medieval worlds ‒ comparative and interdisciplinary studies, No. 8/2018

Name: medieval worlds ‒ comparative and interdisciplinary studies, No. 8/2018
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ISBN: 978-3-7001-8441-6

POHL Walter (Hg.) |

Transcultural Contacts and Literary Exchanges

medieval worlds, 8

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2018

MEDIEVAL WORLDS provides a new forum for interdisciplinary and transcultural studies of the Middle Ages. Specifically it encourages and links comparative research between different regions and fields and promotes methodological innovation in transdisciplinary studies. Focusing on the Middle Ages (c. 400-1500 CE, but can be extended whenever thematically fruitful or appropriate), MEDIEVAL WORLDS takes a global approach to studying history in a comparative setting. MEDIEVAL WORLDS is open to regular submissions on comparative topics, but also offers the possibility to propose or advertise subjects that lend themselves to comparison. With a view to connecting people working on related topics in different academic environments, we publish calls for matching articles and for contributions on particular issues. Table of Contents - Walter Pohl - Ingrid Hartl: Editor’s Preface - Christian Høgel: World Literature is Trans-Imperial: A Medieval and a Modern Approach - James T. Palmer: The Global Eminent Life: Sixth-Century Collected Biographies from Gregory of Tours to Huijiao of Jiaxiang Temple - Christian Gastgeber: The Aristotle of Pippin III. Greek Books Sent to the Frankish Court (ca. 758 AD) - Patrick S. Marschner: Biblical Elements and the ›Other‹ in the Chronicon regum Legionensium - Courtney Luckhardt: »The messenger is the place of a man’s judgment«: Diplomacy between Emperors and Caliphs in the Tenth Century - Li Qiang - Stefanos Kordosis: The Geopolitics on the Silk Road: Resurveying the Relationship of the Western Türks with Byzantium through Their Diplomatic Communications - BuddhistRoad Team: Dynamics in Buddhist Transfer in Eastern Central Asia 6th-14th Centuries: A Project Report - Michal Biran: Mobility, Empire and Cross-Cultural Contacts in Mongol Eurasia (MONGOL) - Cristina D’Ancona - Gerhard Endress - Andrea Bozzi: Greek into Arabic. Philosophical Concepts and Linguistic Bridges - Christophe Erismann: Writing the History of Aristotelian Logic During the Long Ninth Century - Monica Brinzei: The THESIS Project - Pavlína Rychterová: Origins of the Vernacular Mode: Medieval Theology, Politics and Religious Identities

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Editor’s Preface

Walter Pohl - Ingrid Hartl

Seite 2 - 2 | doi: https://doi.org/10.1553/medievalworlds_no8_2018s2

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World Literature is Trans-Imperial: A Medieval and a Modern Approach

Various concepts guide discussions on global literature, not least ›transnational‹. The present text advocates, however, for the term trans-imperial, as offering a more correct definition of world literature, or global literature, both in pre-modern and modern times. Imperial spheres build up worlds of strong interconnections, and the languages they employ become privileged languages that may last beyond the time span of a given empire. These imperial spheres with their one central language therefore form the hardest borders for the dissemination of texts, now and then. By being trans-imperial, texts therefore constitute the true global literature. In medieval times trans-imperial texts would comprise especially fable stories, holy texts, philosophy and science, and mirrors of princes. These were the texts most often carried from one imperial sphere, or rather imperial language, to another, through translations. This article, consequently, offers definitions of what constitutes an imperial language. Central to identifying and safeguarding a language and making it perform as an imperial language was the establishment of a grammar and/or a set of canonized texts defining the language, the actual use of it by an empire in running its administration, and the performance of the empire’s self-images through it. In many cases, secondary imperial languages – like Greek in the Roman world or Persian in the Caliphate – would hold a lower but still privileged place in the empire’s life and communication. Many such secondary imperial languages could then subsequently rise to the status of imperial languages, as several vernacular languages later did from Latin. The text argues that these features, which are probably most clear-cut in a pre-modern context, also hold true in a modern context, and that what we normally refer to as successful national languages (English, French, Spanish, Russian, etc.) were, from early on, imperial rather than national languages, and that their literature, in being global, was trans-imperial.

Schlagworte: world literature, global literature, empires, nation states, transnational, trans-imperial

Seite 3 - 21 | doi: https://doi.org/10.1553/medievalworlds_no8_2018s3

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The Global Eminent Life: Sixth-Century Collected Biographies from Gregory of Tours to Huijiao of Jiaxiang Temple

Sanctity and the holy have been useful concepts for scholars seeking to compare religious cultures. This paper seeks to extend the project of comparisons by investigating the organisational contexts that produced collected biographies about holy women and men. It focuses on case studies from Latin and Byzantine Christianity and Buddhist China in the sixth century CE to highlight useful similarities in the authors’ conceptions of their work in the face of fluid traditions and contested religious environments. It also sketches some of the ways in which manuscript production and library organisation helped to generate the texts we have. Without consideration of these organisational factors, it is argued, the traditional project of comparing holy figures is on uncertain ground.

Schlagworte: collected biographies, Hagiography, manuscripts, libraries, Gregory of Tours, Gregory the Great, John of Ephesus, Cyril of Scythopolis, Baochang, Huijiao, Mahāyāna Buddhism, Christianity

Seite 22 - 41 | doi: https://doi.org/10.1553/medievalworlds_no8_2018s22

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The Aristotle of Pippin III. Greek Books Sent to the Frankish Court (ca. 758 AD)

The article deals with a unique document from the early Carolingian period, a letter from Pope Paul I sent to King Pippin III. An appendix contains a list of books with some Greek works. In this paper the text is critically re-examined from the perspective of the Greek manuscript culture and the intention of this »cultural supplement« to the Frankish court. The text attracted great interest from researchers because the book list also includes works by Aristotle and Ps.Dionysius Areopagite. In recent academic discussions the list was interpreted on the basis of the edition in the Monumenta Germaniae Historica, which claims to be the first real critical edition of the original text in the codex unicus, housed at the Austrian National Library. Some scholars became the victims of earlier editions, which present the text as it was amended in the manuscript itself by the late humanist scholar Sebastian Tengnagel (1563-1636). However, the MGH edition also edits the list as interpreted by the editor (thus presenting an unknown geometry by Dionysius Areopagite), not as the manuscript transmits the text. The grouping of the items in the list is fundamental for interpreting the purpose for which these books were delivered. Hence, this paper goes back to the roots and starts from the manuscript and its punctuation. From a linguistic approach, the Areopagite question appears in a new light, and an Areopagite manuscript, sent to the Franks in around 758 AD – about 70 years before the famous Greek manuscript was handed over by envoys from the Byzantine Emperor – , seems to be responsible for the mistake in the textual transmission. The paper also takes up the question of the quantity of books: in research to date the list was regarded as a small library, but the Greek books listed are rather a comprehensive codex. Finally, the character of the books as analysed here clearly links to a basic introduction to Greek and provokes the question of whether further witnesses of Greek knowledge in the early Carolingian period exist.

Schlagworte: King Pippin III, Pope Paul I, Greek language, Greek manuscripts, Codex Carolinus, Aristotle, Ps.Dionysius Areopagite, Schoolbooks, Greek letters

Christian Gastgeber

Seite 42 - 65 | doi: https://doi.org/10.1553/medievalworlds_no8_2018s42

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Biblical Elements and the ›Other‹ in the Chronicon regum Legionensium

This article claims to bring to mind an almost forgotten text from the twelfth century Iberian Peninsula, the Chronicon regum Legionensium, and to show the relevance of the investigation of its biblical and transcultural elements. Next to the famous Historia Silense or the Chronica Adefonsi imperatoris, this text seems quiet marginal. However, a new approach to this small chronicle may offer new insights. Its author, the famous Bishop Pelayo of Oviedo, occasionally depicted the cultural and religious ›Other‹ in the Iberian Peninsula – the Muslim foreign rulers. In doing so, he partly added biblical allusions to these depictions. No research into the biblical elements and the perception and depiction of the Muslims in this chronicle has been done so far. Hence, the decidedly biblical investigation of this work will offer new possibilities for interpreting a text which is believed to be already well known. A new facet of the Chronicon regum Legionensium will be revealed.

Schlagworte: King Alfonse VI of León, King Bermudo II of León, Bishop Pelayo of Oviedo, ethnic identification, ethnic terminology, Christian-Muslim relations, typology, Bible exegesis, Iberian Peninsula, transculturality, Historical writing

Seite 66 - 85 | doi: https://doi.org/10.1553/medievalworlds_no8_2018s66

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»The messenger is the place of a man’s judgment«: Diplomacy between Emperors and Caliphs in the Tenth Century

Travel and communication in the early medieval period were fundamental parts of people’s conceptions about temporal and spiritual power, which in turn demonstrated a ruler’s legitimacy. Examining the role of messengers and diplomatic envoys between the first Umayyad caliph of al-Andalus, ‘Abd al-Rahman III, and his fellow tenth-century rulers in Christian kingdoms, including the Byzantine emperor Constantine VII Porphyrogennetos and the first Holy Roman emperor, Otto I, illuminates internal and external negotiations that defined the pluralistic Iberian society in the early Middle Ages. Formal religious and ethnic differences among Muslim rulers and non-Muslim messengers enhanced the articulation of political legitimacy by the caliph. Diplomatic correspondence with foreign rulers using the multiplicity of talents and ethno-religious identities of their subjects was part of the social order provided by the Andalusi rulers and produced by those they ruled, demonstrating the political authority of the Umayyad caliphate.

Schlagworte: diplomacy, messengers, al-Andalus, political authority, ‘Abd al-Rahman III, Muslim-Christian relations

Seite 86 - 108 | doi: https://doi.org/10.1553/medievalworlds_no8_2018s86

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The Geopolitics on the Silk Road: Resurveying the Relationship of the Western Türks with Byzantium through Their Diplomatic Communications

The geopolitics pertaining to the Silk Road network in the period from the 6th to the 7th century (the final, albeit important, period of Late Antiquity) was intertwined with highly strategic dimensions. The frequent arrival of hoards of nomadic peoples from inner Eurasia at the borders of the existing sedentary empires and their encounters and interactions formed the complicated political ecology of the period. These empires attempted to take advantage of the newly shaped situation arising after such great movements strategically, each in their own interest. How did they achieve their goals and what problems were they confronted with? In this paper, I will focus on the relations the Western Türks had with Byzantium and use it as an example in order to resurvey these complicated geopolitics. In the first part, attention will be given to the collection of Byzantine literature concerning the Western Türks. Then, on the basis of the sources, the four main exchanges of delegations between the Western Türks and Byzantium will be discussed, in which the important status of the 563 embassy – as it was the first Türk delegation sent to Byzantium – will be emphasized. The possible motives behind the dispatch of the delegations and the repercussions they had will be presented. Finally, through reviewing the diplomatic communication between the Western Türks and Byzantium, attention will be turned to the general picture of geopolitics along the Silk Road, claiming that the great empire of the West – similar to today’s superpowers – by means of their resources (mainly diplomacy) manipulated the geopolitics on the Silk Road, especially the nomadic people pursuing their own survival and interests, who were only treated as pieces on a chessboard for keeping the balance with the rest of the superpowers.

Schlagworte: Silk Road, Nomads, diplomacy, Geopolitics, Byzantium, Western Türks

Seite 109 - 125 | doi: https://doi.org/10.1553/medievalworlds_no8_2018s109

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Dynamics in Buddhist Transfer in Eastern Central Asia 6th-14th Centuries: A Project Report

The ERC funded project BuddhistRoad aims to create a new framework to enable understanding of the complexities in the dynamics of cultural encounter and religious transfer in pre-modern Eastern Central Asia – the vast area extending from the Taklamakan Desert to North-east China. This region was the crossroads of ancient civilisations. Its uniqueness was determined by the complex dynamics of religious and cultural exchanges gravitating around an ancient communication artery known as the Silk Road. Buddhism was one major factor in this exchange; its transfer predetermined the transfer of adjacent aspects of culture, and, as such, the religious exchanges involved a variety of cultures and civilisations. These, in turn, were modified and shaped by their adoption of Buddhism. In many cases the spread of Buddhism overrode ethnic and linguistic boundaries in Eastern Central Asia creating a civilisational whole, which, despite its diversity, shared a set of common ideas originating from Buddhism. One specific aspect of this process in Eastern Central Asia was the rise of local forms of Buddhism. This project intends to investigate such Buddhist localisations and developments that took place between the 6th and the 14th centuries. At the core of the BuddhistRoad investigation are the areas of Khotan, Kucha, Turfan, Ganzhou, Dunhuang, as well as the territories of the Tangut and Khitan empires. The analysis will revolve around thematic clusters pertaining to doctrines, rituals and practices, the impact of non-Buddhist influences, patronage and legitimation strategies, sacred spaces and pilgrimages, and visual and material transfers.

Schlagworte: Buddhist transfer, Eastern Central Asia, Buddhism, cultural and religious exchange, Silk Road

Seite 126 - 134 | doi: https://doi.org/10.1553/medievalworlds_no8_2018s126

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Mobility, Empire and Cross-Cultural Contacts in Mongol Eurasia (MONGOL)

This essay reviews the ERC-funded project Mobility, Empire and Cross-Cultural Contacts in Mongol Eurasia conducted at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem (1/2013-12/2017). The project has studied the impact of the Mongol Empire (1206-1368) on world history through the prism of mobility. It aimed to explain why, how, when, and to where people ideas and artifacts moved across Eurasia and what were the outcomes of these population movements. Guided by »the humanistic approach to world history«, namely combining a world history perspective with a close reading of multilingual primary sources, the project has created a sophisticated prosopographical database for studying these movements. The database records multilingual information about people who were active in Mongol Eurasia, currently indexing more than 13,500 persons. This unique resource enables the study of various groups of migrants (tribes, captives, experts, etc.); networks of economic and cultural transfer; and various imperial institutions (army, diplomacy, imperial sons-in-law), thereby illuminating the era’s social and cultural history. Stressing the pivotal role of the nomadic Mongols in initiating population movements, it analyses how these movements created multiple cross-cultural contacts; triggered massive ethnic, religious and geopolitical transformations, and led to a closer integration of the old world. The enhanced connectivity created both a common imperial culture – material, political, administrative – across Eurasia, and relativism of knowledge and religions. These, in turn, left a considerable imperial legacy to later polities, and helped shape the transition from the medieval to the early modern world. Yielding more than 80 publications so far, while various books, volumes and dissertations are in the making; training and grooming a considerable portion of the next generation of Mongol Empire scholars; and contributing significantly to the globalization of Mongolian studies worldwide, the project’s main legacy has been the study of the Mongol Empire on its own terms and within its full Eurasian context.

Schlagworte: Nomadic Culture, Islamization, China and the Muslim World, Networks, World History, digital humanities, Cross-Cultural Contacts, migration, mobility, Mongol Empire

Seite 135 - 154 | doi: https://doi.org/10.1553/medievalworlds_no8_2018s135

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Greek into Arabic. Philosophical Concepts and Linguistic Bridges

Seite 155 - 161 | doi: https://doi.org/10.1553/medievalworlds_no8_2018s155

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Writing the History of Aristotelian Logic During the Long Ninth Century

Christophe Erismann

Seite 162 - 169 | doi: https://doi.org/10.1553/medievalworlds_no8_2018s162