Medieval Folk Religiousness. Cathar Dualism in the Light of the Interrogatio Iohannis

Cathar religiousness was not regulated top-down, by any central institution as in the Church. Distinct, particular forms of religiousness were revealed in respective writings. What united them was dualism, what set them apart was reliance on apocryphal which generally expressed folk attitudes in medieval religiousness. A more systematic approach to Cathar teachings is better seen in accounts by Church polemics than in original Cathar writings. Medieval religiousness manifested itself in the apocryphal Interrogatio Iohannis. The text was used by Bogomils and Cathars alike. The dualism in the Interrogatio is not as radical as anti-Cathar polemics show it. In the Interrogatio, it is seen in an opposition between Christ, the Son of God, and satan, also „a son of God.” Satan created the world by the consent of God, his Father. Dualism was also marked in rigorous attitudes toward marriage and material goods. The Cathars of the Interrogatio Iohannis rejected institutional Church and its sacraments, baptism and the Eucharist, attributing to them a spiritualistic or eschatological sense. The folk origin of the text’s character reveals influences of apocryphal literature, but also of Church teaching and New Testament themes, including those opposed to Cathar logic.

The Religious Attitudes of Radical Hussitism

The article investigates the religiousness of radical followers of the Hussite movement at its early, revolutionary stage (the early 1420’s). It therefore treats about Taborites active in provincial Czechia, and adherents to a party created around Jan Želivský, a Prague-based preacher and people’s tribune.

The whole Hussite movement centered on a fundamental return to Christian basics: Scripture (with emphasis on the New Testament) and the Eucharist. While mainstream Hussites recognized the primacy of Scripture in matters of faith, to Taborites this authority was sole and exclusive (they effectively rejected the entire church tradition). Radical Hussites enthusiastically believed in a true understanding of the gospels which was denied to unworthy priests of the Roman Church. This belief imposed on them a duty of universal preaching the Word of God and legitimized armed struggle for realization of „God’s truth” (i.e., Hussite faith).

Receiving Communion in two forms by laymen (with radicals, even by little children) was seen as a supreme ideal, a necessary condition for salvation. The Hussite „Chalice” was a symbol to fight and die for.

Hussites thought of themselves as belonging to the elect, a community of the best Christians who, once the Antichrist was defeated, would restore sinful humanity and establish a new church. Even during the Czech civil war, Taborites concentrated their religious program on forcefully propagated Chiliastic prophecies based chiefly on the Apocalypse and Old Testament prophetic writings. The prophecies, which made a deep impression in provincial Czechia, centered on the faith in Christ actually descending onto Czech soil, but not before apocalyptic disasters and destruction of all the unrighteous. Once that was done, a blessed era of God’ Millenarian Kingdom would embrace the earth.

The religious doctrine of radical Hussitism rejected all that did not directly relate to the worship of One God. Cult of St. Mary was rejected (with some moderation), that of other saints categorically renounced, as of persons elevated by men. Nor did Taborites accept the cult of Hussite martyrs, Jan Hus and Jerome of Prague, both burned at the stake in Constance, which was promoted by moderate Prague Hussites called Utraquists. Further, they violently condemned, to the point of destruction, any worship of religious-related paintings and statues.

Taborites’ extremely simplifi ed liturgy, celebrated by a non-chasubled priests with a congregation, was reduced to a joint saying of Our Father, a blessing of bread and wine, and reception of Hussite communion.

The exemplary ethics of radical Hussite groups involved strict moral rigor. Of the Four Articles of Prague (the fundamental Hussitic principles), the fourth was introduced by Taborites and provided for punishment by civil authorities of all openly committed mortal sins. Indeed, in cities governed by Taborites, banned activities included crafts serving luxury, entertainment, dancing, profane singing, and sale of alcoholic beverages. 

The Worship of Saints in Bytom Deanery Churches in the Middle Ages

In the Middle Ages, the deanery of Bytom, created between 1328 and 1334, had 28 parish churches, excluding chapels and churches other than the seats of curates.

A study revealed a large differentiation in their patronage. Most often, in six cases, churches were dedicated to Virgin Mary (a half of those to Her Birth). Five times the patron was St. Nicholas, twice each were John the Baptist, Mary Magdalene, Stanislaus, All Saints, Catherine, Martin, Peter and Paul, Jacob, and Bartholomew, with only one church each invoking Holy Trinity, Lawrence, Norbert, Hedwig, Michael, Holy Cross, Corpus Christi, Steven, Bernardino, Albert, and Adalbert.

Similar proportions are discernible in the entire Kraków diocese, to which the deanery belonged until 1821. Predominant were dedications to St. Mary. The most popular among remaining saints was St. Nicholas: his name was given to 74 churches (8.3%).

A look at the neighbouring Wrocław diocese, which grouped remaining Silesian deaneries, for any infl uences on Bytom deanery suggests that those were weaker than the impact exerted by Kraków (e.g., adjacent Gliwice deanery with 22 parishes had three St. Nicholas churches, but only one St. Mary’s church).

Synagogical Liturgy; its Origins, Structure, and Development

Synagogical liturgy is integral primarily to the institution of synagogue, and is besides linked with two others: the Jerusalem Temple and chavura (hebr. for community).

The article offers a synthetic account of the origins and structure of synagogical liturgy at its various stages of development. It fi rst shows its historical background from the socalled second temple to local synagogical rites in the early modern period (the Middle Ages saw its greatest formative processes), then the role of the Torah and its interpretations in synagogical liturgy, and fi nally its transformations infl uenced by haskalah (Jewish enlightenment) from the second half of the 18th century.

Abraham Abulafia’s Mystical Technique Presented in ’Ocar ‘Eden Ha-ganuz

The text presents the prophetic kabbalistic mystical techniques described in ’Ocar ‘Eden ha-Ganuz [The Hidden Treasure of Eden] by the 13th-century Sephardic kabbalist Abraham Abulafia (1240– 1292?). Composed in Messina in 1285 for a disciple named Saadia, the book is considered as a mature explanation of the mystical system. Together with his ’Or ha-Sekhel [Light of the Mind] and Chayye ha-‘Olam ha-Ba [Life of the World to Come], it constitutes one of the essential texts of Abulafi an kabbalah and prophetic kabbalah as such. The article includes, for the first time in Polish translation, a large fragment of Abraham Abulafia’s book concerning an explication of mystical practice of one of the ways of chochmat ha-ceruf (“wisdom of combination”) and descriptions of Abulafia’s mystical experiences.

An Attempt to Interpret Augustinian Dialog De Quantitate Animae 32, 69 in the Context of Plato’s Theory of the Soul

The article tries to explain the problem of the number of souls as brought up by St. Augustine in his De quantitate animae 32, 69. Considering that De quant. anim. represents an early stage in Augustine’s thought in which was infl uenced by Platonism, the author discusses two possible ways of interpreting De quant. anim. 32, 69. One assumes that Augustin is referring to the relation occurring between the world soul and the individual soul. In the other, the author proposes that the text may apply to the structure of individual soul. Seen in this light, Augustin’s statement („unam simul et multas”) may express the notion that the plural powers with which the soul splits between many forms of its activity does not contradict its oneness and simplicity. Such an understanding of De quant. anim. 32, 69 may be implied by (1) concurrent arguments for complexity of the soul by Augustin and Plato (Rp. 436 B–C); and (2) similarity linking Augustine’s („unam simul et multas”) to Plotinus’ formula: („[...] Πολλή ή ψυχή και η μία”) (Enn. VI 9, 1)

Religious Inspiration in St. Thomas Aquinas’ Natural Science System

The article discusses chief aspects of religious inspiration of the views of St. Thomas on science. The main tenets of the Christian religion provided the Dominican scholar with an opportunity for critical assessment of various views of Aristotle and other Greek thinkers. As he built his system of metaphysical knowledge, Aquinas often spoke on subjects of nature and scientific methodology. His discussions reveal multiple religious influences and a religious inspiration to expand the fi eld of the human vision of the world while preserving the autonomy of respective sciences. Study of his views helps place the distinguished 13th-century author in the history of scientific development in Western thought.

The Origin and Doctrine of Slavic Dualism in the Middle Ages

The article touches upon the poorly source-documented issue of Slavic dualism, a heresy which existed in the 12th-to-15th centuries in Dalmatia and Bosnia. The dearth of vernacular sources makes it difficult to trace either the history or the doctrine of Slavic dualists. On the other hand, Inquisition sources concerning Italian Cathari mention an „ordo Sclavoniae,” next to „ordo Bulgarie” and „ordo Drugonthiae,” as one of three main dualist currents to inspire Western heretics. The article tries to determine the identity of the Slavic version of the dualist heresy by inquiring into its origin and doctrinal peculiarities which distinguished it from its contemporary variants of dualism. In order to cast a fuller light on the subject, it is worth bringing together what laconic Slavic or Byzantine sources are available and the Inquisition’s comprehensive documentation covering especially Italy, including its Cathari, who were described as Slavs.

Politics, Friendships, and Gifts in the Light of the Correspondence of Pope Gregory The Great (590-604) 

Among persons exercising authority or holding high offices, gifts served many purposes, some important. They were part of respective ceremonial, won favors, broadened influences, persuaded donees, or won desired concessions. They could be helpful in propagating the giver’s ideas. Types of gifts and channels of delivery may be studied in official and private accounts of participants in gift giving.

All this was clear to pope Gregory I the Great (590-604). With carefully chosen gifts, he knew how to secure the support of barbarian Western rulers (queen Theodolinda of the Lombards and her son, queen Brunhilda of the Franks, the Visigothic king Reccared, king Ethelbert of Kent). Among such gifts predominated relics (in particular, pieces of St. Peter’s shackles) and books by Gregory himself. There were also other items such as garments.

Many recipients of his gifts were people he had met when he was papal apocrisiary in Constantinople. It is all the more surprising, therefore, that he refused to send relics to empress Constantina, the wife of Mauricius.

The pope was very careful in using the instrument of gift giving. Sometimes he used it to thank people to whom he owed something, but did not try to use it to win concessions he thought important. No gifts are on record to imperial officials in Italy or other Western lands, such as to exarchs, praetors of Sicily, prefects of the preatorium of Italy and Carthage. His frequent gifts of relics of St. Peter’s shackles helped spread the cult of this saint in all of Europe.

Even more cautious was Gregory in receiving presents, perhaps fearing that they might be thought a form of bribery. He readily accepted gifts from friends and donations for the freeing of prisoners or assisting the poor, but steadfastly refused anything that might look suspicious. Among those rejected were gifts from Felix, bishop of Messina, or Januarius, bishop of Caralis. 

Some Remarks on a Medieval Guide to Indulgences Granted to the Holy Spirit Hospital in Kraków

The article studies an early 16th-century manuscript No. 7044 I, kept in the Jagiellonian Library, containing a list of indulgences granted to the Order of the Holy Spirit. Originally conferred on the Order’s Holy Spirit Hospital in Rome, they were extended by pope Sixtus IV on Nov. 7, 1483, to apply to the Kraków hospital operated by the same order. Mention is also made of indulgences bestowed on confraternities run by Holy Spirit monks. The arrangement of the manuscript’s contents is reminiscent of similar pilgrim’s guides to indulgences available elsewhere, such as in Rome or Wrocław. It seems to be Kraków’s oldest guide to indulgences, predating by decades a 1603 compendium of loca sacra in the city. 

The Literary, Political, and Religious Work of the Orthodox Metropolitan of Kiev Grigorij Camblak in the Light of his Contemporary Sources

The Kiev metropolitan Grigorij Camblak is an interesting figure in the Slavic Middle Ages. Formed spiritually and creatively by the Tyrnovo literary circle, he was compelled to leave Turkish-occupied Bulgaria and search for a more favorable environment in other Orthodox countries. Wherever he went (Byzantium, Mount Athos, Serbia, Moldavia, Poland [„Crown”], and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania), he left behind him traces of political and Orthodox-religious involvement, and literary works of extraordinary beauty. The latter became unquestionable models of Old-Church-Slavonic hesichastic writing and assured Grigorij Camblak a permanent place in the history of national literatures of Orthodox Slavs. He was involved in reinvigorating the idea of a union of Christian states which would aim to drive islam out of Europe and to liberate Balkan Slavs from Turkish subjugation. After he controversially rose to the rank of metropolitan (1415-1420), Camblak became engaged in building a distinctive image of the Kievan Orthodox Church through close contacts with southern Slavdom on the plane of spirituality, religious literature, and worship of saints. Instructed by the Grand Duke Withold of Lithuania and Polish king Władysław II Jagiełło, Grigorij Camblak took part in the Council of Constance in 1418, charged with the difficult task of forging a church union. Distinct traces of his political, literary, and religious work are seen in more than a dozen sources from the period (15th-16th centuries), which offer first-hand evidence in any attempt to reconstruct the biography of this remarkable man. The article discusses the picture of the Kiev metropolitan as arises out of accounts by his contemporary observers and commentators.

„Figure” and „Form.” On the Function of Images in Medieval Culture on the Example of 12th-century Cosmological Illuminations in Chronicon Zwiefaltense Minus

Cosmological Illuminations in Chronicon Zwiefaltense Minus

The text inquires into the function and meaning of two miniatures in the 12th-century manuscript Chronicon Zwiefaltense Minus (Stuttgart, W.L.B., MS. Hist. Fol. 415; 1138–1147). They are two page-sized compositions on cosmological subjects printed on a single leaf in the manuscript (folio 17). They are a picture of the creation of the world and a complex image of time rendered in cycles. I study the composition of both miniatures and relative placement of their elements. Then I analyze their iconography based on a Medieval alegoresis of visions of the world. These interpretations lead to the conclusion that both pictures make up a thematic and formal whole. They are an example of an extraordinarily refi ed use of visual forms conveying a theological commentary to Genesis. It is possible to verify this interpretation by considering what purpose the diptych might have served inserted in a short compilation of texts on astronomy, which is the subject of the last part of the article. I point to the notions figura and formatione with which both miniatures are introduced in the text of Chronicon Zwiefaltense Minus and go on to quote some examples of how such references were understood in the writings of Hugo of St. Victor and Honorius of Autun. In this light, the diptych appears to be an attempt to visualize not so much the figures of time or of creation, but the forming process of universal order. Both images were created to replace a verbal expression as was the case in texts like De Arca Noe Mystica by Hugo of St. Victor. This time, the chosen medium was a picture employing special personifications to combine inscriptions, iconographic themes, all appropriately spaced respective to the rest.

The cosmological diptych in question may be treated as an instrument in the open process of conceptualizing, modeling, and forming a vision of the world. The miniatures are not figures, or representations of observable processes such as alternating seasons. This twin vision consists of a number of figures and inscriptions arranged to produce a new whole – a condensed record of the natural order forming of the world and the Ecclesia at the moment of creation. In this light, a field opens for further reflection on Medieval designations for visual forms such as imago, typus, or the technical pictura. Associating them with specific images may lead to an interesting reevaluation of the role of images in Medieval sources.