Huw Pryce
- Published in print:
- 1993
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198203629
- eISBN:
- 9780191675904
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198203629.003.0007
- Subject:
- History, British and Irish Medieval History, History of Religion
The relationship of Welsh law to the Catholic Church was characterized by co-operation rather than conflict. In terms of both textual production and legal practice, cyfraith Hywel relied — albeit to ...
More
The relationship of Welsh law to the Catholic Church was characterized by co-operation rather than conflict. In terms of both textual production and legal practice, cyfraith Hywel relied — albeit to a greater degree in southern Wales than in Gwynedd — on ecclesiastical participation, which implies that at least some Welsh clergy held it to be a generally acceptable body of customary law. But this criticism seems not to have radically undermined the confidence of Welsh clerics in the law, for the compilations they copied and helped to compose implicitly reject any charges of immorality in their prologues, while giving at best limited and piecemeal recognition to the critics' standpoint regarding matters which excited controversy such as marriage and inheritance. There can be no doubt, then, that the clergy played a role in the production of lawbooks and in legal administration. The following chapters examine three topics that are dealt with in relatively full detail in the law-texts: offences by, and injuries to, clerics; ecclesiastical sanctuary; and the seignorial rights of churches.Less
The relationship of Welsh law to the Catholic Church was characterized by co-operation rather than conflict. In terms of both textual production and legal practice, cyfraith Hywel relied — albeit to a greater degree in southern Wales than in Gwynedd — on ecclesiastical participation, which implies that at least some Welsh clergy held it to be a generally acceptable body of customary law. But this criticism seems not to have radically undermined the confidence of Welsh clerics in the law, for the compilations they copied and helped to compose implicitly reject any charges of immorality in their prologues, while giving at best limited and piecemeal recognition to the critics' standpoint regarding matters which excited controversy such as marriage and inheritance. There can be no doubt, then, that the clergy played a role in the production of lawbooks and in legal administration. The following chapters examine three topics that are dealt with in relatively full detail in the law-texts: offences by, and injuries to, clerics; ecclesiastical sanctuary; and the seignorial rights of churches.
D. L. d'Avray
- Published in print:
- 2005
- Published Online:
- September 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780198208211
- eISBN:
- 9780191716690
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198208211.003.0004
- Subject:
- History, European Medieval History
A strange features of later medieval Church and Society can be explained by marriage symbolism. Clerics in Minor Orders (i.e., below the level of subdeacon), a large and understudied class, could be ...
More
A strange features of later medieval Church and Society can be explained by marriage symbolism. Clerics in Minor Orders (i.e., below the level of subdeacon), a large and understudied class, could be married and retain their status. Thus, married ‘criminous clerics’ had immunity from secular justice and execution. All this would be lost, however, if the cleric in minor orders married a widow or remarried after the death of his wife. Behind this lay the idea that just as the marriage of Christ to the Church was of one to one, so too should clerical marriage be. For similar reasons, a man who had lost his wife could become a priest but not a many who had lost two wives. The ‘marriage of one to one’ line of reasoning also explains some otherwise puzzling features in the history of medieval wedding ceremonies.Less
A strange features of later medieval Church and Society can be explained by marriage symbolism. Clerics in Minor Orders (i.e., below the level of subdeacon), a large and understudied class, could be married and retain their status. Thus, married ‘criminous clerics’ had immunity from secular justice and execution. All this would be lost, however, if the cleric in minor orders married a widow or remarried after the death of his wife. Behind this lay the idea that just as the marriage of Christ to the Church was of one to one, so too should clerical marriage be. For similar reasons, a man who had lost his wife could become a priest but not a many who had lost two wives. The ‘marriage of one to one’ line of reasoning also explains some otherwise puzzling features in the history of medieval wedding ceremonies.
Sophie Lunn-Rockliffe
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- January 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780199230204
- eISBN:
- 9780191710681
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199230204.003.0004
- Subject:
- Religion, Early Christian Studies
This chapter explores Ambrosiaster's position in and attitude towards the Roman church in the 370s and 380s. Some of the Quaestiones in particular contain clues that leads to the belief that they ...
More
This chapter explores Ambrosiaster's position in and attitude towards the Roman church in the 370s and 380s. Some of the Quaestiones in particular contain clues that leads to the belief that they originated as sermons or lectures, and the possibility that Ambrosiaster wrote homiletic texts suggests he was, in fact, a cleric. The Quaestiones are given precedence in this analysis, because they are less uniform in nature than the Commentaries and contain more clues to the circumstances of their composition and delivery.Less
This chapter explores Ambrosiaster's position in and attitude towards the Roman church in the 370s and 380s. Some of the Quaestiones in particular contain clues that leads to the belief that they originated as sermons or lectures, and the possibility that Ambrosiaster wrote homiletic texts suggests he was, in fact, a cleric. The Quaestiones are given precedence in this analysis, because they are less uniform in nature than the Commentaries and contain more clues to the circumstances of their composition and delivery.
Wulf Arlt
- Published in print:
- 2000
- Published Online:
- May 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780195124538
- eISBN:
- 9780199868421
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195124538.003.0015
- Subject:
- Music, History, Western
The Office for the Feast of Circumcision (sometimes called the Feast of Fools) was celebrated throughout the more than twenty-four hours starting with First Vespers on 31 December and lasting through ...
More
The Office for the Feast of Circumcision (sometimes called the Feast of Fools) was celebrated throughout the more than twenty-four hours starting with First Vespers on 31 December and lasting through Compline of New Year's Day. This elaborate Office, one of several designed for celebration by clerical orders during the Octave of Christmas, is preserved in great detail in a 16th-century MS from Le Puy. Evidence confirms, however, that the Office itself dates from at least the 13th century. This chapter discusses the sources and history of this Office — known as Bozolari — and its music, and places them in the context of earlier traditions from Beauvais, Paris, and Sens.Less
The Office for the Feast of Circumcision (sometimes called the Feast of Fools) was celebrated throughout the more than twenty-four hours starting with First Vespers on 31 December and lasting through Compline of New Year's Day. This elaborate Office, one of several designed for celebration by clerical orders during the Octave of Christmas, is preserved in great detail in a 16th-century MS from Le Puy. Evidence confirms, however, that the Office itself dates from at least the 13th century. This chapter discusses the sources and history of this Office — known as Bozolari — and its music, and places them in the context of earlier traditions from Beauvais, Paris, and Sens.
Christina Harrington
- Published in print:
- 2002
- Published Online:
- January 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780198208235
- eISBN:
- 9780191716683
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198208235.003.0009
- Subject:
- History, British and Irish Medieval History
When the earlier portrayals of male–female relations in the church are compared with the images in the later hagiography, the overriding characteristic is continuity, as it was with the nuns' ...
More
When the earlier portrayals of male–female relations in the church are compared with the images in the later hagiography, the overriding characteristic is continuity, as it was with the nuns' professions and the other subjects discussed in the preceding chapter. Yet the issues and problems of sexuality within the monastic world in early medieval Ireland were being addressed more than they had been before, and subtle but important changes were afoot. In both male and female lives of the period, the normal course of events remained as it was in the earlier ones. Monks, clerics, and nuns interact in close proximity on account of friendship, collaboration, and mutual support: such arrangements neither scandalised nor puzzled the redactors. This chapter examines sexual anxiety among nuns; presence of nuns in male monasteries; proper proximity between monks and nuns, monks and laywomen, and nuns and laymen; relation between male saints and female saints; nuns' sexuality, abortions, and absolutions; and women's seduction of monks or clerics.Less
When the earlier portrayals of male–female relations in the church are compared with the images in the later hagiography, the overriding characteristic is continuity, as it was with the nuns' professions and the other subjects discussed in the preceding chapter. Yet the issues and problems of sexuality within the monastic world in early medieval Ireland were being addressed more than they had been before, and subtle but important changes were afoot. In both male and female lives of the period, the normal course of events remained as it was in the earlier ones. Monks, clerics, and nuns interact in close proximity on account of friendship, collaboration, and mutual support: such arrangements neither scandalised nor puzzled the redactors. This chapter examines sexual anxiety among nuns; presence of nuns in male monasteries; proper proximity between monks and nuns, monks and laywomen, and nuns and laymen; relation between male saints and female saints; nuns' sexuality, abortions, and absolutions; and women's seduction of monks or clerics.
Christina Harrington
- Published in print:
- 2002
- Published Online:
- January 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780198208235
- eISBN:
- 9780191716683
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198208235.003.0011
- Subject:
- History, British and Irish Medieval History
If the changes in Irish material are best explained as a response, albeit an ambivalent and resistant one, to reform ideas flourishing beyond its shores, there are further enquiries to be made. First ...
More
If the changes in Irish material are best explained as a response, albeit an ambivalent and resistant one, to reform ideas flourishing beyond its shores, there are further enquiries to be made. First there are the reforms themselves — the language, imagery, and methods used, a few points of which have already been encountered. Then there is the vexed question of transmission, for it is commonly asserted that Ireland was largely insulated from overseas movements; in fact it is standard to say that the Gregorian reforms only reached Ireland in the 12th century, and the Benedictine reforms in England are generally thought to have made no impact on Ireland at all. If the first two issues can be explained satisfactorily, the final question remains: does the thesis work, in a broader way, for Irish writing on women as a whole?Less
If the changes in Irish material are best explained as a response, albeit an ambivalent and resistant one, to reform ideas flourishing beyond its shores, there are further enquiries to be made. First there are the reforms themselves — the language, imagery, and methods used, a few points of which have already been encountered. Then there is the vexed question of transmission, for it is commonly asserted that Ireland was largely insulated from overseas movements; in fact it is standard to say that the Gregorian reforms only reached Ireland in the 12th century, and the Benedictine reforms in England are generally thought to have made no impact on Ireland at all. If the first two issues can be explained satisfactorily, the final question remains: does the thesis work, in a broader way, for Irish writing on women as a whole?
Anne Haour
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- January 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780197264119
- eISBN:
- 9780191734694
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- British Academy
- DOI:
- 10.5871/bacad/9780197264119.003.0001
- Subject:
- History, World Medieval History
This chapter explains the coverage of this book, which is about the comparison of rulers, warriors, traders, and clerics on the central Sahel and the North Sea region. It argues that there was more ...
More
This chapter explains the coverage of this book, which is about the comparison of rulers, warriors, traders, and clerics on the central Sahel and the North Sea region. It argues that there was more similarity between north-western Europe and the central Sahel in the few centuries either side of AD 1001 than has hitherto been recognised, and maintains that the nature of the sources has obscured these formative times and left them in the shadow of organised structures. It discusses the interconnectedness of central Sahel and north-west Europe through contacts and shared pre-industrial nature.Less
This chapter explains the coverage of this book, which is about the comparison of rulers, warriors, traders, and clerics on the central Sahel and the North Sea region. It argues that there was more similarity between north-western Europe and the central Sahel in the few centuries either side of AD 1001 than has hitherto been recognised, and maintains that the nature of the sources has obscured these formative times and left them in the shadow of organised structures. It discusses the interconnectedness of central Sahel and north-west Europe through contacts and shared pre-industrial nature.
Anne Haour
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- January 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780197264119
- eISBN:
- 9780191734694
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- British Academy
- DOI:
- 10.5871/bacad/9780197264119.003.0007
- Subject:
- History, World Medieval History
This concluding chapter sums up the key findings of this study which compared the rulers, warriors, traders, and clerics of medieval central Sahel and north-west Europe. It discusses the problems ...
More
This concluding chapter sums up the key findings of this study which compared the rulers, warriors, traders, and clerics of medieval central Sahel and north-west Europe. It discusses the problems associated with the use of historical and archaeological records to comprehend the past and the problems concerning the paradox between the local/immediate and the global/long term. It suggests that despite the limited evidence available, the data from the central Sahel and from north-west Europe make most sense when considered together.Less
This concluding chapter sums up the key findings of this study which compared the rulers, warriors, traders, and clerics of medieval central Sahel and north-west Europe. It discusses the problems associated with the use of historical and archaeological records to comprehend the past and the problems concerning the paradox between the local/immediate and the global/long term. It suggests that despite the limited evidence available, the data from the central Sahel and from north-west Europe make most sense when considered together.
Philip Wood
- Published in print:
- 2021
- Published Online:
- September 2021
- ISBN:
- 9780691212791
- eISBN:
- 9780691219950
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691212791.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, History of Christianity
This book examines how Christian leaders adopted and adapted the political practices and ideas of their Muslim rulers between 750 and 850 in the Abbasid caliphate in the Jazira (modern eastern Turkey ...
More
This book examines how Christian leaders adopted and adapted the political practices and ideas of their Muslim rulers between 750 and 850 in the Abbasid caliphate in the Jazira (modern eastern Turkey and northern Syria). Focusing on the writings of Dionysius of Tel-Mahre, the patriarch of the Jacobite church, the book describes how this encounter produced an Islamicate Christianity that differed from the Christianities of Byzantium and western Europe in far more than just theology. In doing so, the book opens a new window on the world of early Islam and Muslims' interactions with other religious communities. The book shows how Dionysius and other Christian clerics, by forging close ties with Muslim elites, were able to command greater power over their coreligionists, such as the right to issue canons regulating the lives of lay people, gather tithes, and use state troops to arrest opponents. In his writings, Dionysius advertises his ease in the courts of ʿAbd Allah ibn Tahir in Raqqa and the caliph al-Ma'mun in Baghdad, presenting himself as an effective advocate for the interests of his fellow Christians because of his knowledge of Arabic and his ability to redeploy Islamic ideas to his own advantage. Strikingly, Dionysius even claims that, like al-Ma'mun, he is an imam since he leads his people in prayer and rules them by popular consent. A wide-ranging examination of Middle Eastern Christian life during a critical period in the development of Islam, the book is also a case study of the surprising workings of cultural and religious adaptation.Less
This book examines how Christian leaders adopted and adapted the political practices and ideas of their Muslim rulers between 750 and 850 in the Abbasid caliphate in the Jazira (modern eastern Turkey and northern Syria). Focusing on the writings of Dionysius of Tel-Mahre, the patriarch of the Jacobite church, the book describes how this encounter produced an Islamicate Christianity that differed from the Christianities of Byzantium and western Europe in far more than just theology. In doing so, the book opens a new window on the world of early Islam and Muslims' interactions with other religious communities. The book shows how Dionysius and other Christian clerics, by forging close ties with Muslim elites, were able to command greater power over their coreligionists, such as the right to issue canons regulating the lives of lay people, gather tithes, and use state troops to arrest opponents. In his writings, Dionysius advertises his ease in the courts of ʿAbd Allah ibn Tahir in Raqqa and the caliph al-Ma'mun in Baghdad, presenting himself as an effective advocate for the interests of his fellow Christians because of his knowledge of Arabic and his ability to redeploy Islamic ideas to his own advantage. Strikingly, Dionysius even claims that, like al-Ma'mun, he is an imam since he leads his people in prayer and rules them by popular consent. A wide-ranging examination of Middle Eastern Christian life during a critical period in the development of Islam, the book is also a case study of the surprising workings of cultural and religious adaptation.
David Clark
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- May 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199654307
- eISBN:
- 9780191742071
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199654307.003.0006
- Subject:
- Literature, European Literature, Early and Medieval Literature
This chapter considers the changing attitudes to clerical and secular vengeance in medieval Iceland. It adduces evidence from a range of legal, political, and ecclesiastical documents to ...
More
This chapter considers the changing attitudes to clerical and secular vengeance in medieval Iceland. It adduces evidence from a range of legal, political, and ecclesiastical documents to contextualize a study of the representation of revenge in family and contemporary sagas in the light of ecclesiastical precepts. The analysis points to a growing perception on the part of Norse authors that secular revenge must be tempered with moderation, and that clerics should not involve themselves in acts of vengeance, although this is often difficult for them because the failure to take revenge can often seem to impugn their masculinity. Within the sagas, religious figures are employed variously as the moderating voice, and as those implicated in the turmoil of the Sturlung Age. The analysis indicates that revenge comes to be viewed in the sagas as something that belongs to the past, but with a stranglehold on the present which is hard to shake off.Less
This chapter considers the changing attitudes to clerical and secular vengeance in medieval Iceland. It adduces evidence from a range of legal, political, and ecclesiastical documents to contextualize a study of the representation of revenge in family and contemporary sagas in the light of ecclesiastical precepts. The analysis points to a growing perception on the part of Norse authors that secular revenge must be tempered with moderation, and that clerics should not involve themselves in acts of vengeance, although this is often difficult for them because the failure to take revenge can often seem to impugn their masculinity. Within the sagas, religious figures are employed variously as the moderating voice, and as those implicated in the turmoil of the Sturlung Age. The analysis indicates that revenge comes to be viewed in the sagas as something that belongs to the past, but with a stranglehold on the present which is hard to shake off.
Kevin C. O'Connor
- Published in print:
- 2019
- Published Online:
- May 2020
- ISBN:
- 9781501747687
- eISBN:
- 9781501747700
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Cornell University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7591/cornell/9781501747687.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, Russian and Former Soviet Union History
Founded as an ecclesiastical center, trading hub, and intended capital of a feudal state, Riga was Old Livonia's greatest city and its indispensable port. Because the city was situated in what was ...
More
Founded as an ecclesiastical center, trading hub, and intended capital of a feudal state, Riga was Old Livonia's greatest city and its indispensable port. Because the city was situated in what was initially remote and inhospitable territory, surrounded by pagans and coveted by regional powers like Poland, Sweden, and Muscovy, it was also a fortress encased by a wall. This book begins in the twelfth century with the arrival to the eastern Baltic of German priests, traders, and knights, who conquered and converted the indigenous tribes and assumed mastery over their lands. It ends in 1710 with an account of the greatest war Livonia had ever seen, one that was accompanied by mass starvation, a terrible epidemic, and a flood of nearly Biblical proportions that devastated the city and left its survivors in misery. Readers will learn about Riga's people—merchants and clerics, craftsmen and builders, porters and day laborers—about its structures and spaces, its internal conflicts and its unrelenting struggle to maintain its independence against outside threats. The book is an indispensable guide to a quintessentially European city located in one of the continent's more remote corners.Less
Founded as an ecclesiastical center, trading hub, and intended capital of a feudal state, Riga was Old Livonia's greatest city and its indispensable port. Because the city was situated in what was initially remote and inhospitable territory, surrounded by pagans and coveted by regional powers like Poland, Sweden, and Muscovy, it was also a fortress encased by a wall. This book begins in the twelfth century with the arrival to the eastern Baltic of German priests, traders, and knights, who conquered and converted the indigenous tribes and assumed mastery over their lands. It ends in 1710 with an account of the greatest war Livonia had ever seen, one that was accompanied by mass starvation, a terrible epidemic, and a flood of nearly Biblical proportions that devastated the city and left its survivors in misery. Readers will learn about Riga's people—merchants and clerics, craftsmen and builders, porters and day laborers—about its structures and spaces, its internal conflicts and its unrelenting struggle to maintain its independence against outside threats. The book is an indispensable guide to a quintessentially European city located in one of the continent's more remote corners.
Joseph Ziegler
- Published in print:
- 1998
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198207269
- eISBN:
- 9780191677595
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198207269.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, European Medieval History, History of Religion
This book takes a fresh look at the cultural role of medicine among learned people around 1300. It was at this time that learned medicine came to be fully incorporated ...
More
This book takes a fresh look at the cultural role of medicine among learned people around 1300. It was at this time that learned medicine came to be fully incorporated into the academic system and began to win greater social acceptance. The author argues that physicians and clerics did not confine the role of medicine to its physical therapeutic function, and that fusion rather than disjunction characterised the relationship between medicine and religion at that time. Much of this argument relies on language analysis and on a close study of unedited manuscript sources. By juxtaposing the spiritual writings and the medical output of two learned physicians — Arnau de Vilanova (c. 1238–1311) and Galvano da Levanto (fl. 1300) — the author shows that they saw a medical purpose, namely to ensure the spiritual health of their audience and to reveal the mysteries of God and creation. When entering the spiritual realm, both brought to it a medical framework and extended their medical knowledge and curative activities from body to soul. By examining preachers' manuals and sermons, the author suggests that a growing tendency emerged among clerics in general and preachers in particular to appropriate current medical knowledge for spiritual purposes and to substantiate their extensive use of medical metaphors, analogies, and exempla by citing specific medical authorities.Less
This book takes a fresh look at the cultural role of medicine among learned people around 1300. It was at this time that learned medicine came to be fully incorporated into the academic system and began to win greater social acceptance. The author argues that physicians and clerics did not confine the role of medicine to its physical therapeutic function, and that fusion rather than disjunction characterised the relationship between medicine and religion at that time. Much of this argument relies on language analysis and on a close study of unedited manuscript sources. By juxtaposing the spiritual writings and the medical output of two learned physicians — Arnau de Vilanova (c. 1238–1311) and Galvano da Levanto (fl. 1300) — the author shows that they saw a medical purpose, namely to ensure the spiritual health of their audience and to reveal the mysteries of God and creation. When entering the spiritual realm, both brought to it a medical framework and extended their medical knowledge and curative activities from body to soul. By examining preachers' manuals and sermons, the author suggests that a growing tendency emerged among clerics in general and preachers in particular to appropriate current medical knowledge for spiritual purposes and to substantiate their extensive use of medical metaphors, analogies, and exempla by citing specific medical authorities.
Alfred Haverkamp
- Published in print:
- 1992
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198221722
- eISBN:
- 9780191678486
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198221722.003.0009
- Subject:
- History, European Medieval History
The far-reaching geographical mobility which marked the people of Western Europe between the 11th and 13th centuries stood in close correlation to the dissolution of older personal and seigneurial ...
More
The far-reaching geographical mobility which marked the people of Western Europe between the 11th and 13th centuries stood in close correlation to the dissolution of older personal and seigneurial ties. Together with the opening up of new political and economic opportunities, a high degree of social mobility came about: i.e. a great capacity for change in the social status of individuals, families, institutionalized associations, and other groups. At the same time, new forms of common living and social classification arose. Having a profession became an important criterion of social status and thus reduced the old fixation with origins. But status according to birth was certainly not abolished; rather it was defended and emphasized by the supporters and interpreters of the traditional order. Town-dwellers became more detached from the rest of the population. They distinguished themselves from the nobility and the peasantry.Less
The far-reaching geographical mobility which marked the people of Western Europe between the 11th and 13th centuries stood in close correlation to the dissolution of older personal and seigneurial ties. Together with the opening up of new political and economic opportunities, a high degree of social mobility came about: i.e. a great capacity for change in the social status of individuals, families, institutionalized associations, and other groups. At the same time, new forms of common living and social classification arose. Having a profession became an important criterion of social status and thus reduced the old fixation with origins. But status according to birth was certainly not abolished; rather it was defended and emphasized by the supporters and interpreters of the traditional order. Town-dwellers became more detached from the rest of the population. They distinguished themselves from the nobility and the peasantry.
James L. Ford
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780195188141
- eISBN:
- 9780199850976
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195188141.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Buddhism
This is the first book-length study in any language of Jōkei (1155-1213), a prominent Buddhist cleric of the Hossō (Yogācāra) school, whose life bridged the momentous transition from Heian (794-1185) ...
More
This is the first book-length study in any language of Jōkei (1155-1213), a prominent Buddhist cleric of the Hossō (Yogācāra) school, whose life bridged the momentous transition from Heian (794-1185) to Kamakura (1185-1333) Japan. “Kamakura Buddhism” has drawn notable scholarly attention, largely because it marks the emergence of new schools—Pure Land, Nichiren, and Zen—that came to dominate the Buddhist landscape of Japan. Although Jōkei is invariably cited as one of the leading representatives of established Buddhism during the Kamakura period, he has been seriously neglected by Western scholars. This book aims to shed light on this pivotal and long-overlooked figure. The author argues that Jōkei is an ideal personage through which to peer anew into the socio-religious dynamics of early medieval Japan. Indeed, Jōkei is uniquely linked to a number of decisive trends and issues of dispute including: the conflict between the established schools and Honen's exclusive nenbutsu movement; the precept-revival movement; doctrinal reform efforts; the proliferation of prominent “reclusive monks” (tonseiso); the escalation of fundraising (kanjin) campaigns and popular propagation; and the conspicuous revival of devotion toward nullakyamuni and Maitreya. Jōkei represents a paradigm within established Buddhism that recognized the necessity of accessing other powers through esoteric practices, ritual performances, and objects of devotion. Jōkei was also a progressive reformer in his own right. Far from defending the status quo, Jōkei envisioned a more accessible, harmonious, and monastically upright form of Buddhism. Through a detailed examination of Jōkei's extensive writings and activities, the author challenges many received interpretations of Jōkei's legacy and the transformation of Buddhism in early medieval Japan.Less
This is the first book-length study in any language of Jōkei (1155-1213), a prominent Buddhist cleric of the Hossō (Yogācāra) school, whose life bridged the momentous transition from Heian (794-1185) to Kamakura (1185-1333) Japan. “Kamakura Buddhism” has drawn notable scholarly attention, largely because it marks the emergence of new schools—Pure Land, Nichiren, and Zen—that came to dominate the Buddhist landscape of Japan. Although Jōkei is invariably cited as one of the leading representatives of established Buddhism during the Kamakura period, he has been seriously neglected by Western scholars. This book aims to shed light on this pivotal and long-overlooked figure. The author argues that Jōkei is an ideal personage through which to peer anew into the socio-religious dynamics of early medieval Japan. Indeed, Jōkei is uniquely linked to a number of decisive trends and issues of dispute including: the conflict between the established schools and Honen's exclusive nenbutsu movement; the precept-revival movement; doctrinal reform efforts; the proliferation of prominent “reclusive monks” (tonseiso); the escalation of fundraising (kanjin) campaigns and popular propagation; and the conspicuous revival of devotion toward nullakyamuni and Maitreya. Jōkei represents a paradigm within established Buddhism that recognized the necessity of accessing other powers through esoteric practices, ritual performances, and objects of devotion. Jōkei was also a progressive reformer in his own right. Far from defending the status quo, Jōkei envisioned a more accessible, harmonious, and monastically upright form of Buddhism. Through a detailed examination of Jōkei's extensive writings and activities, the author challenges many received interpretations of Jōkei's legacy and the transformation of Buddhism in early medieval Japan.
Robin Briggs
- Published in print:
- 1995
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198206033
- eISBN:
- 9780191676932
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198206033.003.0007
- Subject:
- History, European Early Modern History
In striking contrast to modern assumptions about Catholicism and family values, the Catholic Church in France took a very cool and distant attitude towards the family, at least in its official ...
More
In striking contrast to modern assumptions about Catholicism and family values, the Catholic Church in France took a very cool and distant attitude towards the family, at least in its official doctrines. The limitations of clerical thought may be partly accounted for by the manner in which moral theology was organized around conventional structures, built around the seven deadly sins, the ten commandments, and the seven sacraments. Many clerics probably thought of marriage as a regrettable necessity, and were (perhaps unconsciously) unwilling to allow it any positive role in the pursuit of salvation; they may also have been reacting against the protestant dismissal of celibacy as a holy state. They therefore made only the most passing references to the possibility that the sacrament might bestow fuller participation in sanctifying grace, emphasizing instead the mutual aid and support the partners could offer one another against the tribulations of marriage.Less
In striking contrast to modern assumptions about Catholicism and family values, the Catholic Church in France took a very cool and distant attitude towards the family, at least in its official doctrines. The limitations of clerical thought may be partly accounted for by the manner in which moral theology was organized around conventional structures, built around the seven deadly sins, the ten commandments, and the seven sacraments. Many clerics probably thought of marriage as a regrettable necessity, and were (perhaps unconsciously) unwilling to allow it any positive role in the pursuit of salvation; they may also have been reacting against the protestant dismissal of celibacy as a holy state. They therefore made only the most passing references to the possibility that the sacrament might bestow fuller participation in sanctifying grace, emphasizing instead the mutual aid and support the partners could offer one another against the tribulations of marriage.
Robin Briggs
- Published in print:
- 1995
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198206033
- eISBN:
- 9780191676932
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198206033.003.0008
- Subject:
- History, European Early Modern History
One of the first features of the medieval Catholic Church to disappear almost everywhere once the reformed faith gained the upper hand was auricular confession, at least in the obligatory form laid ...
More
One of the first features of the medieval Catholic Church to disappear almost everywhere once the reformed faith gained the upper hand was auricular confession, at least in the obligatory form laid down by the Fourth Lateran Council of 1215. The formal requirement for annual confession, as a precondition for admission to the sacraments at Easter, had been an ambitious claim for clerical power, made at the height of the papal revival. It had taken a long time to secure even nominal compliance, while the nature of the obligation was always likely to make it unpopular with most of the laity. Confession was connected with the ‘quantification of salvation’ and the doctrine of purgatory. The so-called ‘power of the keys’, which made formal absolution by a priest necessary for salvation, implied just that kind of separation between clergy and laity to which Protestants objected. In France, the consistories tried to impose disciplinary standards worthy of the early church.Less
One of the first features of the medieval Catholic Church to disappear almost everywhere once the reformed faith gained the upper hand was auricular confession, at least in the obligatory form laid down by the Fourth Lateran Council of 1215. The formal requirement for annual confession, as a precondition for admission to the sacraments at Easter, had been an ambitious claim for clerical power, made at the height of the papal revival. It had taken a long time to secure even nominal compliance, while the nature of the obligation was always likely to make it unpopular with most of the laity. Confession was connected with the ‘quantification of salvation’ and the doctrine of purgatory. The so-called ‘power of the keys’, which made formal absolution by a priest necessary for salvation, implied just that kind of separation between clergy and laity to which Protestants objected. In France, the consistories tried to impose disciplinary standards worthy of the early church.
Joseph Ziegler
- Published in print:
- 1998
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198207269
- eISBN:
- 9780191677595
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198207269.003.0004
- Subject:
- History, European Medieval History, History of Religion
This chapter discusses the use of the medical model, medical language, and medical subject matter by preachers of the period. It examines more ...
More
This chapter discusses the use of the medical model, medical language, and medical subject matter by preachers of the period. It examines more systematically the use of medical matters by those outside the medical profession, and assesses the second control for Arnau. The discussion aims to contextualise Arnau and Galvano and to find out how, if at all, their mode of employing medical language and subject matter differs from that of clerics active in the same period. It inquires into preachers' texts which reflect similar characteristics. It focuses on three religious authors: the Dominican Giovanni da San Gimignano, the Franciscan Servasanto da Faenza, and the Benedictine Pierre Bersuire, who produced texts which belong to the same literary genre of moralised exempla.Less
This chapter discusses the use of the medical model, medical language, and medical subject matter by preachers of the period. It examines more systematically the use of medical matters by those outside the medical profession, and assesses the second control for Arnau. The discussion aims to contextualise Arnau and Galvano and to find out how, if at all, their mode of employing medical language and subject matter differs from that of clerics active in the same period. It inquires into preachers' texts which reflect similar characteristics. It focuses on three religious authors: the Dominican Giovanni da San Gimignano, the Franciscan Servasanto da Faenza, and the Benedictine Pierre Bersuire, who produced texts which belong to the same literary genre of moralised exempla.
Huw Pryce
- Published in print:
- 1993
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198203629
- eISBN:
- 9780191675904
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198203629.003.0012
- Subject:
- History, British and Irish Medieval History, History of Religion
In exploring the relationship of medieval Welsh law to the Catholic Church, the present work has adopted two complementary approaches. It examined the impact of ecclesiastical criticism of Welsh law, ...
More
In exploring the relationship of medieval Welsh law to the Catholic Church, the present work has adopted two complementary approaches. It examined the impact of ecclesiastical criticism of Welsh law, particularly with regard to marriage and testamentary disposition. The discussion then shifted to the question of how the law came to terms with ecclesiastical privilege and power. The immunity of clerics from secular law and jurisdiction, ecclesiastical sanctuary, and the rights of churches to exercise temporal lordship are considered, along with the implications of the legal evidence for an understanding of church–state relations. This exploration of cyfraith Hywel's interaction with the Church has thus helped to illuminate a diverse range of topics, including the legal expertise of clerics, methods of establishing proof, inheritance, sacrilege, and the ecclesiastical policies of the 13th-century princes of Gwynedd.Less
In exploring the relationship of medieval Welsh law to the Catholic Church, the present work has adopted two complementary approaches. It examined the impact of ecclesiastical criticism of Welsh law, particularly with regard to marriage and testamentary disposition. The discussion then shifted to the question of how the law came to terms with ecclesiastical privilege and power. The immunity of clerics from secular law and jurisdiction, ecclesiastical sanctuary, and the rights of churches to exercise temporal lordship are considered, along with the implications of the legal evidence for an understanding of church–state relations. This exploration of cyfraith Hywel's interaction with the Church has thus helped to illuminate a diverse range of topics, including the legal expertise of clerics, methods of establishing proof, inheritance, sacrilege, and the ecclesiastical policies of the 13th-century princes of Gwynedd.
Alfred Haverkamp
- Published in print:
- 1992
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198221722
- eISBN:
- 9780191678486
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198221722.003.0010
- Subject:
- History, European Medieval History
The result of the development of civilization during the period treated here was the transmission of an increasing quantity of historical evidence reaching new levels of quality. An important factor ...
More
The result of the development of civilization during the period treated here was the transmission of an increasing quantity of historical evidence reaching new levels of quality. An important factor in this was the great increase in building. The advance of stone as a building material called into being much better prospects for preservation or at least the chance of scientific reconstruction. The spread of metal as raw material in the industrial production of objects, both for the everyday needs of the broader population and as the work of artists, contributed to the increase in historical evidence. Meanwhile, written source material in Germany in the high Middle Ages was, with few exceptions, still written by clerics, and by priests and monks.Less
The result of the development of civilization during the period treated here was the transmission of an increasing quantity of historical evidence reaching new levels of quality. An important factor in this was the great increase in building. The advance of stone as a building material called into being much better prospects for preservation or at least the chance of scientific reconstruction. The spread of metal as raw material in the industrial production of objects, both for the everyday needs of the broader population and as the work of artists, contributed to the increase in historical evidence. Meanwhile, written source material in Germany in the high Middle Ages was, with few exceptions, still written by clerics, and by priests and monks.
Huw Pryce
- Published in print:
- 1993
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198203629
- eISBN:
- 9780191675904
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198203629.003.0001
- Subject:
- History, British and Irish Medieval History, History of Religion
This book explores the relationship between native secular law and the Catholic Church in Wales during the medieval period. It examines legal texts containing cyfraith Hywel or the law of Hywel, the ...
More
This book explores the relationship between native secular law and the Catholic Church in Wales during the medieval period. It examines legal texts containing cyfraith Hywel or the law of Hywel, the customary law of Wales which by the 13th century was attributed to Hywel Dda (Hywel the Good), the Welsh king who died in 949 or 950. However, although primarily intended as a contribution to the legal history of medieval Wales, this book is also concerned with ecclesiastical history. In interpreting the legal evidence, two complementary approaches are used. The first is dictated by the complex structure and varied content of the lawbooks, and consists of textual criticism of the different versions of relevant tractates or rules contained in them. Secondly, the legal material is compared with other evidence from medieval Wales. Topics covered by the book include the sacred dimension to legal processes, marriage and inheritance, testamentary disposition, the legal status of clerics, ecclesiastical sanctuary, land and lordship, and church and state.Less
This book explores the relationship between native secular law and the Catholic Church in Wales during the medieval period. It examines legal texts containing cyfraith Hywel or the law of Hywel, the customary law of Wales which by the 13th century was attributed to Hywel Dda (Hywel the Good), the Welsh king who died in 949 or 950. However, although primarily intended as a contribution to the legal history of medieval Wales, this book is also concerned with ecclesiastical history. In interpreting the legal evidence, two complementary approaches are used. The first is dictated by the complex structure and varied content of the lawbooks, and consists of textual criticism of the different versions of relevant tractates or rules contained in them. Secondly, the legal material is compared with other evidence from medieval Wales. Topics covered by the book include the sacred dimension to legal processes, marriage and inheritance, testamentary disposition, the legal status of clerics, ecclesiastical sanctuary, land and lordship, and church and state.
