Songs of Sacrifice

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rebecca Maloy
Keyword(s):  
Seventh Century ◽  
Liturgical Music ◽  
Biblical Exegesis ◽  
Textual Production ◽  
Cultural Renewal ◽  
Musical Rhetoric ◽  
Medieval Iberia ◽  
Isidore Of Seville ◽  
Christian Worship ◽  
Anti Jewish

Songs of Sacrifice argues that liturgical music—both texts and melodies—played a central role in the cultural renewal of early Medieval Iberia. Between the seventh and eleventh centuries, Christian worship on the Iberian Peninsula was structured by rituals of great theological and musical richness, known as the Old Hispanic (or Mozarabic) rite. Much of this liturgy was produced during the seventh century, as part of a cultural and educational program led by Isidore of Seville and other bishops. After the conversion of the Visigothic rulers from Arian to Nicene Christianity at the end of the sixth century, the bishops aimed to create a society unified in the Nicene faith, built on twin pillars of church and kingdom. They initiated a project of clerical education, facilitated through a distinctive culture of textual production. The chant repertory was carefully designed to promote these aims. The creators of the chant texts reworked scripture in ways designed to teach biblical exegesis, linking both to the theological works of Isidore and others, and to Visigothic anti-Jewish discourse. The notation reveals an intricate melodic grammar that is closely tied to textual syntax and sound. Through musical rhetoric, the melodies shaped the delivery of the texts to underline words and phrases of particular liturgical or doctrinal import. The chants thus worked toward the formation of individual Christian souls and a communal, Nicene identity. The final chapters turn to questions about the intersection between orality and writing and the relationships of the Old Hispanic chant to other Western plainsong traditions.

scholarly journals „Desine gentilibus iam inservire poetis…” (versus XI 9). Chrześcijańscy epicy w bibliotece Izydora z Sewilli

Vox Patrum ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 60 ◽  
pp. 191-207
Author(s):  
Tatiana Krynicka
Keyword(s):  
Natural Sciences ◽  
Seventh Century ◽  
Biblical Exegesis ◽  
Medieval Europe ◽  
Isidore Of Seville ◽  
High Regard ◽  
De Viris Illustribus

Isidore of Seville (560-636) is rightly considered to be one of the most im­portant teachers of the medieval Europe. He wrote numerous didactic works on catholic doctrine, biblical exegesis, history, grammar, natural sciences etc. Isidore was neither a scientist nor an independent thinker, but indeed he was a genius of compilation. He spent his youth in the famous library of the bishops of Seville, where he stored knowledge by studying Holy Scriptures and works of classic and Christian authors. This library was destroyed, but we could strive to recreate its catalogue reading the books written by Isidore. In his Versus in bibliotheca Isidore tells us about authors he knew. We find among them Christian poets – Prudentius, Iuvencus, Sedulius, Avitus Viennensis. In Etymologiae Isidore presents to the reader Dracontius, and in De viris illustribus he admires talents of the centonist Proba. Isidore’s knowledge of Christian epics and the high regard he had for them tell us a lot not only about literary tastes of the well-educated bishop, but about the culture of reading of inhabitants of Visigothic Spain in the seventh century as well.

Two Hiberno-Latin Texts on the Gospels

Traditio ◽  
1959 ◽  
Vol 15 ◽  
pp. 387-401
Author(s):  
Robert E. McNally
Keyword(s):  
Middle Ages ◽  
Latin Literature ◽  
Biblical Exegesis ◽  
Early Middle Ages ◽  
Intellectual Activity ◽  
Isidore Of Seville ◽  
Clear Insight ◽  
Venerable Bede ◽  
Alcuin Of York ◽  
Insight Into

The two texts presented here as a contribution to Hiberno-Latin literature are only a fragment of the still unedited Bible commentaries which came forth from the Irish Bible Schools of the Early Middle Ages. These two pieces are valuable sources for the development of biblical exegesis in the pre-Carolingian age, which, except for the accomplishment of the Venerable Bede (d. 735), is distinguished neither for the richness nor the depth of its theological writing. The years between the death of St. Isidore of Seville (d. 636) and Alcuin of York (d. 804) were dominated by the intellectual activity of the Irish monks, whose reputation for learning was mainly founded on their Bible scholarship. But the fruit of this scholarship is not well known. Though the two texts edited below do not represent all the intellectual factors involved in the biblical exegesis of the ancient schools of Ireland, they do reflect the spirit and method of these schools; and they do afford a clear insight into the cultural problem of the development of medieval exegesis at its earliest stage.

The conversions of ʿAbdallāh ibn Salām (d. 43/633): A legendary moment in the biography of Muḥammad's Jewish companion

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-25
Author(s):  
Samuel A. Stafford
Keyword(s):  
Seventh Century ◽  
Islamic Tradition ◽  
Number Of Factors ◽  
Early Islam ◽  
Jewish Scholar ◽  
Jewish Scriptures ◽  
Anti Jewish ◽  
Diverse Groups ◽  
D 43

Abstract The Jewish scholar ʿAbdallāh b. Salām is a legendary figure from early Islam who is regarded in Islamic tradition as the archetypal Jewish convert to Islam during the Prophet's career, the pre-eminent authority on Jewish scriptures in seventh-century Arabia, and a renowned Companion. This study examines the traditions on Ibn Salām's conversion that were recorded in the biographical literature and Quranic commentaries of classical Islam and identifies the literary tropes from Muḥammad's biography featured in these traditions. Scrutiny of the evidence shows that the reports on the date and circumstances of Ibn Salām's conversion were shaped by a number of factors, including, the biases of his descendants, Quranic exegesis, and anti-Jewish polemics. Ibn Salām's legendary conversion served as a vehicle for diverse groups of Muslims to promote their doctrines and supply the Prophet with Biblical legitimacy.

King Wamba’s Campaign against dux Paulus (673)

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sebastian Steinbach
Keyword(s):  
Seventh Century ◽  
Military Power ◽  
Archaeological Evidence ◽  
Royal Power ◽  
Isidore Of Seville ◽  
History Of ◽  
Military Campaign

Following the death of Isidore of Seville (636), Julian of Toledo’s Historia Wambae regis is the only contemporary narrative source for the history of the late Visigothic kingdom. It mainly focuses on the rebellion of the dux Paulus within the province of the Narbonensis. Apart from that, it is the only detailed description of the election and unction of a Visigothic king, as well as that of an extensive military campaign during the seventh century. This chapter analyses the narration of military power and the implementation of warlike undertakings in this barbaric reign. It reveals the interconnection between the divine legitimation of royal power and military success in Julian’s Historia, and examines the archaeological evidence of the equipment and arming of Visigothic warriors, as well as reference to a Visigothic fleet.

Braulio of Zaragoza’s Letters on Mourning

Augustinianum ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 59 (1) ◽  
pp. 161-197
Author(s):  
Alberto Ferreiro ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Seventh Century ◽  
Loved One ◽  
Burial Practices ◽  
Isidore Of Seville ◽  
The Dead ◽  
The Church

Braulio of Zaragoza (c. 585/595-651) was one of the most prolific writers of seventh century Visigothic Spain. The collection of 44 letters that he wrote are a unique and rich depository of information for that era and region of western Christendom. He was a personal adviser to three Visigothic kings, Chinthila and Chindasvinth and Reccesvinth, and he correspondended with his renowned contemporary Isidore of Seville. This study focuses on the letters that he directed at people who had lost a loved one and who needed consolation in their moment of mourning. The letters do not reveal anything about funerary burial practices, but they do yield a rare personal glimpse of what the Church taught about mourning the dead. Personal letters by their very nature are a literary means where peopleexpress their intimate feelings, in this case both those who were the recipients and Braulio who wrote to them. We see the Bishop of Zaragoza at his pastoral best in the letters of consolation written to family and friends who were mourning.

Sounding Prophecy

2020 ◽  
pp. 159-187
Author(s):  
Rebecca Maloy
Keyword(s):  
Biblical Interpretation ◽  
Semantic Content ◽  
Biblical Text ◽  
Biblical Exegesis ◽  
Rhetorical Device ◽  
Musical Rhetoric ◽  
Textual Meaning ◽  
The Relationship

This chapter considers the relationship between the melodies and the semantic content of the texts, thus bearing on the contentious question of whether chant melodies can relate to textual meaning. In the case of the sacrificia, the answer is a resounding yes. Central to this argument is the understanding of textual meaning established in Chapter 3. The author considers the occasion on which the text was sung, its meaning in biblical exegesis, and how and why the creators of the text reworked the biblical source. On this basis, I show that the melodies employ certain strategies of musical rhetoric to fashion a particular understanding of the text. The sacrificia thus pose a challenge to a long-standing belief that chant melodies are indifferent to the texts’ semantic content. On the contrary: their creators possessed an erudite knowledge of biblical interpretation, reworking biblical passages to foreground their Christian interpretation and deploying melody as a rhetorical device to shape how the text was heard. The melodies highlight images of liturgical or doctrinal importance, and underline the strategic reworking of the biblical text. Although the existing melodies do not date from the Visigothic period, it is probable that melody contributed to the bishops’ goals of forming a Nicene Christian kingdom and society.

scholarly journals Musical Values and Practice in Old Hispanic Chant

2016 ◽  
Vol 69 (3) ◽  
pp. 595-650 ◽  
Author(s):  
Emma Hornby
Keyword(s):  
Conceptual Framework ◽  
Liturgical Music ◽  
Late Antique ◽  
Early Medieval ◽  
Moral Value ◽  
Isidore Of Seville ◽  
The Way

Augustine's appraisal of music's moral value in Confessions, as selectively abbreviated by Isidore of Seville, provides a conceptual framework for understanding early medieval Iberian musical values. Augustine advocates a devotional focus primarily on text, expressing anxiety about elaborate liturgical music. For Isidore, by contrast, diverse melody leads both faithful and unfaithful toward a transcendent anticipation of heaven, beyond reason-based concentration on text. In this article I test the hypothesis that Isidore's musical values shaped the extant Old Hispanic chant texts and melodies, offering a new appraisal of the way Old Hispanic musical values and practice relate. Examples are drawn from Old Hispanic (“Mozarabic”) chant, whose texts (preserved before 732) are closer to the late antique context than any other Western liturgy. Old Hispanic melodies are preserved in unpitched notation ca. 900. The methodology developed here has the potential to be applied to other ritual traditions.

Late Visigothic Bishops, Their Schools and the Transmission of Culture

Traditio ◽  
1966 ◽  
Vol 22 ◽  
pp. 435-444 ◽  
Author(s):  
Consuelo Maria Aherne
Keyword(s):  
Intimate Relationship ◽  
Seventh Century ◽  
Sixth Century ◽  
Intellectual Tradition ◽  
Isidore Of Seville ◽  
The Church

A galaxy of enlightened bishops, inheritors and transmitters of the highly developed Hispano-Roman intellectual tradition, graced the Church in seventh-century Spain. Braulio, Taio, Ildefonsus, Eugene I, Eugene II and Julian, all depend more or less directly upon the great St. Isidore of Seville (600–636). He in turn was educated by his brother, Leander, in the last quarter of the sixth century. Lynch emphasizes the uniqueness of the system by which these men were formed in what he calls a ‘bishop's school,’ an expression which underlines the very intimate relationship which incorporated the students into the bishop's familia in contrast to the more formal cathedral school, especially as it developed in Carolingian times.

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