Authors(With an Excursus on Symeon Metaphrastes)

Author(s):  
Stratis Papaioannou

The chapter introduces two sets of questions pertaining to (a) the social profile of Byzantine authors, and (b) the conception and value of authorship in Byzantium. It thus first surveys the prevalent patterns in the biographies of the c. 1600 eponymous known Greek authors from Byzantium. It then discusses the cultural as well as spiritual capital of authorship in Byzantium: notions such as those of divine inspiration and author-saints, and “practices” such pseudonymity (the false ascription of texts) and anonymity (the loss or absence of authorial signatures). The chapter concludes with an exploration of the reception of Symeon Metaphrastes (perhaps the most important author of the middle Byzantine period) as an author by later generations of readers.

2016 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 351-363
Author(s):  
Tarcísio Staudt ◽  
Carla Joseandra Dillenburg ◽  
Jucelaine Bitarello

ABSTRACTThe objective is to identify the relationship of managers and employees the forms of recognition of Spiritual Capital as part of the integral being in the workplace. Thus, we described the spiritual evolution of man through the ages, we discuss theories about the whole being, identify and analyze the values that constitute the Spiritual Capital, showing its relevance in the business environment in two ways: the reflections generated by the formation of a team spirit high, and the values and principles that guide the actions of managers and employees. The research is characterized as qualitative descriptive exploratory design, whose basis was made by the literature review. The case study was conducted at the Agency for Post Franchised Rua Grande, located in São Leopoldo / RS. We used the methodology of content analysis, using the technique of speech analysis performed by guiding tours of interviews with two managers and a non-probability sample of ten employees. In the analyzed company, identified as a factor of greater relevance to management integration with your staff, creating involvement and complicity in the team. Leaders seek personal satisfaction and professional staff as well as realize the extent of the social issues of particular employees by making the work environment supportive. The methodology applied by management contributes to the formation of the integral, since it gives employees freedom of action, stimulating their potential and enhancing their qualifications. The agency has an integrated team, strengthened by the values and purposes guiding spirituality.RESUMOO objetivo é identificar nas relações de gestores e funcionários as formas de reconhecimento do Capital Espiritual como elemento do ser integral no ambiente de trabalho. Desta forma, descrevemos a evolução espiritual do ser humano através dos tempos; abordamos teorias sobre o ser integral; identificamos e analisamos os valores que constituem o Capital Espiritual, demonstrando sua relevância no ambiente empresarial sob dois aspectos: os reflexos gerados pela formação de uma equipe espiritualmente elevada, e, os valores e princípios que norteiam as ações dos gestores e funcionários. A pesquisa caracteriza-se como qualitativa com delineamento descritivo-exploratório, cujo embasamento deu-se através da revisão bibliográfica. O estudo de caso foi realizado na Agência de Correios Franqueada Rua Grande, situada na cidade de São Leopoldo/RS. Utilizou-se a metodologia de análise de conteúdo, através da técnica de análise de discurso realizada por meio de roteiros norteadores de entrevistas aplicadas aos dois gestores e em uma amostra não-probabilística de dez funcionários. Na empresa analisada, identificamos como fator de maior relevância a integração da gestão com seu quadro funcional, criando envolvimento e cumplicidade na equipe. Os líderes buscam a satisfação pessoal e profissional dos funcionários, bem como percebem a extensão social das questões particulares dos colaboradores tornando o ambiente de trabalho solidário. A metodologia aplicada pela gestão contribui para a formação do ser integral, visto que proporciona aos funcionários liberdade de ação, estimulando suas potencialidades e valorizando suas qualificações. A agência conta com uma equipe integrada, fortalecida pelos valores e propósitos norteadores da espiritualidade.


2012 ◽  
Vol 22 ◽  
pp. 101
Author(s):  
Anastasia KONTOGIANNOPOULOU

The notion of “demos/demes” (people/circus factions) has been a favorite subject in the modern research and various opinions have been formulated with regard to their organisation and the role they played in the political developments. In the modern bibliography referred to the period under examination (13th-15th c.) the term “demos” denotes generally the lower strata of the urban population. However, through the systematic study of that period’s sources thinner nuances can be detected in the meaning of the term “demos”, which apart from the lower social stratum, it also seems to include members of the the middle social class and to denote a larger group that contains the two social categories mentioned above. This study intends to examine the concept of “demos” and similar expressions, the social composition of this body and its role in the political life of the era. The research is based primarily on narrative sources of the late byzantine period (13th-15th c.). The fragmentary material extracted from these sources is complemented by information come from the monastery archives, the lives of saints, the correspondence and other literary sources of the era.


Societies ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 78 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matteo Di Placido

In this paper, I discuss the role of spiritual seekers’ embodiment of karma, jnana and bhakti yoga(s) in the context of a neo-Vedantic, non-monastic ashram located in southern-Europe, an ashram I regard as an example of modern denominational yoga. Methodologically, I rely on an ex-post multi-sensory autoethnography, involving apprenticeship and full participation immersion, and I share with physical cultural studies a commitment to empirically contextualise the study of the moving body. Theoretically, I employ Shilling’s theory of the body as a multi-dimensional medium for the constitution of society, enriched by other theoretical and sensitising concepts. The findings presented in this paper show that the body of the seekers/devotees can be simultaneously framed as the source of, the location for and the means to, the constitution of the social, cultural and spiritual life of the ashram. As I discuss the development, interiorisation and implementation of serving, contemplative and devotional dispositions, which together form the scheme of dispositions that shape a yogic habitus, I also consider the ties between the specific instances under study and the more general spiritual habitus. The paper ends by broadening its focus in relation to the inclusion of Asian practices and traditions into the Western landscape.


2016 ◽  
Vol 109 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Marina Loukaki

AbstractThe Greek word scholastikos as a human attribute appears continuously from classical antiquity to modern times. However, over the centuries, the term took various nuances, which are associated with respective activities, the participation in public life and the social status of the persons qualified as scholastikoi. In the article, starting with Axel Claus’ conclusions in his doctoral thesis (Cologne 1965) as well as the exploitation of new evidences concludes that from the 3rd until the 7th century AD the number of people known as scholastikoi is particularly high. These people were well educated with rhetoric and legal knowledge. The term did not designate a specific profession, though often during this period a scholastikos gathered the characteristics of a jurist in today’s sense; he was an advocate, legal advisor, teacher of law, judge, notary, etc. Although he was not directly related to the education system as a teacher or professor of rhetoric, occasionally a scholastikos could have been, under certain circumstances, a private teacher of grammar (grammarian). During the middle and late Byzantine period, the attribute scholastikos for a person is found in very few and isolated cases (Arethas’ letters to Niketas David Paphlagon, Ecloga privata aucta, Alexiad, Nikephoros Gregoras to Theodoros Metochites and Thomas Magistros, Life of saint Athanasios of Meteora). It is clear that scholastikos, as a human type with the characteristics outlined above, did not disappear, but the term was no longer used in this context. According to the rare available evidence, most of the authors used the term in its ancient Greek meaning, associating it mainly with education, teachers and letters in general.


2015 ◽  
Vol 24 (1) ◽  
pp. 263
Author(s):  
Eυστρατία ΣΥΓΚΕΛΛΟΥ

<font face="Times New Roman" size="3"> </font><p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify" class="MsoNormal"><strong><span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','serif'; font-size: 12pt">Army and Society in Late Byzantium: the reform program of George Plethon Gemistos <span> </span></span></strong></p><font face="Times New Roman" size="3"> </font><p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 36pt" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','serif'; font-size: 12pt"><span> </span></span></p><font face="Times New Roman" size="3"> </font><p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','serif'; font-size: 12pt">In the early 15th century the Byzantine state was surrounded by the Ottomans, whereas the Peloponnese was the last defensive stronghold of the Byzantines in the Greek area. There, the need of defense became a major social issue and provided matter for discussion about the institutional and social function of the army. Plethon’ s proposals for the establishment of local professional army, as formulated in his <span> </span>texts addressed to the emperor Manuel II Palaeologus and the despot Theodore are associated with the social and economic reformation of the region and reflect the general need for the political reorganization of the Byzantine Empire.</span></p><font face="Times New Roman" size="3"> </font><p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 36pt" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','serif'; font-size: 12pt">This paper examines Gemistos’ reform program regarding the military and political-economic conditions of the era. The thoughts of the philosopher of Mystras on the Byzantine army, which have occupied scientific research from time to time, re-evaluated in order to emphasize the role of the army in the society of the late Byzantine period. The latter remains as powerful as necessary in the contest of a revived Byzantine state. <span>  </span></span><font size="2"><font face="Times New Roman"><span><span> </span></span><span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','serif'; font-size: 12pt"></span></font></font></p><font face="Times New Roman" size="3"> </font>


Antiquity ◽  
2004 ◽  
Vol 78 (300) ◽  
pp. 306-313 ◽  
Author(s):  
Abdulla Al-Shorman

The Byzantine period in Jordan represents a dramatic change in landscape from the Roman period that preceded it. In this case study the author shows how a sixth century Byzantine church was surrounded by three cemeteries which reflected and maintained the social ranks of the congregation and their different roles in agricultural production.


1995 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 133-157 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Heyd

The ArgumentMedicine is only a cultural system of its own. It also performs specific roles in the broader culture of society at large. This article examines the role of medical arguments in the critique of“enthusiasm” on the eve of the Enlightenment. The enthusiasts, who claimed to prophesy and to have direct divine inspiration, were increasingly see in the seventeenth century as melancholics. With the decline of humoral medicine, however, the account of melancholic disturbances – including enthusiasm – that was offered tended to be chemical, mechanistic, and clearly corpuscular. Protestant ministers, in adopting such an account of enthusiasm, also adopted a strict distinction between the realm of the mind (to which true prophecy belonged) and that of the body (in which they located the phenomena of enthusiasm). Such a distinctions served in turn to demarcate more specifically the limits between the clerical and medical professions. Yet in relegating the treatment of enthusiasts to the physicians, rather than seeing the enthusiasts as heretics, the ministers stood in danger of relying too much on a secular profession and secular arguments, thus paving the way to a more general secularization of the ideological basis of the social order.


2018 ◽  
Vol 28 ◽  
pp. 11
Author(s):  
Dimitris KRALLIS

While cotemporary work on the Byzantine polity presents Constantinople as a hub of a vividly polyphonic politics, much less has been said about the social and political identity of the empire’s smaller settlements. Following our field’s renewed interest in urban sociability, popular political agency, and collective identity I turn here to this larger world of villages and towns in order to examine the relationship of such social units with the Roman world around them during the middle Byzantine period. In doing so I trace village and town attitudes towards authority and follow evidence of collective action, which by all accounts should qualify as politics.


1959 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
pp. 51-79
Author(s):  
K. Edwards

During the last twenty or twenty-five years medieval historians have been much interested in the composition of the English episcopate. A number of studies of it have been published on periods ranging from the eleventh to the fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries. A further paper might well seem superfluous. My reason for offering one is that most previous writers have concentrated on analysing the professional circles from which the bishops were drawn, and suggesting the influences which their early careers as royal clerks, university masters and students, secular or regular clergy, may have had on their later work as bishops. They have shown comparatively little interest in their social background and provenance, except for those bishops who belonged to magnate families. Some years ago, when working on the political activities of Edward II's bishops, it seemed to me that social origins, family connexions and provenance might in a number of cases have had at least as much influence on a bishop's attitude to politics as his early career. I there fore collected information about the origins and provenance of these bishops. I now think that a rather more careful and complete study of this subject might throw further light not only on the political history of the reign, but on other problems connected with the character and work of the English episcopate. There is a general impression that in England in the later middle ages the bishops' ties with their dioceses were becoming less close, and that they were normally spending less time in diocesan work than their predecessors in the thirteenth century.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document