14th Century

The era in which Ibn Baṭṭūṭa traveled to the East was exciting but turbulent, cursed by the Black Plague and the  fall  of mighty dynasties. His chronicle provides a first-hand account of increased globalization due to the rise of  Islam, as well as the relationship between the Western world and India and China in the 14th century. Readers are  given insight into the complex power dynamics of the time as well as a personal glimpse of the author’s life as he sought to survive them, always staying on the move. The Riḥla is of great value as a historical document and for its religious commentary, especially regarding the marvels and miracles that Ibn Baṭṭūṭa encountered. It is  also an entertaining narrative with a wealth of anecdotes, often humorous or shocking, and in many cases  touchingly human. The book records the journey of Ibn Baṭṭūṭa, a Moroccan jurist who travels to the East, operating at high levels of government within the vibrant Muslim network of India and China in the 14th century.  It offers fascinating details about the cultures and dynamics of that region, and a dazzling narrative that goes well beyond the standard travelogue. Tragedies and wonders fill its pages, shared for the greater glory of Allah and the edification of readers both past and present.

The  aim  of  the  paper  is  to  systematize  documental  and  chronological  data  about  Pestis secunda, the first plague outbreak that hit Europe after the famous Black Death, looking for  an  approximate  chronology  of  the  event  in Portugal. A little more than a decade after its predecessor, this epidemic proved that the disease  would  become  recurrent,  and  some  exceptional  sources  allow  us  to  dispute  that  the  silence  of  the  majority  of  the  surviving  documents means a minor impact in the lives of those who survived it.

Performance score of Francesco Landini's madrigal, " Musica Son - Già Furon - Ciascun Vuol" transcribed from the Squarcialupi Codex (121v-122r). For a video of the score with a performance see the link below.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YNcfZSBF9ow

This is a threefold transcription of Baude Cordier's "circle canon," two versions in rondeau form and one in perpetual canon. Included with the music transcriptions are full translations from Medieval French to English of all the accompanying texts as well as an English text underlay for the music.

Also included is a full explanation of the various mensurations and colorations that appear in the piece.

The design of the scores attempts to illustrate the rondeau form overlaying the canonic conceit.

For a score animation with the transcription and original manuscript, see this link:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iaeOWdXM4Pg

El capítulo estudia, en primer lugar, la relación entre oralidad y escritura, las continuidades y las discontinuidades en el uso y extensión de estas formas de comunicación, en segundo lugar,  del progresivo afianzamiento de la escritura, a partir del siglo XIII y sobre todo en el siglo XIV y XV, se ocupa de la importancia de la madre en los procesos de aprendizaje, y finalmente de los cambios en la educación y ensñanza a lo largo de la Edad Media. Vid. Cap. 6 de "Las relaciones en la Historia de la Europa medieval", València, Tirant Lo Blanc, 2006, 345--430

The 1330s witnessed an unprecedented change in describing and solving ethical problems which germinated at the University of Oxford. The new trend triggered an extensive employment of logical and mathematical reasoning and tools in investigating the issues of natural philosophy and was soon transplanted into ethics and theology. Calculations, proportions, and measuring “ethical things” by the maximum and minimum grade or their first and last instants added up to a new set of problems under scrutiny, which prompted a series of unorthodox question: What if we can quantify virtues, vices, the will, and moral error? What if your will comes in degrees, and is more free on Monday, but less free on Tuesday? What if we can establish a scale of virtue and vice? This novel approach initiated by the Oxford Calculators challenged the standard medieval methods of addressing ethical problems. Soon, it would influence the minds of thinkers at the Universities of Paris and Vienna, representing the first instance of the reception of analytic philosophy on the Continent. Alluring though it sounded, the new movement was not welcomed by everyone in fourteenth-century Paris, or even at Oxford. Calculating human (im)morality was as tempting as it was objectionable to some.

Our conference will be dedicated to exploring the abundance of discourses on and approaches to late medieval ethics. We will search for the origins of this philosophical practice, look into the ways it was adopted by contemporary thinkers, and finally discuss the impact it had on the following generations of philosophers in the Middle Ages. We will ponder how ethical discourse was transformed at Oxford and on the Continent at that time to go beyond the standard and taken-for-granted contemporary views on fourteenth-century ethics.

This study explores the philosophical, canonical and doxographical contributions of one of Tibet’s greatest thinkers, Klong chen rab ’byams pa (1308–1363), or Longchenpa, particularly as presented in his detailed overview of Buddhist tenet-systems, the Grub mtha’ mdzod (The Precious Treasury of Spiritual Systems). While the bulk of the previous scholarship on this scholar has focused almost exclusively on his writings on the tantric modality of Atiyoga (or rDzogs chen), this study addresses Klong chen pa’s endeavors to integrate that school of thought with the other Buddhist vehicles (Sūtrayāna and Mantrayāna) by means of parallel techniques and a polysemic hermeneutic. Furthermore, it questions a number of critiques brought against rDzogs chen. By locating Klong chen pa biographically and textually in relation to the other seminal figures of 14th-century central Tibet (e.g., Bu ston, O rgyan gling pa, Dol po pa), this study shows the precise nature of his wide-ranging contributions to canonical construction within the rNying ma tradition of Tibet and the particularities involved with his interpretation of Buddhism’s two-reality theory (relative and ultimate) in relation to the Svātantrika and Prāsaṅgika schools of Madhyamaka philosophy. In the process, it provides context for understanding Klong chen pa as a complex figure, with both scholarly and practical soteriological concerns, and his engagement with the most critical debates of his time.  Keywords: Dzogchen, tantra, Vajrayana, Tibet, Longchenpa, doxography

[EN]: It is a documentary study on the use of alchemy as an exemplum in the theological literature of the thirteenth century, especially in sermons and homilies.I have found a lot of references in Servasanto de Faenza, Robert Grosseteste, John Wycliffe, Nicolas de Lyra, Tomás Cantimpré, Giovanni da San Gimignano, Pierre Auriol, Pierre Bersuire, Johann Herolt, Helvicus Theutonicus, etc. Contrary to the thesis defended so far, I have found textual evidence that the metaphorical integration between alchemy and Christian religion, by way of exemplum, is earlier in the pastoral of Europe (13th century) than that in the treatises of alchemy (14th century). For example: The elimination of sin in baptism and penance, as well as its purgative effects on the human soul, are related to alchemical elixirs. Eucharistic transubstantiation is represented by alchemical transmutation. It is urged to see Christ in the sacred host just as precious metals are extracted from vile minerals. Tomás de Cantimpré makes an exemplary story where alchemy is an extraordinary tool, put by God himself for people who want to help the needy: poor, sick and pilgrims. For Grosseteste, already from the first half of the thirteenth century lapis signat Christum, long before the alchemists made such an analogy. For Servasanto the Virgin Mary is pure as the quintessence and is a means for God in regard to Pater luminum; for he sends his gifts over men through her, just as natural virtue descends on earth through the quintessence. The alchemical transmutation and the prodigious conception of Christ in the Virgin Mary are compared by the grace of the Holy Spirit. We are told that a good preacher works as extraordinary changes in sinners as an alchemist who makes gold with lead. The action of the fire of the final judgment in the souls is assimilated to the alchemical subtilitatio. In another exemplum Mary, who conceives Jesus, is exemplified by the purest gold that participates in the composition of the "elixir magno" of the alchemists. The passion of Christ is like an alchemical examination by fire, like a calcination or copellation of mineral matters. We find preaching about the way in which the soul descends to the body, described as the quintessence that descends on metals. There are sermons where we are told that God would form the world and enrich it by diversifying it, just as an alchemist starts with a matter to elaborate new ones, some purer (rectified exhalations) and some more gross (corrupt humidities). This alchemical interpretation of the genesis is much earlier than that of the paracelsists or the christian kabbalists of the Renaissance. Other exempla propose that the first light appointed by God in Genesis is analogous to the spirits of alchemy, "sicut in alchimia sunt quaedam corpora quae vocantur spiritus", which form and invigorate metals in the earth's bosom. God is described as an agent, an alchemist or aurifaber, who purifies and brings hearts to perfection, as if they were metallic. He cleanses them by the water of baptism and purifies them by the fire of the final judgment. That influence of God in the spiritual life of man is confronted with the alchemical operations of washing, calcination, waxing, dissolving and freezing. Even some of these homilies and sermons include quotes from alchemical texts: De aluminibus et salibus, De anima in arte alchimiae, Ad Hasen Regem de Re Recta, Hermes Trismegisto, etc.

[ES]: Se demuestra documentalmente la utilización de metáforas alquímicas en sermones religiosos de los siglos XIII y XIV. Contrariamente a la tesis defendida hasta ahora, veremos que la integración metafórica entre alquimia y religión cristiana, a modo de exemplum, es anterior en la pastoral de Europa (s. XIII) a la que se da en los tratados de alquimia (s. XIV). Centraremos la atención en un predicador franciscano llamado Servasanto de Faenza (ca.1220-ca.1295), que nos ha dejado en sus sermonarios un buen número de temas alquímicos propios de época. No obstante, veremos que no es un caso único. Tomándolo a él como referencia, y a lo largo de más de cien páginas, citaremos homilías, sermones y comentarios teológicos de Robert Grosseteste, John Wycliffe, Nicolas de Lyra, Tomás de Cantimpré, Giovanni da San Gimignano, Pierre Auriol, Pierre Bersuire, Johann Herolt, Helvicus Theutonicus y otros muchos. El nivel figurativo es en ocasiones muy complejo y hasta ahora se atribuía a alquimistas paracelsistas o cabalistas cristianos muy posteriores. Por ejemplo: La eliminación del pecado en el bautismo y la penitencia, así como sus efectos purgantes en el alma humana, son relacionados con los elixires alquímicos. La transubtanciación eucarística es representada por la transmutación alquímica. Se insta a ver a Cristo en la hostia sagrada igual que se extraen metales preciosos de minerales viles. Tomás de Cantimpré hace una historia ejemplar donde la alquimia es una herramienta extraordinaria, puesta por Dios mismo para las personas que quieren ayudar a los necesitados: pobres, enfermos y peregrinos. Para Grosseteste, ya desde la primera mitad del siglo XIII lapis signat Christum, mucho tiempo antes de que los alquimistas hiciesen tal analogía. Para Servasanto la Virgen María es pura como la quintaesencia y es un medio para Dios en cuanto a Pater luminum; pues él envía sus dones sobre los hombres a través de ella, al igual que la virtud natural desciende sobre la tierra por medio de la quintaessentia. Se compara la transmutación alquímica y la concepción prodigiosa de Cristo en la Virgen María por la gracia del Espíritu Santo. Se nos dice que un buen predicador obra cambios tan extraordinarios en los pecadores como un alquimista que hace oro con el plomo. - La acción del fuego del juicio final en las almas se asimila a la subtilitatio alquímica. En otro exemplum María, que concibe a Jesús, es ejemplificada por el oro más puro que participa en la composición del “elixir magno” de los alquimistas. La pasión de Cristo es como un examen alquímico por el fuego, como una calcinación o copelación de materias minerales. Encontramos prédicas sobre el modo en el que el alma desciende al cuerpo, descrito como la quintaesencia que desciende sobre los metales. Hay sermones donde se nos dice que Dios formaría el mundo y lo enriquecería diversificándolo, igual que un alquimista parte de una materia para elaborar otras nuevas, unas más puras (exhalaciones rectificadas) y otras más groseras (humedades corruptas). Otros exempla nos proponen que la luz primera nombrada por Dios en el Génesis es análoga a los espíritus de la alquimia, “sicut in alchimia sunt quaedam corpora quae vocantur spiritus”, que forman y vigorizan los metales en el seno de la tierra. Se describe a Dios como un agente, un alquimista o aurifaber, que purifica y lleva a perfección los corazones, como si fueran metálicos. Los limpia por el agua de bautismo y purifica por el fuego del juicio final. Esa influencia de Dios en la vida espiritual del hombre se confronta con las operaciones alquímicas de lavado, calcinación, encerado, disolución y congelación. Se cita incluso de manera explícita en estas homilías, sermones dominicales o festivos el De aluminibus et salibus, el De anima in arte alchimiae, el Ad Hasen Regem de Re Recta, a Hermes Trismegisto, etc.

Z evropského prostředí jsou pro lucemburské období známá nejrůznější střihová řešení pro spodní, vrchní i svrchní typy oděvů díky jednotlivým dochovaným kusům, které byly v tomto ohledu podrobně prozkoumány. Porovnáním s ikonografickými prameny lze identifikovat skupiny střihů užívaných pro konkrétní formy oděvu. Příspěvek přináší přehled střihů užitých na dochovaných oděvech ze 14. století a sleduje jejich výskyt na českém území. Některé typy lze vysledovat v pozdějších nákresech krejčovských střihových knih, kde byly uchovány jako určité tradiční formy. Zvláštní pozornost je věnována vývoji tvarovaného střihu pro trup, který pravděpodobně vznikl ze dvou odlišných konstrukcí. První variantou byla geneze z typu střihu s prodlouženými klíny, jak předpokládaly Crowfoot, Pritchard a Staniland. Druhou možností byla transformace mi-parti oděvů do podoby čtyřdílového střihu.  Průzkum byl následně aplikován při vzniku experimentálních modelů využitých pro výstavní účely.

A widely reported story in the historiography on medieval Ethiopia relates how, in the year 1306, an “Ethiopian” embassy visited the court of Pope Clement V in Avignon and offered military aid in the fight against Islam to Latin Christianity. This article re-examines the source – Jacopo Filippo Foresti's Supplementum Chronicarum – thought to document an episode of one of the earliest European–African Christian contacts. It investigates Foresti's own sources, their historiographical transmission history, and the feasibility of relating it to the socio-political entity of Solomonic Ethiopia in the Horn of Africa in the early fourteenth century, concluding that Foresti's information was based on Latin Christian texts, such as the Legenda Aurea and the myth of Prester John, only. The ‘Ethiopian’ embassy of 1306 is thus not borne out by sources and should be dismissed in scholarship, resetting the timeline of official Ethiopian–Latin Christian contacts in the late medieval period.

A study of the cadastre books of the Pskov land allows us to determine the origin of a number of old icons of the 14th century, including images of Hodegetria and the Pantokrator (“Eleazarovsky”), which became famous as miracle-working icons (both from the Pskov Museum),
as well as “Boris and Gleb” (Tretyakov Gallery), which was included in the decoration of the Nativity of Holy Virgin Cathedral of the Snetogorsky Monastery (1309), decorated in 1313. At the same time, the monumental worship icon of Hodegetria together with the images of the
saints in the lower register of the frescoes on the eastern wall of the church, built on the sit where the first prior and monks suffered martyrdom at the hands of German knights, created a single group conceived as a memorial pantheon. The composition of Hodegetria, dating back to Byzantine iconography such as the Cypriot image of Our Lady of Arakiotissa (1192), is known in Russia only from Pskov art and starting from the 13th century it appears here very consistently. The unique features of the Snetogory icon, primarily the figures of angels with incense burners on the sides of the Virgin, are explained by the memorial function of the church. The artistic features leave no doubt that the image was created simultaneously with the frescoes of the church in 1313 by the chief master. He represented the leading line of Pskov art, reflecting the spiritual quest of both the extreme asceticism, of which the Snetogorsky monastery became the center in those years, and also the ideals of the urban elite, whose representatives were its main customers and donators.

Report from the historical workshop dedicated to the 600th anniversary of the death of the Bohemian and Holy Roman king Wenceslas IV. of Luxembourg, Prague, 17th September 2019.
Published in: Česká literatura 67 (2019). No. 5, pp. 765-769.

In der vorliegenden Arbeit wird eine Edition von insgesamt 30 bisher nicht edierten Urkunden in mittelhochdeutscher Sprache, darunter 22 Testamenten, aus dem Bestand des Archív hlavného mesta SR Bratislavy (Stadtarchiv Pressburg) geboten. Es handelt sich dabei hauptsächlich um jene nicht in das Protocollum Testamentorum eingetragene Einzeltestamente, die als unzusammenhängende Stücke im Archiv verwahrt werden. Fünf der 22 Testamente sind in teilweise leicht unterschiedlicher Überlieferung auch in eben jenem Stadtbuch überliefert, somit liegen durch diese Arbeit 17 Testamente erstmals in edierter Form vor. Die behandelten Urkunden erstrecken sich über einen Zeitraum von knapp 140 Jahren, beginnend mit dem Jahr 1360.
Der Edition ist ein Einführungsteil mit grundlegenden Informationen über Pressburger Testamente im Allgemeinen und auch über die edierten im Speziellen vorangestellt. Darin werden unter anderem der Entwicklungsweg des Abfassens von Testamenten und die Formen und der innere Aufbau von letztwilligen Verfügungen behandelt. Weiters werden Möglichkeiten für zukünftige Forschungsziele aufgezeigt. Die verwendeten Transkriptionsregeln bilden den Abschluss des Einführungsteils.
Die Edition selbst wird durch eine Realienbeschreibung für jede Urkunde ergänzt, in der die inneren und äußeren Merkmale beschrieben werden. Weiters findet sich in diesem Kapitel eine ausführlich gehaltene Inhaltsbeschreibung zu jeder Urkunde mit Kommentaren zu auftretenden stadtgeschichtlichen, familiären oder sozialgeschichtlichen  Besonderheiten. Komplettiert wird die Edition durch den ausgedehnten Registerteil, in dem sämtliche auftretenden Personen und Orte aufgelistet sind, sowie ein Sachregister, das die schnelle Auffindung von vererbten oder nur erwähnten Gütern erlaubt.

According to our previous topics, we can draw a conclusion that
Despot Jovan Oliver rose as a feudal ruler during the reign of Stefan
Dushan, and the territories under his reign were in the Macedonian
geographical area. Jovan Oliver, according to the historical sources,
began his career under the title of ’Chelnik’ (Челник), as a commander
of the land army, and around the year of 1347 (probably after the
coronation of Stefan Dushan with the title Tzar in Skopje) in the year of
1346, Oliver succeeded to get the title of Despot, the highest-ranking title
that can be found in the historical sources connected with his name.
Jovan Oliver was a founder of the Saint John the Baptist church in Ohrid
as part of the Church of Saint Sophia. Togethwr with his family, hem is
painted on a fresco – a painting in the church. Also, he is a founder of
the church of Saint Dimitry in the area of Kochani in the eastern part of
Macedonia. In the central part of his ruling areas, basically, the area of
Ovche Pole, he was a founder of the Church of Saint Arhangel Michael
and the church has a double dedication; in this case the church is also
dedicated to Saint Gabriel of Lesnovo. Oliver, with his own funds,
repaired and rebuilt the monastery in the year of 1341. In the fresco of
Oliver as a founder, together with part of his family, he is simbolically
presented with a model of the church in his hands. His wife, Ana Marija,
is also depicted in a fresco – painting in the church of Saint Sophia in
Ohrid. According to the available historical sources, Oliver had seven
children, Damjan, Dabizhiv, Rusin, Krajko, Danica, Vidislav and Oliver
(and probably after the death of their father, although, still an open
question, thus arguable after he became a monk) only two of them are
mentioned in the historical sources, Krajko and Rusin.
Probably, these two sons of his, mentioned without any title, ruled
some time the territories of their father, until some bigger feudal rulers
expanded their lands in the former areas of Oliver’s. Oliver (as Stefan Борче Милошески
112
Dushan’s vassal), had some autonomy as a ruler of his lands. There are
some indications about this in the triple hierarchy between Oliver, his
direct subjects (lower feudal lords), and between Oliver and the
king/tzar. According to a coin dating from the mid14th century, one of
these direct subjects of Oliver’s was also Volkashin, later king Volkashin,
King Marko’s father and Despot Jovan Uglesha’s brother. There are
many indicators which show that Oliver is born in an area of a Slavic –
speaking domination and according to the names of his children (except
for Oliver) and his brother, Bogdan, he was of Slavic descendent, and I
do not exclude the possibility that he was born somewhere in the area of
Kosovo or maybe some areas of the northern part of geographic
Macedonia. Regarding his brother Bogdan, we have very few historical
sources and it is very hard to reconstruct his political career into details,
, but we can assume that he ruled some lands in the west of the river
Vardar.
About the rеlations between the king/tzar Stefan Dushan and
Despot Jovan Oliver, we can conclude that Oliver remained loyal to the
supreme ruler of the medieval Serbian state, but there are some
indicators which show that maybe there were some ideas about
separation not during the ruling time of Dushan, but during the reign of
Urosh V. The fact is that Dushan considered Oliver a strong ally and we
can see that from his involvement in the diplomatic relations between
Stefan Dushan and John Kantakuzin.
My humble opinion is that it is possible that after the death of
Stefan Dushan, during the reign of Urosh V and the process of
decentralization of the state, Oliver, for a short period of time, separated
from the authority of the tzar. Also, there is a possibility that after the
year of 1355, Oliver became a monk and died under the name of Jovan
Kalivit. Probably the best historical reminder of this highly influential
feudal ruler in the Serbian kingdom/tzardom is the fresco painting from
the church of the monastery of Lesnovo.

The old Orthodox church of Strei, in the county of Hunedoara (Romania), dates back to the 14 th century. The precise dates of its construction and of its paintings are still unclear, but the murals certainly date from the second half of the 14 th century. The subject of these paintings is also quite peculiar for an Orthodox edifice. In the sanctuary, the Apostles, engaged in a vigorous conversation, are painted between the columns, under a Maiestas Domini. Their gestures are quite dramatic, very different from the static appearance of most bishops depicted in the lower register of the same sanctuary. The author carries on a comparison between the murals in Strei and other paintings from Termeno sulla Strada del Vino, close to Bolzano (Italy), dating back to the previous century. He notices that such depictions of Apostles carrying on conversations in the sanctuary , between depicted columns, are characteristic for many churches of Northern Italy, and another important example is in Pozzoveggiani (close to Padova). The meaning of these Apostles' Colloquia is related to the escha-tological connotation of the iconographical programs, but another interesting aspect is that they also compose a depiction of the Council of Jerusalem (Acts 15:2-35), in direct relation with the theme of Ecclesia militans, according to the Four Senses of Scripture. The presence of such a strong Catholic subject, typical in the areas where the Papacy or the Catholic bishops had to maintain a strong ecclesiastical control, mainly against heretics and various disobedient heterodox communities, points towards a possible explanation of the use of this imagery in Strei, because Strei was located in the land of schismatic Vlachs. Other Apostles' Colloquia depicted in Istria and in the Dalmatian area point towards a possible influence of the Friars of the Observant Vicariate of Bosnia, under whose protection many of these medieval Vlachs were from the point of view of the Papacy. The depiction of St. Callinicus, patriarch of Constantinople, in front of St. Peter, in the lower register of the sanctuary murals of Strei, substantiates this hypothesis, just as well as the fact that these bishops depicted in the sanctuary are accompanied by representations of their churches. This other fact suggests that the main subject of the iconographical program in Strei may have been of a Uniate nature, i.e. the Union of the Orthodox Church with Rome. In the last part of the article, the author deals with the presence of the Franciscans in the area and with a series of Medieval Latin documents speaking of the churches they built for the local Vlachs, as well as with other local (Catholic) monuments to which the paintings of Strei may have been related: the second stratum of murals of Sântămărie Orlea and the nowadays lost paintings of the medieval church of Deva, close nearby.

Jan Chudoba z Vartemberka [Wartenberg] was bohemian aristocrat and one of the important politics at the border of 14th and 15th Century. Wartenbergs was one of the leading noble families in medieval Bohemian Kingdom and they hold rich dominium in North Bohemia. Jan Chudoba was in early years a friend of theologian Jan Hus. Lately he founded a new castle Ralsko, very closed to his main settlement castle in Wartenberg (now Stráž pod Ralskem). During the turbulent time of hussite wars was at the site of emperor Sigismund of Luxembourg a with other powerful aristocrats in this part of land he made strong alliance.

Published in: Heraldika a genealoge 41 (2008), No. 1-2, pp. 105-110.

The inclusion of Portugal in the European cultural circles prevailing throughout the Middle Ages also becomes clear in the illuminated medieval juridical manuscripts held in Portuguese library collections. In fact, these manuscripts do in fact constitute part of a set of precious material evi-dence as to the shared cultural identity (written, legal, in-tellectual, artistic) and as well as the dialogue between Portugal and the rest of Europe. These codices also reveal the propensity of then Portugal, and already in effect since the Middle Ages, towards cultural openness that placed it right in the midst of the social and cultural dynamics pre-vailing in the Europe of this period