 . n D.S.
Landes Revolution
in Time: Clocks
anıl ihe
Making of the Modern World ( 1 9 8 4 )
C l o v i s King o f the Franks 4 8 0 - 5 1 I ( b . 4 6 5 ) Son ot Childeric I , he became king o f the Salian Franks at Tournai in 4 8 0 . He increased his power by brute force disposing of his enemies, such as King Clcdcnc o f Cologne. In 4 8 6 he defeated Syagrius, an inde pendent Roman governor at Soissons and in the course o f the succeeding 2 0 years won decisive victories over the Alcmanui and the Visigoths, gaining control o f most o f Gaul except lor the Mediterranean littoral. In 508 the Emperor Auastasius recognized him as a consul and patrician. His power was greatly enhanced by his conversion to Catholic Christianity at a time when most o f the barbarian tribes em braced Arianism. In his law code, the Lex Saliea ( 5 0 8 ) . Clovis combined elements ot both the Germanic and Roman traditions. He is generally recognized as the founder o f the historic French monarchy. o E. James The Origins oj Frame from Clovis Capetians ( 1 9 8 2 )
Possible evidence for changes in climate: an English calendar for Pcbru.iry shows men pruning vines.
mrnvw. «4
IIENIIHO-
CHRONOLCXIY
re llie
C l u n y , Order o f
Types ol clock. I nun a flemish manuscript, c. 14 jo, of X- 'Hovlw ılc SaptCnte. C l u n y , abbey o f Founded in y i o by Duke William the Pious or AquitairlC .md placed under the strict protection o f the papacy, the abbey reached its greatest peak under the abbots Odilo ( 0 0 4 - 1 0 4 S ] ahd Hugh the Great (1049-1 i oy). During this period Cluny numbered more than 300 monks and possessed over 2 0 0 dependencies. T o cope with this expan sion, the abbey church was rebuilt twice in just over a century, Cluny II being dedicated in tjNi, and Cluny 111 in the early 12th c. The period of Chmy's greatness, however, came to an end with the dis astrous abbacy o f Pons ( ı ı o y - 2 2 ) . Although this was partially remedied by the wise abbacy o f Peter the Venerable (r 1 2 2 - S 7 ) , he was unable to counter act the growing tendencies in the church as a whole cowards asceticism and a simplification of theli tu rgy. Sec BERNO, S T ; ODO
houses which were reformed by Cluny remained constitutionally independent, during the I t t h c. the abbey began to gather a large number ol depen dencies over which it maintained strict control. A l l Cluniac monks owed direct obedience to the abbot of Cluny, whilst all Cluniac priors were expected to attend a general chapter at the mother house once a year. Since Cluny had been rounded in direxrt dependence 011 the papacy, the Order was able, in time, to free itself from episcopal jurisdiction, and thereafter appointed its o w n visitors. Extremely
Recon struct ion of the abbey of C l u n y in s. I I J 7 , viewed from the cast (Kenneth Conant). sA i r r r J i i r
# ^ 3 « A fİ, s
1 1 J. Evans The Rt'ntaiwsqite Architecture oj the Ordaroj Cluny
( i y . i l ) ; K.J. Conant Cluny,
Us tgljats w la
maison i
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The Gloucester folios in Domesday Book. 1 0 N 6 : ,1 list ol tenams-in-chief and clinics lor the royal lands. lis legal and financial importance ensured its survival as a prestigious Treasury, and then Exchequer document. Abstracts were made, and most great landowners had access to information relating to the state ol"their lands at the time or' Domesday Hook. Appeals were made to its contents well inio the later Middle Ages, cspi u i l l v m r.innc—tir.n with rhesrarus o f land o f ancient demesne and with urban rights. • V . H . Galhraith 77ic Making of Domesday Book ( r o o i ) ; E. M . Eta]lam Domesday Book through Nine Canaries (1986); Domesday Studies ed. J. C. Holt (19S7)
D o m i n i c ( G u z m a n ) , St [c. 1 1 7 0 - 1 2 2 1 ) Founder o f the Dominican Order, he began his career as a Castilian nobleman and priest. A canon ft. 1 196) and sub-prior ( 1 2 0 1 ) o f Osma, he was involved in royal embassies to Languedoc where he encountered the Albigenses; he determined to reconcile them to the church, joining the Cistercian mission ( 1 2 0 6 ) and remaining in Languedoc until 1217. The c o m -
mencement o f the Albigensian Crusade ( 1 2 0 S ) ran counter to Dominic's work, which employed logic, theology and the example o f personal poverty, rather than force to coumerCatharism. Accordingly he founded an order characterized by mendicant poverty, learning and preaching, confirmed by I'ope Honorius HI ( i 2 t t i ) . Unlike the members o f earlier orders, the Dominican friars (Hlackfriars. Order o f Preachers) were not permitted corporate property and had to beg food. They followed the Augustinian Rule and received rigorous theological training, aiming to produce an informed laity impervious to heretical errors. The Order spread rapidly throughout Western Europe (divided into provinces under the master general and exempt trom episcopal jurisdiction), focusing particularly upon the university towns (Fans 1217. Bologna 121N, Oxford 122 I ) . producing scholars such as Albertus Magnus and Thomas Aquinas (whose ideas it championed). Here the Dominican Order differed most substantially from
D o m i n i c ( G u z m a n ) , St the other major order o f friars, die Franciscans, who did not consider scholarship to be a part o f their vocation. The Order was suited for combatting heresy, but conversion gave way to suppression, the medieval Inquisition often being described as the Dominican Inquisition (although only a minority was involved, and Franciscans also participated). The pastoral role o f the Dominicans made an equally significant contribution to the fight against heresy. From the 14th c. onwards, despite missions in Africa. India and China, the Order declined in importance. See CARMELITES 11
MB
M . I-I, Vicaire Si Dominic and his Times
A.
(1964);
W.
I linnebusch .-1 History ol the Dominican Order B. Hamilton The Medieval Inquisition ( 1 9 8 1 )
(1065);
Donatello di N i c c o l ö ( 1 3 N 6 - 1 4 6 6 ) One o f the greatest sculptors o f his age, Donatello is chiefly remembered for his superb work in bronze, notably his life-size nude David, made for his Medici patrons in Florence. A Florentine by birth, he worked on the Baptistery in his early years and established a reputation in marble as well as in bronze. Florence, Siena and Padua (from 1443) were his principal fields o f operation, the equestrian monument to Gattamclata and the relief tableaux The Miracles of St Anthony constituting the principal memorials ot his I'aduan period. u H . W. Janson The Sculpture of Donatello
(iyj7)
Donati family Prominent in Florentine politics o f the 13th c. as chief representatives of the old elite. The family, led by the 'baron', Corso Donati, headed the extreme Guelph faction, the Blacks, chiefly remembered for their coup ( 1 3 0 1 ) under Valois protection, which resulted, among other things. In the exile o f Dante. Corso was killed 111 1307, one ot the last significant representatives ot the group ot active warrior magnates who had threatened the stability ot the Florentine constitution. Donation o f Constantinc This purported to be a grant in which the Fmperor Constantinc ( 3 0 ( 1 - 3 7 ) conceded supreme authority in the church and unrivalled control over Italy to Pope Sylvester I (3 14—35). It was a papal forgery o f the Hth c., first appearing in 7 5 5 when Pepin, king ot the Franks, concluded a military campaign to defend papal territory from Lombard encroachment by confirming the document. It continued to be cited in support o f papal claims to temporal authority in Italy until it was shown to be spurious by Lorenzo Valla in [ 4 4 0 . See V A L L A ,
LORENZO
• W. Ullmann 7Vic Growth of Papal Government in the Middle Ages ( 1 9 5 5 )
1 14
Aitarpiece by the Masrer ol TccGnzanoi Christ and the Virgin with Dominican saints, including St Dominie. Donatist schism Intended to protect the North African church from the taint o f contact with Iraditotes, who had abandoned Christianity during the persecutions o f Diocletian 3 0 3 - 0 5 . It began in 31 1, after the consecration ol Caecilian by the alleged traditor Felix ot Aptuuga. and took its name from Donatus. the second bishop to be elected in oppostion to Caecilian. As Donatism derived great strength from African regionalism, it resisted both imperial
Dunstan, St repression and ecclesiastical censure, notably by Augustine, surviving until the African church disin tegrated in the wake o f Islamic expansion during the 7 t h C and Kill c. 11 W. H . C, Frend The Donatisi Church ( 1 9 5 2 ) Donatus Grammarian o f the m i d - 4 t h c . whose Ars Minor, was much in use In the Middle Ages as a standard teaching instrument. Even in the 15th c. it was one o f the commonest texts to he found in the new grammar schools. Dubois, Pierre (c. 1 2 5 0 - r . 1320) French lawyer and political writer, l i e studied at Paris and Orleans before returning to his native Normandy e. 129s to take up a career in law at Coutances. He appears as king's advocate in the surrounding baJUage by c. 1300. and represented the city in the Estates General ot 1302 and 130S. His ambition to secure political office at Paris, which remained 1111 fulfilled, contributed to his emergence as a prominent political pamphleteer. His most famous treatise was
the
Dr
Rccuperatione
TCTTC Sonde
(r. 1 3 0 6 ) .
Under the guise o f advising on crusading methods, this work expresses the convictions which char acterize all o f Dubois's work: that the French crown should increase its administrative powers in the interests o f internal peace, and assume the leadership of Fairope in the interests o f external peace.
Gold ducat issued by the Doge Giovanni Soraniu (.312-28).
DuGuesclin, Bcrtrand (1.1320-80) A brave and capable military commander who provided the soldiering skills that enabled Charles V to restore the fortunes o f France after the disastrous opening stages o f the Hundred Years' War. A Breton in origin. DuGuesclin won his reputation through campaigns in Normandy and later in Spain, sup pressing the Free Companies which ravaged the countryside, and ultimately succe-cding in setting up the French ally. Henry o f Trastamara. as king o f Castile ( 1 3 6 9 ) . As constable he played the main part 111 reorganizing the armies, and supported the cautious, sensible policy that resulted in the virtual rejection o f English rule. By the Treaty o f Bruges ( 1 3 7 5 ) the English were left with no more than Calais and a coastal strip in Gascony. uM.
Dulud DuGuesclin
(i9S8);
P.
Contamine
Giierrc, eral el sociéte a la fin du Moyeu-Age
(1972)
• W . I . Brandt The Recovery 0] the Holy Land ( 1 9 5 6 ) Ducas dynasty Byzantine imperial family prominent during the second half o f the 1 i t h c , and eclipsed by the accession o f Alexius I Comnenus in 10K1. Constantme X Ducas ( 1 0 5 9 - 0 7 ) owed his elevation to the Civil party in Constantinople, reacting against the policies o f the military emperor, Isaac I Conmcntis. Fhe times were inauspicious for the installation o f a civilian emperor, and Constantino X and his son Michael VII ( 1 0 7 1 - 7 8 ) presided over the collapse ot Byzantine power in Asia Minor caused by Turkish incursions. The problems o f the civil aristocracy, headed by the Ducas family, paved the way for the rise o f the military aristocracy after
Duns Scotus, John ({, 1 2 6 3 - 1 3 0 8 ) Doctor subtilis. he was a philosopher and theologian o f the foremost importance. O t Scottish birth, he entered the Fran ciscan Order f . 1 2 8 0 , spending 13 years at Oxford studying theology (1 288—1301), and seeking ordina tımı m 1291. He died 111 possession of a chair 111 theology at Cologne, having lectured at Oxford, Cambridge and Paris. The thought o f the Scotist school, which was profound and conservative rather than innovative and exciting, was established as an influential torce, c s p t u i l l y m Prancincin circles, by the m i d - t 4 t h c. 1 John Duns Scotus: 'God and Creatures' ed. F. Allunris
and A . B. Wolter ( 1 9 7 5 )
10S1, n D . I . Polemis The Doukai
(io68)
Ducat (from ducattis, the'duchy'of Venice) Venetian gold coin weighing J.-$i>g, first struck in 1284 and continuing unchanged In weight, fineness and design to the end ot the Venetian Republic in 1797. It was the dominant gold coin o f the eastern Mediter ranean area in the later Middle Ages, and the name was widely applied elsewhere in Europe to coins o f the same weight and fineness. :
Dunstan, St ( r . 9 0 9 - 8 8 ) Abbot o f Glastonbury and archbishop of Canterbury. He was educated at Glastonbury abbey before entering the household of his uncle Athehn, archbishop o f Canterbury. He later joined the court of King Athelstan. to whom he was also related, but his enemies secured his expul sion by claiming that he was involved with the black arts. Under the influence o f Aclfhcah, bishop o f Winchester, he became both monk and priest, and retired to live as a hermit at Glastonbury.
115
Dunstan, St
r-.
i t
and something o f a forerunner o l William ot Ockllam. Whereas Aquinas endeavoured to reconcile reason and faith, Durandus maintained that there was so sharp a contrast between them that it was not possible to move to a rational defence o f the inner mysteries. He was also profoundly sceptical o f the reality o f abstract universal ideas, holding to the view thai reality consisted only in the specific and individual. His commentaries on the Sentences o f Peter Lombard and his tract on the beatific vision o f thejust souls were greatly valued in the later Middle Ages. Because of the power o f his personality as a teacher and in debate, hewas known as doctor resohttisshnus. • E. Gilson A History of Christian Philosophy in the Middle Ages (1955)
Si Dunstan at the tcet of Christ. The drawing and in script i« n of 1.9(10 could be by DunSUUi's own h.ind. In 9 3 9 he was recalled by Athelstan's successor, Edmund. Opponents engineered a second expulsion from court, but Edmund restored Dunstan to favour and made him abbot o l Glastonbury after a miraculous escape from death whilst hunting near Cheddar Gorge r . 9 4 3 . Dunstan served as counsellor and treasurer to Eadred. but was exiled to Flanders on the accession o f Eadwig in 9 5 5 , He stayed at the monastery ol M o u n t BLindiu in Ghent, where he experienced at first hand the Continental monastic reform movement, until Edgar seized power in 9 5 7 and recalled h i m . I le was appointed bishop ot"Woreester immediately, becoming bishop of London in 9 5 9 and archbishop o i Canterbury in 960. With Edgar, he masterminded a reformation o f church and state, which was rooted in a revival o f Benedictine monasticisni. In Wessex he encouraged the spread o f the Benedictine values he had promoted at Glastonbury, whilst restoring the monastery after the Danish invasions. He also supported the work o f Aethclwold, bishop o f Winchester, and Oswald, bishop o l Worcester, in similar projects based on the houses ol Abingdon and Westbury-onT r y n i . respectively. Moreover, r . 9 7 0 he attempted to co-ordinate these independent elforts by calling a synod which agreed 011 the common monastic observance known as the J?et>idiiri.< Concordia. 1 Xinstan remained influential during the reign o l Edward the Martyr ( 9 7 5 - 7 8 ) . but fell into political eclipse on the accession o f Aethelred, becoming increasingly concerned with diocesan affairs. JH n E.S. Duekett Saint Dunstan of Canterbury ( 1 9 5 5 ) : Tenth-Century Studies ed. D. Parsons ( 1 9 7 5 )
Durandus of Saint-Pourcain (r. 1 2 7 5 - 1 3 3 4 ) Chiefly remembered as one o f the principal theological opponents ol 'Fhomas Aquinas. Durandus was a nominalist
1 It.
Durandus the Elder, William ( ¿ . 1 2 3 0 - 9 6 ) A leading interpreter o f canon law, Durandus - known as the 'Speculator' from the title o f his best-known work, the Speculum fudieiale — was active as an administrator in the papal states and contributed greatly to study o f the liturgy. 1 lis revision o f the Pont ifieale Roinonui n and his Rationale Divinonnn Offciorum rapidly became
standard auihoritie-s. He was elected bishop of Mende in Languedoe in 1285, an otfice in which he was succeeded by his nephew William Durandus the Younger ( r . 1 2 7 1 - 1 3 3 0 ) .
• A . C . Flick T V Decline of the Medieval Church ( 1 9 3 0 ) : L. Falletii. 'Guillaume Dnrand', Diniointaire de droit canonique vol,5 (1953)
E Easter, date of T he Council o f Nicaea (325) fixed Easter on the Sunday following tile first full moon after ihespringequinox. and approved the Alexandrian method for calculating when it should fall. The Alexandrians reckoned 21 March as the spring equinox, and used a i9-year 'Paschal cycle' to deal with the fact that the solar year was known to consist o f 3 6 5 days and an indeti'rminatc fraction. From the 5th c. onwards this system was adopled increasingly in the West, replacing those favoured hy the lioman, Frankish and Celtic churches. C M . O'Connell and A . Adam The Liturgical Year (1981)
Eckhart, Master ( 1 2 0 0 - 1 3 2 7 ) Dominican mystic. An aristocratic German scholar trained at Paris, he proved a master preacher and teacher both in Latin and in the German vernacular. His chief centre was Cologne, and it was there that the mysticism in his teaching, which came near to expressing .1 paiuheis-
E d m u n d , St lie interpretation of die Trinity, brought about charges ol heresy. He was convicted in 1336 at Cologne, appealed to the pope at Avignon, hut died before the papal decision {condemning some o f his work) was made k n o w n . His reputation and influence remained formidable, helping to create a background o f theological uncertainty and unrest in later medieval Germany. 1 J. M . Clark T7tr Great German Mystics
(1949)
Eclipses Astronomical knowledge ot the causes o f eclipses was transmitted to the Middle Ages by scholars interested in the calendar and chronology for religious and liturgical purposes. Dung.il trom Ireland, for example, is said to have explained them to Charlemagne, and there is even evidence for the successful prediction o f eclipses. In the Muslim w o r l d Greek know ledge was better preserved, and eclipses were studied scientifically in Baghdad in the tjth c. and at Cairo in the later 10th c. Medieval chroniclers and historians in the West, however, were more inclined to treat eclipses as portents, sometimes dating historic events inaccurately in consequence: for example, saga writers associated the death o f St Olaf at the battle o f Stiklestad near Trondheun on July 1030 with an eclipse which could not have taken place until 31 August. At other times chroniclers borrowed notices o f eclipses from fellow chroniclers or historians in distant parts, even though the phenomenon itsell could not have been seen in the area w here the writer was operating. Nevertheless, it handled critically, reference-soften serve as an accurate indication o f the chronological framework for events, and comparative studies 011 a world-w ide basis have demonstrated an equivalence in observation o f eclipses between Europe, China, and even the Mayan civilization ot prc-Columban America. i
I I . It. N e w t o n Medieval Chronicles out! the Rotation
of the liarth (11172): O.J. Schove Chronology of Eclipses oinl Comets, AD t-1000
(19K6)
Ecu ('shield') Name given to a French gold coin struck by St Louis 111 1266, having a shield as its type, and subsequently applied to many coins (especially Em i it chaise o( I'hilip VI of France {131"-so] showing the king seated on his throne.
French), weighing between 4 and $g and ol thin, broad fabric. The coins were usually identified with some descriptive epithet, e.g. ecu a la chaise, with the king seated, or ecu a l.t couroune. with ,1 crowned shield Since the latter was the commonest type from 13K0 onwards, the coin was known in England as a 'crown'. Edda, the Elder and the Younger I he two principal Icelandic sources for Scandinavian mythology. The Elder Edda contains 33 poems, some o f which date from as early as the yth c , though the compilation was made in the 13th c. The Younger Edda was arranged, also in (he 13th C, by Snorn Sturluson. but is generally thought to he ot mid-1 2th c. date. It contains the Gylliioiuitino, (he 'delusion o f G y l f f . w hich gives a synoptic account in prose ol Northern mythology, and is the basis for the later popular Tales from Asgarlh. 11 U . Dronkc The I'oetic T.dda ( i 9 6 0 ) ; C. Clover The Medieval Saga (1982)
Edgar the Peaceable King of England 959-75 (b. 943) One of the ablest ol the West Saxon dynasty, Edgar is usually held to be the first ruler o f a united English monarchy, though his uncle Athelstan (924-39) has some claim to that position. F.dgar had the good fortune to live in a period o f comparative lull in Scandinavian attacks and took the opportunity to build on Ins predecessors' successes. He is remembered for Ins law codes, his vigorous support o f the reformed Bendictine monastic movement and for his solemn coronation at Hath in 973. when the full panoply o f ecclesiastical ritual and pomp was exploited by Archbishop Dunstan to lend extra strength to the Christian kingship o f a united England. E d m u n d , St King o f East Anglia c. K55-69 (b. K41) I )cfeated by the I Janes al or near Hoxne in Suffolk, Edmund was captured and martyred 01120 November 869. Details o f his death were preserved vividly in legend: he is said to have been tortured, shot to death with arrows and afterwards beheaded. Some accounts say that he was buried first in a wooden church at Hellesdon in Norfolk and then reinterred at Headorkesworth, later Bury St Edmunds. Certainly the solid evidence ot the issue o f a substantial coinage in the saint's name by the end o f the 9th c. indicates the quick and. indeed, dramatic growth o f a cult around the person ol the dead king. His death was attributed to a steadfast refusal to renounce his Christian faith, and it is as a Christian martyr that he was remembered both in England and the Scandinavian N o r t h . Bury St Edmunds subsequently became an important centre
117
E d m u n d , St had attempted to maintain for centuries with very limited success. In the high Middle ages this system blossomed, taking its cue from the spectacular growth o f the cathedra! schools o f northern France, academically the home o f the I 2 t h - c . Renaissance. The growth o f the 1 i t h c. and [2th c. was lasting, receiving fresh stimulus with the formal and auton omous development o f universities in the late 12th c. and 13th c ; with the rise o f the mendicant orders with their particular emphasis o n learning and teach ing; and filially with the proliferation, in the later Middle Ages, o f chantry and other endowed schools. It would, however, be wrong to suppose that the church had a monopoly on education. By the 13th c. m a n y towns, particularly in Italy, were taking the initiative 111 h l t i n t school masters to teieh i t various levels: and there is evidence tor a surprising extent o f literacy in some o f these towns. T o these must be added court and household schools (Charlemagne's palace school being a celebrated early example), which might well feature churchmen as teachers, but which were independently initiated and run. Schooling was in any case only one aspe'Ct o f educa tion, which might also take the form o f training and apprenticeship (a vital role was played by the guilds in imparting a wide range o f artisanal and professional skills), or o f informal, private teaching and. indeed, self-teaching. Si Edmund lecding die hungry, in an early English Life of the king.
I21İ1-C
o f popular pilgrimage in the central Mieidle Ages. • D . Whitelock. 'Fact and Fiction in the legend o f St Edmund', Proceedings oj ike Suffolk institute oj Architecture ( 1 0 6 9 ) Education In comparison w ith even thccarly modern period, education in the Middle Ages was a luxury always confined to the minority; it was principally organized for the benefit o l males, and. to the extent that it was available to the layman, it was likely to be demanded most by those heeding to acquire the skills o f government, administration or commerce, and those w h o were in a position to afford it (111 terms o f time as well as material resources). In practice, for most o f the Middle Ages this meant aristocratic or urban demand. Even where efforts were made to ke'cp the exists of study down or to subsidize access for the poor, an individual's chances o f acquiring formal education would depemd on his ease ol access to its supply. For much o f the Middle Ages the chief supplier was the church. The monasteries, which had carried the torch o f learning and scholarship through the Dark Ages, the cathedrals and, gradually, the parish schools, formed a network which the authorities
1
IS
There was a great divergence be-twee-u theory and practice in the structure o f formal education. The disciplines were divide'd notionally into the seven liberal arts, comprising grammar, rhetoric and dialectic (the Tril'İHm), arithmetic, geometry, astro nomy and music (the QuaAriviurtt), and the higher subjects o f theology, law and medicine. But while the division o f the higher subjects was closely reflected in university organization at least until the end o f the Middle Ages, at the lower level it was not really a syllabus so much as a loose concepnial frame work within which the're was plenty o f scope for shifts o f emphasis and for development. Teachers felt free to select, to emphasize their o w n interests, or to discuss those topics and texts they felt to be
Education: a teacher and his pupils, in a manuscript possibly made for David II ol" Scotland. 1.1340.
Edward I
CinO de I'istoia lecturing to
his
pupils, in
a
i+uW. marble
most relevant to the times. Eventually some, like I lugh o f Saint-Victor, proposed alternative classifications, although these too remained models o f pedagogical theory, rather than causing a revolution in what was actually taught. In practice, the pattern o f the medieval 'syllabus' shows great consistency, at least as regards basic education. At the elementary level children were [aught to read, and then to write, to sing and to carry out some basic computus (essential for the calculation o f the Christian calendar). From an early stage the psalter featured prominently; psalms could be learnt by heart without much grasp o f the Latin language. The nest level centred on Latin, passport to the serious cultural world, to all the professions and to a fuller understanding ol the Bible and the church's rites and doctrine. To the basic texts bequeathed by late antiquity, such as Donatus' Ars Minor (a short treatise describing the eight parts o f speech), the Grammar o f Priscian, Aesop's Fables and Cato's Distichs (a collection o f aphorisms), were gradually added medieval masters' reworking or reiuterpretation o f the same material, sometimes more teaching aids than new texts: Aeltric's Grammar ( 1 0 t h e ) . Alexander o f Villcdicu's Dominate (i. 1 2 0 0 ) , Evrard o f Bethunc's Graccismus ( 1 3 t h c ) . Grammar schools, as their name implies, taught more than a second, international language; they trained students in the analysis and use ol language (grammar, rhetoric, dialectic, or logic), and this training 111 turn shaded into those branches o f philosophy which ultimately prepared the student for the higher, university subjects. The elements o f the Quadrivium, while they would certainly be taught in 'grammar'schools as well, often became the focus o f a different type o f school, known in its humblest form as an 'abacus' school, often approaching a business school in the range o f skills taught there (e.g., notarial skills and dictamen, the art o f letterwriting). However varied in type and syllabus, the medieval schools had some essential features in common. In most o f Europe, scholars had clerical status (although by the end o f the period this had ceased to mean very much); they thus came under ecclesiastical
relief
by
a Sic-ucsc
matter,
a l t e r 1337-
jurisdiction and w e r e targets for the ideals and moral strictures o f the church. Schoolroom life was severe; corporal punishment was an integral part ol education, and the school day was a long and demanding one. although relaxation was supplied partly by the religious calendar and undoubtedly by the inclinations o f the scholars themselves. Perhaps the most fundamental contrast with modem educational systems relates to the method o f learning. In class, texts were used above all by the teachers; the rarity and cost o f books put them beyond the reach o f most pupils, many o f whom would have been lucky to possess a psalter, traditionally the first book given to a child. The medieval classroom reflected the overwhelmingly oral nature o f medieval culture, with the teacher reading and explicating the text, and the student absorbing it and committing it to memory: the capacity o f medieval memories was highly developed- This emphasis oil oral transmission permeated all levels ol education and affected the method o f study and exercise (e.g., disputation and dialogue), the structure o f texts and even the attitudes to the auctores thus digested, .Sec I IBRItAT A l t T S ; UNlVFHNITlF.s
• N . Orme Etwiish Schools in the Middle Ages
I'll (1973):
J. Bo wen A History of Western Education v o l . 2 ( 1 9 7 5 ) : P. Richc Education and Culture in the Barbarian West (197N);
A . Piltz The World of Learning (njHi)
E d w a r d I King o f England 1 2 7 2 - 1 3 0 7 (b. 1 2 3 9 ) One o f t h e most powerful English kings o f the Middle Ages. Edward made permanent achievements in both the political and constitutional fields. His conquest o f Wales was stabilized by the imposition o f the Statute o f Rhuddlan ( 1 2 K 4 ) and made secure physically by the construction o f a network o f great castles (notably Caernarvon. I larlcch, Conway and Beaumaris), from which royal officers maintained peace throughout Gwynedd. the heartland of native Welsh independence. Attempts to impose similar authority over Scotland seemed in the 1290s to be near success, but ultimately failed in the face o f revolts by William Wallace and Robert Bruce. Internally. Edward served a hard apprenticeship as a young man. the Lord Edward, in the Barons' War.
HO
Edward I emerging finally as successful leader in t h e fight against Simon de Mont fort. He was away trom England on crusade when his lather, Henry I I I . died, hut Edward's reputation was so high that there was no opposition to his succession. For his w o r k i n reorganizing his feudal state at both central and local levels he i s sometimes referred to as the English Justinian. Most important among the legislative enactments o f his reign a re the Statutes o f Westminster ( 1 2 7 5 and 1 2 8 5 ) , the Statute o f Gloucester ( 1 2 7 8 ) and the Statutes Quo Warranto and Quiu liniptores (both o f 1290). Building on precedents, notably those o f de Montfort in 1264 and 1265, Edward consistently summoned representatives oflocal communities, knights o f the shire and burgesses o f towns, to central assemblies, and so f o s t c T c d the n o t i o n of a more sophisticated community o f the realm. For example, in November 1 2 0 5 , on the grounds that what affected all should justly be approved by all, he ordered to attend what later historians sometimes described as a 'model' parliament, his earls, barons, prelates, and also select knights o f the shire, burgesses, and representatives of the lower clergy. On the di'ath ol his wile, Eleanor of Castile, i n 1290, Edward had constructed the great Eleanor crosses, some o f which still survive, to mark the passage o f her body from Harby in Lincolnshire to King Edward I I I in the robes of the Order pf the Garter, which In- instituted (t-Jth-c. il In mi nation). »
Westminster Abbey. In spite o f his great achievements, and in some measure because ol the expenditure they entailed, he suffered periodic financial crises. He left a difficult heritage to his son, Edward I I , whose disastrous reign (1307—27) experienced m i l i tary defeat in Scotland (Bannockbum, 1314) as well as bitter and ultimately fatal constitutional conflicts. LJ F. M . Powickc King Henry Hi ami the Lord Edward ( 1 0 4 7 ) . The Thirteenth Century I2if>-t_i07(i')f,i}: C
Prestwich Wit. PittliC
M.
-md I tn-ntcc under I du ard I
(1972)
E d w a r d I I I King o f England 1327-77(1). 1312) Son o f Edward II and Isabella (daughter o f King Philip IV o f France, and the so-called 'she-wolf o f France), In 1328 Edward married I'hilippa. daughter o f the count o f Hainault, and had 12 children by her, including Edward (the Black Prince), John o f Gaunt, duke o f Lancaster, and Edmund o f Langley, dukeot York. Edward 111 brought England to a high peak o f success in the Hundred Years' War with France, though his later years were clouded by French recovery and by his own ill-health. A naval victory at Sluys ( 1 3 4 0 ) , left him in a position to dictate terms. The Black Prince led the army at Poitiers, taking the French K ing John II captive. Socially Edward's reign was conspicuous for the growth o f chivalric ideals; the Order o f the Garter was instituted in 1348, resulting in the refinement ° f concepts o f knightly behaviour, and o f the science o f heraldry. Financial troubles accumulated in the last decades o f his life, brought about in part by the social and economic dislocation caused by the Black Death and recurring plagues, and in part by the expense o f the French wars, renewed to French advantage under the leadership o f Charles V (1 Joj> 80) and DuGuesclin. Parliament became more highly developed and powerful: the division into Lords and Commons grew more clear-cut as the financial needs o l the king increased. The death o f the old king so soon after that o f his eldest son. the Black Prince, led to genera) lament at the loss o f 'such t w o lords o f high parage'; and an uneasy heritage passed to Ins young grandson. Richard I I . 1: M . C. Prestwich The Three Edwards ( 1 9 8 0 )
E d w a r d the Confessor, St King of England 1042— 6 6 (b. 1003) Son o f King Aethelred II and his Norman wife Emma, daughter o f Duke Richard II o f N o r mandy, Edward spent his youth in exile in Normandy, but was recalled to England in 1041, and succeeded his half-brother Flarthecmit to the throne in the following year. In a period o l great political turbulence. Edward kept his kingdom in relative peace, though he had to rely to a large extent on the
120
I in hard military capacity of Earl Godwin of Wcsscx (d. 1053) and his sons, notably Harold, who succeeded to the throne in January 1 0 6 6 . Edward had brought some Normans hack to England with him and remained in touch w ith the duchy; Norman apologists claimed that he had designated Duke William as his successor as early as 1051. Edward's piety was great and some ol his he'st emiTgy was dovote'd to the building ol' Westminster Abbey. He was canonized in 1161. \j4i\ 11 E. Harlow Edward the Confess** (n/if,) E g y p t At the beginning of the Middle Ages. Egypt was a prospcTous province ol the Byzantine empire with its chief city at Alexandria - the home of a patriarch and one ol the leading cultural Centres of the I letlenic world. Increasing political and religious dissatisfaction with Constantinople on the part of the Egyptians, among whom [he Monophysite heresy w as popular, facilitated the Muslim conquest in the 0 3 0 s . and for the rest of the period Egypt was an integral part of the Muslim world, at times subject to the authority of Baghdad or Damascus, hut mitre ol leu virtually, or completely, independent. In the early centuries, thanks to Alexandria, Egypt became one of the principal areas through which (ireek learning, philosophy and science were transmitted (by translation) to the Arab world. The political successes of the Eâtimids in the second hall of the IOth e. and the foundation of a new city at Cairo, brought Egypt into a central position in the Muslim Shi'ite world. Turkish successes, followed by the establishment of crusading principalities in Palestine, led to decline, and it was nut until the succc-sses of Sal.uhn. who united Syria and Egypt in 1174. that its importance revived. In the 13th c. crusading efforts were directed, on the whole unsuccessfully, against Egypt, at Damietta in 1219 and again under St Louis in 1250. Internally, the overriding military needs of Egypt resulted in the emergence of the Ma m lüks, hired military elements who preserved political control until the iftth e. • S. Lane-Poole .-t History of Egypt in tin- Middle Ages ( 1 9 0 1 ) ; P. Him History of the Arabs ( 1 9 s i )
Einhard ( 1 . 7 7 0 - H 4 0 ) Prankish scholar and court official, best known for his biography ot his friend and master. Charlemagne. He was educated at the School of Pulda, joining the royal court e, 7 9 3 and rising to an important position in the palace school at Aix-la-Chapelle. He became a close and trusted associate of both Charlemagne and his successor Louis I, and continued in public service until r. K30, when he retired 10 die c-statcs which Louis had given to him at Michelstadt and Miihlheim (Seligenstadt). Stained-glass window (1325-33) from Wells cathedral showing Edward the Confessor.
121
Einhard n Eginhard, (1923);
La Vie tie Chatlemagrte cd, L. Halphen
A . Kleinclausz Iginhard
(1942)
Ekkehard ( 1 ) 1 0 - 7 3 ) A monk of" St Gallcn and one of the most skilful Latin poets o f his age. Ekkehard is chiefly remembered for his part in transmitting the epic story o f WaltHafilfS 10 the mainstream o f Western tradition. Germanic poetic legends relating to sth-c. Aquitaine, Burgundy and the court of King Attila had been welded into an epic poem which Ekkehard translated (from the German) into Latin hexameters, after the style o f Virgil. WaUharim ed. K. Strecker ( 1 0 0 7 )
military and political support o f King John, her youngest son. As patron o f troubadours and courtly literature, great legends grew up around her. including accusations o f w itchcraft. By her marriage to Henry II she brought Aquitaine firmly into the Plantagenet orbit, and it was her ancestral lands which remained loyal to the English crown after the loss of Normandy ( 1 2 0 4 ) . thus providing the English king with a foothold on French soil for the next t w o centuries. • A. Kelly Eleanor of Aquitaine ami the Four Kings ( 1 9 5 0 ) ; Eleanor of Aquitaine: Patron ami Politician cd. W. W. Kiblcr ( 1 9 7 6 ) ; J . Markale Alienor
¡1'Aquitaine
(1970)
Eleanor o f Aquitaine (c. 1 1 22—1204) Daughter o i Duke William X (d. 1 1 3 7 ) . she succeeded to the duchy and married the dauphin Louis (later Louis VII), to w h o m she bore two daughters. She accompanied her husband on crusade 1 1 4 7 - 4 9 , where they became estranged; Louis had their marriage annulled in 1 152. T w o months later, Eleanor married Henry, duke of Normandy, later Henry II o f England. She provided him with eight children, hut his flagrant adultery alienated her inro supporting the rebellion of their sons against Henry, in 1 1 7 3 - 7 4 . She was imprisoned by Henry 1 [ 7 4 - K 3 . but when released, shared in the government o f Aquitaine with her son Richard Lionhean. After Henry's death in 1189, her political influence continued to be great. Her support for Richard was vital, especially- after his capture by the Emperor, and as late as 1202 she was active in
E m m a , lady of Winchester (d. I OS 1) Wife o f King Aethelred and then of Cuut. Emma was an influential figure in English politics throughout her life. Shewas daughter of the Norman duke Richard II, and so accustomed the English court to Norman ways. After a period o f exile under Cunt's sous she returned with her o w n son, Edward the Confessor, but amassed so much wealth and power during his early years that he was forced to move against her, to seize the treasury, and more or less confine her to Winchester, where she died. E m p i r e , H o l y R o m a n The concept o f an empire was transmitted in Christian rimes from Rome to Constantinople, restored to the West (from Greeks back to Latins) by Charlemagne in 8 0 0 , and carried forward from 9 6 2 by German rulers through several
The tomb ol Eleanor o f Aquitaine and Henry II in rhe abbey church of Fonrcvrault.
122
England dynasties to the (iabsburgs o f the 15th c. and loth c. It had much force in the Middle Ages, and indeed among historians interpreting the medieval experience deep into modern times. The term ' H o l y Roman Empire' is something o f an approximation to reality, and clearly it meant different things at different times to different people. T o Charlemagne and the scholars grouped around him ar Aix-la-Chapclle, there was something in the notion o f an Imperium christianum, the imperial title carrying an echo ot the right to rule people olher than one's o w n , after the Roman model. O t t o the Cheat revived the empire with his coronation at Rome by the pope in ylSi. hut to him and his successors it meant essentially political domination o f Germany and the Middle Kingdom, especially Italy. Saxons, Salians and above all the Hohen¬ staufen ( i 138—1254) refined the imperial idea: under Frederick liarharossa the epithet sacrum (sacred) came to be used officially, apparently as a reaction against papal claims and pretensions resulting from Greogry Vll's successes in the Investiture Contest. The revival of Roman law also prompted the creation of conscious links with the Roman empire o f classical days. Alter the great Interregnum ( 1 2 5 4 - 7 3 ) there was little chance o f a powerful, unifie'd and unifying empire capable ot governing the greater part ot the West. Indee-d. effective hope o f controlling the old heartlands o f Germany and Italy diminished, and both leading dynasties o f the later Middle Age's drew much o f their strength from non-German sources: the house o f Luxembourg from Bohemia, and the Habsburgs from their Danubian possessions. Yet it was then that the word sanctum (holy) came to be use"d o f the empire; it was able politie"al thinkers, notably Dante and Marsilius o f Padua, w h o put forward the most advance'd theories o f imperial authority based on ancient classical and Christian models. Lord ISrycc's great »101 that the Holy Roman Empire was 'neither Holy, nor Roman, nor an Empire' has substantial elements oi truth in it, and yet the importance o f imperial theory as a moulding force, notably in German history, cannot be denied. HKI. P G . Barraelough The Medieval Empire: Idea and Reality ( 1 0 5 0 ) ; F. Heer The Holy Roman Empire ( 1 0 6 8 ) ; R. Fob The Concept of Umpire in Western Europe /mm the Fifth to the Fourteenth Century ( 1 9 6 9 )
England Heathen Germanic peoples, commonly known as Saxons, who had long raided the shores o f Roman Britain, were first permitted to settle in the eastern part o f the island in the 4 t h e . m return for thfiir services as fighting mem. In the middle ot the next century, however, they quarrelled with the
Relics and insignia of the Holy Roman Empire. British chieftains w h o had taken control after the collapse o f Roman rule, and. aided by new waves ot settlers, began the conquest o f eastern Britain. Though their advance was briefly halted r. 500. the subjugation o f the area which became known as England had been largely completed by the end ot the 7 t h c. By this time the original warbands had coalesced into a number ot small kingdoms, each dominated by a warrior aristocracy headed by a king, who ruled by virtue o f his military power. The native British were reduced to a servile status and gradually adopteel the language and customs of their conquerors. In so doing, most lost their Christianity, though it continued to flourish in the British kingdoms remaining in the north and western parts ot the island. The conversion o f the Anglo-Saxons was initiated by the Roman church at the end o f the 6 t h C. Nearly a century elapsed before all the kings and their immediate followers were converted, still longer before Christianity was accepted in the countryside. Ye-t by virtue of its diocesan organization, underpinned by a parish system still tar from complete by the Norman Conquest, the church became the only authority to override the boundaries o f the various kingdoms.
12.1
England The relations o f the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms were those of eeaseless warfare, in the course oi winch kings ot Northumbria (in the 7 t h c.). Mercia (in the Xth c.) and Wcssex (in the early oth c ) . secured in turn the bretwalda (British ruler) or ovcrlordship oil the others. Especially important was the rule o f Offa o f Mercia. who constructed the great dyke to define the boundary between his subjects and the Welsh m the Sth c. His use o f titles such as re.v Anglorum betokens the belie! that the English were a single people who could be subject to one ruler. Nevertheless, the turning-point in the emergence of a united English monarchy came in the oth c. with the Viking invasions, ending t w o centuries in which England had been free o f external attack. By destroying all the other Anglo-Saxon kingdoms, they left Wcssex. in the south-west, the unchallenged leader o f the English community. Under Alfred and his successors, the territory settled by theDancs-thcDanclaw-wassysrematically reconquered and eventually shared on the pattern o f Wcssex. By the third quarter o f the 10th c. they had created a loosely knit, but durable, united English kingdom with a unified taxation and coinage system. Despite a period o f Danish rule ( 1 0 1 6 - 4 2 ) , royal administration developed steadily, and by the emd o f the Anglo-Saxon period the secretariat was relatively advanced, issuing sealed writs in English from the royal court to royal officers and thegns til the shire. The Norman Conquest, the last occasion when England was successfully invaded and settled by people from overseas, turned its development in new directions: the Anglo-Saxon upper class was replaced by a carefully structured feudal society with distinctive social arrangements and customs: the strong links between the English church and the papacy were reinforced, arid bishoprics and abbeys converted into feudal baronies. But though the French-speaking Normans abandoned the use o f English in favour o f Latin as the language o f government, they took over and developed the A n g l o Saxon administrative system. This made possible the compilation o f Domesday Book, the most impressive record o f royal government o f its time. The Conquest also brought England into the mainStream o f European affairs, binding rhe fortunes o f England and France closer together. For a century and a half the kings ot England were also the rulers o f large dominions in France, and under the Angevins i n the late lath e.. their interests centred o n their French possessions. This period only ended with the loss o f all these territories, with the exception ol Gascony, in the early 13th e. The Norman-Angevin royal house-hold gave birth to the principal organs o f a more elaborately organized central administration Which maintained
124
itself by taxing the wealth o f landowners and the trade o f merchants. Improved financial resources made possible the conquest o f Wales in the late 13th c . and prolonged wars with Scotland, whose border with England was fixed in 1237. They also enabled kings o f England to lay claim to the French throne, and for two periods — the I 35,0s and 1 4 1 0 s -
to conquer much o f France. Despire their growing power. English kings could not rule effectively without the co-operation o f the great landowners. At first, royal concessions took the form o f the issue and re-issue of Magna Carta. Later, co-operation was secured by 'parleyings' or parliaments between king, lords and. eventually, representatives of the commons as well. Even so. by the end o f the Middle Ages. English kings had become free ot rhe nee'd systematically to consult the wishes o f their subjects. Meanwhile, there had been profound changes in the structure and character o f English society. The Black Death ( 1 3 4 9 ) and late'r plague's caused a catastrophic fall in population which helpe'd to change the relationship between lords and peasants. Despite the failure o f the Feasants' Revolt ( 1 3 K 1 ) . lords abandoned the direct cultivation of their estate's, and unfree or villein tenure gradually died out. Finally, the identity ol the English as a distinct people was shown to have survived the Conquest. The English language had continued to be used, in speech if not in writing, and from the 14th c. onwards, as it became socially acceptable, its increasing use in literary works reflected a growing measure o f national self-awareness. See DANEfiELti; E X C H E Q U E R ; F H A N K I > L E I X ; F . ; HUNDRED R O L L S ; WRITS;
PARLIAMENT;
1't
AN T AC F N FT;
Wilis;
see also individual kings
GMK
Q Oxtbrd Histoiy of England, especially F. M . Stenton Anglo-Saxon
England ( 1 9 7 0 ) and M . McKisack The
Fourteenth Century ( 1 9 5 9 ) ; Pelican History ol England: D. Whitelock The Beginnings of English Society (1952). D. M . Stentou English Society in the Early
Middle
Ages ( 1 9 5 2 ) and A . U. Myers England in the Late Middle Ages ( 1 9 5 » ) ; B. Lyon A Constitutional Legal History of Medieval
and
England ( 1 9 6 0 )
Ephcsus, C o u n c i l o f (431) Third ecumenical council of the church, dismissed by rhe great historian Gibbon as 'a tumult o f bishops'. It was summoned to decide the orthodox view o f manors concerning the person and nature o f Christ. The influential priest and theologian Nestorius preache'd ideas which seemed to conclude that Christ possessed not one, but two persons. In 431 Cyril eil Alexandria, the papal legate', imprudently began the Council in the absence ot clergy from the eastern part o l the empire, and his forum condemned Nestorius. When the easterners arrived they set up a shadow council
â*'f;Infiel
ınr .it aeaSn jálete.
r
_^
E n g l a n d : .1 map of Britain by Matthew Paris. c. USO. showing the major waterways and deleiucs.
Ephesus, Council o f under John o f Antioch. Mutual recriminations, condemnations and excommunications followed, before Emperor Thcodosius intervened and sent the prelates home. In 4^3 John ot Antioch and C y r i l o f Alexandria leached an agreement on the central issue: Christ was held to have t w o distinguishing natures, united and assigned to one person. Pope Sixtus 111 confirmed the ordinances o f Cyril's council, which had promulgated a decree forbidding any formula o f faith other than that o f the Nicene Creed. This formulation was to have considerable consequences for later conciliar activity, reinforced by the survival o f the conciliar Acta from Ephesus.
• P. T . Camelot Histaire lies Coneiles Oecnniaiiqites vol. l {11)62)
Estates The basic idea of'estates o f the realm' was foreshadowed in the work ot 9th-and lOth-C, scholars who divided society into three groups: those who prayed, those who fought, and those who worked. This raw division was complicated in the vigorous 12th c. by the emergence o f active groups o f townsmen, ranging from wealthy merchants to poor artisans, masters, journeymen, craftsmen and unskilled workers. When political e'xprcssion came to he given to the notion ot a community ot the realm, and representative institutions developed in con sequence, the idea o f division into estates (normally three) persisted. The English Parliament provides a conspicuous example. From the later 13th c. it became customary tor burgesses ot the towns and knights of the shire lo be summoned to a central assembly: these groups eventually, and somewhal uutypically ot Europe as a whole, coalc-sccd into a House ot Commons, exercising significant power over the levying and collection o f taxes. In turn, the barons and upper clergy grew into a House o f Lords, though the church through convocation attracted the lower clergy into its own institutions. The French experience was somewhat different, partly because of the strength o f the monarchy, hut also because o f the continued existence o f provincial assemblies. In the opening years o f the 14th c. Philip IV summoned representatives o f towns, togethcT with feudal vassals, to an Estates General. The lesser nobility and the burgesses did not work together as in England, and the estates remained more disparate. Elsewhere in Europe, the Cortes in Spain, assemblies in the German principalities Semdinavli and the Slavonic communities (notahly Poland), exhibited similar characteristics, though only rarely were such assemblies summoned on a regular basis. By the end o f the Middle Ages, with the growth o f a more dynamic money economy, the notion o f rigid and
¡26
'['lie Au^lu-Irish courr of rhc Exchequer, showing the chequered partem of the table-cloth. separate estates was growing inadequate over large tracts o f Europe, though socially it retained force well into the modern period, certainly up to the time ot the French Revolution. HRt
• A.R. Myers Parliament and Estates in Europe lo ¡789
(1975)
Estates General The first meeting o f the French Estates General (itatsginiraux) was held in 1302 at the request o f Philip the Fair. Anxious to forestall the ecclesiastical council proposed by Pope Boniface, he summoned the three estates o f his realm - nobles, clergy and commons - to meet in Paris. As a result ot this assembly all three groups wrote separately to Rome in defence ol the king and his temporal power. From that time onward, the Estates General was assembled only in emergencies (i.e., usually lor the purpose ol supporting the monarchy in times o f crisis), and the meetings ( 1 3 0 2 . 130H. 1314, etc.) were carefully controlled by the lawyers who served the king as a consei! d'etat. This representative assembly continued to meet sporadically over the succeeding centuries, but it was not the beginning ot an eftcctive governmental institution; the concept o f government by consent o f the realm was still in the early stages o f development.
1.1 J. P. Straycr Medieval Statecraft and ike Perspectives of History ( 1 9 7 1 ) Exchequer (of England) As a consequence o f the Norman Conquest, England's financial administration was tightened and made more efficient. In the early years o f the reign o f Henry I ( 1 1 0 0 - 3 5 ) new
Famine iiiscitulioii.il torm was given to the central financial offices, which resulted in the creation ot the Exchequer, so called because o f the chequer-board pattern of the cloth used to cover the table on which accounts were rcndcTe'd. In essence, the novelty o f the Exchequer, as opposed to the Treasury, consisted in its efficiency as an accounting agency, its authority as a court, and its record-keeping capacity. Rolls o f the Exchequer survive for 1 1 2 9 - 3 0 and are continuous from 11 5 6 . An elaborate and eletaile'd record ot procedures, Richard FitzNigeT's Dialogue oj the Exchequer, was written in the 1 1 7 0 s . by which time it held its permanent home at Westminster with only occasional sessions el sew here. The prime purpose o f the Exchequer was to examine twice a year the debts and dues owed to the king and to audit the sheriffs accounts. It developed into the most efficient financial office in Europe and had great influence on organization in Normandy. There were also strong contacts with Norman Sicily, where Thomas Brown acted as judge and financial Officer ( l 14.3—58), before returning to England to become a key figure at the Exchequer in the 1160s and 1 1 7 0 s . The Exchequer underwent a series o f reforms a new tally system was introduced! to simplify the shrieval accounts, and specialization occurred with the use of new accounting procedures for cscheators and foreign accounts. These moasure-s reduced the sheriff's workload. Statute's in 1270 and
12S4 (lihuddlan) elaborated these processes, and the reforms 1 3 2 3 - 2 6 instituted hy Bishop Stapledon refined them further, simultaneously simplifying debt collection. Few substantial changes occurred before the Reformation. The Exchequer provided rhe bureaucratic model for other departments; a shadow Exchequer existed for Normandy by 1130, anel these departments in time followed the Exchequer out of the peripatetic household to a fixed location. Set PIPE H O I I S; R O C F H O F S A I I S H U R Y n R. L. Poole The Exchequer in the Twelfih Century ( ¡ 9 1 2 ) ; C.Johnson Dialogus lie Scaccario {1950); G. L . Harnss Kuig F-vlumtent .1111/ Pubhi I irunce m Medt'.iii
I-iiglami
(1975)
E z z e l i u o I I I da R o m a n o (1 1 9 4 - 1 2 5 9 ) GhibelUne lord, A cruel and ruthless tyrant. Ezzelino was active for nearly 4 0 years in the wars o f northern Italy. With the help o f the Emperor Frederick I I , he was able in only a few years to establish control over Verona, Vicenza and Padua. Fie was excommunicated in 1254 by Pope Alexander IV. and died tour years larer from a wound received ¡11 battle at Cassano, refusing both medical aid and peace with the church.
1236—42;
Peasants trading in eattle and pijrs at the Hamburg ('""• 1497.
F Fairs Originating for the most part in meetings ot traders on church festivals anel holidays [ferine), rhe fairs blossomed in the central Middle Ages in Europe into great regional, national or even international events where merchants, money-changers and men operating hanking skills assembled. Special privilege:; and powers ot jurisdiction w e r e normally conceded at these fairs, many o f which became noted for spe'eial products: wine, leather, textiles, metalwork, agricultural products, or horses. Fairs often lastc-d several days, sometimes weeks, and retained vestiges of their religious origins in taking the names o f saints, such as St Bartholomew in London or St Giles in Oxford and Winchester. Their importance was great in the cultural and intellectual, as well as in the commercial life o f Europe, in that they served as regular meeting place's at a fixed time and fixed place where men from wide'spre'ad communities could exchange news and ide~as along with goods and chattels. See C H A M P A G N E , F A I H S O F ; C O M M E R C E • C. Verlindcn, 'Markets and Fairs', Cambridge Economie History ofEurope vol. 3 ( 1 9 6 3 )
Famine It is important to define famine in medieval Europe in such a way as to distinguish 'true' famine
127
Famine
Dying of the famine: from the Ckroniaue d'AngUtrrtt ot Jean dc Warrin. t. 1470-N0. from the sporadic great hungers which were inevitable in an age when the basic agrarian economy depended to a large extent on the vagaries ot weather and harvest. Generally, the techniques ot food production and distribution were Sufficient to sustain population, provided that - and this is an important proviso-there was freedom from warfare, banditry, piracy and the general savagery associated with such violence, notably in times o f barbarian invasion. Given relative peace, the medieval manor and agrarian and pastoral practices both within and without a manorial economy were efficient enough to preclude famine. But enormous variation occurred from region to region and from district to district; and every community in Europe in the early Middle Ages suffered occasional, localized famine.
o f agrarian exploitation and urban organization could 110 longer support the high level ot population wbicfi had resulted from the preceding period ot growth; in other words. Malthusian checks began ro operate. Certainly the opening decades o f the 14th c. were harsh, and the famines o f 131.S-17 exceptionally severe. The Black Death in mid-century and subsequent outbreaks o f plague further exacerbated affairs, and the fall in rural population in the West proved longlasting. with no significant sign o f recovery until the late 14th c. Vivid artistic representation o f apocalyptic disasters in the later Middle Ages - famine, pestilence, war and death - serve to remind us o f the "true" famines caused by the economic dislocations o f the age. Set A G R I C U t TUUF. 1 tBl
hi the central Middle Ages the situation improved, and during the period o f climatic optimum from the mid-1 ith c. to the end o f the 1J til c. most o f Western Europe was well fed. though continued political disasters, culminating in the Mongol invasions, brought great affliction and regular famine conditions to large tracts in the east o f the Continent. Curiously, it is not until after 1300 that records become clear o f serious and protracted laminc in the West, in towns as well as the countryside. T w o general reasons have been suggested for the phenomenon: a climatic decline, and an exhaustion ot the economy which had reached its point ot saturation — that is to say, the point at w hich existing techniques
11H.S.
128
Lucas The Great European Famines oj tjts, I J I J (ttjjo); G. Duby Rural F.eonomy ami Country Life in tin- Medieval West (looX): E. LcRoy Ladurie 7'iines of Feast, Times of Famine ( 1 0 7 1 ) ; l i . Tannahill Food in History ( 1 0 7 3 )
ijiri ami
F a t i m i d dynasty I J O O - I 171 Shi'itC caliphate ruling N o r t h Africa and Egypt, named after Fatima. daughter o f Muhammad. T heir claim to universal sovereignty by virtue o f divine decree was contested by the 'Abbasids. The Fatimids' primary objective was the construction of an eastern policy which won Id allow them to wrest control from the'Abbasids. To that end a Mediterranean tleet and Fatimid control
Feudalism o f Egypt (973) became necessary, bringing them within the political and military spheres pfj first. ByzanHurB, and then the crusaders. The periodic expeditions against the Christians were costly diversions from their constant attempts to control Damascus, and as much energy was poured into diplomacy as war. The caliphate reached the height o f its powers in the I 1th c . but the unsettled conditions o f the 12th c , coupled with internal anarchy, economic crises and devastating famines sped the decline of the Fatimids. Saladin abolished the dynast y in 1 1 7 1 . • B. Lewis 77ie Arabs in History
History of the Arabs
(1950);
l \ Hitti
(19.SI)
F c l t r c , V i t t o r i n o da ( 1 3 7 K - 1 4 4 6 ) Educationist and humanist, tin is Mautuan scholar established a school, the Coso (iioeosa, which concentrated on educating the young in Latin and Greek, without neglecting physical education and moral instruction. Some poor hoys, and even some girls, were included m his groups, although fundamental support tor his venture came I rom the aristocratic and wealth v. His achievements signify, among other things, a reaction against concentration 011 the vernacular, and a conscious reversion on the part o f the scholarly to the Lacinatc universality o f the central Middle Ages, which many in the t sth c. considered to have been lost. i W . H , Woodward Vütorino da Filtra and other
Humanist Educators
(1903)
Ferdinand [ I King o f Aragón [ 4 7 9 — 1 5 1 6 (b. 1 4 5 2 ) Sou ot John II ot Aragón, he married Isabella ot Castile in 1469. bringing their t w o kingdoms into a form o f dyarchy when he succeeded his father in [ 4 7 9 . The t w o monarchs proceeded to complete the Kcconqucst with the capture o f Granada in 1 4 9 2 . After Isabella's death in 1 s.04 he gave only limited support to Cardinal Cisncros' attempts to extend the lleconqucst to Africa ( 1 5 0 5 - 1 o). He conquered Naples in 1503 and Navarre in 1512, the former victory drawing him deeper into the European political arena. He attempted to bolster his dynasty by a series o f carefully arranged marriages, which were spoilt by unexpected deaths. His shrewd introduction o f ambassadors and astute, wily diplomacy gained the respect, i f not the ailmiration. ot his contemporaries, including Mac"hiavclli. 1 J.FL Elliott imperial Spain 1471J-1J16 (1963) Ferdinand I I I , St K ing o f Castile and Leon 1217/30¬ 52 (b. c. 1201) Son o f Alfonso I X o f Leon and Borengucia, heir to the throne o f Castile through her lather Alfonso VIM. When his parents' marriage was annulled, he lived in Leon, but on the suekle-n death
o f I lenrv I o f Castile ( 1 2 1 7 ) tiere'nguela renounced her rights to the throne, brought her son to Castile and proclaimed him king, overcoming simultaneously rebellions by Castiliau nobles and a Leonese invasion that almost reached Burgos. Other rebellions followed, but none came so close to dethroning theyoungking. FeTdinand married Beatrice ofSwabia, grand-daughter o f Frederick Barbarossa, in 1 2 1 9 . Five years later he launched his campaigns against the Almohads. who had been decisively weakened at Las Navas de Tul usa. and as the Almohad strongholds fell to Muslim rivals, he fought against the successor states. He was now king o f Leon also: Alfonso IX died in 1230 leaving his kingdom to his two daughters, but with Bcrenguela's help Ferdinand persuaded them to yield the crown to him. From this time on, Leon and Castild were definitively united, with Castile as the senior partner. Moreeiver, the economy expanded and Ferdinand developed the universities. What had been a war of raids and unsuccesslul sieges (e.g.. Jaén 1225 and 1230) became one o f permanent conquest: Cordoba fell 111 1235, Jaén in 1245 and Seville in 124M after a two-year siege; the kingdom o f Murcia had surrendered peacefully in 1243. Ferdinand had not only made the first major advance in the licconquest for E 50 years; at his accession he found Muslim Spain occupying nearly halt the peninsula, and when he died, planning the invasion o f Africa, Muslim rule was confined to the kingdom o f Granada. This and his personal piety led to his canonization in 1671.
Feudalism 'Feudal' and 'feudalism' are terms much abused; in popular speech they are ignorantly intended as insults even more derogatory than 'medieval'. Even historians se'ldom agree on a datetor the beginning or the end o f feudalism, or on what precisely it was. One reason for what is, at best, the loose usage o f these words is that they are modern terms coined to describe a society which was passing or already past; the root word 'tendal' (Latin fettdum, 'fief) first appears in 1614 (OED), while 'feudalism' was not invented until the 19th e. Granted continuous development, and therefore a gradual start and finish, the origins of feudal society are best placed in northern France in the 9 t h c. and 10th c. with the eleeline o f Carolingian monarchy (in England, more dramatically, in 1066 with the Norman Conquest), and its waning, in the 16th c. M . Bloch defined it thus: ' A subject peasantry: wide-spread use o f the service tenement (i.e., the fief) instead o f a salary . . . ; the supremacy o f a class o f specialized warriors; ties o f obedience and protection which bind man to man and. within the warrior class, assume fhe distinctive form called
129
I .'iı J.il İMiı vassalage: fragmentation o f authority - leading inevitably to disorder: and. in the midst o f all this, the survival o f other tonus ot association, lamily and state. . . . ' I lowevcr, it is misleading to put first ' A subject peasantry', which is neither an outstanding nor a unique feature. Hotter by far to begin with 'the supremacy ofa class o f specialized warriors', and call them knights, lor they were the dominant class. Indeed, in the classic view, the origins o f feudalism lie in a military revolution whereby the Franks, who had hitherto (ought on loot, increasingly adopted heavy cavalry from the mid-Sth c. Mounted warfare heing expensive, specialized and exclusive, the m i l i tary elite became a social elite and the ancestors ofa new. feudal nobility. N o t until the loth c . or even later, did the knights achieve military and therefore social dominance, and the modern trend Is to emphasize the survival ofa Carolingian aristocracy into the early feudal period: hut there is no doubt ot the importance o l these military developments, which w ill also give rise to chivalry (one cannot be chivalrous without a horse), and to armorial bear ings which distinguished the armoured knight in action. The same military developments also account tor the lief, w hich is the tenurial essence ot feudalism and rivets feudal lordship and relationships to the land. The fief was land held ofa lord by his vassal in return tor honourable services, including military service, aid and counsel. While m the earlier period especially, landless knights abounded - young men and younger sons serving directly in the lord's household - the fief, bestowed by investiture, was the most desired torm of maintenance, and quite early became hereditary. Logically, however, in an analysis o f the fundamental features o f feudalism we might put vassalage before the fief, for this was a society based upon lordship, in a hierarchy ol vassals and lords culminating in the king or prince. The relationship was created by a developed and elevated form ol ancient Germanic commendation, whereby one freeman submitted to another by the act o f homage (joined hands placed between those o f the lord), confirmed by a sacred oath o f fealty and usually accompanied by investiture with the lief. The ceremony and the tie were solemn, for they were the bonds o f society at its upper and politically conscious levels. Monarchy itself became fcudali/cd. and was strengthened thereby, the king deriving more real power from his feudal rights as suzerain, the lord o f lords, than from time-honoured regality. It is therefore regrettable that Hloch. by his reference to 'fragmentation o f authority - leading inevitably to disorder', subscribes to the seemingly ineradicable
Feudalism: William gives arms to Harold. Creating a leudal bond between theni. heresy that feudalism is a negative, rather than a positive political force. Feudal monarchy in fact has been called the New Leviathan (R,l I..Ç. Davis) and feudalism is one o f the foundations ot the modern Western state. Il prohibited absolutism, tor the lord had obligations (not least o l doing justice ) as well as rights, and the vassal's obligation to give counsel blended into the right to be consulted, and ultimately to give consent. The great councils o f kings and their tenants-iii-chieT are thus the direct ancestors o f modern parliaments. -
T o Bloch's definition should also be added the castle (the earliest surviving example dating from the mid-IOth c ) ; this was the unique architectural manifestation o f feudal society. As the fortified residence o f a lord, it was the symbol and the substance o f feudal lordship, which it imposed upon the land by means ot the mounted men based within it. To those 'other forms o f association' surviving in the feudal period should certainly he added the church, winch was feudalized also; prelate's became vassals, and monks were thought ot as 'knights o f Christ', holding fiefs in return lor the service o f prayer. When we pray with joined hands we are rendering homage to God - one example ol the potent influence o f feudal concepts, which include the lundameutality o l personal relations, reciprocal obligations and discipline, institutionali/e-el loyalty, and honourable service tempering the reality o f hierarchy. See CAST! r.s; k n i o h t i k x i o RAB
Florence p 1*. Gmlhicrmoz E S M I suf I'origine de la noblesse en frame ( 1 9 0 2 ) : F.I.. Garishof Feudalism ( 1 0 5 2 ) ; M Bloch Feudal Society ( 1 9 6 1 ) ; F.M. S teuton The First Century of English Feudalism 1066—1166 ( l y l ] ) Fibonacci, L e o n a r d o (c, 1 r 8 o - i " . 1 2 4 0 ) Known also ,is Leonardo de Pisa from the place o f his birth, he is chiefly remembered for his remarkable exposition o f the properties o f certain numbers in sequence, the Fibonacci numbers, which have application not only in the field o f pure mathematics, but also in the biological sciences and in art. When expressed fractionally the numbers ( 1 , 1 , 2 , 3 , 5 , 8 , 1 3 , 2 1 , 3 4 , etc.) have a direct relationship to the spiral growth o f leaves and the stems o f plants ('A: V,: Vs. v i V,,), and to the so-called 'Golden Section' in art (V?. v i : "/,, etc., converging in decimal terms towards 0.61 K), His career was much bound up with the cultural developments at the court o f Emperor Frederick I I . and be wrote treatises on the abacus and on practical geometry and trigonometry which were influential in introducing the use o f Arabic numerals to medieval bairope.
salaried officials, and complemented by a centralized judicial system. The region's wealth was fostered by comital overlordsbip which allowed the towns to expand economically. French advances and machinations to incorporate the principality had been weathered during the lath c. However, the growth o f internal divisions between the aristocratic factions and social groups within the towns permitted the Fremch to gain considerable control In 1300 before being heavily defeated at Courtrai in 1302. The Treaty o f Aihissur-Orge ( 1 3 0 5 ) rei'ognized Flemish independence but imposed substantial financial burdems on the county and the loss ot Lille. Douai and Orchies.
In the 14th c. the towns, especially Ghent, tried to establish communal autonomy from the count, a conflict aggravared by the demands ot the Hundred Years' War. The count sided with his French suzerain; the towns, depende-nr on Fmglish wool and cloth, favoured the English. Louis de Male (i34N4) reconciled these discordant demands in a more flexible policy. Upon his death Flanders passed to the dukes ol Burgundy who were usually allies o f the English kings in the French dynastic struggles. 1 I ) J St rink / I C T-nati lltstcn •:•! We&ematKS ( 1 9 4 K ) Charles the Bold tried to develop a NctherlandicBurgundian state, but on his death in 1 4 7 7 the Finland I he Finns were an Asiatic people whose territories passed to his daughter Mary. He-r subsequent language, distantly allied to 1 luogariau. is o f the marriage to Maximilian o f Austria saw Flanders non-1 ndo-European group commonly designated united to the ITabsburg domain. We'alth, complex Finno-Ugrian. Settled substantially in their modern urban developments and political divisions, mirrored homeland by the Nth c , they were not converted to partly by language divisions between French and Christianity until the 12th c . largely under Swedish Flemish, provide the mam themes ot Flemish history pressure. Their patron saint is an Englishman, in the Middle Ages. See NFTIinil ANOS Henry, who became bishop o l Uppsala c, I I 52 and : H . Pirenne Histoire de ticlgiqtie vol. 1 ( 1 9 2 9 ) was martyred on a minnonary expedition to Finland c. 1 160. Politically their fortunes were bound closely to the ebb and flow ot Swedish strength, and by the Florence O f relatively minor importance in the end o( the Middle Ages Finland was no more than e'arly Middle Age s in spite o f hcT role as scat o f a a de-pendent duchy within Sweden, just as, in the Langobard duchy and. later, as occasional residence same period, Novgorod was falling under Muscoo I the margraveot Tuscany. Florence rose to p r o m vite control. The Finns, however, retained elements inence in Tuscany and to a k-ading position in the o f self-government and a strong social and linguistic European economy after the 12th e. He'r great wealth, identity. chiefly derived from industry (especially in textiles), -
1:1 E. Jutikkala and K. Pirincn A History of Finland ( 1 9 6 2 ) ; E. Kivikoski Finland ( 1 9 6 7 )
combined with commerce and banking, e'ucouraged immigration, which led to a rapid growth ot her population, but also contributed to internal divisions.
Flanders From the yth c. an increasingly autonomous county evolved out ol the disintegration o f Caroliugian Europe. Several capable rulers (Baldwin IV 9 N K - 1 0 3 5 ; Baldwin V 1 0 3 5 - 6 7 and liobert the Frisian 1071—03) welded together thcSC heterogeneous, but dynastically connected principalities. Which reached the height o f their prestige under Thierry ot Alsace (l I 2 S - 6 8 ) and his sein Philip (1 1 6 8 - 9 1 ) . The unity and prosperity o f Flanders was achieved as the old feudal structures were replaced by an administration and fiscal organization employing
From the early 13th c. the nobility and great merchants, followed by lower social groups, were divided into two parties: the Ghibellincs. who supported the imperial cause in the struggle between Empire and papacy from about 1 2 3 0 , and the Guelphs, who favoured the papal cause, although either parties' interests and loyalties were predominantly local. Civil conflict demanded new devices to maintain order, and at the end o f the 12th c. the consular government that had ruled the independent commune o f Florence since soon after the
Ml
View oí Florence
(1472):
miniature fröiri
J
cödcjü
t>[
Ptolcniy-s Qt&graßä.
Florence death o f Matilda o f Tuscany ( 1 i is) was replaced as supreme magistracy by the office o f podestit. T o secure impartiality, the podcstd was recruited, from the early 13th c . from outside the city. In the course o f the i Jth c , political power came to rest increasingly with the merchants organized in the greater guilds, thanks to the international success o f Florentine commerce and banking, which was continued by the issue, from 1 2 5 2 , o f the gold florin. T w o years earlier, the non-noble population had set up its o w n organization - a kind o f state within the state - duplicating communal institutions in its own magistracies and councils This lasted until the Ghibcllinc victory over Guelph Florence in 1 2i>0, and was revived on .1 guild basis, now permanently, in 12N2. In 121)3 the victory o f the new regime o f the popolo culminated in the exclusion from government o f noble families, defined as magnates, and their subjection to harsh punishments for offences against popolmi. The six. later eight, priors and the gonfalonier of justice remained until the lOth c. the government o f the city, the podtil.i being reduced to his judicial functions. T he building, begun ar the end o f the century, o f the new cathedral and of the Palazzo Vecchio indicates the prosperity ol Florence and the citizens' pride in her achievements: it also reflects, the spectacular growth in her population, which by 133N probably amounted to over 1 0 0 , 0 0 0 . The popular regime adopted Guelphisiu as the city's allegiance, hut the division oi the Guelph parry ar the turn oi the century foreshadowed the factionalism from which Florence continued to suffer during the 14th century, and which was intensified after the Black Death. Other sources o f internal conflict were the antagonism, sharpened by the Ordinances o f Justice o f 12113. between the magnate nobility and sections o f the popolo. and. increasingly, social contrasts between the artisans of the lesser, and the patricians o f the greater guilds. After the short-lived despotic rule { I 3 4 2 - 4 3 ) of Walter o f Briciine. duke ot Athens, the 'new men', organized in the craft guilds, succeeded in substantially increasing their share in government: but patrician recovery was followed by an attempt o f the oligarchical leadership ot the Guelph party to establish virtual control ot the state. In the wake ot reaction against this policy, discontent among the workers subject to the wool and silk guilds erupted in 137S in the revolt o f the C i o m p i . The Black Death o f 134H had dramatically reduced, possibly more than halved, the population ot Florence, but its economic effects were only indirectly related to this social upheaval. The democratic guild regime set up after its suppression was the last and most radical manifestation ol corporate organization in the city's government.
The regime which replaced it in 13K2 was no longer dominated by the guilds or the Guelph party. Corporate institutions and values remained important elements in Florentine politics, but ceased to have the influence they had previously enjoyed. The new regime was aristocratic, in rhat the patriciate held a predoniinanr position within a ruling class defined by eligibility to high offices; hut the craft guilds were not entirely excluded from it. The authority of the government was reasserted, although major decisions remained subiect to the consent o( the legislative councils. One o f the outstanding achievements o f the regime was the expansion o f the Florentine dominions by the acquisition o f Arezzo. Pisa and Cortona with their territories, and their gradual transformation into a territorial state. Tuscan opposition to Florentine expansionism helped the lord of Milan. Giangaleazzo Viseonti, in his advance into that region. In their wars w ith him from 1390 the Florentines proclaimed themselves detendc-rs of liberty against tyranny; his death in 1402 and the conquest o f Pisa 111 1406 secured not only the city's independence, but also her hegemony in Tuscany. The aristocratic regime enjoyed a remarkable measure o f cohesion until the 1 4 2 0 s , when, against the background o f fiscal crisis and renewed war with Milan, the city once more divided into two factions. Neither the introduction in 1427 o f a progressive tax based on property, the tatasto, nor peace with Milan in 142S softened that division, which in 1433 culminated in the victory ol the Albizzi over the Medici, and in the exile o f Cositno de' Medici. His return in 1434 marked the defeat o f the Albii-^i, followed by their exile and that o f many ot their supporters. Through reforms, especially ot the method o f electing the Signoria, Cosimo gradually established his o w n and his party's ascendancy by achieving control over government and legislation. But these reforms met with repeated resistance and suffered their most serious setback in 1 4 5 6 - O 6 . Although short-lived, the success ol that opposition to Medicean controls demonstrated the strength ol republican traditions. In 147N hostility o f the Pazzi supported from Home brought about an attempt on Lorenzo de'Mcdici's life, to which his brother Giuliano fell victim. The Pazzi conspiracy led to war with the pope and the king o f Naples; on the conclusion of peace, Lorenzo's position as virrual ruler o f the republic was decisively stabilized and strengthened, but also the role ol the political elite o f the regime was enhanced, by the creation o f a supreme Council of Seventy, who were to control legislation, as well as foreign and domestic policy; established for live years, its term ot office was periodically feiiewedUntil the laII ot the regime. After Lorenzo's death in 1 4 0 2 , Piero failed to
133
Florence preserve the delicate balance between divergent interests that his father had achieved in Florence, and had made the keystone o f his foreign policy. Failing to prevent Charles VlU's invasion ot Tuscany. Piero fled the eitv amid a popular rising ( 1 4 9 4 ) . A l l Medicean institutions were abolished, but the patricians, who had played a leading role in the demise o f the Medici regime and who had belonged to its most prestigious group, did not succeed in restoring the aristocratic regime ot the early I srh c. The creation, largely due to Savonarola's preaching, o f a Great Council o f over 3 . 0 0 0 citizens, who - in imitation o f the Venetian tMgtUn consiglio - were solely responsible for legislation and elections to office, was a radical constitutional reform which, while substantially widening the citizens active participation in politns made it pc.:::able Ic.r 1 polite, il elite to maintain a major role in the government o f Florence, Even so, patrician discontent with the increasing democratic tendencies in the Great Council led in 1 soz to the transformation o f the gonfalonierare ofjusticc into an office for life. Nevertheless, it was not domestic opposition, but military pressure in the wake o f the battle o f Ravenna that was the chief cause o f the fall ot the republican regime and the restoration o f the Medici in 1 5 1 2 . Nit • F. Schevill History of Florence ( 1 0 3 0 ) ; G. A . lirucker l-ioremine Politics and Society, 1343-1378 ( 1 9 6 2 ) , Renaissance Florence ( 1 9 6 9 ; new ed. with biblio. suppl. 19X2); N . Rubinstein The Government of Florence under the Medici, 1434 to 1494 ( 1 9 6 6 )
Florence, Council o f f 143S) With its clear recognition o f papal authority and its attempts, both successful and unsuccessful, to achieve Christian unity, the Council o f Florence reveals elements of weakness and ot strength in the I (.th-c. Couciliar movement, hi 1437 Pope Eugeuius IV transferred the noisome Council o f Basle tb Fcrrara, and in 1438. to Florence. A rump remained at Basic in defiance o f the pope. A powerful Greek delegation visited the Council, led by the Byzantine Emperor |ohn VM1. seeking m i l i tary aid for Constantinople and offering religious union in exchange; and compromise tonnulas were reached on outstanding theological differences concerning the Fitioqiie clause and the type of bread used for the Eucharist. In return, a papally sponsored crusade was initiated, hut this was crushed at Varna in 1 4 4 4 . The fall o f Constantinople within the decade ended hopes ot union. Other religious unions established at Florence were more permanent: the Latins were united to the Coptic church o f Egypt ( 1 4 4 0 ) , the Armenians ( 1 4 3 9 ) . the Chaldeans and Maronites ( 1 4 4 5 ) .
The
Council also dealt a significant blow to anti-papal elements m the movement Scncus deliberations
'34
with the Greeks took place at Florence, not at Basle; authority was seen to rest with the pope, rather than with the Council per si'. After the death ol Eugeuius IV ( 1 4 4 7 ) , Nicholas V achieved reconciliation with the recalcitrant cardinals who remained at Basle. • I . Gill The Council of Florence ( 1 9 5 9 ) F l o r i n (Latin llorenus, Italian florino) Florentine gold coin weighing 3 5 4 g and struck continuously, unchanged in weight, fineness and design, from 1252 to I 533- Its initial value was t! I in local money o f account, bur the inflation o f silver and billon coinage greatly increased its value; in 1450 it was worth £ 4 r6r. In the late 131I1 c. and throughout the 14th c. it was the most generally accepted international means o f exchange in Western Europe, and in the 14th c. was widely imitated, especially in the kingdoms ot Aries and Aragou.
F l o r i n ( 1 3 3 T ) : t h e tirsr r e g u l a r g o l d c u r r e n c y , a n d s y m b o l o l t h e g r o w i n g p o w e r o t Ftore'uce.
Foliot, Gilbert (d. 1 IKK) Bishop o f London. O f aristocratic Norman parentage. Foliot was trained at Cluny and played a prominent part in English ecclesiastical history, representing a strong element o f deep opposition to Thomas Bccket. He was abbot o f Gloucester in 1 138 and bishop o f Flereford from 1148, remaining close to the Angevin cause throughout his career. He was clearly disappointed when Bccket was appointed to Canterbury in I 162, though his own translation to London m the following year came to provide something ot a counterpoise to Bccket; Foliot acted as Henry IPs agent ¡11 negotiations with the papacy, played a part in the coronation o f the young King Henry in U 7 0 , and was in Normandy at the rime o f Becker's martyrdom. Excommunicated for his part in those turbulent events, he was absolved in 1 I 72 and continued to play an active part in English ecclesiastical life. Q D . Knowlcs The Episcopal Colleagues of Archbishop Thomas Bethel (nj_\0
Fontenoy, battle of ( S 4 1 ) A decisive event in the history o f the Carolingian empire, the battle demolished the hopes ol Charlemagne's grandson Lothar o f establishing an effective unitary lordship
Foscari, Francesco over his brothers Louis the German and Charles the It.ilel ill'France. Defeated by their coalition, he was forced to agree to the terms o f I he Treaty of Verdun (1*43> by which the empire was effectively parti tioned into three units ripe to develop into the historic moulds of France. Germany and the Middle Kingdom, held directly by l.othar. which included Lorraine. Burgundy and Lombards' as well as much
of Italy. Fomrvrault Abbey lounded r. 1 1 0 0 by the lireton hermit and preacher. Robert o f Arbrissel. It was a double monastery for monks and nuns. The Order was inspired by the Benedictine Rule, hut the abbess was in complete authority over both houses. More than a hundred houses o f the Order were set up in France, several in Spain and three in England. Its clientele mainly comprised daughters o f the aristoc racy. At Fontcvrault itself, there are eight English Plantagenct royal tombs, including those o f Henry I I . Eleanor o f Aeputainc, Richard I and Isabella o f Angoulcinc. wife of King John. 11 D . Knowles The Monastic On/rr in Fnglaid ( 1 9 6 3 )
Fores! law Hunting rights and the setting aside o f tracts ol land, wood or pasture for the use of a lord's hunting were commonplace throughout feudal Europe, but it was in Norman England that the development o f a law o f the forest, which lay outside the normal law of the land, became most pro nounced. William l's creation ot the New Forest, and the savage penalties (including mutilation) imposed to safeguard the game are notorious, but forest laws, w i t h their elaborate apparatus of courts. OUKCTS, verderers arid agisters, were the product ol die legalistic 1 2 t h c . notably o f Henry I I and his lawyers. The Assizes o f Woodstock ( i 184) forced compulsory attendance at forest courts, and by 1 2 1 5 the forests were so much a symbol ol royal tyranny that Magna Carta contained Special clauses forbid ding the worst abuses. Separate Forest Charters were introduced in the minority o f Henry III, closely associated with the re-issues o f Magna Carta, and in the later Middle Ages forest law began to fall into disuse. Best k n o w n among the English forests were the N e w Forest itself, the Forest o f Dean. Windsor Forest and Sherwood Forest, but forest land was to he found sporadically in many shires; at one stage nearly all o l F^ssex was declared under forest law. The legends ot liobin I lood encapsulate the poetic truth that in the common mind forests and forest law were synonymous with the worst aspects o f arbitrary royal rule.
Forged Decretals The canon law o f the papacy came to rely on collections purporting to embody decretal legislation o f t h e early papacy. Much o f this was the work o f 91I1-C. scholars, notably those operating around Rhcims, "flic I'seudo-lsidoriau Decretals were ol special importance, a n d were put together i . 8 4 7 - 5 ; as a response to vigorous secular intervention into ecelesiiKtie.il affairs under Louis t h e Pious a n d his successors, when several bishops were deposed or exiled (Paris in K 2 9 a n d 8 4 5 - 4 6 ) , The forge'ries sketched a golden a g e with .1 plethora o f intricate regulations on t h e liturgy, the sacraments and jurisdictional matters; t h e power o f t h e papacy was stressed, but in such J way thai it favoured episcopal rights against t h e authority o f the archbishops, the laity and the bishops' own clergy. T he forgeries h a d reached Rome by X 6 5 , but t h e reform popes cited them sparingly until Urban I I ( 1 0 K 8 - 9 9 ) . Their chief channel o f influence was n o t t h e papacy, but t h e collections o f canons, notably the COUectio Anseltno lialiiota ( 1 . 8 9 0 ) . and those ot Burchard o f Worms. Ivo o f Chartres a n d Gratİan. I lincmar ofRheims had rejected someoltheirmateri.il in the 9 t h c. as spurious, and later scholars, including Marsilius o f Padua, doubted their authenticity. Yet t h e texts continued to be cited as authorities until the 17th c. They incorporated some genuine material, a n d their emphasis on p a p a l primacy a n d opposition to l a y control within the church ctisurc-d their survival a n d political force. Sic ixnniHUs M E H C A T K R 1 • W. Ullmann Law ami Polities in the Middle cXges (I97S)
Fortunatus, Vcnanliiis ( 1 , 5 3 0 - 6 0 0 ) Poet and Christian apologist I le was influential 111 transmit ting evidence for the spread o f the Christian message in t h e early church through his Lives o f saints, and poems. He was patronized by the Merovingian ruling house, notably by King Sigcbcrt a n d his family (r. Ş 6 5 - 8 7 ) . Encouraged by Gregory o f Tours, he was accepted into the priesthood and eventually became bishop o l Poitiers shortly before his death. 11F.J. Baby A History of Secular Latin Poetry in the Middle Ages vol. 1 ( 1 9 5 7 )
Foscari, Francesco ( 1 3 7 3 - 1 4 5 7 ) Elected doge o f Venice in 1 4 2 3 . His policies were those o f the War party, which advocated territorial expansion in mainland Italy; in 1 4 2 5 he began a recurrent war w uh Milan which was only brought to an end by the Peace ol Lodi in 1 4 5 4 . Foscari's Italian preoccupa tions left Venetian interests in the East open to u C . I'etit-Dutaillis Studies Supplementary to Stubbs'T urkish attack, and this contributed to the loss o f Constitutional History vol. a ( 1 0 3 5 ) ; C . l t . Young The Constantinople ( 1 4 5 3 ) , after which Foscari had to accept a disadvantageous treaty in order to retain Royal Forests o/Medieuut HugtanJ (11/79)
135
Fosear i , Francesco access to oriental trading routes. He faced increasing opposition in Venice, and was finally discredited by the series o f convictions brought against his son Jacopo. He was forced to resign in October 1457. n W . C . tiazlitt The Venetian Republic vol. 1 ( 1 0 1 5 ) France Neither a homogeneous political community, nor a well-defined geographical area during the period from the dissolution o f the Carolingian empire to the later 15th c. That a i.tth-c. charter could suggest thai the bishopric o f Le Mans was capable of passing outside the kingdom o f France indicates that the territorial boundaries of the French monarchy's power rarely coincided with the indeterminate frontiers of* France". Indeed, for much o f its medieval history the kingdom o f France seems little more than a convenient geographical expression within which to locate many o f the more important formative developments o f the medieval period, such as the Norman expansion, the beginnings of Cistercian nionascicism and the Crasadcs, the 1 2 t h - C , revival o f theological studies, or the Avignon papacy. For a long time political fragmentation and regional diversity are the dominant themes. From the oth c. until the early 1 3th e, the monarchy was weak and lacking in influence, The conquest ot the Angevin empire by Philip Augustus 1 2 0 3 - 0 4 was a major turning-point; yet throughout the 13th c. and 14th c. efforts to centralize royal jurisdiction and to levy extraordinary taxes through representative institutions, along the same lines as the English and Spanish monarchies, were only partially successful; What ultimately transformed monarchy and kingdom in the 15th c. was the Valois triumph in the Hundred Years' War. which paved the way for roth-C. absolutism. During the I oth c. and I I th c. the dominant lorm ot political organization was the territorial principality Such local concentrations o f power, recognizing little or no external authority, emerged during the highly disturbed conditions o f the 10th c. in, among numerous cases, Flanders, Normandy. Anjou and Auuitaiuc. Everywhere there occurred social changes centred on the construction o f technically rudimentary castles, which became rhe focus o f a type o f power termed 'banal lordship' by modern authorities. Such lordship was identified with a total domination ot the local peasantry through force and the exercise o f what had once been royal rights. Associated with it was a complex and fundamental social transformation: the depression o f peasants o f free status and the replacement o f slavery by serfdom as the most common method o f exploitation. The pace o f change varied from re'gion to region, but its manifestations were clear in most places by
'36
the early 1 1 th c. One consequence was that by 0N7 when Hugh Capet (thefirst ofthcCapetiati dynasty) became king, infective royal authority was contmcd to the area around Paris and Orleans where the family had its lands. Little remained to the early Capetians beyond a unique and never challenged right to be called king, and the largely nominal rights oflordship over the territorial princes. More generally, the changes even threatened to dismember several ot the principalities, the royal one included. Princely authority was at its strongest in Normandy and Flanders; in some southern regions, it collapsed completely. The territorial balance between monarchy and individual principalities was drastically altered by Philip Augustus' Conquests. His achievements did. however, draw on the eliortsof his predecessors and on the economic developments o f the 12th c , which tended to favour those who already possessed wealth. The uniqueness o f the royal title was a major factor in lending legality to Philip Augustus' elestruction o f the Angevin empire, in the 13th c. great superiority o f resources relative to the remaining princes underpinned the prestige o f a ruler such as St Louis, who could pose as the ideal medieval ruler, guaranteeing all men's rights and leading crusades. Hut the legacy ot the long period ot localization was a regional particularism which obstructed the tar more intense efforts to centralize aurhority under Philip the Fair. Throughout the 13th c. and 14th c. the administrations o f the remaining territorial principalities o f Flanders. Brittany. Burgundy and Aquitaine - the latter under the rule o f the English king - had developed along parallel lines to the royal administration. Increasingly frequent clashes, such as the war with Flanders under Philip the Fair and
France d e p i c t e d as a c o u r t l y l a d y , w i t h her ' p e o p l e ' , represented
b v the k n i g h t , the" clerk a n d the l a b o u r e r .
Francis o f Assisi, St the provincial leagues o f nobles 1 3 1 4 - 1 5 , merged after 132.8 with the Valois-Plantagcnct succession dispute to bring about the Hundred Years' War. Although ultimately the solvent of much local poli tical autonomy, this scries o l conflicts took the Valois monarch v to the brink o (disaster after Henry V's victory at Agincourt ( 1 4 1 5 ) . The medieval history o f the French kingdom must in many respects he seen in terms of the sum ol its constituent parts. For this reason a great deal ol regional history has been written. Yet the monarchy can never he completely ignored, because In conrormity with accepted medieval attitudes, no one ever thought of abolishing it. As a result, even the greatest principalities never developed political authority which was truly independent of the monarchy, white the kings could regularly claim powers which they did not actually possess, although in doing so. they sometimes appeared foolish. It cannot be overlooked that in 1202 Philip Augustus was able to proceed judicially against King John as the ultimate feudal lord of France, or that it was to the battered court o f Charles V I I that Joan o f Arc's voices directed her. With the emerg ence o f French patriotism during the I lunched Years' War, the monarchy became a positive toree lor unity. At the same time, despite the presence o f formidable local Estates in Normandy and Brittany, for instance, the absence o f genuine national consul tative insdtutions enabled thekings and their advisers to tax without seeking consent, and to formulate arbitrary rules ol judicial procedure. .See F.STATts
Perhaps a t r u e , n e a r - c o n t e m p o r a r y p o r t r a i t o l St F r a n c i s o f A s s i s i . r. 1 3 2 0 .
gave me brothers no one showed me what I ought to do, but the Most High himself revealed to me that 1 ought to live according to the pattern o l the Holy Gospel.'
Following Francis' conversion 111 120(1. he became a wanderer and a beggar in and around Assisi. u l—7S). a formal constitution safeguarding the processes ot election to the monarchy was embodied in the Golden Hull { 1 3 5 0 ) . Seven electors, drawn from the great princes, were to assume responsibility for the election ut the kingeinperors. The German princes themselves became increasingly independent, many o f them virtually sovereign in their o w n territories. A growing urban and mercantile element found some substitute for
U F W I T T ELS H A C ı I
I1YNASTV;
CHIHEI1INFS;
RUI'FKT UK!
J. ITeckensieiu Harly Medieval Germany (107)1); K . Lcyser Medieval Germany and its S'eighhaurs ( l u K i ) ; F . U . H . du Boulay Germany in the Later Middle Ages ( 1 9 8 3 ) ; H . Fuhnnann Germany in the High Middle
Ages
(19H0)
Gerson, Jean (1 î f ı l - ı 4 2 9 ) A student o f Pierre d'Ailly. Gerson became a doctor o f theology in 1394 and chancellor o f the cathedral o f Notre-Daine and ot the university o f Paris in the following years. O n c o l the leading theologians o l the day. he worked zealously lor the healing o f the Great Schism and became one ol the principal spokesmen ot the Cİ011cihar movement at the Council ot Constance ( 1 4 1 4 ¬ 18). Although unsuccessful in t w o o f his principal aims - the assertion o f the superiority o f a general council over the pope, and his defence o l the rights ol the Gallican church in matters ot dogma — the influence o f his works and example was great in 1 sth-c. political and ecclesiastical thought. D J . L . Connolly John Gcrson, Relonner and Mystic (ly28)
Ghibellines I he t w o words 'Gbi bel line' and 'Guctph' entered the vocabulary o f Italian politics at the time o f Frederick II ( 1 2 2 0 - 5 0 ) . Derived from the German 'Waiblingen' and • W e l f , they gradually came to be adopted by rival Florentine factions in the 1 2 4 0 s who favoured either the Emperor or die pope (Innocent IV). By 125ft the use o f these terms had extended to northern Italy, w i t h the papal partisans known asGuclphs, and their opponents as Ghibellines. An important change occurred I2sft~58 w i t h the defeat o f the Hohenstaufen cause. After 1270 Guelphism came increasingly to he identified with Angevin supporters; the Ghibellines were antiFrench. TbeİT writers portrayed the Allge-vins as usurpers o f the I lohenstaufen. lacking any legiti mate claim to rule. By 1300 the t w o terms for the most part represented only local or family factions, rather than papal or imperial persuasions.
P. ISrezzi / eammuni mediaeval! uella statin d'ltalia (1939): D. Walcy The Italian Cily-Rcpithtiis (1909)
145
Ghibertí, Lorenzo Ghiberti, Lorenzo (117^—14S$) Florentine sculptor and writer. Ghiberti executed t w o pairs o f bronze doors tor the Florentine Baptistery, commissions which occupied him for most o f his career. He made an extensive study o f antique sculpture and was expert at modelling the human form. His Commentaries on art are o f major importance for the study ot Italian art. n R. Krautheimer Lorenzo Ghiberti ( 1 0 7 1 ) ; The Florence Baptistery Doors intro. by K. Clark ( 1 9 8 0 ) Giacomo Archbishop of Capua. He took part in the compilation o f the Liter
AugKStrlti tC .'usttluti:n: :'•/
MeIJi) issued by Frederick II in 12.11. and was probably responsible for the sections dealing with the church and the Sicilian clergy, Trained in law at the university o f Bologna, he was regarded as oneol the best legal minds o f the time. He was also one o f Frederick's most trusted courtiers, accompanying the Emperor on crusade in 122S. Giano delta Bella (d. 1305) Florence in the 1290s was torn apart by feuds among the magna! i, or noblemen, who dominated city politics. This Florentine nobleman decided to put an end to the fighting. He managed to w i n the support o f the middle and lesser guildsinc-n ot the t o w n , and in January I 293 helped to draw up the Ordinances of Justice, which were intended to control the behaviour ot the magnati. Although the Ordinances were retained in somewhat modified form, Giano himselffell from power in 1295 and spent the rest of his lite exiled in France, u F. Schcvill Medieval ami Renaissance Florence ( 1 9 6 1 ) Gilbert de la Poree (1076-1154) One o f the principal students of the theological school at Chartres. Gilbert became head o f die cathedral school at Poitiers and. in 1 142. bishop o f the diocese. His teaching was considered to be an extreme statement ol the theology ot the universalis! school and was roundlv condemned as such by Bernard ot Clairvaux. who failed, however, to have the doctrines declared heretical at the Council o f liheims ( 1 1 4 8 ) .
bishop o f Lincoln, where his ascetic way o f life attracted notice and admiration. However, Gilbert only reluctantly became a priest and refused higher preferment within the church. He chose, rather, to return to Sempringham and devote himself to serving the poor and ignorant whom he found on his lather's estates. Fulfilling his pastoral vocation, he organized a school, hospitals and orphanages for them. In 113 1 he founded a small community o f nuns who followed a simplified form o f the Benedictine Rule. Lay sisters and lay brothers were added to their number, and later, canons. This form o f double religious house proved popular in the 12th c. and others were founded, mostly in Lincolnshire and Yorkshire. Pope Eugenius I I I conferred authority for the new order upon Gilbert in 1 147. He accepted the responsibility unwillingly, but thereafter spent the rest o f his long life closely supervising his religious communities, and in particular maintaining strict discipline. Gilbert's o w n holiness gave rise to stories o f miracles, performed both during his lifetime and after his death. An account o f these was sent to the pope, together with a biography and testimonials from many eminent men, and in 1202 Gilbert was canonized by Pope Innocent I I I . GK ;
I'lic Book of St Ciilbert cd- R- Foreville and G. Keir
(1986)
Gildas British cleric o f the 6 t h c , whose tract De l:\eidio et Conqucsti! Britauniae is the earliest literary
work to describe developments in Britain alter the Roman withdrawal o f 4 1 0 . The tract provides a fundamentally credible outline of events, hut as its historical content is incidental to its main purpose o f exhorting repentance for the moral corruption which Gildas maintain:: characterized that period, it is problematic as a historical source. The traditional date for the writing of the trait is l , s.40. but modern scholars are inclined to place it later in the century. 11 Gildas: The 'Ruin of Britain' and other works ed. M .
Wmicrbottom ( 1 9 7 8 ) ; Gildas: Xew Approaches ed, M . Lapidge and D . Dumvillc ¡ 1 9 8 4 )
1 N . M . Haring The Case of Gilbert de la Force ( 1 9 5 1 )
Gilbert
of
Sempringham,
St
(r. 10N9-1 189)
Founder o f the Gilbertine Order. Gilbert was famous among contemporaries for his personal holiness, but his long-term reputation rests upon his foundation o f the only purely English monastic order. He was born into a well-to-do family which held estates in Lincolnshire. Some physical disability seems ro have overshadowed his youth, and instead ot pursuing a secular career he followed a course o f ecclesiastical study in France. After his return to England he lived for a while in the household of the
146
Giotto di Bondone ( 1 2 6 7 or 1 2 7 7 - 1 3 3 7 ) Tuscan painter and architect. Probably trained in the w o r k shop o f the great Florentine master Cimabue, Giotto was acknowledged by his contemporaries Dante, Petrarch and Boccaccio as the leading artist ot his day, Uniting in his arr the study o f Italo-Byzantine painting and Tuscan Gothic sculpture. Giotto stands at the end o f a long development In Italian Gothic painting; his art also points in many ways to new trends In the Renaissance. His work is noted for its simple, clear solutions to the problem ot the representation o f space and the human figure -
Glass, stained o f Florence cathedral ( 1 3 3 4 ) ; only the first storey o f the base was completed at his death. Despite the fact that Giotto is usually presented as the harbinger o f the Italian Renaissance, it is w o r t h while noting that many I4th-c, Byzantine paintings in Serbia and Constantinople bear comparison with his work. This in no way detracts from his genius, but suggests a parallel development o f artistic expression. | / j;o| CH 1 1 A . Martmdale 77« Complete
1'aintings of Giotto
( 1 9 6 9 ) ; A. Smart 77ic Assisi problem and the art oj Giotto ( 1 9 7 1 )
Glass, stained Throughout the Middle Ages painted glass was the principal form o f church decoration, especially in Europe north ot the alps, where the development o f large traceried Gothic windows gave particular prominence to the medium.
The 0gnlss. Dl liDluni.lli mania LU Dr V p ilil (Hunin rnjnrldnı: nılıl ı.ö ITilı• — - jlflmi... :' .ur baronfnl 5 rab m Ejırıtjifl bo • ıiba blrırMb ibrırü Inar G d.lıbılbi ballı loin OB. alula I nurun. •:! .1L'.;!1111. •. .: I.: I.' râ; ofl.ınrıınn: jlTnıfra. pmnja D • Enoa'• - L. :: M • • u. •• L:.: • .1... EmpnıLflıi narama • iratrra • p.ilnLuoo- nun • Hi'ttlı] ton P-banr. t ıraıır m amnlu .-.i. .1 ,ı 1 •: .1.1 J ' 1.1 giuFiu da rd-iH I bırianla^ncLlrbLblnaLErjaiLbnıın' p jralal mflnclûilll ıltıa i ElnrnbGi • 1 ıOuaB bDırflr nllaa - bldnb rtjElHc ninni Caba mniluin ûi&rrn i fabula. J . ınran rnıp H n bbna bniLTblırai.lııl İLlunırınrr ai 1 abrni qu:i Il oiFimrii - .1 c-ıaarnnr. tii prjrrnrırfl rama|llı miv n-ninnLB - limnn İr ainlo [ fif •w ani unnn.frr plnm rgıpnan-î irraı- itl VmolirlnnncaiLPlIiiilTiiaiDan [flmrflrnranfl-rmııibnriiT-lli'Hnf ml l-IDil D • pt rlnlhaniB. m \hA tjL0nbbnıao:rıırj3ılıiEınrar;laba •IIb lonuar In Imilrllûiilriilfii: ği ?LDDİnEun.'jı^jj.lırf binil ladliraB r j m ılpnllcUıa pflulitf-bM r. ifr^Oİ ınrjınılr" pamıB'UaıılûL Onituiıin pinrtrnbrjiEIr rrrucinn-rlur bï" • 1 nınjDnnırgırııulıJpInnnDh-lbTir , r r:-i • mnn m I tınlanın la qw brrnraıniD Jnn aıEcaLdıiüraalruB b •Ünnır. fin nnmibpinnn rnır. . Öblb vrnurıfar Eblrmıf Hıa nırab. 1 . . o..inim. ooıınrnllnûblnlımraı» bbbiajlbbi ••Jlr.ıLû.ı InlratMni. ılırjfmr. t- ••• nıın EranJBball iEononr ıtmEDhrnâ arraaraıprml 'I qır birramDrlJİ ruınınnj llfrirnamıt' tV r m dirai ripab (bin Oların quiijtf]"', . idpoıa bnrrbnBnnrtlbOanıB• rrtblı * Ü be nam li'.lt— L "il I m .1H m n ~ •' ııarrıftılı'lrnıaB.ırrar-mrijofjptı DDDm i. e iliirue ijraicinqi imtonin - aDaBiınfırlnuboıunıniHnıbnlLi .Wa&BHt0*U* I: 'I;:!: ::: naıraE':..: :ı ' i 1 • ınrrrarnmınrnıl non oaaniort] min bltLHDm banni[LbblblBİ • Ibıbıj rloiıiElraıf laarf nrû' fad r ÖTD ' nnnlan mal bpnftalB iLbaıraL-EI bLbOOBİIlLbaırrl|]lrbni . rp SnıbaB Fpibüıanı boııllı ıınlnlra nltQl1nira:n[ParnfnjnJuibnmT iun niiiiinl![[. lulic urina ipib 11 .lrflinran.-n nralanTrnnlbtfbİBlınıı rnuiDranra,imn bona böun 1 fi m Ebi rtinıınoııııanMr;abbr9ılomı.lTfn Oilnaiih pi nndrmn on Huai nnı Eımb pnOlı 1U. (I.llnın ıll a [ala bnitiLnmrlonm. V.iDiit rfniibra ni .-, 1: • :ı- Dıaaılraı Imılıo- nlrcrjDoraır ıı: T.ırdlıı n 1:1 cılcı: I jı.ll.l \ 'ramıratbm-rr Imw nia raimOnrifl
2
r
1
G w y n c d d The kingdom o f Gwyncdd lay in rhe north-west corner o f Wales and included the island ot Anglesey, always its lowland focus and contrast to the mountain heights ot Snowdonia. There İs evidence for kings from the early 6 t h c. and even at that date they are mentioned in terms which suggest a pre-eminence among the kings o f Wales. Gwyncdd kings, unlike other Welsh kings, ranged widely eive-r English Britain in the 7 t h c.. and the (toillb)stonc from Llangadwaladr on Anglesey commemorating King Cadfan in the- m i d - 7 t h c. calls him the 'wisest and most re-uowne-d king of all'. Later Gwyncdd kings, especially Rhodri Mawr in the9th e. absorbed the Welsh kingdoms o f Powys and Ceredigion, and in the [Oth c. the dynasty rook ove'r Dyfed in the south-west, although the kingdoms continued to remain separate. Despite a period o I southern dominance G w y nedd survived to become the focus o f Welsh resistance to the English and Normans. The Norman Conquest o f England had immediate repercussions for Wales Initially:, the Normans were highly successful in Gwyne-dd. but after the death of Earl Hugh o f Shrewsbury in Anglcse-y in 1008, their hold slackened. Thereafter, the border country and much o f the south were governed by Marcher lords, hut the prince-s o f Gwyncdd. especially Owain Gwyncdd (1 137—70). preserved substantial iiidcpeiide-nce. In the early 13th c. Llywelyn ah lorwerth Llywelyn the Great ( 1 2 0 0 - 4 0 ) - built up his authority as prince in North Wales (and. indeed, more widely throughout Wales), subject to the homage he paid to the English king. After his death, further advance was made by his grandson Llywelyn ap Grutfydd ( 1 2 5 5 - 8 2 ) , whose position as prince o f Wales with fe-udal control over 'all the Welsh barons of Wale's' was accepted by the English at the Treaty o f M o n t gomery ( 1 2 6 7 ) .
Edward I's succession te> the- kingdom o f England brought defeat, however, and in the second phase of the Welsh wars o f independence Llywelyn ap Grutfydd was killed (December 1 2 8 2 ) , and resistance was fihaily abandoned in June 1283. The work that the h id done 111 building up a territorial principality was turned to good advantage by Edward I and his successors. v
Though never again as ne-ar to independence, Welsh princes, such as O w a i n Glyndwr ( i . 1 3 6 5 1 . 1 4 1 7 ) , continued to revolt against English rule until the accession to the kingdom ot England ot Henry V I I Tudor, o f Anglesey stock, after the battle o f liosworth in 1 4 8 5 . ijJ.E. Lloyd History of Wales from the Earliest Tlhres to lite lulwardian Conquest (191 1): A . D . Carr Medieval Anglesey ( 1 9 8 2 ) : I ' . Stephenson The Govertunue of Gwyncdd
[60
(1984)
Hakim
The House of H a b s b u r g Agnes of Burgundy (2) =
RUDOLF I = (1) Gertrude of Hohenberg King of Germany 1273-91
ALBERT I Duke of Austria 1282-98 King 1298-1308
RUDOLF II Duke of Austria 1282-90
= Agnes of Bohemia
JOHN the Patricide (d. 1313) RUDOLF III King ol Bohemia 1306-07 RUDOLF IV Duke of Austria 1358-65 Count of Tyrol 1363
FREDERICK II Rival king 1314-22 Id. 1330] Catherine, daughter ot Emperor Charles IV
LEOPOLD I Duke of Austria 1298-1326 FREDERICK III Duke of Austria 1358-62
Beatrice of Hohenzollern
LEOPOLD Styna 1365-86 Carinthia and Tyrol ALBERT III Austria 1365-95
Albertine line of Austria
H H a b s b u r g dynasty Swahian family, originating in the north o f modem Switzerland. The llabshurgs (Hapsburgs) ranked among the lesser nobility o f Germany until, by service to the Hohenstauten, they became powerful and wealthy in Alsace, Zurich and ultimately, in the early 13th c , over much o f south-west Germany. During the great Interregnum ( 1 2 5 4 - 7 3 ) many o f the Hohenstaufen supporters looked to Rudolf, count o f Habsburg, and in 1273 he was elected Emperor, forcing his unsuccessful rival, the king o f Bohemia, to yield the duchies o f Austria and Styria ( 1 2 7 H ) . From that point the Habsburg interest became identified with the Middle Danube, and their centre shifted to Vienna, hi spite o f the loss o f their Swiss homelands and failure to maintain their hold over the imperial title, the Habsburgs extended their territorial influence in the 14th c . aci|uiring Carinthia and Carniola ( 1 3 3 5 ) . the T y r o l ( 1 3 6 3 ) , and finally Trieste with access to the Adriatic ( 1 3 8 2 ) . Division ol inheritance
ALBERT II Duke of Carinthia 1335
Leopoldme line of Styria and Tyrol
weakened this collection o f principalities, but after the death o f the Emperor Sigismund in December 1437 the German princes elected his successor and son-in-law Albert, duke o f Austria, as the senior representative o f the Habsburg house. From then on the Habsburgs provided the natural choice tor the imperial title. See AlBt-KTl; M A X I M I L I A N 1 1 i R. A. Kami The Habsburg Empire ( 1 0 5 7 ) ; A . Wandruszka The House of Habsburg ( 1 9 6 4 ) H a k i m Caliph 9 9 6 - 1 0 2 1 (b. 9 8 5 ) Sixth Fatimid caliph, famous for his persecution ot Christians and Jews, though he was bom of a Christian mother. His reign coincided with the Byzantine offensives in Syria and Palestine ( 9 7 4 - 7 5 ; 9 9 5 ) - hi tool a ten-year truce with the Byzantines was struck, but peace was disturbed by Hakim's destruction ol the Church ot the I foly Sepulchre in Jerusalem ( 1 0 0 9 ) . leading to a break in relations. His cruelties were manifold, and his assumption o f divinity, coupled with his general instability, has been read as a sign o f madne-ss. He elisappeared suddenly and mysteriously in 1021, most probably victim o f an assassination. • S. de Sacy Expose do la religion des Hruzrs
(1838)
161
1. Ri+iTti capital , "Rome, early
fee.
I! Pnwijothtt min-uituii. Erinlaiirf, m i i i I2t.
ABDECMNPRS
abdc^ttinprf
2. U n c i a l , I t a l y , 5c.
12 Gotowvmra^Hrtrfrtrm
xBiecmwrfis 3. New R m i t m mrsivt,
abbfgmnprfs
Italy, •ft.
13. Gmkc t«rntw mmida.Frtmcf, early 14-:.
u'bclC^rnM |> f^f 4i Half- vmcinV^ I t a l y , early
5. rVtcarpIiW(liyeKii)mim^
fee.
Late 7 c
6 . 1 m w l f l r r M m w « t i t , England, vnwl 8c,
a
e
g
m
n
p
r
J3t,
I5.fi jtkti twnivt, France, curly 151.
Ife. Lrttm fc«tflttliinr Protogothic documentary scripts, which, however, often retained the decorative quality o f their pre-decessors. During the Gothic phase (late 1 i t h - early 16th c.) several types o f heavier, more compressed minuscule
163
Handwriting (fextura) were used lor all literary purposes, from liturgical (12) to university (13) and vernacular texts; after the 14th c . the higher grades survived only for biblical and liturgical texts, while the lower were replaced by grades o f Gothic cursive book hand. Some English royal writs were already in semi-cursive script by c. 1150, and by c. 1230 fully developed Gothic atrsiva anglkana (14) was the norm for all public and private documents and records in England. Similar documentary cursive was in use throughout Europe by c. 1 2 5 0 , and most of its earlier, regional types were abandoned, c. 1375— 1425, in favour o f an elegant type which had been perfected in the French royal chancery by fi 1 3 5 0 (15); the English l 6 t h - c . secretary and court hands descended from this and from anglicana respectively. In Italy, with Frotogothic script confined to zones o f French influence in the extreme north and south. Caroline minuscule gave way c. 1200 to Gothic book hands, including the lilcra rotunda typical o f liturgical books and the litera bonOmiensis (16) o f legal textbooks, both introduced by university scribes at Bologna. A Iso o f Bologncsc origin was the Gothic notarial cursive, while the Gothic mercantile cursive was o f Tuscan origin, i'ctrarch (d. 1374) wrote a group o f Semigothic scripts which set a fashion and included grades o f cursive widely used by notaries and some humanists (17) in the 15th c. The Ultra liybrida (18), written after c. (425 in the Low Countries and north Germany, was based 011 the Semigothic script of papal briefs. The final, humanistic phase began in Florence (c. 1400) when 1'oggio Bracciolini launched litera aittiqua (igji a revised version o f the Caroline minuscule o f t2th-c. Tuscany. Niccolo Niccoli crossed it with his own mercantile cursive fc. 1420) to produce rhe quicker, more economical humanistic cursive which is the direct ancestor of all modem European handwriting. Both scripts were designed for the transmission o f classical texts, but by c. 1460 the cursive (20) had been adopted for papal briefsand for diplomatic correspondence. Roman and Italic type were based on antiqua (r. 1460) and the cursive (r, 1500) respectively. In Italy r, 1 5 0 0 liturgical books and business correspondence were still in Gothic scripts, and notarial documents largely 111 Semigothic, but the triumph o f the humanistic scripts and type faces was assurod. Elsewhere in Europe Gothic script survived into the r 8 t h c , and in Germany until 1 9 4 5 , S l ' C M A N U S C R I I T S T U n i E S • E.
M . T hompson An
TJB
Introduction 10 Greek
Latin Paleography ( 1 9 1 2 ) ; E.A. Lowe Codices Aniiquiores and
G.
and
Latini
( 1 9 3 4 - 7 1 ) ; B. Bischoff, G. I . Licftinck
llattelli Nomenclature fi) under Edward the Confessor and the strongest man in the country, Harold was elected king in the first week ofjanuary [ 0 6 0 on Edward's de'ath. He was a man o f considerable talent and sophistication, and the little available 16
S
Hasan ibn Sabbah Hasan ibn Sabbah (d. 1124) Leader o f ihe Nizaris. a heterodox Islamic sect, Hasan was an ascetic puritan: both his sons died by his hand, one for an alleged murder, the other for dissolute behaviour. He has been credited with the organization and training o f the Assassins. In 1090 he captured the fortress o f Alamul aided by converts within. This was the start o f a general rising against Seljuk power, marked by the assassination o f key opponents and seizure o f fortresses. The last major Seljuk attack on Alamut was in 11 iS. The remaining years o f Hasan's life were spent in relative peace, consolidating Ni'zari gains. • M . G. S. Hodgson The Order
0)
Assassins ( 1 9 5 5 )
Hastings, battle of ( ( 4 October 1066) Decisive battle which resulted in the conquest ot England by Duke William o f Normandy, w h o claimed, by right o f designation, to be the lawful successor to King Edward the Confessor ( 1 0 4 2 - 6 6 ) . The engagement was fought at a site henceforward known as Battle, some seven miles from Hastings, and is well recorded visually in the Bayeux tapestry. Harold 11 o f England, fresh from his victory at Stamford Bridge, fought valiantly, and was well supported by seasoned troops equipped for the familiar infantry tactics o f the N o r t h , armed with swords and battleaxes and drawn up in an impressive shield-wall. William opposed him with forces relying heavily on cavalry, and it was the strength o f the cavalry arm. helped by the archers, that clearly won the day for the Normans, giving them extra mobility and flexibility in tactics. It has been estimated that 6 0 0 0 - 7 0 0 0 troops took part on either side. • R. A . B r o w n , 'The Battle o f Hastings', Proceedings of the Battle Conference tgSo ( 1 0 8 1 )
H a w k w o o d , Sir John (r. 1 3 2 0 - 9 4 ) One of the great foreign condotlieri w h o played an important role in the military life o f the Italian peninsula in the late Middle Ages. The son o f an Essex tanner, Elawkwood began his military career in France as leader o f a group o f mercenaries called the White Company ( 1 3 5 9 ) ; this restless and ambitious group o f soldiers gradually moved southward to Piedmont, and then Italy. In 1364 the I'isans chose him as commanderin-chief in the war against Florence. Fie worked in the service o f the papacy and later for the Visconti family until 1377, when he agreed to fight for the Florentines, who granted him citizenship and tax exemption for life. At his death he was given a magnificent state funeral in Florence cathedral. • G. Tease The Condotlieri: Soldiers of Fortune
(1970)
H e n r y I I I King o f Germany and Holy Roman Emperor 1 0 3 9 - 5 6 (b, 1 0 1 7 ) One o f the strongest
¡66
German rulers o f the Middle Ages. I lenry imposed internal peace and strengthened his position on the eastern frontier by defeating the Hungarians and subordinating the Bohemian duchy in the early years o f his reign. He was a zealous supporter o f church reform and used clerical orders, notably the Cluniacs, intensively in government and administration. In 1046 he intervened in the affairs o f Rome to settle the scandalous situation which had arisen, whereby three men claimed to be pope. At the Synod o f Sutri, held under his patronage, followed by a further Synod at Rome, the existing claimants were declared deposed and a German bishop elected as Clement II, w h o then crowned Henry Emperor on Christmas Day 1046. There followed a succession o f German popes, culminating in the election o f Henry's o w n cousin as the strong reformer, Leo IX ( 1 0 4 9 - 5 4 ) . In the light o f the Investiture Contest which was to follow, it is often held as something o f a paradox that German and imperial enterprise could have been so prominent in the creation of the reformed papacy, which was to prove its bitterest enemy in the succeeding generation. Henry's early death at the age o f 39 and the succession o f his young son Henry (aged only six or seven) left the German kingship weakened at a critical moment. See Ac;NKs
Henry II Plantagenet King o f England 1 1 5 4 - 8 9 (b. 1133) Creator o f the Angevin empire, son of Geoffrey Plantagenet, count o f Anjou, and Matilda, daughter o f Henry 1 and grand-daughter ot the Conqueror. Henry II was o f equal importance in the history o f France as in the history o f England. Recognized as duke o f Normandy by : 150 (at the age o f 17). and count ot Anjou on the death o f his father in the following year, he married Eleanor o f Aquitaine in 1152. thus acquiring control o f extensive territories in south-west France. King Stephen o f England was forced to accept him as heir, and Henry succeeded to the English throne in 1154. For the following 35 years this hot-tempered, able and energetic Angevin played a prominent and. at times, dominant part in European politics. The skill o f the French kings, notably o f Philip I I Augustus alter 1 T 8 O , and the disloyalty and turbulence o f Henry's sons ('From the devil they came, to the devil they will go') caused failure in the most ambitious o f his Continental schemes; but even so he lett a formidable inheritance to Richard Lionheart, and ultimately to his youngest and favourite son, John. In England he achieved great and permanent advance in the fields o f finance, justice and administration. The country needed a period o f peace and reconstruction after the disruption ot King Stephen's days and Henry was the man to provide such a period. His most enduring work was performed in the
Henry the Navigator legal sphere: royal courts became more efficient, new writs dealing with the possessory assizes helped to stabilize the landed position, and regular eyre's on the part o f royal justices in the shire courts made real the power o f the common law o f England. In financial affairs the continuous records of the Exchequer from I I J J testify to the sophisticated nature o f English financial techniques. Henry had mixed success with the church. The translation o f his able chancellor Thomas Kecket to the arch bishopric o f Canterbury proved a personal disaster. BcCKCt re-siste'd Henry's reforms, was forced into exile, anel on his return after partial reconciliation in late 1 1 7 0 , was martyred in his cathe'dral at (Canterbury. Henry also proved Immensely important m wider British fields. Wales was kept relatively quiet and the Marcher lords, notably Uichard Strongbow in I'emhroke. busy and loyal. The capture o f the king of Scotland during the unsuccessful rebellion o f Henry's sons enabled him to assert English overlordship in the northern kingdom. Most significant ol all. taking advantage o f Strongbow's military successes in Ireland, Henry intervened personally, ami ultimately established his son John as lore! o l Ireland. In the range ol activities and degree o f permanent success. Henry Plautagcnct ranks high among all medie'val Europe.in rulers. [ / - - ] Kill a W . L. Warren Henry U ( 1 0 7 3 ) Henry V King o f England 1 4 1 3 - 2 2 (b. 1 3 8 7 ) Taken by later generations as the archetypal medieval heroking, Henry V is greater in legend than in history, although his achievements were considerable. Succeeding his father Henry IV ( 1 4 0 0 - 1 3 ) , he showed a combination o f tolerance and ruthlessness that spoke well o f his innate capacity as a medieval ruler. He was savage in suppressing Lollardy and rebellion, but diel much to reconcile the tactions that had
Stone effigies of Henry the Lion and his wife Manilla.
formed following the deposition ol Uichard I I ami the rebellion o f the Percy family, with Welsh help, in the reign o f his father, l i e is chiefly remembered, however, for his extraordinary success in inaugura ting what was virtually a new phase in the I lundred Years' War. His spectacular triumph at Agincourt (141 Ş.) brought about near collapse o f French resist ance. Combining genuine piety with statesmanship. 1 lenry made an accord with the Emperor Sigismund i l i ' , by which he nullified Genoese support lor the French and helped to end the papal schism, through the election o f Martin V in 1417. Through siege warfare Henry achieved a virtually complete conquest o f Normandy by [ 4 1 9 . and an alliance with the Burgundians forced French agreement to the Treaty o f Troycs ( 1 4 2 0 ) , whereby Henry was rccogmze'd as henr to the French throne, and married Catherine, daughter o f the French king Charles V I . I lenry died on campaign in France in August 1422, less than t w o months before the death of the French king. 1 lis early death, in his 11 liel-t turtles. Condemned England to a long ami difficult minority, n E . F. Jacob Henry [' and f'ıe Invasion of Frmut 1
(1947)
Henry the L i o n (1 1 2 9 - 9 5 ) Duke o f Saxony t rom I I 4 2 and o f Bavaria ( 1 1 5 6 - 8 0 ) , he was the out standing representative of the great Guelph dynasty. I lenry snpporred his cousin Fre'elerick Barbarossa in his campaigns in Italy and against the Poles, hut his failure to se-nd reinforcements in 1170 led to imperial defeat at Legnano at the hands ot the bombard League. Flenry's seizure o f church lands gave Emperor Frederick opportunity for revenge, which he took, depriving Henry ol both his duchies by judicial means in 1 180. I Living spemt his exile in England at the court o f his father-in-law Henry I I , he made a turbulent return to Germany after 1 100. but failed to restore his tortunes. I lis principal contribution consisted in his initia tion o f a steady process o l colonization to the east from his Saxon base, and also in the maintenance o f internal peace in Germany wheal Barbarossa was busy with his imperial and Italian schemes. His Overthrow in 1 1 8 0 indicates the importance o f the lie o f feudal dependence on the king, and the division o f his vast complex o f lands foreshadows the emergence of a new class ot impérial princes who were to be the ultimate beneficiaries o f the failure o f kings and emperors to impose unitary sovereign control on Germany 111 the later Middle Ages. ıı
K. Jordan Henry tkt I.urn
(1986)
Henry the Navigator (1304-1460) Third son o f John I o f Portugal and Philippa, daughter o f John ot Gaunt. Henry accompanied his lather in the capture
167
Henry the Navigator
Heraldic devices are clearly displayed on these knights in combat from Sit Thomm Holme's Hook, t, 1443. of the Atrican city o f Ceuta in 1-415. This had been organized as part o f the lieconquest o f the Iberian peninsula. Henry continued this programme by sponsoring a series o f voyages along the African coast to outflank the Moors and disrupt or seize the Arab gold trade. Progress was slow until Cape Bojador was passed in 1434. The Madeiras and Cape Verde Islands were populated, and sugar introduced into Europe in substantial quantities, as well as coarse peppers, with their preservative values. More important was Henry's settlement at Sagrcs, to which he attracted mathe-maticians, chartmakers. shipmasters and translators. This school utilized classical and Arabic learning and synthesized this knowledge with practical experience to produce the caravel type o f vessel, particularly suited to long voyages, and astronomical and navigational instruments which were used with the first set o f latitudinal tables. The spirit ot achievement and competence fostered the self-confidence which provided the springboard for later European expansion. • C.
R.
lioxer
The
Portuguese
Seaborne
Umpire
(1069); J. Ure Prince Henry the Navigator ( 1 9 7 7 )
Henry of Langenstein (d. 1397) Theologian. An important apologist for the Couciliar movement whose Concilium Pads ( 1 3 S 1 ) proved influential at a critical time. It owed its influence in part to the r.68
relative simplicity o f its argument, which stated that a general council was superior to the pope, that it was infallible and could be summoned by a secular ruler. Henry of Susa (d. 1271) Cardinal o f Qstia and canonist. Trained in Roman and canon law at Bologna, he also taught there, and later taught cm011 law at Paris. Innocent IV promoted him to the see ofSistcron ( 1 2 4 4 ) . to the archdiocese o f Em brim ( 1 2 5 0 ) , and in the same year made him cardinal o f Ostia and Vellctri. Elis reputation as a canonist was well established even in his lifetime. I lis Smnnta Aitrea, a collection o f glosses and expositions on law composed 1 2 5 0 - 6 1 . earned him the title 'Lord o f the law and most luminous interpreter o f the Decretals'. • C. Lefebvre, 'Hostiensis'. Dictioimaire de droit cauoiuque V ( 1 9 5 3 )
Heraclius I Byzantine emperor 6 1 0 - 4 1 (b. e. 5 7 5 ) Son ofHcraclius, exarch o f Africa, in 6 1 0 he sailed to Constantinople, seized and executed the unpopular Emperor Phocas, and was proclaimed emperor himself His reign was dominated by military conflict. In a scries o f four campaigns (622—28) he broke Persian power in Anatolia and Armenia, and precipitated the collapse o f the Persian empire. He held at bay the Slavonic advances in the Balkans, but was powerless to halt the Arabs as they swept
Heresy through Syria, Palestine and Egypt. Hcraclius attempted to resolve tlie theological disputes within his empire hy a series o f compromises, but open condemnation o l bis policies by the papacy resulted in failure. Heraldry In the sense o f a science o f armorial bearings, he'raldry originated in Western Europe in the i zth c. and developed into a sophisticated intellectual and artistic discipline in the course ol the t w o succeeding centuries. The placing o f distinguishing marks on a warrior's shield or helmet was a custom o f immemorial antiquity, but the growth o f a systematic method o f identilying noble kindreds in war or In peace was a characteristic ol fully formed feudal society in the West, with its emphasis on hereditary right and hereditary succession to lands and authority. The cosmopolitan nature ot the military aristocracy was emphasized by the general mobility characteristic of I2th-c. Europe, notably as a result of the crusading movement. The granting ot arms, initially a matter tor the feudal lord, rapidly became a royal prerogative, and to wear or use another's arms became tantamount to forgery. Heraldry applied to the church as Weil as to the lay nobility, and heraldic devices also came to be used by guilds and corporations in towns. Variety was permissible in the e'arly days, but by the 14th c. strict rules concerning usage became the CtJStOm throughout the Western world, enforceable through royal courts such as the Heralds' College in England, incorporated in 14X3 by King Richard III. The language o f heraldry was, and is basically French - an indication ot the central position occupied by France and the Angevin empire In feudal society. The most elaborate vocabulary concerned the blazoning o f the shield, its colours (tinctures), d i v i sions (ordinaries), common charges (beasts, trc-cs, plants, often with a punning reference to a family name — terns for Verncy, for example), and the way in which it is 'differenced' in favour ot yoongersons or collateral branches. Similar complicated rules and terms apply to helmets and to 'supporters', that is, symbols o l men or creatures used in cases o f high honour, to stand in support o f the shield (e.g., the lion and the unicorn).
Hcrbals Some o f the most beautiful manuscripts to survive from the Middle Ages are illustrated hcrbals that treat the properties o f herbs (i.e., useful plants, largely used for medicinal purposes). Information, and also much legendary material about plants such as the mandrake, is derived from classical sources, especially from the work in the first century A D o f Pliny and his contemporary Dioscoridcs. and from the 4th-c. writer Apuleius Platonicus. Great claims were made for even the humblc-st ot plants. D W . Blunt and S. Raphael The Illustrated Herbal (1979)
Heresy Attitudes to heresy, as indeed to the strict interpretation o f orthodoxy, varied from age to agewithin the Christian church, hi the early centuries theological disputes, which sometimes marked profound racial and social differences, mostly centred around the nature o f the Trinity, and more specifically, around the nature o f the second person ol the Trinity. These disputations continued to vex the Eastern Orthodox church, but the Western church on the whole accepted the orthodox Nicene Creed and was largely free from major splits on heresy from the Council o f Chalccdon (4.S.1) up until the 12th c. The first heretics to he burned in the medieval West were some fifteen clerks and nuns caught in a palace intrigue ar Orleans in 1022. and the members o f a religious community found near T u r i n in loaX, Hcrbals often provided precise botanical derail; this ilyiantine example- depicts agrimony (firh c.)i
Heraldry and the role o f the herald were closely associated With concepts o f nobility, gentility and chivalry, which reached their point o f clearest expression 111 ijrh-c. and I 4 t h - c . Europe by the creation o f institutions such as the Order ol the Garter by Edward 111 o f England (134H). HHL I 1 A. R. Wagner Heralds ami Heraldry in the Middle Ages (1956)1 Bdutell's 'Manual dj Heraldry' ed. J. P.
lirookc-i.ittle ( i 9 7 3 ) : A. I(. Wagner Heralds and Ancestors ( 1 9 7 8 )
i6y
Heresy
stereotype for the later w itch craze. A t Cologne in ! 143 t w o sects were discovered in public dispute. They shared an ascetic spirituality and hostility to the ecclesiastical hierarchy, but members o f one claimed Apostolic authority for their o w n hierarchy. Thev turned out to be converts of the Bulgarian Bogomils. whose influence spread in the next four decades through the L o w Countries and the Lauguedoc to Lomhardy. creating the Cathar churches whose distinctive dualist theology (i.e., one founded on the conviction of the essential evil of all created things) was reinforced by direct contact with the Itogomil churches of the Byzantine world.
lltirmnec heretics during ihe- reign o[ Philip Augustus; tram a miniature hy Jean Fouquc-r.
whose devotion to the Holy Spirit led them to maintain .1 constant chain o f prayer, and not to eat meat or to sleep with their wives. The rapid spread o f anti-clerical preaching during the lath c. was accompanied hy a sharpening o f the definition o f orthodox belief, and a hardening o f attitudes towards the unorthodox. In I 1H4 the bull Abolciuliim was issued in an attempt to impose uniformity and orthodoxy: it required bishops to make an annual search (iiujuisitio) o l their diocese and to excommunicato both heretics and officials who failed to act against them. After the Fourth Latcran Council such measures were incorporated into secular law, including that o f the Empire ( 1 2 2 0 ) . Aragon ( 1 2 2 1 ) and France ( 1 2 2 6 ) . From I 2 J 1 inquisitors acting directly under papal authority were active in the Lauguedoc and Italian cities; they were authorized to use torture in 1 2 5 2 . and extended their activity through most o f Continental Europe in the following centuries. Warned hy St I'aul that 'in the last times some shall depart from the faith . . . forbidding to marry, and the eating o f meat', bishops were quick to interpret manifestations o f lay spiritual enthusiasm as revivals of the ancient heresies of Mam and Arms and to associate them, with or without evidence, with the denial of the sacraments and the orgiastic behaviour regularly attributed to heretics (from the clerks of Orleans to the largely mythical Brethren of the Free Spirit of the 1 4 t h e.). Tins helped to create a
170
T he sophisticated teachings, ritual and Organization o f rheCathars, and rhc influence which humility and personal austerity brought their male and female missionaries, made them the principal object of the Albigeaisian Crusade and of subsequent persecution. But the native tradition was more ancient and more enduring. The call to Apostolic poverty and the smiph uy ;>f the primitive church was no less potent in the mouths of heretical preachers like Tanchelm in Flanders or 1'cter o f Brtiys in Provence (early 1 2 t h c ) , than they had been in those o f the prophets o f monastic and papal reform in the 1 Ith c. Henry o f Lausanne (jtf. c. 1 1 16—45) could fashion resistance to the expanding mediatory role o f the clergy, especially in baptism, marriage, confession and death, into a coherent creed which commanded wide-spread and, for a time, tenacious support in the Lauguedoc. Whether less fundamentally anti-sacerdotal enthusiasm le'tl to heresy was largely a matter o f chance and of the sensitivity of authority. The Waldensians. founded e. 1176 by a Lyonnais merchant to resist the spread o f Catharism. were driven into heresy by insistence on episcopal control of their preaching, and under the force o f persecution became increasingly radical and bitterly anti-papal in their doctrines; the Lombard I lumiliati, very similar in their beliefs and demeanour, we-reanathematized with them and others in 1184, but reinstated as a religious order by Innocent Ilk gaining many converts in the very cities where the Cathars were most active. Popular heresy did not owe its currency to external e-ontamination from antiquity or the- Orient, nor to its appeal to the interests o f any particular social class. Doctrinally. its most consistent tendency, most completely expressed by John Wyrliflc, was to resist the elaboration of teaching and ritual, the elevation o f priesthood over laity, and the secular power o f the church. Socially, too. heresy and orthodoxy w ere inseparable; each defined the other. As a strong tendency to insist on spiritual and economic brotherhood implies, heresy was often embraced by those w h o suffered from social change. Cloth-workers in 1 ith-C, Arras or nobles in t^th-c.
Hildegard o f Bingon, Sı Florence might both sec worldly corruption made manifest in the growing power ot merchants, w h o were themselves more likely to advertise their rising status by conspicuous piety than to jeopardize it by dabbling in heresy. Conversely, accusations o f heresy were less likely to be effective in checking the progress o f such groups - though it was tried, notoriously against the Maurand family ofToulotise - than in warding oft'the resentment o f their rivals and victims. The most stubborn heresies often defended tradi tion, against the sacralization ot marriage in the 12th c or the institutionalization o f die spirit o f St Francis in the ı j t i l c. But however conservat iver heir inspiration, by the very act ot expressing it heretical preachers made a bid for popular endorsement against the established order, and by the austerity o f their lives as well as the eloquence o f their words. Ottered their followers an alternative focus o f loyalty and solidarity. None challenged that order more radically than Arnold o f Brescia, whose followers seized control o l Rome from the pope in the I 140s, or John I lus. w h o gave his name to the bloodiest wars ot the later Middle Age-s. Ne-ithcr w as guilty o l doctrinal error. [333] KIM 11 G. Left" Heresy in the fatter Middle Ages ( 1 9 6 7 ) ; M . D. Lambert Medieval Heresy ( 1 9 7 7 ) ; R. I . Moore The Origins of European
Dissent (1977); E. Peters Heresy
to Christianity on the eastern frontier ot Germany, ultimately canalizing efforts, in collaboration wilh the Poles, against the slill pagan Prussians. Intense German colonization, which accompanied his conquests, resulted in the foundation ot the historic German-dominated Prussian principality. a E. Christiansen The Northern Crusades ( 1 9 8 0 ) Hildebrand See Gregory V I I Hildegard o f Bingcn, St ( 1 0 9 8 - 1 1 7 9 ) Abbess o f the Benedictine house o f Rupertsbc-rg near Bingcn from 1 136, I lildogard proved highly inllueiitial at a personal level with some o f the leading figures ol t heage, notably St Bernard o f (Tairvaux and Frederick Barbarossa. She was learned in the medical arts, but was also a powerful visionary (suftering apparently from some form o f epilepsy), and her tract, the Seivias. written in the 1 140s. contains much that is apocalyptic in its denunciation o f vice. The work o f her old age. the l.ilnr de Operalione Dei, attempts a
subtle and ingenious resolution o f t h c spiritual and the physiological, in order to explain the inner motives o f men. the drive to ihe sexual and sensuous, and the associated periods o f repentance, n B. Newman Sister of Wisdom ( 1 9 8 7 ) St H M d i - g i i r d . ' S y b i l o f t h e Rhine*, dictates lie-r p r o p h e c i e s t o V o h n e r . her secretarv ((, 1 1 4 I ) .
and Authority in Medieval Europe (luNo)
Herman H i l l u n g (d. 9 7 1 ) An active military com mander ol the Saxons in their campaigns against the Slavs, liilhuig proved himself a loyal servant o f King Ottu I when the king was busy in wider German and Italian (ultimately imperial) schemes. Within Saxony he had exercised many o f the ducal functions from early in the reign, and the gradual recognition o f his position as duke within Saxony marks an important phase in the royal attitude towards the subordination ot the ducal office. Billung's mastery o f the military situation on the eastern border, and the part he played in stabilizing the pattern o f March lands against the Slavs, ensured the perpetuation of his kindred as defenders ot the German frontier; 11 K . LeyseT Rule and Conflict
in an Early
Medieval
Society ( 1 9 7 9 )
Herman u f Salza (d. 1239) Virtual creator o f the effective and formidable German crusading order, the Teutonic Order, Herman was active in t w o principal spheres. As a traditu111.il crusader with the Emperor Frederick It, he took part in the negotiated recovery ot Jerusalem in I 228. and began the building ofthc great castle of M out fort. 1 le was also responsible from I 2 M onwards for a policy o f forced conversion
•
•••••m -
1111 in '71
Hincmar
The Hohenstaufen FREDERICK I (1) = Duke of Swabia 1079-1105 FREDERICK II DukeofSwabia 1105-47
Agnes daughter of Henry IV
= (2)
LEOPOLD III Marquis Of Austria 10951136
CONRAD III King of Germany 1138-52 LEOPOLD IV Marquis of Austria 1136-41 Duke of Bavaria 1139-41
I HENRY II Jasomirgott Duke of Austria 1156-77 Duke of Bavaria 1142-56
FREDERICK I Barbarossa King 1152-90 Emperor 1155 FREDERICK V Duke of Swabia (d. 1191)
HENRY VI King 1190-97
Constance, heiress of Sicily
FREDERICK II : King of Sicily 1197 and ol Germany 1212-50 Emperor 1220 HENRY King of the Romans 1220 (deposed 1235)
PHILIPof Swabia Kingll98-1208 Yolande of Brienne
1 MANFRED King of Sicily 1258-66
CONRAD IV King of Germany 1250-54 CO NR ADIM (d. 1268)
H i n c m a r (r> 805—82) t i l a noble Prankish family. Hincmar was a child-oblate to Saint-Denis. Well educated under Abbot Hilduin, Hincmar joined Louis the Pious' palace clergy. After Louis's death ( 8 4 0 ) . he entered the service ot Charles the Bald, and in 84s, was appointed archbishop o f Rheims, the most important metropolitan sc"c in the West Prankish kingdom. His priority was the resumption o f Rheims' lands lost during a preceding ten-year vacancy, and the assertion o f metropolitan authority. His wider ami was the maintenance o f social order through the church's pastoral function's and the preaching o f individual moral responsibility against advocates ot predestination. T he help ot a strong kingship was necessary to realise Hincmar's aims; he consistently supported Charles by the military service o f his church vassals and money raised trom church lands. In the first halt ot Charles' reign he was often a favoured counsellor, managing assemblies and recording their proceedings. He produced appropriate canonical arguments when Charles wished to block his nephew Lothar IPs divorce.
172
Later Charles increasingly preferred younger counsellors. With Charles' successors after 8 7 7 , Hincmar partially recovered Ins influence, bur their weakness undermined his political strategy. In ecclesiastical politics too, Hincmar needed royal help to succeed. One suftragan deposed by Hincmar was reinstated by Pope Nicholas I with Charles' connivance; another appealed to Rome in vain because Charles also sought his downfall. Hincmar wrote in many genres: a polyptych, a Lite o f St Kcmigius and episcopal statutes, reflecting his care tor Rhi-inis' property and its clergy's conduct; numerous theological works and contributions to the theory o f Christian marriage; several treatises on kingship and royal consecration rites. His many letters, and his continuation o f the Annals of St Benin (covering 8 6 1 - 8 2 ) , are invaluable historical documents. He died while fleeing from a Viking attack on Rheims. [ J . Dévisse Hincmar, ( 1 9 7 . 5 - 7 6 ) ; Châties
Archevêque
de Reims
H45-SS2
the Bald: Court and Kingdom ed.
M . Gibson a n d j . Nelson ( 1 9 8 1 )
Hrabanus Maurus Hoheııstaufen dynasty The greatest o f the German ruling families of the Middle Ages, the Hotıı-ııstaiden originated in Swabia. where they at One stage held the rank of counts ot Waiblingen (Italian form. 'Ghibelhne'), They came to prominence in the late 11 th c. as the leading lay supporters pi King Henry IV. and the head of the family. Frederick 1. married the king's daughter Agnes ( 1 0 7 9 ) and ultimately succeeded to the duchy of Swabia. In 1 1 lN Conrad of 1 lohenstaufen was elected as Emperor Conrad HI ( İ İ J 8 — J i ) . From 1138 to 12,14 'he Hohenstaufen played an important and often dominant role in European polirics. In succession the imperial title passed to Conrad's nephew Frederick Barbarossa ( 1 1 5 2 - N 9 ) , and then to Frederick's direct male descendants, his son Henry V I the Severe (1J 0 0 - 9 7 ) , his grandson Frederick I I ( 1 2 1 2 - 5 0 ) and greatgrandson Conrad IV ( 1 2 5 0 - 5 4 ) . The great poetic works elaborated by German poets o f the early 13 th c. at the court ofPhilip ol Swabia (younger brother o f Henry V I ) . helped to keep the Hohenstaate-n legends alive. The death o f Manfred, illegitimate son o f Frederick I I . in 1260* and the tragic murder o f Conradm, son o f Conrad and last ol the line, by Charles o f Anjou in 126M, perpetuated these legends. Crusaders and powerful rulers, they failed for a variety o f complex reasons to build permanent insti tutions o f government in Germany and in Italy, but left behind the flavour o l failure in great though perhaps impossible causes that was to haunt German historiography for many generations. 1 K . Hanipc Germany under the Saltan ami Hthctistaitfen Emperors ( 1 9 7 3 )
Hohcnzollerii dynasty Although known as a noble family from the 10th c , and prominent from time to time in the affairs o f their native Swabia and FraiK'onia. and (from rhe late 12th c.) in Nuremberg, the 1 lohe-nzollcrn did not emerge into the top rank o f Gorman princely families until the later Middle Agc-s. In 1415 Frederick, burgr.ive o f Nuremberg, became margrave o f Brandenburg and an elecror o f the Empire. Their movements thereafter were closely linked with îffiırs m Frussı 1 and with main tenanceofthe genera! German position in north-east Germany and the Baltic lands, n R. Schneieler Die Hahehzoüem (1953)
1 S'fi-c. French manuscript showing Perceval, Galahad and Kors achieving rhe Holy Grail. the Grail in medieval literature becomes synony mous with the knight's search for perfection, and its development through Robert de Boron's Estoire don Grant (th i n early 7 t h c. Many of these foundations retained strong Connections With the families ot their founders, who exercised influence in the appointment ot abbots and thereby in the administration of their properties. In the course of this movement some monks set out for foreign parts, establishing Other monastic foundations and engaging in some mission work. By the Nth c. many monasteries in Ireland itself had become exceptionally wealthy, patronizing the production ol artworks — elaborate service hooks and vends — and playing a part in politics too. Hy the end of the century the abbots ol the major monasteries were controlling smaller dependent monasteries, sometimes quite widely scattered, and were becoming more powerful than the bishops to whose jurisdiction they had originally been subject. In the later 8 t h c. and yth c. their involvement in politics was such that ahbors rook to war. while their connections w ith aristocratic families were so close that kings sometimes held clerical as well as secular Office. This was meist striking m the case ot the kings ot Minister, as. for example, Olchobar, abbot of F.mly and king ot Cashcl in S48. By contrast some bishops strove to assert superiority over others, and the church of Armagh was notable in attempting to establish hegemony (rather like an overkingship) over the entire Irish church. Initially content to share such .1 hegemony with the church of Kildare. by the Nth c. Armagh was claiming appellate jurisdiction throughout Ireland and a position comparable to that of the bishops of Rome in Italy. These claims were not sustained 111 the long term, although Armagh remained a powerful church. In the meantime some clerics and monks had become disillusioned with the worldlincss of the church and campaigned for more ascetic practice. This movement, known as the Culdco movement, was in prugress by 8 0 0 . especially associated with Tallaght; it led to the foundation of more ascetic houses, sometimes in very isolated places, to the reform of practice at some existing house's, and to the production ot eremitic works ot devotion, lioth the powerful and the ascetic strands continued to mark the Irish church until the I I th c. Some ot the most elaborately carved standing crosses were the product ot toth-c. patronage and skill. In the late 1 ith c. the Continental reform movement began to touch Ireland, bin die great advance came ill mid-lath c. with the work of St Malachy (d, 1 148): his design for the Irish church came to fruition after his death, when at the Synod of Kells (1 15a) Ire'land was divided into 4 archbishoprics and 10
bishoprics. The new monastic movements began to exert influence and the Anglo-Norman Conquest (t idy-72} under Earl Stronghow and King I leiiry II brought much of Ireland even more directly into the mainstream of Western Christendom. Cathedrals we're built in typical Norman style and powerful new monastic houses were founded, notably by Cistercians, hi the 1 jth C encouragement was given to the friars; and they (particularly the poorer and more ascetic element among them) retained their good reputation for the most part to the very end of the medieval period. In the later Middle Ages the Irish church continued to mirror the social divisions ot the island, notably along the linguistic lines ot English- and Gaelic-speaking, but by and large it conformed more exactly to the usages of the Western church than had been the case in the early Middle Ages. See C:AM ir-i.. SYNCH) OF
wn
• J . F . Kenney Sources for the luirly History oj Ireland: Ecclesiastical ( l y i y ) ; K. Hughes The Church in luirly Irish Society (luofi)
Irnerius (d. c. 1130) Possibly German by birth (Guarnerius). One of the founders and greatest teachers ol the powerful school ot law at Bologna in the later 1 1 th c . Irnerius made permanent contribution to the method by which the newly introduced Roman law ol Justinian was taught in the We-st. I lis surviving work consists essentially ol glosses to texts written as the basis for oral exposition in lectures. The little known of his career indicates that he was a servant of the great papal supporter Matilda of Tuscany, and then of the- emperors 1 lenry V and Lothar, but his tremendous reputation, which persisted throughout the 12th c., was as virtual father figure to the revival of law and to the university ot Bologna, DH.
Kantorowica Studies in the Glossators oj &
Roman Loir (1069)
Isaac I C o m n c n u s Byzantine emperor ioS7-.sy (b. c. 1 0 0 5 - d . 10(11) A representative ot the military aristocracy ol Asia Minor. Isaac, uncle ot Alexius I Comiienus. usurped the throne after the forced abdication of the elderly Michael VI, head ol the Civil party in Constantinople. Isaac was helped by the Constantinopolitan church and. in particular, by the Patriarch Michael Ccrularius. who held the balance of power between civil and military tactions in the capital. Hut Isaac soon alienated Ccrularius by his confiscation ol church property, a measure taken to pay tor the strengthening of the empire S detences neglected by previous emperors, who had represented the interests of the civil aristocracy. After exiling the patriarch as a dangerous political opponent, Isaac
1S
3
Isaac I Comnenus proclaimed at the Third Council o f Toledo (5811). Isidore succeeded Leander as bishop . . 6 0 0 . and during his episcopate. Seville enjoyed pre-eminence as an intellectual centre, with the leading Spanish scholar o f the day as its bishop.
Cold coin of Isaac 1 Comnenus with drawn sword, from liy/jntinm. found popular feeling rising against h i m . This, coupled with the enmity o f a powerful civil aristocracy, prompted his abdication in 1059. The pressure o f external events had not yet dictated the choice o f a military emperor for the empire. • M . Angold The Byzantine Umpire ( 1 9 8 4 ) Isabella o f France (d. 1357) Wife o f F.dward II o f England and daughter o f King I'hilip IV o f France. Together with her adulterous lover Roger, earl o f March. Isabella organized the revolt which overthrew her husband in 1 ¡ 2 7 . By I 3 3 0 the new king, her son Edward I I I . was strong enough to take power into his ow n hands. Roger was executed and Isabella confined to her dower lands. Her ferocity became something of a legend, as indicated by her nickname, 'the she-wolf o f France'. Isaurian dynasty Warlike dynasty which governed the Byzantine empire 7 1 7 - 8 0 2 and whose strength was based on the military capacity o f the Anatolian plateau. T he founder o f the dynasty in its imperial dimension was the Emperor Leo I I I , who was responsible for the effective defence o f Constantinople against the Muslims. The Isaurians were generally associated with the puritan Iconoclastic movement o f the 8 t h c. Isidore, St (e. 5 0 0 - 6 3 6 ) Bishop o f Seville. He was bom into a pious Catholic family o f Byzantine or Hispano-Roman origin, which apparently moved from Cartagena in south-eastern Spain to Seville in the mid-6th c. As bishop o f Seville, Isidore's brother Leander was instrumental in procuring the official rcnunciadon cf A nanism within the Vi:;ig;.tluc realm.
184
Throughout his reign the Visigothie King Sisebut ( 6 1 2 - 2 1 ) was advised by Isidore on ecclesiastical and scholarly matters and. somewhat exceptionally, displayed a proclivity for learning. Isidore dedicated a treatise on natural phenomena to the king. On the Nature aj Tilings, and was commissioned by him to compose the Etymologies, completed in the early 6 3 0 s . In this compendium o f information, covering subjects such as the liberal arts, medicine, law and the Bible. Isidore applied, with as much ingenuity as accuracy, a system o f knowledge wherein the essential meaning o f an obje-ct or phenomenon is disclosed by revealing the supposed origin o f the word used to refer to it. The work was highly influential throughout the Middle Ages. Isidore also contributed to the vitality o f t h c 7 t h - c . Spanish church. He emphasized the need for an educated clergy and criticized the use o f brutality to achieve conversion among Spain's Jewish population. He presided at the Second Council o f Seville (619), where many theological issues were considered, and ar the Fourth Council o f Toledo ( 6 3 3 ) . which insisted upon uniformity in the liturgy and promulgated excommunication for rebellion against the king. Isidore's writings reveal his desire to see Spain flourish underVisigothl'. dominion and his hostility toward the Franks. His works were renowned among Irish scholars from the mid-7th c. and were influential during the 9th-c. intellectual revival o f the Prankish church. Isidore wrote a Chronicle (1.615) and a History of the Goths,
I 'andals ami Sueves ( r . 6 2 5 )
— the only record o f Visigothie history during the period 5 8 9 - 6 2 5 / 6 . His other works include: On the Differences ami the Meaning of Words; Lamentations of a Sinful
Soul;
On Famous Men and On the Christian
Edith, against the Jews. A few authentic letters also survive, among many forgeries. JF 11 J. Fontaine Isidore de Seville el la culture elassique dans I'Espague
wisigothiquc ( 1 9 5 9 ) : R. Collins Early
Medieval Spain 400-1000
(1983)
Isidorus Mereator Prankish scholar o f the m i d 9 t h c . responsible for ,1 collection o f papal decretals (the Forged Decretals or Pseudo-Isidore) which placed
heavy emphasis on the absolute supremacy o f the papal see. The collection consisted o f a mixture o f genuine and false decretals, ingeniously arranged, and attributed to the Isidorian statements 011 canon law which originated in Spain. [) E. Davenport The False Decretals ( 1 9 1 6 )
Islam
i
BIACK SEA Constanr i ñoste
' V"W -**^s"fl)iwrknn(ij
I » »
. 5flrdir¡i^ i
'^m
Cordoba C
trrt(
in created a united Muslim state, though at the expense o f the Shi'ite followers ot the faith. I lis success popularized the Floly War against the crusaders and his use ot temporary alliances and steady exploitation of Christian deficiencies and internecine discord produced continual success. D V . Eliseeff Niir ttt-Dfa ( 1 9 6 6 )
Notkcr (Balbulus) the Stammerer ( ( . 8 4 0 - 9 1 2 ) Librarian and then master o f the school at the Benedictine monastery o f St Gallen in Switzerland. I lis fame rests in part on his elegant and sympathetic composition o f hymns and sequences, and also on his Life o f Charlemagne, written in 883 or 8 8 4 , which contains much anecdotal material as well as some sound historical matter about the great emperor. I I 7'ii'C f./iTj of ChawifJttatttt ed. L. T horpe (to6o) Novgorod founded by Scandinavian merchants in the early 9 t h e. towards the head o f the waterways that link the Baltic to the Black Sea, Novgorod became the centre ot the new kingdom ol the Itus under the leadership o f King lilirik ( K 6 2 ) . His successor Oleg captured the powerful city o f Kiev in 8 8 2 , and the centre o f power among the Scandinavian-Slavonic principalities moved south. Novgorod, though still powerful, accepted the overlordslhp o f the Kievan princes and became increasingly Slavonic in population, language and institutional life. Ill [019 Prince Yaroslav granted the town a charter perm it ting a substantia! degree ol autonomy. As the power ol Kiev declined, the Novgorod princes expanded their authority and commercial influence. Under Alexander Nevsky the city defeated the Swedes 011 the Neva (1 240) and t w o year* later won the great battle on the ice at Lake Paipus against
During the I 4th C. local dynastic wars enveloped ttiocitv disturbing its trading routes. T he rise of the trading rival Moscow further encouraged the city's decline as a major entrepot; T he trading supremacy ol Moscow was emphatically asserted with the help o f two crushing military defeats in 1456 and 1471. and Moscow's superiority was completed by its annexation o l Novgorod in 1 4 7 8 . i M . W. Thompson Novgorod the Great ( 1 9 6 7 )
o Observant Friars .See D o m i n i c , St Odilo, St ( 0 6 2 - 1 0 4 8 ) Appointed by his predecessor Abbot Mayeul as fifth abbot ofCluny in 9 9 4 . Odilo was one o f a succession o f long-lived abbots. He was a leading European figure on friendly terms with the Emperor, the king o f France and the papacy. He involved ( Tuny more closely with the feudal world by acting as an arbitrator 111 secular disputes and by
24 5
O d i l o , St his support o f the attempts to limit warfare through the Peace and Truce o f God. Under Odilo. Cluny received papal confirmation o f its unique privileges and entered its greatest expansionary period, marking the full formulation o f the Cluniac Order. O f his building programme at Cluny itself. Odilo said that he had found it wood and left it marble. He was succeeded by Hugh, w h o was chosen not only by Odilo himself, but by the brethren.
9 6 ) , it is a tribute to the authority he commanded from the Humber to the Channel. The old view that it was an agreed boundary is no longer held; the dyke was clearly- a formidable barrier and protection against cattle theft. • C. Fox Ojfa's Dyke ( 1 9 5 5 ) ; D. Hill An Atlas of Anglo-Saxon England ( 1 9 8 1 )
O d o , St ( 8 7 0 - 0 4 2 ) Abbot o f Cluny. After a military training O d o was converted to the religious life, but his popularity while living as a hermit force'd him to go to Paris, where he studied the liberal arts and dialectic. Attracted by the fame o f St Bcrno. Odo joined him and was made head o f the school at Baumc. In 9 2 7 O d o was appointed by St Bcmo as the second abbot o f Cluny. O d o had a considerable reputation for personal sanctity and was largely responsible for establishing Cluny as the centre o f Benedictine retorm. and for laying the foundations o f its future greatness. He did not confine himself to Cluny; with the backing o f the papacy, he was active also in the reformation ol numerous monasteries, including Fleury and Monte Cassino.
O l a f I I Haraldsson, St King o f Norway 1 0 1 6 - 3 0 (b.c.995) A descendant ofElarald Fairhair. Olaflived as a Viking until his baptism at liouen (c. 1 0 1 3 ) . hi 1015 he asserted his claim to the Norwegian throne and by to 16 was king o f Norway. He built upon the work o f his predecessor, O l a f I Tryggvason ( r . 9 9 5 1 0 0 0 ) , to promote Christianity throughout the country, hut his harshness and zeal aroused great hostility. In 1028 Cnut met little opposition when he arrived at Trondheim where he was proclaimed king. O l a f fled to Russia, but returned to try to regain his kingdom with a largely foreign, heathen army: he was killed at the battle o f Stiklcstad. 1 Jespite his unpopularity, a far-reaching cult quickly grew up after miracles were reported following bis death, and in 1164 O l a f was declared the patron saint o f Norway. In 1035 his son Magnus was universally accepted as king o f Norway.
• E. Amman Odou de Cluny {1931)
• G. Jones The Vikings
Odo (r, 1 0 3 0 - 9 7 ) Bishop o f Bayeux. Half-brother o f William the Conqueror, from whom he received the bishopric of Bayeux in 1049. O d o was a patron o f the arts, and it is probable that he commissioned the Bayeux tapestry for the dedication ot his cathedral in 1077. He played an active part in the battle o f Hastings and was granted the earldom o f Kent and vast estates in England, the profits from which made him one o f the wealthiest men in Europe. During the king's absence in Normandy in 1067 Odo governed England, together with William FitzOsbern. He continued to be prominent in the royal council and administration up ro the time of his disgrace and imprisonment (apparently for dabbling in papal politics) in 1 0 8 2 . After William's death ( 1 0 8 7 ) he was released from captivity, but was banished from England in the following year for the part he played in the unsuccessful revolt against William I I . He settled in Normandy, hut died at Palermo on his way ro the first Crusade.
O m a r K h a y y a m (r.1050-1 123) Born in Nishapur, Persia. Omar Khayyam was an astronomer, mathematician and poet. On the strength o f his work and reputation in algebra, he was invited by the Seljuk sultan M.ilik Shall to make the astonomical observations which resulted hi a reform of the calendar. He is best known, however, as the poet o f the Ruhaiyat, a collection o f quatrains or Tubals. 1.1 The Ruhaiyat of Omar Khayyam trans. E. FitzGerald
• L . Cote St Odilon, un Maine de I'An Milk (1969)
i D.R. Bates, 'The character and career of Odo, Bishop of Bayeux'. Speculum 1 ( 1 9 7 3 ) OfTa's dyke Forming the traditional boundary between England and Wales, this impressive earthw o r k runs, although not continuously, from the Dec estuary in the north to the river Wye in the south. Constructed by King Offa o f Mercia ( 7 5 7 -
246
(1968)
(1859)
Omayyads See U m a y y a d s Ordericus Vitaiis (c 1 0 7 5 - 1 I 4 3 ) Born o f AngloNorman parents near Shrewsbury, he was educated at Saiut-Evroul in Normandy, where he spent much of his life busving himself with his l.tdiXIStl'M History from I lot) to the time o f his death, Most of his work deals with contemporary or nearly contemporary events, and provides a superb insight into the general history o f the Anglo-Norman world and the local history o f the abbey o f SaintEvroul. u M . Chibnall The World of Ordericus Vitaiis
(19K2)
Oresme, Nicolas (e. 1 3 2 0 - 8 2 ) Bishop o f Lisieux. While a master at the university o f Paris, Oresme associated with John Buridan, rector o f the university,
Orsini f a m i l y King Clovis. It scaled his new creation o f Frankia, forming a statement o f the king's relations w i t h the church. The first ten canons dealt with matters concerning royal authority: the right o f asylum; royal permission for ordinations; acceptable uses o f royal largesse to churches; frequenting o f the royal court by clerics seeking favours: ordination o f slaves; appropriation o f Arian churches taken from the Goths and employment o f their ministers. They delineate the scope o f royal intervention, which is not excessive, and tacitly accept the church's Roman law (drawing upon the I heodosian Coiie). They also promote the king's involvement in church patronage, : J.M.
Wallace-Hadrill
The
Long-haired
Kings
(1962)
M i n i a t u r e (TORI N i c o l a s o l A r i s t o t l e ' s Ethics (c. 1)76).
Orwme's translación o l
in a serious attempt to examine and modify the science o f Aristotle. Concentrating on the mechanics o f moving bodies, their work marked an important step towards later developments by da Vinci. Copernicus and Galileo. Oresme also wrote a treatise on coinage, which had great influence On economic theory in the later Middle Ages. He resigned to become canon, then dean o l Rouen, belore being appointed as chaplain to Charles V. In 1377 he was made bishop of l.isieux. l ; Nicholas d'Oresme, De .\loneta ed. C, Johnson Ü9S6)
O r i g c n (i. iM>—f. *54) One o f the greatest of the Eastern lathers ot the Christian church. Origcn taught in Alexandria until he was banished in 2 3 2 . I le founded another school in Caesarea, but in 2 5 0 during the persecution ol bmperor Decius, was arrested and tortured, and died at Tyre. His many theological works include the I le.\apla, a synopsis o f the O l d Testament, and Centn Cession ( r . 2 4 8 ) , a vindication o f Christianity in answer to the pagan Celsus' Ttut Doctrine (c. iftN). A rigorous ascetic o l orthodox intent. Origcn was accused o f heresy, as suggested by his philosophical approach to Christian doctrine in De Principiis (On First Principle's). His influence as a theologian persisted beyond his denunciation by Insuman I in 5 4 3 . II G.W. Butterworth Origcn on first principles cd. H . de Lubac ( 1 0 6 6 ) ; H . Chadwick Early Christian Thought ami the Classical Tradition ( i 9 6 0 ] Orleans, C o u n c i l o f (10 |uly si 0 Assembly o f 3 2 Gallic bishops (largely representing the new!7 conquered south), summoned by the Merovingian
Orosius Spanish priest w ho lied to Hippo in 414 to evade the barbarian Invasions. Under his mentor. Augustine, he produced several works in defence o f orthodoxy. The first, on the origin o f the human soul, made his reputation. He was sent in 4 1 5 to debate with I'elagius hetore Hishopjohn ot Jerusalem, but the outcome was inconclusive. The episcopal report sent to Rome questioned his orthodoxy and drew forth his famous refutation o f the charge, and also of I'elagius. in the Liber Apologéticas contra Peiagiatios. Finally. Augustine asked him to produce a historical supplement to his own City of God. This work, finished in 4 1 8 , set out to combat the popular contemporary argument that Rome's fall was directly caused by its conversion to Christianity As the title indicates, the HiStCrttrum adversas Paganos Librí Septan was divided into seven hooks, a structure which suggested biblical parallels. The theme o f beleaguered Christianity triumphant that dominates the work explains its popularity, i Seven Hooks of History against the Pagans ed. l . W . Raymond ( 1 9 3 6 ) : B, Lacroix Oróse et ses idees (196J)
O r s i n i f a m i l y Important Roman family ot nobles. The legendary founder o f the Orsini was a hoy named Orso (meaning hear) who was raised by a domestic hear, and came to Rome r . 4 2 5 . They also claimed ancestry from t w o popes. Stephen II and Raul I. and a 1111 mberofot her saints and blessed persons, such as St Benedict and his sister St Scholastica. The family rose to prominence in the 12th c . along with their enemies, the Colonna, another important family in Rome. Major landholders to the north o f Rome, the most famous members o f the family were l'ope Celestino III (1 1 9 1 - 9 8 ) and Pope Nicholas III ( 1 2 7 7 - 8 0 ) .
G.H. Colonna G!i Orsini ( 1 9 5 3 ) ; J. A . F . Thompson Popes and Princes / j / 7 - / . f ( 7 ( 1 0 8 0 )
11
247
Oseberg ship Oseberg ship Viking ship fouiid in 1003 at Oseberg. west o f the Oslotjord. It is 21,5 111 long, with i s pairs o f oars, and built o f oak (r.Hoo), but not designed for long voyages. Many grave goods survive, hicuding sledges and a wagon, with tine animal carvings, as on the serpent's head at the prow. The remains o f t w o women were found in the boat, and it is generally held that they were Queen Asa. grandmother o f Harald Fairhair, and a maidservant. The likely date o f the burial is the late 9 t h c. Set
C O K S T A l i SHU
1
• A . W . liroggcr and H . Shetelig the Viking Ships (t95«)
converted to Christianity. In 6 3 2 Edwin was killed by Cadwallon, w h o was in turn killed by Oswald the following year, Oswald was accepted as king by Deira and liernicia, the two ancient divisions o f Northumbria. and for most o f his reign he was overlord of England south ot the I lumber. One ot the great Christian kings. Oswald furthered the spread o f Christianity by introducing Celtic missionaries from lona, led by St Aidan. In 641 he was killed in battle by the heathen King Eenda o f Mercia. and his cult as a saint and martyr spread rapidly. 1 1 F . M . Stenton Anglo-Saxon England ( 1 9 7 1 )
Ostrogoths (East Goths) One o f the rwo main branches o f the Goths who were forced to move westward under pressure from the Huns. Their empire stretched from the Don to the Dneister. bordering the shores ot the Black Sea Subjugated by the Huns r . 3 7 0 , they reappear in 4 8 7 marching on Constantinople, Emperor Zeno, to averr the danger, commissioned their leader Theodoric to invade Italy and subdue Odoacer, leader o f the German federates who were governing Italy, ostensibly in the name o f the emperor.
Otto I the Great King o f Germany 9 3 6 - 7 3 ( b . 9 1 2 ) Crowned Floly Roman Emperor at Rome on 2 February 9 6 2 . O t t o is remembered as the founder o f the first Reich, which brought together Germany and most ot Italy into one e'lnpire, and also as the virtual founder ot the kingdom ot Germany. His father Henry I ( 0 1 9 - 3 0 ) had prepared the way by building up a strong duchy in Saxony, safeguarding the northern frOri tier against the 1 lanes; he had taken the lead in military resistance to the Slavs in the East,
l i y 493 Theodoric had won control ot Italy, ruling the peninsula capably from Ravenna and extending his influence westwards into I'rovencc and Visigothic Spain, Imperial administration survived under his rule, and the Roman senate recognized him as the imperial representative. The Ostrogoths were Anan Christians, but tolerant, and they succeeded by and large in giving Italy a generarion o f peace, by their practice o f governing the Ostrogoths and the Romans separately, with little effort being made towards fusion or assimilation. At the end ot Theodoric's reign the so-called Ostrogothic compromise was wearing thin and there was a scries of persecutions, in the course o f which the great philosopher lloethius was put to death.
Prow of die Oseberg ship displaying elaborate geometric and zoomorphic carving.
By 5.Î3- tinder T heodoric's successors, the Ostrogoths were divided, and Justinian, the Eastern emperor, seized the opportunity to re-establish imperial authority, in 533. after a bitter and protracted struggle, the Ostrogothic kingdom collapsed. It made no permanent impression on peninsular institutions or culture, but played a crucial role in the transmission o f earlier structures. See T O T I L A | f _ i 2 | 11 W . Goffart Barbarians ami Romans 418-584: The Techniques of Accommodation ( 1 9 8 0 ) ; T.S. Hums A History ot ike Ostrogoths ( 1 9 x 4 ) Oswald, St King o f Northumbria c.633-41 (b.c.60s) While Edwin was king o f Northumbria ( 6 1 6 - 3 2 ) . Oswald, son o f Efhelrnth, Edwin's predecessor, lived in exile on lona, where he was
24M
otto m and above all to the Magyars w h o were at the height o f their ravaging attacks on Western Europe. In ijiti Lorraine had moved firmly into the German orbit, with the duke paying allegiance to the German king, and Otto succeeded to a kingship which nominally covered the five great stem duchies o f early medieval Germany: his native Saxony, Eranconia, Lorraine and the southern duchies ot Swabia and Havana. A t his coronation he emphasized the subordinate peisition ol the dukes, who took on duties as household officers in the e:ourse o f the ceremony. His early attempts to control the duchies by appointing his kinsmen ro ducal office met with only partial success. His first intervention in Italian affairs ( 9 3 0 - 5 1 ) was prompted in part by the need to prevent his brother 1 lenry. duke o f Bavaria, and his son Liudolf, duke of Swabia, from exercising an independent policy in relation to liurguiuly and north Italy. The intervention proved successful in many ways: it strengthened German royal authority over the old Middle Kingdom (Lorraine, Burgundy and Lombardy], brought papal support, and in the po'rsonal fieTd enable'el O t t o (a widower) tt> marry Adelaide, a descemdant of the Carohugian house, so linking his fortunes with the tradition o f Charlemagne. Further reorganization o f ducal offices took place after the rebellion of Liudolt in 953, and Otto's prestige reached a high-point in 955 with his devastating defeat o f the Magyars at the battle o f the river Lech near Augsburg. Military ability, coupled with a strong border policy, ensured that O t t o emerged as the clear leader o f all the German people; the soldiers hailed him as impcrator after the victory on the Lech. For government he relied increasingly on churchmen who were loyal to him and whose lands were not subject to hereditary tenure". The creation o f a strong German church (the Ottoman church) was dictated by necessity. Successful campaigns against the Slavs (in which Herman Billung. appointed to the Saxon duchy, was prominent) were accompanied by intense missionary efforts. Anxieties over the creation o f a new archbishopric at Magdeburg were a contributory element in Otto's second, decisive intervention in Italy (yrt 1—OJ). A papal appeal for help against private euemie's was answered and O t t o marched to Rome where he was crowned Emperor. A short period ot papal-imperial harmony was followed by drastic action on the new Emperor's part: thedeposition o f Rope John X I I and the election o f popes favourable to the imperial cause. O t t o spent much time and energy stabilizing his position in Italy, in the course o f which he arrangc-d a marriage between his son Otto II the Red anel a Byzantine princess, Theophano, The range and nature o f his activities brought
O t t o I offers Magdeburg cathedral to Christ in majesty; ivory plaque (. ^70.
Germany and Italy into long-lasting association and also cemented the close relationship between the new German kingship and the church. A cultural revival, primarily Latin and Carolingian in inspiration, sometimes called the Ottoman renaissance, brought into being a new manifestation o f Western cultural life, notably- in the fields o f architecture, sculpture and the pictorial arts. HIU • K . Leyser Rule anil Conflict in an Early Medieval Society: Ottoman Saxony ( 1 9 7 0 ) , Medieval Germany and ils neighbours, ijoo-1250
(1982)
O t t o III Holy Roman Emperor 9 8 3 - 1 0 0 2 ( b . 9 8 0 )
Grandson o f Otto the Great, and son o f Otto II ( 9 7 3 ¬ 8 3 ) , the third king-emperor of that name succeeded to the throne when still a child. T w o able regencies, first under the control o f his mother Theophano ( 9 8 3 - 8 9 ) and then his grandmother Adelaide ( 9 9 0 ¬ 9 4 ) , testified to the intrinsic strength o f the Ottoman system. The young prince was brought up under strong imperial influence and in his short lile proved himself one o f the most Roman o f the German rulers. His candidates tor the papacy, Gregory V I ( 9 9 6 - 0 9 ) and the very able and scholarly Gcrbert o f Aurillac, Sylvester I I , encouraged his imperial ideas, but Roman intransigence and Slav political resurgence, notably in Poland, prevented the achievement o f his most ambitious schemes. His active encouragement o f scholars and artists brought the cultural revival o f the Ottoman period to fresh heights. 11 U. Folz The Concept of Umpire in Western Europe from the Fifth 10 the Fifteenth Century ( 1 9 6 9 )
2 y 4
Ottobono Fieschi Ottobono Fieschi Pope 1276. A native o f Genoa, he was a nephew o f Pope Innocent I V (1243-54) who elevated him to the cardinalaCe. Under Pope Clement IV ( 1 2 6 5 - 6 8 ) Ottobono was sent to England to mediate between King Henry I I I and his rebellious barons. Ottobono's patience, endurance and statesmanship helped to produce the Dictum o l Keniiworth ( 1 2 6 6 ) . which brought the baronial rebels to obedience and the royal advisers to reason, terminating the civil war. The new accord was strengthened bv the Statute ol Marlborough. O t t o bono also preached a crusade in a well-planned campaign using the energy, zeal and skill o f the mendicant triars. His programme ol ecclesiastical reform culminated in his Constitutions issued at the Council o f London in [26K. In 1276 Ottobono was elected to the papacy as Adrian V . but died after five weeks. [ 1 F . M . Powicke The Thirteenth Century 1216-1
IOJ
('953)
Ottoman Turks The word 'Ottoman' is derived from the founder o f the dynasty, Osinan 1 (d. 1126) who concentrated the power o f the Turkish state in his o w n hands and harnessed the fhSztS (Muslim warrior-lanatics w h o undertook plunderous raids. razzia, to fulfil the jihad against Christians) into a coherent policy o l expansion. Initially, success was slow, but under Osman's successor Orkhan ( 1 3 2 6 ¬ 62) the policy was continued. Nicaea tailing in 1331. Nicomedia in 1337 and Gallipoli in 1354. thus providing the Ottomans with a permanent base in Europe. Internal Christian divisions cased the O t t o mans' task and under Murad 1 (1362-89) advance quickened: Adrianople tell in [363, and in 1371. at the battle o f Cirnomen. the south Serbian states were broken. Nis and Sofia were captured by 1386. and the opposition o f the north Serbian states was overcome at Kosovo in i.lKy. Under liayazid I i 3 8 9 - 1 4 0 3 ) . Constantinople was placed under perpetual blockade and the Christian offensive to defend it was destroyed at Nicopolis ( 1 3 9 6 ) . 1
The Muslim administration was overburdened by the speed and scale of the gains made, and in an attempt to maintain their cultural identity in the new lands, the Muslims be'gan a series o f local wars in Turkey against other Muslim states. Flowever. in 140a H.iyazTd was captured and his forces heavily defeated at Ankara by Tamberlaine. The Ottoman state was temporarily fragmented by inheritance until reunited by Muhammad 1(141 3 - 2 1 ) who, with his successor Murad I I . re-established thegfiSzi ideal and the jilidd. At Varna ( 1 4 4 4 ) and Kosovo ( 1 4 4 X ) Hungarian counter-offensives were defeated and Constantinople fell to Muhammad ITs forces in 1453. Muhammad I I ( 1 4 5 1 - 8 1 ) continued to push
250
into Europe; Belgrade was vainly beseiged in 1456 but Athens was captured in 1458. Large areas o f Asia Minor and the Hlack Sea coast fell to the Ottomans, as well as Serbia (1459) and Bosnia (1463-64), The size o f the conquests restricted further advances, and the zeal for victory was abated and diminished. Sir HEVAZET I HHt • P. Sugar South-Hastcm Europe under Ottoman Rule IJ54-1H04
(1977)
O w a i n G w y n e d d Prince o f Gwynedd 1 137-70 (b.r. 1109) In 1137 he succeeded his lather Gruffydd ap Cynan (1081 — 1 137) to the kingdom ol Gwynedd, which covered most o f N o r t h Wales. While England was engaged in civil war, Owain used his skill as statesman and soldier to extend his frontiers. In 1157 Henry II led his first campaign against Owain, but it ended in a truce. Six years later, the Council o f Woodstock attempted to reduce theWelsh princes from client status to that o f dependent vassalage, and ihe subsequent uprising was led by Owain Gwynedd and Ithys ap Gruffydd o f South Wales, Henry's second attempt at subduing Wales failed ignominiously and left Owain free to capture Basing werk and Rhuddlan castles (1 166-67), Having openly defied Plenty in 1168 by offering help to Louis V I I o f France". Owain maintained his independent position until his death. He left behind him a reputation f o i wisdom and magnanimity. [i.li.
Davies Conquest, coexistence and change:
Watts 10/11-1415 (1987)
O x f o r d T o w n situated in the Upper Thames basin at the confluence of the Thames and Cher well, providing fords for both, good communications and defence. It was a Saxon settlement, first mentioned in 912 (Anglo-Saxon Chronicle") when Edward the Elder took possession and probably fortified it. It appears in Domesday as a market town which tell under the jurisdiction o f t h c d ' O i l l i family who built its castle, three bridges and Ose-ney priory (1129). I development as a prosperous borough was complicated in the later 12th c. by the appearance o f the university, first mentioned 111 1184. although Oxford was probably already an academic centre. The university's toundation may have been partly due to difficulty o l access to Paris university during Henry IPs conflict with Iiccket (1164-69). It was enlarged by the friars and Parisian students during the 1220s and the first colleges (Balliol. Morton and University) were founded in the second hall ol the century. The town did not welcome this rowdy new community. The Middle Ages wimessed the struggle for university autonomy and extended authority and civic resistance, occasioning many bloody encounters (notably 1209. 124H. 1263, 1298 and the
Painting and the minor arts as an attempt to run a monarchy without .1 king, proved ultimately unworkable, but in its invocation o f the spirit o f Magna Carra and its general enlisting of moderate support, it helped to affirm a principle o f constitutionalism in the English monarchy that outlived the subsequent civil war. and the rise to supreme power, followed by the defeat, o f de Montfort. n R.F. Treharne Tfie Baronial Plan of Reform ( 1 9 3 2 ) : Documents of the Baronial .Movement oj Rejorm and Rebellion 12)8-67 ed. I.J. Sanders ( 1 9 7 3 )
P / Q Paganism (from Latin paganas, countryman) Term gene-rally applied to polytheistic reTigions, though during the Middle Ages it was also frequently applied to non-Christian monotheistic religions (Islam and Judaism).
William of Wykeharo in front of Now College, Oxford. From tfie Chandler manuscript, £. 1 4 ( 1 0 . St Scholastica's massacre, 1 3 5 5 ) . Royal and papal support ensured the university's triumph by the ruid-i 5th c. In contrast to Paris. Oxford favoured the Quaelriviuru. becomingaceiitreofscientilicand mathematical studies. It also exhibited conservatism, promoting Platonisin and Augustinianism. Notable Oxford scholars included Edmund Rich. Robert Grosseteste, Roger Bacon, Duns Scotus, Ockham and Wycliffe. c i C . E . Mallet A History of the University of Oxford vol. 1 (1968)
Oxford, Provisions of (125,8) Constitutional document which the barons forced Henry I I I to accept after a turbulent meeting at Oxford. The barons were hostile and alarmed at the excessive favour shown to foreign favourites, the heavy demands for taxation and the apparent downgrading o f the great offices of state in favour o f administrators in the royal household, f o r the following t w o years England was ruled by what was virtually an oligarchic council o f barons, most prominent among w h o m were Simon de Montfort, the king's brother-in-law, and Richard de Clare, earl of Gloucester. The detailed Provisions, aptly described
Classical paganism persisted until the 6 t h c , and other major pagan cults included the Teutonic gods o f the Germanic peoples and the, leitr o f the Vikings. The advance o f Christianity fluctuated throughout Europe, with occasional pagan relapses and incursions; Lithuania was the last pagan stronghold, converted in 1386. Magic and the occult, often associated with pre-Christian religions, persisted throughout the Middle Ages, however, even within a Christian context, and Christianity often absorbed and adapted pagan sites, festivals and practices to facilitate conversion; the initial fusion frequently produced interesting hybrid cultures. The medieval humanist introduction o f the works o f classical pagan authors (Plato and Aristotle) and ofjewish and Islamic writings provokc-d much dispute, especially during the 13th c . and significantly contributed to medieval thought, ii The Conflict between Paganism and Christianity in the Fourth Century cd. A . D . Momigliano ( 1 9 6 3 ) ; P. Brown The World of Late Antiquity ( 1 9 7 1 ) Painting and the minor arts Por the illiterate, who during the Middle Ages constituted the majority of the population, the image-s painted on the w alls o f churches were as relevant as the sermon from the pulpit, for here were depicted vividly- Heaven and Hell, Christ and his Apostles, the Virgin Mary and the Saints. The vast expanses o f wall in medieval churches provided ample opportunity for large cycles o f murals or mosaics, and it was only in rhe Gothic period that large windows filled with stained glass reduced the wall surface to a minimum. r
From earliest times, the apse o f a church was reserved for the most important figures, Christ in
2>1
Painting and the minor arts Majesty or the Virgin M.iry, sometimes Hanked by Apostles and Saints. Biblical scenes from the O l d and New Testaments were usually to he found on the walls o f the nave, in Byzantium a very complex, almost rigid, iconographie system was evolved, in which the decoration o f domes was symbolic o f Heaven, the vaults and upper walls were devoted to the life o f Christ, while the lowest zone was reserved for Saints, In the West, where churches were predominantly o f the basilican type, the arrangement was not so complex. Nevertheless, the influence of Byzantine painting was o f considerable importance in Western Europe, especially during the Romanesque period. For instance, the frescoes o f S. Angelo in Formis ne'ar Capua, completed by e.loSs. are thought to reflect the style o f the now destroyed mosaics o f nearby Monte Cassino. decorated in the [Ofios by artists from Constantinople. A very different kind ol Byzaurine influence is found in the frescoes o f a Cluniac chapel at Bcrz.c-la-Villc in Burgundy, in which angular, gesticulating figures express violent emotions; their bodies are modelled by means o f vein-like drapery folds, thus adding to the lecling of agitation and tension. This method o l modelling is ultimately o f Byzantine origin, but was transmitted to lierze hv way o f Italy. It is found it! many regions and many media, for medieval artists were often masters o f several techniques. A certain Flugo is a case in point: he painted the Bible for Bury St Edmunds, and for the same abbey cast bronze doors with biblical scenes and carved wooden statues. In his Bible, which still exists and is one o f the masterpieces o f Romanesque art. he too uses a Byzantine-
derived method o f modelling the human figure by means o f so-called damp folds. While a wall-painting was a kind of hihlin pauperum, a book was for the clergy, scholars and for the small literate minority in general. Here the pictures were frequently made at great expense, with gold and precious lapis lazuli, simply to make the book more beautiful. The first surviving Christian books arc o f the early 5 t h c. By then the basic biblical iconography had been established, while the style employed was based on late antique art. Many o f these early Christian books were brought to England and Ireland by St Augustine and his successors. They were frequently copied and. in the process, their paintings were modified by the inclusion o f Anglo-Saxon and Celtic ornaments. The naruralism o f the figure style o f the originals sent from Italy was gradually transformed, so rhar the human body lost all volume and the draperies became an ornamental pattern (e.g.. the Lindisfarnc Gospels, late 7th c ) . TheCarolingian revival stimulated book production o f the highest quality. The texts were scrutinized by such scholars as Alcuin, and the decoration carried out in many centres, in one case, at the Palace School o f Charlemagne's court at Aix-la-Chapclle, with the help o f Greek artists. Numerous ivories and objects in precious morals were also made in these Caroliugian centres. Most books were Bibles, and it was due to the Ottoman artists o f the 1 0 t h c. and n t h c. that large cycles o f the life o f Christ were painted. Once again Greek painters were employed in Germany, and it is not surprising that Ottoman painting owes a debt to the naturalism o f antique art,
Roger of Helniarshauseu's porrable altar or reliquary ( 0 1100). trom Paderborn cathedral
Painting and the minor arts
Details from the delicately carved Ivory cover of the Lorsch Gospels (yih e,J. transmitted through Byzantine intermediaries. In England also, there was a great revival in lavish hook decoration during the loth c. and i tth c , centred on rctormed Benedictine monasteries in Winchester. Canterbury. Glastonbury and others, while at the same time in northern Spain rather exotic-looking illuminations o f the Apocalypse and the Bible were made by Mozarabic artists. During the Romanesque period there was a vast production ofilluruinated hooks, sacred and secular, throughnut Europe and even in the Crusading kingdom; combined w i t h it was the carving o f ivory hook covers and other objects in ivory and precious metals. The work formerly earrie-d out in monasteries gradually passed to lay workshops and event itinerant artists. England excelled in manuscript painting, and wall-paintings by English artists are touud m Normandy and even distant Spain. The English were also renowned for their embroidery, the Hayeux tapestry testifying to their skill and artistry in this field. German artists were celebrated tor iiK"talwork o f every kind; the goldsmith Roger o f 1 lei i l i a r s ha usen, two ol whose portable altars survive, employed a style similar to that o f the licrze wallpaintings. In the Mosan region {bordering the river Meuse) a very different style o f painting, ivory-carving and metalwork was employed by generations o f exceptionally gifted artists; it was more naturalistic and indebted to classical art. This style had a profound influence on the monumental sculpture o f the lle-de-Erance and thus initiated the 1
Transitional style. The greatest artist in the Mosan region was Nicholas ol Verdun, a goldsmith and enamel-worker, whose classicizing style greatly influenced the arts at the turn o f the lath c. in Erance. Germany and England. Ciothic painting, metalwork and ivory-carving were dominated by the courtly art o f Paris. By then the professional lay artist was well established, and some acquired great reputations, as. for instance", Maitrc Honore, first mentioned in I 2 8 K , and Jean I'ucelle. active in the first half o f the 1 4 t h c. They were the first French Ciothic painters to be influenced by Italian conceptions ot pictorial space and perspective. English art o f the Gothic period was much indebted to Parisian fashions. In manuscript painting the English excelled in drôleries, which frequently framed pages o f books. By the second quarter o f the 1 4 t h c. Italian elements became quite pronounced in English painting as, for example, in the Gorlcston Psalter, in which the Crucifixion scene displays some knowledge o f t he art o f Duccio. At the Bohemian court o f Emperor Charles I V . all forms o f painting flourished, especially murals and panel painting, w i t h some participation by Italian artists. Artistic development in Italy, especially from the time o f Giotto, forms a separate chapter, which leads directly to the emergence o f the Renaissance. The courtly International Gothic style ol 1 . 1 4 0 0 affected only northern Italy with Milan as the main centre; and from then on artistic developments in
2S3
P a i n t i n g and the m i n o r arts Italy and north of the Alps went their separate ways for the rest o f the Middle Ages. See FRESCO; GLASS,
ihe Wei! ( 1 9 5 9 ) : D . M , Nicol The Liisl Centuries of Byzantium ( 1 9 7 2 ) ; I t . Browning The Byzantine
STAINED;
Empire ( 1 9 8 0 )
MANUSCHIIT
ILLUMINATION;
MOSAIC
GZ
n C.R. Dodwell Painting in Europe 800-1200 {197 \ ); M.M. Can tier Emauxdu Moycn-Age (1972): I*. Lasko .4rs Soira 800-1200 ( 1 9 7 2 ) ; G. Zarneeki Art oj the Medieval World ( 1 9 7 5 ) : D. Gaborit-Chopin tvoires du Moyen-Age ( 1 9 7 8 ) ; D . M , Wilson Anglo-Saxon Ari ( 1 9 S 4 ) ; J. Beckwith Early Medieval Art ( 1 9 8 5 ) Palaeologi A landed Byzantine tainily. prominent under the Comueui. In [258 Michael VIII I'alacologus ( 1 2 5 8 - 8 2 ) made himself co-empcror of the Nicaean empire with the minor, |ohu IV. In 1259 he defeated a Latin coalition at Pelagonia, and in 1261 took Constantinople, installing his son Andronikos I I as co-emperor. The Byzantine empire was restored after 57 years o l Latin rule. Michael VIII faced three major problems; West ern plans o f re'conquest, the challenge o f the Greek rulers o f Epirtis, and Turkish incursions into Nicaea. Diplomacy, including agreement to the reconciliation o f the churches (ultimately rendering the dynasty immensely unpopular) and connivance at the Sicilian Vespers ( 1 2 8 2 ) . largely overcame the firsr two threats, hut the Turkish problem was more intractable. Andronikos II ( 1 2 8 2 - 1 . 1 2 8 ) had a long and disastrous reign, except for its cultural revival. Church union was dissolved, finances floundered, T urkish incursions increased and imported Catalan mercenaries plundered. His grandson Andronikos III ( 1 3 2 8 - 4 1 ) instigated civil war, forcing him to abdicate. Asia Minor was lost to the Turks in the 1330s and a new policy o f European consolidation pursued. Civil war followed Andronikos Ill's death until when his son John V ( 1 3 3 4 - 9 1 ) and John Cantacuzenus became co-empe'rors. Blague broke out. the Ottoman threat grew and John V was forced to acknowledge himself as the sultan's vassal. His son Manuel 11 ( 1 3 9 1 - 1 4 2 5 ) sought Western aid against the Turks, but this crusade was defeated ( 1 3 9 6 ) , and it was the Mongol leader Tamberlainc who halted them ( 1 4 0 2 ) . This respite was followed by a treaty between the Byzantines, Turks. Genoa and Venice. Manuel interfered in Ottoman politics bur provided no real safeguards, and by his death the empire was again subject to the Turks. His successor John VIII ( 1 4 2 5 - 4 8 ) sought Western assistance, hence the healing o f the schism ( 1 4 3 9 ) . In 1443 an abortive crusade began, soon ending in a truce, [ohn VUI's brother Constantinc X I ( 1 4 4 8 - 5 3 ) died fight ing when Constantinople tell to the Turks in 1453. In 1454 Scholarios was ordained patriarch under the TurlcS: the emperors were no more. MH n D.J. Geanakoplos Emperor Miehoel I'olocologus and 1347,
254
Papacy The claims o f the papacy, the bishopric o f Rome, to be head of the Catholic church are deeply rooted in the belief that the bishop ot Rome was the successor o f St Peter, chief among the Apostles, to whom Christ had entrusted the government o f his church on earth. The pun implicit in the text super imuf petram (upon this rock I found my church) was to have great force in the Middle Ages, when the political shaping o f the Mediterranean world served to bring further authority to the papacy. There were five patriarchates in the early church, and four o f these (Constantinople, Antioch, Jerusalem and Alexandria) remained in the orbit of the Byzantine and Muslim worlds. Only Rome survived in the West, and the prestige o f the ancient capital was transmitted to medieval society by the bishop o f Rome heir tz unpen ıl is w ell as Ch rearm traditions. T he part played by I'ope Leo I in persuading Attila to leave Italy In the early 4 5 0 s passed into legend. It was St Gregory I the Great who firmly estab¬ lished the primacy ot the papacy, above all in legal matters. His protection o l the Roman people, his constant encouragement and exhortation o f other bishops and archbishops in the West, and his initiation o f the conversion o f the English laid the foundation tor the effective sphere ot authority ot the medieval papacy. Dangers that the papacy would degenerate into a mere Lombard bishopric were overcome in the 8th c. by the intervention o f the Franks; and the coronation o f Charlemagne as emperor by Rope Leo I I I , at Rome on Christmas Day 8 0 0 . symbolized the new political shape achieved in the Western world. Theoretical claims to primacy continued to be current in the succeeding centuries, especially in the pontificate o f Nicholas I ( 8 5 8 - 6 7 ) , though for the most part the theocratic emperors of the Carol ingian and Ottoman dynasties tended to be dominant. The great crisis o f the 1 tth c , known as the Investiture Contest, brought about dramatic change. Under the direction of the Emperor Henry III, the paparv was enabled ro free irsiTt ot control bv the aristocratic tactions o f Rome. During the minority o f his son Henry I V ( 1 0 5 6 - 1 1 0 6 ) it found an ally in the Normans ot south Italy to counterbalance its reliance on German military pnwe-r. The affirmation ot the principles ot cardinal election brought its own domesrtt •.onstitutional positi-n into equilibrium. Rope Gregory V I I (I (ildcbrand), in the course o f his turbulent pontificate, set the reformed papacy on a new dynamic course. He humiliated Henry I V , forcing him to submission at Canossa. By his intense activity within the church and in relation to
Paris
Papacy: the coronarioıı ot linea Silvio Piccotoıııitıi as Pope K M H (I4S8).
the secular rulers o f Europe, he moved the papacy towards the centralized and centralizing position o f Strength which it was to hold for the following two centuries. Pope Urban II preached the First Crusade in 1095, and the 12th c. saw papal influence and power approaching its height. A century after Canossa the Emperor Frederick Barbarossa submitted to Pope Alexander I I I at Venice (1177), and Pope Innocent 111 brought the papacy to its zenith, influencing imperial elections; acting as a universal arbîtef in the West, encouraging crusade's and action against heretics, and placing himself in the lore'trout ol the move for moral reform at the great Fourth l.aterau Council, held in 1215. The very success o f the papacy brought serious c o m p h ı mens excessive involvement 111 politic:: and finance bred resentment. Pope Boniface VIII advanced extreme claims lor supremacy m the bull Í fttam Sanaatn at theju hi lee celebrations ot I 500, but his humiliation by instruments of the French king at Anagni in 1303 showed where real power lay. Exile to Avignon (1309-78) and the Great Schism between Home and Avignon (1378—1417) domin ated papal politics in the later Middle Ages. The conflict was resolved with the election o f Martin V at the Council of Constance in 1417. but reform was left (with only moderate success) in the hands ot the new popes, and by the end o f the 15 th c. the popes bore many ot the attributes ot Renaissance princes. See
CONCSJAB MOVEMENT;
DONATION OF C O N -
STANT1NE; FORCED DECRETALS; I ; El. ASI AN tHXTHINE; INDULGENCES;
INQUISITION; 1NVF.STITUHF. CONTEST;
tee also individual Councils and popes tí W. Ulhnann Tin- Growth ol Papal Government in the Middle Ages (1903); 11. Tierney i'lie Crisis of Church and Stale 1010-1.100 (i960); G. Barraelough The Medieval Papacy (1968): H. Tierney The Origins of Papal Infallibility (1972); W. Ullmann A Short History if the Papacy (1972); J. Richards The Popes and the Papacy İn the Early Middle Ages (1979)
Papal states The lands directly under the sovereign authority ot the pope were known as the papal states or thepatrimonium o f Sc Peter. Built up, especially by Pope Gregory I from the private possessions o f bishops in P.ome and its surrounding territories it was extended with the agreement o f the Frankish rulers in the later 8 th c. to cover most o f the territory in the old exarchate ot Ravenna. These territories underwent all the vicissitudes common to European medieval secict\ suffering imperial intervention, border disputes, and at times violent feudal dis order. The withdrawal of the popes to Avignon in the 14th c. intensified the problems, but in the 1 33OS Cardinal Albornoz succeeded substantially in restoring papal authority. Much o f the energy o f the 13th-c. popes was taken up in maintaining their rule in Rome itself, and in the provinces o f Latium, Umbria. Aiicona. Ravenna and Bologna - the rich strip of land running north-east from Rome, which constituted their patrimony. See VATICAN • L , Duchesne Let Origines de I'T.lal Pontifical an Moyen-Age (1912); P. Partner The Papal State under Martin r ( i 9 . S 8 ) ; D.P. Waley The Papal State in lite Thirteenth Century (1961): P. Parmer The Lands of St Peter (1972)
Paris T o w n occupying an important geographical position on a fertile plain near the Confluence ot the rivers Oise, Manic and Yonne with the Seine, and at the junction o f routes from the Mediterranean and from Aquitainc and Spain. Its nucleus, the lie de la Cite, was se'ttled by the Parish and e"hlistened Lutetia when it came under Roman rule in 52 B C . Christianity was introduced by St Denis at the end ot the 3rd c. and furthered by St Martin during the 4 t h c. Threatened attack by Attila (451) was averted by the prayers o f St Genevieve, patron saint o f Paris, and the actions o l the Roman general Actios. Paris was captured by the Merovingian King Clovis, becoming his capital in 508; hut following Chilpcric's transfer o f the capital {567) it lapsed into obscurity. In H43 it was sacked by the Vikings and in 885 withstood their prolonged siege under Bishop Gozlin and Count Eudes. In 987 Hugh Capet, duke o f Paris, became king, and tintler him and his successors Paris became the permanent capital o f France. The 1 i t h and 12th c. witnessed flourishing com merce, the development o f luxury trades and much building activity, notably under Louis V I (1 108-37). Philip Augustus and St Louis I X . A major factor in the development o f medieval Paris was the university, which grew out o f the cathedral schools and was recognized by Philip Augustus in 1200. It became the great transalpine centre o f orthodox theological teaching and ot
235
a miiicfit am
Htoi'ttviiinci icijtittfitvriMiif^nc
ctciwitomcte cimuavet tenia I &\ffanht?)Sk fine- S c \ m u t e
The entry o f Queen Isabella info Paris in ijSp, from Froissart's chronicle f r i t h C.J:
Paris, Peace o f Inomisiri. From tlic 1 2 2 0 s the mendicant orders advanced its teaching, and throughout the 13th c. and 14th c. it was the most celebrated centre o f learning in Christendom, its professors including Alexander o f I (ales. Bonaventura, Albcrtus Magnus and Thomas Aquinas. Medieval Paris was therefore significant in combining the functions of politic il capital, mercantile centre and the greatest intellectual and artistic centre in Northern Europe. The second half o f the 14th c. and first half o f the 15th c. witnessed a reversal in the fortunes o f Paris. From 1346 it was subject to English invasions and, despite partial recovery under Charles V, it was racked by the Burgmidian/Arniagnac dispute ( 1 4 1 0 - 1 . 2 9 ) . It was finally recovered from the English ( 1 4 3 0 - 4 1 ) and enjoyed a period o f calm followed by a restoration as a centre o f the arts and letters under Francis I ( 1 5 1 5 - 4 7 ) .
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• M . D n i o n The History of Paris (1969); M. Mollat Hisloire 7) Imperial chancellor under Frederick I Barharossa and eminence grise o f his policy o f imperial supremacy. He was an accomplished administrator, diplomat and general, and a passionate supporter ot the Empire. Rainald studied at Paris in the I 14OS and became provost o f the cathedral churches o f Hildesheim ( 1 1 4 7 ) and Minister. His political ambitions led htm into the imperial circle, and in 1 1 5 6 he was appointed chancellor. Rainald was instrumental in conceiving 1 rederick s '.ampaii,ii to claim sovcrcigiip, over all Christendom, and Rome in particular, provoking a papal schism. Rainald directed a strong
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Rainald o f Dassel propaganda campaign against Pope Adrian IV and 1 l 5 8 - 6 4 led troops into Italy several times. In 1 1 sy lie was elected archbishop o f Cologne, and after Adrian IV'sdeath in that year championed the imperial antipope Victor I V against Alexander 111. T he schism might have ended upon Victor IV's death (1 164) had Uainald not ensured its continuance by establishing a new anti-pope, Paschal 111. lîaiuald carefully negotiated alliances during the schism, notably with Henry II o f England (from 1 1 6 5 ) , w h o was initially induced to support Paschal. Raiuald also obtained Charlemagne's canonization by Paschal as imperial propaganda. In 1 167. during a major Italian campaign, a decisive victory over the Romans turned to disaster when Frederick's army was decimated by malaria; Rainald was one o f the many who died. • P. Miinz Frederick tSarbarossa ( 1 9 6 9 ) R a n u l f F l a m bard (d. 1128) Bishop o f Durham and a chief minister under William Rufus ( 1 0 8 7 - 1 1 0 0 ) . Orderieus Vitalis describes him as low-born, trom the Bessin. By r. 1 0 8 3 - 8 5 he entered Chancery as a clerk and keeper o f the royal seal, rising to p r o m i n ence under the Conqueror by c, 1087. He continued to serve William Rufus. becoming his chaplain, 3 justiciar and a head o f the administration. He was extremely unpopular amongst chroniclers and gained a reputation as the 'lawyer o f feudalism'. Little is known o f his actual role, but he was generally described as a fiscal agent, and evidence connects him with the judicial side o f finance. He seems to have been instrumental in extending royal authority throughout England, widening royal relations beyond mere overlord to tcnant-in-chicf, increasing interference in local affairs, complicating administrative offices and helping to create the Exchequer. He increased the possessions o f the king, often at the church's expense. In 1099 he became bishop o l Durham while continuing his administrative role and thereby causing outcry. When Henry I ascended the throne (1 too) he was imprisoned, hut escaped to Normandy where he encouraged Robert's invasion o f England. Hewas reconciled with Henry 1 , 1 1 0 1 . but played no part in his administration, concentrating upon Durham, where he nearly completed the cathedral, fortified the town and built Norham Castle. 1 : R.W. Southern, -Ranulf Flambard and early Anglo-Norman Administration'. Transactions of the Royal Historical Society 16 ( 1 9 3 3 ) R a n u l f de G l a n v i l l (d.1190) Born at Stratford, Suffolk, he was a member o f the lower ranks o f England's landed classes. He entered royal government, rising to the rank o f sheriff. His loyalty to
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Henry II was proved by his energe-tic delenee ol the north during the rebellion o f 1 1 7 3 - 7 4 , in which liecaptured King William o f Scotland at Alnwick. Hesucceeded Richard de Lucy as justiciar in 1180, a post he held until IlfSg when Richard 1 removed him from office and imprisoned h i m . He was released on the payment of a ransom o f .El 5 , 0 0 0 and accompanied Richard em the T h i r d Crusade, dying at Acre in 1190.
His fame rests on the w o r k commonly attributed to h i m . Tractatus de Lcgihus et Consuetudinibus Regrii Angliae ( r . l 188), but possibly written by his nephewand secretary Hubert Walter. It was a lucid description in commentary format o f the practice, procedure's and principles o f the royal courts. The hook is structured around the forms o f royal writs and their accompanying procedures, notably the recentlyintroduced possessory assizes. The aim is effective enforcement by specific royal orders, with regal authority used to overcome conflicting jurisdictions and to ensure the efficient maintenance of the king's peace. Its popularity in judicial circles helped to consolidate the position ol common law against the rapidly evolving and expanding feudal, canon arid Roman legal systems. 1 1 G . D . G . Hall Glanvill ( 1 9 6 5 )
Ravenna In 4 0 2 - 0 3 Emperor Houorius and his court left Milan to take up permanent residence in Ravenna, a city that provided better protection Irom the barbarian tribes invading from the north. The city played a key role in the history o f medieval Europe for r . 3 5 0 years as capital, first, o f the Westem Roman empire and later, o f Ostrogothic and Byzantine Italy. The barbarian ruler Odoaccr resided there after 4 7 1 . later surrendering it to the Ostrogoth Theodoric in 4 9 3 . It then played an important role in theJustinianic campaigns to recapture Italy from the Goths; the Byzantine general Belisarius captured Ravenna in 5 4 0 , and the city became the capital ol Italy. It was subsequently made into an imperial exarchate ( ¿ . 5 8 4 - 1 - . 7 5 1 ) . thereby becoming the centre o f all administrative activity in Italy as well as being the principal port cf entry tor the Byzantines. The city was taken by the Lombards in the mid-8th c., but by 7 5 7 was under rhe control o f the pope after the Prankish King Pepin had expelled the Lombards. By the late Middle Ages. Venice had supplanted Ravenna as the principal port on the Adriatic. The many beautiful buildings and works o f art executed in Rave-nna between the 5th c. and 8th c. e-pitomizc the strong artistic connections o f the Eastern and Western Roman empire in the early Middle Ages. 11 E, Mutton Ravenna: A Study ( 1 9 1 3 ) ; A . Torre Ravenna: Storia di .1000 Antti ( 1 9 6 7 )
Regularás Concordia R a y m o n d I V (r. 1 0 4 1 - 1 1 0 5 ) Count o f Toulouse. Second son ol Pons and Almodis, on the death of his elder brother William ( 1 0 9 1 ) , he succeeded to the whole county o f Toulouse. T w o years later he was the first prince to respond to Urban IPs call for a crusade ro the Holy Land. He left Prance in 1006, and when he arrived at Constantinople refused to pay homage to the Emperor Alexius. A compromise was reached whereby Raymond agreed to respect the territorial rights of the emperor, and gradually Raymond came to favour and to advocate a GreekLatin alliance to further the aims o f the crusade. Raymond was present at the siege and capture o f Antioeh. and argued that it should be given to the Byzantine emperor. Plowever, ISohcmond I claimed it for himself and expelled Raymond's garrison. Thereafter. Raymond appears as the true leader of t he crusade, arranging the march on Jerusalem and playing a crucial role in the storming o f the city in 1091). Raymond declined the royal digniiy (Godlrey de Bouillon became the Defender o f the Holy Sepulchre) and in 1 101 founded the county o f Tripoli, though he continued to campaign up to the time o i his death. nJ.H.
H i l l and L . L . H i l l Raymond IV of St Gittes
(1959)
Realism Sit Scholasticism
the kingdom of Granada was still in Muslim hands, where it remained until 1492. Literary sources tend to ronianticm md oversimplify m their nireqirctatmn of Spanish history as a long crusade from the reign of Charlemagne to the end o f the Middle Ages. T he reality was vastly different, and the Rcconqucst must be interpreted in the context o f a complex interaction o f peoples - Christian, Muslim and Jewish - which made Spain one o f the most impor tant sources o f intellectual and cultural life in the central Middle Ages. |.?O0"| • A . Mackay Spain in the Middle Ages. Prom Frontier to Empire 1OOO— I$00 ( 1 9 7 7 ) ; l î . W . Lomax The Reconquer! of Spoin ( 1 9 7 8 ) Rcgino (d.yis) Chronicler, O f noble Prankish birth, he was successively a monk and abbot (elected 8 9 2 ) o f P r û m , western Germany. His Chronicle, written r.908 and terminating at 9 0 0 , renders him the historian and moralist o f the internecine strug gles within the Frankish empire following the death o f Charles III ( X 8 S ) . His preoccupation is with the heights achieved by the Caroiingian empire, its col lapse and prevailing decadence. T he Chronicle was continued (Gontinuatio Reginonsis) by Adalbert, archbishop of Magdeburg, after the mid-loth c . and relates the empire's recovery under the Ottonians. Rcgino died at St Maximin's, near Trier. • J. Fleckenstein Early Medieval Germany
Rcccared I King of the Visigoths 5 8 6 - 6 0 1 ( c . 5 6 0 6 0 2 ) Chiefly responsible for the conversion of the ruling Visii;othr. dynasty from Ananısın to Catho licism. Rcccared deliberately strengthened the religious ties between king and church, accepting the O l d Testament custom o f anointing by the bishops at his installation, cooperating with the powerful bishops at great councils and working closely with Pope Gregory I . He could not achieve complete success in the face o f the diverse popula tion and interests in the Iberian peninsula. Basque separatism, Suevi independence, |ewish difference and Arian persistence, but did much to stabilize and strengthen what became ,111 orthodox Christian monarchy. • E . A . Thompson The Goths in Spaiti ( 1 9 I 9 ) Rcconqucst (Rtconquista) Name given to the process by which from the 11th c. onwards the GhriStiah communities of Spain reconquered the territories lost to the Muslims in the decades immed iately following 711. The chief critical dates are the recovery o f Toledo in I O N S ; the establishment oi the kingdom o f Portugal and the capture of Lisbon (1 14X); the battle o f Las Navas de Tolosa (12 12) and the subsequent extension o f Christian authority to Seville and Cordoba. By the end o f the 13 th c. only
(1978)
Regularis Concordia Treatise 011 monastic customs possibly written by St Acthelwold in f.970, which aimed at establishing a common form ol observance for English monks. The work is divided into a prologue and 1 2 chapters covering the religious lile throughout the year. In the prologue the author informs us that King Edgar summoned a Council at Winchester and invited monks from the reforming establishments o f Eleury (Cluniac) and Ghent (Lotharingiau) to suggest the Rules upon which the work is based. It provides intimate details of monas tic life; for example, it is the only document o f the period to mention daily communion. The import ance o f the treatise is its place in the church reforms o f the 10th c . highlighting Catholic and local aspects. By allying intimately with royal power, the reformers attempted to weaken the domination o f secular and local interests, furthermore, it streng thened the position o f the monarch, permitting him 10 fulfil his ascribed role as Christ's vicar on earth. The widespread adoption o f this Rule led to improvement in the monastic life in England. 1 Regularis Concordia ed. D . T , Symons ( 1 9 5 K )
Renaissance See Caroiingian, Italian, N o r t h umbrian, Twelfth-century renaissance 279
R e n o v a t i o monetae R e n o v a t i o monetae ( M u t a t i o monetae) The custom ot changing the type o f penny in circulation and replacing it by another, often at three-year intervals. It was widely practised in northern Germ any, where i t was exploited lor taxation purposes, and in England between the late 10th c. and the mid-12th c. R e y n a r d the Fox Popular figure in a scries o f moralistic tables which had a great vogue in I jttl-e. and lath-c. Western Europe; the hero was represented as a clever fox. Renart or Rcinhart. The composers o f what is sometimes called the Reynard cycle drew ultimate inspiration trom Aesop, finding the anthropomorphic device a most ettective means o f communicating satiric comment on the social scene. 11 J. Flinn Lt Roman de Renart (1964) Hheims, C o u n c i l o f (October 1049) Convened by Pope I,eo I X . Leo employed numerous provincial councils to ensure control, greatly increasing papal power and prestige, and it was he w h o initiated the papal reform movement. The Council o f Rheims (followed by rhat o f Mainz) delineated his reform ot the secular clergy and may be seen as the start o f papal reform. Abuses were rite in France, so Leo utilized the consecration o f the new abbey church o f Saint-Remy for his visit. fhe Council condemned simony, clerical marriage and the sale ot orders, safeguarded clerical dues, but prohibited fees for burials. Eucharist and service to the sick, and declared that bishops and abbots were to be appointed only after election by clergy and people. It was an expression of the church's corporate lite, and stressed individual responsibility. Henry I ot France, wary o f Leo's German nationality and ot papal authority, obstructed Rheims by demanding his bishops' feudal service in a well-timed campaign. Those who obeyed were excommunicated (archbishop o f Sens and the bishops o f Bcauvais and Amiens) whilst rhe archbishop o f Rheims and others were tried tor simony: one bishop was deposed and the bishop o f Langres fled. Rhodes Principal island o f the Dodecanese with the port o f Rhodes at its north-eastern end. Its Greek inhabitants possessed a great classical heritage and continued to be subject to Byzantium. At the beginning oft he 14 th c. plans were evolved to convert the Order o f Knights Hospitallers into a maritime power, to secure its independence. Rhodes and its dependencies became the target. By 1306 Rhodes was under a Byzantine governor but was in fact a pirate state and open to attack. The Order's forces landed in 1307 and possession was confirmed by Pope Clement V . but the island was not secured
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until 1 toy in the face o f resistance trom the Rhodians and their Muslim allies. The Order obtained several footholds 011 the surrounding islands and the mainland, and tor two centuries remained astride one of the major sea routes o f the eastern Mediterranean. It established an independent, feudal religious republic w ith its own administration and modified Rhodian law. Its subjects included lay Europeans in addition to the Rhodians. who paradoxically formed a Greek Orthodox community under Roman rule, although without apparent schism. This power presented a threat to Islam, and from attacks were directed against it. In I 4 5 3 C o n stantinople fell and the Turkish sultan. Mehmed theConqueror, demanded tribute from rhe Order. Despite its refusal, no major Islamic attack was launched until 1479. Under Grand Master Pierre d'Aubusson, Rhodes withstood a severe siege and secured a victory ( 1 4 8 0 ) which was celebrated throughout Christendom. A period o f détente followed, during which the Order protected the Turkish pretender. Djem. In 1500 Turkish incursions into Italy provoked a crusade which it tell to the Order to implement. Sporadic conflict ensued until Sutaymân II the Magnificent determined to remove this thorn in his side and launched an armada (1522). Despite sophisticated fortifications and heroic defence under Grand Master Philippe de Villiers de ITsle-Adam, the city o f Rhodes was forced to an honourable surrender. The Order was allowed to leave ( 1 5 2 1 ) and eventually settled in Malta. Many subjects also left and colonists Were brought in. The Ottomans extended some religious tolerance to their remaining Greek subjects. MB • E. Brock man Tht Tiro Sieges el Rhodes 14S0-1 ( 2 2 1400
(i960)
R i c h a r d I L i o n h c a r t (Coeur de L i o n ) King o f England 1 1 8 9 - 9 9 (b. 1157) Third son o f Henry I I . he received the duchy o f Aquitaine at the age o f 11. Like his brothers he had no filial loyalty and allied himself to the French king against his lather in 1 173—74 and 1 [ 8 8 - 8 9 . In a series o f bitter campaigns he established his authority over the refractory Poitevin barony. On his father's dearh ( 1 1 8 9 ) he inherited all o f I lenry's lands and began to pre'pare for rhe crusade. In 1 1 go he set out. capturing Messina and Cyprus en route before joining the crusaders at Acre (1 i y i ) . The city fell within a month, and later in the year Richard's brilliant victory at Arsuf resulted in the Christian capture o f Joppa, The Christians were divided and settled tor an honourable truce with Saladin ( 1 1 9 2 ) , which allowed the Christians to have access to the holy places and to continue to hold Acre.
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Richard Lionhcart nukes .1 treaty with the Saracens (Matthew Paris, Chronica Minora, mid-l 3th O n his return journey Richard was captured by thp followers o f the Emperor Henry V I and released Only after the payment o f 1 0 0 . 0 0 0 marks. England was surprisingly well governed during his absence on crusade and his captivity. Richard's reputation as king was high among contemporaries, and he is now again well regarded after a period when it was fashionable to arraign him lor neglect. He spent most o f his later years in his French possessions, building the great fortress ot Ch.iteau-Gaillard on the Seine, and was killed at the siege o l Chaiuz in 1 luy, • J . Gillmgham Tht Life oiui Times oj Itieliard I
recalled because o f their lawlessness. Strongbow soon returned as viceroy ( 1 1 7 3 - 7 6 ) . An AngloNorman settlement was achieved and acknow ledged by the Treaty o f Windsor (1175). by the terms o f which Rory O'Conor became Henry's vassal, three-tifths o f his lauds remaining Irish, with Leinster and Meath becoming Anglo-Norman. On Strongbow's death his children Gilbert and Isabella (who married William Marshall) were under age. and the earldom o f Leinster temporarily passed to the crown. 11
H . H . M . Dolley Anglo-Norman Ireland
(1972)
(>978)
Richard d c Clare (d.! 176) Known as 'Strongbow', lit: hard Fiti( ilbert de t 1 ire was a leading figure in the Anglo-Norman invasion ot Ireland. He was a Welsh Marcher baron, earl o f Striguil and earl o f Pembroke from I 14N (until the title was revoked by 1 lenry II as a Stephen creation), hi 1 167 Strongbow agreed to reinstate Derrnot MaeMurrough. king o f Leinstcr (expelled by High King Rory O'Conor), in return for the hand of Dermot's daughter Eva and the l.einster succession. Strongbow led a massive force to Ireland ( 1 1 7 0 ) . despite 1 lenry ll's disapproval. They took Watcrford and I )ublin. but Henry ordered them home . Strongbow countered Henry's fears o f over-powerful subjects by offering to hold his Irish lands o f the English crown. Henry refused, but meanwhile Dcrniot had died ( 1 1 7 1 ) ; Strongbow's succession was repudiated in Leinstcr and he cam paigned to subdue it. -
Henry II prepared to visit Ireland. Strongbow met him, pledging him Dublin and its hinterland. Watcrford. Wexford and the Wicklows. Henry landed (1 171) and his overlordship was recognized. Strongbow and 1 h'gh dc Lacy were emipowcrcd to enfeoff Meath and Leinstcr, and though temporarily
R i e n z o , Cola d i (c, J 3 13—54) A Roman notary o f humble birth, in I 347 Rienzo led the Popular party against [he Roman aristocracy and the absentee papacy, thenat Avignon. He was crowned as tribune and. dreaming of restoring the ancient Roman republic, he declared that every Italian citizen was to have Roman citizenship. He planned to unite Italy into a federation under obedience to an elected emperor in Rome. In December [ 3 4 7 Rienzo was overthrown and fled from Rome. He was excom municated and spent several years in prison before being absolved in 1332. He was killed by a mob. in October 1354. only a few months after having again assumed control o f Rome. ci I . Origo 'Tribune of Rome ( i y 3 K ) ; Life of Colo Hi Rienzo trans. J. Wright ( 1 9 7 5 ) Roads, R o m a n The role o f Roman roads in the medieval network is dcbatcablc. as survival appears to have been sporadic and varied. The Roman sys tem was designed to serve and unite a massive empire, while medieval authority and interests were o f a more local nature. Medieval roads tended not to be engineered, but were rather rights of way. Roman roads were destroyed, abandoned, en-
281
Roads, R o m a n croachcd upon, robbed, incorporated piecemeal into medieval routes, or maintained (as the Via Flaminia by the kings o f the Goths). Major maintenance obviously depended upon the strength of central authority, and generally responsibility seems to have been shared, as in antiquity, by centra! government, and regional and roadside authorities, such as the frères pontifes and hospices. It has been doubted that Roman roads coincided with medieval roads, as they were difficult to modify and repair, hut there are instances oi continued use. for example in I j t h - c . I'icardy and the Landes, where the Roman road was used as a pilgrim route until the 14th c. The occurrence oi Roman roads as charter boundaries, settlement patterns and placename evidence (incorporating elements such as strati) also imply some continuity, as do specific details, such as the English monarch's special protection ot Wading Street. Ermine Street. Fosse Way and the leknield Way. However, topography was important. New towns, such as O x f o r d , needed new roads and there also appears to have been a return to a pre-Roman system o i communications, o f improvised construction, between minor settlements, • R. Chevallier Roman Roads Medierai Roods ( 1 9 8 2 )
(1976);
l i . F . Hindle
Robert, St ( 1 0 2 7 - 1 U t) Abbot of Molesme. During the 2 0 years that Robert was abbot o l Molesme in Burgundy, die monastery achieved a high reputation for its sanctity, and attracted considerable endowments. This success led to the dissatisfaction of a section o f the community who desired a return to a simpler life, more in keeping with the Benedictine Rule. In 1 0 9 « Robert left Molesme to settle these monks, in circumstances o f extreme hardship, in a new monastery. The first abbot o f the novum monasterium, which later became Citeaux. Robert was forced to return to Molesme, leaving his new foundation to struggle for survival. Nevertheless, he is properly regarded as the originator of the Cistercian movement. : D . Knowles Cistercians out! Cluniaes ( 1 9 5 $ Constable Religious Life and Thought ( 1 9 7 9 )
S,
Robert I Bruce King o f Scotland 1306^29 (b. 1274) Ot the Anglo-Norman Bruce family w h o were among the claimants to the Scottish throne upon Alexander Ill's death (1286). Edward 1 intervened, annexing Scotland ( 1 2 9 0 ) and initiating the AngloScottish wars o f independence. In 1304 Robert Bruce became si^th lord ot Annandalc and head of the family. He initially supported Edward rather than his own rival claimants (Balliol and theComyns), but sporadically supported the rebellious Scots
282
The great seal ol" Robert Bruce, rex Seottomm. under Wallace. In 1306 he killed John C o m y n and decisively entered into revolt, being crowned king at Scone. A massive English/Comyn force was mobilized. Robert was defeated at Methven and Dairy (13011) and retreated into the We'stern H i g h lands, re-emerging in 1307 to launch a campaign o f guerilla warfare, defeating rhe English at Glen T r o o l and Loudon H i l l . Edward I's death ( 1 3 0 7 ) improved Robert Bruce's position and from 1300 he effectively ruled much o f Scotland. Victories at Bannockburn ( 1 3 1 4 ) and Berwick ( 1 3 1 8 ) extended his rule throughout Scotland. Hostilities including Scottish incursions into England, continued until the Treaty eit Northampton (or Edinburgh) in 1328. which confirmed Scotland's tre'e'dom and the Bruce succession, scaled by the marriage o f Edward Ill's sister Joan and Robert's son and successor David ( 1 3 2 9 - 7 1 ) . Set J O M N B A I 1 tot i i G . W . S . Barrow Robert Brute (1963) Robert Guiscard (el. 1085) Noted for his cunning as well as for his bravery (his sobriquet is cognate with the English 'wizard'), in the course o f a long and colourful career he established the Norman family ot Haoteville as a ruling dynasty of European
Robin H o o d i m portai ice. Hojnincd his brothers and other Norman adventurers m south Italy in the l 140s, defeated rhe papa! army o f Leo I X at the epic battle o f Civitate (11 S3), but emerged by the end o f the decade as a defender ol papal interests in the south and a counterpoise to the Germans. By the Treaty o f Molfi ( 1 0 3 9 ) the pope re-cognized him as feudal duke of Apulia and potential ruler o f Sicily, still at that stage in Muslim hands. His equally glamorous young brother Roger (1) took the lead with Robert's support in the conquest o f Sicily, which was not complete until C. 1092. Robert himself concentrated on mainland politics. I lis relationship with the papacy was often stormy, but when the final political crisis e)l 1 lildebrand's pontificate occurred, Robert intervened on his behall against the Emperor Henry IV, an intervention which resulted in a savage attack on Rome by Norman troops in 1084. and the forced withdrawal o f the pope to Norman protection at Salerno (where he die-d in 1 0 8 5 ) . Robert was also active in the politics o f the eastern Mediterranean, defeating Eastern imperial schemes as well as Western. He clarified the situation in the south o f Italy, re-moving the last Byzantine stronghold at Bari ( 1 0 7 1 ) and laying the Inundations for the strong feudal principality o f Apulia and Sicily which was to blossom into a kingdom by 1130. [ iJ.J. N o r w i c h The Normans in the South
(1967)
Robert le B o u g r e id. be-fore 1263) Rober; le 1'etit acquired the name Te Bougre'' (the Bulgar) from having been a Cathar, By 1232 he was converted, becoming a Dominican, Matthew Paris (Chronica Majora) describes him as a well-e-ducated and eloquent preacher. His acquaintance with Catharism rendered him valuable in its detection, and he was recruited by the founder o f the medieval Inquisition, PopeGregory I X , becoming its chie-f representative in northern France (where heresy was persistent i f not as rampant as in the south). In 1233 Gregory empowered the Dominicans o f Besancon, led by Robert, to investigate Charité-surLoire. Robert's intemperate zeal provoked outcry, and in 1234 bis licence was withdrawn. Nevertheless, in 1233 he was appointed inquisitor-general o f France. He was particularly active in the north-east and in 1239 secured the mass execution o f 183 Cathars at M o n t - A i m é (Champagne). Eventually his tanitieinn and l i k e convictions led to his (all ( i . 1243) and perpetual imprisonment. He appears to have purchased a papal dispensation, leaving the Dtmiinicans and joining several other orders before his death. n C . H . Flask ins Studies in Medieval Culture (11129); B. Hamilton The Medieval Inquisition (1981)
R o b e r t o f Arbrissel, St (d.1117) Founder ol the Order of Fontevrault, a double order lor both monks and nuns, Robert had left the household o f Bishop Marbod o f Renhes to become an itinerant preacher. In 109(1 he was licensed bv Pope Urban II ro preach the First Crusade in the Loire valley. He- also sought to lead a life of poverty, in imitation of Christ, and attracted many followers, particularly women. In late 1100 Robc-rt was summoned to a Synod o f Poitiers, at which he probably agreed to divide his adherents into separate convents, so founding Fontevrault, which rapidly became one o f the most celebrated aristocratic monastic houses o f northern France. R o b e r t o f S o r b o n ( 1 2 0 1 - 7 4 ) Founder of the Sor¬ bonne. I lumbly born in Sorbon (Ardennes), hestudied at Paris university in the faculties o f arts and theology, where he became a master. He wrote numerous sermons and 1 M 2 5 0 became a canon o f Cambrai, l ie subsequently wrote the- treatise De Conscienlia and De Confessione, and by 1256 had become Louis IX's confessor. Concern over student conditions prompted him to found the most famous Parisian college, the Sorboune (probably officially founded 1 2 5 7 ) , for students o f theology. Its role in the university's attack on the mendicant orders and in advocating Gallicanism had little to do with Robert. He secured lor it many benefactors, including the king and Gérard d'Abbeville (who bequeathed his library in 1 2 7 2 ) , and continued in his roles as master, patron, priest, sernionist and courtier until his death. M P. Glorieux Anx Origines de la Sorbonne vol. 1 ( 1 9 6 6 ) ; R . H . Rouse.'The Early Library o f the Sorbonne', Scriptorium 21 ( 1 9 6 7 ) R o b i n H o o d Although he probably had some historical basis, he was not the character o f popular imagination; that is to say, one who robbed tile rich to pay the poor. The first reference to 'rymes o f Robyn Hood' appears in I'iers Plowman (r.1377). Surviving medieval legends consist o f ballads such as Robin I load and the Monk (e. 1 4 5 0 ) . the late 1 Sth-c. poem A Cost of Robyn Hode (probably from an earlier source) and Robin Hood ant! the Potter (c. 1 5 0 3 ) ; a fragmentary play has also survived in a manuscript o f C. 1475. In these accounts Robin is a yeoman w h o pursues an outlaw's existence, displays great prowess at arms and is a master ol disguise and stratagem. I le is no social rebel, revering the king in all matters except the ownership of deer; and his actions against authority are aimed at its abuse rather than its fundamental structure. He displays little affinity with peasants and no definite aims for redistribution o f wealth. He is devoted to the Virgin, but
2X3
Robin Hood mistrusts clerics. He c m be remarkably eiolent. but always heroically so. The most likely historical figure was Robert Hode. tenant o f the archbishop o f York, w h o fled from the justices in 1225. During the 13 th c. a Hood family appeared around Wakefield: the legends were often set in Barnsdalc, near Wakefield. By (.12911 Robynhod surnames appeared in Susses and London, probably because o f connections with Barnsdalc brought about by the Lancaster-Lacy marriage ( r . i 2 i J 4 ) . Several larc-r outlaws assumed the name •Robin blood', possibly accounting tor associations with forest land, such as Sherwood. By the late 15th c. Robin was known in Scotland: he and his men featured in the May games and plays. A 131I1-C. Trench play. Robin and Marion, about totally separate characters, seems to have led to the identification of Robin with the king o f the May. with Marion as his queen. Friar Tuck may have been based on Robert Stafford, 'Frcre Tuk', a clerical outlaw in Sussex ( . 1 4 1 7 - 2 9 , The legend seems to have drawn upon, and later been contused with, real-life romances (Hereward the Wake. Eustace the Monk, bulk FitzWarin) and other tales [Adam Belt, Gamelyn). This, and changes in audience which shifted Robin's associations from yeomen to nobles or peasants, probably led to subsequent embroidery upon the legend and contributed to its durability. See F O R E S T LAW
MB
o J . C . Holt Robin Hood ( 1 9 8 2 ) : J. Bellamy Robin Hood: an historical enquiry ( 1 9 8 5 ) R o d e r i c King o f the Visigoths 7 1 0 - 1 1 A figure greater in legend than in history, Rodctic, duke of Andalusia, was elected king in 7 1 0 , but was overwhelmingly defeated by the Muslims led by Tariq (Gibraltar = Geb-el-Tariq. or Tariq's rock) on 19 July 7 1 1 . This marked the beginning o l a relatively quick and successful conquest, which placed the greater part o f Spain in Muslim hands. • R. Collins Early Medieval Spain 400-tooo ( 1 9 8 4 ) R o g e r I (d. 1101) Great count o f Sicily and Calabria 1072—1101, The youngest sou ot Tancred de Hauteville, Roger went to j o i n his brother Robert Guiscard in southern Italy in 1057. A brave warrior, he greatly aided Guiscard's conquest o f Calabria and was able to capture Reggio in 1 0 6 0 . With the ecrflQUCSt °i this region virtually complete, the brothers turned their attention to Sicily. Discord between the various Muslim leaders provided them with the perfect opportunity o f capturing the island, although it took nearly 2 0 years to complete the operation. Roger rebelled openly against his brother on several occasions: in 10(12 he forced him to agree to a rule o f condominium in Calabria, and in 1072 he was
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granted the title o f count o f Sicily and Calabria, though Guiscard reserved control o f Palermo, half o f Messina, and half o f Val Demone. Roger captured N o t o , the last major stronghold ot the Muslims, in 1091. Following Guiscard's death in 1085, Roger was granted his lands in Sirily. He then assumed the title o f great count o f Sicily and Calabria. Roger granted religious frc-edom to Greek Christians, Jews and Muslims, and wishing to preserve the administrative machine'ry. he continued to employ Muslim civil servants and accountants. He was granted the apostolic legate-ship for Sicily by Pope Urban II in
1099. • J.J. N o r w i c h The Normans in the South D . M . Smith Medieval Sicily ( 1 9 6 8 )
(1907):
Roger I I King o f Sicily 1 1 3 0 - 3 4 ( b . 1 0 9 3 ) Son o f Count Roger I and Adelaide, he was driven throughout most o f his re-ign ro set up a powerful Mediterranean empire, with Sicily as its centre. For some years he was occupied with Norman territories on the mainland. Pope Honorius 11. fearing his growing strength, organized a league o f cities and barons in rebellion against him. Roger, however, was able to deteat the pope's torce-s. and was invested as duke o f Salerno in 1 128. Honorius' death in 1 130 was followed by a schism in the papacy: Roger supported the anti-pope Auacletus II over Innocent I I . Anaclotus crowned him king o f Sicily. Apulia and Calabria at Palermo in 1 130, but Anacletus' death in 1138 gave Innocent II greater power, and an alliance was formed between the pope and Emperor Lothar I I . Once more. Roger was able to overwhelm his opposition, and Innocent recognize-d him as king in 1139. Fle then set out to subdue Naples and Capua. N o t content with the mastery o f these territories, Roger began to raid Byzantium and founded a short-lived empire in Tunisia. His contribution to the building o f the Sicilian state was very gre-at. In 1 140 he introduced a new code o f law (the Assizes o f Ariano); he also centralized finances and set up agents o f the government in all districts o f the mainland. His court was noted for its racial and cultural integration, hi many ways an exceptional ruler. Roger was also renowned for his patronage o f the arts, science and philosophy. • E. Curtis Roger ol Sicily ( 1 9 1 2 ) ; H . Wieruszowski. 'Roger o f Sicily, Rex Tyrannus', Twelfth-Century Political Thought, Speculum 38 (1963);J.J. Norwich The Kingdom ol the Sun ( 1 9 7 0 ) Roger L o r i a ( ( - . 1 2 5 0 - ^ 1 3 0 5 ) B o m in Loria, south Italy. His mother fostere'd Constance, queen o f Aragon. and this brought him into Aragouese service.
R o m a n de la Rose Peter III appointing him grand admiral ( 1 2 H 3 ) , His career centred upon the Sicilian conflict following the Vespers ( 1 2 8 2 ) , in which he became a key figure. His achievements include defeating the Angcvins (Malta, 1 2 X 3 ) . capturing the future Charles I I (Naples, 1 2 8 4 ) , attacking jerha ( 1 2 8 4 ) and annihilating the French licet (Las Furmigas, 1 2 8 5 ) . He continued to serve Peter's son James, accompanied him to Rome to effect a settlement ( 1 2 9 7 ) and was created count ot Jerha by the pope. He subsequently opposed Sicilian rebels (Cape Orlando. 1 2 9 9 : Ponza. 1 3 0 0 ) . The Treaty o l Caltabellotta ( 1 3 0 2 ) ended his career and he died in retirement. • S. Runcunan The Sicilian Vespers ( 1 9 5 8 ) Roger of Salisbury ( d . 1 1 3 9 ) Formerly a clerk at Avranches. Roger was Henry I's most brilliant administrator. Alter holding office as chancellor for about a year, he resigned in i t 0 2 on becoming bishop of Salisbury. He introduced a new sophistication into the king's finances and is credited with the organization o f the Exchequer. Patronage and family tics strengthened his control o f the administration, with his son. Roger 1c Poer. as chancellor and his nephew Nigel, bishop o f Ely, as treasurer. Roger's only recorded official title is regiti Ahglitte procurator, for he governed the country in the king's absence. His tall came in 1 1 3 9 when he was attacked and disgraced on grounds o f treachery, and on his death that year his immense wealth was seized by King Stephen. E.J. Kealey Roger of Salisbury ( 1 9 7 2 ) ; J. Green The Government of England under Henry I ( 1 9 8 6 ) 11
Roland Warden o f the Breton March. In 77K Charlemagne, who had been campaigning against the Saracens in Spain, was forced by persistent Saxon raids to return to Gen-many. He left a rear¬ guard under Roland which was attacked and killed by Basques, an incident which provided the kernel of truth lor the legends which developed in northern Spain and southern France. Part of this tradition was encapsulated in the epic poem La Chanson de Roland, which reflects the feudal values o f the period, concentrating on the relationship o f master and man, on its demands and its rewards. Rolle, Richard ( T 2 9 5 - 1 3 4 9 ) A scholar and theologian at Oxford, he retired as a hermit to Haiupole near Eton caster, where he wrote mystical works o f great power in Latin and English; he also translated the psalms into the vernacular. His work is interpreted as important both lor content and form: the Content illustrates a strong reaction in the intellectual world against the Scholasticism ot the age: the form, good vernacular prose and poerry, foreshadows the
I he lover attains his pri?e: 111 a 1 sth-c. text ot the Roman dc la Rose. triumph o f English and its use by Wycliffc and his followers later in the century. D D . Knowles 77if English Mystical Tradition (1961)
Rollo ( C . 9 0 6 - C . 3 0 ) Duke of Normandy. According to Icelandic sagas, the Viking Reilf Gangr. whose name was later Gallicized as Rollo, was o f noble Norwegian ancestry. After years o f raiding in France, his army was deteated outside Chartrcs in 9 1 1 . l i y an arrangement made at Saint-Clair-surEpte. Rollo did homage to Charles the Simple, king of the West Franks, and was baptized in 9 1 2 . In return. Rollo was granted land ot strategic importance 011 either side o f the Seine, corresponding to Upper Normandy and marking [he beginning ot medieval Normandy. 1 1 D . Bates Normandy before 1066 (1982) R o m a n de la Rose More than 2 3 , 0 0 0 lines long, this is regarded as the greatest o f the French romances. It was the work o f two poets, (luillaume de Lorris ( f . 1 2 4 0 ) and. more extensively, Jean de Mcung (e 1 2 7 5 ) . Rich in allegory, it brings together the main characteristics ot the I 2 t h - c . and
13th-c.
renaissance, at le-ast in its vernacular manifestations: ideas o f Courtly Love, and yet also o f a love that is attainable: reflections on vices and virtues; on idleness, pleasure and delight; on danger, shame and jealousy. It also contains a strong element o f social
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R o m a n de la Rose
Typical Romanesque gwtejsjniiS s u r r o u n d
.1 double
Romanesque art: a love o f simplification o f forms and of decorative patterns, both ol which affected even the human figure. Romanesque arr was deeply religious, but it was also frequently imbued with a CfuHc humour and a taste for fantastic and grotesque creatures. It was this aspect, so inventive and lively, which prompted the austere St Bernard o f Clairvaux to exclaim when w r i t i n g about the carved capitals in Romanesque cloisters; " . . . so many and so marvellous are the varieties o f divers shapes on every hand, that we are more tempted to read in the marble than in our books'. Sec A U C H I T F C T U I I E GZ 1 J . Beckwith ilarly Medieval An (uX>4): G. Zamecki Romanesque An ( 1 9 7 1 )
capita! in B u r g o s cathedral cloister, c. MOO.
satire, condemning abuse o f power and arguing against clerical celibacy. The poem proved immensely popular and over 200 manuscripts survive. Chaucer translated it into English, though only a portion o f the surviving Middle English version appears to be by his hand. Modern critics have been known to contrast the tone o f the two poets, the gentle allegory o l Lorris and the satire o f Meung. in terms that suggest an analogy with modern English poets, with Spenser on the oneside and Rope on the other. | io6\ 11 C.S. Lewis The Allegory dfhovt (19.SO); Le Ronton de la Rose ed. C. W. Dunn ( 1 9 6 2 ) Romanesque Term first used in the early 19th c. to describe a style derived, it was believed. Irnm Roman art. The sources o f Romanesque art are, however, not only Roman, but Byzantine, Islamic and even barbarian and Celtic. Its origins are closely linked with the reform o f religious life in the toth c. and 1 u h c . and it is therefore not surprising that this art was predominantly the result ot monastic patronage and. in some cases, monastic w o r k m a n ship. The copying of liturgical and other texts for worship and reading was certainly carried out in monasteries, though the decoration ol books with miniatures gradually passed into professional, secular hands. Romanesque art was evolved in the 1 i t h c. and blossomed in the 12th c. During this period stylistic similarities exist between book illumination, goldsniithwork. ivory carving and sculpture in wood and stone. This is due to the fact that craftsmen were trained in many media. The- celebrated artists' manual De tHveulS Artibus. written t. I loo, demonstrates very clearly the proficiency o l contemporary artists 111 many different fields. It is natural that there are marked differences between Romanesque art in, ior example. Spain and Norway, for each country had a different artistic tradition: yet there was a common element in all
2 SC.
Romans d ' a v e n t u r Mediewal romances form a loose genre, capable o f subtle internal distinctions (such as the romo'i conriois, distinguishable by its courtly tone), but most may be termed rowans d'aventur (chivalric romances), as adventure- - the occurrence o f unexpected and hazardous events —is a major component. The romance was predominantly a French and English I 2 t h - c . to 1 sth-e, genre. 'Romance' originally denoted French vernacular, but its meaning soon encompassed all works in French, and it was gradually applied specifically to tales o f nobleknights and ladies which arose in France. Romances were initially in vc'rse form, but prtise versions (such as the French vernacular Arthurian cycle) also arose, Romances typically consisted ot a main plot with episodic amplification, generally concerning the adventures o f individual noble men and women acting Undct the impulse ot love, religious taitli or mere adventure-lust; they usually ended in a happy union or the achievement o f justice (save where the original model was too famous to be altered, as in the Mono Artkurc). Combat and the 'marvellous' were common, and love played a greater part in French than English works. They were almost totally fictional (although often based on a historical core), but were embroidered with a de-al o f enhanced local realism (contemporary details concerning banquets, dress, etc.); this combination o f the familiar and the imaginative contributed 10 the genre's popularity. Romance material could derive from any sources, notably classical (The Lyle ol Alisauuder), Eastern (Moris and Blaumhelhit) and European history (The Lay of Haoeloh and Matte Artlmre). The romance had some precedent in the epic chanson and the lai, often sharing their subject matter; but it was distinguished bv its breadth of view, accomplished by Chretien de Troyes, whose T.rec is considered the first proper romance. Chretien transformed adventure from mere incident into meaningful human action (as in Yvain), which led to a
Rome stressing o f the interdependence o f knightly virtues (as in Sir Gawain) and frequently occasioned mural themes. Chretien's approach was thoroughly absorbed in France and in England, where the greatest early romance was King Horn. The genre was still evinced, it not seriously employed. byChaucer. See i.rmiATUHE M B • D . Everett Essays on Middle English Literature (11X14): E. Vinaver The Rise of Romance (1971) R o m e Although it had no intrinsic industrial or commercial importance, Rome remained the principal city o f medieval Europe both because o f its classical past and because it became the focus o f Christianity in the West and the seat o f the pope. Political disasters in the sth c. (the sack o f the city by Alaric the Visigoth in 4 1 0 and by the Vandals in 4 5 s ) caused imperial power to shift to Ravenna, hut the papacy remained at Rome as a source o f power and influence, with the popes drawing 011 their traditions as successors to St Peter. Pope Leo I ( 4 4 0 - 6 1 ) was instrumental in turning the Huns (under Attila) away from Rome-, and the Christian churches became increasingly the centres o f social life. The last emperor in the West, Romulus Augustulus, was deposed in 47(1. but Thcodoric the Great ruled Italy firmly and in relative peace from Ravenna for more than 3 0 years ( 4 9 3 - 5 2 6 ) , nominally in the imperial name. Justinian's policy o f Western reconqucst led to debilitating Gothic sieges o f Rome by bis generals ( 5 3 6 - 5 2 ) . though subsequent Byzantine military administration led to partial recovery. From 56S the Lombards occupied northern Italy and set up powerful duclues in the south. Throughout this troubled period - there are records o f famine, epidemics and floods - the temporal power of the papacy pe-rsisted and developed, reaching a high point in the pontificate o f Gregory
the Great (syo-604). His assertion o f the primacy o f Rome in all Christendom had immense impact on the future- history o f the eiry. O f more immediate moment, however, was his skill as a landlord in ce-ntral Italy (and in Sicily), which formed the permanent basis for the so-called 'patrimony ot St Peter", the future papal states. Missionary activity in England in the 7th c. and in Germany in the Sth c. extended Rome's importance as a pilgrimage centre. There was much church-building and setting up ot national compounds such as the Saxon 'school' at Rome. As ties w i t h llyzantium loosened, reliance for defence came to rest with local militias, and the Lombard threat to papal independence grew greater. For protection the popes looked to the Frankish monarchy under Pepin the Short ( 7 5 3 ) . and then decisively uneler Charlemagne ( 7 7 3 ) . In return the Prankish rulers assumed the title o f patrieius Romanoitmi. and on Christmas Hay 8 0 0 , Charlemagne was crowned emperor at Rome by Pope Leo Ml 111 succeeding centuries emperors and popes both had vital interests in die government o f the city. Real power often, however, fell into the hands ot local feuding clans and aristocratic families. Albcric, 'senator ot Rome', imposed strong government on the patrimony in the mid-ioth c , and the revival o f the Empire under Otto I ( 9 6 2 ) restored imperial discipline. For a brief period c, 1000 O t t o 111 and his pope-, Sylvester I I . seemed to fulfil the ideal o f governing the Empire of the West trom Otto's Roman court. Alter Otto's death in 1002. however, factions again proved dominant, and the succeeding century proved one o f the most politically turbulent in the history o f Rome-, w i t h imposed imperial re-form ot the papacy in 104(1: initial papal defeats at the hands o f the new force in Italian polities, the
View of Rome: woodcut from Hartmann Selie-dcl's l.ibcr Chnmkontm (Nuremberg, 14.93).
287
Rome Normans o f the south ( 1 0 5 3 ) , followed by the Normari alliance ( 1 0 5 9 ) ; the formulation o f proper procedures for election to the papacy ( i o ; v ) ; and the traumatic violence ot the [nvcstiturc Contest between pope and emperor ( 1 0 7 5 - 1 1 2 2 ) , in the course o f which Home itself was savagely sacked by the Norman papal allies ( 1 0 8 4 ) . The success o f Pope Gregory V I I ( 1 0 7 3 - 1 ( 5 ) and the popes who followed him in asserting papal supremacy had great consequences lor the city o f Rome. It became an important financial centre: the curial bankers o f Pierk'oni and l-rangipani were Roman and did not concede their mastery o f finance until overtaken by Sicncse and Florentine houses in the 13th c. An artistic revival took place and can still be enjoyed i n . for example, the churches o f S. Clemente and Quattro Coronati. Politically the city remained turbulent, with strong papal, imperial and republican factions. Arnold o l Hrescia attempted to restore the republic in the m i d - 1 2 t h c but failed in the face o f the opposition o f Pope Adrian I V . supported by the German niler. Frederick liarbarossa (crowned Emperor at Rome in 1 1 5 5 ) . Hitter conflict later in Frederick's reign resulted in the exile o l Pope Alexander III from Rome tor long periods, though finally the Fmperor was torced to make his submission to the pope at Venice in I 177. Within Rome itself, papal absence led to intensified communal feeling; a com prom ise was reached in 1 t MN whereby Rome retained the status ot a commune, though w'ith full recognition o f the overlordship o f the papacy, firmly entrenched in the so-called 'leonine city' around St Peter's. Pope Innocent 111 (1 t y i l - 1 2 I f i ) . under whom the papal monarchy reached its highest point, built on this position. Expressing themes suitable to his theology o f papal primacy, he restored the apse o f St Peter's and protected the eonfessio with a golden bronze grille. He created two co-equal papal seats: at St Peter's, and at the Lateran, w here he developed an efficient administrative centre. I le established Romeas a true M M M Mtimff, adorning its churches for the Fourth Lateras Council as a setting tor the greatest council ol the church since late antiquity. Papal preoccupation with government and taxation led to periods ot reaction 111 the I 3th c.: llr.uicalconc di Andalo ( 1 2 5 2 - 5 8 ) strengthened the commune, and Charles o f Anjou exercised a powerful French influence 011 the city and the papacy, especially 111 the period 1 2 6 6 - 7 7 . At the end o f the century Boniface VIII proclaimed 1300 as a holy year and Rome benefited mightily in revived finance and improved prestige from the mass pilgrimages which followed. Boniface's pontificate, however, ended in disaster at the hands o f the French king, and in I 30S the papacy moved t o Avignon. Home suffered severely from
288
the feudmg o f aristocratic families (the Colonna and the tirsini). Cola di Rienzo attempted to restore republican virtue to the city but was overthrown and killed in 1354. Papal rule was effectively restored by Cardinal Albornoz. and Gregory X I returned to Rome in 137I*. There followed a deeply divisive period known as the Great Schism, which was not brought to an end until 1417, when Martin V , o f the Colonna family, was elected pope at the Council o f Constance". Rome had fallen far behind the other great Italian cities. Florence. Venice and Milan, as a result o f its troubled i4th-e, history, but the 15th c. saw some advance, initially under Martin and then increasingly with Nicholas V ( 1 4 4 7 - 5 5 ) . Even so, Rome at the end ot the Middle Ages, for all its prestige and renown, presented an unedifying spectacle; its institutions were undeveloped in comparison with other Italian cities, and it was ruled by one ot the most unscrupulous popes, in the person o f the Borgia, Pope Alexander V I . See PAPAI S T A T E S 11111 n F. Grcgorovius History ol Rome in the Middle Ages ( 1 9 0 9 ) ; D.P. Waley 'Hie Papal Stole in the Thirteenth (Century ( t o o l ) ; P. Llewellyn Rome in the Dark Ages ( 1 9 7 1 ) ; P. Partner The Lands of Si I'eter ( 1 0 7 2 ) : R. Brentano Rome before Avignon ( 1 9 7 4 ) ; R. Krautheuner Rome: Profile of a eity J12-1J0S {1980) R o m u l u s AugUStulus Roman emperor 4 7 5 - 7 6 Known as the last o f the Western Roman emperors, Romulus was raised to the throne at Ravenna by his father Orestes, after deposing Julius Nepos. Orestes ruled on behalf o f his son. w h o was still a minor (hence 'Augustulus'. the diminutive o f Augustus). In August 4 7 6 Orestes was killed by his troops who proclaimed their genera], Odoacer. as king. RomuhlS was spared and sent to live in Campania. The year 476 conventionally marks the end o f the Western Roman empire. Ü C . Wickhani I-oily Medieval Italy 400-1000
(1981)
R o r y O ' C o n o r 1 ligh king o l Coimaught 1 1 5 6 - 9 8 (b. 1116) Son o f Furlough O'Conor. he succeeded his lather as king ol Coimaught and head of the Sll Muire-adhaigh tribe. In 1 1 fi6 he was recognized at I )uhlin as king o l all Ireland, showed active support tor the reforming efforts ot the prim.ire archbishop o f Armagh and summoned a great public judicial assembly for the whole ot Ireland at T elltown ( 1 1 6 K ) . Norman political intervention proved disastrous, and though he w o n occasional success against the Normans and even resisted I It'llry I I himself, the 1 180s were a period o f continual strife and decline in Rory's prestige, power and health, hi 1191 he retired to the abbey ot Cong, where he died. 1 F. Byre Irish Kings and High Kings ( 1 9 7 3 )
Rudolf of Rhcinfelden Roscclin ( 1 r . 1 0 5 0 - f . l i 2 2 ) Philosopher and theologian. Born in Compicgne where he became a canon after studying at Soissons and Rheims, he is considered a principal nominalist, participating in the nominalist/realist controversy over universals (the relation -,:f genera and species to individuals). His ideas survive in references by Abelard and Ansehu. his only extant work being a letter to Ahelard concerning the Trinity. He is said to have described universals as sounds (flatus yocis), signifying merely words, and only the individual as real. Application of his theories to the Trinity involved tritheism, for which he was condemned (Council ot Soissons, 1 0 9 2 ) . He recanted and went to England, which he left after attacking Anselm's doctrines. He was reconciled with the church in Rome and returned to France, teaching at Fours and Eoches. where Abelard was his pupil. He died a canon o f Bc'sancon. a F. Picavet Roscelin, Philosophe et Theolqgien ( 1 8 9 6 ) ; G. Leff Medieval Thought (1958)
R u d o l f I of Habsburg Holy Roman Emperor 1 2 7 3 - 9 1 (b. 1 2 1 8 ) Chiefly remembered as the founder ot Habsburg greatness, he succeeded his father Albert I V , count o f Habsburg, as paterfamilias in 1230 and gradually achiewed supremacy amongst the German princes, culminating in his election as king o f the Germans. His reign terminated the Interre'giiuni and helped to restore peace to the Empire. At the Diet ofNuremberg ( 1 2 7 4 ) he initiated a revindication' policy, by which all properties and rights controlled by the Empire under Frederick M were to be recovered. This led to conflict with Ottokar II o f Bohemia, who was killed at the battle of Marchfcld ( 1 2 7 8 ) . Rudolf I invested his sons, Albert and Rudolf, with Ottokar's duchies o f Austria and Styria ( 1 2 8 2 ) , establishing a Habsburg inheritance in southern Germany. As king o f the Romans, Rudolf was supported by Pope Gregory X . who planned a crusade once Rudolfhad revived the Empire. O w i n g to changing Italian politics, however, Rudolf was not crowned Emperor and was faced with increasing French expansion. By 1291 he had strengthened the Empire as much as possible, and although Adolf o f Nassau was elected his successor, Rudolfs son Albert 1 regained the throne in 1298. • E. Kleinschmidt Hemclierdarstelimii ( 1 9 7 4 ) ; J. Leuschner Grrmmiy ru the law Middle Ages ( 1 9 8 0 ) R u d o l f of Rhcinfelden (d. 1080) Appointed to the duchy o f Swabia during the minority o f Henry I V . R u d o l f - initially a firm supporter o f the young king in his Saxon campaigns - became one ol the chief figures among the magnates who 111 1076 threatened withdrawal o f allegiance unless the king received Bronze effigy ol Rudolf o f Rhcinfelden. anti-king of tliL- Germans, in Mcrsi-burg cathedral.
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R u d o l f o f Rheinfcldcn absolution from Iiis excommunication by Pope Gregory V I I . In spite o f Henry's absolution gained ai CanMsa (January 1077). Rudolf was elected king at Forchheim in March 1077. although it was not until the Lenten synod of 10X0 that the pope finally recognized the election, prophesying publicly that Henry would be dead or deposed by the end ofjunc. In fact, by one ot the ironies ofhistory. itwaS'Rudoll who was killed in the October ofthat year. (1. Harra dough Medieval Germany (1038) R u p e r t o f Wittelsbach King ot Germany 1400-10 (b. 1352) He succeeded his lather Rupert II as elector palatine in 1308. In August 1400 an assembly o f princes and estates deposed King Wcmccslas. Rupert was elected his successor as German king and crowned at Cologne (1401). Wenceslas did not acknowledge the deposition and until his death (1410I considered himsell king ot Bohemia and Germany. Rupert was unable ro solve the problems he inherited. His Italian campaign, in spite o f HorentW. assistance did not succeed in securing the imperial crown for Rupert. He was defeated outside Brescia and retired to Germany (1402). He did nothing to end the papal schism and failed to build up power in the north. The remainder o f his reign was occupied with internal opposition. The League o f Marbach (Baden, W ü r t t e m b e r g and the Swabian towns under Archbishop John ot Mainz) was formed against him in 1403 with the purpose o f healing the schism: Rupert found himself isolated, and was eventually succeeded by Sigismund ot Hungary (1411). Rupert's principal achievement was his contribution to a royal administration, emerging as a Specialized bureaucracy serving monarchy rather than prince. Outstanding advisers (such as Job Vener) and the allegiance o f Heidelberg university contributed to the rise o f a professional elite, ! F.R.H. du Boulay Germany in the Later Middle A rs (1983)
became Slavicized, their R u r i k o v i t c h d y n a s t y f o u n d i n g t h e first Russian state a r o u n d K i e v . D u r i n g t h e o t h c, t h e w o r d 'Russian' ( R u s , Ros) appeared, c o m i n g t o denote t h e East Slavs as a w hole. T h e state o t K i e v expanded d u r i n g t h e 1 o t h C . a n d v i t a l links w i t h B y z a n t i u m w e r e established t h r o u g h trade. R o m a n and B y z a n t i n e C h r i s t i a n i t y was k n o w n i n Oth-c. K i e v , b u t t h e B y z a n t i n e t r a d i t i o n w a s officially adopted b y V l a d i m i r I ( 9 K 0 1013). O r t h o d o x y persisted t h r o u g h o u t Russia, w i t h M o s c o w replacing C o n s t a n t i n o p l e as t h e centre o f o r t h o d o x y after 1453. K i e v reached its zenith i n the m i d - 1 n h c , b u t d u r i n g the 12th c. i t was exposed t o invasions b y Asiatics o l the Steppe (I'echemegs, I'olovtsians and M o n g o l s ) . M e a n w h i l e , a p r i n c i p a l i t y had emerged in the n o r t h e r n colonies a r o u n d Suzdal. R o s t o v . V l a d i m i r a n d M o s c o w , A n d r e i B o g o l i u b s k y (1 157-74), prince o f Suzdal, sacked t h e enfeebled K i e v . I t sevnie-d that t h e c o m i n e r c i . i l centre of N o v g o r o d m i g h t succeed K i e v , A l e x a n d e r N e v s k y (1246-63) p r e s e r v i n g its independence against G e r m a n s and Swedes, b u t a s u p e r i o r geographical p o s i t i o n and m i l i t a r y force ensured the supremacy ot rile p r i n c i pality o f Vladimir-Suzdal. D u r i n g t h e early 13th C. south-wc"st Russia was o v e r r u n b y the M o n g o l s , and the g r a n d princes of V l a d i m i r subjected t o t h e G o l d e n H o r d e : b u t this seems t o have p r o v i d e d c o n d i t i o n s beneficial to the g r o w t h o f the state. Russia w a s now separated f r o m the West, and the three East Slav hranehc-s were defined: Byelorussians, u n d e r L i t h u a n i a n rule: Great Russians ( N o v g o r o d and V l a d i m i r - S u z d a l ) , u n d e r the G o l d e n H o r d e ; L i t t l e Russians ( U k r a i n i a n s ) , i n the s o u t h , b e t w e e n the L i t h u a n i a n s anel M o n g o l s .
K u r i l , Leader o f the Scandinavians, mostly Swedes, known as the Rus, who established a loose lordship over the trading townships o f the Russian waterways r.862. His principal settlement was at Novgorod em Lake Ladoga. Legends attributed to him and his kinsfolk portray him -is the founder o f historic Russia.
M o s c o w , u n d e r t h e U s e v o l o d d y n a s t y , emerged as capital of t h e n e w V l a d i m i r - S u z d a l state, f r o m w h i c h I v a n I K a l i t a ( d , 1341) and subsequent g r a n d princess i m p l e m e n t e d a p o l i c y of c e n t r a l i z a t i o n . I J m i t r i D o u s k o i (1359-89) initiated resistance t o the M o n g o l s , defeating t h e m at K u l i k o v O (1380). B y the end o l the I sth c. the u n i f i c a t i o n o f central Russia u n d e r the g r a n d p r i n c e o f M e i s c o w was c o m p l e t e , largely d u e t o I v a n I I I the Great (1462-1505). assisted b y a n e w aristocracy o f s m a l l l a n d o w n e r s attached t o central a u t h o r i t y , w h i c h he i m p o s e d u p o n t h e o l d n o b i l i t y (b&yars). T h e a d m i n i s t r a t i v e and j u d i c i a l code (Sudebntk) o f 1497 attests t h e level ot c e n t r a l i z a t i o n achieved.
Russia The origins o f the Russians or East Slavs are obscure. Before the arrival o f the Scandinavian Varangians in the9th c , they had spread throughout the SoViet Union, their political organization probably centring around fortified trading towns (Novgorod. Smolensk. Kiev). The Vjrangian conquerors
F o l l o w i n g the decline o t K i e v , the focus of Russian c i v i l i z a t i o n shifted t o the t o w n s o f the n o r t h - w e s t , B y z a n t i n e artistic influence fuse-d w i t h i n d i g e n o u s t r a d i t i o n . N o v g o r o d p r o d u c i n g a t y p i c a l l y Russian architecture. D u r i n g t h e late 14th c. M o s c o w witnessed a f l o w e r i n g o f a n and l i t e r a t u r e , and experienced Italian Renaissance influence d u r i n g
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Saladin (Salah a d - D ı n ) the ı 5 th t . O f particular note were the icon painters Theophanes the Greek. Rublcv and Denis. See CYRIL, S T ; Y A R O S I . A V
MB
• G. Vermel sky The Origins oj Russia (¡959); N . V . Riasonovsky A History of Russia ( 1 0 6 3 ) ; R. Portal The Slaws (1969); D. MacKcmae and M . W . Guttan A History oj Russia and the Soviet Union ( 1 9 8 2 ) ; J. Fennel! The Crisis of Medieval Russia 1200-1304 (19N3); R . Ü . Criuunley The Formation oj Muscovy 1304-1 fi 13 ( 1 9 8 7 ) ; N.S. Kolhuann Kingship and Poli ties: the waking oj the Muscovite political system ¡343— IÎ47
(1987)
R u y s b r o e c k , Jan van ( 1 2 9 3 - 1 3 8 1 ) One o f die great
mystical writers o f the Middle Ages, he was born in Ruysbroeck, near Brussels, and became a priest. In 1 343 he founded a small Augustinian community at Groenendacl. His writings, entirely in Flemish, were extremely influential, and his criticism o f abuse in the church foreshadowed the devotio modenta. Indeed. Gerhard Groote, founder ol the Brethren of the Common Fife, was one o f Ruysbroeck's disciples. • R. Kieckheler UiiqUiei Souls: Tottrteentlt-(leutury Souls and their Religious Milieu ( 1 9 8 4 )
S Sagas, Norse .Some ol the greatest vernacular litera ture o f the Middle Ages was produced in Scandina via in the 12th c. and : 3 th e., notably in Iceland. The name given to these writings, saga ('things said, a story or history'), reveals the oral base Irom which the literature grew. Social traditions ol the North in the Viking Age and later, encouraged the story teller to express himself in straight narrarive or verse. Saga literature is divided inro rwo main groups, rhe historical sagas and the family sagas. The historical group deals with the period o f Scandinavian expan sion ( r . 8 0 0 - 1 0 5 0 ) , with the settlement o f Iceland and the ventures to Greenland and Vinland; it also deals with the succeeding centuries in the form o f biographical accounts o l the kings and (after the reception o i Christianity throughout the North in the course o f the 1 i t h c.) o f the bishops. The out standing writers were Ari the Learned (Thorgilsson) who died in 1 148, and Suorri Sturlusnn (d. 1 241 ) , w hose Rrose Edda and lleimskringla represent the highest point o f literarv achievement in O l d Norse. The family sagas reached their finest expression in the work o f Snorri's nephew Sturla Thordsson (d. 1 284) and contemporary compilers. Most ot the great sagas are available in reliable modern transla-
Islamie bronze- coin of the sultan Saladin. 1
racn; including \ ; i / v ic 1 Laxdaehis-t,:: TgiUswa\ sagas dealing with the Orkneys and the Faroes, and the Saga o f Eric the- Red. w Inch is concerned with the settlement of Greenland and with expeditions to Vinland on the American coast. See E D D A , T H E ELDER AN|) T H E YOUNOElt
• J. Bronstcd The Vikings Medieval Saga ( 1 9 8 2 )
(1965);
C . Clover The
St A n d r e w s , u n i v e r s i t y o f Founded in 1410, it was the third university to be founded in Britain and the first in Scotland. A group of teachers and scholars who had been driven from France during the Great Schism came to St Andrews; be'st known o f these wasLaurenceofLiudore'swhosele'ctureson Aristotle were influential in Europe. In February 1411 (or possibly 1412) the group was granted a charter by Bishop WardlawofSt Andrews, while-full university status was contcrre'd in 141 3 by Pope Be-ue-dict X I I I . Saladin (Salah a d - D i n ) Sultan ot Egypt and Syria ] 1 7 5 - 9 3 (b. 1138) I le shared in the campaigns ot his uncle Shirkuh in Egypt 1 1 6 4 - 0 8 , and on the fitter's death in 1 169 assumed control o f Cairo. Conscious of Egypt's attraction to the Franks. Saladin con centrated on the economic and military build-up ot the country. Between 1174 and 1186 he succeeded in bringing many important Syrian cities under his Control) thereby enabling him to present a united Muslim front to the Franks. After a violation o f the peace by the Franks 111 I 187, Saladin e-ngage-d the-ir army at Hatrin and won; he then overran Palestine and conque-red Jerusalem. The princes o f Europewere roused by these- losses and set out on the Third Crusade, directing all their power against Acre, The siege o f Acre lasted two years ( i 1 8 9 - 9 1 ) , with the crusaders finally emerging as victors. Richard defeated the forces o f Saladin at Arsuf (1 191), but
2y T
Saladin (Saláh a d - D i n ) was unable 10 recover Jerusalem, and in I 192 made peace with Saladin. A year later the Muslim leader died at Damascus. M M . C . Lyons and D.E.P. Jackson Saladin; The Politics ajthe Holy Wars ( 1 9 8 2 ) ; P . H . Newby Saladin in his time ( 1 9 8 3 ) Saladin tithe Levied in hoth England and France to raise money for the Third Crusade, the "Saladin tithe' ( 1 1 8 8 ) was a tax of ten per cent of each man's revenues and moveable property. Despite general enthusiasm for the Crusade , the rax provoked bitter resentment, for many feared it would set a precedent for a new form o f taxation. The collection in England by Henry It's agents went ahead, hut in France Philip Augustus was forced to suspend the tax and even apologize for having proposed it. -
Salerno, university of The Stadium or School o f Salerno was one o f the lust universities in Europe. For a long time devote'd exclusively to the study o f medicine, the School was already famous by the 10th c , but its fame grew, especially in the 11 th C. when the celebrated physician Constantinus Africanus became a teacher there. Some o f the most reasonable medical texts o f the Middle Ages, derived largely from ancient. Arabic and Jewish authors, were produced at Salerno. • J. Decarreattx Lombards, Moines et N'erniands en italic Meridionale ( 1 9 7 4 ) Samo (d.fijy) Prankish merchant who created a powerful, if transient political unit from the Slavonic tribes based on Moravia, but extending deep into territories along the Elbe. He was defeated and killed by an army drawn from the Franks and Thuringiails. He is important for the tradition he established among the Moravians o f a rudimentary political organization and also o f regular trading contacts, notably in slaves, with the Wcsti-m world, i J - M , Wallace-Hadrill The tUtrharion ! f « i ( 1 0 6 5 ) Samuel I sar o f the Bulgarians ( 1 . 9 8 0 - 1 0 1 4 ) After the death o f Tsar Simeon in 9 2 7 . the Bulgarian empire tell into decline, and much ot the country passed under Byzantine rule. Samuel, son o f Shishman, assumed the title of'tsar' and. rising to power in Macedonia, soon overran Serbia and northern Bulgaria. Much o f his reign was spent in conflict with Emperor Basil I I . At first the emperor's troops were routed, but in 1014 he won a decisive victory. Basil then inflicted a terrible punishment on the prisoners; about 1 3 . 0 0 0 men were blinded and sent to Samuel, led by one man in each 100 who was lelt with one eye to guide his companions home. Samuel is said to have fallen down dead in an apoplectic fit at
2i)2
the sight. The state created by him broke down in 1018. and Bulgaria remained subject to Byzantium until 1185. n S. Runciman .-1 History of the First Bulgarian Umpire ('930)
San Germano, Treaty of ( 1 2 3 0 ) "I bis agreement signalled a temporary halt in hostilities between Pope Gregory I X and Frederick I I . According to the terms ot the Treaty. Frederick agreed to respect papal territories, and to allow freedom o f election and other privileges to the Sicilian clergy; in return, the ban o f excommunication was lifted. This vital act o f reconciliation with the papacy gave Frederick freedom o f action in the future organization ot his Empire. San Giorgio, Bank of I he tremendous growth o f mercantile activity in (¡enoa during the late Middle Ages led to the development o f complex commercial and financial procedures. In 1407 the Casa di San Giorgio, a group ol the state's creditors, joined together to torm a municipal bank in Genoa. Certain features ot the modern joint-stock company Can be seen in this organization. It was dissolved in 1444. hut later revived as the Bank o f San Giorgio ( 1 5 8 6 ) . Sancho I I I the Great King of Navarre 1 0 0 0 - 3 ; (b. r.992) Son o f King García II Sánchez, he succeeded to the throne at about the age ot eight. He had the good fortune n> begin his effective reign just as the long-dominant caliphate o f Cordoba was disintegrating, having weakened the Christian states o f the north; and he had the intelligence and will to fill the political vacuum. Establishing claims to Castile by marrying Munia, daughter of the count o f Castile, he secured the border territory ol La Rioja in [ O l d , and in the next three years turned east, incorporating the counties o f Sobrarbe and Ribagorza. These provided a base, and internal dissensions the opportunity, for Sancho to intervene in Catalan politics; simultaneously, in the early 1 0 2 0 s , his suzerainty was recognized in Gascony. and he intervened increasingly in Castilian politics. When the young count o f Castile, Sancho's brother-in-law, was assassinated in 1029 Sancho occupied the country in his wife's name, and went on to wage successful war against Leon, taking the capital in 1034 and coining money with the title ot emperor. Sancho's concentration o f effort on the establishment o f Navarrese hegemony in the north, at the expense o f pursuing the Rccontjuest against a rapidly weakening Cordoba, matched his ideological and cultural attitude's: he introduced the Cluniac reform into some major monasteries, encouraged the Santiago pilgrimage and adopted French feudal
Scholasticism Santiago, Order of the Knights of The Order was founded in 1170, not only to fight the Almohad invaders, hut also to protect and care for the pilgrims to Santiago de Compostela. Its combination o f military and hospitaller functions set it apart trom the other military orders o f the peninsula, and it did not follow the Rule and customs o f Calatrava, whose primacy it disputed. Soon alter irs foundation, the Order obtained a permanent seat at Ucle's, and as the years passed it acquired extensive lands. Its later development was similar to that o f Calatrava and it was annexed to the crown in H93-
[2il
n D . W . Lomax, 'The Order o f Santiago and the Kings o f Leon'. Hispania (Madrid) 18(1938)
Knight ol the Order o f Santiago. From the Hook ol the Order at Burgos (t4'h c.). idias. It is with good reason that a Spanish histcnan called him Spain's first liuropeamzer. Yet this ideological basis ofSancho's political success proved in the end a fatal weakness; seeing greater Navarre as his feudal patrimony, he left an expanded Navarre to one son, Castile to another, Sobrarbe and llibagorza to a third, the county - now to become a kingdom of Aragon to a fourth, while Leon reasserted its independence. The unity o f Christian Spain, a revival o f the old Visigothic ideal, was Saneho's personal creation and died with h i m . • J . Perez de Urbel Sancho el Mayor do Navarra (1930)
Santiago de Compostela One ol the great p i l grimage centres o f the Middle Ages. The church o f St James in Compostela in the far north-west o f Spain was venerated Irom the 10th c. as the reputed burial place o f James, the human brother o f Christ, The routes to Compostela. bound together in the 11 th c. and 12th e. by a network o f hospices and religious houses, became instrumental in the dissemination o f ideas, cultural, religious and architectural, throughout Christian Europe in the age oi the Crusades and o f the Re'contpiest o f Spain from the Muslims. A military order, the Knights o f Santiago, was founded 111 I I 70 and played a prominent part in the wars against islam in the west o f the Iberian peninsula, St James came to be recognized as the patron saint ot Spain. • G, Hamilton The Routes 10 Compostela ( 1 9 6 1 } ; J. Sumption PilerimaSei on image oj medieval religion 0975)
Saracens Term coined by classical authors o f the 1st C.-3rd c. to describe an Arab tribe located in the Sinai. The name gradually came to denote the Arabs in general among the Christians, and alter the rise o f Islam, the Muslims. Between the 1 i t h c, and 13th c , the term was used by the Latin crusaders to describe the Muslim peoples ranged against them. During the 9 t h C. the Saracens ravaged Sicily and southern Italy, and eventually gained a foothold in Sicily. They also invaded and settled parts o f Spain, where they established a brilliant level ol civilization, Saxons Name given in classical times to Germans dwelling in the north-west o f modern Germany, from the North Sea coastal plain to the Wescr and Holstein. In the 5 t h c. and 6 t h c. migration took them to Gaul, where evidence o f settlement persists in place-names around Boulogne and in Normandy, and also in large numbers to England. ISccic placed them among the three powerful nations ol the Germans to settle in England - Saxons, Angles and Jutes. The Saxons left on the Continent (the Old Saxons, to distinguish them from the AngloSaxons) continueti in strong pagan independence to the time o f Charlemagne. After the Frankisb conquest (773—S03) and forced conversion to Christianity, however, they came to form the heartland of the new Ottoman empire in the 10th c., with the Saxon duchy stretching from the Ems in rhe west to the Elbe in the east, and including the main territorial constituents o l Westphalia, Eastphalia, Eugern and Holstein. L. Musset The Germanic invasions ( 1 9 7 5 ) ; K.J. Leyser Rule and Conflict in an Early Medieval Society
11
(1979)
Scholasticism Term first used derisively in the 16th c. with reference to the system o f philosophy practised in the medieval Schools and universities. The Scholastics sought to give theoretical substantiation to
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Scholasticism the truth o f Christian doctrine, .is well as to reconcile contradictory viewpoints in Christian theology, and to this end they developed ,tn extremely sophisticated method ot" investigating philosophical and theoretical questions, In the early history o l Scholasticism, much theological material was organized in a systematic fashion. By the 12th c . the Scholastics were collecting Sentences, which were quotations or summaries o f dogma compiled from the bible and patristic literature; in interpreting them (rxposiiio, MtaW, Irene}, they gradually adopted a systematic discussion el texts and problems (ijrim';lil. JijpuMU::) This eventually gave rise to a system that attempted to provide a comprehensive view ot the 'whole ot attainable truth' (summit), a development which coincides! with a clear progression toward intellectual autonomy, with thinkers such as Albortus Magnus and Thomas Aquinas. Writings on logic had an important elteet on Scholasticism; by ! 200 the 'new logic' o f Aristotle, based on translations o f his Analytics, Topics, and Sophistical Refutations, had produced a 'scientific' theology in contrast to the scriptural studies o f the 12th c. Aipiinas. tor example, believed that reason alone was necessary to understand basic truths about Clod and the soul, although divine revelation would expand such knowledge. The emphasis on reason was rejected to some extent in the 14th c. by men such as William o f Ockham and John Duns Scotus. ' J Fiiper S:li:h:itasm ( 1 9 6 1 ) ; A piltz / It: hVr/ii: /
.
" 7 ^ i f i K ' i t ' S . q m W|*\*rfOBtraiWdfIt J i j ^ M u p f t U f t t t u i & n t t l t t f « t * ct- fit
Richard of Wallingford. abhor of St Albans, at work witli scientific instruments 114th c ) .
Science In the sense that science involves the search for truth in all branches o f knowledge, the Middle Ages in Europe is ottcn held tei be a relatively barren period 111 human history; hut close examination ot the main branches ot human knowledge leads to a considerable modification o f such a view. It is true that theology was regarded as the queen o f sciences and, as such, could and did have serious impact on the free exercise of the intellect. Irrational superstition, deep-seated beliefs in magic, heathen animism thinly disguised h \ 1 Chnstian coating also served to inhibit scientific investigation into natural phenomena.
England (1 2 1 4 - 9 2 ) and Leonardo o f Pisa (Fibonacci, d.r. 1240) made significant original contributions. Astronomy was studied in depth, though with the inevitable distortions due to reliance on Ptolemy and theclose relationship established with astrology. The experimental basis ot alchemy, although corrupted by the search for the 'elixir o f life' and the Philosopher's Stone, served to lay the foundations o f chemistry. Polk remedies and interest in the healing properties o f plants resulted in an accumulation o f knowledge more effective in practice", perhaps, than in the fearsome form they often assumed when committed 10 writing. Nicholas of Oresmc. bishop o f Lisicux (d. 1 3 S 2 ) . anticipated later discoveries in physics and the laws ol planetary motion, including the proposition that the earth revolved till its axis.
Nevertheless, transmission ot classical knowledge by scholars such as Boethius and Bede in the early Middle Ages, and the labours o f I 2 t h - c . and i jth-c. scholars drawing on Arabic sources, brought significant clarification and advance. Prom the Arabs were transmitted use o f the abacus, mathematical k n o w ledge and developments in algebra, ami by the later Middle Ages Arab numerals were in common use in the West, especially in Italy among the more advanced trading communities. Cierbert ot Aurillac (Pope Sylvester I I . 0 9 6 - 1 0 0 3 ) was a precociously outstanding mathematician, while ltoger Bacon in
hi the practical scientific fields o f architecture, the building o f castles, cathedrals, churches and ships, the Middle Ages has an enviable record. In many practical matters associated with a predominantly agrarian society, positive and permanent advance was made: the harnessing o f plough-beasts, maintenance o f soil fertility, drainage, the development o f efficient milling techniques. Windmills were introduced into Europe from the Muslim world in the course o f the 12th c. A better grasp o f 111eeh.1n1c.il techniques accumulated in the later Middle Ages, and advanc-es were made in optics, the construction o f
Medieval Learning ( 1 9 8 1 )
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Scotland clocks, and the elaboration o f devices for the more efficient coining o f money. It is the absence Of confidence in what the modem world came to recognize as scientific method that left the Middle Ages with its poor reputation; in practice, however, much slow hut permanent progress was made in the understand itig o f natural phenomena and the use o f natural resources. .See I I E H A I U ) O F C H F M O N A ; MFinciNr or] EI L . Thorudike A History aj Magic and Experimental Science (1923—58); C . H . Haskins Studies in (fee History oj Medieval Science ( 1 9 2 6 ) ; J. G i m p d The Medieval Machine { 1 0 7 7 ) ; D . C . Lindherg Science in the Middle Ages ( 1 0 7 8 ) Scone, Stone o f The Stone o f Scone, or Stone ol Destiny, was brought to Scone by Kenneth MacAlpiu. who took possession ot the Pictish throne in 8 4 5 . He placed a royal stone o f his race in the church built on the hill o f Scone; for the next 5 0 0 years each new king o f Scotland came here 'to be raised on the stone'. The stone was an important part o f medieval Scottish coronation rites until 1296, when it was either hidden to prevent it from falling into the hands ot Edward I. or, according ro legend, brought to Westminster. Scotland There were four distinct cultural groups in Scotland in the early Middle Ages - Irish. Picts, Britons and Angles — and a fifth, Scandinavians, from the late Sth c. onwards. Each group had its own distinctive language. The Irish (known as 'Scots') inhabited the western co.1sll.1nds. initially sustaining close connections with northern Ireland. During the iith c. kings ot the mainland Irish D.il Riata established themselves in Argyll, founding a dynasty which was to last for centuries. In eastern Scotland, north ot the f o r t h , and in the far north, were the Picts, the strongest group in the pre-Viking period. South o l the Forth/Clyde line and in the Clyde area, there were British peoples and kingdoms, w hile English rulers had established a foothold on the east coast by the mid-iith c. The relationships betwei-n these peoples fluctuated, hut in the long run the English were confined to Northumbria; Irish influence expanded, Pictish identity was submerged and the Britons ultimately lost political independence. During the 7 t h c, both English and Irish kings raided over a wide area, with the English winning much control in Pictland. However, they were defeated at Duiimchcn in 6 8 5 , and although effectively expelled thereafter from present-day Scotland, they maintained contacts in religious affairs, with Pictish kings, like Nechtan ( 7 0 6 - 2 4 ) , seeking adviee from the English clergy at the expense o f Irish clerics based in the west.
During the 8th C. Irish and Pictish royal families intermarried, resulting in heirs who had claims to both Pictish and Irish kingships; kings like Ccnstantmt and his brother Oengus II in the early yth c. theretore held both kingdoms. In the meantime. Viking settlement was changing the character o f the north and o f the Northern and Western Isles, and Viking control o f the seas was confining the interests o f the Irish ot Scotland to Scotland. Soon an Irish king, Kenneth MacAlpin, took both kingships again (843). The union o f Pictland and the Irish kingdom did not break thereafter and a patrilineal succession was established. The monarchy o f Scotland had emerged, drawing 011 the traditions and institutions o f both peoples. The British kingdoms to the southwest were effectively absorbed into the newly established kingdom o f Scotland in the late 9 t h c , although kings o f Strathtiyde continued to be named until 1034. After 954 and the conquest ot the Viking kingdom o f York, the earldom o f N o r t h umbria became an integral part o f the English kingdom, although its northern border remained indeterminate. Lothian passed firmly under Scottish control after 1 . 1 0 1 8 . The impact o f the Norman Conquest ol England on Scottish affairs proved deep and permanent. Anglo-Norman expeditions harassed Lothian, and demands for fealty from the Scottish kings were made, sometimes successfully. King Malcolm Canmore ( 1 0 5 7 - 9 3 ) married Margaret, the sister o f Edgar Atheling and representative o f the West Saxon dynasty. Her sons ruled Scotland 1 0 9 7 - 1 1 5 3 and were followed bv a succession ot powerful kings (Malcolm I V . 1 1 5 3 - 6 5 : William the Lion. 1 1 6 5 I 2 1 4 ; Alexander I I , 1 2 1 4 - 4 9 ; and Alexander I I I , 1 2 4 9 - 8 6 ) . They moulded the Scottish kingdom into a true feudal monarchy. Their contacts with the Anglo-Norman feudal world were strong, both as magnates within England (the great Honour o f Huntingdon) and as recruiters of able men, sometimes younger sons, willing to help the Scottish kings 111 return lor tat fiefs north ot the border; the Stewarts were the greatest o f the families to rise to prominence in this way but others such as the Bruce. Balliol. Morville and M o w a t families also flourished. Claims to ovcrlordslup on rhe part ol the English kings persisted, though from I 189 the Scottish rulers themselves regarded their homage as directed solely to their English lands and not related to the kingdom of Scotland. Within Scotland the dynasty achieved considerable success in consolidating its territories; the Western Isles Were brought Under its political control after the defeat o f the Norwegian king at the battle o f Largs ( 1 2 6 3 ) . Relations with England reached a crisis point in
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Scotland 12110 u i i h [lit disputed succession (li.it followed the death o f Queen Margaret, the Maid o f Norway, last ot the direct line of Malcolm CanmOTC. There were many claimants, and power o f adjudication came to rc'st with King Edward I, the English king. 1 lechose lialliol (1202-96). but the issue now became one o f straight independence for Scotland, as Edward (with his Welsh successes in mind) attempted to make a reality o f his overlordship. The weakness and failure o f lialliol. the revolts o f William Wallace', and the emergence ot Robert BntCC (grandson o l one of the most prominent claimants of i 200) defeated Edward's schemes and he died, a disappointed man. in 1.107. The great victory at Bannockburn on 24 June 1.114. in which Bruce routed the forces o f Edward I I . confirmed Scottish independence. English attacks were renewed after Bruce's death in 1320, but the whole question o f Anglo-Scottish relations became entangled with the I lundred Years' War and the growth o f the' A11 Id Alliance' o f Scotland and Trance against England. In 1371 Robert I I . grandson o f Robert 1 through his daughter Marjory, succeeded to the Scottish throne as the first roval representative ot the house ot Stewart. In spite ot great personal and dynastic troubles, the Stewarts maintained (heir hold on the throne, and a general increase in prosperity, coupled with French success in the war with England, made the later part o f the 13 th c. something o f a golden age in Scottish history, particularly in the reign ot James I V (14KK-1 513), Universities were founded, at St Andrews by 1414. Glasgow in 1451. and at Aberdeen in 1495. Literary life flourished (Henryson 1.1430-1306; Dunbar 1 . 1 4 6 0 - i . 1 3 2 0 ) . N o t even the
military disaster at Elodden in 15'13 could conceal the permanent advance made tow ards Scottish nationhood in [he late'r centuries o f the Middle Age's. See t I E l T f t ; CHURCHES; PICTS 1 1 G.W.S. Barrow The Kingdom of tile Scots ( i " 7 3 ) : R. Nicholson Scotland: The Later Middle Ages (1974); A . A . M . Duncan Scotland, The Matting of the Kingdom (1975) Sculpture The exteriors o f early Christian churches are plain, and this may give the false impression that sculpture played 110 part in Christian art at [hat time. This is not true, however, for even it church decoration was confined to the capitals ot the interior (and these were frequently spolia from pagan temples), the carved sarcophagus was still much in use. Little figural sculpture survives In Byzantium from the early centuries because o f its destruction during the Iconoclastic controversy (726—S43). The conversion o f churches into mosques after the fall o f Byzantium (1433) inflicted further great losses, and so knowledge o f Byzantine sculpture is confined to decorative.
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non-religious carvings, predominantly capitals, friezes and panels. In the West the sculpture o f the prc-Carolingian period had undergone dramatic changes since Roman times. It had become increasingly t w o dimensional, tending towards flat relief carving. As there was nobody in his empire who could undertake such works. Charlemagne used Roman capitals from Italy in his palace chapel at Aix-la-Chapelle, and brought an equestrian statue ot Theodoric trom Ravenna, setting it up as a monument to himself 111 the palace courtyard. Much o f contemporary sculpture was in stucco, a technique widely used by the Romans. Documents mention narrative reliefs at Cetitula (Saint-Riquier). and fragments o l stucco decoration survive at Gerinigny-des-l'res. A t Cividale in northern Italy an impressive group o f life-size female saints in stucco survives (early nth c ) and testifies to the high quality o f this type of sculpture during the Carolingiaii revival. The yth-c. sculptures in Spain and, above all. in Britain (Riuhwcll and Bewcastle crosses. Brcedon-on-t he-Hill frieze) can, in part, be Imkc'd to the C a r o l i n i a n revival. The pagan Vikings, who contributed so savagely to the fall o f the Carolingiaii empire and its lively art. were themselves patrons o f sophisticated wooden sculptures which employed intricate animal motifs to decorate ceremonial objects, such as those found in rhe Oseherg ship burial, for instance. With the Viking settlements in the British Isles, tills type of art was transmitted to England and Ireland, and became oneot the sources for the Christian art of the Scandinavian countries. Ottoman sculptors produced some outstanding cult images (the Essen Madonna and the Gero cross in Cologne, both late 10th c.) which combine a naturalism inherited trom classical art with a geometric stylization o f forms, leading directly to the birth o f the Romanesque This style was closely linked to architecture and served to enrich it. with sculpture applied to selected features, first to capitals, then to doorways, corbels, friezes and. occasionally, to whole facades. The Romanesque sculpture o f Italy and Trance was in the forefront o f this development, with Spain. Germany and England soon following their lead. By the 12th c , the w hole o f Europe which recognized papal authority employed Romanesque art tonus, which in isolated cases even penetrated Orthodox countries such as Serbia and Russia. Needless to say, Romanesque sculpture flourished in the Crusading kingdom. Although some Romanesque carved capitals are masterpieces (e.g.. at Cluny, Silos, Moissac, Hyde Abbey, Winchester), the glory o f Romanesque sculpture is to be found in the gigantic tympana o f Moissac. A utun and Vczclay and the frieze o f
Sculpture expressive laces, gesture's and ilraperies. The statues of the Saintc-Chapcllc ( 1 2 4 3 - 4 S ) are embodiments of the new style which, through the medium of ivories mass-prod need in Paris at that time, was soon transmitted to the w hole ol Europe. The column-figure, that is to say a statue bound to a column — a characteristic feature of early (iothic portals in France starting with Saint-Penis, which inspired subsequent similar works - gradually lost its influence, and by the late 13th c . the figure became detached from the column and eventually became free-standing. The portal of the great Dutch sculptor Claus Sinter in the Chartreuse de Champmol ( 1 3 0 0 s ) , the mausoleum of Philip the Hold, duke of Burgundy, is a landmark in this trend, for the dramatic figures, some kneeling, some standing, are like actors on a stage and are independent of their architectural setting.
Stone column-figures of the Propheti from the mirth portal Of Chatties cathedral (i jth e.). Wiligclnio on the facade of Modcu.i cathedral. During this period o f great artistic activity, inspired by genuine pictv, many works ofoiitstanding quality wore created and it is possible to distinguish numerous regional schools o f sculpture (e.g.. in Burgundy. Aquitaine. Normandy. Lombardy, Tuscany. Apulia, 11 ere lords hi re, Yorkshire ami Kent). Uoiii.incsqiic sculpture favoured abstract forms, and human figures were used in a totally arbitrary fashion: their size, tor Distance, often depended On their importance. Christ being larger than the Apostles. It was the art o f a naive faith and was dominated by the fear o f damnation, depicted so vividly on many tympana. While Romanesque architecture was superseded by the Gothic at Saint-1 Jeans, in sculpture there w as a period ot some 50 years (r, 1170—1.1220) when the style became more naturalistic. This was largely due to the influence o f Mosan art. The great portals o f Senlis, Laon, Chartrcsand Uheims cathedrals are the best example-s o f this new style, sometimes called Transitional. Gothic sculpture emerged from this Transitional style in the first quarter o f the 13th C, and the workshop responsible for the sculpture o f the fat;ade o f Notre-Dame cathedral in Paris was the first to replace the gentle naturalism o f the Transitional style and its gracefully flowing draperies, with more
2yS
The 14th c, witnessed the birth ol portraiture in tomb sculpture. Until then etfigies were, as a rule, idealized images, bearing 110 relation 10 the true physical appearance of the deceased. Taking death masks in wax or plaster led to a more faithful portrayal of the face on effigies. During the l5thc.,AcI^iwC*uiitriesand(!eriuaiiy produced a number e>l outstanding masters, working 111 stone, wood and bronze: Mans MultSCnCT, Nikolaus (lerhaert, Michael Packer, Tilman Itieinensehneider and Veil Stoss, to name a few. As in Gothic architecture, so in sculpture the Italian contribution was very independent, and it is therefore more appropriate to consider it in relation to the birth of Renaissance art than to (iothic. See GOTMfC; I AI NT] N(i A N D THE M I N t l l t A UTS; PtSANO, N E t : t i L A ; ROMANESQUE \2$6\ CZ 1
• it. Sahnni Medieval Sculpture (1969); W. Saunahdcr Gothic Sculpture, in France 1140-1270 ( [ 9 7 2 ) ; I.. Stone Sculpture in Britain: (he Middle Ages ( 1 9 7 2 ) Scgarclli, Gerard (d.1300) Leader of the heretical sect, the 'False Apostles' (pieudo-apasiolici}. A native ot Parma. Scgarclli telt drawn to .1 lile ot exemplary purity. He sold all his possessions (c. t2fio) and began to preach penance and Apostolic poverty, lie soon attracted a large following. The sect was twice condemned by the papacy: by Hononus IV fizSfi). and by Nicholas IV ( 1 2 0 0 ) . Segarelli was finally imprisoned by the bishop of Parma, who gave him over to the secular authorities to be burnt in 1300. • G. Letf Hcrriv in the Laic Middle Ages
(1967)
Seljuk (Scljuq) T u r k s The Seljuks came with bands of Turkish nomads from die Central Asian steppes, making their way into Anatolia, northern Iraq and Syria, and gradually pushing the Byzantines out of Asia Minor. They occupied Jerusalem in
Ships and shipping 1071, as well as crushing the Byzantine army at the. battle ol ManzikcR, later capturing Antioch ( 1 0 8 5 ) ; this gave rise tei the First Crusade ( 1 0 9 6 - 9 9 ) . with the crusaders seeking to free the Holy Land from the infidel, .See A1P A U S I A N ; Tuomtu B E G • Cambridge History of Islam cd. P . M . Holt ( 1 9 7 0 ) Serbia In the 7 t h c. various groups o f Slavs, the ancestors of the Serbian people, settled in the Balkans. Each tribe had its own leader or zupan until the late MOOS, when the great warrior Stephen Nemanja formed the first united Serbian state. Several centuries later, King Stephen I )usan led the country in a series of successful wars against the Byzantine empire; however, the Serbian empire began to decline after his death in 135s. Sergius I (d.638) Patriarch o l Constantinople from 6 t o . Born in Syria. Sergius eventually became the trusted adviser ol Emperor Hcrachus. In response to the split between orthodox believers and the Monophysites, Sergius formulated the doctrine o f Monotheletism. claiming that Christ possessed two natures but one w i l l . The new formula was promulgated by the emperor in 6 3 8 , hot unfortun ately was rejected by the Monophysites and the Latin church, and condemned at the Council o f Constantinople in 6 8 1 . Sforza family Northern Italian family o f nobles. The descendants of the condottiere Muzio Attendolo ( 1 3 6 9 - 1 4 2 4 ) assumed his nickname. Sforza. Among the most famous members o f the family were Fran cesco, ruler of Milan 1 4 3 0 - 6 6 , who sought to maintain peace and order in his territories; his son Caleazzo Maria (assassinated 1 4 7 6 ) ; and Caterina (c 1462— t 5 ° 9 ) . who was famous for her involvement in political and military i l l urs. Another Sforza, LodoviCC (1451 — 1 508). may have been partly responsible for the French invasion of Italy in 1494. The Sforza rule in Milan saw great economic growth and enlight ened patronage o f the arts. 11 C M . Ady Milan under the Sforza (1907); J. Law The Lards dj Renaissance Italy (1981) Hie first English shilling (or tustoon) showing 1 lenry VII, and the royal arms on llie reverse-
Shilling (from O l d Norse seiljan, 'to cut, shear") Originally an early Germanic weight for gold, implying a piece cut from a ring or wire and wt'ighing 20 grains (t. 3 0 g ) , As a money of account it was worth 12 pence, since the earliest penny (7th c.) was the same weight as the gold coin or 'shilling' o f the day. and the gold:silver ratio was I ; I 2. Ships and shipping Great advances were made 111 the maritime arts İn the course of the Middle Ages, when for the most part transport by water, across the seas and along the rivers, constituted the simplest, most efficient, and often the safest means o f com munication. The classical inheritance remained virtually unbroken in Byzantium, and naval tradi tions in ship-building and weaponry contributed to the survival o f Constantinople. The Arabs brought their o w n traditions to Mediterranean waters, hut also took over the ship-building yards and expertise of Alexandria and Carthage. hi the specific European experience, the outstand ing achievements o f the early Middle Ages came in northern waters. Archaeologists trace a sequence o f increasing technical competence Irom rhc Nydam ship o f the migration period to the superb oth-c. Gokstad and Oseberg ships, which led to the creation o f ships capable ot operating even m the roughest ocean conditions at acceptable risk. Gokstad represents the sensational side o f ship-building techniques, the evolution of a formidable and almost irresistible weapon ot war; but ot equal or greater importance was the evolution ol a whole complex of seaworrhy trading vessels ranging from sturdy little Frisian cogs to the substantial trading vessels discovered at Skuldelcv. The technical achievements o f the period (.600—900 made possible the Viking expansion which set the cap o f fortified trading centres on Northern Europe from Greenland and Iceland to the Russian waterway's, Novgorod, Smolensk and Kiev. Further advance on classical models came in the central Middle Ages in the Mediterranean, stimu lated by Muslim experiment and by the needs of'the crusaders. A wealth o f navigational knowledge was built up and transmitted orally. The Vikings appear to have used a lodcsione as a guide, but the first clear reference to a mariner's compass appears in the 1 2th-c. work ol Alexander o f Neckam, and under standing o f its magnetic qualities was further extended in the later Middle Ages. Use of the compass coincided with the development o f larger sailing ships and a resulting greater confidence in coping with navigation on the open seas. By the 15th c. ship-builders and navigators, notably those on the western seaboard o f Europe in Portugal, were well poised for voyages ol" exploration to seek out new
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Ships and s h i p p i n g
1
111:•
i- i
:-•
•
T . - - and equipment onto B i h i p lor
J
crusade: r.|ilw. illumination Irnin a text of Villcturdoum.
routes to the wealth o f Africa and the East. HHl i l i . J . Lcfcbvrc De la marine antique a la marine moderne ( 1 9 3 5 ) ; A W. Briigger and M. Shctclig The 1 'iking ships (195 t); B. Greenhill Archaeology ••! the hoot ( 1 9 7 5 ) ; B-W. Linger 'The Ship in the Medieval Economy aext-iAoo ( 1 9 K 0 ) ; A.11. Lewis and T.J. Runyan European Naval and Maritime History joot$oo ( 1 9 1 5 ) Sicilian Vespers (Easter Monday 1282) Popular uprising against the rule ot Charles ot Anjoll in Sicily. Charles, king o f Sicily, liad levied heavy taxes on the Sicilians for his proposed conquest o f Constantinople, increasing their resentment ot French rule. A riot began in Palermo on 3 0 March I J - J when a Sicilian woman was insulted by a French soldier, and several thousand Frenchmen were killed in a tew hours. The lighting soon spread to the rest o f the island. Although the uprising may have begun as a patriotic rebellion, it then became a republican movement for municipal autonomy. A parliament was called in Palermo, and an independent republic proclaimed. The cities ol western Sicily decided to form a confederation, hopefully with the pope as feudal overlord. Pope Martin I V , a Frenchman, would not accept these plans and excommunicated the rebels instead. The Hohenstaufen barons o f Sicily sought the aid o f Peter III o f Aragon. w h o claimed the island as the inheritance o f his wife, daughter o f Manfred. O n 2 September Peter was crowned king at Palermo, and the war against the Angevins began in earnest; the conflict lasted t w o decades. Foreign domination o f Sicily cannot have bee'ii the prime reason behind the revolt o f the Vespers, for in the end the Sicilians accepted yet another foreign power as master, the Aragonese. 11S. Runciman Tlir Sicilian Vespers ( 1 9 5 8 ) ; H . Wioruszowski Politics and Culture itt Medieval Spain ami Italy { 1 9 7 1 )
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S i c i l y Throughout the Middle Ages Sicily was coveted by outside rulers for its riches and important strategic position in the Mediterranean. Ravaged by die Vandals and Ostrogolhs in the sth e. the island was then captured e.S33 by Belisarius. The hold of the Byzantine empire wai gradually weakened in the 9 t h e. w i t h the advent o f the Arabs, and by the end o f the century Sicily w as virtually an Arab province. The Normans, led by linger I . the Great Count, reconquered the island in the Christian interest ( 1 0 7 2 - 9 1 ) . and his son. Roger I I was crowned king in 1 1 3 0 . Under firm I lautcvillc government, drawing on Arahie, Greek, and Roman tradition the island thrived economically, financially and culturally. Late in the twelfth century the Hoheustautens succeeded the HautcriOetand during the reign o f the Emperor Frederick II ( 1 2 1 2 - 3 0 ) , the 'Sicilian boy", the court at Palermo became famous throughout the world for its learning and luxury. In 1264 the Angevin domination o f Sicily began; they were finally overthrown in the Sicilian Vespers ( 1 2 8 2 ) . through which Sicily merely substituted yet another toreign master, the Aragonese. and Sicilian interests were subordinated to the needs o f their Aragonese and Catalan masters. Set t.'HAKlES 1 O F A N J O U ; PETEII til; R O B O R U U I S C A B D ; H O O L H 1: R O G E I 11: ( K l I i r H K K II
Smith Medieval Sicily (19/19); IJ.C. 1 Jouglas The Sorman Achievement (19O9): 1). Abulatia Tredertck the Second (lyXH)
• 1J.M.
Siegfried Archbishop o f Mainz 1 0 6 0 - 8 4 . He was appointed to the powerful see ot Mainz by Agnes. He seems to have been a weak man o f lit tie character who, caught up in the struggle over lay investiture between Henry IV and Gregory V I I . always backed the losing side in the conflict. He was responsible for the coronation o f Rudolf o f Swabia in 1077. - Church and Stale in the Middle Ages ed. B . I ) . Hill (1970).
Simeon Stylites, St Sigcr o f B r a b a n t ( 1 , 1 2 3 5 - 8 2 ) Averroist philo sopher. A teacher ot philosophy at the university o f Paris, Siger taught an Aristotelianisni influenced by Averroes. His teachings were condemned in 1270 by the bishop o f Paris. Six years later he was summoned to appear before the Inquisitor o f France. Simon du Val. on charges o f heresy and in 1277 he was again condemned by the bishop. On his way to Orvieto to seek papal absolution, he was murdered by his secretary. While accepting the truth o f the Catholic faith, he insisted on man's right to follow human reason, even though, in his view, it sometimes contradicted divine revelation. • G. Lerf Medieval Thought foam St Augustine to Qekkam (11158)
brother Wenceslas. Intent on healing the Great Schism ot the Latin church ( 1 3 7 8 — 1 4 1 7 ) , he forced |ohn X X I I I to summon a general council, which was held at Constance ( 1 4 1 4 - 1 8 ) . One o f the key issues to he settled at Constance was the extirpation ol heresy, in particular the Hussite heresy. Hus accepted an offer o f safe conduct from Sigismund, and went to Constance ( 1 4 : 5). where be was i m p r i soned, put on trial and burnt at the stake (fi July), thereby kindling 1 spirit of Bohemian nationalism and giving rise to the Hussite wars. Despite his die nation o l B"hcim i and his inability t;> reorganize political relations in Germany. Sigismund enjoyed some popularity in his lifetime tor his knightly personality and initiative in prompting the Council o f Constance. |/o.i]
Sigismund o f L u x e m b o u r g I loly Roman Emperor 1 4 1 0 - 3 7 (b. 1368) Ruler ot Hungary, Germany and Bohemia. The son o f Charles I V , Sigismund acquired the crown o f Hungary in 1387, He later gained control ol Germany alter the death ol Rupert in 1410 and the abdication ot his incompetent step-
u F.R.H. du Boulav Germany in tin' Lnier Middle Ages ( 1 9 8 3 )
Russian icon of St Simeon Stylites. shown at the rop ot his pillar.
S i m e o n I Tsar o f Bulgaria 8 9 3 - 9 2 7 (b. r . 8 ( i 3 ) Son o f Boris I and the first Bulgarian ruler to assume the title'tsar'. During his reign the Bulgarian empire was at the summit o f its power. Simeon was educated at Constantinople as a monk; thus, he was deeply immersed in Greek civilization and did much to encourage an atmosphere o f culture and learning at his court. However, he was largely preoccupied with the wars against the Byzantine empire', wars which grew originally out ot disputes regarding trade rights, and ultimately developed into a contest for possession o f the imperial throne. He failed to take Constantinople in 9 1 3 and 924; in 9 2 5 he proclaimed himself emperor o t the Romans and Bulgars, draw ing proresrs from the Byzantine emperor. Romanus Lecapenus. although the title was recognized by the pope. After his death, internal dissension did much to weaken the Bulgarian state and thus lessened the danger confronting Constantinople, i S Runcıman ,4 Histor} yfiht I irst Eulgşfhtt. Empire (1930)
S i m e o n Stylites, St ( 1 . 3 9 0 - 4 5 9 ) First o f the 'pillar' ascetics, Simeon was born near the Syrian border o f Cilicia. After some years asa monk 111 the monastery o f Eusobona near Antioch. he retreated to a cell at Telanissos, where he began to live a life o f extreme austerity. To escape trom the crowds that gathered round him, he eventually mounted a pillar so that he might spend a life o f peaceful contemplation. His tallest column, on which he spent more than 2 0 years, was about 15 m ( 5 0 ft) high, with a rail running round the top. Fie spent most ot his life in prayer, standing on the pillar exposed to the ele ments; he also ate pracrically nothing- This novel austerity attracted to him a constant stream o f pilgrims, and had many imitators.
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Simon de Montfort the Elder Simon da Montfort the Elder (i. I 153-1 * 18) Fourth earl o f Leicester. Simon joined the Fourth Crusade in I lyo and opposed its diversion Iroui Palestine to Zara and Constantinople ( 1 2 0 4 ) ; lusailed instead to the Holy Land. He inherited the earldom from his mother's brother in 1204, but his lands were seized bv King John and not returned until 1215, In 1207 Innocent III had begun to preach the Albigensian Crusade, hoping that Philip Augusnis would take the lead and prevent any excesses ol behaviour. The Litter's involvement in the war with England prevented him from taking the cross, hut he did permit his barons to do so; Simon de M o n t tort w as elected as their leader, A soldier o f great courage, he was also a skilled diplomat. He defeated Raymond V I , count o f Toulouse, in 1212. and Raymond's ally Peter II o f Aragon the following year. It seemed to many that de Montfort and his allies were set 011 dispossessing the southern nobility and seizing their lands. Province rose in revolt against the crusaders, and Toulouse was retaken in 1Z17 by Raymond's son. while deMont fort w as in Paris; he laid siege to the city 1 2 1 7 [8, and was killed in a skirmish with the enemy. 1!.
Hamilton Tit* Albigensuut Crusade
(1974)
Simon de Montfort the Younger (r. 1 2 0 8 - 6 5 ) He came to England in 1230 to press a family claim to the earldom o f Leicester, l ie secured his inheritance and so impressed Henry 111 that he rose ipiickly in royal lavour. and married Eleanor, the king's sister, in 1238, More masterful and tenacious ot his rights than other royal favourites, he soon quarrelled with the king, and over the next two decades their relations were stormy, especially after Simon's cimtrowrsi.il period as governor ot Gascon y (1 24X— 52). Yet he was not the moving spirit in the we-llSUpportcd movement which forced Henry to submit to baronial control in the Provisions ot O x t o r d (125«)-
It was only alter the disintegration ol the baronial government that Simon became the local point o f opposition to the king. Early in 1264 he rejected the Mise o f Amiens. Louis IX o f France's arbitration on the dispute, and took Henry and his son (the future Edward 1) prisoner at the battle o f Lewes on 14 May 12(14. A new scheme ot government w as then drawn up. with Simon the leading member ol a triumvirate empowered to control the king. Though he eagerly sought a reconciliation with Henry, and in 1265 even assembled a parliament containing, tor the first time, representatives o f the shires ami boroughs, in the hope o l securing a lasting peace, the king retused to compromise on untrammelled royal rule. When Simon quarrelled with his leading colleague, Gilbert de Clare, earl o f Gloucester, and the Lord Edward
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escaped from custody, his position crumbled and he was defeateil and killed at Evesham. n M . W . Labarge Simon de Mention ( i u f i 2 > ; O H . Knowles Simon de Mention t2ri$-ty6$ (lyri.s.)
Skanderbcg (d. 1468) Leader o f the Albanian revolt against the l u r k s . George Castriota. who had served the l urks as a janissary commander under the name ot Sk.mderbe-g. revolted against them, seized the fortress o f Kroja in 1443 and declared himself a Christian, The "l urks eventually t r i u m phed in i4riN. after Skaudcrbcg's death, but his heroic resistance, which beat back the armies ot two formidable sultans. Murad I I and even Muhammad II (conqueror o f Constantinople, 1 4 5 1 - 8 1 ) , helped to build up a feeling o f unity among the turbulent Albanians, the descendants o f an ancient Ellyrian people. n C. Chekrezi Albania, Past and Present ( 1 0 1 0 ) ; H , Inalcik / / i ; Ottoman I mpin .• the CftaajsJ Age ( 1 9 7 3 )
Slavery In the early Middle Ages slavery was widespread throughout the European world, inherited as an institution both from classical ami Germanic sources. The attitude o f the Christian church was ambivalent, oppiwed to the sale ot Christian slaves to non-Christians, but tending to accept slavery itself as a consequence o f man's sinful nature. Attempts at legal amelioration were few and calculable; [here was some move towards recognition ot Christian marriage and some granting o f limited rights to own small sums ot money and even to acquire land. Labour was dictated by the lord's will and there was little, i f any redre-ss against his arbitrary authority. With the evolution ot a manorial economy trom the 8 t h c. onwards came elaborate gradations o l freedom and unfreedom, which make all generalizations at best tentative, and at worst positively misleading, Lords tended to find it more profitable to employ peasants better de-scribed in modern terms as serfs, than as slaves: that is to say. men possessing plots o f land which they could use to maintain themselves and their families, hut bound to the soil, to the disciplme-s ol the manor, and answerable tor labour ol an onerous kind on the lord's demesne. Chatte-1 slavery persisted, and in some are-as ol Europe Roman law caused a revival in the 12th c. The presence o f the Muslim world, and indeed ot the Byzantine world with its continuous classical inheritance-, preserved the high theory ol the serous, the slave as a virtually nghtless man against his master. In the West something o f a turning point in attitudes to slavery can be disccnie-d in the mid— 11 th c . the end of the Viking Age. The Vikings were themselves
Slavs
Slav states in die ): H. l i . I.oyn The Free Anglo-Saxon (1975); TJii Transition from Feudalism to Capitalism ed. R . H . Hilton (1976)
Slavs The migration and settlement o f the Slavonic peoples into their familiar modern groups was as much a feature o f early medieval history as the better known (icruianic movements. Historically they established themselves in three powerful groups: the north-west Slavs (Poles, Czechs, Bohemians, Wends, etc.), the south-west Slavs (Serbs, Croats, 'Yngo-Slavs' generally) and the eastern Slavs (Russians). A l l these terms are generalized and none o f the groupings is in any sense racially pure, but the basic languages were derived from the same Indo-
Slavs European stock, and the peoples themselves .it the beginning o f the Middle Ages dwell principally in Eastern Europe with focal points in the Carpathians, from which they penetrated north and west to the Elbe, south and west into the Balkans, and east, straddling the great waterways o l historic Russia. They received Christianity, the symbol ol settle ment and acceptance into the new medieval world, at different times and from different quarters. The work o f St C y r i l (d. 86)}) from Byzantium created a liturgy in the tradition o f the Eastern church and a script, which formed the basis for the modern Cyrillic script used In modern Russia and Bulgaria Western missionaries, however, predominated on the German frontier. By the end o f the loth c. the Bohemians were Christian with a see established at Prague. The Poles were also converted from the west with a chief bishopric at Gniezno, a n d - i n spite o f the persistence ot pagan practices, notably among the Wends — WcstiTu Christianity and the influence of Rome constituted the principal cultural forces among the north-west Slavs from r. 1000 onwards. I he picture was different in the south and east: ()rthodox Byzantine Christianity predominated among the Serbs and Yugo-Slavs generally, from the last quarter o f the yth c. To the east, the decisive moves came late in the reign o f Vladimir the Great {uHo-IOl.l). who accepted the Orthodox faith for his eastern Slavonic peoples, the Russians. Vastly different political experience in succeeding centuries exaggerated the divergences between the Slavonic peoples, but no force was stronger than r c h u c u in creatine the Special characteristics z\ the states of Catholic Roland and Czechoslovakia on the one hand, and o f Orthodox Russia and SerboCroatia on the other. .See B O H E M I A ; S F H H I A : W F . N D S ; YUGOStAVS inn • A . Florovsky The Czechs and ihe Eastern Slavs ( 1 9 3 5 ) ; G. Vernadsky Artdent Russia ( 1 9 4 3 ) ; F. Dvornik The making of Central and Eastern Europe (1949)
Snorri Sturluson ( 1 1 7 9 - 1 2 4 1 ) Generally regarded as the greatest o f the saga writers. Snorri Sturluson. though born in N o r w a v . spent his active political and literary lite in Iceland. I lis greatest w orks include the Prose Edda. which in sophisticated literary form tells the essential outlines o f O l d Norse mythology, and the I leimshringla. which sets out the history o l the kings ot N o r w a v ot the Ynglinga dynasty from mythological times. Reputedly the richest man in Iceland and deeply involved in the politics o f the island. Snorri met his death by what was virtually political assassination. See sM'.\s. Noltsr. 1 The PtOSt Hilda cd. J. Young ( 1 9 5 4 ) : D . M . Wilson ami P. Foote The I'iking Achievement (lytiK)
.104
Gold solidui (61J-S9) ofHeracKtM and Ins son Hcrachus Constantino, from liy/aiitmui. Solidus (Italian soldo. French son) Originally a Roman gold coin introduced by Constantino in toy and weighing 4.5J g. As a term for the standard gold coin the name was transferred in the 71I) C. to thctrcmissis of reduced weight that corresponded to the Germanic shilling, so that soldo and cognate terms in the Romance languages became the equiva lent o f 12 pennies in money ot account. The first silver coin to be struck having the value of a SOU was the gros totimois in I 2 i i f i . Spain Roman imperial rule was swept troll! the Iberian peninsula w hen w aves ot barbarians —Suevi. Alans and Vandals - crossed the Pyrenees in 409. TheİT presence was transitory and largely destruc tive (hence English 'vandal'), but in 4JÎS they were succeeded by the Visigoths, still half-savage, but Christian (albeit Anan heretics) and Latin-speaking, who settled and intermarried with the I lisp.moRoman population. The Visigothic kingdom, with Toledo as its capital and the works ot Isidore ot Seville as its enduring cultural monument, lasted lor two and a halt centuries. But it was an elective monarchy: warring factions within the royal house fatally weakened i t . and when in 71 1 one group brought Arab and Berber troops from Morocco to help them. Visigothic power collapsed. By 718 the Muslims controlled the whole peninsula except lor some small mountainous regions that scarcely seemed worth occupying, and they were soon crossing the Pyrenees to threaten France. A mountain skirmish, located by tradition at Covadongain 71S. began the Rcconqucst [Reconquista) anil the kingdom o f Asturias: the other nucleus o f resistance was the Basque kingdom o f Navarre in the Pyrenees. In the 740s civil war among the Muslims allowed a vast expansion o f Asturian territory, and
Spain simultaneously the Franks drove the Muslims back across the Pyrenees, establishing the ncirth-east o f the peninsula as their Spanish March. In [he March, which had such European features as the Roman rite. Carolingian script and a genuine feudal system, political power gradually crystallized around the counts o f Barcelona, and the monastery o f Ripoll became one o l Europe's great cultural centres. During the yth c , the advance of the Uecont|ucst transformed the kingdom o f Asturias into that o f Leon. Castile was a mere county o f Leon, as Aragon was o f Navarre, yet Castile was already developing linguistic and politico-legal traits that set it apart as a fluid, resourceful and energetic frontier society. In the mid-loth c. Count Eernan Gonzalez, skilfully playing Navarre against Leon, won Castile's independence. Within a century, her counts had become kings, and Castile was playing a major role. Galicia (and its southern half, which became Portugal) to the west, and Aragon and Catalonia to the cast, were onlv intermittently important to the affairs o f the centre, whose politics were dominated in turn by Navarre, Leon and Castile. More than once a strong and ambiuoMS ruler (such as Sancho III of Navarre) created a united kingdom by conquest, only to divide it among his hears, who then fought tor supremacy. Muslim Spain, ruled for its first 4 0 years by governors dependent on the caliph in Damascus, had long since gone its o w n way, with ' A b d arRahman's establishment o f the amirate of Cordoba in 7 5 6 ; it covered two-thirds o f the peninsula, stretching north to the Duero and the Ebro. A prosperous multilingual and multiracial society developed, with largejewish communities as well as Christian Mozarabs (indigenous Spaniards living under Arab rule), and a cultural flowering that rivalled that o f the caliph's court in Damascus. The second half o f the yth c. was troubled by Norse raids and religious unrest, but ' A b d ar-Rahmau 111 ( 9 1 2 tii) pacified the frontier, strengthened the central and provincial administrations, used new techniques in agriculture and irrigation to create even greater prosperity, and made Cordoba the most powerful state in Europe, with a culture whose brilliance eclipsed that of Damascus and Baghdad, In 9 2 9 he proclaimed himself caliph, spiritual as well as temporal leader; for the first time, there were two caliphs in Islam. Al-Mansur, general (and effectively dictator) from 9 7 9 , laid waste much ot the Christian north, but he so weakened the power o f the caliphs that on his death in 1002 the caliphate collapsed, to be succeeded by the small taija kingdoms, and the Christian kingdoms became d o m i nant. Al-Mansiir's raids and Sancho Ill's hegemony
broke the political dependence o f Catalonia on France, and Count Ramon Berciiguer I ( 1 0 3 5 - 7 6 ) secured a distinctive Catalan political and legal identity. When the king o f Aragon died without male heir in 1 137. a loose but enduring union, the crown o f Aragon, was formed under the count o f Barcelona; the new kingdom included Saragossa, which had been reconquered in 1 1 iK. The successes o f Alfonso V I against the taifa kingdoms brought about the Almoravid invasion, and despite the temporary triumph of the C i d in Valencia, the Almoravids, and after them the Almohads, effectively impeded the Rcconquest for a century and a halt. Yet some gains were made, and more importantly Alfonso VPs great prize, Toledo, remained in Christian hands. It was there that a school o f translators fuelled the izth-c. renaissance with Latin versions o f Arabic (and hence o f Greek) scientific texts. Christian Spain was strengthened demographically. economically and culturally by the intolerance o f the Almohads. which sent Mozarab and Jewish refugees streaming north; Castile replaced Andalusia as the great centre o f Jewish culture. After the victory o f Las Navas de Tolosa ( 1 2 1 4 ) , the Rcconquest gained momentum under Fernando ML His conquests (Cordoba, Seville. Murcia. Jaen) were flanked by Alfonso I X o f Leon's capture o f Badajoz ( 1 2 3 0 ) . and the surrender o f Valencia to James I o f Aragon in 123R. Fernando's reign also marks the definitive union o f Leon and Castile, under Castiliau leadership. Flis successor Alfonso X paid the price ot Fernando's spectacular success and o f his o w n weaknesses. Acute economic and demographic problems beset Castile, and the great nobles, aided by Alfonso's heir Sancho IV, successfully challenged the central authority o f the crown, causing misery to the people and delaying the Rcconquest. Alfonso X I ( 1 3 1 2 - 5 0 ) tamed the nobles and was making headway against Granada when he died o f the plague. Disaster followed; while the Black Death ravaged the peninsula, a civil war between Alfonso's legitimate and illegitimate sons brought foreign armies into Castile and strengthened the nobles at the expense of crown and people. The Jews, prosperous and numerous, were an obvious scapegoat for Castile's miseries, and pogroms, beginning in 1391. led to semi-forced conversions (thcanii'rrsiiiin turn became suspect and persecuted), to the establishment o f the Spanish Inquisition ( 1 4 7 K ) and to the expulsion o f the Jews from Spain (1492)-
The crown o f Aragon's share in the Rcconquest was completed with the surrender o f Valencia; Murcia. to the south, fell to Castile at about the same time. Aragon then turned its energies eastwards; Pere 111 seized Sicily in 1282; Corsica and Sardinia
3°>
Spain were added to the kingdom; and Catalan adventurers captured the duchy o f Athens (it was held for Aragon during most o f the 14th c ) . Aragon's economic dominance in the Mediterranean equalled her military power, but over-expansion brought demographic problems; the economy weakened, and there were risings, first o f the peasantry, then o f the urban proletariat against the nobles, and finally ot the nobles against the crown. In 1410 the last king in direct line o f succession from the counts o f Barcelona died without male issue, and after a two-year interregnum a prince o f the Castilian Trastamara dynasty ascended the throne; Alfonso V the Magnanimous achieved a temporary recovery by social reforms at home and military expansion abroad. He took Naples in 1442 and established his court there, though his attempt to secure northern Italy five years later failed. After Alfonso's death internal conflicts worsened w i t h a series o f rival and transitory monarchs, and the kingdom o f Naples was divided from that o f Aragon. In Castile, gradual demographic recovery in the 1 sth c , and the wealth created by the great sheep flocks o f the Mesta and by merchantmen trading out
o f Biscay and Andalusia, provided a base for further expansion; the first step towards an Atlantic empire was taken when the Canary Islands were colonized. Only leadership was lacking, and it was provided by the Catholic Monarchs: Isabel, who ascended the disputed throne o f Castile in 1474. and her husband Fernando, king o f Aragon from 147«). They ruled their two kingdoms and prepared for their fusion; Navarre, long since confined ro a small I'yrenean region, was added to a united Spain in 1512. They fostered education and humanistic scholarship; they finally imposed the crown's authority on the great nobles (though at the cost o f giving them too much power in the realm); they supported Columbus in what was to prove (to everyone's surprise) the discovery o f America; and they conquered Granada. The Nasrid kingdom had survived with almost unchanged frontiers since 1350. and was increasingly an anachronism on the edge o f Christian Spain; diplomatic skill and Granadine wealth preserved it as long as Castile had no compelling motives for allout war, hut the Catholic Monarchs could no longer tolerate the reproach it offered to their vision ot the countries' manifest Christian destiny.
from the !)th ro the n t h c. the Muslims were pushed sourh. rhougli the Rcconquest of Spain did riot end until
14112.
Sterling The boundary between medieval and modern culture is inevitably i l l - d e f i n e d , b u t chronological convergence gives u s a startlingly precise historical boundary: in a single year ( 1 4 0 2 ) Granada tell, t h e Jews were expelled from Spam, Antonio dc Nebrija published t h e first serious grammar of a n y European vernacular, a n d Columbus claimed t h e New World for t h e Catholic Monarchs. By t h e e n d o f the year, Spain w a s irrevocably transformed; t h e foundations of empire were laid, but with an intolerance t h a t would ultimately weaken t h e entire structure. See 'AHHAIitn SANTIAGO,
DYNASTY; ORDER
'ABBASID OF;
DYNASTY;
TOLE] X I ,
CORTES!
COUNCILS
UMAYYAIJtlYNASTYiírCil/jii/iIilri'/iíiniHíJiiíí
OF; ADD
iJ.H. Elliott Imperial Spain ( 1 0 6 3 ) ; W . Montgomery W a t t a n d P. Cacclua A History oj Islamic Spain (iyt>s); H . V . Livermore The Origins of Spain and PânŞIMİ
1
(1971) ;
G. [ackson The Making of Medieval Spain ( 1 9 7 2 ) ; J.F. ü ' C a l l a g h a n A History of Medieval Spain { 1 9 7 5 ) ; J . N . Hillgarth The Spanish Kingdoms i J . i O - i 5 1 6 (1976-78); A. MacKay Spain in the Middle Ages ( 1 9 7 7 ) : D . W . Lomax The Recouqttest of Spain ( 1 9 7 S ) ; I t . Collins Eariy Medieval Spain: Unity in Diversity 400-IOOO ( 1 9 8 3 ) A stave ciiurch in Norway, substantially r. 125O.
Stave churches (Stavkirken) Distinctive type o f church characteristic o f N o r w a y in the Middle Ages. Stave churches were wooden buildings, often built by the rural population, and at their best combined brilliantly the arts o f the architect and carpenter. The most elaborate were supported by a series ot massive wooden columns, with heavily ornamented portals and carved capitals. The outward appearance, with its succession o f stepped roofs, provided a sharp contrast both to the simple stone churches and elaborate 'European' cathedrals o f Trondheini and Uergen. Pagan features and echoes ot heroic legend were incorporated in the carving both inside and outside the stave churches. • R. 1 l.mglid Norwegian Stove Churches ( 1 9 7 0 ) 1
Stephen o f Blois King o f England 1135—34 (b. ( 1097) Grandson o f William the Conqueror. Stephen succeeded his uncle Henry I in December 1135, thanks to his own eni'rgy combined with the political skill ot his brother Henry, bishop o f Winchester, and the acquiescence o f the eldest o f the brothers, Theobald, count o f Blois. His reign was turbulent, but it is wrong to think ol it as a period o f perpetual anarchy. The civil war (hard fought 1141— 44) between Stephen and his cousin Matilda, legiti mate daughter o f Henry 1. brought great misery and devastation to parts o f the country. The final compromise which ensured the succession ol Matilda's sou. Henry ot Anjou (Plantagenet), to the throne after Stephen's death, was generally we'lconied and inaug urated a period o f strong monarchic government. The crises o f the reign helped to resolve some o f the major problems ot the teudal settlement o f England and paved the way for a permanent legal solution to matters o f succession and inheritance, not only at the royal level, but throughout the feudal order. Its reputation as a time ot permanent dire distress rests largely 011 its portrayal in the AngloSaxon Chronicle (Peterborough Chronicle) as ' 1 9 winters during which Christ and his Saints slept'. • R . H . C . Davis King Stephen (i<X>7) Sterling (from Middle English stere, 'strong'; French esleriin) Name given to the English penny in the post-Con quest period. From the late 12th c. to the early 14th c. It circulated widely in the Eow Countries, north-west Germany, Scandinavia and France', since its weight ( 2 2 ' / J grains, or t . 4 6 g) and fineness ( 9 2 3 / 1 0 0 0 ) were superior to those o f most Continental deniers, making it internationally acceptable. It was much imitated, especially 111 the Low Countries, sometimes (e.g., by John the Blind, count o f Luxembourg) in very base metal. The term is also used for silver o f standard fineness ( 1 1 0 2 adwt = 9 2 5 / 1 0 0 0 ) .
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Stilicho, Flavius Stilicho, Flavius ( i . 3 6 5 - 4 0 8 ) Half-Vandal and halfRoman by birth, he was the supreme commander of the Western Roman empire 395—408. He foiled the Visigothic invasion o f Italy ( 4 0 1 - 0 2 ) . led by Alanc, and later destroyed another great host o f invaders, led by Radagaisus, which threatened to overrun Italy ( 4 0 5 ) . He had always hoped to extend his control over the prefecture o f Ulyricum. and in 4 0 7 he prepared its annexation. Flis plans failed, and he was forced to pay Alaric. an ally in the campaign, a compensation o f 4 0 0 0 pounds o f gold. Stilicbo's fortunes declined in 4 0 8 : a palace revolution led to his imprisonment and execution, • S. Mazzarino Stilicone: La crisi imperiale dona Teodosio ( 1 9 4 2 )
Strasbourg, Oaths of On the death o f Louis the I'ious (840) his three surviving sons continued their struggle for control o f the Empire. Charles the liald and Louis the German, who sought independent royal authority in west and east Frankia respectively, formed an alliance against Lothar.claimant to the indivisible imperial title. In recognition of this alliance against Lothar. the bilingual Oaths were sworn in February N42 by Charles and Louis, each in the other's vernacular, so that their armies could understand them. The text, as preserved in Nithard's Histories, provide! some o f the most ancient examples o f the French and German languages. I L R . Loyn and J. Perdval The Reign ol Charlemagne: documents on Carolingian government and administration ('975)
Subiaco Important monastic centre in the (ith c. located near Rome and providing a religious education for, among others, the great Rope Gregory L i t is Gregory who tells ol the significance o f Subiaco in the life o f St Benedict o f Nursia. w h o is said to have spent time as a solitary hermit in his cave there before going on to lay the foundations for a ccnobitic order. 11
D . C . Butler Benedictine Monadnsm
(1927)
Suger ( 1 . 1 0 8 5 - 1 1 5 1 ) Abbot o f Saint-Denis. An important patron o f the arts and trusted friend and adviser to t w o French kings. Louis V I and Louis V I I . Of humble birth, he was given as oblate to the royal abbey of Saint-Dems at the age often, and 1094-1 4 was educated at the Prictire de 1'Estrcc with the future King Louis V I . By 1 107 he had proved h i m self a skilled advocate and diplomat. A t the request o f K i n g Louis V I . he was twice sent to Rome (1 I 22. U 2 3 ) 011 special missions; he remained an intimate o f the royal family for the rest o f his life. In 1 I 23 he was elected abbot ol Saint-Denis, where he later instituted a programme o f reform, influenced by his l o
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friend Bernard o f Clairvaux. Suger seems to have had t w o main ambitions ill life; in addition to his desire to aggrandize the abbey o f Saint-Denis, he also sought to strengthen the power o f the crown ol France, When King Louis V I I set out on the Second Crusade ( 1 1 4 7 ) . he appointed Suger regent o f France, The abbot's excellent management o f the country's finances at this time helped to establish Louis as the most powerful ruler in France. Suger began to rebuild Saint-Denis in the late and the result is traditionally regarded as one o f the first examples o f the Gothic style in art and architecture. His many writings, such as his Life o f Louis V I . reveal his skill as a historian. Suger died at the abhtv in January 1151 his epitaph read Sin ill ol body and family, constrained by a twofold sinallncss / He refused, in his smallness. to be a small man.' 11M. Aubert Suget ( 1 9 5 0 ) : Abbot Suger. On the Abbey Church ol Saint-Denis and its Art Treasures ed. E. Panofsky ( 1 9 7 9 ) ; S. Crosby The Royal Abbey of Saint-Denis from its Beginnings to the Death oj Suger 1130s.
(1987)
Suso, Heinrich (., 129(1-1 3 3 6 ) Dominican preacher and mystic. Suso studied at Cologne (f.1322 and 1325) under Master Eckhart, whom he greatly admired. His principal work. The Little Booh of Eternal Wisdom (c. 1 3 2 8 ) . is one o f the classics o f German mysticism. It was widely read in the 14th c, and 15th c. and included Thomas a Kempis among its admirers. Suso also preached widely and effectively in Switzerland and the Upper Rhine area. 1 ; j . M . Clark The Great German Mystics ( 1 9 4 9 ) Sutri, Synod of ( 1 0 4 6 ) Faced with an intolerable situation at Rome, where no fewer than three men (Benedict I X , Sylvester 111 and the respectable Gregory VI) had some claim to be pope, the reforming Emperor Henry I I I had a synod summoned to Sutri. and afterwards at Rome, where the three claimants were deposed and the succession passed to the German bishop o f Bamberg. Clement I I . who then crowned I kmry as Emperor (Christmas 1 0 4 6 ) . : Hildebrandine Essays ed. J. P. Whitney ( 1 9 3 2 ) Sweden The medieval Swedish kingdom first took recognizable form in the 4 t h c. around Lake Malar, hut its continuous political history did not become possible until the 9 t h c. when its chief centre lay at Uppsala. The southern part o f modem Sweden. Scania, was at this stage under Danish control. The rich grave goods discovered in the aristocratic cemeteries at Valsgardc and Vendel give some impression of the wealth and potential of Scandinavian society even before the dramatic outburst o f the Viking Age. The Swedes played a full part in the
Sylvester II (Gerbert of Aurillac) the tenacity and bravery o f the mountain folk, the difficulty o f terrain, and the rather half-hearted efforts at repression. Further cantons joined the federation in the 14th c , Lucerne, Zurich. Bern and Z u g , and accretions in the later Middle Ages included Freiburg and Solcure. Basle was not a full member until the early rÖth e., and indeed, it was not until Napoleonic days that the confederation took complete shape. The special intcri-st ot Switzerland In the Middle Ages enmes from its success in establishing a permanent polity on a non-monarchic basis. • E. Bonjour, H . Offler and G.R. Potter Short History of Switzerland ( 1 0 5 2 ) ; J. Steinberg Why Switzerland? ( 1 9 7 6 )
Stained-ejass window showing the arms ol the Swiss canton oi u r i . Viking ventures, dominant in the expansion to the east, but with a presence also in the movement west over sea. At home, however, they were slow to consolidate royal authority and to accept fully conversion to Christianity. The result was a sense ot subordination in affairs to 1 ienmark and to the Hansen tic merchants who, from the i Jthc., entrenched themselves firmly in the island o f Gotland. Some permanent Swedish settlement occurred in Finland in the 14th c . but in 1397. by the Union o f Calmar, Sweden accepted the lordship o f Queen Margaret o f Denmark, who inaugurated a period o f uneasy unified rule over the Scandinavian kingdoms. • L. Musset Les peuples scandinaves an Moyen-Age ( 1 9 5 1 ) ; M . Stcuburger Sweden ( i 0 6 z ) ; D . M . Wilson The takings ami their Origins: Scandinavia in the First Millennium ( 1 9 7 0 ) Switzerland The origins o f Switzerland as a political unit can be traced to 12y J , when the three German-speaking cantons o f U r i , Sehwyz and Unterwalden united to withstand pressure from the Habsburg dynasty. Their success was associated in legend with stories o f William Tell o f U r i . forced to endanger his o w n son's life by shooting an apple off his head at the w h i m o f a tyrannical Habsburg official. Historical credit should rather be given to
Syagrius (464—86) Gallo-Roman genera! who exercised control over a number o f towns between the Sonime and the Loire until his defeat ar the hand of Clevis it Sou: sons ( 4 8 6 ) . Sy ignus had inherited his righr to military protection over the towns from his father Aegidius, a former maoister mtiitmn of the Roman empire. With the collapse of the western half o f the empire in 4 7 6 . Syagrius adopted a position o f independent authority: indeed, Gregory o f Tours describes him as rex Romanorum (king o f the Romans), which suggests that he ruled in the manner of a barbarian king. Following his defeat in battle, he was handed over to Clovis who had him secretly put to death. 1 1 J . M . Wallace-Hadrill The Barbarian West 400¬ 1000 ( 1 9 5 2 ) ; A . H . M. Jones The Later Roman Umpire 2S4-602
(1964)
Sylvester II (Gerbert o f Aurillac) Pope 9 9 9 - 1 0 0 3 (b. r . 9 4 0 ) O f humble birth. Gerbert was educated at the Benedictine monastery o f Aurillac. A n encounter in Rome (970) with die Emperor Otto 1 was decisive, for Gerbert was to spend much o f his life within the orbit o f the German Empire. About 9 7 2 he went to Rheims to study, and eventually lectured there for many years. In 9 9 7 he left France for the court o f O t t o I I I , The Emperor welcomed him as an old supporter of the imperial family and soon procured his appointment to the archbishopric of Ravenna ( 9 9 8 ) . A year later, he elevated Gerbert to the papacy. The first Frenchman to hold this office. Gerbert (as Pope Sylvester II) is generally credited with having encouraged Otto's glorious vision o f a restored Roman empire. He also opposed simony and upheld clerical celibacy, and did much to strengthen the church in Eastern Europe'. Besides being a distinguishi'd statesman, Gerbert was an accomplished scholar. Ehe teaching methods devised by him were extremely influential in Northern Europe; he enlarged the
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Sylvester I I (Gerbert o f A u r i l l a c ) scope o f the study o f logic and raised mathematics to a new position ofimportance. He was also a devoted collector o f ancient manuscripts. 11 J. Leflon Grrrirrc Humauistne O Chrctieutc ou Xe sirde {11J46)
Synods In the early history o f the church, the words 'synod' and 'council' were often interchangeable. However, by the early 4 t h c. large ecumenical gatherings such as Nicaea (125) were called councils, and a meeting o f bishops from a province or region, as well as o f the bishop and clergy of a particular diocese, were usually referred to as synods.
T T a m b e r l a i n e ( 1 3 3 6 - 1 4 0 3 ] Mongol khan from 1370, also known as T i m i i r - i Lang or T i m o r the Lame. O i noble Turkish origin, though claiming descent from Jenghiz Khan, he succeeded in his ambition to reconstruct the 1 jth-c. Mongol empire. With Samarkand as his capital, by 1 4 0 0 he had mastered all the Mongol-ruled territories o f Central Asia, overrun Persia. Mesopotamia and Syria, and extended his rule as far north as Moscow and as far south as northern India. The savagery o f his campaigns did not prevent both the West and Byzantium from regarding him briefly as a possible ally against the Ottomans, and both Christians and Turks died at the great battle o f Ankara ( 1 4 0 a ) , where Tamberlaine defeated and captured Itayazid, the- Ottoman sultan. Completing his conquest o f Anatolia, he successfully besieged the last Christian city o f Asia M i n o r . Smyrna, in the same year. O n his death, which occurred as he was advancing on China, his empire disintegrated, the dynasty only being preserved by the great moghuls o f Delhi. The crumbling Byzantine empire was never strong enough to take ad vantage ofthe disruption ofOttonian power in Asia, although T.iinberlaiiie's intervention did allow it another S O years o l life'. 1 1 H . Hookham Tamburlamt the Conqueror (lydz): D . M . Nicol The Losi Centuries of Hy:antiuin (n/72) T a n c r e d de H a u t e v i l l e Minor Norman baron from near Coutanccs, notable only for the careers o f his many sons, all o f whom journeyed to southern Italy in the mid-1 1 th c. to seek their fortunes. O l the live sons born to Tancred's first wife Muriella William (d. 1 0 4 6 ) , Drogo (d. 1 0 3 1 ) . Humphrey (d. 1 0 3 7 ) . Geoffrey and Serlo- the first three, each in turn, hecame counts o l Apulia. His second marriage to Fredcsendis produced seven sons - Robert (luiscard
310
Tamberlaine and his men capture the fortress ol" the knights of St John at Smyrna (r. 1490).
(d. 1 0 X 5 ) . Mauger, William, Aubrey. Tancred. Humbert and Roger (d. 1101) - and both the eldest and youngest o f these had spectacular careers; they were involved in the conquest ot Sicily (completed 1 0 y ı ) . which Roger ruled as the 'Great Count'. Robert Guiscard. after recognition by the pope as duke o f Apulia and Calabria ( 1 0 3 9 ) , became involved in papal and Byzantine politics and was responsible in 10M4 for the sack o f Rome. Set R O B E R T (;U]M:AW>; JUKIRK I
Norwich 7Jir .\onnnus in the South ( 1 9 6 7 ) ; D.C. Douglas The Sornton Achievement O ' / K J I
NJ.J.
T a n n c i i b u r g , battle o f (1410) This marked the end o f the influence and prestige o f the Teutonic knights, in confrontation with the rising national ism of Poland. The conflict centred on the province o f Samogitia on the Baltic coast which separated the Teutonic colonies o f Prussia and Livonia, and which Poland and Lithuania (united since 1386) had ceded to the Order in exchange lor the province ol Dobrzyn m ' 4 0 4 . In 1410. suspecting Lithuanian complicity in revolts in Samogitia, the Teutonic knights invaded Dohrzyu and were heavily defeated at
Theodora Tanncnburg by the Polish nobility. The Peace o f Thorn ( 1 4 1 1 ) provided an intermediate settlement, but war broke out again and the Teutonic knights were compelled to renounce Samogitia in 1422. T a r i (pi. (arilOr tareni) From an Arabic word meaning 'fresh*, in the sense o f newly struck. A name given originally to the quarter-dinars (1 -OOg) o f the Arabs in Sicily and to the imitations o f these struck at Amalfi and Salerno (1 i t h c . - i 3 t h c.) and in Sicily by the Normans and their successors down to 1278. Alter the m i d - 1 2 t h c. the coins, while remaining o f rhc same fineness, ceased to be struck to a uniform weight, though the nappeso (tari-peso) remained as weight equivalent to i / 3 o t h o f an ounce. T a r i q i b n Z i y a d Berber commander from North Africa who initiated the Muslim conquest o f Spain. In 711 he attacked the Spanish coast with a force o f 7 0 0 0 Berbers somewhere near Gibraltar (from Gehel-Tariq, 'Rock o f Tariq"), then proceeded inland to a site near Sidonia where, in the same year, reinforced with a further s.000 men sent by his superior. Musii, he defeated the usurper Roderic. last king ot Visigothic Spain. Tariq and Musa together continued the conquest, overrunning most ot the Iberian peninsula, much o f which remained in Muslim hands throughout the Middle Ages. In 713 they quarrelled, possibly over the disposition o f booty, and were recalled to Damascus, where Musa was accused ot dishonesty and Tariq's loyalty questioned. Both died in obscurity shortly afterwards. : H . V . Livermore The Origins of Spain ami Portugal (1970
Tassilo Duke o f Bavaria 7 4 8 - 8 8 (b. r . 7 4 2 ) After a disputed minority, he was restored to the ducal throne at the age o f 13 by Pepin the Short, king o f the Franks, to w h o m he submitted as a vassal In 737. The 8th-c. Annates Regni ptancorum report the solemnity o f the occasion, the first known mention ot the vassahc oath ot allegiance and submission with the hands (per matins). In Charlemagne's reign he twice defected from his oath, eventually submitting and Offering his son Theodo as a hostage when faced with military attack in 7 8 7 . The following year, after the sentence o f death demanded by the general assembly at Ingelheim was commuted by Charlemagne to life imprisonment, he entered a monastery. In 7 9 4 , on Charlemagne's order, he emerged to renounce publicly his family rights in Bavaria, and control ol the province passed to the Franks. D . Bullough T/ir Age of Charlemagne ( 1 0 6 5 ) ; Carolingian Chronicles ed. B.W. Schob and B. Rogers ( 1 9 7 0 )
11
T a u l e r , Johann (E. 1 3 0 0 - 0 1 ) With Eckhart and Suso, one ol the three great Rluneland mystics ol the 14th c. A native of Strasbourg, where he spent most ot his active life, he became a Dominican friar at an early age and devoted himself to preaching. His central theme was the method by which the soul can be made ready for union with God. and was expressed in both mystical and homely terms appropriate to rhe Dominican nuns and pious laity whom he addressed. 1 lis surviving works consist o f vernacular se'rmons and one letter, and we're widely read during his lifetime. Luther knew and admired his works, though i 6 t h - c . . Catholic theologians suspected him ot quietism. Interest in Tauler was revived in the ujth c. by both Protestant and Catholic theologians. • J . M . Clark The Great German Mystics
(1949}
T e u t o n i c k n i g h t s ( K n i g h t s o f the S w o r d ) Founded in 1 i y 8 as a religious and military order m imitation ot the Hospitallers, the Teutonic knights soon acquired lands in Germany and Syria. They supported Frederick IPs crusade and were granted East Prussia by him in 1226. From that year on, mitiallv as auxiliaries ot the Polish duke ;;f Masovia they began to subdue and convert the Prussians, building their first fortified centre at Thorn in 1231. Gradually, their Baltic possessions (which by the 14th c. extended as far as the G u l f o f Finland) dominated their activities and. after the fall o f Acre ( i 2 t j i ) . which they helped to defend, thev ended their association with the Crusades. By 1283 Prussia had been ruthlessly subjugated; natives were uprooted to make way for new German settlers, revolts severely dealt with, and many ot the indigenous population reduced to serfdom. By 1410 the Order had established 1 4 0 0 villages and 93 new towns on its Prussian lands and had come into conflict with Roland, who defeated it at the battle of Tanncnburg. Prussia became a fii'f o f the Polish crown under the terms oI the Second Peace ot Thorn ( 1 4 6 6 ) . In 1325 the grand master ot the Teutonic knights accepted the doctrines ot Luther; the Order became se'CuIarized and the grand master became the firsr duke o f Prussia. D S. Rimeim.m A History of the Crusades v o l . 3 ( I 9 S 4 J ; G. liarraclough i 'lie Origins ot Modem Germany ( 1 0 6 6 ) ; O. Halecki A History of Poland ( 1 9 7 8 ) T h e o d o r a (d.s4N) Wife o f Justinian I. The beautiful daughter o f the keeper o f the bears in the amphitheatre ot Constantinople, Theodora married Justinian after he had raised her to the patriciate and persuaded his uncle, the Emperor Justin I . to abrogate the law which forbade the marriage o f senators and actresses. She became empress on
Theodora T h e o d o r e o f Tarsus ( 6 0 2 - 9 0 ) Archbishop o f Canterbury from 668. Although 6 6 years old at the time o f his appointment and requiring instruction in the ways o f the English church, he proved to be a great ecclesiastical statesman responsible for the organization o f a regular diocesan episcopate, ("ailed by Bede 'the first archbishop whom the entire church o f the English obeyed', he presided over two important church councils (Hertford 6 7 2 , and Hatfield 6 7 9 ) . Under his rule, Canterbury he-came a centre o f 1.atin and Greek learning. His I'oenitentiale, collected after his death, had great influence on future penitential discipline in the churches o f England and Germany. • H . M a y r - l l a r t i n g The Coining oj Christianity to Anglo-Saxon England ( 1 9 7 2 )
-
T i n Empress Theodora: detail from the superb mosaic at S. Vitale. Ravenna (nth c ) .
Justinian's accession in 527, though she was despised by some ol the aristocracy because tit her disreputable background. She was attracted to the Monophysite heresy, unlike her intensely orthodox husband, and used her influence to protect its adherents, setting up a Monophysite monastery in the palace o f Hormisdas. protecting refugee bishops and being instrumental in the deposition o f Pope Sylverius and his replace ment by the more amenable Vigilius. Her influence, however, was limited; she was not able to affect Justinian's religious policy and, in spite o f her strong personal hatred o f John o f Cappadocia (Justinian's praetorian prefect in the East), it took her ten years to engineer his downfall. Much ol what is known o l Theodora is coloured by the scandalous and biased writings o f I'roeopius. though even he was able to recognize her stremgth o f character. This was demonstrated most cieatly on the occasion o f the Nika revolt (5.32), when the normally inimical circus factions, the Greens and the Blues, joined forces in an attempt to depose Justinian. I'roeopius reports Theodora's words: 'For an emperor to become a fugitive is a thing not to be endured . . . the purple makes a fine winding sheet.' The'se rallied the taint-hearted Justinian when he was on the point o f flight, and inspired him to stay and crush the revolt. i 1 I'roeopius The Secrel History trans, G. A. William son ( 1 9 6 6 ) ; C. Diehl Tiieodoro oj>flyearn rrnw ( 1 9 7 2 )
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T h e o d o r i c the Great King o f the Ostrogoths 4 9 0 ¬ 5 2 6 (b. 1.453) Theodoric the Amal. called Dietrich o f Hern ¡11 the Sibelinigeiilied, ruled much o f the Western Roman empire, including Italy. Sicily. Dahnatia. Noricum and Rhaetia; he was a Iso suzerain in his grandson's name o f the Visigothic kingdom o f Spain and Septimania. His childhood and youth Were spent in Constantinople, and it was In the name o f the Emperor Zeno that he invaded Italy and in 493 deleate'd Odoacar (who had in 476 deposed the last Western emperor. Romulus Augustulus). Theodoric made no imperial claim and was content to rule as king in his realm, a position tacitly recognized by the Eastern emperors, who returned to him the imperial regalia which Odoacar had delivered to Zeno. He admired Roman civilization and is quoted as saying, 'an able Goth wants to be like a Roman; only a poor Roman would want to be like a Goth', In Italyhe followed a conciliatory policy, respecting the senate and Roman institutions, and permitting both his Roman and Gothic subjects to keep their own laws and officials. At his court in Ravenna he employed Romans as his civilian officials, reserving military positions for the Goths. Even the allotment ol lands made to his followers after his conquest seems to have been achieved without incident. Although Theodoric was an Anan. he remained on good terms with the Catholic church and on occasions acted as an arbiter in church matters, most notably in the Laurentian schism o f 49N. when two popes were elected simultaneously. However, in 523 Justin 1, the Eastern emperor, proscribed Arianisrri throughout the empire, an event which undermined Theodoric's authority in Italy and led to senatorial conspiracies against hım. 1 lis reprisals were severe, the philosopher BocthiuS being the most noted victim. Theodoric died before his COUnter-measurei against the Catholics could be put fully into force. The ensuing struggle for succession
Theophano revolt (817) o f Bernard o f Italy against Charlemagne's successor Louis die Rioos. he was deposed in 8 1 8 and exiled to Angers, He is now generally believed to have been the author o f the Lihri Caroiini, a scholarly statement o f the official Carolingian position wirh regard to the Iconoclastic controversy then dividing the Eastern and Western churches. His works include a version o f the Vulgate, the poem Ad Judkes, which gives advice to fudges based on his own experience, and other poems :;ome satiruil, which g o t a lively picture ot court lite. His episcopal statutes, containing advice tor both clergy and laity, were popular and influential in his own lifetime. I J A . Freeman, 'Theodulf o f Orleans and the l.ibri Caroiini', Speculum 32 ( 1 9 3 7 ) . 4 0 ( 1 9 6 5 ) and 4 6 ( 1 9 7 1 ) ; H . Liebcschiitz. "Theodulf o f Orleans and the problem ot the Carolingian Renaissance', l rilz Saxl 181JO-KJ48 ed, D.J. Gordon ( 1 9 5 7 ) :
The mausoleum of Thcodoric the Ostrogoth at Ravenna. set in motion Justinian's campaign o f reeoncjuest. n W . Ensslin Theoderich iter Grqsse ( 1 9 4 7 ) : A . H . M . Jones The Lifter Roman Umpire 2 # 4 - z « j 2 ( 1 9 0 4 ] ; C. Wickham iiarly Medieval holy ( 1 9 8 1 )
Theophano (d.991) Wife o f Otto IL A strongwilled Greek princess, kinswoman to the Byzantine emperor, John Tzimisces ( 9 6 9 - 7 6 ) . Her marriage to Ivory relief of Christ blessing the Emperor Ottu II and his wife, Theophano (late loth c.).
Theodosian Code (438) Collection o f all imperial constitutions issued from the reign of Constantino onwards and promulgated in the names o f "I'heodosius II and Valentin ian Ml. the Eastern and Western emperors. This official publication superseded two earlier private collections, the Gregorian and Hcrmogeniau Codes. Theodosius' commissioners, under the presidency o f Antiochtis, the praetorian prefect, spent eight years on the task, searching provincial archives and private law collections to produce a permanent record of imperial legislation. The Code is ot great value as source material for a sparcely documented period ot Roman history, and, with the addition of new decrees published after the Code (Novels or Novellae), influenced the law code o f the Visigoths and formed the foundation for the Code ol Justinian ( 3 2 9 ) . 11 The I'heodosiau Code and Novels, and the Siimondian Constitutions trans. C. I'harr ( 1 9 5 a ) T h e o d u l f (f.750—82 1) Bishop of Orleans and abbot o f Fleury. By birth a Spanish Visigoth, he became a leading theological and literary figure at Charlemagne's court, serving as a royal legate in the south o f France (798) and taking part in the trial ot Pope Leo III in Rome ( 8 0 0 ) . Suspected o f complicity in the
.H3
Theopano the German Emperor Otto I I in 9 7 2 implied a recognition o f the Saxon dynasty as emperors in the West. With Adelaide, her mother-in-law, she became j o i n t regent for her sou Otto III after Otto U's death in 9 8 3 . Both women took the title o f Augusta, but Thcophano proved to he the dominant partner, giving herself on occasions the masculine title o f imperator augustus. Her presence, though not greatly affecting relations between the two empires, opened new avenues for Byzantine influence in Germany. O t t o I I I introduced Greek ceremonial and offices in his court, but died before his planned marriage to a Greek princess could take place. o K . Hampe Germany mulcr the Saxon and Saltan Kings ( 1 9 7 3 )
T h i e r r y of Chartres ( d . i i i i ) One o f the most powerful o f the intellectuals and teachers o f the 12th c.. Thierrv. brother o f Bernard o f Chartres, taught in Paris and its suburbs in the 1 130s, and possibly earlier. He became chancellor and archdeacon at Chartres in 1142. He wrote voluminously, his range extending over commentaries on Cicero. Genesis, cosmology and above all on Boethius. Ele played a special role in the transmission ot Platonic thought in the West, and his Heptateuchon hecame recognized as a standard textbook on the liberal arts. n C . N . L . Brooke The Twelfth-Century Renaissance (1969)
T h i r d Order of St Francis Founded originally by the saint as the Order o f Penitence, to enable pious lay men and women to participate in the regulated religious life o f the Franciscans whilst continuing to live in their o w n homes and to earn their own living. Organized under their own Rule, first given them by Ugolino (e. 1221) and later expanded and authorized by Pope Nicholas IV. the Teniaries held chapters, shared devotions and practised charitable works. By the 14th e. the Order had split into t w o groups: the 'secular Ternaries' and a new. cloistered Third Order Regular. Most active in Italy, the Tertiaries attracted mainly members o f the artisan class. Notable Tertiaries include St Elizabeth ol Hungary, Raymond Lull, and (possibly) Christopher Columbus. 1 | . R , H . Moorman A History ol the Franciscan Order ;
(1968)
Thomas, earl of Lancaster (c. 1 2 7 8 - 1 3 2 2 ) Holder o f five earldoms, royal councillor and a powerful defender o f the controversial Ordinances o f 1311. he earned the hatred o f Edward I I for his involvement in the murder o f Piers Gaveston. the king's favourite. Edward's defeat at Baunockburn ( 1 3 1 4 ) increased Lancaster's influence, but he was never able to gather a united party around himself. Unable to
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come to terms with the 'moderate' magnates or the Court party, i t was in alliance with the Marcher lords-angered by the behaviour o f Flugh Despenser, Edward's new favourite - that he was defeated hy the royal forces at Boroughbridge ( 1 3 2 2 ) . He was executed after a summary trial. • J . R . Maddicott 'Thomas of Lancaster (1970) Three Chapters The controversy over the Three Chapters, as certain writings suspected o f Nestorianism came to be called, was connected with the larger split between Monophysite and Chalccdonian Christians. Possibly hoping to reconcile the two groups, the Emperor Justinian denounced thcThree Chapters in 344 and forced a reluctant Pope Vigilius and the Fifth Ecumenical Council to do the sameN o reconciliation resulted: instead, although the Eastern church accepted the decision, there was outrage in the West (especially in Africa), schism between Vigilius' successor Pclagius I and some o f the Italian churches, and considerable damage done to papal prestige.
T i m u r the L a m e See Tamberlaine Toledo, Councils o f These general councils ot the Spanish Catholic church o f the 6th c. and 7th c. grew in importance when Reccared, the Visigothic king, was converted from Arianisru to Catholicism, He announced his conversion at the Third Council o f Toledo ( 5 8 9 ) . and from then on a series o f important general councils was held until the end o f the Visigothic kingdom o f Spain in 71 1. As well as dealing with ecclesiastical affairs, the councils involved the bishops in the secular rule ot the kingdom, although their role does not seem to have been to initiate legislation, but merely to discuss and then to confirm measures presented to them by the king. From the Eighth Council (653) royal officials also appear to have taken part. Canons issued by the councils covered such matters as the discipline o f the clergy, the enforcement o f the uniformiry o f religious practice, the punishment ot heresy and the extirpation o f paganism. Nearly every council passed severe anti-Semitic measures, regularly forbidding intermarriage between Jews and Christians and participation in Jewish religious rites, with heavy penalties tor disobedience. Councils were convoked only at the command ot the king and were largely under his control. The 7 3 t h canon o f the Fourth Council ( 6 3 3 ) . called by E.A.Thompson 'the most famous canon ever agreed by the Spanish church', decreed that the royal succession should be determined by the magnates and bishops o f the kingdom sitting in common council; it imposed anathema on anyone who should
Towns break his oath o f allegiance or attempt to usurp the throne, and tailed upon the king to rule moderately and piously. LI R. Collins Early Medieval Spain 400-1000 (1984) T o t i l a King o f the Ostrogoths 5 4 1 - 5 2 The last great Ostrogothie king. Totila revived Gothic resistance to Justinian's recont|ucst o f Italy. Recruiting slaves and peasants to augment his force o f 5 0 0 0 Goths, he reconquered the south o f Italy and outmatched the limited and mutinous troops o f Justinian's general lielisarius. In 5 5 0 he captured Rome and advanced upon Sicily. Eventually he was defeated by Belisarius' replacement. Narses. w h o arrived w i t h reinforcements and sufficient funds to pay the arrears due to the imperial troops. Totila was killed at tlie battle o f Busta Gallorum, and a few months later his successor Teias was also defeated by Narses. thus bringing to an end the Ostrogothie kingdom o f Italy. p T . Hodgkin Italy and her Invaders vol.5 ('°l<S) T o w n s The development o f a distinctive town life is an important feature o f medieval Europe. In the last centuries o f the ancient world the civilization o f the Greeks and Romans, in its fullest forms, was urban, and its literature and institutions reflected urban values. The Roman empire was, indeed, the greatest o f the ancient city-states, w i t h a common citizenship enjoyed by its privileged subjects. The final collapse o f centralized government in the 5th c. and the piecemeal settlement of the West by Germanic invaders effaced the empire's urban economy and its culture together. The subsequent re-coalescence o f urban populations is a significant aspect o f the new culture ol the Middle Ages, which arose on the ruins o f Rome. N o such change is ever precise and complete. Over a large part o f Continental Europe the Christian church maintained traditions of Roman government, and therefore something o f urban life, on such foundations as remained to support them. The Roman dioeesis became an ecclesiastical institution: the clvilas tribal and cantonal capitals of Gaul, such as Paris, Rheims and Tours, became the seats o f bishops. The transition in Italy from Antiquity to Middle Ages was briefer and more ambiguous than in the rest o f Europe, and in Rome itself and the larger towns, concentrated populations suggest some continuity o l institutions. Even nortll o f the Alps, in such places as Bordeaux, and in Spain and N o r t h Africa before the Arah invasions, venires o f the Roman legal and administrative system survived in the new age. w i t h schools to support them. These survivals had only slight effects upon northern Gaul. Britain and the Rhine basin, where
Roman influence had always been attenuated by remoteness from the Mediterranean. In Britain some Roman towns were abandoned entirely, such as Silchcstcr (Calieva Airehaium) in l-lampshire and Venta teenorum in Norfolk. In general, however, the strategic importance o f prime site's ensured some continuity o f occupation, and the question for debate is to what extent, and when, the communities there can be considered urban. A town is characterized by a certain density o f settlement, which goes beyond the community's ability to grtiw its o w n food; a pattern ol occupations including the regular exchange o f goods and services; and a distinctive civil status. The population o f medieval towns was dense by contemporary standards, but never very large. In England only London approached 5 0 , 0 0 0 , whilst the largest provincial cities o f Bristol. Norwich and York remained close to 1 0 , 0 0 0 . The smallest rural boroughs numbered craftsmen and traders by scores, and their whole communities only in hundreds. On the Continent, although the biggest l'entres were larger than London, the scale from city to market town was correspondingly extended. All had in common a dependence on the countryside for milch o f their food, and tor immigration to mam tarn their numbers. C i v i l status is an elusive concept in early times, and can e'asily be over-emphasized. Nevertheless, the common interest o f kings and bishops gave some places a particular prominence. Royal households and religious communities alike had to be supported, and where their estates we're widely scattered, transport and a system o f exchange produced and sustained markets on both old and new sites. The church in particular needed incense and other materials which Western Europe could not supply, and both spices from the East and furs from the N o r t h found buyers at all times. Although such long-distance trade never ceased, it was for some centuries in the hands of merchants and carriers who frequented fairs and other seasonal sites rather than permanent settlements. The Frisians were one people who maintained such ,1 Commerce, until they were eventually eclipsed by the Vikings. The crisis o f the Scandinavian invasions o f the West, which destroyed early entrepôts like Dorestadt, later helped to drive trade and a nioreordeied administration into defensible and populous towns. From the iOth c. European society was sustained by a ne'twork o f urban settlements, though the'ir size and condition varied greatly. In England, where the power o f the kings was precociously consolidated. towns were characterized by a degree o f licensed dependence and uniformity. Damaging as the Scandinavian incursions bad been, the reaction against them produced a relatively well-contiived
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Towns system. The O l d English name for 3 fort, burh, came gradually to mean an urban settlement. For a century before the Norman Conquest fortified boroughs were commonly centres o f administration, with their own courts, protected markets and a privileged tenure for their inhabitants. They also housed mints, which produced a coinage of exceptional quality under tight royal control. Elsewhere in Europe towns reflected the prevailing political conditions by the degree o f their autonomy or subjugation. In France the authority of the kings rested more lightly on their subjects outside their o w n domains, but i f towns and cities were free o f royal control, they had counts and local lords to reckon w i t h . The larger German cities benefited from the decline in the emperors' strength, and those which eventually expressed their power in the Hanseatic League already enjoyed a substantial independence on their own ground. In Italy. Pisa, Genoa and Venice deployed fleets more powerful than those o f the Hanse, whilst inland centres o f trade and communications, such as Milan, Florence and Siena, could raise armies to protect themselves and their hinterlands. For every one o f the new city-states, however, there were many thousands o f small settlements, approximated to larger neighbours in their functions and pretensions, and essential to the existence, not only o f the greatest towns, but also to the sovereign lords, lay and ecclesiastical, with whom the few cities like Venice treated and vied. Although in the formative time o f the I rth c. and 12th c. burgesses and citizens sparred with, and were usually overawed by, kings, prelates and noblemen, their quarrels concealed an ineradicable interdependence. Towns and merchants aspired to control ol their own affairs at home, but needed and sought protection when they were at large. Kings and lords disliked the assertiveness o f townsmen and were alarmed by their propensity to form sworn associations, notably the communes o f the 12th c. Such manifestations seemed subversive and threatening, but at the same time lords looked to the towns not only for supplies, but also for the tolls and taxes w hich paid tor political protection, and for the loans which traders, unlike farmers, could produce at any season ot the year. Trade, with some industries, maintained the towns; the administration ot laws ensured their independence. In an age in which communities o f all kinds were distinguished by their customs, the customs o f towns were marked (amongst usages that might be found in any rural community) by provision for a relative degree o f personal liberty, the free disposition o f property, often including its devise by testament, the ready enforcement o f
3 if'
contracts, and the recovery o f debt. Despite Uniforms in which they were expressed, such customs were not of uniform antiquity, but were a convenient means o f safeguarding and developing the rules which defined and protected the community. Towns readily exchanged information on such matters; the earliest letter between two municipalities in England describes the terms of Northampton's royal charter for the benefit o f the burgesses o f Lancaster, who in 1200 were seeking a similar grant. The customs o f the Norman borough o f Ureteuil (Euro) were granted to scores o f places in England, Wales and Ireland by Anglo-Norman lords, and the costoms o f Magdeburg spread to hundreds ot towns in Eastern Europe as German knights, merchants and craftsmen moved towards the plains of the Vistula and the Diieistcr. Sheltered by their walls and defined by their customs, the townsmen lived in distinct but not isolated communities. Subject, except for a minority o f true city-states, to their sovereign lords, they administered law in their own courts and raised their own taxes. They founded and patronized churches and chapels; maintained schools and hospitals, roads and bridges. Their clerks kept court rolls, registers, act-books and cartularies, and wrote chronicles in which they celebrated the myths and the history o f the locality. The audiences they addressed were selfconscious and self-regarding, but they were not unaware o f a wider world. Noblemen had town houses, and successful townsmen acquired country estates. Both patronized the same artists and craftsmen. Towns themselves took on some of the embellishments o f aristocratic society. The men ol the Cinque Ports, whose ships made up the king's standing naval force, and the citizens o f London were collectively styled barons on state occasions. Municipalities came to display coats o f arms and other heraldic devices. One o f the earliest occasions for such displays came with the use o f a common seal to authenticate acts made in the name o f the town. Municipal seals appear in Northern Europe in the izth c. and were quickly established as one o f the marks o f urban privilege. As civic business became more complex, there were seals for specialized courts and tor individual officials. Devices on the early seals drew on religious, as often as heraldic symbols, on views o f the town with its gates and walls, and occasionally on portraiture. The seal o f Doullcns (Sommc) depicts the heads olthe Scabim, or senior councillors, for exam pie. The seal was one expression o f the unity ot the townsmen; ceremonial was another, especially the rituals o f the fraternity or guild. Guilds, with their sworn brotherhood and the sanction o f a special peace between the brethren, were particularly well
Towns
mm A German town-scene; from the altarpicrc in the Jaknbskirchc .it liothcnbonj. suited to the conditions ot t o w n life. They were only briefly associated with the winning and exercise ot sell-government, but they provided ail classes o f society with a means ;;f fermal association. lieligicu:; and social guilds provided clubs tor the magistracy and benefit societies for the townsmen at large. Craft guilds under general municipal supervision regulated admissions and working conditions, and provided for the welfare ot artisans. All public and most private guilds had a focus in a church or chapel and retained priests as their chaplains, f r o m the I 4th c. onward, and particularly w ith the rise o f the cult o f Corpus Christi, guild plays on biblical themes were orchestrated by the municipalities in the ritual o f the civic year. The economic crisis o f the later Middle Ages brought severe problems to the towns. Under the pressure of a rising population, from the 1 i t h c. to the later 13th c. many new urban settlements were established and enfranchised, often marked today only by place-names such as Newton, in England, and its equivalent Villcncuve, Neuniarktand the like elsewhere. In a stationary or contracting economy they were not all viable and sonic decayed. At the same time new centres o f cloth-making flourished in
southern England, though a specialized population ran the risk o f cyclical Unemployment, which was a serious problem in the Flemish cities o f Ghent. Bruges and Ypres by the early ifith c. Yet towns continued to lure immigrants from the countryside, and side by side with decay in some tpiarters there is evidence o f tile sub-division and more intensive building o f other plots, and the development o f specialized binicini^,:; such IJ, inns. ! he chimneystack, discharging the smoke ol ground-floor rooms around rather than through upper storeys, was a feature o f town-houses at least from the 12th c , as was the narrow street frontage o f shop-space and carriage-entry giving onto a long and variously occupied courtyardp o f which many examples survive today all over F.urope. The image o f the medieval town as walled, compact and closely built is not a misleading one, though the reality was more complex. The walls and gates servet! to regulate traffic and tacilitate the collection o f tolls more often than they defended the town from assault. There were gardens and orchards inside the walls, and even the largest towns had fields and common ground outside. These were tokens thai the rural community was dominant in
317
Towns
Tristan and Isolde lie asleep with J sword between them, watched by King Mark | l ) t h e.).
medieval, just as the u r b a n community is in modern society. The towns nevertheless performed v i t a l (unctions ill concentrating people a n d skills, and in realizing wealth. The universities, which displaced monastic houses as centres o f learning and became vital to church and state as training-grounds tor administrators, were products of the medieval town. So too. in another sense, were the voyages o f exploration which opened a wider w o r l d to the European powers in the age ot the Renaissance. See COMMERCE; FAIRS; (.UltliS; UNIVERSITIES; Wiml See also individual towns C-M Ileresford New towns of the Middle Ages ( 1 9 6 7 ) ; p. Dollinger The German Hensa ( 1 9 7 0 ) ; S. Reynolds An introduction to the history of English THAI IF;
MM.W.
medieval towns ( 1 9 7 7 )
T r e b i z o n d , e m p i r e o f (l 204—1461) founded on the south-east coast of the Ulack Sea by the brothers Alexius and David, grandsons o f die Byzantine emperor. Androniilis I . the empire survived as an independent Christian state until its conquest by Muhammad II in 1461. being the last o f the Greek state's to resist him. Its rulers, from the Coiuntiius family, used the title ot 'Emperors ui all the bast", and the empire became famous for its riches and the beauty o f its princesses; its metropolitan was accorded great honour at the Council o f Florence 0439)The empire's geographical position on the East/ West trade routes anracte'd both Cicnocsc and Venetian traders, w h o each had separate quarters within the city; the Genoese, in particular, proved to he VCTy turbulent guests. But its isolated situation - a thin coastal strip surrounded by Muslim states separating it from the Greek empire - made complete indepen-
318
dence impossible, and the emperors o f Trebizond protected themselves by submitting at various limes to the Latin empire of Constantinople ( 1 2 0 4 - 6 1 ) , to local Muslim amirs, and to the Ottomans and Mongols. Marriage alliance's with the Grtvk imperial house and the surrounding amirs were also part o f this pattern. The Comnenus family survived dynastic wars and palace revolutions, especially during the 14th c . and the empire maintained its Gri'ek character in spite o f intermarriage and a mixed population. Many religious foundations were made by its rulers, including the monastery o f Dionysion 011 Mount Alhos; the best preserved today is the monastery church o f Si Sophia, dating from the I 3th c. and rich in sculptural decoration and wall paintings. The tall of Constantinople to the Ottomans in 1453 made the collapse ot Trebizond inevitable. Alter its allies trom the surrounding aniirates had fallen one by one', it surrendered in 1 4 0 1 . and ihe last emperor was executed by Muhammad II in 1463. u W . Miller Trebizond, the Last Greek Umpire ( 1 9 2 6 ) ; A. A . M . Bryer The Umpire oJ'Trebizond and the Pantos {19S0)
T r i b o n i a n f d . 342) Nominated quaestor by Justinian in 5 2 9 , Tribonian was largely responsible for the vast body o f legal codification associated with the reign. He served on the commission o f eight which prepared the first Codex Justinianus, a collection o f valid imperial edic ts since the time o f Hadrian, and with Dorotheus, a professor at Berytus, and three eminent lawyers he was responsible tor the revision of the CWc issued in 534. He was in charge o f the preparation o f the Digest (Pandects) 01*333. the first attempt ever to bring the rulings o f Roman jurists
Trivium into an orderly system, making use of extracts from 200-300 treatises by about 40 writers, with Ulpian and Paulus predominating. He was further commissioned to produce a handbook for students, the Institutes, also published in 533, Although a great scholar and administrator. ] riboman acquired a reputation for venality and was one of the officials of Justinian whose dismissal was demanded by the crow ds during the Nika rebellion of 532. He was re-appointed quaestor in 335 and retained the office until his death. I A . M . Honorc Tribonum ( i " 7 M ) ; C . Mango Byzantium: The Umpire of Sew Rome (lyKl) T r i h u r , D i e t o f { 1 0 7 6 ) Convoked during the Investiture Contest, at a time when Emperor 1 lenry IV and Pope Gregory VII had mutually excommunicated each other. I lenry was confronted with a united German opposition and called upon, either to free himself irom excommunication within four months, or to ae'eept deposition and to live as a private citizen until the pope's decision on the matter should be announced. A second meeting was planned, to be held at Augsburg with the pope presiding, but before it could take place. I lenry made his famous secret journey toCanossa. where he was temporarily reconciled with Gregory. This was seen as a breach ol the 1 ribur agreement on the part ol both parties bv many ol the German princes intent on Henry's deposition, and led them, in the following year at Forchhcim, to elect Rudolf of Swabia as their new king, so ushering in many years of civil war. 11G. Bairactougfa The Origins 0, Modern Germany
trust is betrayed, love potions forcing hopeless love in impossible circumstances, poisoned cups and poisoned weapons, mysterious remedies, dragons and ihsastcrs. inevitable and also contrived tragic death, and the survival of love after death. 11 R. Curtis Tristan Studies (1969) T r i v i u m T he seven liberal arts formed the basis of education in the Middle Age's, and were divide'el. Irom about the Carol ingian period, into the Trivium and Quadrivium. The three arts of the Trivium Latin grammar, rhetoric and diale'e'tic - were defined by Hugh of Saint-Victor thus: 'Grammar is the knowledge ol how to speak without error; dialectic is clear-sighted argument which separates the true from the false; rhetoric is the discipline of persuading to every suitable thing.' By the 12th c. more emphasis was placed upon dialectic (or logic), and there was considerable controversy between defenders ol the old logic and proponents of the new logic, largely created by the re-discovery of Aristotle. I )ialectic. with its rational and speculative emphasis, was at first seen as dangerous when applied to theology, but nevertheless it grew Grammar, part of the Trivium. holdini: a book, writing implements and a wlup (r. ti 10).
(1966}
T r i s t a n ( T r i s t r a m ) and Isolde (Iscult) One of the great love stories of the Middle Agi-s. The romance ol Tristan and Isolde, rooted in traditions which probably date hack to the period of Viking rule in Ireland in the 10th c , was given complete artistic form in the Ango-Norm.m world in the 13th c\ It was written in French, translated into German by the great poet Gottfried von Strassburg. and also rendered into English and Old Norse. A lengthy prose version incorporates much Arthurian material, comparing the skill and reputation of Tristan and Lancelot as knights ami as lovers. Cornwall, and especially "I image!, priwides the central location lor the story, which ranges around the Celtic world from Cumbria to Ireland, and to Brittany, The principal characters are Tristan himself. King Mark of Cornwall (Tristan's uncle'), Isolde ol Ireland and Isolde of Brittany. The ingredients of the story, variously mixed in the different versions, constitute the epiintcsse'nce of medieval romance: a lost nephew, a trusting lord and husband whose
319
Trivium
in importance as the lull T r i v i i u n lost some ground) though grammar remained a necessary basis o f medieval education, and rhetoric kept an important place in the Italian universities, Set E D U C A T I O N A. I'iltz The ll'orlJ of Medieval Learning ( 1 9 H 1 ) Troubadours Beginning with the songs of William IX o f Aquitaine ( 1 0 7 1 - 1 1 2 7 ) , which range from the bawdv through the sensual to the refined, and ending with Guiraut Iliquier (d. 1 2 9 2 ) , who rejects profane love and sings in praise o f the Virgin Mary, the troubadour poet-musicians of the courts of southern France left a rich and varied literary legacy. Cither well-known exponents include Marcabru. Jaufre Uudel. lieniart de Vcntadorn, Amaut Daniel, llcrtran de Horn. Poire Cardenal and Guiraut de Hornelh, They celebrated the doctrine of Jin' amors, the ritual glorification o f the female sex and the cult o f true love, both earthly and heavenly. Their songs - some o f the melodies have survived - were composed in a variety o f styles, from the 'clear' (leu) to the 'obscure' (elus) and covered a gamut o f forms of varying degrees o f technical complexity (canso, tenso, piatih, tirventes, etc.). They exerted a profound Influence not only on the lyric poetry ot Western Europe, but also more generally 011 its literature, and eventually perhaps even on social attitudes. See COURTLY
LOVE
11 A Jnnroy lli.t-tr: %ommaire it Iii.Ftiifi Occttint (1945); C. Camproux Histoire it hi Lii'cratnrc Octtunt (1933)1 L . T . Topsfield Troubadours and Low
(1075)
T u g h r i l B e g ( r . 9 9 3 - 1 0 6 3 ) A grandson ot the semilegendary Seljuk, ruler ot the Ghuzz tribesmen near the Aral sea, Tughril Heg is regarded as the founder o f the Turkish Seljuk dynasty. With his brother, Chagri ISeg. his conquests took him across Persia to Baghdad, where he defeated the Bfiyid general Basasiri after a protracted struggle, and was invested as sultan by the 'Abbasid caliph in 103K. He died childless and was succeeded by A l p Arslan, Chaghri's son. under w h o m the Seljuks and their undisciplined followers, the Turkomans, continued to press forward. A t the battle o f Manzikcrt ( 1 0 7 1 ) , they inflicted a crushing defeat upon the Byzantine empire, an event which led indirectly to the preaching o f the First Crusade. J.J. Saunders ,-1 History oj Medieval Islam ( 1 9 6 5 ) Turks .Sec Ottoman, Seljuk Turks Twelfth-century renaissance In learning and artistic creativity, as well as in political order and the comforts o f life, the centuries between the fall o f the Roman empire m the West ( j t h c.) and the beginnings o f economic and cultural revival in the 10th c.
3 20
Twelfth-century renaissance: the first page of Cr.itian's Decretum. and 11th c. have often been considered the 'dark' ages. Whether the label is appropriate or not, there is no doubt o f the power ot the revival which followed: between the 1 i t h c. and t.tth c it transformed the face o f Western Europe, and in learning and culture it forms a large stepping-stone between the minor revivals o f the Hrh c . - i o t h c. and the Italian Renaissance o f the 13th c. T o this cultural revival the phrase 'Twelfth-century renaissance' has come to be attached. Although U, W. Southern has acclaimed its 'sublime mcaniuglessness'. he and many others have meanwhile attempted to define its content: it embraced art. architecture and vernacular literature, but its special character was its ecclesiastical centre and inspiration, in the Schools, where logic and grammar, theology and canon law were taught, and in religious organizations. Such movements cannot be closely confined in limits ot time, but by any reckoning the I 2 t h - c . renaissance must include at least the period c. lOio-r. 1230. The w o r d 'renaissance' has commonly been taken to imply a deliberate rebirth and revival of ancient culture. Twelfth-century scholars were indeed backward-looking: they revered ancient authorities; in the celebrated phrase attributed by John o f Salisbury to Bernard o f Chartres, they claimed to be dwarfs on the shoulders ot giants. Classical teaming revived, and with it 'humanism' in at least two senses o f the term: devotion to l atin literature and interest in human individuality and emotion. Hut attitudes to ancient Home were ambivalent, and many scholars thought all learning should subserve the study o f the Bible and theology. This helps to explain [he rhythm o f the "renaissance' in Northern Europe, where the marked revival in the study o f Latin and rhetoric, and in creative Latin writing in prose and verse, crumbled in the 13th c . giving rise to a desiccated bin finely tuned scholastic Latin
T w e l f t h - c e n t u r y renaissance which provided the vehicle for the impressive and highly specialized theological structures o f the school men. This specialization was also a product o f the growth o f the Schools. One marked feature o f the i i th c. and 12th c. was a love o f travel, issuing in pilgrimages and crusades, and the wanderings ol students and scholars in search of distant masters. It was partly this which made possible the w i r e s (on o f a few great masters and centres o f learning and which in turn enabled these centres to develop their academic prowess and repute, and to become universities. In Northern Europe Paris was the undisputed centre, and its greatest attraction in the early lath c. was the brilliant teacher, philosopher-theologian and lover, Peter Abelard. The intellectual stimulus o f his teaching and the brilh m . L e.l his technique in applying l;:gr. (dialectic in medieval usage) to theology, was a major force in I2th-C. thought. Hut Abelard w as only one o f many tcidlers in Pans their dizcir.lt Ejhn o l Sih::-bury lists over a dozen major masters under w h o m he studied grain mar, rhetoric, dialectic, other forms ol philosophy, and above all. theology. From this time forward Paris was the foremost centre ol theological study in Europe and the chief intellectual centre o f Northern Europe; in the course ot the l 2th e. it acquired a structure o l institutions which converted it into a lormal 'university', and bv 1230 there were universities in Oxford, Cambridge and Mompelher. and several i n Italy. The t w o English universities were, however, modest com petitors to Paris as centres o f theological study. As a major intellectual discipline, the chief alter native to theology was law. Roman and canon. The 12th c. witnessed a radical transformation in the study and practice ot canon law, whose central focus was the production o f the Concordance of DiscordanlCauons.or Decretum.ofGTMUIU in ISologna ( •ut .: ^ : .::ı.'' U T nidigiinir.ir S [aiHCI-flW.ííp'rjtlT^llLlIlbllí / J , ISMUUir.'nM ölmı nim,li.lnnir BniiitiDaq^miir.* In liftimin / - = ' mHoııcj "«B i i r t m i Imıııl-fıüıJ •nııtıu .it LUiiii.ilnh ci'minif 'kjlııcr aílfplTir.
înütf. ink™ * f vıifflb p w t i r L ^ f t RIW ıııtanr *.u[u t i u itjtnb ¡n mf uiKfll c Í J n a r w rr J i n n j . i ı ı r * yapa • "r fjıiSıılo " ill'
H
1
Urban I I consecrates the ureal abbey ofCluny (IH) in toys, from the late lith-r. book of Offices.
extremes o f confrontation with the secular powers. Even so there was from time to time great friction with the Emperor Henry I V over his continued recognition of the anti-pope Clement HI and with the Erench King Philip I over marital problems. Archbishop Anselm, in esile as a result o f his quarrel with William Rufus, turned to Urban for support and was present at his councils, when decrees against lay investiture were reiterated ( 1 0 9 8 ) . Urban's pontificate is chiefly remembered, however, for his positive steps towards moral reform and for the preaching o f the First Crusade at Clermont ( 1 0 9 3 ) . French by blood and an orator by temperament, he roused the people o f Western Europe, notably the French-speaking community, to attempt to recover Jerusalem, but died before that objective was achieved. 11 H.G.J. Cowdrey The Age of Abbot Desiderins
both the range o f courses on offer and the way in which traditional subjects were taught. The greatest contrasts with the modem system relate to the character o l medieval universities as guilds for professional training, A degree was, at least initially, a licence to teach, and this fact is reflected in the kind o f training universities provided - with public disputation and apprentice-teaching playing prominent roles-and in the length o l degree courses ( t 6 years for a doctorate o f theology in addition to the initial arts degree). This meant that Comparatively few students took their studies all the w ay to degrtv stage. A consequence was great flexi bility with regard to attendance, and great mobility between universities. As the importance o l degrees as professional qualifications increased, this mobil ity was sustained by intense competition between the universities. The old tradition ol the wandering scholar was thus given a new lease o l life. The concept o l the community ot scholarship combined with local traditions o f university ceremonial and ritual to create a powerful myth about academic traditions and freedoms, which provided some compensation for the increasingly tight control and professional orientation o f the universities. See Ri>ui:ATteiN; ituHF.icr or- N U H I I O N M3 I H . Ilashdall Tht I 'uiversilies of Europe in the Middle Ages {1936); L. Thorndiko ('niversity Records and Lift in the Middle Ages ( M J 4 4 ) ; C¡. Leff Paris and Oxford I -uiversilies in the I till and 141I1 centuries ( 1 9 0 8 ) ; A . B . Cobban The Medieval Universities: their Development ami Organization ( 1 9 7 5 ) ; The University in Society vol. 1. ed. L. Stone ( 1 9 7 3 )
U r b a n I I ( O d o o f C h á t i l l o n ) Pope 1 0 8 8 - 9 9 (b. e. 1040) A former CluniaC prior and supporter o f Pope Gregory V I I , Urban continued the basic reforming programme o f Gregory while avoiding
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('983)
U r b a n V I ( B a r t o l o m c o P r i g n a n o ) Pope 1 3 7 N - H 9 (b.r. 131X) A native o f Naples. Urban was elected pope on the death o f Gregory X I . partly to meet the strong popular Current o f opinion that demanded an Italian pope after the long exile in Avignon. I lis autocratic temper and resort to violence led almost immediately to a reaction, as a result ot w hich the French cardinals, supported by some Italians, elected an anti-pope (Clement VII) and withdrew again from Rome to Avignon. The resulting schism greatly harmed the church, and Urban's energies were taken up almost completely in political struggles against Clement. 11
W. Ulhuann The Origins ol the (.real Schism
(194N)
V Vacarius the Glossator (c. 1 120-f. 1200) Active and learned in Roman law. Vacarius was trained at Bologna and spent time in the 1140s and 1130s in England. It was here that he produced his most important work, the Liber Pnupetum, which has been described as a poor man's guide to Justinian's Code and Digest. Through this work and later writings he had a powerful influence on the teaching o f law in England in the late 12th c. and 13th c , though the vicw that designated him as the first known teacher o f law at Oxford is no longer held. Among other important works attributed to him are a tract on marriage and theological studies upholding the orthodox view o f the human nature o f Christ. 1 • 77«* Liber I'auperuin ol Vacarius ed. F. de Zulucta (1 " 2 7 )
Venice Vagantes Wandering scholars, poets, clerics, students and 'hangers-on' were characteristic o f the central Middle Ages, and particularly o f the urban element in the time o f population expansion ( l 2th c. and 13th c ) . Most information about them comes from the disapproving, stabler side of the literate world. They left a body o f characteristic poetry, overlapping with Goliardic verse and best represented in the Carmina Bur aria, 11
H . Waddell The Wandering Scholars
(1961)
Valla, L o r e n z o ( 1 4 0 7 - 5 7 ) Most famous for his application o f the new humanist standards of criticism to documents used by the papacy in support o f its temporal power. In 1440 he published his tract against the Donation o f Constantine. which effectively proved that the famous document, under the terms o f which imperial authority had been transmitted to the papacy, was spurious. Valla was also a considerable philosopher, anxious, with his linguistic mastery, that old errors arising from faulty translations o f Aristotle or the Bible should not be perpetuated. • S.I. Camporealc
Lorenzo
Valla,
nmanesimo e
leologia ( 1 9 7 2 )
Vandals One o l the most prominent groups o f East German barharians who overran the Western Roman empire in the Jth c. and 6th c. Notorious for their ruthlessness, they were nevertheless substantially Christian, though o f Arian beliefs. After 4 0 6 they crossed the Rhine frontier and swept through Gaul into Spain, where, in alliance with the Alans, they settled temporarily in Andalusia, hi 4 2 9 they crossed to N o r t h Africa and in the course id" the following ten years subdued the whole prosperous province, capturing Hippo in 431 and Carthage in 4 3 9 . Their King Gaiseric ( 4 2 8 - 7 7 } was one o f the great figures of the migration age. One o f the few German leaders to turn to sea-power, he came to control the western Mediterranean and in 4 3 3 sacked Rome itself. The Vandals preserved their integrity as a minority ruling group in a Roman province only by a rigorous process o f religious segregation. Intermittent persecutions o f the native Catholic population emphasized the dichotomy within the kingdom, and m a short, sharp campaign 111 5 3 ; Bdisanuc the principal general of the Emperor Justinian, defeated the Vandals and utterly overthrew the kingdom. North Africa, though harassed by Moors and Berbers, passed back into imperial hands until the capture o f Carthage by the Muhamrnadans in 69H. Although relatively short-lived (little more than a century), the Vandal kingdom proved o f great importance in the history of the decline of the
Western empire, because o f the decisive break it made in sea communications between Rome. North Africa and the western Mediterranean generally. 1 1 J . M . Wallace-El ad rill 77ie Barbarian Wesl 400¬ 1000 ( 1 9 5 2 ) ; L, Musset The Germanic Invasions (1973)
Vatican The Vatican palace in Rome has been the home of the popes since their return from Avignon in 1377, hi earlier days it had been a papal palace, built on the Vatican hill immediately to the north o f the basilica o f St Peter, though the Lateran palace had been the chief papal residence. Parts o f the existing palace date from the 13th c . but the overwhelming mass is the result o f the building activities o f the Renaissance popes. It contains the papal archives, one o f the greatest repositories o f historical records in the w o r l d . See P A P A L S T A T E S n A. A. de Marco The 'Tomb of Si Peter {1964); J. A.F. Thomson Popes and Princes 1417-1517 ( 1 9 H 0 ) Venice City created in the 6th c. as a refuge from the wars o f Ostrogoths and imperial forces, on the islands to the north of the Po estuary in north-east Italy. By the 10th c. it had become an important commercial element in the Adriatic, preserving a precious link between the Eastern empire and the Western w o r l d . Strong state control o f naval building and o f the basic organization o f trade led to a great expansion o f prosperity and power in the 1 rth c. and 12th c. Venice gained important commercial privileges at Constantinople in 1 0 8 1 . extended her territorial authority over [stria and parts o f Dalmatia. and benefited greatly from the success o f the crusading movement, winning privileges notably in Tyre and Acre. Their break with the Eastern empire in the later 12th c. had disastrous effects on the politics o f the whole Near East. Venicedirected the Fourth Crusade to its own ends, capturing Zara in Dalmatia in 1202 and Constantinople itself in 1204. For much o f the early part o f the 13th c. Venice was virtually supreme in the eastern Mcxhtcrraiiean, but rivalry with Genoa, particularly after the Greek recovery o f Constantinople in 1 2d 1, led to a more balanced situation, with Venetian power and influence still immensely important throughout the Greek islands. Genoa eventually declined after heavy naval defeats in the late 14th c. , and the Venetian republic vvas thereafter chiefly involved in building up a strong principality in north-eastern Italy and 111 pre-serving as much as it could o f its Greek possessions (Crete, the Ionian Isles and Naxos) in the face o f overwhe-hning Ottoman pressures in the Balkans. The constitution o f Venice was very complex.
325
ft
I
o r' Littfromrin^ An elaborate ı jth-c. illumination of Venice showing the Doge's palace. St Mark's eatlieilral. and ships departing. with an elected duke (doge), a council, a senate and an elaborate interlocking system of courts and provincial governorships. Effective power re mained in the hands o f a wealthy group o f aristocratic families, exercising (after I J I O ) supreme power through a seerer and much feared Council of Ten. Partly because o f its wealth and experience in busi ness and government. Venice avoided the late o i other great Italian cities and did not fall into the hands o f tyrants. In the 15th c. Venice became famous as the centre o f a new printing industry. Sec C O N T A R l N I ; FOSCARl.
FRANCESCO
1 D.S. Chambers The Imperial Age of 1 'enice 1 ;No~ t$Ho (ly70); F.C. Lane Venice, a maritime republic (i'J73). Studiei in Venetian social anil economic history ed. B.C. Kohl and R.C. Mullet (1987) V e r d u n , T r e a t y o f (Sa;.l) Drawn up to settle the dynastic civil war which had sprung up among the grandsons o f Charlemagne. Under its terms the empire was divided into three kingdoms. Charles
.12"
the Bald was granted the kingdom ol the West Franks. Neustria. Aquitaineand the Spanish March, with its eastern frontier roughly along the Schildt. the Saöne. and the Rhone; this territory was mostly Romance-speaking and became the historic king dom o f France, Louis the German obtained the eastern Frankish kingdom, consisting essentially o f the tour stem duchies ol Frwconra S ixc.nv liav a m and Swabia. the nucleus o f the historic kingdom o f Germany. Lothar. the eldest o f the grandsons, retained the imperial title and the territory known as the Middle Kingdom, a long, incoherent block o f land running from the North Sea to south tit Rome, containing Lorraine (as it came to be known). Burgundy and the greater part o f Italy. In spite o f the artificial nature o f the arrangements, the Treaty established the basis for the future political pattern o f the territories contained in the Carolingian empire. • R. McKitterick The Frankish Kingdoms under the Caroliııgiarıs jyc-yiV? ( 1 0 N 3 )
Vikings V i c t o r i n e s Members o f a theological school who represent an important aspect o f the 12th-c. monastic revival. Hounded by William o f Champcaux in 1106. they came to adopt a modification of the Aogustiniau Ride which enabled them to concentrate as regular canons on intellectual work coupled with some pastoral activity. They were closely associated with the theological teaching at Notre-Damc in I'aris during one o f its most influential periods in the 12th c. Thoroughly orthodox, they brought new lite into etforts to reconcile mysticism with the rational scholasticism that was dominant in that age. and their work had a great influence on later medieval theology, notably among some o f the Franciscans. • G. Constable Religious Life oiiil Thought {1079); B. Bolton The Medieval Reformation (1983) V i e n n c , C o u n c i l o f ( 1 3 J 1 - 1 2 ) Summoned by the first o f the Avignonese popes, Clement V . this Council, held at Viennc in the Rhone valley, was strongly influenced by the French king Philip the 'Fair. The Council abolished the Order o I "the Templars, but resisted attempts to condemn posthumously Boniface V l l l . Philip's old opponent, on charges of blasphemy. V i k i n g s Term probably derived from the V i k (Oslotjord) and used indiscrunmarely to describe the inhabitants of Scandinavia. The V i k i n g Age, cXoo-r. 1100. represents a period o f great outburst from the N o r t h into the more settled lands to the south-west and south-cast. T o the inhabitants o f Europe the Vikings appeared as a permanent, i f sporadic, affliction for the best part o f three centuries. In fact, there were t w o separate Viking Ages, with marked regional and chronological subdivisions. I'irst liking Age: Raiding began seriously in the early yth c , and settlements were made in the northern islands o f Orkney and Shetland, in Ireland and off the coast o f France. In H51 a Viking army made the first attempt to winter in England, in Kent. A climactic point was reached cdno, when in the space o f a few years there occurred the first Viking raids in the Mediterranean (659), the beginnings o f the settlement of Iceland (Nfio), the establishment of die powerful principality o f Kiev under Rurik (S62] and the massive onslaughts against England tinder the sons o f Ragnar Lothbrok in 863. The succeeding 6 0 years placed the bounds to effective permanent Viking settlement - intensification was quite another matter - with the setting up o f fortified townships along the trade routes o f rhe Russian waterways, the establishment o f the Danelaw in England (NJios) and the settlement in Normandy
( y n ) . The completion o f the settlement ot the Atlantic islands and Iceland ( 9 3 0 ) ; the intrusion ol an Irish/Norwegian element into north-west England-. 1 he absorption of the Danes in the West Saxon policy and their expulsion from Brittany, brought the first Viking Age to an t-nd. Setonii Viking \g: Viking success was limited to some extent by sheer lack o f manpower and resources. In Western Europe the native communities learned how to cope with Viking onslaughts, and in the 10th c. the increasing power o f Christian kingship and the shaping ot the feudal order owed much to success against pagan, barbarian aggression. Within Scandinavia itself, thei-stabhshment ol permanent dynasties and the slow acceptance o f C hnntnnitv dominate the scene. Denmark t" rich 111 archaeological remains from the period, and elaborate fortified settlements such as those at Trcllcborg and Fyrkat testify to the organizing power ot the dynasty o f G o r m the O l d , to Swcyn Forkbeard and his son Cuut. conquerors ot England. Cmit was king o f England ( t o i i i - 3 5 ) , o f Denmark (from 1019), and intermittently (firmly after 1030) king of N o r w a y . There was some deepening o f settlement, and Scandinavian merchants continued to affect the whole process o f European urbanization. To the West the-re was even further colonization on the fringes, in Greenland and temporarily (e. 1000) on the North American coast, in Vinland 'the good'. I o the east. Russia became increasing!- and solidly Slav. Vladimir the Great, ruler ot Kiev, adopted the Christianity ot the Greek Orthodox church in 9 S 8 . decreeing that the language o f the new church was to he Slavonic - neither Greek, nor Scandinavian. His conversion coincided with similar moves elsewhere 111 the Slav and Hungarian worlds, and towards the end o f the 10th 0 Scandinavia itself began to be drawn into the mesh o f Christendom. O l a f Tryggvason ( 9 9 X - 1 0 0 0 ) and Olaf Haraldsson (St O l a f the Stout. 1 0 1 6 - 3 0 ) . in the face o f some bitter hostility, forced conversion on the Norwegians, while Iceland accepted Christianity e. 1000. :
Viking characteristics remained strong: fortitude, physical bravery, harsh common sense, laconic understatement. St O l a f s half-brother, Harald llardrada enjoyed an archetypal Viking career: he served as captain o f the Varangian guard at Constantinople, amassed great wealth, contended successfully for the throne o f Norway in 1047. and died at Stamford Bridge in battle against Harold I I ot England in lood. Yet his exploits take on a Norwegian, as much as a Viking air. There is much in the view that a Scandinavian ceased to be a Viking when he became a Christian. .See C O K S T A I I ; nsF.BHHt; HkL • G. Jones The Vikings (luntt); D . M . Wilson The Vikings ami their Origins ( 1 9 7 0 ) ; P.G, Foote and
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Vikings D . M . Wilson The Viking Achievement ( 1 9 7 0 ) ; P H . Sawyer The Age of lite Vikings { 1 0 7 O ; H . R . Loyn The Vikings in Britain ( 1 9 7 7 ) V i l l a n i , Giovanni (r. 1 2 7 5 - 1 3 4 8 ) Best remembered forhts History I'iFlorettrc, Villani was also a merchant, administrator and soldier. After a long public career which involved travel abroad and office as a supervisor o f fortifications, he suffered heavy financial loss in his old age from the failure o f the great banking houses ot Bardi and Pcruzzi, and died ot the Black Death. His History, which was continued by other members o f the family, attempted to cover the whole period from biblical times. Written in clear direct Latin, it remains one o f the principal sources for the history o f Florence in the days o f Dante, n L . Green Chronicle into History ( 1 9 7 2 )
V i l l o n , François ( i 4 3 [ - a f t e r 1463) Remembered for his ballades and rondeaux and above all for his Grand Testament, a string o f ironic and satiric bequests. Villon represents an attempt to express a new, intensely personal feeling in French vernacular
poetry. After graduating from the university o f Paris, his name became a b y - w o r d for violence and debauchery, and the known facts o f his lite involve at least one killing, many robberies and imprisonment. Conversely, his expression o f remorse, o f regret for a wasted life and lost opportunities, and ot wonder and terror at the shortness o f human life produced his finest poetry: Oil Sprit les neiges d'autan? ('Where arc the snows o f yesteryear?'), ii The Complete Works of Francois Villon trans. A . Bonner ( i 9 6 0 ) Vincent o f Bcauvais (c. 1 190-c. 1264) An outstanding scholar, and almost certainly an early member ot the Dominican house at Paris and Bcauvais, Vincent made his reputation at Paris in close contact with members o f the Capetian dynasty during the reign o f St Louis I X . He is chiefly remembered for his encyclopaedic work, the Speculum Mains, in which he attempted to gather together all knowledge under the headings o f natural history, doctrine (including philosophy, the humanities, law, mathematics and medicine) and history (both sacred and secular), up
Viking settlements in Iceland and Greenland, and possibl ti landrail in Vinl.md.
^jan Mayen Scoresby Sound
e^^y
NEWFOUNDLAND
328
ICELAND
V i s i g o t h s (Western Goths) to the time ot St Louis's First Crusade in 1250. n A . L . Gabriel The Educational Ideas of Vincent of Beauvais ( 1 9 6 2 )
V i n l a n d Region somewhere on the east coast o f America, possibly Newfoundland or the coast o f Maine, explored by Vikings operating from Greenland in the late 10th c. and early 1 i t h c. Unsuccessful attempts were made by Leif and Thorvald, the sons of Fric the Red. to effect a settlement, and a slightly later attempt by Thorium Karlscfhi also failed. Hostility 6f the natives seems to have been the principal immediate cause, though it must also be recognized that Greenland already represented an astonishing extension ol settlement by what were, after all, the limited manpower resources o f Viking Age Scandinavia. u G. Jones The Norse Atlantic Saga
(1964)
V i s c o n t i f a m i l y The most prominent family in Milan 1 2 7 7 - 1 4 4 7 . Tracing their antecedents back to supporters o f the imperial cause during the Investiture Contest, the Visconti maintained successfully a pro-imperial and anti-papal stance throughout the 14th c. The powerful Giangaleazzo bought the titleofduke from the F.mperor Wenceslas IV ot the Luxembourg house late in the century, and at the height o f his power was ruling most o f north Italy and threatening Florence itself Dynastic divisions and hitter urban rivalries prevented the building up ol a permanent Lombard duchy, and on the death o f Filippo Maria in 1447 Milan passed under the control ol his son-in-law, the great mercenary captain, Francesco Sforza. • D . M u i r Milan under the Visconti ( 1 9 2 4 ) ; H . ISaron 77re Crisis oj the Early Italian Renaissance ( 1 9 5 3 )
V i s i g o t h s (Western Goths) A significant and coherent part of the Fast Germanic Gothic peoples. Converted to Arian Christianity in the 4 t h c . they played a leading part m the move which, under Hunnic pressure, led to tile crossing o f the Danube frontier in .170 and the subsequent imperial defeat at Adrianoplvin August 37N, in the course of winch the Emperor Valeus was killed. The Visigoths then settled uneasily as tederate troops o l the empire in the lialkans. but under their powerful leader Alaric they turned their attention to Italy. After a long series ot diplomatic moves and campaigns they sacked Rome ( 2 3 - 2 7 August 4 1 0 ) , though Alaric himsc-lfdied in the same year. The psycho logical effects of the sack ot Rome were universal, but the immediate political consequences relatively unimportant. The Visigoths continued to exercise a curious duality as federates, and 011 occasion as plunderers, o f the Roman population.
Vincenl o f licauvais in his study - from a lare l.srli-e. translation of the Speculum Hiitoriole, They moved into Gaul and tought as allies of the Romans in the great battle of Chalons (451) against Attila and his Huns. Under their King Euric ( 4 6 6 M4) they consolidated their hold in Gaul south o f the Loire, and moved their sphere o f influence steadily south into Spun. Their Arianism created distrust and permanent disharmony with the Romanic population, and in the first decade o f the 6 t h e. they lost control o f most o f Gaul, except tor the provinces along the Mediterranean shore, to the newly converted Catholic Franks. The Visigothic kingdom in Spain was more longlasting. Religious dissension ravaged the political life o f the kingdom, hut in 5 8 9 Reccared I called a Council at Toledo where the decision was taken to accept Catholicism, A dissident Arian minority among the Visigoths and persecution o f the Jews in the 7 t h c. weakened the fabric o f society in Spain, preparing the ground for the Arab conquest of the early decades o f the 8th c. Nevertheless the Visigothic kingdom lasted longer than any other East German political structure and left a permanent heritage to the West in its art, culture and influence on theories o f kingship and ecclesiastical law. See R O O E R I C , W U I - R L A \lj2]
HRl
n E.A. Thompson TTie Goths in Spain ( 1 9 6 9 ) : L. Musset The Germanic Invasions ( 1 9 7 5 ) ; Visigothic Spain: New Approaches ed. E, James (1980)
3-9
Vitold (Vitout) various races (mostly Slav but with a Lithuanian ruliiigeleiiient)andreligions(CatholicandOrlhodox), • G . Vernadsky The Mongols and Russia (195,1) Vlad the Inipalcr Prince of Wallachia [ 4 5 6 - 0 2 and [ 4 7 6 - 7 7 A figure greater in legend than in history, his by-name was given him on account of his lerocious execution of literally thousands of Turks and Bulgars in 1461. Within Wallachia he stands as a supporter of the Hungarians and an enemy of the Turks, though he w as imprisoned for some 12 years in the I lungarian capital by Matthias Corvinus His brother, who succeeded him. was completely subservient to the lurk, and hope of Rumanian independence passed into the keeping of the Moldavian dynasty. H.W. Seton-Watson A History of the Roumanians (1934); H . Inalcik The Ottoman Empire: the Classital Age 1300-ijioo (1973)
Si Vladimir the Great, prince of Kiev, portrayed on a painted banner. Vitold (Vitout) King of Poland 13SiS—1434 Nephew of Jagiello, founder of the great Polish dynasty. Vitold won recognition as grand duke of a greater Lithuania in 1401 and built up a formidable principality, which at its widest extent stretched from the Baltic to the Black Sea. He is chiefly remembered for his leadership in the decisive battle at Tannenburg in 1410. when the Lithuanians and Poles in alliance crushed the Teutonic knights and put a temporary end to German expansion in the East. He was not as successful against the Mongols, hut maintained a powerful and Virtually independent Lithuanian principality noted lor its tolerance ol the
33°
Vladimir I the Great, St Prince of Kiev 0 K 0 - 1 0 1 5 (b-9SS) I lc lelt a reputation lor lerocity and boundless ambition. I lis chief importance he's in a firm accord made with the Byvantiue Emperor Basil II in yNX-Nij under the terms of which he married the emperor's sister, received baptism and pledged himself to support the Greek missionaries active in Kicvan Russia. 1 lc forced Christianity on many of his people and established enduring links between the Byzantine empire and the Russian peoples in religious, cultural and social matters. • G . Vernadsky Kieran Russia (I'/fX) Vladislav II Jagiello King of Poland J3Nfi— 1434 (b.i.ij.si) Statesman-king who succeeded in holding together during his lifetime a huge principality which at its highest point stretched from the Baltic to the Crimea. The support of his nephew Vitold.
Wa İden si a m who exercised virtually autonomous control o f Lithuania, was essential for the success ot his politi cal schemes. Facing formidable problems in the East (Tartars and Turks) and in the West (the hostility and suspicion o f his brother-in-law. the Emperor Sigismund. anxious tor his own position in Hungary and Bohemia), Vladimir had also to steer a very careful path through the religious complications exacerbated by the Hussite reformation. Within Poland he relied heavily on the support o f the great magnates, but the powers ot the king were great, and the hold o f the Jagiello dynasty was strengthened (in spite of the elective quality ot the monarchy). Traditions ot tolerance and freedom were well established in Poland during the long reign o l this remarkable monarch, though the dis ruptive social patterns ot the kingdom were never far trom the surtace. V u l g a t e Accepted by the Council ot Trent (i 546) as the only authentic Latin text o f the scriptures, the Vulgate-so called because it was the version in most common (vutguş) use in the West throughout the Middle Ages — was based essentially 011 the work ot St Jerome ( ( . 3 4 2 - 4 2 0 ) . Jerome was instructed in 3M3 by Pope Damasus to revise the Latin NewTesta in en t using Greek models. Later m the 3K0.S he withdrew to a cave near Bethlehem and translated the greater part o f the O l d Testament directly from the 1 lebrew. In the course o f the 6 t h c. his work, together with the Gallican psalter, was collected into one hook, the VuiaaSa. Revisions were made, notably by Alenin and Theodulf o f Orleans in the Nth c. and early Oth e.. at the court o f Charlemagne, Scholars at the university ol Paris attempted further standardization o f the text in the 12th c. and 1 3 th c. The strength o f the Lability and the integrity ot the text helped to ensure the eon tinned torceot Latin asa more or less universal scholarly language through out the West in the Middle Ages. See ANSEI.M OF I. A O N
a B. Smallcy The Study cfthe Bible in the Middle Ages (nj_S2), The Gospels in ihr Sehools {lyX;,); "" Biblein the Medieval WorUeA. K. Walsh and 1). Wood (lyS.s)
W Wacc AJersey man resident in Normandy where he became a canon o f liayeux. Master Wacc (only his forename survives) was the author o f three vernacular hagiographic texts and. more importantly, t w o extensive rhymed chronicles in French: the Roman at Utul (1 155) and the Romun de Ron (lett unfinished
r . l 1 7 0 - 7 5 ) . The former, an imaginative reworking of Geoffrey ot Monmouth's / listeria Regain Britanniae, may have been instrumental in popularizing Arthurian legend on the Continent- The latter was a history ot the dukes o f Normandy, also based principally on Latin sources. Wacc had undoubted literary talent which is seen to best advantage in Ins vivid descriptive passages. 11 Le Roman VF.MFNT
11 W. Ullmann The Origins oj the Great Schism (IO48); B. Ticrney Foundations ofConciliar Theory (1935)
Zacharias, St Pope 7 4 1 - 3 ; . A Greek by birth, whose translation ol Gregory the Great's Dialogues was widely read 111 the L ist. His diplomat!-, skills restrained Lombard expansion tor nearly ten years. He strengthened papal links with Frankia by agreving that the Prankish crown belonged to tileperson who in reality exercised its authority (751). Afte-r the subsequent deposition o f Childeric III. he sanctioned the anointing ol the new king. Pepin. I lusdc-eision wasreaehed.it a tune when the! 0111 hards were causing fresh difficulties, unopposed by the iconoclastic liyzantmc emperor. Zacharias rede in the transfer o f Prankish royal power was later often cited by upholders of papal supremacy. M H . K . Mann The Lives of the i'opes in the liarly Middle Ages (1901)
ÎJ1
BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTE
There is .is yet no single, easily accessible general work o f reference on the Middle Ages in Europe that can be recommended. When complete. Scribner's Dictionary of the Middle Ages ( e d . J . R . Strayer. i y N 2 - ) . planned in 12 volumes, will provide such a guide. For up-to-date information on scholarly output, consult the Annual Bulletin of Historical Literature. published by the Historical Association, London. T h e following specialist encyclopaedias and works ol reference are especially helpful and reliable: Cambridge Medieval History ed. J . U . Bury, K vols. ( l y i [-36); Shorter Cambridge Medieval History ed. C . W. Previte-Orton, 2 vols. (1952) Lexicon ties Mittelalters ed. L . L o t / et a!, planned in
5
vols.
(1977-)
Reallexkon dergermahischeft Altertumskunde ed. J. Hoops. 4 vols. (1911-19); new edition, ed. R . Wenskus. planned in 20 vols. (lydS-) A. Potthast Bibliotheca Histarica Medii Aeyi 2 vols. (1896; revised edition
1902-0«)
L . j . PaetOW A Guide to the Study of Medieval History (1931; revised edition
1980)
R . C . van Caenegein Guide to the Sources of Medieval History 2 vols. (1978) Oxford History affile Christian Church planned in 20 vols. (1076-); in particular. J . M . Wall.ne-Hadrill The Prankish Church ( l y H j ) Oxford Dictionary 0) the Christian Church ed. F . L . C r o s s and F . . A . Livingstone (1974) New Catholic Encyclopaedia ed. W . j . M c D o n a l d , 17 vols. (1907-79) Cambridge History of the Bible vol. a, ed. G . W . H . Lampe (i960) Encyclopaedia fudaica ed, j . K l a t / k i n . 1 6 vols. (192s-) New Standard Jewish P.ttcyclepucilut ed. C . Roth and G. Wigtulcr (1970: revised edition 1975) Encyclopaedia of Islam (ty i J-38); new edition in f, vols., ed. H . A. R. Gibb et
s i (1960-86)
Encyclopaedia of World Art ed. M . Pallottino, lit vols. (iy_sy-Si) New Oxford History ofMsuicVtftt. in 10 vols. (1954-)
1 and 2. ed. J . A . Westrup et al. planned
A History oj Technology vol. 2. ed. C". Singer et al
352
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