AN EARLY SELJUQ SILVER BOTTLE FROM SIBERIA

ABSTRACTThe State Hermitage Museum in St Petersburg houses a group of small silver and silver-gilt vessels, thought to have been made in Byzantium and dated to the twelfth century. The vessels are decorated with engraved and relief images that predominantly, but not exclusively, refer to the world of secular entertainments: a small vessel from Berezov bears around one hundred tightly stacked, small-scale images that show dancers, musicians, animals, and hybrids, whilst its inside displays a portrait of the warrior saint, St George; a shallow vessel from Vilgort is decorated with images of animals and hunting scenes on its outside, and on its inside bears a central roundel showing a couple surrounded by animals; and a bowl formerly in the collection of the Russian émigré Alexander Basilevsky shows twelve individual figures under arches, including dancers and musicians, on its outside and a pair of griffins on its inside. These three dishes, which will form the focus of this article, and their variegated images confront the viewer (and scholar) with a problem: how should the complex and often ambiguous imagery of the precious metal dishes be interpreted? Is a single, coherent meaning intended by their decoration, or is the latter a jumble of meaningless scenery? The clue to their interpretation can be found, as will be argued, in contemporary rhetorical strategies and performances. Riddles and ‘double-tonguedness’ prominently featured in twelfth-century rhetorical performances and works, and even, this is suggested, in material culture. Studying visual and rhetorical displays together can illuminate not only the interpretation of individual artworks, but also the broader relationship in medieval Byzantium between rhetoric and the visual arts.

Reviewed by: Painting the Hortus Deliciarum—Medieval Women, Wisdom, and Time by Danielle B. Joyner Mihaela L. Florescu Danielle B. Joyner, Painting the Hortus Deliciarum—Medieval Women, Wisdom, and Time (University Park, PA: The Pennsylvania State University Press 2016) 242 pp. The Hortus deliciarum, which translates into English as "the garden of delights," is an important twelfth-century manuscript because it challenges the traditional view that only men created texts in medieval European culture. The HD was made by women with an immediate female audience in mind beyond the wider audience of men. Danielle B. Joyner has produced a magnificent book on the creation and meaning of the HD. Her informed text connects perfectly with the beautiful images culled from the HD. Unfortunately for medieval purists, the only surviving proof that the HD ever existed comes from later sources. In 1818, Christian Moritz Engelhardt portrayed medieval life as an interpretation of the HD. The mid-nineteenth century saw a study of this important work by Comte Auguste de Bastard. Baptiste Petit-Gerard also studied the codex, his notes only being published in the 1950s. Medieval scholars only have a partial facsimile of the HD, published in 1979 by the Warburg Institute. The facsimile, gathered from nineteenth-century sources, represents the recreation of nearly half of the imagery and two-thirds of the text of the original manuscript. The history of the HD is closely tied to that of the history of the small monastic community of Hohenbourg, in Alsace. Duke Frederick II of Swabia invaded Hohenbourg in the early twelfth century. His son, Frederick Barbarossa, appointed Relinde as abbess and it was under her rule that the [End Page 218] community was rebuilt, Augustinian rule was adopted, and work on the HD was presumably begun. In the early 1170s, Herrad succeeded Relinde as abbess and work on the HD continued. In the manuscript, Herrad is portrayed as producing the codex and directing the work of the nuns, yet nineteenth- and early-twentieth-century scholars were so biased by the mores of their times, they refused to consider that women were capable of such work. The existence of the HD challenged established male hierarchies. Today, however, there is no doubt, and it is openly recognized, that women in the twelfth century were indeed responsible for the production of this magnificent manuscript. The content of the HD features themes from the Bible. It includes the following: fols. 1r–v: introductory texts; fols. 2r–66v: Old Testament visual and textual narratives; fols. 67r–84r: Old Testament textual recapitulation; visual and textual transitional material; fols. 84v–167r: visual and textual narratives of Christ's life; fols. 167v–199r: visual and textual narratives of apostolic missionary work; fols. 199v–241r: visual and textual narratives of moralizing allegories on the soul and Ecclesia; fols. 241v–263v: visual and textual narratives of prophetic end-times; fols. 264r–315v: textual recapitulation, texts on church synods, canon law; fols. 316r–322r: computus tables and texts; fols. 322v–323r: portrait of Hohenbourg past and present; fols. 323v–324v: concluding verses. Chapter 1, "Feminae, Libri, et 'Hortus deliciarum'", places the HD in the context of its times. Herrad is portrayed as giving instructions on iconographies featured in both the Guta-Sintram Codex and the Rupertsberg Scivias. In addition, similar moralizing themes appear in an array of medieval manuscripts. On the topics of pride and virginity the HD is similar to works such as the Speculum virginum, the Liber floridus, and the Zwiefalten. Chapter 1 brings to light a number of further comparisons. Visual distinctions are noted between the HD and St. Albans Psalter. Yet, the HD stands apart from its brethren by its sophisticated imagery and by its use of visuals in places where text would normally be employed. Chapter 2, "Stellae et Tempora", examines the first folios of the manuscript which are devoted to the story of Creation. The addition of sin into the world is compared to the existence of the Trinity and the creation of times. Narrative imagery and diagrammatic images and texts are used to portray the story of Genesis in a display of fluid twelfth century style. In Chapter 3, "Artes et Computus," the liberal arts...

The font is thought to be in the United States. It is one of the more elaborate examples in a group of over fifty cylindrical fonts in the East Riding which date from the first half of the twelfth century. Its apparently unorganised imagery is found to embody a teaching scheme reminiscent of methods described in St Augustine of Hippo's manual for instructing baptism candidates, and the design seems to be based on a text of Hugh of St Victor, from his moral interpretation of Noah's Ark. It is suggested that an Augustinian canon designed the scheme even though Everingham church did not belong to the order. This inference leads to a discussion of the pastoral work of the Augustinian canons in the East Riding in the early twelfth century. Motifs on a font at Bessingby (East Riding), on tympana at Ribbesford (Worcestershire) and Stoke-sub-Hamdon (Somerset), and at various other sites provide comparisons.

Reviewed by: Chivalry in Medieval England Sam Zeno Conedera SJ Nigel Saul, Chivalry in Medieval England (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press 2011) 416 pp., ill. The stated aim of Chivalry in Medieval England is “to present an account of English aristocratic society in the Middle Ages which puts chivalry centre-stage” (5). Nigel Saul, whose extensive work on the subject prepared the way for this synthetic work, has admirably achieved his aim. Although Chivalry will make an invaluable reference work, it is more of a tour of medieval military, political, social, and cultural developments in England and northern France from the vantage point of the elusive phenomenon we call “chivalry.” Saul’s [End Page 274] blend of chronological and thematic approaches and plurality of perspectives are keys to his accomplishment. The first six chapters are primarily chronological with thematic overtones, moving from the origins of English chivalry at the time of the Norman Conquest to the end of the fourteenth century. The next ten chapters are primarily thematic in orientation, dealing with topics like crusading, literature, and gender, but they proceed chronologically in their internal organization. The final two chapters deal with late chivalry under the Yorkists and its ultimate transformation and decline in the Tudor age. Acknowledging that chivalry is “tantalizingly hard to define precisely” and means different things to different people, Saul draws on a wide range of evidence to view the phenomenon from as many angles as possible (3). His descriptions and analysis of fortifications, churches, and funerary monuments show that his research includes a great deal of legwork outside of archives and libraries. Chivalry is decisively oriented towards solving historical problems. Saul does not rest with demonstrating that a particular development took place, but seeks to explain why it did, in clear and accessible language. Two examples should suffice to illustrate the point. At the same time that war was endemic throughout England and Normandy in the late eleventh and early twelfth century, the conduct of war was being softened by a new courtesy. Saul says that the paradox itself offers the explanation: in a situation of constant warfare, it was in everyone’s interest to agree to a set of conventions that limited the impact of hostilities on participants and their followers (11). In explaining the twelfth-century English aristocracy’s fascination with Arthurian literature and history, the author refers to numerous factors. Within a few generations of the Norman Conquest, the aristocracy began to see itself as more English than French, but it still knew rather little about the history of the conquered country (49). The English, alone among the peoples of the British Isles, had no real foundation myth of their own (43). Thus the Arthur legend was one of the key elements in the creation of English mythology and history, which was portrayed in the nascent chivalric terms of the twelfth century, rather than as the social reality of the past (51). Saul’s treatment of such problems is consistently articulate and well supported. Saul is closely attentive to the changing fortunes of chivalry over the course of time, avoiding the pitfall of sweeping generalizations or synchronic myopia. He notes, for example, the early date for the first decline of English chivalry: the loss of Normandy under John Lackland (61). By the end of the thirteenth century, the number of knights in the country dropped from almost 4,000 to about 1,250 (63). Financial pressures, aspiration to status, the incorporation of knights into the royal justice system, and the absence of large-scale warfare all contributed to the infrequency of dubbing. At the same time, knights of the thirteenth century moved more into the countryside and established the foundations for the gentry (68). Aside from broad social and political factors, the initiatives of particular monarchs played an important role in defining and redefining chivalry. Richard the Lionheart was the first English monarch to personally transform chivalry by incorporating it into the image of kingship. He made war a virtue rather than a necessity and actively encouraged tournaments throughout the realm (34–36). Edward I responded to the aforementioned thirteenth-century decline of knighthood by once again raising the military profile of...

In the early twelfth century, urban culture, commercial and professional in outlook, was becoming a counterweight to the traditional dominance of aristocratic wealth and privilege in Europe. Secular learning - the Liberal Arts and the ancient authors whose writings defined their scope and function - was valued as a means to the understanding of Scripture and religious truth, and as enlarging the sphere of mental activity, making the study of man and nature a complement to traditional religious studies. The scholars, whose names have been persistently associated with the cathedral school at Chartres, were known for their wide learning and speculative energy. Their commentaries mark a new stage in the engagement of medieval thinkers with classical antiquity, and they can claim a place also in the history of philosophy and natural science. At no time in the Middle Ages was ancient literature taken more seriously as a source of wisdom. Keywords: Chartres; Liberal Arts; philosophy; Scripture; twelfth-century Renaissance

THE HARMONY OF STAFF AND SWORD: HOW MEDIEVAL THINKERS SAW SANTIAGO PEREGRINO & MATAMOROS Stephen B. Raulston Sewanee: The University ofthe South The iconographie tradition ofSantiago combines the Byzantine tradition ofrepresenting James as a member ofthe fellowship of apostles (Melczer 63) with innovative medieval images of the saint as Santiago Peregrino clad in the appurtenances ofhis own followers, and as a mounted warrior, Santiago Matamoros, engaged in battle against a Muslim enemy. In the Byzantine tradition, representations of Santiago as apostle or evangelist bear no distinguishing features, apart from context, to differentiate James from other apostles. The trumeau statue of Santiago in the Pórtico de la Gloria, in which a seated James, with nimbus, holds a scroll in one hand and a Tau-shaped staff in the other, is one medieval heir of this older tradition. So are numerous sculptures of James as witness to the Transfiguration, like the one which the Pilgrim's Guide describes as My thanks to Tom Spaccarelli and Taran Johnston, whose conversation and generous insights have guided the thoughts expressed in this article. La corónica 36.2 (Spring 2008): 345-67 346Stephen B. RaulstonLa corónica 36.2, 2008 adorning the west front of the Cathedral at Compostela in the early twelfth century, and as participant in the Last Supper (Melczer 125, 63). The developmentfromlate-classical images ofJames through the early Middle Ages follows the relatively consistent and traceable trajectory that one might expect, but the Peninsular creations ofSantiago Peregrino and Santiago Matamoros that emerged after the rise ofthe Jacobean cult in the ninth century have discomfited scholars and a modern public alike. This is, on the one hand, because these images are unique in the iconography of saints -no other saint appropriates the guise and activities of his own devotees as Santiago Peregrino does (Melczer 67)- and, on the other, because the two images strike the modern sensibility as antithetical and incompatible: the one, self-effacing, humble, contemplative, associated with the physical act of pilgrimage; the other, aggressive, bellicose and associated with political and military goals. Spaccarelli's groundbreaking study of Escorial Ms h.1.13, the Libro de los huéspedes, expresses just such an antithetical view of Matamoros and Peregrino, juxtaposing the two images, respectively, as warlike/peaceful; monolithic/multicultural; exclusive/inclusive; militant/ communal; patriarchal/maternal; hierarchical/egalitarian, etc. Melczer also sees the image of Santiago Matamoros, little known outside the Peninsula, as "developing along national lines ... rooted in the historical necessity of the Reconquista", while Santiago Peregrino is "eminently international in character, scope, and diffusion", arising "directly from the early pilgrimage folklore of the eleventh and twelfth centuries" (65-66). The apparent incongruity between Peregrino and Matamoros is among the elements that led Americo Castro to posit that there were, in the beginning, two Santiagos, that the cult of St. James in Spain had its origins in the Roman twin cult of Castor and Pollux, and that the predecessor of Santiago Matamoros was the figure of Castor who, mounted on a white horse, was said to aid the Romans in battle against their enemies (107-40). The antithetical juxtaposition ofthe two medieval images of Santiago andaclearpreferenceforSantiago Peregrino are alsopartofcontemporary popular sentiment in Spain. In 1983 Rodriguez Bordallo and Ríos-Graña reported that the parish church of Santiago in Llerena in the province of Badajoz had recently removed the statue of Santiago Matamoros from its The Harmony ofStaffand Sword347 sanctuary and replaced it with a more acceptable sculpture of Santiago Peregrino. Matamoros is now consigned to the church sacristy, where it remains covered by a black cloth formerly used in funeral masses. In other Spanish cities, when effigies of Santiago Matamoros are carried through the streets in procession on the saint's feast day, the severed heads and pleading figures of the Muslim victims beneath his charger's feet are covered with cloths or tapestries (Rodriguez Bordallo and RíosGra ña 219). Yet numerous medieval examples of images of Santiago in their original context lead one to conclude that the intellectuals who conceived and controlled the iconographie programs of medieval churches and monasteries perceived no such incompatibility between the two most common portrayals ofSpain's patron saint. The fifteenth...

This article examines the art practice of a group of professors and students—who later came to be known as Group 57—at the Fine Arts College of the University of Tehran during the revolutionary period of 1978 to 1980. Through interviews with artists and art historical research, the authors describe the artists’ workshop where they produced posters against the Shah, the United States, and imperialism. Their posters drew on the bold colors, clear text, symbolic imagery, and easy reproducibility of international radical poster art and the early Russian revolutionary avant‐garde. The authors recover these aesthetic and intellectual connections in the academic and professional training of the artists and in the art historical context of the posters themselves, examining the posters’ recent and more distant influences, and reinscribing the artists in the history of Iranian art and international art history. The authors also point toward connections between Group 57 and protest art in Iran today.

This chapter addresses the impact of the Gregorian reforms on the south of France, particularly with regard to the experience of Christianity in a local setting. It engages with Florian Mazel’s suggestion that the Reform might be seen as a ‘total social phenomenon’ in which relations between lay powers and the Church were reworked very considerably; here, however, the focus is on what effects this had upon local churches. It is argued, against some earlier scholarship, that the shift of local churches from lay into monastic or episcopal hands did not necessarily have a major effect upon the provision of services to the laity: both because there was more activity preceding the reforms than some historians have noted, and because subsequent monastic or episcopal ownership was in the first instance more concerned with income than with the provision of pastoral care. The chapter also explores, via a converted layman called Pons de Léras, how we can see the wider circulation of ideas about apostolic piety in the twelfth century, noting in this regard the establishment of more Cistercian foundations, and Templar and Hospitaller houses, across the region. A study of surviving wills from this century also demonstrates some changes to lay piety more broadly, and discussion of certain ‘heretics’ in the early twelfth century further outlines wider shifts in lay concerns.

This title is a catalogue of Islamic works of art on display in the State Hermitage Museum in St Petersburg and the Khalili Collection in London, supported by authoritative essays by distinguished Islamic scholars.

John Skylitzes was a Byzantine official (in 1081-1118 under Alexios Komnenos), chronicler and historian of the eleventh - early twelfth centuries, author of one of the most significant works on the history of Byzantium -“Synopsis” or “Review of Histories” (Euvoyii; 'Ioropicov), covering the period from the death of Nicephorus I Genikos in 811 to the overthrow of Michael VI in 1057. “Synopsis” serves as a continuation of an earlier work on the history of Byzantium, the “Selected Chronography” by George Syncellus and Theophanes the Confessor (which Skylitzes speaks about in a rhetorical prologue). There is also a continuation of the “Synopsis” brought to 1079, also attributed to Skylitzes. This work is one of the main sources of information on the Byzantine history of the period of the ninth-eleventh centuries. According to John Skylitzes himself, in his work he sought objectivity and accuracy in describing many significant events and deeds of the rulers of that time. He examines in detail the struggle for power, foreign policy and social movements of that period. In addition, the “Synopsis” contains information about the army, economy and culture of Byzantium. Both foreign and domestic historians have turned to the Synopsis. John Skylitzes is considered one of the most authoritative historians of Byzantium, and his work is an example of chronicle writing of that time. Book Two is dedicated to the reign of Leo V the Armenian (813-820). This translation is intended for a wide range of readers, including students studying the history of Byzantium, the history of the Middle Ages and the history of the Church.

The paper gives the review of epistolary materials for the biography of two archaeologists — Dr. Anastasia Mantsevych from Leningrad (1899—1982) and Dr. Maria Viazmitina from Kyiv (1896—1994). The documents are retained in Maria Viazmitina’s personal fund (N 34) in the Scientific Archive of the Institute of Archaeology of NASU. Among 126 letters from A. Mantsevych to M. Viazmitina 43 are selected for fragmentary publishing. These letters show us the personality of Anastasiia Mantsevych during the time period from 1952 to 1982. Letters demonstrate what thoughts, ideas and reflections stayed behind her published papers, behind her confidence at the scientific conferences during public polemics. Letters discover a strong individual and a sensitive human being at the same time, making essential addition to her scientific portrait. Through the letters the article also gives a review of scientific life in the State Hermitage Museum (Leningrad) and in the Institute of Archaeology (Kyiv). Correspondents point and discuss the significant museum exhibitions and sensational archaeological discoveries, share their plans about visiting main scientific conferences and congresses. Among the discussed topics are «Treasures of Tutankhamun tomb» in Leningrad (1974) and in Kyiv (1975); exhibition exchange between British Museum and State Hermitage in 1979 («The Siberian Collection of Peter I» and «The Oxus treasure»); Dr. Yuri Boltryk’s excavations of Oguz tomb in 1980, Borys Mozolevski’s and Halyna Kovpanenko’s findings of that period, Oleksandr Leskov’s findings in the tombs of the North Caucasus. There are also reflections about Professor Manolis Andronikos’ findings — the tomb of Macedonian kings near Vergina settlement in Northern Greece and Viktor Sarianidi’s findings of «Bactrian Gold» in Afghanistan.

This article argues that the chronology and geography of the Cluniac reform movement in the county of Flanders in the early twelfth century were to a large extent determined by the attempts of the counts to regain control over the feudal network and by the reformers’ specific strategies to reassess relations between monastic communities and their lay officers. Through the example of the turbulent abbacy and eventual deposition of Fulcard, abbot of Marchiennes and member of one of the most powerful local clans in the southeastern parts of Flanders, it is shown how the dividing line between supporters and adversaries of the reform movement ran across the division between the higher levels of the Flemish aristocracy and families who had recently introduced themselves into the aristocratic network. If one accepts the existence of opportunities for consensus based on what Patrick Geary has described as “structural conflicts,” it can be understood how Cluniac reforms at the same time constituted a point of dissent and an opportunity for all parties involved to reassess their relations in a satisfying and largely peaceful manner.

This article challenges the idea that there were no heresies in Leon and Castilla during the Middle Ages. In reality there were social movements very close to heresy. The rebellions of the bourgeois of Sahagun and Santiago de Compostela, in the early twelfth century, against the abbot and bishop, had the essential characteristics of the heretical movements of the period, although they were not qualified in this way by the church hierarchy.

This paper will suggest how the recounting of miracles (the first textual, the other filmic) was designed to support a particular ideology of Spanishness during the twentieth century. Both miracles here analysed were presented as having taken place during the late eleventh or early twelfth century, a key moment in the history of Spain, a point at which its Christian kingdoms began successfully to challenge the dominance of the Muslim states of Al-Andalus.

THE ERA of Norse, Moslem, and Magyar invasions brought to an end the period of transition between Roman and mediaeval civilization in Western Europe. The ruins of Charlemagne’s empire served as the seedbed for mediaeval institutions. The purpose of the next three chapters is to trace the development of these institutions during the tenth, eleventh, and early twelfth centuries. We shall try to see how the men and women of this period cared for their souls, their bodies, and their minds—how they prayed, worked, played, and thought. We shall also examine the political institutions, both lay and ecclesiastical, that governed their lives. This first chapter will be devoted to a study of the basic economic and social institutions on which mediaeval civilization rested, and how men lived in the environment they created. It will be a tale of peasants and knights and their ways of life.