‘Skoolordes’ in stede van ‘bedelordes’: ’n Heroorweging van die toepaslikheid van die begrip mendīcāns in die (Afrikaanse) Middeleeuse vakregister

‘Skoolordes’ instead of ‘bedelordes’: A reconsideration of the applicability of the term mendīcāns in the (Afrikaans) Medieval register. In this article the applicability of the Latin present participle mendīcāns in the (Afrikaans) Medieval register, with reference to the development of the four mendicant orders in the Medieval Latin West from the early 13th century onward, is reconsidered. The term mendīcāns is customarily translated as mendicant in English and as bedelend in Afrikaans (including the terminological transition to bedelordes and bedelmonnike) and familial languages such as Dutch (bedelorden and bedelmonniken) and German (Bettelorden and Bettelmönche). While the English application is by its Latinised nature subtle and not explicitly value-laden (referring not to begging but to the Latin participle mendīcāns), this is not the case in the latter languages. In the translation and terminological application of mendīcāns as bedelend in these languages, the profoundly condescending and Medievalist-patronising notion of ‘begging’ (which is wholly different from ‘receiving alms’) becomes prevalent. When, however, the idea-historical development of the term mendīcāns is reconsidered (particularly in the context of the Franciscan interpretation of the relation between usus [sustainable use within the milieu of idealised corporate poverty; ordo habeat usum, per Bonaventure]) and dominium [private ownership]), and taking into account that bedel refers not to social reciprocity (as it should in this context) but to a form of static and unilateral economic action, it seems sensible to review the term, at least in the latter languages, by a less value-determined alternative, such as skool (school). The four mendicant orders originating in the first decades of the 13th century (the Augustinians, Carmelites, Dominicans and Franciscans), shared a prominent feature, apart from not allowing themselves to own private property and the fact that they were indeed dependent on local communities for material (explicitly non-financial) support, namely the administration and conservation of a unique educational system of studia or local ‘boarding schools’, which functioned in a Venn-diagrammatical relationship with the young universities of the 12th century onward. The studia contributed in an unparalleled way to the academic formation of undergraduate students throughout the Medieval West. Rather than fixating on a static and arbitrary economic notion such as bedel, the vibrant academic achievements of the mendicant orders should instead be considered as their epitomising common feature – and should accordingly be reflected as such in the term describing them.Contribution: This re-evaluation of the applicability of the Latin term mendīcāns in the Medieval register contributes to the development and ongoing refinement of the Medieval register in specifically the Afrikaans language, whereby the English translations ‘mendicant friar’ and ‘mendicant orders’, translated and applied from mendīcāns as bedelmonnike and bedelordes in Afrikaans, be henceforth instead referred to as skoolmonnike and skoolordes.

The Conflicts Among Religious Orders of Christianity in China During the 17th and 18th Centuries

Introduction. The article studies the conflicts between the Spanish Mendicant Orders (Dominican Order, Franciscan Order, etc.) as well as the Society of Foreign Missions of Paris with Portuguese Society of Jesus, which took place during the 17th and 18th centuries in China. Methods and materials. To study this issue, the author used the original historical materials recorded by Western missionaries working in China during the 17th and 18th centuries and research works by Chinese and international scholars related to the Chinese Rites Controversy as well as the process of introduction and development of Christianity in this country during the 17th and 18th centuries. The author combines two main research methods of History Science (historical and logical methods) with other research methods (systemic approach, analysis, synthesis, comparison, etc.) to complete the study of this issue. Analysis. In the 17th and 18th centuries, the struggle for faith of the peoples in the Far East, especially China, became the desirable goal of religious orders of Christianity. Therefore, during this period, Western missionaries belonging to various religious orders of Christianity, such as the Society of Jesus, Mendicant Orders, Society of Foreign Missions of Paris, etc., gradually entered this country. In the course of evangelization, the struggle for influence as well as the right to manage missionary affairs in China at that time created conflicts among Christian religious orders. It is manifested in the form of a debate about Chinese rituals. In fact, these conflicts not only caused great losses to the missionary career of contemporary Christian religious orders taking place in China but also made the relationship between China’s ruling authorities and The Holy See became very tense. Results. Based on the study of the conflicts among religious orders of Christianity in China during the 17th and 18th centuries, the article clarifies characteristics, the root and direct causes leading to this phenomenon, making a certain contribution to the study of the relationship among religious orders in the process of introduction and development of Christianity in China in particular and the history of East-West cultural exchange in this country in general in the 17th and 18th centuries.

The birth of oppida: small towns in Hungary in the Angevin period

This article revisits the origins of small towns in medieval Hungary from the perspective of their owners and seigneurs. The fourteenth-century development of small towns on the estates of private landowners resulted from the coincidence of several factors. Among these, the article considers the intersection of royal and private interests. The aristocrats’ concern to endow their estate centres with privileges or attract new settlers to their lands was dependent on royal approval; likewise, the right to hold annual fairs had to be granted by the kings, and one had to be a loyal retainer to be worthy of these grants. The royal model of supporting the mendicant orders, which were gaining ground in Hungary from the thirteenth century onwards, added a further dimension to the overlords’ development strategies. This shows that royal influence, directly or indirectly, had a major impact on the development of towns on private lands in the Angevin period (1301–87).

Wittenberg Reformers

Wittenberg reformers supported the transfer of formerly Catholic Church properties to government possession. This secularization of church property did not mean a rejection of religion per se; on the contrary, secularization of church property meant that political rulers consolidated the scattered ecclesiastical properties and possessions into a common chest so that they could support the reform of the church. While Martin Luther and Andreas Karlstadt denounced mendicant orders for their begging lifestyle, they called for cities to care for their resident poor so that begging would be obsolete. Their critique became the catalyst for change, including an educated pastorate with preaching as a central component of worship, schools for boys and girls, and a system of poor relief funded by monastic foundations, confraternities, and donations. In the transfer of property to the common chest, Wittenberg reformers were crucial in providing the theological foundations for the transition to a centralized poor relief system.

Mendicant Orders in Sibiu/ Hermannstadt in the First Half of the 16th Century

The 16th century life of a medieval Hungarian town differs from its previous history, being conditioned by circumstances unthought of before: the defeat of the Hungarians by the Ottomans in 1526, the death of the Hungarian king during the battle, the conflicts between his “rightful” successors and the rise of the Lutheran Reformation. Transylvania, namely Sibiu, as part of the Hungarian kingdom did not meet any different conditions during this century. Our analysis strives to emphasize the fate of the mendicant orders – Dominican and Franciscan – in Sibiu in these particular times by first showing what it meant for them to develop cloisters here, where they were located in relation to the fortified town and the events of the 16th century that eventually led to their dissolution and the banishment of the friars.

The Dedication of Churches in the Medieval Towns of Prussia

This article discusses the practice of dedicating churches to saints in cities on the territory of the state of the Teutonic Order in Prussia. Special attention is paid to three church groups — parish churches, churches owned by monastic orders — Dominicans, Franciscans, Cistercians and Augustinians — Heremites, as well as cathedrals in the capitals of the bishoprics of Kulm, Pomesan, Warmia and Sambia. Among the most popular patron saints was the Virgin Mary, which was due to her patronage of the Teutonic Order as well as the cultural influence of the Hanseatic cities, and her veneration in certain mendicant orders such as the Cistercians. Other popular saints included St Peter and St Paul, and St Nicholas, who also acted as the patron saint of merchants. St Adalbert was also worshipped locally, due to his missionary work in Prussia. Patrons of the churches were also venerated in medieval Europe and were introduced to the region during the process of Christianization.

IOACHIM OF FLORES, MENDICANT ORDERS AND THE EARLY ITALIAN ALTARPIECE

The paper aims at clarifying the meanings of early Italian painted polyptychs. The rationale behind the genesis of this particular type of altarpiece, which spread rapidly in the 1260s–1320s and became very popular in the churches of the Dominicans and Franciscans, has received only partial explanation in existing scholarship. A new perspective in its study can be advanced through consideration of the mission of early polyptychs in the context of eschatological expectations of the era, which were largely defined by the prophecies of Joachim of Flores. These expectations shaped the mendicant orders’ narratives of their own missions, which found explicit expression in their art only much later. By confronting the early polyptych with the later orders’ pieces reflecting their identity, the author argues that early mendicant altarpieces served primarily as visual representations of each order’s mission, which largely determined their popularity.

LEST THE KEYS BE SCORNED: THE IMPLICATIONS OF INDULGENCES FOR THE CHURCH HIERARCHY AND THIRTEENTH-CENTURY CANONISTS’ RESISTANCE TO THE TREASURY OF MERIT

Recent scholarship on indulgences has focused on the shared concepts theologians and canonists drew on to explain these remissions and advantageous effects of indulgences on popular piety, the mendicant orders, and the papacy. A closer examination of the work of thirteenth-century canonists reveals an uncertainty about the mechanism by which indulgences worked and concerns that diverged from those of theologians. While the treasury of merit was a popular theological explanation, it was generally ignored by most canonists, who preferred explanations based on jurisdiction, the power of the keys, and suffrages. A key distinction between suffrages, good works done with the intent of spiritually benefitting others, and the treasury of merit is that the former burdens the living while the latter does not, since it draws on merit stored from already completed actions. Since it makes granting indulgences burdensome, the suffrage theory offers a disincentive to granting indiscrete or excessive remissions. Abuse of indulgences underlined the tensions between the authority of God and the church, the penitential and public forums, and the overlapping jurisdictions of prelates. Unlike the suffrage theory of indulgences, the treasury of merit theory offers little incentive for restraint. This may explain its relative absence in the writings of thirteenth-century canonists.

Crossing Cultural Boundaries in Merchants’ Wills from 14th-Century Cyprus

The Western merchants operating in Famagusta, Cyprus—including Geno­ese, Venetians, Catalans, Pisans, Provençals, other nationalities, and Cypriot merchants based in this port city—drew up wills with Genoese and Vene­tian notaries, a number of which are extant. These wills impart information on the bequests these merchants made to family members and friends as well as to institutions, particularly churches, monasteries, and mendicant orders. Furthermore, they record the credits and debts of these merchants to various parties, decree the manumission of slaves owned by the merchants—some of whom also received bequests—and on occasion list material objects such as clothing, silverware, or sums of currency in their possession. We can glean from these types of information that merchants had commercial and personal relations with members of nationalities or Christian denominations different to their own, had slaves of various ethnic backgrounds, and had in their pos­session currencies other than that of the Lusignan kingdom of Cyprus, as well as objects originating from elsewhere. These are phenomena that testify to their geographical mobility and their willingness to cross physical, financial, as well as cultural boundaries. On occasion, they even bequeathed sums of money to individuals and churches of non-Latin rites. In this paper, I intend to examine and assess the importance and utility of such wills, explaining that through their contents one can discover how, why and the extent to which merchants crossed national, ethnic and religious boundaries in both their commercial and their personal dealings. In addition, the limitations of the information such wills offer and the reasons why these limitations exist will also be discussed.