Half Of 11th Century Research Articles

A Százdi alapítólevél nyelv- és névtörténeti forrásértékéről

The paper examines the Foundation Deed of Százd Abbey, an important, albeit until recently neglected, 11th-century linguistic record as a source for historical linguistics. Following an overview of the relevant literature, the paper studies the foundation and the estates of the Százd monastery, and also reports on the authenticity and the circumstances of the compilation of the charter. The author attempts to localize the building of the abbey and explains the etymology of the toponym Szá(s)z(d). Despite the 1067/1267 Foundation Deed of Százd Abbey being an interpolated charter (i.e. a charter including later insertions), through a recently coined new methodological approach (i.e. separating the chronological layers), the charter may be accepted as an important and authentic source in historical linguistics. The majority of the deed has been found genuine in the literature; later insertions have only been identified in the second part of the charter. A thorough examination of the 1067 charter and a systematic comparison with other 11th-century sources provides researches a picture of the language used in the second half of 11th century, the period in which the charter was compiled. As a result of the interdisciplinary nature of such research, the results of the survey may also be utilized in other disciplines focusing on the history of the Hungarian people.

Clergy, Spaces and Liturgy at Vic Cathedral: St Peter's Church in the 12th and 13th Centuries

The romanesque cathedral of Vic, built by bishop and abbott Oliba within the first half of 11th century and desappeared in the end of 18th century, had two churches dedicated to St Peter and St Mary. The main church, dedicated to St Peter, featured by a single nave, a wide transept and a crypt-hall under the main altar, possessed seven altars according to the original design. This basic frame was complemented along the 12th and 13th centuryes with the enlargment of the choir and the addition of new altars in order to adapt the space to the needs of the cathedral users, canons and faithful. With these modifications, this old topo-liturgical design was kept in use until around 1400, when the building suffered important structural modifications.

Wczesnośredniowieczna ceramika naczyniowa z mezoregionu dorzecza górnej Drwęcy

The main objective of the paper was to present the results of a multi-faceted analysis of the Early Medieval pottery from the Upper Drweca Mesoregion. Pottery, which is the subject of analysis was discovered during the verifying trial excavation conducted by the expedition of Institute of Archaeology Nicolaus Copernicus University on Early Medieval hill forts in Domkowo, Lipowiec, Morliny, and Ornowo-Lesiak. The results of the analysis of the technical-technological, morphological, and stylistic aspects were presented. The analysis, as well as tracing analogies allowed to make certain hypothesis relating to the chronology of various assemblages collected during the carried out in settlement complexes, and sites. At the same time it also provided basis for dating the habitation of the Upper Drweca basin. Analysed pottery was basis for determining the chronology of particular sites. The chronology of the Ornowo-Lesiak hill fort, until yet dated widely to the period from 9th till 12th century, at present may be restricted to the period from the last decades of the 10th till the second half of 11th century. The hill fort in Domkowo should be probably dated back to the turn of 10th and 11th century. A small number of ceramic sources collected during excavation of Lipowiec and Morliny hill forts only allows conditional dating of these sites to 11–12th century.

Zdobnictwo przedmiotów drewnianych z Żółtego na Pomorzu Zachodnim jako przykład tzw. pomorskiej szkoły ornamentyki skandynawsko-insularnej

Decorative art of early Middle Ages preserved on objects excavated in the area of Western Slavs is a precious source of knowledge concerning many problems of culture of those ancient communities and their mutual connections. Taking into consideration the fact of significant similarities in ornamentations appearing on stone archaeological objects from the Isle of Man and the artifacts occurring in Pomerania, the Greater Poland and Silesia, it is the least probable that the cultural phenomenon under discussion here existed as a result of absolutely independent, convergent development of decoration art in the area of Polish lands and the British Isles. Appearing of the whole complex of resemble ornamentation motifs indicates on the contrary their common source of inspiration. The problem displaced this fact in a wide scale after the recent excavations in the island of Zarańskie Lake, in Żółte settlement. What requires particular attention is a unique in Slavic scale, collection of 25 wooden spoons and several other objects, with predominance of different variations of rope knots and moreover, triangular motifs characteristic for the pattern of so called ring-chain ornamentation, expressed the most clearly in crosses forms Gosforth and Kirk Michael. Characteristic feature of wooden spoons from Żółte ornaments consists preliminarily of ribbon plaiting element, motif of a knot estimated in nine examples. In Mark Redknap’s opinion, it is one of two main, except ring-chain motif, elements of this style popular in the British Isles in the last quarter of 9th century and in 10th century. On the grounds of dendrochronological dating results it can be supposed that objects from Żółte were deposited in the lake water about a half of 11th century, i.e. after destroying Wolin by Danish king Magnus. The problem of their manufacturing is a separate issue. Ring-chain ornamentation appearing in the West Pomerania is connected with a Scandinavian workshop operating in Wolin and inspired by West Viking art in fourth quarter of 10th century or first quarter of 11th century. It cannot be excluded that a part of the objects ornamented in the stylistic, excavated on the island of Zarańskie Lake, had been made much earlier in early urban center on the Daugava River. It is more possible, however, that due to its mass appearance and relatively homogenous character of decorations we can assume local production under the influence of decorative style developed in Wolin, with e.g. the participation of artists-craftsmen coming from Wolin itself, settled in the place permanently or visiting that multifunctional settlement center being an important place of interregional exchange, temporarily.

Two cases of leprosy from Žatec (Bohemia), dated to the turn of the 12th century and confirmed by DNA analysis for Mycobacterium leprae

The leprosy known today primarily from tropical areas was a relatively common disease in European Middle Ages. This article describes two skeletons bearing palaeopathological indications of leprosy from a cemetery at Žatec in North-West Bohemia (Czech Republic). The archaeological context clearly shows that these individuals were buried prior to the second decade of the 12th century, and most probably in the second half of 11th century. This rules out the possibility that these individuals might have contracted the disease in connection with the Crusades, in which a Bohemian contingent under Prince Vladislav II participated from 1141 to 1142. Molecular genetic methods were applied to detect specific DNA fragments of the causative agent of leprosy, Mycobacterium leprae. The nasal concha of one individual yielded DNA that could be directly sequenced after isolation and amplification. The vertebral body of the second individual, on the other hand, did not provide DNA of sufficient quality for direct sequencing and only weak amplification was detectable. The morphological and genetic analyses both indicate that leprosy existed prior to the Crusades in medieval Bohemia, albeit that its prevalence was probably not as great as in northern or western Europe.

Un pont (?) antique (?) à Tours / An ancient (?) bridge (?) at Tours

The exceptionally low level of the water in the Loire river at Tours in September 2000 allowed the discovery of groups of wooden piles which may be parts of an ancient bridge. That structure apparently older than the medieval bridge built in the first half of 11th century could be from Roman times.