Inicijal. Časopis za srednjovekovne studije
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Initial is a multidisciplinary review of medieval studies intended for publishing contributions from all academic fields pertaining to the area of Southeastern Europe and the Mediterranean in the Middle Ages. This includes not only papers discussing new theoretical approaches in medieval studies or interpreting so-called „major issues“, but also those focusing on narrower, more specialized fields of research. However, with regard to the character of the review authors should craft their material to appeal to a wider audience of medievalists, providing the necessary context to readers who may not be so well-versed in the particular subject. Editions and translations of medieval sources may also be submitted for publication, especially if they are an essential component of a wider study.
Initial is open for publication of academic critiques and reviews of all medievalist monographs, periodical publications, and individual articles, as well as editions of medieval sources. Keeping track of academic life through reports on various gatherings, meetings, lectures, and field research is also an important segment of this journal’s profile.
Publisher: The Centre for Advanced Medieval Studies
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CEEOL
ISSN: 2334-8003
Pages
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- Fonti letterarie e riferimenti dionisiaci in alcuni mosaici della Sicilia tardoantica
- The analysis of some mosaics that were part of the luxurious decoration of some late antique villas in Sicily gives the opportunity to examine some issues regarding their relationship with Dionysus and literary sources. The comparison of these themes with late antique literary sources provides a clear indication of of the literary assets still circulating among the provincial Roman aristocracy that ordered them. For this reason, the presence of certain iconographic themes in late antique villas in Sicily should be seen from a different point of view. Besides the most common decorative themes, drawn from a vast repertoire mainly influenced by North African models, it is possible to note the presence of some themes demanded by the customer. In the Roman villa at Piazza Armerina, in what is known as the massa Philosophiana, in the so-called trichora room, there is a series of mosaics whose contents differ significantly from those in the rest of the villa. Previous studies have already pointed out the substantial differences in content and style, even assuming a chronology for the mosaics of the highest room trichora. To this one can also add the presence of a particular iconographic interpretation of some characters, primarily of Hercules, who is positioned close to Dionysus, wearing a leopard skin and offering an image that recalls the Hercules Astrochiton mentioned by literary sources. In the trichora room of a Roman villa at Piazza Armerina, there are other references to Dionysius, seen primarily as a metamorphosis and madness that can affect humans, as in the case of Lycurgus. Another iconographic subject analysed in this study is that of a mosaic of the Roman villa of Tellaro, which represents the return of Hector’s body. Although this theme appears in many variations, particularly on the sarcophagi, in this case it offers several characteristics that lead back to a literary mode. The presence of these iconographic themes in the mosaics of Roman villas in Sicily can be seen as an expression of the interest of the region’s old aristocracy in the classical tradition. Characters like Hercules and Dionysus represented a tradition that was waning, being replaced by the consolidation of Christianity. Their representations in these residences indicate, on one hand, the rich culture of the owners, but on the other, their attachment to a nostalgic world that was nearing its twilight hour.
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- For a Different Catastrophe
- By reassessing the sources and the present-day dominant historiographical discourse pertaining to social and political reactions to the Ottoman conquest of Bosnia and subsequent clashes in the surrounding territories, the author proposes a more complex approach to such issues by applying a modified theory and methodological background stemming from the frontier thesis. The paper suggests a diversity of experiences of the frontier established by the ultimate Ottoman-Hungarian duality as opposed to current uniform interpretations based on the notions of defense, war, exclusive enmities, the demographic, economic and generally social catastrophes and similar phenomena. By focusing on the individuals and several examples related to policies of King Matthias Corvinus, it proposes that the reactions to the Ottoman presence should not be observed heterogeneously, but that, as the examples show, the downfall of the Bosnian polity brought positive results for some members of society and, thus, a notion of variety of individual mechanisms, social practices, and political agendas should be considered when investigating the period. Ultimately, a similar theoretical framework could be applied regardless of the period or the territory in question.
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- Frescoes in the Church of St. Saviour (Sveti Spas) near the Monastery of Chebren (1532/1533)
- The understudied church of St. Saviour (Sveti Spas), which is part of the Chebren’s monastery complex of St. Demetrius (FYROM), dates from 1532/1533. This is witnessed by the ktetor’s inscription on the southern wall of the temple, which has not been published in whole to date. The exact dating of the church and the stylistic and iconographic analyses contribute to the clarification of the chronological framework of the activity of the studios of the Kastoria artistic circle from the last decades of the 15th century to the 1530s. The high quality of the painting of the “chief” painter who made the frescoes in the altar space and the temple’s upper register demonstrate the direct influence of the frescoes in the monastery of Treskavec. Thus, the church of St. Saviour also appears to be the latest precisely dated monument of this circle in the present stage of research of the Kastoria artistic production.
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- Historical Circumstances of the Appearance of Medieval Cartularies in Croatia
- The purpose of this work is to demonstrate at what time and under which circumstances medieval cartularies were created in Croatia. That question is of great importance for Croatian medieval studies because the cartularies contain numerous data testifying to medieval Croatian state, church, society, language, and culture. Therefore, by determining the time and circumstances of their creation one can get a reliable basis on which their role as a valuable source for Croatian and medieval history in general could be better evaluated. We will focus on several cartularies which were, and still are, subjects of studies of Croatian and certain foreign historians.
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- Latin Private Deeds in Norman South Italy (12th Century). The Example of Castrum Tocci
- This paper represents a brief overview of surviving private deeds produced during the twelfth century by several notaries in the area north of the city of Benevento, in Langobardia minor, and more precisely in the ancient Castrum Tocci. These documents shed light on important problems regarding all the documentary evidence for southern Italy in the above-mentioned century – an interesting period of transition and change marked by clear developments in scripts and documents, although they inevitably underwent temporary phases of involution and discontinuity.
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- Legendary and Semi-Legendary Female Characters in Late Antique Hagiography
- This paper examines three extraordinary and bizarre types of female sanctity and ascetical practices, which were closely related to each other. They were favored by the early Byzantine hagiography, despite or maybe because of their legendary or semi-legendary character. The study analyzes symbolic significance and creative usage of biblical motifs in hagiographical discourse. By following biblical and mythological examples, medieval hagiographers created different types of holy women, which became powerful symbols of salvation and transformation for all humankind.
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- Les diagrammes cosmiques, l’apocalypse et la Jérusalem céleste
- In this article, we have discussed some ways by which the religious representations of the Early Middle Ages were being invested with geometrical patterns rendering their composition much more schematic and bi-dimensional in comparison with early Christian visual examples. The biblical scenes particularly concerned with theses tendencies are those where a shift of accent from ecclesial to eschatological interpretation can be observed. These processes were merely the result of the intensification of apocalyptic expectations in Christian societies at the turn of the first millennium and, more particularly, within the Carolingian Empire in the 8th–10th centuries. Early medieval representations relating with the text of the Apocalypse provide us with a rich and relevant iconographic material for observing these new visual and exegetical interpretations which will concern, in the Later Middle Ages, several other themes of Christian iconography.
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- L’Iconografia della pietà di Cristo come simbolo di una nuova sensibilità estetica
- In the Duchy of Candia, Cyprus and the Ionian Islands, the Serenissima introduced at various levels an idea of worship and social relations, also in the juridical field, which directly involved the very conception of the profession of an iconographer. In the regions under its rule, unlike what happened in the areas occupied by the Ottomans, from that moment on, it was no longer spoken only of artisans who worked in anonymity. The artist, as it had long been the case in the West, now signed his own icons, concluded apprenticeship contracts, founded workshops, and labelled his products in an open production system based on free competition. In such an eclectic climate, new techniques began to be used for religious images, aimed at obtaining a more dialogic approach. These images were not only reproductions, but their role was also to convince the viewer by mediating the presence of what they represented, thus leading to the birth of a new image rhetoric. At this point it is possible to understand better the renewed iconography of the Pietà and Lamentation, as the key words of liturgical literature. The reference of the depiction was not directed only to the compassion the observer felt in seeing the dead Christ and the weeping Mother, but also to the pity that he, seeking his own salvation, hoped to receive from the Saviour. The mystical contemplation of the countries of the North introduced some well-known symbols in these territories, among which we find the prayer to receive the body of Crucified Christ in Mary’s lap, well exemplified by the 14th century images of Vesperbild, or Vespers, originating from German-speaking Central European regions. This new variant, distinguished by a fresher expressive and narrative approach, aimed to accentuate the pietistic feeling combined with a new way of experiencing religiosity, and attributing a greater expressive value to the gesture of showing, which thus assumed the double meaning of invitation and demonstration: an invitation to watch and demonstration by watching.
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- Magarci u dubrovačkom zaleđu
- The donkey is a useful domestic animal which had an important role in the history of the Eastern Adriatic coast. This is especially true in the case of the narrow coastal strip of land with a specific climate and vegetation in which the donkey represented the most cost-efficient and sustainable cattle used for transport and carrying of loads. The gathered data shows that the breeding of donkeys and working with them was present on the wider Ragusan area and the immediate Slav hinterland which surrounded the Ragusan state from land, i.e. on the territories of Popovo, Ljubinje, Nevesinje, Konavle, Trebinje, Lug and Dračevica. The need for donkeys in this area is best demonstrated by the fact that they occupied a significant place on the Ragusan market among the cattle which was being traded at the time. The price of a good donkey was in the range between 5 and 6 hyperpers of Ragusan dinars. The more expensive donkeys could reach the price of 8 hyperpers, but these cases were rare. The price of cheap donkeys is in the range between 2 and 4 hyperpers. Beside other cattle, the Ragusans also gave donkeys to Slavs in the hinterland for keeping and working by means of a contract which implied mutual benefit for the breeder and owner of the cattle (sozida). The common position of donkeys in transport is illustrated by robberies of donkeys. Apart from stealing, donkeys were sometimes victims of bloody attacks as well. The presented examples show that the donkey was also at this time a source of ridicule and mutual disrespect for people.
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- Medieval Landscape and Microhistorical Geography in the Vicinity of Fortress Hrtar
- Scarce medieval sources often do not allow us to reconstruct the microhistorical geography of a certain area. Therefore, one must rely on archaeology, topography, terrain analysis, later sources and comparative analysis in order to create a complete picture. This paper deals with the possibilities of research of microhistorical geography and microhistory, as well as the potential use of these methods in reconstructing the medieval landscape of a certain region. The research was conducted on a small area, around the fortress Hrtar, with very limited written source materials. This area is located in the middle course of the Drina river, north of the town Višegrad. Forests, vineyards, fields and meadows on both sides of the Drina dominated the medieval landscape of this area.
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- Milica Belmužević
- The present study attempts to analyse the destiny of a 16th century noblewoman. The focus of attention is centred on Milica Belmužević, the daughter of a Serbian voïvode who established himself in the region of Banat in the second half of the 15th century. Milica was born at the close of the century. Losing her father as an infant, she was looked after by her mother and grandmother. Becoming of age she started a series of legal processes in order to regain estates that were rightfully hers. Counter to the opinion of certain historians, who accepted the idea of her marriage with a member of the Jakšić family, the only spouse of Milica corroborated by documents was Nicholas Kendeffy de Râu de Mori. This marriage strengthened Milicaʼs ties with the home region of her mother, the land of Haţeg in the county of Hunedoara. Her life can be traced through a series of documents that span a period of six decades, outliving both her husband and son, John Kendeffy.
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- Number Theory in Byzantium According to Codex Vidobonensis Phil. Gr. 65
- In this article we describe elements from the branch of mathematics known as number theory presented in the Codex Vindobonensis Phil. Gr. 65, a 15th century Byzantine manuscript kept in the National Library of Austria in Vienna. This codex contains a comprehensive programme for teaching mathematics, addressed to an audience consisting of students probably of all the grades of what is today’s primary and secondary education, but also state functionaries, merchants, craftsmen of various specialities such as silversmiths and goldsmiths, builders, etc. Number theory and the positional numeral system are integrated in the respective chapters of the four operations and their checks in Codex 65.