scholarly journals Przemiany symboliczno-teologicznego znaczenia materii i ich odzwierciedlanie się w estetyce i sztuce chrześcijańskiej

2020 ◽  
Vol 13 ◽  
pp. 7-27
Author(s):  
Janusz Królikowski ◽  

Almost from its very beginning, the faith of the Church incorporated art in its various forms of expression into the process of interpreting its doctrine. Quite quickly the Church included in this process the dogma of creation, i.e. the calling of the world into existence by God. At first, in polemic against ancient Manichaean tendencies, this dogma contributed to a positive view of matter, and thus to the possibility of using it in the realm of religion: since it comes from God, it cannot be an obstacle to worshipping him. Over time, the theme of creation itself was also incorporated into art, above all because it shaped Christian aesthetics, which always in some way reflected the essential elements of the Christian vision of the world and matter: radiance, proportion, harmony. Scholastic theologians in the Middle Ages drew attention to the fact that aesthetics, referring to the creative work of God, can play a supportive role in man’s return to God, thanks to the fact that it lifts his spirit towards the Creator. In the Middle Ages the motif of God the Creator, especially as the Creator of all things, also appeared in art. Under the influence of Enlightenment and positivist tendencies, matter lost its symbolic and theological bearing, becoming only a material made available to man, and thus the motif of creation disappeared from art. This means that there is a need to search for the possibility of including the truth about creation in art.

2019 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 173-202
Author(s):  
Jürg Gassmann ◽  
Samuel Gassmann

Abstract The non-lethal simulated training of lethal reality, whether it be single combat or war, was historically a question of life and death. We provide an analytical framework for evaluating historical precedents in fight simulations by focussing on two key questions: What was the philosophy guiding the conception of reality – in particular, did historical practitioners see reality as deterministic, and if not, how did they see it? And how did the simulations deal with the elements of quantity, quality, timing, and information? The analysis shows that our ancestors’ perception of the reality of fighting chan-ged over time, as their interpretations of reality for the world at large changed. Considerable intellectual effort and ingenuity were invested into attempts to understand reality and formulate corresponding realistic simulations, making these ludic artefacts reflective, sometimes iconic for, and occasionally ahead of their historical-cultural context. Seemingly irrational phenomena, such as the persistence of lethal duelling, had perfectly pragmatic elements.


Traditio ◽  
1964 ◽  
Vol 20 ◽  
pp. 351-383
Author(s):  
Gerard J. Campbell

The Gregorian reform of the eleventh century mounted a massive attack on lay control over churches and church appointments, yet the degree to which this attack succeeded in attaining its objectives varied from country to country. Local conditions and personalities were important in determining the outcome of the struggle over investiture and other related questions, but neither side achieved a complete victory, because the final agreements between clerical and lay leaders were a compromise which produced the usual mixture of satisfaction and disappointment. The church gained the most substantial victory, for the smothering stranglehold of the laity over the church and churchmen was broken, nevermore to be restored in the Middle Ages. Increased spiritual freedom for the church in subsequent centuries resulted from the struggle of the mid-eleventh century. Nevertheless, the church had not broken completely from its close ties with the world of feudalism. If bishoprics, abbeys, and parish churches were not feudal possessions of kings and nobles, laymen still retained many rights reminiscent of the earlier days when laymen claimed a proprietary right over the churches in their areas. The purpose of this paper is to consider one of these remnants of earlier days: the right of regalia I will examine the right of regalia, temporal and spiritual, together with some related institutions during the reigns of St. Louis and Philip III of France.


Author(s):  
Tom Amos Driver

This, particular study explores how the Middle Ages gave birth to sadomasochistic erotica; how a burgeoning literary tradition influenced patterns of sexuality and media across medieval Europe. The bulk of the following analysis is centered around Chrétien de Troyes’ Knight of the Cart, and it is aimed at the following questions: Can the origins of sadomasochistic erotica be traced to the courtly romance of Chrétien de Troyes? What were the social ramifications of courtly romance literature? To what extent does Chrétien’s writing depict sadomasochistic relations? How did it affect patterns of sexual behavior in medieval Europe? How did it impact women’s agency? How did the world of sadomasochistic erotica change after the Middle Ages? And likewise, how did its effect on society evolve over time?


2008 ◽  
pp. 119-127
Author(s):  
V.R. Buchovskyi

Throughout Christianity, its activities are in one way or another connected to the historical reality of its time. Usually, for different epochs, the strength of these bonds was different, but during the Middle Ages, they were significantly stronger than before and after. It is here that perhaps the most important moment was the rise of Christianity, which spread over a relatively short period of time almost throughout Europe. It was then - and never again in all its history - that the Church was able to participate in the formation of all aspects of its contemporary life (including the social), in accordance with its spirit. When solving this task, it inevitably came in close contact with the "world" and the various forms in which it was represented (ie with culture, state, etc.).


1990 ◽  
Vol 41 (4) ◽  
pp. 543-583 ◽  
Author(s):  
Benjamin Thompson

Throughout its history the institutionalised Church has sought in different ways to define its position with respect to the ‘world’, in order to give meaning to the injunction to be ‘in’ this world but not ‘of’ it. During the Middle Ages, the tension was acute because the Church, in its narrow definition of the clergy, claimed to be a separate, spiritual order, set apart from the temporal world. The tangible results of this dichotomy are particularly evident with respect to the real property held by ecclesiastical institutions. Property gave the Church the security to be independent from the lay power and the aristocracy; hence the Church claimed varying degrees of immunity for its property from secular jurisdictions.


Author(s):  
Olivier Guyotjeannin

This chapter examines administrative documents of the Middle Ages and the major scholarly studies of them. It surveys the number of preserved documents and the problems surrounding the lack of documents in different periods and places. The author discusses the role and influence of the Church in the increased production and preservation of documents beginning in the eleventh century, leading to an enormous increase in the production of documents during the last three centuries of the Middle Ages.


Author(s):  
Simeon Dekker

AbstractThe ‘diatribe’ is a dialogical mode of exposition, originating in Hellenistic Greek, where the author dramatically performs different voices in a polemical-didactic discourse. The voice of a fictitious opponent is often disambiguated by means of parenthetical verba dicendi, especially φησί(ν). Although diatribal texts were widely translated into Slavic in the Middle Ages, the textual history of the Zlatostruj collection of Chrysostomic homilies especially suits an investigation not only of how Greek ‘diatribal’ verbs were translated, but also how the Slavic verbs were transmitted or developed in different textual traditions. Over time, Slavic redactional activity led to a homogenization of verb forms. The initial variety of the original translation was partly eliminated, and the verb forms "Equation missing" and "Equation missing" became more firmly established as prototypical diatribal formulae. Especially the (increased) use of the 2sg form "Equation missing" has theoretical consequences for the text’s dialogical structure. Thus, an important dialogical component of the diatribe was reinforced in the Zlatostruj’s textual history on Slavic soil.


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