Medieval Zodiac

Signs of Zodiac
Astrology and theology... The religious feasts are the main contents of the Calendars of Psalters or Books of Hours. Its illustration shows the typical activities of the seasons of the year in the Labours of the Month and the passing of astronomical time in the Signs of the Zodiac. Ever since man recognized some kind of regularity in the movement of stars and planets, he has believed that the celestial bodies influenced earthly events. Ideas, ultimately dating back to Babylonian times, persisted in the Middle Ages, and even today horoscopes continue to be drawn. In some regions of the world hardly a marriage is concluded without a serious look at the constellations. Christian theologians were of course most familiar with the astrological ideas of the Graeco-Roman world. These presented a challenge to their own ideas about the omnipotence of God, and they wrote many pages to reject what was unacceptable in their eyes.

go to the site:
www.kb.nl/kb/manuscripts/highlights/23O_uk.html

Musée du Moyen Age

Musée du Moyen Age

La richesse et la diversité des collections du musée lui permettent d'être présent dans de nombreuses expositions temporaires en France et à l'étranger.
Nouvelles Acquisitions:
Cette plaquette rectangulaire à bordure perlée, fond doré lisse et figures émaillées, représente un épisode de l'Ancien Testament , Elie et la veuve de Sarepta : le prophète Elie, envoyé sur ordre divin à Sarepta près de Sidon, rencontre une veuve en train de ramasser du bois, qui a reçu de Dieu l'injonction de le nourrir, comme l'indiquent les inscriptions. Cette iconographie, associée aux dimensions de la plaquette, permet de supposer que cette dernière appartenait à une croix typologique, ornée de scènes vétérotestamentaires réputés annoncer le sacrifice du Christ : les deux bouts de bois croisés préfigurent la Crucifixion. Ces croix typologiques étaient fréquentes dans la région mosane, à laquelle cette plaquette se rattache par son iconographie, son style et sa sobre palette colorée. La mise en page élaborée, la qualité de la gravure et les dégradés de couleurs rapprochent l'oeuvre des plaques d'une croix démembrée, aujourd'hui dispersée entre le musée du Louvre, le musée Dobrée, le Schnütgen-Museum de Cologne et le Würtembergisches Landesmuseum de Stuttgart. On pourrait situer sa fabrication, sinon dans le même atelier, du moins à la même époque, vers 1160-1170.
visitez le site:
http://www.musee-moyenage.fr/homes/home_id20393_u1l2.htm

Medieval Childhood

Childhood in Medieval England, c.500-1500

This toy knight comes from a rich harvest of archaeological finds, made in the mudbanks of the River Thames in London during the last 30 years. It was manufactured in about 1300, and illustrates several facets of medieval childhood. Then as now, children liked playing with toys. Then as now, they had a culture of their own, encompassing slang, toys, and games. Then as now, adults cared for children and encouraged their play. An adult made this toy and another adult bought it for a child, or gave a child money to buy it. The toy knight was made from a mould, and produced in large numbers. It probably circulated among the families of merchants, shopkeepers, and craft workers, as well as those of the nobility and gentry. The finds also include toys that girls might have liked: little cups, plates, and jugs, some sturdy enough to heat up water by a fireside. There is even a self-assembly kit: a cupboard cut out of a sheet of soft metal, instead of the plastic that would be used today.
go to the site:
www.pitt.edu/AFShome/d/c/dch29/public/html/gubar/medieval_child.htm

The Formation of the Medieval West

The Formation of the Medieval West

Studies in the Oral Culture of the Barbarians
Micheal Richter This book is the first extensive study of the oral culture in the early medieval West. Access to this culture is inevitably through the written sources, and indeed there is quite substantial information in the sources once these are properly 'decoded'. Latin is the dominant language of the surviving contemporary records, but it emerges that this language is highly inadequate to articulate the main features of the early medieval non-Latin societies. It is argued that the written sources in the period are not representative for these societies generally, which in fact had a broad based, effective and adequate oral culture. It is suggested that this situation accounts for the slow emergence of vernacular literature.
The book also poses approaches to the field of music, also an integral part of the oral culture, and while the text remains strongly problem-orientated, suggesting ways of dealing concretely with oral culture in times of distant past, it will become a standard reference for academics and students in this field.
http://www.four-courts-press.ie/cgi/bookshow.cgi?file=formmw.xml

Armenia and the Turco-Mongol Invasions

Turco Mongol Invasions
In the early 1220's when Mongol troops first passed through the Caucasus, the Armenian population, living there and in many other localities across Asia Minor, dwelled under considerably diverse circumstances. The many states in which the Armenians were settled in the late 12th and early 13th centuries had arisen as the result of the Saljuq Turkish invasions of the mid 11th century, and for our purposes may be viewed as differing from each other principally on the basis of the amount of political and cultural autonomy enjoyed by their Arnenian inhabitants. The nature of the Saljuq invasions/migrations and certain aspects of the consequences of Turkish domination merit a brief examination prior to reviewing the Turco-Mongol invasions/migrations of the 13-14th centuries because, in a certain sense, the invasions of the 11th century were a dress rehersal for several subsequent invasions of Armenia from the Orient. A characterization of the Saljuq invasions and domination will provide not only an introduction to the complexities of medieval Armenian society, but also will throw into sharper relief fundamental similarities and dissimilarities with the Khwarazmian, Mongol, and Timurid invasions and administrations. This chapter first examines briefly some of the more salient features of political [64] history associated with the pre-Mongol period: (1) the Saljuq invasions of the Armenian highlands; (2) the Turkish domination and its consequences; and (3) the new situation created by the resurgence of Georgia; the second part of the chapter details the invasions of the 13-14th centuries.
go to the site:
http://rbedrosian.com/atmi1.htm

Gothic Eye

Gothic Eye

Gothic Eye is a commercial picture library specialising in medieval images including effigies, tombs, brasses and manuscripts, sourced from original photographs and antiquarian engravings. Gothic Eye also offers an image research and proofing service.All images on this website are displayed at low resolution. Purchased images are supplied at high resolution on CD. To sample the quality of our supplied images click on the link below:
http://www.gothiceye.com/

Châteaux et Moyen Âge

Châteaux et Moyen Âge

Encensé au XIXe siècle, au travers de la chevalerie, des trouvères et troubadours et des princesses, rabaissé par les intellectuels du début du XXe siècle par les épidémies, les guerres et les famines, le Moyen Âge est encore ancré dans notre imagination comme une période ténébreuse et barbare. Les récentes découvertes médiévales et le revirement dans la manière d'aborder cette partie de notre histoire nous apportent une vision plus réaliste du moment, tant par sa diversité culturelle qu'intellectuelle. "Châteaux et Moyen Âge", vous permettra de parcourir les 1000 ans qui couvrent cette période tout en découvrant ce qui fut la référence de l'architecture militaire médiévale, le château fort. De la motte castrale, simple butte de terre surmontée d'une tour de bois, aux châteaux royaux entourés de gigantesques remparts de pierres flanqués de puissantes tours, "Châteaux et Moyen Âge" vous présente une partie de ce patrimoine médiéval français. Pour vous repérer dans ces 10 siècles de tourmente, vous pourrez vous aider des biographies complètes des différents acteurs du moyen âge, d'une chronologie médiévale regroupant toutes les dates qui ont fait la France, de multiples cartes historiques, ainsi que d'un lexique particulièrement fournit.
Visitez le site:
http://www.castlemaniac.com/

Medieval Lyric

The Medieval Lyric

The Medieval Lyric, a set of Anthologies and compact discs, and Teaching Medieval Lyric with Modern Technology, a CD-ROM application, offer to interested colleagues a variety of materials for the teaching of medieval song. These materials include recordings of the songs, modern musical and textual transcriptions and facing English translations, selected readings for pronunciation, and related manuscript images. Brief commentaries and longer essays by noted scholars show how the materials can be adapted to different types of courses.The repertories stretch from the 11th to the 14th centuries and include monastic songs from Saint Martial of Limoges; troubadour and trouvère songs; songs and miracles by Gautier de Coinci (in Teaching Medieval Lyric with Modern Technology only); Guillaume de Machaut, Remede de Fortune; songs from Germany and England (in The Medieval Lyric only); and selected Cantigas of Alfonso X, the Learned (in Teaching Medieval Lyric with Modern Technology only).
go to the site:
http://www.mtholyoke.edu/acad/medst/medieval_lyric/index.html