МАГИЯТА И НЕЙНИТЕ ЛИЦА (61. КАНОН НА ТРУЛСКИЯ СЪБОР В СЛАВЯНСКИ ПРЕВОДИ) / MAGIC AND ITS FACES (THE 61ST CANON OF TRULLO IN SLAVIC TRANSLATIONS)

The article aims to analyze some representatives of the lexical-semantic group performers of magical practices according to the 61st canon of the Sixth Ecumenical Council in Trullo, 691–692, based on three translations: the 12th century Efrem kramchaya, Ilovichka kramchaya from 1262, and the 14th century Slavic translation of Matthew Blastares’Syntagma. It is established that: nomina agentis predominate, together with nomina actoris and rarely names of bearers of properties (nomina attributiva); untranslated Greek words are rare; structural calques and descriptive collocations occur. Of particular interest are the ways of presenting Greek realia, which translators liken to familiar phenomena in their semantic adaptation. The text of the 61st canon of Trullo according to an unpublished Moldavian copy of the Syntagma in the 16th century MS № 4104 from the University Library of Cluj-Napoka is published as an appendix. Keywords: medieval magic, Council in Trullo, historical lexicology

Aelredo de Rivelaux e Goderico de Finchale: austeridade e observância monástica em pespectiva (século XII)

In the course of the 12th century, with the emergence of new monastic orders, including that of Cistercian (1098 AD), the theme of austerity became central to the discussion on the best way of observing the Rule of Saint Benedict, a canonical document on regular life from the 6th century. Conceptions about austerity can be verified, on the one hand, in the Mirror of Charity, by the Cistercian abbot Aelredo de Rivelaux (1110-1167 AD), and, on the other, in the hagiography The Life of Saint Godric, whose socio-cultural place is the priory from Durham, also in Anglia. Thus, this article intends to prove that there were approaching and distancing concerning the best way to carry out monastic austerity in northern Anglia, at the center of religious renewal in the course of the 12th century.

Edward FitzGerald

Edward FitzGerald (b. 1809–d. 1883) was an English poet and translator, best remembered today for a single work, his Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám (1859). FitzGerald was born into an extremely wealthy family in Suffolk. After graduating from Cambridge, where he had spent perhaps the happiest years of his life and formed a number of lifelong friendships, FitzGerald returned to Suffolk. There he lived very modestly, either in a cottage on the outskirts of his family’s estate or in rented lodgings in a nearby town, occupying himself with reading and writing. In the early 1850s he began to translate from Spanish, publishing Six Dramas of Calderon in 1853. The very free and unliteral method of translation he used in this work would mark all of his later translations as well, which included works by Aeschylus, Sophocles, and the Persian poet Jámí. But it was his translation, or adaptation, of certain rubáiyát (quatrains) attributed to the 12th-century Persian polymath Omar Khayyám that caused a worldwide sensation. The first edition of Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám, which FitzGerald published anonymously (like his other works), in 1859, consisted of seventy-five quatrains. At first no one noticed or purchased the small, pamphlet-like book, but a few years later it was discovered by chance by members of the Pre-Raphaelite circle, who became passionately devoted to it. A second edition of 110 quatrains was published in 1868 and began to draw attention in North America as well as in Britain. Two more editions followed, each varying fairly significantly from the others, before FitzGerald’s death in 1883, by which time the poem was known throughout the world. It was translated into numerous languages, and Omar Khayyám clubs were founded in many cities. Critics have attributed this popularity to the poem’s frank embrace of a skeptical, resigned, epicurean view of life, which caught the spirit of a doubting, world-weary age. Its very success—by 1900 the Rubáiyát was the most popular and most frequently reprinted poem in English—led to its being dismissed and ignored by literary critics for much of the 20th century. But a critical revival began in the late 1990s, as scholars started to reappraise the poem’s cultural significance as well as its literary achievement.

Medieval Bologna

The medieval period in Bologna spans from the end of the Gothic War in 553 ce to 1401, when Giovanni I Bentivoglio proclaimed himself signore of Bologna. After the Gothic War, in the mid-6th century, at first Etruscan and later Roman settlement of Bologna came within the sphere of influence of the Exarchate of Ravenna and subsequently in the hands first of the Carolingians and then of the kings of Italy (9th–10th centuries). The city was governed by a count, like the other regions under Carolingian dominion, and then by a duke. From the 10th and particularly the 11th century, a period of economic recovery, Bologna expanded beyond the city walls, with modest dwellings housing artisans who were moving in from the countryside. At the end of the 11th century, Bologna reached a turning point in its history, with the emergence of the university—in particular, the law school. In the following centuries, students converged on Bologna from all over Europe, and the city managed to meet the needs of large numbers of students. In the 12th century the merchants, artisans, and professional classes established an autonomous form of government, the commune. Together with the other cities of northern Italy, Bologna was part of the Lombard League, and it fought against the emperor Frederick Barbarossa, who laid claim to the government of the city. The city emerged from that conflict in a state of full autonomy. In the 1150s, the second circle of defenses was constructed, the Torresotti walls, but it proved to be inadequate. In the late 1220s, a much more extensive circle of defenses was constructed, which to this day marks the limits of the historic city center. During the 13th century, various forms of city government were adopted. At the beginning of the century the government was controlled by aristocrats and entrepreneurs, giving way to a popular government (Comune di Popolo) from the middle of the century. The political tensions between the various social strata gave rise to a period of insecurity, resulting in a government intended to safeguard the economy. Various forms of government were set up in the 14th century by internal and external rulers: the local Pepoli family, and Milan’s Visconti. But the greatest threat to Bologna’s autonomy was the papacy, and the regimes of Cardinal du Pouget, Cardinal legate Guillaume de Noellet. In 1376 there was a reassertion of the Commune.

New Lead Seal of Adrian Komnenos, Protosebastos and Megas Domestikos of the Entire West, Discovered in the Area of Rusokastro in Southeastern Bulgaria

ntroduction. The present article is a primary publication of a newly discovered sphragistic artefact from the area of the medieval fortress of Rusokastro, which was acquired by the Regional Historical Museum in Burgas in 2019. Methods. In their entirety, the Byzantine lead seals are an important primary and reliable source of information on various aspects of Byzantine history. Byzantine seals are especially important from the perspective of prosopography. First of all, they are invaluable evidence of individuals who, in one way or another, participated in the social and political life of the Byzantine Empire. Therefore, the discovery of each new sphragistic monument is of great importance and the available information must be carefully analyzed. Analysis. This interesting artefact is a lead seal of the brother of the Byzantine emperor Alexius I Komnenos (1081–1118), Adrian Komnenos as a protosebastos and megas domestikos of the entire West. The obverse depicts Saint George, nimbate, standing, facing forward, holding a spear in his right hand, and resting his left hand on a shield. Inscription in 7 lines within dotted border on the reverse: + Κ(ύρι)ε β(οή)θ(ει) τῷ σῷ δούλῳ Ἀδριανῷ (πρωτο)σεβαστῷ (καὶ) μ(ε)γ(άλῳ) δομ[ε]στίκῳ πάσης Δύσεως τῷ Κομνην(ῷ). The seal dates from the end of the 11th century. Results. This new Byzantine lead seal, described in this article, increases the number of medieval sphragistic finds in the Rusokastro area, which belong to an undeniably wide chronological range – from the second half of the 8th century to the beginning of the 12th century. Thus, the number of lead seals from the area of Rusokastro grow to six, five of which are Byzantine and one is a Bulgarian imperial seal.

The Ministry of Deaconesses in Byzantium and Projects for Its Reconstruction at the Pre-Council Conference in Russia 1906

Introduction. The order of deaconesses in Byzantium was formed by the time of the Council of Chalcedon in 451. The idea of the institutionalization of the women’s ministry was revived in the new conditions in Russia of the 19th – early 20th century because of the need for Church reforms. Materials and methods. A comparative analysis of the ancient order of deaconesses and the project of its reconstruction in Russia allows us to determine characteristics of the ministry and status of deaconesses that depended on the specific living conditions of the Church. The deaconesses in the Byzantine Empire were ministers of the Church: the bishop ordained widows or virgins between the ages of 40 and 60. Deaconesses kept chastity, had property rights, were assigned to a parish, helped priests at the baptism of women, and were subordinate to clergymen. By the 12th century, the female order in Byzantium disappeared, however the honorary title of deaconess could later be worn by the prioress of female monasteries. The Russian Church has never had deaconesses, but in the 19th – early 20th century projects were discussed for the reconstruction of this women’s ministry which was actively developing in the protestant tradition. The Pre-Council Conference in 1906 developed a draft of Church reforms, including the rules for orthodox deaconesses, who could be elected from active parishioners, not nuns. It was assumed that these women were supposed to keep order in the Church, help the priest in the parish, at the baptism and catechumenate of women, help the sick and the needy, in the so called “inner mission”. However, the undeveloped status of deaconesses as new ministers of the Church did not allow this project to be implemented. Results. The order of the deaconesses that disappeared in Byzantium and the attempt to restore it in Russia show that a stable institutionalization of women’s ministry took place only at a certain period in the history of the Church which needed it.

Ceramics of the Middle East from the Excavation of the Eski-Kermen Site

Introduction. Three exemplars of Middle Eastern fritware of the 12th–13th centuries, which were first discovered on the territory of a Byzantine town on the Eski-Kermen plateau during the excavations in 2018 and 2019, are presented in the article. They belong to the three different decorative groups, which had not been found in the Crimea before and are rather rare in the archaeological sites of Eastern Europe in general. Methods. The methods of archaeology and art history are involved in the study. First of all these are a stratigraphic method for the chronology of the contexts and artifacts, as well as a comparative method to identify the origin of finds. Analysis. The vessels under study belong to different decorative and stylistic groups of oriental ceramics. The plate and one jug find parallels among the products of the Raqqa workshops from the first half to mid 12th century and late 12th to mid 13th century. Another jug most likely comes from Iran and can be dated to the 12th–13th centuries. Results. These kinds of vessels were not very common outside the region of their production. At least we have very little information about these facts now. So the finds from Eski-Kermen are important for expanding the area of distribution of these types of fritwares. In addition, their presence in a small provincial Byzantine town indicates the residence there in the 12th–13th centuries of the local elites, who could get and own such expensive and quite rare things.