Sources on the History of the Berber Tribal Confederation of Ṣanhāja in the Middle Ages: The Issue of Reliability

The indigenous population of North Africa was represented by various Berber tribes, most of which belonged to three large genealogical confederations - Ṣanhāja, Zenāta and Maṣmūda. The question, which the author of the present research examines, is the origin of the Ṣanhāja tribe, its ethnicity and possible ties with Arab tribes that migrated from territories of modern Yemen in the early Islamic period. This work reveals a range of problems associated with the authenticity of sources, the availability of copies, authors, translations. The medieval history of the Maghreb and Berber tribes is a promising, however, still insufficiently studied field for research. Understanding a recon- struction of the historical process, its features, ambiguity, and methodology in the light of the undertaken research appears to provide a necessary basis for formation of a correct approach to the study of sources. This article discusses the issue of historical authenticity and the genealogy of Ṣanhāja confederation as well as the origin of this ethnonym.

Information on the Bulgarian History in the IX – XI Centuries, Reflected in the Russian Chronograph

Object of the present research is the Russian chronograph, an extensive chronicle in which the history of the Slavs is described as part of the world. The information about the Bulgarians occupies an important place. The data about the Bulgarian history in the 9th – 11th c. is taken from Slavic translations of Byzantine chronicles and from some Russian historical works, most notably from the Bulgarian additions to the Manasses Chronicle. This article seeks to answer the question of how productive the Chronograph is as a historical source. Unpublished editions and copies of the Chronograph were also used for the purposes of the research. The method of comparative analysis shows that although some of the information is found in earlier Russian historical texts, different points of view are presented in the Russian chronograph. The chronograph contains rich information about Bulgarian history, part of which remains out of scientific interest. It is valuable for science and can be productively used as a source for Bulgarian medieval history.

Epilogue

Prosulas were probably performed by younger cantors and were pedagogical tools to teach textual and musical composition. They reveal multidirectional exchanges among various regions, conceivably because of the exchange of books and the travels of people, including members of the lay society who traveled around the Italian peninsula to undertake juridical studies and then work as lawyers for cathedrals and monasteries. Certainly, prosulas were a means to express the values and culture of a society that we also see reflected in some of the literary works produced in southern Italy during the same period. The emphasis on foreign and especially African and West Asian saints and the involvement of nuns reveal a multiform society and counterbalances a male and Eurocentric view of medieval history.

The Cambridge Companion to Hildegard of Bingen

This specially commissioned collection of thirteen essays explores the life and works of Hildegard of Bingen (1098-1179), monastic founder, leader of a community of nuns, composer, active correspondent, and writer of religious visions, theological treatises, sermons, and scientific and medical texts. Aimed at advanced university students and new Hildegard researchers, the essays provide a broad context for Hildegard's life and monastic setting, and offer comprehensive discussions on each of the main areas of her output. Engagingly written by experts in medieval history, theology, German literature, musicology, and the history of medicine, the essays are grounded in Hildegard's twelfth-century context, and investigate her output within its monastic and liturgical environments, her reputation during and after her life, and the materiality of the transmission of her works, considering aspects of manuscript layout, illumination, and scribal practices at her Rupertsberg monastery.