Late Medieval Research Articles

Sonic Bodies: Text, Music, and Silence in Late Medieval England

Sonic Bodies: Text, Music, and Silence in Late Medieval England

The Late Medieval Balkans – Research and Interpretations

Рresentation of the recently published collection of studies The Late Medieval Balkans. Studies in Honor of Assoc. Prof. Dr. Snezhana Rakova, Sofia: Wunderkammer, 2022, 406. Colleagues and followers of Dr. Rakova are devoting their interesting research results in the field of history, cultural, literary and art studies, related to their own research interest, but also with common tangents points with Rakova's research and publications.

Economics and the Cult of Death in Late Medieval England: The Guild of St. George in Nottingham, 1459-1546

ABSTRACT This paper examines the decline of the fraternity of St. George in Nottingham between 1459 and 1546. It uses the guild’s accounts in conjunction with Nottingham’s rich surviving documentary materials to investigate the financial management of the fraternity by its officers. It argues that the officers were adept at negotiating shifting economic conditions by switching between various revenue streams. However, this adroit management did not stem the tide of membership decline. It discusses the role of religious reform in the guild’s ultimate demise. It investigates why the decline in membership started long before any moves towards state-sponsored religious reform in the 1540s. It examines the impact of key individuals upon the guild’s history. It argues that, for a more nuanced view of the decline of fraternal organizations in this period, a recognition of individuals’ impact upon institutions needs to be incorporated into our understanding of institutions’ influences upon the economy.

Четивата за св. Мина в (южно)славянските календарни сборници

My paper, dedicated to the readings on St. Menas, aims at tracing which of the texts about the saint known in the Byzantine manuscript tradition were translated and became part of the Slavonic calendrical collections, as well as et identifying the specific types of manuscripts in which these texts are found. It is not only a survey of the narratives about the saint present in the Slavonic tradition but also attempts to examine the literary context in which the specific texts were placed. Given that calendrical collections differ to varying degrees (genealogically, chronologically, in composition, etc.), we sought to answer the question of the presence of a specific text in a certain type of collecton, while tracing the possible reasons that determined its appearance in such a type of collecton. The two main texts of focus are the Passio S. Menae, BHG 1254, and the Miracula S. Menae by Timothy of Alexandria, BHG 1256–1269. As the present study shows, in the South Slavonic tradition these two texts occur in two different types of collections. The Passio is part of collections that in the Slavonic tradition are defined as “old-type panegyrics”/староизводни панигирици (corresponding to the panegyricomartyrologia in the Byzantine tradition), combining texts for the Menaion and Paschal cycles of feasts, while the Miracula are part of collections like the menaion-chetii /чети-минеи (corresponding to the menologia in the Byzantine tradition). The main research conclusion of this article is that the Passio, which has features typical of the genre of martyria, is a liturgical reading and is more ritual-oriented; hence, it is found in collections of the panegyricomartyrologia type. In contrast, in the case of collections of the menology type, there is an expansion to include the Miracula of the saint – unquestionably more entertaining readings, which have been considered not only to reflect pre-Christian ideas and practices, but even in some cases to be shameful and disgraceful (Delehaye 1927: 153). From the menology – one of the type of calendar collection that existed for the longest time in Slavonic tradition – these entertaining and even fantastic narratives of the miracles of the saint were adapted in the so called cheti-sborniki (another late medieval phenomenon) and became sought readings by laypeople due to their far more curious and entertaining features. This occurred in the late medieval period, when literate people did not read solely under the constraints of the Typikon’s prescriptions but also due to personal interests and “literary” tastes.

Особенности семейно-брачных отношений в позднесредневековом суфизме

The article highlights the issue of the institution of the family and family and marriage relations in the late medieval Transoxiana (Maverannahr) narrative sources in the Lives of Muslim saints (manakibs) of the 16th century. In the late medieval period, despite the relative predominance of asceticism, in most cases, family ties began to play an important role in the life of the Sufis. However, strict adherence to the family spiritual heritage was not always respected by successors. Due to the peculiarities of the perception of life by Sufis, the death of one of the children of a Sufi could be perceived as an insignificant event, especially if the deceased during his lifetime did not show much zeal for Sufi ideals. During this period, polygamy spread among the Sufis, so there could be many heirs claiming some part of the spiritual or material heritage of the sheikh. Many women associated physically or spiritually with Sufi circles dedicate their lives to sincere service to the ideals of Sufism. On the other hand, women, especially young ones, are the most vulnerable group of society, including among the Sufis. They could easily become the subject of an offering (niyyaz) to some famous Sufi sheikh, regardless of the age of the latter. Often such "live gifts" sadly ended their lives. Judging by the manakibs that have come down to us, some famous Sufis made obscene remarks about women. These statements in the context of the moral atmosphere of that time were perceived as ordinary and did not cause any condemnation.

Bound and Burdened: How Contemporary Empalaos Rituals in Valverde Rewrite Crypto Muslim and Jewish History in Late Medieval Iberia

Abstract: Los Empalaos is a Semana Santa practice and living medievalism maintained today in the town of Valverde de la Vera in Extremadura, Spain. The town situates this practice in opposition to the luxurious daytime Holy Week festivities of major Spanish cities like Seville. A ghostly, endurance-based midnight performance enacted by lace-draped devotees, this spectacle draws pilgrims and tourists from across the world to the tiny town. Los Empalaos is traced by contemporary practitioners to fifteenth-century festivities that grew up around the expulsions of Jews. These recalled forced performances by converts intended to display their total transformation into "good Spanish Christians" through public bodily suffering and humiliation. This article argues that Los Empalaos uniquely incorporates a complex interplay of gender, rural and ethnoreligious identity, and traumatic historical memory while drawing on acts and events from late medieval Spain. This festive ritual encoded traces of Crypto-Jewish and Crypto-Muslim lamentations. The article reflects on the historicizing narrative of contemporary Semana Santa festivities as critical cultural spectacles whose repertoire recreates and transforms the medieval imaginary, obfuscating Jewish and Muslim histories.

Ceremonial Entries into Late Medieval Kraków

The purpose of this article is to introduce the problems associated with ceremonial royal entrances in Poland. These ceremonies formed part of political ritual and were an opportunity to manifest splendour and royal power. Based on surviving source records, mainly chronicle descriptions, the royal entrances to late medieval Kraków (Cracow) were analysed. They were held on various occasions, such as coronation entries, entries of royal brides arriving for marriage or entries after victories in battle. Thanks to surviving descriptions, it was possible to trace the various entry routes and capture the city’s preparations for these major events.

Szolnok – Milléri-holtág part I-II. több korszakú lelőhely őrlőkő leletei archeometriai vizsgálatának előzetes eredményei : Új adatok a domoszlói piroxénandezit nyersanyag régészeti elterjedéséhez

The multi-period archaeological site Szolnok – Milléri-holtág part I-II is located in the north-eastern vicinity of Szolnok, approximately 5 km from the town, on the high bank of the Milléri-holtág. The total excavated area is almost 27 000 m2 . The preventive excavation was performed by the staff of the Hungarian National Museum in two campaigns (in 2014 and 2015) connected with the M4 motorway constructions. Most excavated settlement features belonged to a Middle Iron Age (Scythian Period) and a Late Iron Age (Celtic Period) rural settlement with scattered structures. Besides these, other settlement features were found from the Neolithic, Late Bronze Age and Medieval Period (Árpád Period). It has to be mentioned that in the excavated part of the Scythian Period settlement, only circular and oval structures were found. The rectangular features – typical for other settlements of the period – were absent in Milléri-Holtág part I-II. However, the archaeological finds were typical: ceramic assemblages were characterised by long-lasting forms (pots, bowls) of the Iron Age household ceramics. The assemblages of the Late Iron Age features were very similar to the vessel types of the earlier period. The partition of the artefacts can only be made with the help of some characteristic forms and ornamentations that appeared in a close unit. The ground stone assemblage of the site (primarily fragments of grinding stones) was analysed with petrographic and geochemical methods. Based on these investigations, the finds' most frequent raw material type could be identified with the Domoszló-type pyroxene andesite from the Mátra Mountains, studied intensively in the past few years. Other types of andesite were present in the ground stone assemblage in smaller amounts. The identification of the source areas of these different andesite raw material types needs more exploration, not just in the territory of Hungary, but also in some areas beyond the borders, e.g. Subcarpathia (Zakarpatska Oblast, Ukraine), Eastern-Slovakia, Transylvania (Romania).

Israelite Identity and Anti-Judaism in Late Antique and Medieval Ethiopia

Israelite Identity and Anti-Judaism in Late Antique and Medieval Ethiopia

Michele Cutino (ed.), The Johannine Tradition in Late Antiquity and Medieval Poetry

Michele Cutino (ed.), The Johannine Tradition in Late Antiquity and Medieval Poetry

Crafting Sacred Blooms: Late Medieval Mystical Floriculture as Tactile Devotion

Abstract: The Besloten hofes (enclosed gardens) of Mechelen are cabinet-shaped altarpieces that feature miniature garden spaces filled with an assortment of handmade silk flowers, devotional images, and relics. This article examines the process of creating these silk flowers and their impact on the presumed crafters or restorers—the professed nuns at the Onze-Lieve-Vrouwegasthuis (Hospital of Our Lady), where the Gardens were housed. It argues that this craftwork was a contemplative and tactile activity analogous to the rosary, a prayer method that involved reflection on exegetical understanding and constant touching of the prayer beads. Similar to the rosary, the silk flower craftwork enabled the nuns to enter a supernatural state where they experienced a profound connection with sacred entities. This article reinterprets the silk flower crafts in the cabinets not merely as decorations, but as tools for personal devotion.

Features of the Sufi Sheikh's Therapeutic Practice in the Late Medieval Transoxiana

Features of the Sufi Sheikh's Therapeutic Practice in the Late Medieval Transoxiana

The League of Lords between Feudalism and the Modern State: Diversity of State Models, Political Agency, and Opposition in Late Medieval Bohemia (1394–1405)

The League of Lords between Feudalism and the Modern State: Diversity of State Models, Political Agency, and Opposition in Late Medieval Bohemia (1394–1405)

Challenging Women's Agency and Activism in Early Modernity. Merry Wiesner-Hanks. Gendering the Late Medieval and Early Modern World. Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press, 2021. 312 pp. €108.99.

Challenging Women's Agency and Activism in Early Modernity. Merry Wiesner-Hanks. Gendering the Late Medieval and Early Modern World. Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press, 2021. 312 pp. €108.99.

No Romance without Finance: Courtship in Late Medieval England

No Romance without Finance: Courtship in Late Medieval England

Acts of Care: Recovering Women in Late Medieval Health

Acts of Care: Recovering Women in Late Medieval Health

Female Authorship, Patronage, and Translation in Late Medieval France: From Christine de Pizan to Louise Labé

Female Authorship, Patronage, and Translation in Late Medieval France: From Christine de Pizan to Louise Labé

Trecento Pictoriality: Diagrammatic Painting in Late Medieval Italy by Karl Whittington (review)

Trecento Pictoriality: Diagrammatic Painting in Late Medieval Italy by Karl Whittington (review)

Ministry to the Sick and Dying in the Late Medieval Church by Thomas M. Izbicki (review)

Ministry to the Sick and Dying in the Late Medieval Church by Thomas M. Izbicki (review)

Cynthia S. Kaplan, Women’s Libraries in Late Medieval Bourbonnais, Burgundy, and France

Cynthia S. Kaplan, Women’s Libraries in Late Medieval Bourbonnais, Burgundy, and France