Academic literature on the topic 'Greek-byzantine element'

Leguminous plants were a crucially important element in the Mediterranean diet, and, as such, these plants were second only to cereals. It is also important to note that according to medical writings preserved from antiquity and the early Byzantine period they were considered to be an accessible source of substances which could be applied in therapeutics. One of the most commonly mentioned legumes was the chickpea. The source material demonstrates that the medicinal properties of the chickpea and its therapeutic use were discussed by Greek physicians as early as in the fourth century BC. It seems that the plant was a readily accessible medicament and thus used in therapy also by those who could not afford costly medicines. The authors argue, however, that the medical theory concerning its role in therapeutics evolved into a fully developed form only in the first century AD (thanks to Dioscorides) and was not modified by Galen. The doctrine of these two physicians became part of the medical encyclopaedias of the early Byzantine period. The presented material also illustrates the fact that a significant number of medicinal Recipes which involved using the chickpea were formulated between the second century BC and the second century AD. Byzantine physicians avidly used these formulas in their practice, but failed to develop them in a significantly innovative way. The surviving medical writings make it possible to conclude that the chickpea was believed to be a highly effective medicine and as such worthy of cultivation, which only testifies to the general popularity of the plant. Medical writings may serve as a proof that the chickpea remained a key element in the Mediterranean diet throughout the period from the fourth century BC to the seventh century AD. The analysed material demonstrates the use of the same basic varieties of the erebinthos throughout the period, even though some local variants were also identified. The consistency of the data also suggests that the scale and methods of cultivation of this plant remained unchanged. The culinary uses of the chickpea must also have been the same throughout the period, given that the writers discussed similar uses of the plant as a foodstuff.

The concept of the divine energies (energeiai) is commonly associated with the late Byzantine theologian Gregory Palamas. In fact, however, it has biblical origins and figures prominently in Greek patristic theology from at least the fourth century. Here I briefly trace its history beginning with the Pauline usage of energeia and continuing through the Cappadocian Fathers, Dionysius the Areopagite, Maximus the Confessor, and Gregory Palamas. I argue that the divine processions in Dionysius function much as do the divine energies in the Cappadocians, although Dionysius enriches the concept by setting it within the context of a Neoplatonic pattern of procession and return. Dionysius’s own work was in need of a further synthesis in that he does not explain the relationship between the divine processions and the divine logoi, the “divine and good acts of will” by which God creates. Maximus the Confessor then introduced a further element into this complex tradition through his argument that certain “natural energies” must necessarily accompany any nature. I argue that the real importance of Palamas from the standpoint of the history of philosophy lies not in originating the concept of the divine energies, but in using it to synthesize these disparate elements from the Cappadocians, Dionysius, and Maximus.

Many unresolved questions related to post-Byzantine church chanting present obstacles to understanding some aspects of church music since the 19th century. One of those problems concerns the need for strict definitions of criteria according to which a church melody is classified as "melos" (Serb. napev). In this article the actual classifications of new Greek and Serbian chants are given. The most important Greek theoretical sources (theoretikon) are taken into consideration, as well as writings in which Serbian theoreticians and chanters explain the classification of hymns in Serbian church singing. The terminology related to "melos" in Greek and Serbian church chanting practice is critically examined. Attention is also drawn to elements common to new Greek (neumatic) and Serbian (staff notation) "melos". This article is an introduction to more detailed research whose aim will be to establish similarities and distinctions between the two church singing traditions that have the same origins in Byzantine church music.

AbstractThis study proposes a new interpretation of the texts of two late ancient or early Byzantine papyrus amulets that refer to conflict with “headless” entities (PGM P 5a–b). Based on the identification of parallels in the Byzantine and later Greek tradition, a traditional incantation motif can be identified, targeting fever, which is analogized as a judicial crisis. An appendix publishes or republishes the relevant texts with translations. The complex career of the motif attested by the papyri and the Byzantine texts is also applied to illustrate the workings of the Greek tradition of incantations, in particular the mechanism by which elements of a received repertoire are re-combined, modified, and augmented for changing contexts, a process comparable to folkloric composition. The judicial motif can further be contextualized among beliefs about the supernatural, including the divinization of fever itself and the crediting of a broad cast of powers, including John the Baptist along with other holies, angels, and demons, with its infliction and relief.

The article explores the impact of Byzantines on Istrian Humanism and Renaissance. In the introduction author describes the alienation of the territories which used to be Eastern and Western part of the Roman Empire and, congruently, the fate of the classical (particularly Greek) heritage in the Dark and Middle Ages in those territories. This is followed by a description of the historical events that led to rapprochement of the East and West, with particular emphasis on the Byzantine exodus to Italy. The author then provides a methodological framework by analyzing the main aspects of „rediscovering” Greek cultural heritage and the influence of the Byzantine immigrants on them. The author than turns to Istria, providing, first, a short summary of Istrian contacts with the Greek cultural heritage throughout history and then the settlement of the Byzantines in Istria. The main part of the article follows, containing a detailed analysis of the described elements of „rediscovering” Greek cultural heritage – interest in Greek language, literature, culture and philosophy (particularly Neoplatonism), in translations, the editing and publishing of Greek classics, as well as in the presence of the idea of a common European identity based on a common ancient heritage, and the voices advocating for the formation of a united Christian European front against the Ottomans.

AbstractThe emigrant Byzantine humanist Theodorus Gaza (c. 1400 -1475) is well known as a teacher of Greek in various Italian cities, as a copyist of Greek manuscripts, and as a translator of Greek philosophical works into Latin. His undertakings as a translator of Latin works into Greek, among which his version of Cicero’s De senectute deserves mention, have gone relatively unnoticed. In this article we rediscover a largely forgotten translation of Cic. Fam. 1.1, despite it having been printed independently twice (Paris 1542 and 1548) and having been included as an example of translation in the oft reprinted manual of rhetorical exercises, Elementa rhetoricae (first printed in Basel in 1541), by the Lutheran Joachim Camerarius.

Abstract Traditionally, scholarship has seen the history of the diaconiae, charitable foundations in the city of Rome, in line with the alleged general trends in Roman history in the early Middle Ages, i.e. the gradual “Romanization” of formerly “Greek” elements of Byzantine origin, and the “papalization” of secular (state and private) initiatives, both taking place primarily in the mid-8th century. Although the diaconiae had come under papal control as late as the 9th and eventually the 10th centuries, this paper argues that this development took place not as an abandonment of private forms of endowments prominent in Byzantine Rome, but namely through the appropriation of “post-Byzantine” aristocratic endowment practice by the popes around the turn of the 9th century.

<p>THE INFLUENCE OF THE BYZANTINE CRIMINAL LAW IN THE CODE OF DUSAN. 1349-1354 </p><p>Stefan Dušan enacted the <em>Code of Dušan</em> in 1349. Its dispositions must be considered in relation with two Byzantine compilations that constituted the imperiale tripartite codification: the so-called <em>Law of Justinian</em> and to the <em>Abridged syntagma</em>. The Byzantine juridical influence must be considered very relevant in criminal law: public pain system, legal action <em>ex officio</em> by state, pain of death, physical punishments and mutilations, were juridical concepts and institutions unknown to Slav people before their convert to Christianity, and their introduction must be connected to the Byzantine religious, cultural and juridical influence. Considering the difference with Slav customary law (even if some elements derivating from it were preserved) and the connections with Greek-Roman compilations it can be underlined Dušan’s attempt to create and introduce in his empire a Byzantine legal system.</p>

AbstractIn 1349 Stefan Dušan enacted a code that was part of a tripartite codification with the Abridged syntagma and the so-called Law of Justinian. The Serbian emperor introduced in his empire a Byzantine legal system, even if elements of Slavic customary law were preserved. Physical mutilations and punishments, death penalty, public penal system, personal liability were unknown to the Slav populations and have to be connected to the Greek-Roman law influence. This influence is evident both in civil and criminal law and in this sense the dispositions of the Code of Dušan must be connected to the two other Byzantine compilations. Dušan's attempt failed just a few years after his death because of the fall of the Serbian empire due to the Ottoman advance.

In which ways was Medieval and Byzantine History embedded in the Greek national narrative in the first life steps of the Greek state during the 19th century? In which ways has it been related to the emerging nationalism in the Balkans, and to relationships with the West and the countries of south-eastern Europe during the Balkan Wars, the First and Second World Wars, and especially the Cold War, until today? In which ways does Byzantium correlate with the notion of Greekness, and what place does it occupy in Neo-Hellenic identity and culture? Moreover, which role does it play in history teaching, and what kind of reactions does any endeavour of revision or reformation provoke? To answer the above questions I performed a comparative analysis on the following categories of sources: (a) Greek national and European historiography, (b) School history curricula and textbooks, (c) Public history sources, (d) The new History Curriculum for primary and secondary school classes, and (e) The principles and guidelines of international organizations such as the Council of Europe. In the first three sections of this paper, I provide an overview of the conformation and integration of the Byzantine period in Greek national historiography, in association with the dominant European philosophical and historical perspectives during the era of modernity, as well as the evolving national politics, foreign affairs, prevailing ideological schemas and the role of history teaching in shaping the common identity of the Neo-Hellenic society throughout the 19th and 20th centuries. The fourth section briefly deals with the current situation in history teaching in Greek schools, while the fifth section critically presents the innovative elements and features of the new History Curriculum, which, to some degree, aspires to be considered a paradigm shift in the teaching of Medieval History in school education. Finally, I summarize and draw several conclusions.

Le XIe-XIIe siècles, ont été élaborés en quatre chapitres : l’histoire politique et militaire, montrant l’agitation multiculturelle de cette période, une période transitoire dans un contexte profondément gréco byzantin, la géographie humaine (Langue, populations, gestion administrative, recherche anthropologique des Normands sur le territoire italien, droit, diplômes, monnaie, sceaux, art normand) présente l’interdépendance des événements historiques avec les conditions humaines, la coexistence et l’interculturation des Normands avec la culture greco-byzantine, l’organisation ecclésiastique qui, après le concile de Melfi (1059), a mis les nouvelles infrastructures épiscopales pour l’imposition de la papauté au détriment de l’Eglise grecque, malgré ses résistances pour en finir dans une situation de cœxistence de deux rites religieux pour un certain temps. Enfin, l’organisation monastique, se montre un peu plus compliquée en raison du début des Ordres religieux occidentaux, soutenus par la papauté, s’intégrant dans les communautés italo grecques. Pourtant, la culture grecque a perduré, surtout dans le monachisme de l’Italie du sud, sans pour autant nier la floraison du monachisme latin, résultant de la politique monastique normande. Ensuite, la dynastie souabe a suivi, en démontrant que l’histoire multiculturelle de la région se cristallise par rapport à l’élément grec, donnant une préséance à l’élément occidental. Cette partie a également été étudiée aux niveaux politique, ecclésiastique, monastique, notaire, judiciaire, langagier .Enfin, la dynastie angevine (1266-1442) a restauré ce qu’on appelle une polyphonie européenne dans le territoire de l’Italie du sud, malgré la volonté des rois angevins d’imposer le modèle monarchique. Cette partie a été étudiée aux niveaux politique, ecclésiastique et monastique. Les pouvoirs étrangers ont dominé tout au long des siècles en contribuant ainsi dans une mosaïque culturelle telle que l’identité ou les éléments identitaires des communautés italo grecques ont pu coexister avec toutes les cultures dominantes, puisant toujours leurs propres origines depuis la période de la domination de l’empire byzantin. Malgré la présence des diverses migrations ethniques et culturelles sur place, l’élément gréco-byzantin comme culture s’est avérée plus déterminant de façon qu’il ait perdure dans le temps
The XI-XII centuries were examined in four chapters: the political and military history, shows the multicultural agitation of this period, transitional for the Normans, the new foreign dynasty , within a context , deeply Greek Byzantine, the human geography ( language, populations, administrative geography, Italo-Greek identity, anthropological research of the Normans in the Italian territory, the law, diplomas, monetary, seals, Norman art), presents the interdependency of the historical events and human conditions, the coexistence and the interculturation of the Normans with the Greek Byzantine culture, the ecclesiastical organization, which, after the council of Melfi (1059) put the new Episcopal substructure to impose the papacy against the Greek Church, although her resistance and to end within a situation of coexistence for the two religious rites for a long time. Then, the monastic organization appears more complicated due to the beginning of the Latin monastic orders, supported from the Papacy, integrated in the Italo-Greek communities. Nevertheless, the Greek culture lasted, especially in the monarchism of southern Italy, without ignoring the development of the Latin monarchism, the result of the Norman monastic policy. Thereafter, the Hofenstaufen dynasty (1198-1266) followed, showing that the multicultural history of the region consolidates in relation with the Greek element, giving the priority to the western element. This part was equally examined through the political, ecclesiastical, monastic, notary, legal, language fields .Finally, the Angevin dynasty (1266-1442) restored the European polyphony in the territory of southern Italy, despite the willingness of the Angevin Kings to impose the monarchical model. This part was also studied in political, ecclesiastical and monastic fields. The foreign powers dominated over the centuries by contributing in a cultural mosaic such as the identity or the identity elements of the Italo-Greek communities could have coexisted with all the dominant cultures, drawing always from their own origins since the period of the domination of the Byzantine Empire. Despite the presence of various ethnic and cultural migrations on the spot, the Greek Byzantine element as a culture proved to be more determinative so that it persists over time

The church of Jerusalem, the ‘mother of the churches of God’, influenced all Christendom before it underwent multiple captivities between the eighth and thirteenth centuries: first, political subjugation to Arab Islamic forces, then displacement of Greek-praying Christians by crusaders, and, finally, ritual assimilation to fellow Orthodox Byzantines in Constantinople. All three contributed to the phenomenon of the Byzantinization of Jerusalem’s liturgy, but only the last explains how the latter was completely lost and replaced by the liturgy of the imperial capital, Constantinople. The basis of this study is the rediscovered manuscripts of Jerusalem’s liturgical calendar and lectionary. When examined in context, they reveal that the devastating events of the Arab conquest in 638 and the destruction of the Holy Sepulchre in 1009 did not have as detrimental an effect on liturgy as previously held. They confirm that the process of Byzantinization was gradual and locally implemented rather than an imposed element of Byzantine imperial policy or ideology from the church of Constantinople. Originally the city’s worship consisted of reading Scripture and singing hymns at places connected with the life of Christ, so that the link between holy sites and liturgy became a hallmark of Jerusalem’s worship; but the changing sacred topography caused changes in the local liturgical tradition. This book is the first monograph dedicated to the question of the Byzantinization of Jerusalem’s liturgy; it provides for the first time English translations of many liturgical texts and hymns and offers a glimpse of Jerusalem’s lost liturgical and theological tradition.

This chapter tackles the question of laughter and humour from a theoretical perspective. Rather than map out the Byzantine ‘comic landscape’ by resorting to modern theorisations, it looks at Greek medieval humour and laughter from within, in the attempt to single out elements of a Byzantine theory of the comic. Recent scholarship has gone some way towards dismantling the prejudice that there was no room for laughter in Byzantine society, combing the sources for tangible evidence of humour and jokes, or focusing on the scant traces for the survival of genres such as mimes and satires. Less reflection has been devoted to understanding how the Byzantines construed, conceptualised and justified comic features of discourse. Patristic and devotional texts, frowning upon laughter and humour, have taken the lion’s share of attention. This chapter sheds light on the other side of the coin, concentrating on secular texts used for educational purposes in middle Byzantine literature (rhetorical handbooks and commentaries), aiming to unravel the function that the Byzantines assigned to laughter, irony and humour in their literary production. Four major areas are explored, crucial to the deployment and legitimation of the comic in Byzantium: psychology, rhetorical display, didacticism and narrative.

Anania Širakac‘i was a 7th century AD Armenian mathematician trained in the Byzantine Empire whose works embrace treatises in various fields of science. Of the almost 30 texts attributed to him, most await investigation. His Cosmology is the focus of our research, and we highlight its elements of similarity with Greek tradition, in particular with St Basil’s Hexameron, and in the Armenian tradition, to which Anania brings novelty especially in his deeper understanding of astronomical phenomena. We suggest that this work, like Isidore’s De Natura Rerum, represents a new genre of Christian literature, and attempts to understand it through the meaning of Cosmos found in Aristotle’s De Mundo.

This chapter focuses on the group of illustrated case histories narrated in John’s On Urines. An introductory section on clinical narratives provides the necessary background and emphasizes that John’s clinical accounts had no counterpart in the Greek-speaking world after Galen. It is argued that John’s case histories could function as didactic material for readers with specialist knowledge, while at the same time they could be used as self-promotional material to impress the specialist and non-specialist alike with the physician’s skills in diagnosing, prognostication, and his self-proclaimed ability to treat his patients successfully. The largest part of the chapter focuses on physician–patient encounters. It explores the significance of John’s acquaintance with the patients and the patient’s socio-economic background, but also their experience of the physician’s professional expertise. It is shown that the visual aspect of the urine vial constitutes a recurrent element of symbolic significance, which helps the patients decipher the physician’s actions and shows the latter’s awareness of the need for individualized patient care.

This chapter takes Grand Prince Vasilii III and Elena Glinskaia's wedding as a starting point. It explores the origins, structural elements, and symbolism of the wedding ritual over the course of the sixteenth century. It compares Muscovite weddings with ancient Greek, Roman, and Byzantine weddings and explores the question of the origins of these rituals in the East Slavic space. The chapter also plots Muscovite weddings according to Arnold van Gennep's model of les rites de passage — separation, liminality, and incorporation — which turns out to be a very useful lens for interpreting Muscovite weddings. When Muscovite secretaries and scribes developed a discrete set of documents to describe royal weddings at the turn of the sixteenth century, they created, perhaps unintentionally, a ritual template that lasted without much modification for more than a hundred years. The chapter describes and dissects that template.

This article is devoted to the study of the organizational structure of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church (hereinafter UGCC) as the largest Eastern Catholic Church of the Byzantine rite in the world. The UGCC belongs to religious organizations (hereinafter RO), which form a separate subgroup in the general structure of non-profit organizations (hereinafter NGOs) and, accordingly, constitute the third sector of the economy along with government agencies and commercial organizations. When considering the theoretical issues, the article presents the development and evaluation of scientific thought, the theory of research and the functioning of organizational structures. The essence of organizational management structures is revealed, in particular their basic elements, interrelations, as well as the fundamentals of formation and designing. In what follows, the system of general ecclesiastical administration of the Catholic Church is presented, where the power of leadership, or administration, is divided into three categories: legislative, judicial and executive, combined as a whole in the person of the pope and at the level of the Bishop’s Particular Church. The article also reveals the place and status of the Eastern Catholic Churches in the general structure of the Catholic Church, where synodal administration is considered to be a usual form of government. This form of government operates through an episcopal system based on the hierarchy of bishops and their unification into a college (synod) headed by the head of the church. In the analysis of statistical data on the development of structures and personnel of the UGCC for the last two decades, the quantitative growth of the clergy and the quantitative growth of parishes for this period are graphically presented, which testifies to the stable and professional development of organizational structures and personnel (clergy) of the UGCC in the world. When analyzing church documents (normative – legal acts) regulating the activities of the UGCC and comparing them with theoretical developments in the field of management of organizational structures, it should be noted that OSU UGCC belongs to bureaucratic structures with decentralized operational management at the local level. From the point of view of the analysis of the hierarchy of power, the main governing bodies of the UGCC are described, where the status of each governing body and official is clearly regulated by church canons and job descriptions of the UGCC.