We kindly inform you that, as long as the subject affiliation of our 300.000+ articles is in progress, you might get unsufficient or no results on your third level or second level search. In this case, please broaden your search criteria.
As a whole, besides the Kutrigurs, who had adopted the Avar dynasty, Bulgarian tribes and the affiliated Utigurs-Unogondurs in North Caucasus, the regions of Kuban and along the sea of Azov came under Turkic dominance. At the same time they had a certain level of autonomy which became explicit from the chronicles of the Utigurleader Anagay. There is another historic event which supports the former one from 619 AD represented by the Byzantine chronicler Nicephorus, which refers to Organa’s personality.
More...
It is doubtless that attempts to present the relations and struggles between the First Bulgarian state and principalities of Serbs since the second quarter of the 9th century on wards are a challenging task. Of course the vast majority of research initiatives are highly dependent on the nature and quantity of the preserved written evidences. The peculiarities of the source base on the history of Early Medieval Bulgaria and even to a larger extent quite modest volume of notices about the earliest history of Serbs from their settlement on the Balkans until the beginning of the 11th century reduce the aspects that can be traced. However, the problem of prisoners of war and abducted population provides an opportunity for inflicting some additional touches.
More...
During the last decades of the 10th and the beginnings of the 11th the Byzantine idea about elimination of the Bulgarian kingdom has been realized after fifty years war later called Bulgarian epopee. The events are described with details in the chronicles of contemporaries like Leo the Deacon, John Skylitzes, George Kedrenos. After nearly half a millennium, Byzantium was again involved in a long continued fighting with another wave ofinvading barbarians across the Danube – Pechenegs, Uzi and later Cumans. The territories south of the river, mainly former provinces of Misia and Scythia, merged into the new theme Paristrion, again were subjected to devastation, looting and destruction of the population. The permanent settlement of the Pechenegs between the Danube and Hemus contributed to the inevitable change of the ethnic setting. In the second half of the 11th c. the Empire lost actual controlof these lands for nearly half of century. These crucial events for Byzantium are mentioned in writings of authors like John Skylitzes, Kekaumenos, Michael Psellos, Michael Attaleiates and Anna Komnene. Besides from the written sources wehave data from various treatises, letters, official documents – imperial novels and charters, taktikons, and a numbers of hagiographuc writings and documents of church administration and vitae. We receive information from the works of some Eastern and Western writers, contemporaries of the events and later compilers. Unfortunately the native sources about the seevents are only few – Bulgarian apocryphal chronicle and some inscriptions. For these events from the end of the 11th until the beginning of the 13th c. we have numerous and quite full and detailed written sources of contemporaries and later compilers –Byzantine authors Anna Komnene, Nikephoros Bryennios, John Kinnamos, John Zonaras, Michael Glycas, Nicetas Choniates, George Akropolites, Theodore Skutarios and George Pachymeres. We find in the text of the geographer Al-Idrisi many important data on trade, economy, roads, shipping and general situation in the Empire during the 12th c.
More...
The represented work refers to the political situation existing in Georgia at the end of the 50-ies and beginning of the 60-ies of the 15thcentury. The work has been done taking into consideration the approaches given in our historiography, and also,basing on the available historical sources This period is characterized by opposition between the royal power and noble people, the character of the Byzantine-Georgian political relations, the role of Turk-Seljuks in the regulation of the relations between Byzantium and Georgia, the reasons of returning Bagrat IV from Byzantium to Georgia, the role of church in returning Bagrat IV to Georgia,his intensive actions in the domestic and foreign policies of the country,the steps made towards the church reforms such as inviting the religious figure and scholar Giorgi Mtatsmindeli to Georgia, settling the problem of Tbilisi (the capital), strengthening the royal power, unite different politically opposed groups,settling peace throughout the country, solving numerous other problems existing at that time. This work analyzes the following issues: why the Byzantine Empire changed its policy towards the Georgian kingdom? What were the circumstances that contributed to the release of Bagrat IV from “honorable captivity"? How did the king of Georgia overcome the resistance of Abazasdze and Baghvashi families? How did he fight for accession of Tbilisi? The arrival of George of Mtatsmindato Georgia and his Church reform is also referred to in the work. It is shown, how powerful Georgia was politically before Alp Arslan’s invasions.This work argues that the further development of Georgia on her way to political progress had been suspended by Turk Seljuk military campaigns under the command of Alp Arslan.
More...
The paper deals with a new reading of a lapidary inscription attributed to the Theodore, concerning construction of the Liparitisubani church. Significant correction has been introduced into the text.Until this day, Georgian historiography (A. Bakradze, E. Kochlamazashvili, Z. Skhirtladze, G.Otkhmezuri) considered the reading of the above text introduced by Ekvtime Takaishvili acceptable.According to this reading, the church of Liparitisubani was built in XIIth century by Theodore, the“Iodosisdze” of the Qeen Tamar (1184-1210) and, her husband David. According to one part of Scientists(G. Otkhmezuri) founder of church was Theodore Iodomisdze. Our study has shown that the inscription must be read in a different way: The church of Liparitisubani was built in 1189-1207 by Theodore Ghodomisdze.
More...
The study focuses on the missionary activities of Constantine and Methodius in which Old Slavonic was used. The success of these activities raised interest in these missionaries even from the Papal Court. The missionaries were invited here by Pope Nicholas I and subsequent negotiations were led by his successor Adrian II, who approved their missionary activities in Old Slavonic and promoted Methodius to an Archbishop with an archdiocese that, in accordance with canon law (being the work of Christ, no diocese may cease to exist), was a continuation of the defunct ancient Pannonian diocese seated in Sirmium. In accordance with this law, this diocese was understood as a vacant one, and the Pope himself could appoint its bishop or archbishop. This led to opposition from the episcopate of East Francia, which considered this territory part of the Salzburg archdiocese based on secular law (a diocese ceases to exist after a certain period of inactivity, and the ruler of the territory in which the defunct diocese or archdiocese is located may decide about its new church organisation). The Franks also carried out attacks upon Methodius who was even imprisoned for two and a half years by the bishops of East Francia, and was only released following an intervention from the Pope. Methodius successfully defended his own position and eventually settled permanently in Great Moravia under Svatopluk’s rule. The precise location of his seat is, however, unknown. Following Methodius’s death in 885, the administration of his entire diocese was in all probability assumed by the Nitra bishop Wiching, an adversary of Old Slavonic liturgy. Wiching initiated persecution of supporters of the liturgy in Old Slavonic and forced them to leave the country. Eventually, while Wiching was already in the services of King (later Emperor) Arnulf, he left the archdiocese, which resulted in the collapse of the church organisation in Great Moravia. An attempt at restoring it was conducted by the new ruler of Great Moravia Svatopluk II (the son of Svatopluk I), who asked Pope John IX to settle the church organisation. At his behest, an archdiocese and three subordinate dioceses were established in the territory claimed by the Passau diocese. This resulted in an aggressive reaction directed against Great Moravia from the Bavarian clergy, expressed in its letter to Pope John IX, probably written in the year 900, when Central Europe was facing the imminent threat of a Magyar invasion. The result of the invasion was the fall of Great Moravia and its church organisation. A new church organisation in Central Europe began to develop under entirely different conditions that call for further investigation and analysis.
More...
The rise of new monastic rule orders of Cistercians and Premonstratensians in the 1100s is a traditional topic of Medieval studies worldwide. The Czech context is characterised by the claim that the reason for the success of these new orders was the inner exhaustion of Benedictine monasticism, which was allegedly not able to cope with new challenges. The evidence supporting such general claims is missing, however, which raises doubt as to whether the conclusion might be a too schematic one. The reasons arising from the establishment of a new foundation were related to a wide range of factors, from pastoral, memorial, and generally commemorative ones, through representation factors, to economic and political ones. Although there is no doubt that the arrival of Cistercians and Premonstratensians brought an end to a certain hegemony of the Benedictines, their monasteries did not disappear; new ones continued to be established, although less frequently, even in the 1200s and 1300s. The study focuses on the development of Moravian Benedictine monasteries in the Premyslid era (i.e. up until the end of the 1200s). The example of monasteries in Třebíč and Rajhrad and the subsidiary in Uherčice is used to illustrate the social networks with which the individual rule order monasteries were linked and to demonstrate the relationships maintained between individual Benedictine monasteries and the role they played in contemporary society.
More...
Catastrophic natural disasters have always played a key role in shaping human history. Territory covering Azerbaijan, Armenia, Georgia and the eastern part of Turkey is within the zone of high seismic activity. Analysis of the historical and instrumental seismological data shows, that strong earthquakes with magnitude up to 7.0-7.5 have occurred here. Georgian, Armenian, as well as Oriental and European written sources, also sites of material cultural heritage, over a long chronological period, have preserved evidence of the earthquakes and other natural phenomena occurring in the region and the adjacent seismic zones. In various written sources we come across the interesting observations on the sites of the strong earthquakes, as well as frequency and attending anomalous natural phenomena. As a rule, the historical sources give indications of the destructive consequences which often caused ecological catastrophes in the region, as well as political and economic depression, change in the demographic picture, and mass migration. In the current paper show the results of the study of an earthquake which occurred in Georgia on Easter Sunday, just shortly before the beginning of the reign Davit IV Bulder (1089-1125). The Post earthquake “terrible” aftershocks were felt over a year. According to the historian of Davit: „Thus on Easter Day, the very of the Resurrection of Our Lord Jesus Christ, a day which should have been one of rejoicing and peace, The Lord looked down in anger and caused the earth to tremble to its foundations, with such violence that lofty mountains and solid rocks were ground into semblance of dust, towns and villages were destroyed, churches tumbled to the ground and houses, engulfed and shattered, turned into tombs for those who dwelt in them. N the course of these events T'mogvi collapsed in ruins, with Niania's son Kaxaber and his wife. And there were terrible earthquakes like this one until the end of the year, in which numberless people perished.“ The epicenter of the earthquake apparently was on Javaxeti plateau, in the Artani Mtkvari Valley. Historical sources give us the possibility to assume that it was a strong earthquake which covered the entire South and East Georgia from Javakheti Plateau to Iori Plateau including Davit Gareji desert, namely: rock-cut monasteries of the western massif, located along the Karaia-Rustavi direction and Alaverdi St. George Cathedral (first half of the 11th century) located in the Alazani-River valley in Kakheti. Seismic research of the 1089 April 1earthquake suggests that it was one of the large and destructive earthquakes in the Georgia with magnitude up to 7.0-7,5 and microseismic intensity 9 (MSK scale).
More...
Shalva Akhaltsikheli, a famous Georgian commander and military-state figure of the XII-XIII centuries, is a leading hero during the reigns of King Tamar and Lasha-Giorgi, he is a completely distinguished person with his dedicated and patriotic spirit, his contribution to the history of the country. Scarce but remarkable material about his life and work is preserved in Georgian historical sources. The face of Shalva Akhaltsikheli is also important in Georgian literature. In particular Akhaltsikheli is portrayed as a military and political figure at the same time in the Gr. Abashidze's novels. Based on the chronicle, Georgian famous historical novelist Grigol Abashidze’s novels "Lasharela" and "Big Night" tell us about the life and work of this great chieftain. "Life of Kartli" and Gr. Abashidze's novels are important and rare sources that provide readers and persons interested in history with valuable information on Akhaltsikhe's combat strategy and tactics. According to the mentioned sources, Shalva Akhaltsikheli was a contemporary military-state figure of King Tamar and Lasha-Giorgi, his name is associated with the success of the Georgian army in the battles of Basian and Shamkor. At the same time, the same material allows us to learn about his death and the fatal defeat of the Georgian army in the battle of Garni against Jalal al-Din. Ivane Atabeg’s treacherous action before the country and the nation is reflected against the background of the life of Akhaltsikhe, who doomed Shalva Akhaltsikheli and 4000 Meskhetians with his vague or deliberate action, which was followed by disorganization and disintegration of the king's army, according to this fact it becomes clear that Shalva Akhaltsikheli’s advanced detachment composed of 4000 Meskhetians was a decisive force in the battle. The death of this detachment was followed by the collapse of the political and military structure of the country. Thus, it is very important to study and scientifically research the historical-literary type of Shalva Akhaltsikheli. The "Life of Kartli" gives a general picture of Shalva Akhaltsikheli, discusses the historical facts toward the person according to the mercy of the Lord, and shows the individual ability of the hero, combat training, the spiritual condition of the army, the influence of the commander-in-chief on it; it does not show martial art and equipment of the army. Writer Gr. Abashidze, despite following the chronicle, still fills the face of the hero with an artistic invention, reflects his personal dignity and personal contribution to the success of the Georgian army. With this method he completes the history and creates the artistic type of the hero.
More...
The Tipikon, the founding document of a monastery, imposed equality of the monks from the point of view of the clothes and food. Manual labour was encouraged, as well as the intellectual activity, the monasteries also having libraries. The rules imposed in certain monasteries allowed a number of monks to live an anchorite life, but even these ones had to attend the vigil, Sunday Liturgy and common dinner during the week end. Afterwards they withdrew in the wilderness with the food needed for one week. Certain founders provided some facilities for the relatives who joined the monastic community. The nobles had even the right to have a servant, benefited of better food and even of wine. I shall present in this study some of the basic elements of body care in typika Byzantine literature in the 11th and 12th centuries.
More...
The idea of the proposed topic is to confirm, supplement and present, briefly and in general, the knowledge of the topographic and situational plans of the Preslav fortification (1918 – 2008), the result of engineering and geodetic documentation
More...
The Catholic chapter in Orod was an important place of proof for the counties of Arad, Zarand and Timiș in the 13th–16th centuries. The article reconstructs, based on medieval documentary sources, as far as possible, the history of the Arad canons who carried out their activity within the chapter in Orod, in the 12th–14th centuries. In the case of some canons, the documents also specify the position held (prefect, lecturer, archdeacon, clergyman in the pew of the church, custodian, dean, etc.). Several presidents of Arad in the 13th century held important positions at the court of the kings of Hungary. Magistrate Benedict, the provost of Arad, was, in 1263–1265, vice‑chancellor of the royal court in Buda. The Archdeacon of Arad, Bonioan de Campello, was in direct correspondence with the papacy of Avignon and later became the Catholic bishop of Bosnia (in the middle of the 14th century). A series of canons of the Arad chapter participated, at the request of the kings of Hungary, in the 13th–14th centuries, in conducting judicial investigations, in case of patrimonial and financial disputes between various nobles. We cannot reconstruct the complete litany of the canons from the 12th–14th centuries and, specially, the functions they held within the Arad chapter. With few exceptions, we cannot highlight their careers in various ecclesiastical institutions throughout Hungary.
More...
The attacks of the slavs and avars at the Lower Danube had a crucial role in the dramatic eveniments that took place in the VI-VII centuries in the byzantine provinces of the Balkas. The archaeological research proves that the Byzantine emperors made considerable efforts for constructing, maintaining or reconstructing the fortresses and the cities at the Lower Danube. This analysis follows chronologically the attacks of the slavs and avars and the destructionsthat were, or could be linked to these events identified by archaeological research in some fortresses or cities until this moment.
More...
The Conte du Graal has constantly interested critics, not so much because of the Grail whose mystique only developed in the 13th century among the prose continuators of Chrétien's novel, as for the enigmas it conceals in its two parts, rather weakly linked by the customary composition "conjointure" to the novelist. Gauvain's quest, the second part of the novel, remains unfinished. In the spirit of what happens to the character from the Ivain and especially the Charrette, Gauvain loses much of his illustrious and protected status and seems to announce the dereliction of a certain supremacy of Arthurian chivalry. Conversely, the young Welshman's quest, structured and full of promise, presents the future Perceval as an ingenuous man whose abruptness has a comic, even caricatural force, as Peter Haidu had previously noted. We could see only an educational novel, but the adventures of these "enfances" where the caricature comes from an obvious sense of reality call for the search for a meaningful, social and psychological reality as well as historical and literary. The hero's adventure sets him apart and takes him away from Arthur and his court to focus on a family environment and on the emancipation of the young man without the Grail being immediately sacred. The purpose is thus to judge the meaning of this caricature in order to try to understand, beyond a reality well-known by listeners of the time, the meaning effects revealed by the hero's choices, his behaviors, suggested by successive nicknames. To this reception which seeks to infer the intentions of the author, our modern reception can add the heuristic vision which situates in its complexity and its completion this final tale put into a novel by Chrétien de Troyes in an attempt to reveal the mysteries of the quest from Perceval.
More...
The history of art in the twentieth century reveals many and varied affinities with roman art, both formal and spiritual, especially for the painters of the Second School of Paris and the non-figuration. However, it would be more correct to speak of "sentimental affinities" because this story features artists and thinkers for whom the essential stake is to renew links with the public, to nourish modern man from within in a world to be rebuilt.
More...
The article is dedicated to the concept of divine light, which has always been a matter of particular attention in the Orthodox religion. Since the earliest monuments of the 11th century, it has been clearly remarked in Ukrainian art, both in mosaics and certain icons. Over the centuries, the artistic language has changed and the light acquired a different manner of realisation. It became particularly evident in the monuments of sacral art of mature baroque, which was also connected with the development of theological and scholastic scholarship in Kyiv. Then, icon painters have found some new ways of depicting divine light, rendered by applying different artistic means.
More...
Archaeological investigations in situ at the level of the cadastral area of Răcășdia (2014–2016) came into discovering of 13 medieval settlements (the 7th–13th centuries). Apart from them, settlements belonging to more ages were also identified: Bronze Age, Iron Age and the time between the 2nd and the 4th centuries A. D. All of them were registered to the National Archeological Repertory to be so protected up to the law, especially against to the works (human interventions) that could destroy them. The present issue aims to note if a special pattern of early medieval settlements could be find at Răcășdia, dated up to the ceramics found there. Morphometric measurements were taken into account, as follows: slope, orientation of the slopes and height, and the distance to the water. Interesting results came out after the data processing as we had it coming, which frame some of the features of the medieval communities in Răcășdia area.
More...
The fifth Slavic siege of Thessaloniki took place in 676 – 678 and it shows that the relationship between the Slavic tribes and Byzantium, as well as between the Slavic tribes themselves, is much more complex than is traditionally presented in the historiography. The hostile actions of the slavs against the city can be divided into two periods. In the first stage participated the Rhynchines, Strymonites and Sagudates. During this period, in Thessaloniki, as Byzantine allies, there was also a Slavic squad, without specifying which tribe it was from. The fact that the Dragovites, who lived west of the city during this period, are not among the tribes fighting with Thessaloniki shows that perhaps it is from them the slavs in question, allies of the Byzanatines.This is also the reason why the first two years there is no real siege, only separate attacks on land and sea. At one point, the Slavic squad, which was helping Thessaloniki, turned against the Byzantines. This is the moment when the Draguvites appear among the tribes invading the city and at the same time move to a classic siege using siege machines. After the failure of the siege, the Draguvites fell into some form of dependence on the empire, and over the next two centuries there was no evidence of hostilities between them and the Byzantines. In contrast, the Strymonites and Rhynchines continued their raids for another decade.
More...
Kutadgu Bilig, written by Yusuf Has Hacib and presented to Tabgaç Buğra Han, promising that one of the reasons for writing is to achieve fortune and happiness of the two worlds which means the material and the spiritual existences, by “350. beyit kitab adı urdum ķutađġu bilig/ ķutađsu oķıġlıķa tutsu elig 351. beyit sözüm sözledim men bitidim bitig/ sunup iki ajunnı tutġu elig” couplets, is one of the important works in our cultural history. In this study, it is aimed to make an examination on the four basic characters of Kutadgu Bilig (Kün Togdı, Ay Toldı, Ögdilmis and Odurmış) and the concepts they represent (justice, fortune/joy, reason and fate). The main aim to be achieved with this study is to determine how the four concepts with which the heroes of the work are associated describe "Yusuf Has Hacib's ideal person / perfect person". This is to reveal how the ideal person should achieve the happiness of the two worlds. Each heroe of the text represents one of these concepts of justice, fortune, reason and fate. Main question to be answered in this work is whether there are any other hidden concepts or symbols these characters represent. In order to achieve the aim stated in the study, the hero depictions in the surface structure of the work, the dialogues of the heroes and the event flow in the work will be taken into consideration.
More...