scholarly journals Did the Justinianic Plague Truly Reach Frankish Europe around 543 AD?

Vox Patrum ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 78 ◽  
pp. 427-466
Author(s):  
Eric Faure
Keyword(s):  
Western Europe ◽  
Volcanic Eruptions ◽  
Mediterranean Area ◽  
Bubonic Plague ◽  
Paternal Uncle ◽  
Numerous Data ◽  
Health Situation ◽  
Climatic Cooling ◽  
Miraculous Healing ◽  
The City

This article focuses on the episodes of bubonic plague recorded around 543 AD in Frankish Europe which on re-reading appear doubtful. Beginning in 541 and for two centuries, the Justinianic plague ravaged the Mediterranean area over several successive waves. The first mentions concern Egypt; the plague then spreads northward to Constantinople and almost concomitantly or shortly afterward moves westward until it reaches Western Europe. For this last region, the main source is Bishop Gregory of Tours, who in both his historical and his hagiographic writings, provides numerous data on the first outbreaks that raged in Frankish Europe, episodes to which he was a contemporary (even if for the first, he was still in early childhood). According to Gregory, around 543, bubonic plague ravaged several areas under Frankish rule. However, among others, intertextual, contextualized and chronological analyses strongly suggest that these events were in fact fictional. Gregory seems to have wanted to balance during epidemics of plague, the behavior of two bishops of Clermont that were totally opposed. In the episode of 571, when plague struck the episcopal city, the unworthy Bishop Cautinus, to escape disease, had fled the city in cowardice. In the other episode, through the intercession of Gregory's paternal uncle, the virtuous Gallus, the immediate predecessor of Cautinus and that of a saint specific of the paternal branch, the city, including the diocese, was spared from the plague. Other references to similar events in which, through saints, the plague is driven out, or territories are protected from it are also dated arbitrarily from this period. Furthermore, unlike the episode of 571, the plague of 543 is never considered a punishment for sin; moreover, no miraculous healing of plague patients is recorded. Contemporary texts from other authors of Frankish Europe, although they are rare, do not mention any epidemic around 543 - especially the Vita of Caesarius of Arles, written shortly after the death of this bishop (from 542 to 547-9) by several hagiographers - while two of Gregory’s texts, which are repeated almost verbatim, indicate that the province of Arles was the region most affected. This fact underscores the decisive contribution that hagiographic texts can make in the analysis of facts considered to be historical. Finally, the dramatic deteriorations in the health situation described in Gregory’s reports could have a background of truth and be the consequence of the climatic cooling observed from 536, likely due to volcanic eruptions, but did not involve the bubonic plague.

The Fiery Pacific: Volcanic Eruptions and Settler-State Theatricality in Oceania, 1780–1900

2014 ◽  
Vol 55 (3) ◽  
pp. 362-392
Author(s):  
Diana Looser
Keyword(s):  
Seventeenth Century ◽  
Performance Studies ◽  
Art History ◽  
Volcanic Eruptions ◽  
The Body ◽  
Red Color ◽  
Form Part ◽  
And Performance ◽  
Grand Opera ◽  
The City

In the closing scene of René-Charles Guilbert de Pixérécourt's melodramaLa Tête de mort; ou, Les Ruines de Pompeïa(1827), audiences at Paris's Théâtre de la Gaîté were presented with the spectacular cataclysm of an erupting Mount Vesuvius that invaded the city and engulfed the hapless characters in its fiery embrace. “The theatre,” Pixérécourt writes, “is completely inundated by this sea of bitumen and lava. A shower of blazing and transparent stones and red ash falls on all sides…. The red color with which everything is struck, the terrible noise of the volcano, the screaming, the agitation and despair of the characters … all combine to form this terrible convulsion of nature, a horrible picture, and altogether worthy of being compared to Hell.” A few years later, in 1830, Daniel Auber's grand operaLa Muette de Portici(1828), which yoked a seventeenth-century eruption of Vesuvius with a popular revolt against Spanish rule in Naples, opened at the Théâtre de Monnaie in Brussels. The Belgian spectators, inspired by the opera's revolutionary sentiments, poured out into the streets and seized their country's independence from the Dutch. These two famous examples, which form part of a long genealogy of representing volcanic eruptions through various artistic means, highlight not only the compelling, immersive spectacle of nature in extremis but also the ability of stage scenery to intervene materially in the narrative action and assimilate affective and political meanings. As these two examples also indicate, however, the body of scholarship in literary studies, art history, and theatre and performance studies that attends to the mechanical strategies and symbolic purchase of volcanic representations has tended to focus mainly on Europe; more research remains to be undertaken into how volcanic spectacles have engaged with non-European topographies and sociopolitical dynamics and how this wider view might illuminate our understanding of theatre's social roles.

scholarly journals Potrošnja egzotičnog voća i povrća na području grada Zadra

2017 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Antonijo Galić ◽  
Bruno Gauta ◽  
Lidija Halilović ◽  
Ivana Jadreško ◽  
Suzana Kardum
Keyword(s):  
Western Europe ◽  
Fruits And Vegetables ◽  
Demographic Characteristics ◽  
Sweet Potatoes ◽  
Independent Variables ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
Exotic Fruits ◽  
The City ◽  
Exact Definition ◽  
Marketing Approach

Consumers in Croatia only recently got the opportunity to buy exotic fruits and vegetables. Until now offer was limited to the already known species which could be found on the shelves for decades, and this types can generally be cultivated in Croatia (except bananas, pineapples and several types of citrus). The demand for exotic fruits and vegetables and its cultivation in Western Europe is growing, and this trend is coming to Croatia. In the study conducted for the city of Zadar the correlation of the interest in buying exotic fruit/vegetables and familiarity with the product, the exact definition of the product and the most significant characteristics of kiwano/sweet potatoes was explored. Regression analysis results showed that all three independent variables significantly predict purchase of both kiwano and sweet potatoes. Three segments of consumers with respect to their demographic characteristics were identified using cluster analysis. A more detailed analysis of these groups could serve future researchers in order to segment the market and determine the marketing approach to each of the segments.

scholarly journals High-resolution late Holocene sedimentary cores record the long history of the city of Cádiz (south-western Spain)

2020 ◽  
Vol 27 ◽  
pp. 35-47
Author(s):  
Ferréol Salomon ◽  
Darío Bernal-Casasola ◽  
José J. Díaz ◽  
Macarena Lara ◽  
Salvador Domínguez-Bella ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Western Europe ◽  
High Energy ◽  
Mitigation Strategies ◽  
Urban Centre ◽  
Archaeological Data ◽  
Lisbon Earthquake ◽  
History Of ◽  
Western Spain ◽  
The One ◽  
The City

Abstract. Today, coastal cities worldwide are facing major changes resulting from climate change and anthropogenic forcing, which requires adaptation and mitigation strategies to be established. In this context, sedimentological archives in many Mediterranean cities record a multi-millennial history of environmental dynamics and human adaptation, revealing a long-lasting resilience. Founded by the Phoenicians around 3000 years ago, Cádiz (south-western Spain) is a key example of a coastal resilient city. This urban centre is considered to be one of the first cities of western Europe and has experienced major natural hazards during its long history, such as coastal erosion, storms, and also tsunamis (like the one in 1755 CE following the destructive Lisbon earthquake). In the framework of an international, joint archaeological and geoarchaeological project, three cores have been drilled in a marine palaeochannel that ran through the ancient city of Cádiz. These cores reveal a ≥50 m thick Holocene sedimentary sequence. Importantly, most of the deposits date from the 1st millennium BCE to the 1st millennium CE. This exceptional sedimentary archive will allow our scientific team to achieve its research goals, which are (1) to reconstruct the palaeogeographical evolution of this specific coastal area; (2) to trace the intensity of activities of the city of Cádiz based on archaeological data, as well as geochemical and palaeoecological indicators; and (3) to identify and date high-energy event deposits such as storms and tsunamis.

scholarly journals UKRAINIANS IN St. PETERSBURG IN SCIENTIFIC AND PUBLIC ACTIVITY OF TETIANA LEBEDYNSKA

2021 ◽  
pp. 114-120
Author(s):  
Tetiana Тsymbal
Keyword(s):  
Life Events ◽  
Western Europe ◽  
The United States ◽  
Arab Countries ◽  
Town Planning ◽  
Educational Activity ◽  
City Center ◽  
Science And Culture ◽  
The University ◽  
The City

The article presents the results of a study of scientific, educational and ascetic activities of one of the brightest representatives of the modern Ukrainian diaspora in Russia - Tetiana Lebedynska, a daughter of Ukrainian writer Mykola Shpak. T.M. Lebedynska is PhD in Philosophy, translator, writer, member of the Ukrainian Union of Writers, author of exhibitions dedicated to Ukrainian St. Petersburg, holder of the Order of Princess Olga III degree. The multifaceted scientific and educational activity of Tetiana Mykolajivna is considered. It is emphasized that she initiated and organized the International Scientific Seminar «St. Petersburg – Ukraine», which resulted in the publication of twenty collections of articles from 2000 to 2020. T.M. Lebedynska is the author of more than 200 scientific works, including unique publications: «Shevchenko's places of St. Petersburg», «St. Petersburg and Ukraine», «M.P. Hrebinka - town-planning of St. Petersburg», «Ukrainian necropolis of St. Petersburg», «I. Mazepa - Commander of the Order of St. Andrew the First-Called», dictionary»Outstanding figures of science and culture of Russia who came from Ukraine», etc.. T.M. Lebedynska was published in Western Europe, the United States, and Arab countries. It is noted that the heroine of our intelligence pays most attention to the study of the life and work of the Great Kobzar, who had many life events in St. Petersburg: here he studied and worked, gained freedom and communicated with many prominent cultural figures, wrote poems and paintings and became an academician of arts. It was Tetiana Mykolajivna who was one of the initiators of the installation in St. Petersburg of the monument to Taras Shevchenko by Canadian sculptor Leo Mol (Leonid Molodozhanin), she collected signatures against the relocation of the site from the city center near the university to the outskirts, also she initiated and participated in the installation of a memorial to Kobzar at the Smolensk cemetery. Among other things Tetiana Lebedynska‟s ascetic activity is represented, by a study of the Ukrainian necropolis of St. Petersburg, as most graves and tombstones are in a state of destruction and may disappear for the future without restoration. And with them the memory of our compatriots who found eternal peace in the land of North Palmira will be destroyed. The article states that today, when Crimea is annexed and the Russian occupation of Donbass continues, it is very important to study the experience of our contemporaries - Ukrainians in Russia, who do not lose their identity in conditions of strong informational, ideological and linguistic pressure.

scholarly journals Steatoda nobilis, a false widow on the rise: a synthesis of past and current distribution trends

NeoBiota ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 42 ◽  
pp. 19-43 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tobias Bauer ◽  
Stephan Feldmeier ◽  
Henrik Krehenwinkel ◽  
Carsten Wieczorrek ◽  
Nils Reiser ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Western Europe ◽  
Ecological Niche Modeling ◽  
Mediterranean Area ◽  
Multiple Introductions ◽  
Colonization Pressure ◽  
Current Spread ◽  
Suitable Climate ◽  
Long Time ◽  
Potential Habitats ◽  
Northward Expansion

The Noble False Widow, Steatodanobilis (Thorell, 1875) (Araneae, Theridiidae), is, due to its relatively large size and potential medical importance, one of the most notable invasive spider species worldwide. Probably originating from the Canary Islands and Madeira, the species is well established in Western Europe and large parts of the Mediterranean area and has spread recently into California and South America, while Central European populations were not known until 2011. We report on long-time observations that reveal that at least two flourishing populations in Germany (Cologne) have been present for over five years, while in Ecuador one population has been observed between 2014 and 2018 and several other records were made in other parts of the country. Data obtained from the British Spider Recording Scheme demonstrate that the species moved significantly northwards since the report of the first populations in the very South of England, after several decades of relative stasis. The sudden northward expansion highly correlates with a massive rise in press coverage of the species. In the Americas, S.nobilis is currently known from four countries (USA, Chile, Ecuador, Colombia), and available DNA barcoding data obtained for specimens from this area suggest that multiple introductions occurred within each country. Using ecological niche modeling, we identified suitable climate regions for the species and discuss possible reasons for its current spread. We propose that seaside cities and villages with a temperate oceanic or Mediterranean climate are especially favourable potential habitats for S.nobilis and will face the highest colonization pressure in the future, while tropical upland regions with temperate climates are also vulnerable to invasion by S.nobilis.

An outbreak of bubonic plague in the city of Bristol

Public Health ◽  
1916 ◽  
Vol 30 ◽  
pp. 176-180 ◽  
Author(s):  
D.S. Davies
Keyword(s):  
Bubonic Plague ◽  
The City

Tsunamis

2009 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gerassimos Papadopoulos
Keyword(s):  
Large Scale ◽  
Aegean Sea ◽  
Volcanic Eruptions ◽  
Mediterranean Area ◽  
Wave System ◽  
Submarine Landslides ◽  
Plate Convergence ◽  
Long Wave ◽  
The Mediterranean ◽  
Steep Terrain

According to Imamura (1937: 123), the term tunami or tsunami is a combination of the Japanese word tu (meaning a port) and nami (a long wave), hence long wave in a harbour. He goes on to say that the meaning might also be defined as a seismic sea-wave since most tsunamis are produced by a sudden dip-slip motion along faults during major earthquakes. Other submarine or coastal phenomena, however, such as volcanic eruptions, landslides, and gas escapes, are also known to cause tsunamis. According to Van Dorn (1968), ‘tsunami’ is the Japanese name for the gravity wave system formed in the sea following any large-scale, short-duration disturbance of the free surface. Tsunamis fall under the general classification of long waves. The length of the waves is of the order of several tens or hundreds of kilometres and tsunamis usually consist of a series of waves that approach the coast with periods ranging from 5 to 90 minutes (Murty 1977). Some commonly used terms that describe tsunami wave propagation and inundation are illustrated in Figure 17.2. Because of the active lithospheric plate convergence, the Mediterranean area is geodynamically characterized by significant volcanism and high seismicity as discussed in Chapters 15 and 16 respectively. Furthermore, coastal and submarine landslides are quite frequent and this is partly in response to the steep terrain of much of the basin (Papadopoulos et al. 2007a). Tsunamis are among the most remarkable phenomena associated with earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, and landslides in the Mediterranean basin. Until recently, however, it was widely believed that tsunamis either did not occur in the Mediterranean Sea, or they were so rare that they did not pose a threat to coastal communities. Catastrophic tsunamis are more frequent on Pacific Ocean coasts where both local and transoceanic tsunamis have been documented (Soloviev 1970). In contrast, large tsunami recurrence in the Mediterranean is of the order of several decades and the memory of tsunamis is short-lived. Most people are only aware of the extreme Late Bronge Age tsunami that has been linked to the powerful eruption of Thera volcano in the south Aegean Sea (Marinatos 1939; Chapter 15).

scholarly journals City of Dog

2020 ◽  
pp. 009614422091013
Author(s):  
Sam Ottewill-Soulsby
Keyword(s):  
Western Europe ◽  
Urban Landscape ◽  
Building Blocks ◽  
Early Medieval ◽  
Urban Settings ◽  
Roman World ◽  
Greco Roman ◽  
Roman Culture ◽  
Urban Settlements ◽  
The City

To be fully human in the Greco-Roman world was to be a member of a city. This is unsurprising as cities were the building blocks of Greek and Roman culture and society. The urban landscape of post-Roman Western Europe looked dramatically different, with smaller, less economically diverse cities which played a smaller role in administration. Despite this, Greco-Roman ideas of humans as city-beings remained influential. This article explores this by investigating early medieval descriptions of cynocephali, which sought to determine whether the dog-headed men were human or not. Accounts of the cynocephali that presented them as human showed them living in urban settlements, whereas in reports of non-human cynocephali there are no cities. In exploring interactions between cynocephali and urban settings through ethnographic portrayals and hagiography, this article traces the lingering importance of the city for concepts of humanity.

scholarly journals Case Report: Sickle Cell Anemia; First Case Reported from Egypt

Blood ◽  
1951 ◽  
Vol 6 (6) ◽  
pp. 555-558 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. S. ABBASY
Keyword(s):  
Sickle Cell ◽  
Sickle Cell Anemia ◽  
Mediterranean Area ◽  
Laboratory Studies ◽  
Laboratory Findings ◽  
Rheumatic Arthritis ◽  
Points Of Interest ◽  
First Case ◽  
Paternal Uncle ◽  
The Family

Abstract Rheumatic fever, rheumatic arthritis, acholuric jaundice were excluded in this case on the clinical and laboratory findings. The history, physical examination and the laboratory studies all supported the diagnosis of sickle cell anemia. This case presents certain points of interest. It is the first case of sickle cell anemia reported from Egypt. The disease was found in the patient and her father and excluded in the other members of the family. It is, however, possible that the paternal uncle had also suffered and died from the disease. The patient is a white girl and admixture of Negro blood was reasonably excluded through 6 ancestral generations. This case, therefore, adds to those already described in subjects of the white race from the Mediterranean area. It will be noticed that the patient’s family originates from Algeria, where 3 cases were diagnosed in natives by Smith19 on the basis of the anatomical changes observed in the spleen.

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