The Easter Ban in the Merovingian Kingdoms: Ideal and Reality

2021 ◽  
Vol 27 (3) ◽  
pp. 241-265
Author(s):  
Gregory I. Halfond
Keyword(s):  
Unintended Consequence ◽  
Sixth Century ◽  
Sincere Effort ◽  
Power And Influence

Abstract In mid-sixth-century Gaul, two episcopal councils issued canons, in 538 and 581/3, respectively, attempting to prohibit interaction between Jews and Christians between Maundy Thursday and Easter Sunday. The canons suggested that Jews, through their obstinate impiety, posed a threat to their Christian neighbors, particularly during that festal season associated with proselytization. While there is not corroborating evidence that the Merovingian-era Easter ban ever was put into effect, it should be understood not simply as an expression of Christian triumphalism, but rather as a sincere effort by the Gallo-Frankish bishops to protect their flocks from the “unbelieving Jews.” In an unintended consequence, the ban assigned far greater power and influence to Gallic Jews than they actually enjoyed.

A “Roman” Wedding in Vandal Africa

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 114-132
Author(s):  
Raphael Schwitter
Keyword(s):  
Sixth Century ◽  
Elite Culture ◽  
Hybrid Character

The Epithalamium Fridi is a sixth-century Virgilian cento that commemorates the marriage of the Vandal noble Fridus with his unnamed bride. Its author, the African poet Luxurius, engages in versatile poetic play fusing Virgil with multiple epithalamial models such as Statius, Claudian, and Ausonius. Through the dynamics of triangular intertextuality the centonist is able to strengthen the wedding poem's generic bonds and to connect himself and his work firmly to the classical Roman tradition. At the same time, echoes of distinctive African idiosyncrasies as prefigured by Dracontius highlight the hybrid character of sixth-century Romano-Vandal elite culture and its celebration of what appears to be a distinctive African Romanness.

THE HIMYARITE KINGDOM ON THE EVE OF AND AFTER THE ETHIOPIAN DOMINANCE IN THE SIXTH CENTURY A.D. IN THE MARTYRDOM OF ST. ARETHAS AND HIS COMPANIONS AND IN THE ACTS OF ST. GREGENTIUS

2017 ◽  
Vol 24 (2) ◽  
pp. 678-700
Author(s):  
V Christides
Keyword(s):  
Social Structure ◽  
Red Sea ◽  
Present Author ◽  
Sixth Century ◽  
South Arabia ◽  
The Social ◽  
Preliminary Study

Based on two important hagiographical works written in Greek, the Martyrdom of St. Arethas and his companions and the Acts of St. Gregentius, the aim of this paper is to continue my preliminary study of the countries around the Red Sea in pre-Islamic times, especially in the sixth century A.D. The most valuable information in the Martyrdom concerns the hazardous voyage of the Ethiopian army from the main port of Adulis across the Red Sea to South Arabia (ca 525 A.D.). This work illuminates aspects of that expedition which do not appear in such detail in any other source. In addition, it describes the ports of the Red Sea in the sixth century, i.e., Klysma, Bereniki, Adulis, etc., corroborating the finds of archaeology and epigraphy. Concerning the controversial Acts of St. Gregentius, the present author has tried to discuss only some vital information reflecting the social structure of South Arabia during its Ethiopian occupation until the Persian conquest of it (ca 525 A.D. – ca 570 A.D.), and attempted to trace the origin of just one law (the treatment of animals) among those supposedly imposed on the Himyarites by the so-called archbishop Gregentius.

Inventing Synagogue Conversion

2013 ◽  
Vol 4 (3) ◽  
pp. 401-416
Author(s):  
Shira L. Lander
Keyword(s):  
Religious Belief ◽  
Sacred Space ◽  
Sixth Century ◽  
Building Structures ◽  
Late Antique ◽  
Complex Processes ◽  
Space Transformation

Historians of the ancient synagogue often use the term “conversion” to describe any kind of adaptation of a building once designated as a synagogue into a church. This label oversimplifies and misconstrues complex processes, both rhetorical and architectural, that were at work in transforming the landscape of the late antique Mediterranean. I explore the dynamic of this triumphalist rhetoric and architectural strategy, showing that Christian writers meant something very specific by the term “conversion,” and that they invented the paradigm of synagogue conversion in order to interpret the changing landscape to their readers. The architectural program of replacement as a strategy for converting subject populations to Christianity emerged in the sixth century. By characterizing changes made to building structures and changes in religious belief as “conversion,” imperial policy concretized the association of sacred space transformation with the victory of Christianity over Judaism and paganism.

Coordinated Rice Improvement Project in India: Its Significant Achievements and Future prospects

2019 ◽  
Vol 56 (Special) ◽  
pp. 82-91 ◽  
Author(s):  
LV Subba Rao ◽  
RA Fiyaz ◽  
AK Jukanti ◽  
G Padmavathi ◽  
J Badri ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Management Practices ◽  
Crop Productivity ◽  
Yield Potential ◽  
High Yield ◽  
Improvement Project ◽  
Nutritional Security ◽  
Food Grain ◽  
Rice Improvement ◽  
Food And Nutritional Security ◽  
Sincere Effort

India is the second largest producer of rice in the world and it is the most important staple food grain. All India Coordinated Rice Improvement Project (AICRIP) was initiated with objective of conducting multi-location trials to identify suitable genotypes of high yield potential along with appropriate crop management practices. Since its inception AICRIP contributed significantly in meeting the growing demand both within and outside India. Significant progress has been achieved through AICRIP in terms of varietal release thereby increasing the crop productivity and also meeting the food and nutritional security. This paper makes a sincere effort in bringing out the significant achievements/milestones achieved under the AICRIP program and also gives a few directions for widening the areas under AICRIP.

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