Mirabilia: Revista Eletrônica da Antiguidade e Idade Média / Eletronic Journal of Antiquity and Middle Ages
ISSN 1676-5818
The word Mirabilia in latin is a neutral plural adjective which means "admirable things" or "wonders" and comes from the verb mirare, to regard, look at. Therefore, this name evokes the admirable aspects of the ancient and the medieval times.
The Journal Mirablia is an on line publication which provides articles, documents and academic reviews produced by scholars of Ancient and Medieval History from all over the world interested in increase and debate their interests.
This publication is connected to the deeper concept of Cultural History, which is expressed in the relationship between History and the other fields of knowledge and centers its studies in the literaires, religious, philosophycal and artistical aspects of those areas and their relationship in time and space.
The Journal Mirabilia intends not only to unite the studies of different branches in human sciences, but also to link the areas of Ancient and Medieval History in Brazil. The reason of this ambition is a simple one: the Brazilian scholars and students have a great difficulty to access the sources and the recent publications, an habitual problem to the countries of the Third World. Therefore, by approaching the two areas and providing them with opportunity of reaching the research findings in Brazil and abroad, We intend to strenghten the Brazilian studies of Ancient and Medieval History, proportioning to a greater number of people the acess to the result of the researches currently developed.
Presentation
Presentation
Antoni CORTIJO OCAÑA; Vicent MARTINES
Articles
Graphic parody in classical Greece
Manuel ÁLVAREZ JUNCO
Original title: La parodia en la Grecia clásica
Keywords: Classical Greece, Figurative ceramics, Graphic parody, Visual humour.
What we now call graphic humour did not emerge until the 19th century with European and American periodicals. Tracing its precedents in the figurative ceramics of classical Greece is the reason for this study, focused exclusively on graphic parody. To find it, it has been necessary to contextualize its opportunity and analyse its specific visual resources. If a culture like the Greeks provided us with the formal, conceptual, and aesthetic bases of Western civilization, this article delves into the figurative counterpoints developed by these fundamental ancestors of ours.
The Λόγος Τέλειος in Lactantius’ De Vita Beata: Philological Analysis of the Hermetic Fragmentum of the Divinæ Institutiones 7.18.4-5
David Pessoa de LIRA
Original title: O Λόγος Τέλειος em De Vita Beata de Lactâncio: análise filológica do Fragmentum Hermético das Divinæ Institutiones 7. 18. 4-5
Keywords: Asclepius Latinus, Fragmentum Hermeticum, Hermetic Literature, Lactantius, Philology, Λόγος Τέλειος.
This article analyzes the fragmentum of the Λόγος Τέλειος in Lactantius's De Vita Beata, Divinæ Institutiones 7. 18. 4-5. Of particular interest here is the idea and argument of the Hermetic fragmentum Λόγος Τέλειος in contrast to the idea in its context in De Vita Beata. Although there has been significant research on the small apocalypse or prediction of Asclepius Latinus 26a, this article focuses on understanding the aspects that characterize the Λόγος Τέλειος without dwelling beforehand on the idea of prediction and the future, nor on the subsequent interpretations developed for future events in the Latin translation of the Asclepius Latinus. The Coptic ⲗⲟⲅⲟⲥ ⲧⲉⲗⲉⲓⲟⲥ [Logos Teleios] (Nag Hammadi VI.8 (73,23-36)) corroborates various aspects of Λόγος Τέλειος. The first text helps to understand the second one reciprocally. Therefore, the comparative method is used here to demonstrate the similarities and differences between the Greek Λόγος Τέλειος, the Coptic ⲗⲟⲅⲟⲥ ⲧⲉⲗⲉⲓⲟⲥ, the Asclepius Latinus 26a and the intervention in these texts in sources of fragmentum transmission. The comparative analysis shows some relevant results in the relationship between the Λόγος Τέλειος en De Vita Beata de Lactantius. As result, one could perceive that the Λόγος Τέλειος is a text that deals with periodic cataclysm and timelessness and its demonstradum is different from Lactantius’ conception.
The Interaction of Ambrose of Milan with the Emperor Theodosius the Great over the Dignity of Human Life
Eirini ARTEMI
Keywords: Ambrosius of Milan, Byzantine Greek Macedonia, Massacre in Thessalonica, Theodosius the Great.
When Theodosius the Great became emperor, the influence of Christianity had expanded throughout the Roman Empire. The Christians gained the upper hand in the Empire mainly after the death of Julian and when they became in majority. This power led the emperor Theodosius to behave to pagans with cruelty that didn’t match to a Christian emperor. He was responsible for the massacre in Thessalonica of the province of byzantine Greek Macedonia. There 7000 thousand people were killed. In this paper, we will examine which was the attitude Ambrosius of Milan to the emperor, when the bishop though that the Church was just be used as a political prop or fig leaf. Which is the importance of the letter of Ambrose that was written to Theodosius? How did this Ambrose’s criticism to Theodosius for his ruthless slaughter, barring the emperor from entering church or taking communion for several months, and ordering him to do penance for several months before he could enter again and receive the host, change Theodosius’ behaviour as Christian? Did the letter of Ambrose to Theodosius have a catalytic role to later sanctity of the emperor? Ambrose’s penance should not be accepted as a win of the church over the emperor but only as a demonstration of the power of atonement over the penitent sinner. This power should not discriminate people according to their political power but according to their actions as Christians.
Dreamscape in La leyenda del caballero del Cisne: the creation of a lineage and the promotion of chivalrous values in oneiric episodes
Natacha CROCOLL
Original title: El espacio de los sueños en La leyenda del caballero del Cisne: la creación de un linaje y la promoción de los valores caballerescos en los episodios oníricos
Keywords: Chivalrous values, Dreams, La leyenda del caballero del Cisne, Lineage.
In La leyenda del caballero del Cisne, the account of the eponymous hero’s exploits and those of his grandson, Godofredo de Bouillon, is often interrumpted by oneiric and wonderful episodes of different kinds (prophetic dreams, angelic appearances, etc.). Such episodes play a crucial role in the text’s structure, for they announce future scenes and take part in the characters’ portrayal. In this essay, we aim to study this variety of functions through textual analysis; we will focus on the dreams and visions that accompany the story and contribute to the literary creation of a lineage predestined to wear Jerusalem’s crown and participate in the characterization of a new chivalrous figure promoted by the Castilian kings in the 13th and 14th centuries
Medieval latin manuscript culture of the Crown of Aragon. Transcription and study of the parchments of the 12th-13th centuries of the Archive “general b” of the Borja Library (Sant Cugat del Vallès)
Enric MALLORQUÍ-RUSCALLEDA
Original title: Cultura medieval llatina manuscrita de la Corona d’Aragó. Transcripció i estudi dels pergamins dels segles XII-XIII del Fons General b de la Biblioteca Borja (Sant Cugat del Vallès)
Keywords: Borja Library, Crown of Aragon, Edition, Latin, Manuscript Culture, Medieval, Sant Cugat, Transcription.
Father Antoni Borràs i Feliu, archivist of the library of the Borgia Center of Sant Cugat del Vallés, announced in 1994 the acquisition of a series of parchments by the library of this center. Father Borràs classified these parchments of varied typology, grouping them in four categories: A, B (“General Fons”), C (“Fons Ripoll-Sant Joan de les Abadesses”), D (“Fons Berga”), and E (“Fons vari”). This article presents the transcription and a brief codicological and paleographic study of B (“Fons General”). Among the parchments in question are pontifical documents (“butlles”), royal documents, university degrees, and a few documents classified by centuries: from the 12th to the 17th century. Here I study the latter; more specifically, the documents catalogued with the numbers 4.1 (number 1 for us) and 4.2 (numbers 2 and 3).
A look at the alterity between the Middle Ages and the Modern Age. The perception of the other in some medieval and modern texts (1200-1600)
Marica COSTIGLIOLO
Original title: Uno sguardo sull’alterità tra Medioevo ed Età Moderna. La percezione dell’altro in alcuni testi medievali e moderni (1200-1600)
Keywords: Alterity, Colonialism, Diversity, Islam, Middle Ages, New World, Renaissance.
The concept of otherness is complex and layered. To understand how the Western world has received, rejected, or dominated the Other is crucial for the understanding of the construction of the Western cultural identity and for trying to find the motivations that have brought Europe to a politics of colonialism that has characterized social, economic, and political relations up to modern times. In this short essay I analyse some medieval and modern works to trace the textual strategies that testify the passage from the perception of difference as a possible source of threat, of danger, to its delegitimization to existence and consequently to the “justified” dominion over the other.
The divine ordering of Will and Power in the Book of Contemplation in God by Ramon Llull (1232-1316)
Gabriel Tebaldi MEIRA; Ricardo da COSTA
Original title: O ordenamento divino da Vontade e do Poder no Livro da Contemplação em Deus de Ramon Llull (1232-1316)
Keywords: Book of Contemplation on God, Divine Ordering, Medieval Philosophy, Power, Ramon Llull, Will.
The objective of the work is to analyse the concepts of Will and Power according to Ramon Llull (1232-1316) in the Book of Contemplation in God, Chapter 47, in its XI Distinction, as well as to understand the author’s proposal for practical application of such principles in the Christian life.
The missio ad intra and la missio ad extra in the thought of Ramon Llull
Manuel ORTUÑO ARREGUI
Original title: La missio ad intra y la missio ad extra en el pensamiento de Ramon Llull
Keywords: Missio, Missionary, Ramon Llull, Thought.
In this article we present the thought of Ramon Llull in his literary production about the missio ad intra and missio ad extra, which admits a double meaning to the meaning of mission, and of course, integrates the sense of crusade. Mission and crusade are not two separate realities, but fully integrated. His work must be studied from an overall perspective, because it synthesizes missionary action through a missio ad intra and a missio ad extra that seeks to encompass the entire Mediterranean and European context of his time. This action cannot be traced only in doctrinal works, treatises or proposals to the monarchs or the pontificate, but also in works of a non-Crusader character. In conclusion, Llull’s various works illuminate his idea of mission, which has already been present since his conversion in 1263, and this means that the concept of missio can be integrated into a single sense as missio ad gentes.
The process of islamization in Western Africa under the rulership of the Empire of Mālī
Ahmed-Salem Ould Mohamed BABA; Vicente CASTRO MARTÍNEZ
Original title: El proceso de islamización de África occidental bajo el Imperio de Mālī
Keywords: Animism, Black Africa, Haŷŷ, Islam, Saadies, Trade.
In this article, it is analyzed the role that had the best-known sub-Saharan empire, Mālī, in the acceleration of the process of islamization which took place in the southern part of the Sahara Desert between the XIIIth and XVIth centuries. However, it proves to be useful for the mentioning of the fact that the adoption of the Muslim religion by the Western Africa peoples do not cause the abandonment of their traditional beliefs, but a syncretism between them, despite the intentions of their rulers. On the other hand, apart from religious aspects, it will be very important the investigation of the commercial exchanges as one of the essential elements in the development of the penetration of Islamic values along this region of the African continent, in conjunction with the importance of the art as an indicator of this process advancement. To do that, it will be paid close attention to the development of the peculiar Sudanese art that was implemented in the main cities of the empire, around which is related this investigation, Timbuktu.
Deciphering Lo somni and its literary techniques
Julia BUTIÑÁ
Original title: Descifrando Lo somni y sus técnicas literarias
Keywords: Italian Trecento authors, Lo somni, Ramon Llull, Rhetoric, Troubadour Poetry.
The message that, in Lo somni, the spirit of the king secretly entrusts to the author –the great humanist Bernat Metge– commissioning him to spread it in the future, given its dangerous nature, is encrypted through literary sources. After following –especially those of Boccaccio– in the four books, by means of tables published in 2002, his links between the different books are represented in a diagram. This allows verifying that said layout is not only harmonic and makes the logic of said sources explicit, but also seems to reveal techniques typical of verse –coming from the troubadour heritage– and of prose –the framework used by the Italian Trecento authors–, which would contribute to artistically encrypt the message. This consists of rejecting the misogynistic doctrine of the Petrarchian Secretum, which has contaminated Boccaccio, and adhering to Llull, who has the most intricate artifice of concealment. The investigation is completed by a contrast with the Apologia, which confirms these results.
Gauberte Fabricio de Vagad (author of the first Crónica del reino de Aragón) and his poetic work in the repertoires and songbooks of his time
Jesús Fernando CÁSEDA TERESA
Original title: auberte Fabricio de Vagad (autor de la primera Crónica del reino de Aragón) y su obra poética en los repertorios y cancioneros de su tiempo
Keywords: Chronicle of Aragon, Dolce stil nuovo, Gauberte, XVth century.
This study links the creator of the first Chronicle of Aragon with the one who appears with his name in the songbooks of his time, establishing the common identity of both. It traces his biography –family origins, his birth in Zaragoza between 1415 and 1420, his military and clerical life and his relationship with the printer Pablo Hurus–. It fixes his poetic corpus and analyzes his compositions, especially those collected in the Cancionero de Vindel. Among the themes he deals with, his attacks on stilnovism, his defence of the feminine condition and some forms of literary and poetic divertimento stand out.
Medieval animals and gender configurations in the Colonial chronicles: discursive strategies and political order
Pedro Carlos Louzada FONSECA
Original title: Animais medievais e configurações de gênero na cronística colonial: estratégias discursivas e ordem política
Keywords: Colonial chronicles, Discursive strategies, Gender, Medieval animals, Political order, Wonderful and usefulness.
The representation of the natural reality of America epitomized in the chronicles of Colonial Brazil is permeated by a dichotomous posture situated between wonder and utility, whose teleological values can be perfectly verified in medieval references. Using the comparative method and favoring the study of cultural ideas, this article examines the plausibility of the presence of the medieval bestiary and the process or trope of the feminization of the colonial natural reality, configuring oscillations between the simple enjoyment of the wonderful and its practical usefulness. The terms of this dialectical formation are examined in this article seeking to identify its limits in the configuration of reality in the chronicles of Colonial Brazil. In this way, two pillars in the article are approached, namely, the symbolic tradition of the so-called bestiary books and the tropological tradition of the feminizing discourse of reality, both of an ideological and political nature. Therefore, a curious but explainable formation of values were strategically conceived to legitimize the European intentions in the possession of the American lands in colonial times.
Women artists in the Middle Ages: constantly self-represented, consciously ignored
Sheila ADÁN LLEDÍN
Original title: Artistas en la Edad Media: constantemente autorrepresentadas, conscientemente ignoradas
Keywords: Artist, Illuminating, Middle Ages, Misogyny, Sculptress, Woman.
Women in the medieval society were taught good manners in taking care of their homes, their children, pregnancy, or marriage. However, not a few of them made it to get rid of it and become writers, mystics, medics, doctors, sculptors, painters, powerful queens, and even crusaders and war soldiers. Despite many of them being silenced, many others left the anonymity behind. Courageous women who never meant to be forgotten and will be remembered in this work. It’s key to consider that due to the patriarchal system, as well as the medieval misogyny, only a few women were able to study and learn to read and write. The ones who succeeded belonged to wealthy families with high social standards, or to the Church, like the abbesses. The Renaissance will bring more women testimonies, signatures, and self-portraits. However, there are many relevant female artists before this period, and this work will focus on them. The article goes through the different Middle Ages artistic periods: from the Early (5th-10th century) to the High (11th-13th century) and finally the Late Middle Ages (14th-15th century).
Dominus dat sapientiam. Erasmism and wisdom as backbone elements of the action and the image of Charles V
Carlos Jesús SOSA RUBIO
Original title: Dominus dat sapientiam. Erasmismo y sabiduría como elementos vertebradores de la acción y de la imagen de Carlos V
Keywords: Erasmus of Rotterdam, King David, King Solomon, Philip II, Strength, Wisdom.
Wisdom acted as a backbone in the image of Charles V, especially during his first years of government, and in this matter Erasmus of Rotterdam had a relevant role. Starting from this premise, it is convenient to analyze the origin of that decision and, above all, the consequences it had for the shaping of his effigy, whose unquestionable evolution in the 30s and 40s of the century did not necessarily mean a total break with the ideological substratum of that previous period. This paper analyzes Charles V’s wisdom sources, with Erasmus as the main point of reference, as well as its effects and manifestations, to subsequently study the relationship that through this “gift from heaven”, and the other great biblical virtue, which is strength, Charles V and Philip II establish with David and with Solomon. Legitimacy, Davidic Covenant and messianism are other issues addressed that are closely related to the propagandistic use of these two great figures of the House of Judah.
The fish, the pearl and the daisy: admiration for Rafael and his works in the Spanish collections
Aurora GALISTEO RIVERO; Jorge RIVAS LÓPEZ
Original title: El pez, la perla y la margarita: admiración por Rafael y sus obras en las colecciones españolas
Keywords: Art Collecting, Philip IV of Spain, Prado Museum, Raphael, Renaissance painting.
This article aims to make an appreciation about a specific artist, Raphael Sanzio, in the Spanish collections from the very XVIth century to the present. To focus on this matter, the three most representative paintings have been selected among all those which were at some point in Spain. It will try to reflect the great importance that these paintings had from the beginning, all of them being acquired in the XVIIth century during the reign of Philip IV of Spain. For this purpose, the consultation of different sources will be essential, among them, the descriptions of the Escorial monastery, artistic treatises, or news. The vicissitudes during the Peninsular War have been also considered, as well as the departure of artworks to France, their return, and their placement in the rooms of the newly opened Prado Museum. Taking all this into account, we will be able to evaluate the different stages through which the taste or esteem for this artist has been changing in our country, to understand his presence into the world of the art collecting and his influence in the artistic scene.
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