EARLY MIDDLE AGES

Anathematize – to condemn and curse a person or idea, usually in a church council or synod. (Submitted by Andrew Carroll)

Asceticism– a self denying regime of training for sanctity (little food, no sex, poor clothing, much prayer) undertaken in isolation from ordinary society by Christians in order to follow Christ more perfectly (reference: Lynette Olson; submitted by Amanda Mawn).

Arianism: A Christian heresy that thinks of Jesus Christ as only human, with no divinity. They said he was a perfect human, but subordinate to God the Father. This is the reverse belief of monothesitism. When many of the Barbarian kingdoms were Christianized, this was a popular sect. (Joanna Brench)

Bibliothèque municipale: a local library in France. Many of these hold numerous medieval manuscripts that were owned by local monasteries before the French Revolution. Abbreviated BM in the catalogue entries given to manuscripts (e.g. “Saint-Omer BM MS 108”)

Carolingian miniscule: a script or hand from the Carolingian period. An example from a manuscript Sulpicius Severus (Quedlinburg, Gymnasisalbibliothek 79, fol 113v) from (image from “History of European Medieval Art” class taught by Dr. Farber).

Cartulary : a collection of transcribed copies of charters in book form, a book of collected documents usually dealing with legal and economic transactions of a monastery

Cenobitic Monasticism: A form of monasticism characterized by multiple monks living together. It is derived from the Greek words koine+bios, meaning “common life.” There were multiple orders of cenobitic monasticism, each allowing for greater or less communalism and aescetism. Examples of the different orders include those of put forth by Pachomius of Egypt, Basil, and St. Benedict of Nursia. (submitted by D. Dang)

Clovis: (466-511) reigned over the Salian Franks 480-511. He led successful campaigns against Gallic-Roman General Syagrius, the Alemanni, the Burgundians, and the Visigoths. He is considered by many to be the first French King because he united the Franks, including the majority of present-day France, and established his capitol in Paris. He is also noteworthy for being the first Catholic germanic king, having reportedly converted in the wake of a nearly-lost battle. The main primary source on Clovis is The History of the Franks by Bishop Gregory of Tours. [M. Brench]

Codex: a manuscript in book (as opposed to scroll) form.

Dogma – the established belief or doctrine held by a religion, ideology or any kind of organization, thought to be authoritative and not to be disputed or doubted. While in the context of religion the term is largely descriptive, outside of religion its current usage tends to carry a pejorative connotation — referring to concepts as being “established” only according to a particular point of view, and thus one of doubtful foundation. This pejorative connotation is even stronger with the term dogmatic, used to describe a person of rigid beliefs who is not open to rational argument.(Sam Conway)

do ut des- “I’ll give so that you might give” ie: “I’ll make this sacrifice to you so that you’ll bring me good crops” http://www.idst.vt.edu/thbecker/transformations.pdf (pg 4). This motto shows the relationship the pre-Christian Romans had with the state gods. (Jamie Solon)

Foederati – Barbarian tribes on the outskirts of the Roman Empire who were enlisted to defend the Roman Empire by the Romans. This system helped to Romanize the Germanic tribes and initiate cultural exchange. Microsoft Encarta Encyclopedia (submitted by Ashley Jahrling)

Folio: the page in a codex, consists of front (recto) and back (verso).

Hagia Sophia : Built by Emperor Justinian , it was the third attempt to build a church of that magnitude in Constantinople. Construction lasted 532-537, and was built so Justinian could defend his belief in Orthodoxy. It has four acres of gold mosaics from the ceiling and Justinian used only the best materials from all over the world to make Hagia Sophia a center for the Christian faith (Danielle Brennan)

Hagiography: writings pertaining to the saints and their worship, often sensationalized and glorified. These accounts of a saint’s life were usually written by a contemporary of the saint, such as Fortunatas’ work on the life of Saint Ragegund. Often following a style (or trope) similar to previously written hagiographies, they nevertheless remain an important source of information concerning the Medieval time period and lives of saints. Many writings concerning the lives of the saints can be found at a Fordham University Database (scroll down, choose an era of interest, and writings from that period are available) (submitted by Kevin Bolduc)

Hellenistic: of or pertaining to the Greeks or their language, culture, etc., after the time of Alexander the Great, when Greek characteristics were modified by foreign elements. Source. (Ryan Brundage)

Icon: a picture, image, or other representation.
2.Eastern Church. a representation of some sacred personage, as Christ or a saint or angel, painted usually on a wood surface and venerated itself as sacred. (Kevin Dooley)

Isapostolos: The title given to Constantine meaning equal to the apostles (http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/byzantium/texts/echhist.txt). Matt Eisenman

Jarrow Bede’s monastary in the Kingdom of Northumbria (present day Durham). Bede did much of his writing in Jarrow, contributing greatly to the surviving catalogue of literature from 7th century Great Britain. (The Anglo Saxons, James Campbell) Addison Callahan

Liturgy: rights, observances, or procedures prescribed for public worship. At the core of Christian liturgy are the mass (the celebration of the Eurcharist) and the Divine Office. http://www.beloit.edu/~classics/museum/WebSite/TechnicalTerms.htm – submitted by Neil BergstroManichaeism: one of the major dualistic (concerned with the cosmic battle between light and darkness) religions, originating in Sassanid, Persia. (Alexander Harvey)

Memoria: from the Latin memoria, ae f- remembrance, memory. These were vitae, histories, relics, relic containers, churches, or Monestaris in remembrance of saints, and other holy peoples. (Added by Andrew Carroll)

Missionary: a member of a religion who works to convert those who do not share the missionary’s faith. The original meaning of the word “missionary” is not specifically religious, but refers instead to anyone who attempts to convert others to a particular doctrine or program. The word “mission” has derived from Latin missionem (nom. missio), meaning “act of sending” or mitto, mittere, literally meaning “to send” or “to dispatch,” the equivalent of the Greek-derived word “apostle” from apostolos, meaning “messenger”. In Christian cultures the term is most commonly used for missions to share and proclaim the Gospel Message, but it applies equally to any proselytizing creed or ideology. (submitted by Dan Quartulli)

Monophysitism: the belief that Christ had a single divine nature. Monophysitism is in opposition to Orthodoxy, which emphasizes Christ’s dual human and divine nature. http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/10489b.htm (Matthew Stumpf)

MS: abbreviation for manuscript.

Neo-Platonism – A philosophical system developed at Alexandria in the third century A.D. by Plotinus and his successors. It is based on Platonism with elements of mysticism and some Judaic and Christian concepts and posits a single source from which all existence emanates and with which an individual soul can be mystically united. (source) (posted by Jeremy Laverdiere)

Pachomius (290?-346)– “father of Christian monastic rule”. Told by an angel to write a rule for communal monastic living, and he also set up monasteries along the Nile, one being in Nag Hammadi.
Microsoft Encarta Encyclopedia (Ashley Jahrling)

Paleography: The study of old scripts.

Palimpsets– older written texts being erased and written over by new text (Kevin Dooley)

The Holy Prepuce. One of several relics attributed to Jesus. At various points in history, a number of churches in Europe have claimed to possess what is known as the Holy Foreskin sometimes at the same time. Various miraculous powers have been ascribed to it. (Wilner Alexis)

Pietas: This is the idealized Roman value of dedication to one’s family, gods and state. (http://www.wsu.edu/~dee/GLOSSARY/PIETAS.HTM, Megan Strathearn)

Recto: the front of the two sided page in a manuscript. Abbreviated r after a folio number. e.g. folio 45r.

Stylite: noun Ecclesiastical History. One of a class of ascetics who lived on the top of high pillars or columns.( www.dictionary.com), Lydia O’Donnell

Orders: The grades or steps of the Christian ministry; the so-called minor orders were acolyte, lector, exorcist, and doorkeeper; the so-called major orders, which bound their holders to celibacy, were bishop, priest, deacon and subdeacon.
(Lynch, Joseph H. The Medieval Church: A Brief History, 363) submitted by Darren Nichols

Patriarchate the highest ranking bishops who headed the Church in Rome and Constantinople. Leadership role led to divisions between the Eastern and Western churches. (Evan Gadowski).

Quadragesima: This is the period of Lent before the holiday of Easter. It comes from the Latin word for Forty Quadraginta (adj). (Added by Andy Carroll)

Tonsure: For centuries, up to the Second Vatican Council, the outward visible sign of the clerical state. A lock or sometimes a circle of hair was cut, varying in size, from the top of the head. the baptized and confirmed layman so tonsured was admitted to the clerical state with all privileges in an ecclesiastical ceremony. (www.catholicrefernece.com), Lydia O’Donnell

Verso: the back of the two sided page in a manuscript. Abbreviated v after a folio number. e.g. folio 36v

Heresy: 1a. adherence to a religious opinion contrary to church dogma (merriam -webster online dictionary)

St. Thomas defines heresy as “a species of infidelity in men who, have professed faith in Christ, corrupts its dogmas” The right Christian faith consists in giving one’s voluntary assent to Christ in all that truly belongs to His teaching. There are two ways of deviating from Christianity: 1. refusing to believe in Christ Himself 2. restricting belief to certain points of Christ’s doctrine selected and fashioned at pleasure (the way of heretics). Heretical tenets may be ignorance of true creed, erroneous judgement, imperfect apprehension and comprehension of dogmas: in none of these does the will play an appreciable part, wherefore one of the necessary conditions of sinfulness-free choice-is wanting and such heresy is merely objective, or material. On the other hand the will may freely incline the intellect to adhere to teaching declared false by The Scriptures. The impelling motives are many: intellectual pride, or exaggerated reliance on one’s own insight; the illusion of religious zeal; allurements of political or ecclesiastical power; the ties of material interests and personal staus; and perhaps others more dishonorable.

+Katherine Curry

Pirenne Thesis– Theory/Thesis that would become fundamental for future study of the period; written by Belgian historian Henri Pirenne as a POW in Germany during WW1, the most famous exposition was written in 1937’s (in class I believe we took down 1935 as the date) book Mohammed and Charlemagne. The thesis states that the end of Antiquity did not occur in the 5th century during Germanic invasions but rather that it ended in the 7th century as a result of Arab expansion along the Mediterranean. The thesis is argued, for the most part, from economic evidence such as the trade of oil, silk, gold, papyrus, perfume, and spice. His central argument was that Islamic expansion and the “closing of the Mediterranean” cut off the west from old trade routes including Africa-Egypt, and Syria. The Thesis was extremely significant because it brought attention to the East during the middle ages, while before historians were often Eurocentric, and often still are today. The validity of his thesis has been challenged by many over the years, one reason we thought of in class for this was that economic evidence alone might not support such a daring thesis. Nonetheless it is still significant today. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henri_Pirenne, Lynette Olson’s Early Middle Ages p.66, and class notes all contributed to this definition.~Jeanette King (sorry I can’t figure out how to get this up with the P’s!