A Hidden Agenda of Imperial Appropriation and Power Play? Iconological Considerations Concerning Apse Images and Their Role in the Iconoclast Controversy

Millennium ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 251-270
Author(s):  
Philipp Niewöhner
Keyword(s):  
Seventh Century ◽  
Byzantine Empire ◽  
Turn Of The Millennium ◽  
Visual Integration ◽  
Early Christian ◽  
Hidden Agenda ◽  
Theological Debate ◽  
Material Evidence ◽  
The Church ◽  
Power Play

Abstract According to the written sources, the Iconoclast controversy was all about the veneration of icons. It started in the late seventh century, after most iconodule provinces had been lost to Byzantine rule, and lasted until the turn of the millennium or so, when icon veneration became generally established in the remaining parts of the Byzantine Empire. However, as far as material evidence and actual images are concerned, the Iconoclast controversy centred on apse images and other, equally large and monumental representations, none of which were ever venerated. Prior to Iconoclasm, such images had not been customary at Constantinople, where the early Christian tradition had been largely aniconic and focused on the symbol of the cross. Thus, the introduction of monumental Christian imagery to Constantinople appears to have been a major aspect of the Iconoclast controversy. This paper asks why and finds that the images in question, whilst not for veneration and therefore not essential to the theological debate, stood out for imperial propaganda. They led to close visual integration of the emperor and the church that had previously been kept apart, because aniconic traditions used to limit imperial presence inside Constantinopolitan church buildings. It seems, then, that the Iconoclast controversy, although conducted in religious terms, was partly driven by a hidden agenda of imperial appropriation and power play.

Early Christian pottery from Knossos: the 1978–1981 finds from the Knossos Medical Faculty Site

2001 ◽  
Vol 96 ◽  
pp. 431-454 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. W. Hayes
Keyword(s):  
Medical Faculty ◽  
Seventh Century ◽  
Early Christian ◽  
University Buildings ◽  
The Many ◽  
The Church

Here is presented, along with a revised overall site-plan indicating findspots, the late material from the BSA excavations in the northern cemetery area of ancient Knossos, prior to the construction of the present University buildings. These finds were excluded from the major published site-reports. They relate to the Early Christian martyrion-church complex noted in the preliminary site report. Dating from the period c. AD 400–650, they comprise some small deposits within the church complex, items placed in some of the many ossuaries (osteothekai) surrounding it, and in particular a well/cistern filling datable to c. 620–640 which may signal the end of use of the church (though perhaps not of the cemetery). The ossuary finds document a widespread sixth and seventh century burial custom—did the practice of depositing pots in funerary contexts then cease, due to religious censure? The well finds include the normal ‘export’ wares of the period, along with a class of Cretan(?) imitations of the African and Phocaean fine wares. Some wheelmade lamps have parallels from elsewhere in Crete; a class of very simple coarse bowls could be locally made. Several vessels bear graffiti, in particular a Phocaean Red Slip dish with two Christian dedicatory texts.

Christus Virgo

2012 ◽  
Vol 41 (2) ◽  
pp. 22-27
Author(s):  
Sissel Undheim
Keyword(s):  
Moral Status ◽  
The Other ◽  
Late Antique ◽  
Church Fathers ◽  
Early Christian ◽  
Female Sex ◽  
The One ◽  
The Church

The description of Christ as a virgin, 'Christus virgo', does occur at rare occasions in Early Christian and late antique texts. Considering that 'virgo' was a term that most commonly described the sexual and moral status of a member of the female sex, such representations of Christ as a virgin may exemplify some of the complex negotiations over gender, salvation, sanctity and Christology that we find in the writings of the Church fathers. The article provides some suggestions as to how we can understand the notion of the virgin Christ within the context of early Christian and late antique theological debates on the one hand, and in light of the growing interest in sacred virginity on the other.

The Roman Martyrs

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Lapidge
Keyword(s):  
Fourth Century ◽  
Second Century ◽  
Seventh Century ◽  
Early Church ◽  
Central Feature ◽  
Late Antique ◽  
Modern Language ◽  
Roman Society ◽  
Christian Literature ◽  
The Church

The Roman Martyrs contains translations of forty Latin passiones of saints who were martyred in Rome or its near environs, during the period before the ‘peace of the Church’ (c. 312). Some of these Roman martyrs are universally known — SS. Agnes, Sebastian or Laurence, for example — but others are scarcely known outside the ecclesiastical landscape of Rome itself. Each of the translated passiones, which vary in length from a few paragraphs to over ninety, is accompanied by an individual introduction and commentary; the translations are preceded by an Introduction which describes the principal features of this little-known genre of Christian literature. The Roman passiones martyrum have never previously been collected together, and have never been translated into a modern language. They were mostly composed during the period 425 x 675, by anonymous authors who who were presumably clerics of the Roman churches or cemeteries which housed the martyrs’ remains. It is clear that they were composed in response to the huge explosion of pilgrim traffic to martyrial shrines from the late fourth century onwards, at a time when authentic records (protocols) of their trials and executions had long since vanished, and the authors of the passiones were obliged to imagine the circumstances in which martyrs were tried and executed. The passiones are works of pure fiction; and because they abound in ludicrous errors of chronology, they have been largely ignored by historians of the early Church. But although they cannot be used as evidence for the original martyrdoms, they nevertheless allow a fascinating glimpse of the concerns which animated Christians during the period in question: for example, the preservation of virginity, or the ever-present threat posed by pagan practices. And because certain aspects of Roman life will have changed little between (say) the second century and the fifth, the passiones throw valuable light on many aspects of Roman society, not least the nature of a trial before an urban prefect, and the horrendous tortures which were a central feature of such trials. Above all, perhaps, the passiones are an indispensable resource for understanding the topography of late antique Rome and its environs, since they characteristically contain detailed reference to the places where the martyrs were tried, executed, and buried. The book contains five Appendices containing translations of texts relevant to the study of Roman martyrs: the Depositio martyrum of A.D. 354 (Appendix I); the epigrammata of Pope Damasus d. 384) which pertain to Roman martyrs treated in the passiones (II); entries pertaining to Roman martyrs in the Martyrologium Hieronymianum (III); entries in seventh-century pilgrim itineraries pertaining to shrines of Roman martyrs in suburban cemeteries (IV); and entries commemorating these martyrs in early Roman liturgical books (V).

What Is Hidden in the Small Box? Narratives of Late Antique Roman Palestine in Dialogue

AJS Review ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 45 (1) ◽  
pp. 76-94
Author(s):  
Reuven Kiperwasser
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Context ◽  
Late Antique ◽  
Early Christian ◽  
Narrative Tradition ◽  
Judaic Studies ◽  
Roman Palestine ◽  
The Church ◽  
Shared Narrative

This study is a comparative reading of two distinct narrative traditions with remarkably similar features of plot and content. The first tradition is from the Palestinian midrash Kohelet Rabbah, datable to the fifth to sixth centuries. The second is from John Moschos's Spiritual Meadow (Pratum spirituale), which is very close to Kohelet Rabbah in time and place. Although quite similar, the two narratives differ in certain respects. Pioneers of modern Judaic studies such as Samuel Krauss and Louis Ginzberg had been interested in the question of the relationships between early Christian authors and the rabbis; however, the relationships between John Moschos and Palestinian rabbinic writings have never been systematically treated (aside from one enlightening study by Hillel Newman). Here, in this case study, I ask comparative questions: Did Kohelet Rabbah borrow the tradition from Christian lore; or was the church author impressed by the teachings of Kohelet Rabbah? Alternatively, perhaps, might both have learned the shared story from a common continuum of local narrative tradition? Beyond these questions about literary dependence, I seek to understand the shared narrative in its cultural context.

Israël, Jésus et les apôtres : summa memoriae christiana

2020 ◽  
Vol 111 (2) ◽  
pp. 194-226
Author(s):  
Simon Butticaz
Keyword(s):  
Social Memory ◽  
Early Christian ◽  
The Church

AbstractThis article aims at describing the Lukan project by applying – in the wake of other scholars – social memory theories to Luke’s double work. In particular, it argues that the type of memory and its criteria defined by Jan Assmann on the basis of the Deuteronomy can help explain the nature of the narrative composed by the auctor ad Theophilum as well as its originality in an early Christian context marked by a proliferation of books and other traditions of the origins of the Church (cf. Luke 1:1a.2.4).

Ressourcement and Theologies of Communion

2016 ◽  
pp. 682-700
Author(s):  
Gabriel Flynn
Keyword(s):  
Twentieth Century ◽  
Vatican Ii ◽  
Early Christian ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Church

This chapter describes the contribution of a group of (initially French) theologians known for promoting the work of ressourcement: renewal of the Church through recovery of biblical and Early Christian sources. The work of Henri de Lubac and Yves Congar receives particular attention (although the contributions of others, such as Marie-Dominique Chenu and Jean Cardinal Daniélou are also discussed), and the group as a whole is placed against the background of the social, political, and ecclesiastical context of France in the first half of the twentieth century. This chapter highlights the centrality of ressourcement theologians to the work of Vatican II. The final sections of the essay focus on one of the most important consequences of their work at the council, the development of accounts of the Church as ‘communion’.

scholarly journals STATE SYMBOL OF RUSSIA AND ALBANIA: COMPARATIVE ASPECT

2019 ◽  
pp. 28-38
Author(s):  
Y. Romanenko
Keyword(s):  
The State ◽  
Political Elite ◽  
Military Coup ◽  
Byzantine Empire ◽  
Authoritarian State ◽  
Head Of State ◽  
Comparative Aspect ◽  
The Russian Federation ◽  
The Church ◽  
Comparative Description

The purpose of this research is a comparative description of the visual features of the national flags of Russia and Albania as symbols of diffusion of macroidentity, which is expressed in the contradictory vectors of their foreign policy and focus on both European and Asian macroidentity. Based on color semantics, the article analyzes the state flags of Russia and Albania, which, as in state symbols, reveal the features of the geopolitical positioning of states. The connection between the axial symbol of identity – the double-headed eagle – and the bifurcation (diffuseness) of political macroidentity is shown. The features common to the two states are shown: a tendency toward geopolitical isolationism, authoritarian state power, the dependence of the institution of the church on the state and statist atheism, the prevalence of corrupt practices, the emphasis on forced modernization and extraordinary technologies for overcoming situations of foreign political challenges. It is stated that in both countries there is a corruption of power, a sign of which is a fierce struggle for power during most of Byzantine history. It was determined that this struggle was not waged by political methods, but by force – a military coup, uprising or assassination of the current head of state. In the geopolitical position of Albania, this was due to Skannerberg’s attempt to combine two in one: Islamic and Orthodox identities, as well as situational adaptation of the country’s political elite to the next occupier: from 1443, i.e. the years of struggle against Turkish rule and until 1944 the coat of arms acquired alternately Turkish, Austrian, Greek, Italian and Soviet-Russian details. The coat of arms of the Russian Federation also contains Byzantine elements, which indicates a spiritual succession with the Byzantine Empire, however, with less borrowing.

scholarly journals Interprétation de la lettre ταῦ sur le vêtement du Christ et du geste de l’ogdoade sur la mosaïque absidiale de l’église Santa Pudenziana à Rome

2011 ◽  
pp. 43-72
Author(s):  
Krzysztof Babraj ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Symbolic Meaning ◽  
Greek Letter ◽  
Early Christian ◽  
Relief Sculpture ◽  
The Church ◽  
Universal Nature ◽  
Written Sources

The author explores the interpretation of the Greek letter tau on the robe of Christ represented on the 4th-century apsidal mosaic in the church of Santa Pudenziana in Rome, as well as the sign of the Ogdoad that Christ makes with his fingers. He discusses the ancient written sources for the symbolic meaning of the letter, as well as the letters iota and gamma, also found in similar early Christian contexts, as well as the iconographic evidence for the use of the letter tau, seen as a cross in shape, in glyptics, amulets, inscriptions and relief sculpture on sarcophagi, among others. In the context of the Santa Pudenziana mosaic, the presence of the letter is significant for the interpretation of the representation as symbolizing the redemption of man through the Passion of the Lord. The sign of the Ogdoad should be seen as evocation of the universal nature of the resurrection of Christ for all mankind, making the presence of the tau on Christ’s robes in this representation entirely comprehensible.

scholarly journals “Varii errores qui ab origine mundi emerserunt”. The semantic scope of the term “heresy” in Philastrius’ of Brescia Diversarum hereseon liber

Vox Patrum ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 68 ◽  
pp. 315-325
Author(s):  
Mariusz Szram
Keyword(s):  
Old Testament ◽  
Way Of Life ◽  
Moral Issues ◽  
Rule Of Faith ◽  
Early Christian ◽  
The Bible ◽  
Or Practice ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Church ◽  
Semantic Scope

The bishop of Brescia, Philastrius, author of the first Latin catalogue of he­resies, written between 380 and 388, presented in his treaty an extremely large number of heterodox movements: 28 within Judaism and 128 in early Christianity. This comes as a result of a wide understanding of the term heresis. For Philastrius this term was synonymous with the term error, recognized as any deviation from the universal truth in the history of the world, inspired by Satan as “the father of lies”, ocurring primarily in Judaism and Christianity. Among the early Christian views defined by the bishop of Brescia as heresy five groups can be distinguished. The first group includes mainly the erroneous views on fundamental theological questions contained in the rule of faith, such as the concept of a creator God and saviour Jesus Christ. The second set of he­resies, closely related with the previous one, contains the erroneous doctrines of anthropology, such as questioning the resurrection of the human body or the view of the materiality of the human soul. The third group includes the views related to the misinterpretation of Scripture, especially exaggerated literal interpretations of the texts of the Old Testament, as well as the cosmological views which do not agree with descriptions contained within the Bible. The fourth group contains the moral issues related to the based on laxism or rigorism way of life, as well as to the attitude of lack of deference to the laws of the Church, but non-threatening the primary truths of the Christian faith. The fifth group of heresies includes the movements defined by the authors of the late patristic period as a schizm, while the term schisma is not at all used by the bishop of Brescia in his work. The semantic scope of the term heresis in Philastrius’ treaty went beyond the noncompliance with the regula fidei. According to the bishop of Brescia each offense – whether in doctrinal teaching or practice of life, as well as with regard to the understanding of the text of Scripture – is a heresy because it offends God and the Church. Therefore, in Philastrius opinion one should not differentiate between superior and minor error, but equally condemn them as attitudes directed against God as the Father of Truth.

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