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The monogram from Trapezitsa remains a single find from the hitherto prevailing researches onmetropolitan Tarnovo and its surrounding area. It was found in the site between church №14 and the south fortification of Trapezitsa. The monogram unfolds vertically around the letter “Т” [T]. On the right side of the vertical line of the letter “Т” [T] is written the letter “П” [P]. The remaining letters (“Д” [D], “Ч” [ТСН] and “Л” [L], as the last two are semantically related to the meaning of the letter “П” [P]), as appears from their position and size, bring additional meaning of the monogram. The graphic and proportions in the upper part of the newly discovered monogram are identical to the underglaze monogram of The Holy Theodosius of Tarnovo from the Kilifarevo monastery. Thus, most likely, the name of the person from the monogram of Trapezitsa is also Theodosius. In the context of the phenomena of underglaze monograms itself, it is most permitable to say that the monogram is connected to some of the patriarchs of Tarnovo who ruled over the patriarchy during the same period to which the underglaze monograms in general are dated back. These are two patriarchs – Theodosius I, who ruled until 1337 and Theodosius II, declared for a head of the church in the year of 1348. Up until now an underglaze monogram, related to patriarch Theodosius of Tarnovo, had not been found. The monograms, connected to patriarch Theodosius II, are quite similar to his signature in some written records – Gospel, transcribed by the priest Tetokii Psilitsa in 1348 and the record of the last sheet of the pandects of Nikon Chernogorski. The writing differs from that of the monogram from Trapezitsa. The writing of the title “patriarch” in some cases is done with the letters “П” [P] and “Х” [H], as the second letter is ad scriptum. And in other cases – the letter “A” [A] is added to the ligature. There are separate records in which the letter “П” [P] appears independently. Thus, probably, the newly discovered underglaze monogram in the south-east sector of Trapezitsa could be connected to patriarch Theodosius I or it could show an alternative way of writing the name of Theodosius II that differs from his official signature and from the group of his underglaze monograms that are so far known to us. The remaining letters “Ч” [ТСН] and “Л” [L] in the monogram, by the way of construction of the monogram itself, most likely serve an additional semantic function, not to the upper part of the monogram but more to the letter “П” [P] and its meaning in it.
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The most new archeological studies of Trapezitsa hill anticipate the pace of the implemented conservationrestoration activities, which means, that it is necessary to slow them down, until the excavations are not strengthened and preserved properly. The last however is not done, because from the other hand, there is a hurry to socialize the fortress in order to seek a commercial effect from the tourist flow. So all new results and materials related to the study of the fortress in the recent excavations are placed under the threat to be destroyed by the time and carelessness of the state or municipal institutions. It becomes increasingly difficult to determine the place of the archaeologists and the conduct of the long-term scientific program of the Affiliate of the National Archaeological Historical Institute with a Museum at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, who manages and implements the studies of the fortress. In addition to the publication of the results from the surveys in specialized sequences, which already were issued as books, articles, studios and scientific messages, it is necessary to grant the excavated architectural structures for design of protective buildings and conservation work. For the historical-archaeological reserve Trapezitsa. Before everything, it is mandatory to create a clear concept for supplementary investigation, exposure, conservation and restoration of that, what has already been excavated, regardless of whether this was in the beginning of the last century, or in the course of the latest excavations. Only then one can seriously think about the socialization and opening of the object for the citizens and guests of the town.
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The paper refers to the Bulgarian-Cuman relations during the reign of tsar Boril. According to many researchers, the deteriorated Bulgarian-Cuman relations resulted from the Bulgarian-Hungarian and Bulgarian-Latin alliance after 1214. For the most part, these conclusions sound logical, but at the same time a question related to the limited involvement of Cumans in Boril’s campaigns after 1211 arises. Contrary to researchers who focus on the South and the Bulgarian-Latin conflict, the author seeks a solution to the problem by analysing events to the North, reaching the lands of the Burzenland region in Eastern Transylvania. He analyses the Teutonic-Cuman conflict of 1211–1222, and the success of the Teutons in Cumania after 1215. Finally, the author concludes that the dramatic change in the Bulgarian- Cuman relations could be explained by a new source of military and political influence that emerged in the second decade of the 13th century – The Teutonic Order.
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The portrait of a young Bulgarian Boyar, called Areta, who was presumably a relative of a caesar or sebastokrator, was painted in St. Nicholas Church of Stanichene village in 1331–1332. This article aims at analyzing and reconstructing her beautifully intricate clothing. The history of some of its elements, such as the head-adornment, is difficult to trace. The origin of others may be determined with more certainty; for example, the pattern of one of her shirts is of Byzantine origin and the hanging sleeves of her upper dress come from a tradition dating back to the First Bulgarian Empire. The combination of its three different sleeves can be found only in two more pictorial sources, both from the former territories of Bulgaria and Serbia. Therefore, it is presumed that her costume reflects a local Balkan fashion which emerged during the Second Bulgarian Empire.
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The article reveals the peculiarities of the development of the cities of Northern Azerbaijan during the Ilkhanat. Attention is paid to the period of the conquest of the region and the beginning of the restoration of its economic potential. The paper examines the main directions of development of the cities of Arran and Shirvan, their ethnic composition. The study analyzes the activities of the Ilkhans Hulagu and Gazan, as far-sighted managers, thanks to whose activities old trade and cultural centers began to revive and to be established.
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The paper discussed four episodes from the medieval Serbian past when personalunions’ concept formed the basis for resolving complex regional diplomatic relations. The first two dates in King Milutin’s (1282–1321) and Stephen Dečanski`s (1321–1331) reigns. In both instances,the unification proposals came from Bulgaria. Furthermore, Sigismund von Luxembourg (1387–1437) acquired in 1394 the right to receive the Bosnian royal crown. With the decline of Hungarian influence in Bosnia, the prospects of realizing this bold plan lost momentum. The last case examines the prevailing circumstances that led to establishing a short-lived personal union between Bosnia and the Serbian Despotate 1458/1459.
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The earliest information about the use of firearms in the Bulgarian lands comes from the chronicles of Cabaret and Servion. According to them, the fleet of Amadeus VI of Savoy shelled Nesebar on 21 October 1366, after which the city was stormed. Considering the information on the use of firearms in Europe and in the Western Balkans, as well as some expenses from the account book of Antonio Barberi, the author speculates that the information from both chronicles could be considered true.
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In the 12th century the main opponents of the Byzantine Empire were the Kingdom of Hungary and the Cumans. Against them, the Emperors Ioannes II and Manuel I Komnenos organized a series of combined campaigns, by land and water. Against Hungary, such campaigns were organized by Ioannes II in 1128-1129, and by Manuel I in autumn of 1150-the beginning of 1151, spring of 1153, autumn of 1154-spring / summer of 1155, 1164 and 1165-1166. Against the Cumans, a combined campaign was organized by Manuel I in 1148.
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The subject of the emergence and spread of the „Black Death“ has been extensively studied by numerous researchers around the world. This publication focuses on one of the main medical practices, which proved to be the most effective against the spread of the disease – quarantine. One of the earliest applications of quarantine were precisely in the lands of the Western Balkans. On July 27, 1377, the Senate of Ragusa (Dubrovnik) issued an order forbidding the entry of people arriving from regions with recorded cases of plague into the city. The infected were isolated on the island of Mrkan and in the Old Town (Cavtat) for a period of about one month. Related to the preventive measures against the plague, the population of Ragusa was forbidden to have contact with the isolated sick people. In case of violation of the ban, the offender also had to be isolated for a period of about a month. Persons specially designated by the Senate took care of the quarantined, supplying them with food and other essentials. In addition to examining the issue of the emergence of the concept of quarantine in Europe, the article also reviews information on the spread of the plague epidemic from the 14th century.
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The purpose of this study is to find and highlight the most striking pieces of the Last Supper in the examples of the Gospels and Psalters created on the territory of the Byzantine Empire in the 10th – 14th centuries, as well as to analyse the iconography and trace the development of the plot over the centuries. The study reflects the following aspects: how the early Christian sources influenced the formation of this plot and how long they continued to exist, what sources the masters employed to create these works, and how individual artistic details and elements pass from one work to another.
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The article deals with the motive of the ram’s head in the Christian art of Caucasus. The origins of iconography have been traced back to the ancient local archaeological cultures (Coban-Colchis) in Caucasus and in the Mediterranean region to the Neolithic period. This motif is among the most ancient sacral signs still in use in the traditional culture of the region. It appears on the façades of the Christian churches between the 10th -14th centuries due to the influence of the traditional culture. Represented on the façades of the churches, it has attained protective and apotropaic functions.
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Anatolian and Azerbaijani Turkishness went through a difficult period in the 13th century. The Anatolian Seljuk State faced the Babai Revolt then the Kösedağ War, only to become dependent on the Ilkhanid State and Mongolian occupation – subsequently it collapsed altogether. Mongol oppression, excessive taxation causing poverty, and the lack of a state or power to save the people led the public to turn to religion, and see God as the only door of hope. In such an atmosphere, wandering bards began telling Ali's cenkname to still the a sense of warrior prowess in people’s minds. A masnavi "Kitab-ı Siretü'n Nebi" by İzzeddin Hasanoğlu is widely believed to have formed the basis for Ali's cenknames – and hence is the subject of this particular study. We shall look at cenknames from various libraries across Turkey and compare/contrast them. Our preliminary findings all point to Hasanoglu’s book, and suggests that he played a pivotal role in the Turkish language and literature revival.
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The hierarchical type of clothing in the mural paintings of the Romanian Orthodox churches in the14th century is presented as a new discourse both in the research of the idea of unity of the Romanian Orthodox space in a period when this idea was not officially stated, as well as for the importance in itself of the hierarchical attire that, so far, historiography have not studied more closely. The present study envisages the establishment of cultural interconnections both between Wallachia and Transylvania and between them and the areas of eastern and western artistic influence, in order to identify the transfer of vestments patterns from one area of culture to another, the extent to which they were adapted to the area of “adoption” and last but not least, the interest that determined the implementation of several hierarchs figures in the mural theme of some of the churches. Again, the research aims to capture those models of hierarchs that, despite their clerical rank, are depicted in garments of different composition depending on the context in which they are painted.
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Diplomacy is predominantly a territory reserved for men but as early as the Middle Ages, women were actively intervening in it. This is especially true of the governing personas. Bulgarian female rulers were no exception. There are many known attempts made by them to actively take part in the formation of alliances, entering into agreements and other aspects of international relations. The sources also provide evidence of the ambitions of some of Bulgarian queens to implement their personal diplomatic projects. The personalities that stand out in this respect are Maria Palaiologina and the so-called Smiltsena although their projects did not find their realization for one reason or another.
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The article proves that such properties of writing as its ability to develop, the formation of an attitude to consistent compliance with the requirements of rational optimization in the further search of acceptable forms, dialogicity, allow us to determine the facts that paleographers have been trying to find for a long time: about the connection of writing with “socio-economic and political processes”. The metamorphoses of writing that took place in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania at the turn of the 14th and 15th centurie should be put on a par with the changes in social and political order in this state. The society of this time was retreating from traditions and opening up to innovations. In such an action as the transition to cursive writing, you can see the “trigger” mechanism of all further changes associated with the constitution of this graphic type of writing. This mechanism is the “emancipation” of writing, which opened up a wide space for him to maneuver, search and develop. The following assumption is made. The system-forming processes in writing are not self-sufficient; they are closely related to changes in the configurations of society, authority and culture, under the influence of the same factors and causes.
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The paper describes and analyses a group of six coats-of-arms engraved on the foot of a Gothic reliquary cross from the 14th-15th centuries (the object is not uniform) in the collection of the Museum in Sandomierz. The cross proper with enamelled plates was made in the 14th century, while in the 15th a reliquary box was added with a foot, on which the coats-of-arms were placed. The analysis of the heraldic programme indicates that the armorial group should be dated to 1440 and linked to the person of King Władysław III (of Varna). Therefore, the dating of the reliquary box and the foot of the cross, accepted so far by the literature as the second half of the 15th century, should be corrected to the years 1439-1440, while the added elements should be recognised – contrary to earlier opinions – as a foundation of King Władysław III.
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The oldest of the three known manuscripts of the Arabic Liber de causis (Leiden, Bibliotheek der Rijksuniversiteit, Or. 209) and its Latin translation by Gerhard of Cremona transmit this work under the title Kitāb al-Īḍāḥ li-Arisṭūṭālīs fī l-Ḫayr al-maḥḍ respectively Liber Aristotelis de expositione bonitatis purae. The attribution to Aristotle was already doubted in the Latin West in the first half of the 13th century. Albertus Magnus held to the Aristotelian origin of the Liber de causis and possibly had the Theologia Aristotelis in mind, but he was already aware when he wrote the De homine (Summa de creaturis, Part II) that behind this supposed work of Aristotle there was not Aristotle alone, but several authors. A careful reading of Albertus’ explanations on the question of the author of the Liber de causis, which he presents at the beginning of his commentary on this work seems to offer some clues for the assumption that he considered its author to be identical with the author of the Elementatio physica, i.e. Proclus. For a cautious interpretation of Albertus’ statements in this sense, some external indications will be considered in addition to the internal reasons.
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In my previous LOGOS article I explained how Aquinas’ actus understanding of the existence, or being, of the thing is not a victim to Suarez’s infinite regress objection to the “Thomistic” real distinction. As such Aquinas does not fall victim to Heidegger’s reduction of Suarez to Heidegger himself. The current article continues my presentation of Aquinas’ unique actus understanding of the existence, or being, of a thing. By focusing upon a passage from Aquinas’ early De Ente et Essentia, I try to present how Aquinas philosophically elaborates casual implications in actus essendi. These implications lead to a first cause that Aquinas identifies with the God of his religious belief. Aquinas’ identification sets the stage for a revisiting of Heidegger’s ontotheology complaint. I will reconsider this complaint in a following article.
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Review of: Jan Zelenka: Vom Beneficial-zum Lehnswesen. Eine vergleichende Analyse sächsi-scher und böhmischer Quellen des 10.–14. Jahrhunderts. (Geschichte, Bd. 167.) LIT. Berlin 2019. 222 S. ISBN 978-3-643-14281-8
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