Das Mittelalter. Perspektiven mediävistischer Forschung

Einleitung

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Birth and death have always profoundly shaped individual and communal life. Like other eras, the Middle Ages developed a variety of interpretations and practices to understand and integrate birth and death into its people’s worldviews and ways of life. This special issue explores how these phenomena were conceptualised and enacted, offering insights into medieval sociocultural structures. While medieval studies have long paid attention to both phenomena, this issue emphasises their close link, especially in the Middle Ages, drawing on the terminology and concepts of transition rites and liminal states by scholars such as Robert Hertz, Arnold van Gennep, and Victor Turner. These frameworks are particularly suitable for interdisciplinary examination of birth and death in the Middle Ages. The articles gathered here explore the symmetry between birth and death in medieval experiences, ideas, and practices. Topics include medical, spiritual, and personal strategies for dealing with high maternal and infant mortality rates, the analysis of specific burial practices and grave goods, and the study on the limited impact of Buddhist reincarnation beliefs on European concepts of the soul. Additionally, the use of birth and death as narrative figures in medieval literature is examined. These studies affirm the interconnectedness of birth and death, offering new perspectives on medieval societal dynamics and symbolic actions.

Titelei

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Inhaltsverzeichnis

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Martin Bauer, Philip Booth u. Susanna Fischer (Hgg.): To Jerusalem and Beyond

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Martin Bauer, Philip Booth u. Susanna Fischer (Hgg.), To Jerusalem and Beyond. Interdisciplinary Approaches to the Study of Latin Travel Literature, c.1200–1500 (Das Mittelalter. Perspektiven mediävistischer Forschung. Beihefte 19). Heidelberg, Heidelberg University Publishing (heiUP) 2023. 252 S. 13 Abb. Open Access: https://doi.org/10.17885/heiup.998

Nathalie Bouloux u. Jean-Charles Ducène (Hgg.): Territoires, régions, royaumes

2024-09-13T13:29:54+02:00

Nathalie Bouloux u. Jean-Charles Ducène (Hgg.), Territoires, régions, royaumes. Le développement d’une cartographie locale et régionale dans l’Occident latin et le monde arabe (Xe–XVe siècle) (Culture et société médiévales 40). Turnhout, Brepols 2023. 302 S. 5 s/w-Abb., 72 farb. Abb. 1 s/w-Tafel.

Tobias Bulang (Hg.): Trost

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Tobias Bulang (Hg.), Trost. Beistand, Zuspruch und Trostgründe in der Krise (Germanisch-Romanische Monatsschrift. Beihefte 109). Heidelberg, Universitätsverlag Winter 2023. 289 S. 8 farb. Abb.

Magdalena Butz: Heinrichs von Neustadt ‚Gottes Zukunft‘

2024-09-13T13:32:23+02:00

Magdalena Butz, Heinrichs von Neustadt ‚Gottes Zukunft‘. Erzählen vom Heil in der Volkssprache (Münchener Texte und Untersuchungen zur deutschen Literatur des Mittelalters 153). Wiesbaden, Reichert Verlag 2023. VIII, 278 S. 4 s/w-Abb.

Lisa Devriese (Hg.): The Body as a Mirror of the Soul

2024-09-13T13:33:20+02:00

Lisa Devriese (Hg.), The Body as a Mirror of the Soul. Physiognomy from Antiquity to the Renaissance (Mediaevalia Lovaniensia. Series 1. Studia 50). Leuven, Leuven University Press 2021. 222 S. 20 s/w-Abb.

Romina Ebenhöch: Anhänger in Buchform

2024-09-13T13:34:09+02:00

Romina Ebenhöch, Anhänger in Buchform. Eine Geschichte des europäischen Schmucks (1450–1650). Print: Berlin, Reimer 2023. 423 S. 12 s/w-Abb., 177 farb. Abb. Online (Open Access): Heidelberg, arthistoricum.net 2023: https://doi.org/10.11588/arthistoricum.1289.

Melodie Eichbauer u. James Brundage: Medieval Canon Law

2024-09-13T13:35:06+02:00

Melodie Eichbauer u. James Brundage, Medieval Canon Law. 2nd ed. (The Medieval World). London, New York, Routledge 2023. XVIII, 212 S. 4 s/w-Abb.

Katharina Gedigk: Sehen und Erkennen

2024-09-13T13:36:06+02:00

Katharina Gedigk, Sehen und Erkennen. Exemplarische Spiegel in höfischen Romanen des 12. bis 14. Jahrhunderts. Mit Analysen zum ‚Willehalm von Orlens‘, ‚Wilhelm von Österreich‘ und ‚Erec‘ (significatio 1). Basel, Schwabe 2023. 488 S.

Rebecca Hardie (Hg.): Æthelflæd, Lady of the Mercians

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Rebecca Hardie (Hg.), Æthelflæd, Lady of the Mercians, and Women in Tenth-Century England (Publications of the Richard Rawlinson Center). Berlin, Boston, De Gruyter 2023. XII, 306 S. 9 farb. Abb., 2 s/w-Abb. 1 Tab.

Theresa Jäckh: Raumgeschichte einer Hauptstadt

2024-09-13T13:37:35+02:00

Theresa Jäckh, Raumgeschichte einer Hauptstadt. Palermo unter muslimischer und christlicher Herrschaft (ca. 800–1200) (Bibliothek des Deutschen Historischen Instituts in Rom 144). Berlin, Boston, De Gruyter 2023. XII, 365 S. 33 Abb.

Udo Kindermann (Hg.): Cur Deus homo

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Udo Kindermann (Hg.), Cur Deus homo. Ein Rollenspiel des Gregor von Montesacro (13. Jh.). Untersuchung, Text, Übersetzung (Texte zur Forschung 115). Darmstadt, wbg Academic 2023. 198 S.

Richard L. Kremer, Matthieu Husson u. José Chabás (Hgg.): Alfonsine Astronomy

2024-09-13T13:39:09+02:00

Richard L. Kremer, Matthieu Husson u. José Chabás (Hgg.), Alfonsine Astronomy: The Written Record. Turnhout, Brepols 2022, 426 S. 56 farb. Abb. 15 s/w-Tab. Open Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1484/M.ALFA-EB.5.124044

Seraina Plotke, Robert Schöller u. Lysander Büchli (Hgg.): Das ‚Nibelungische‘ und der Nationalsozialismus

2024-09-13T13:40:01+02:00

Seraina Plotke, Robert Schöller u. Lysander Büchli (Hgg.), Das ‚Nibelungische‘ und der Nationalsozialismus. Populäre und wissenschaftliche Diskurse im ‚Dritten Reich‘ (Populäres Mittelalter. Band 3). Bielefeld, transcript 2023. 351 S. 32 Abb.

Ephraim Shoham-Steiner: Jews and Crime in Medieval Europe

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Ephraim Shoham-Steiner, Jews and Crime in Medieval Europe. Detroit, Wayne State University Press 2021. XI, 459 S.

Andreas Speer: 1000 Jahre Philosophie

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Andreas Speer, 1000 Jahre Philosophie. Ein anderer Blick auf die Philosophie des „Mittelalters“. Paderborn, Brill mentis 2023. IX, 135 S.

Anders Winroth u. John C. Wei (Hgg.): The Cambridge History of Medieval Canon Law

2024-09-13T13:42:13+02:00

Anders Winroth u. John C. Wei (Hgg.), The Cambridge History of Medieval Canon Law. Cambridge UK, Cambridge University Press 2022. 617 S.

Markus Zimmer: Die Rezeption des germanischen Choraldialekts

2024-09-13T13:42:50+02:00

Markus Zimmer, Die Rezeption des germanischen Choraldialekts in der ersten Hälfte des 20. Jahrhunderts. Eine musikwissenschaftliche und kirchengeschichtliche Studie zu Begriff und Gegenstand (TeNOR – Text und Normativität 10). Basel, Schwabe Verlag 2022. 554 S.

Das Schicksal ungetauft verstorbener Kinder und die Idee des „limbus puerorum“ im geistlichen Schrifttum des 15. und frühen 16. Jahrhunderts

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During the High Middle Ages, the idea became established that children who died unbaptised would remain eternally in the limbus puerorum. While this scholastic discussion can be considered well researched, there is a lack of reflection on the late medieval treatment of this idea, especially when studies of protection and burial practices concerning foetuses and infants have indicated that the church offered no response to the concerns of the parents of such children. This paper traces three different ways of dealing with the fate of children who died unbaptised: on the one hand, prompted by Jean Gerson’s reflections, prenatal pastoral care emerged among the Augustinian Hermits, which provided parents with ways of securing salvation for prematurely born or miscarried children. In contemplative writings, for example by Geiler von Kaysersberg, the children and limbo were used for reflective self-comparison, while the fate of children who died unbaptised was not considered in the writings on the eschata, although birth as a subject area was strongly considered here.

Geburt und Tod im vorchristlichen Norden

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One of the most enigmatic compositions included in the Poetic Edda is ‘Oddrúnargrátr’, or ‘Oddrun’s Lament’. This poem features a female heroine otherwise unknown to us: Oddrun, a healer who assists another woman, Borgny, during a difficult birth. Through Oddrun’s magic alone, Borgny is saved from certain death, as she finally manages to give birth to twins. Instead of celebrating the new life, however, Oddrun begins a long lament about her unhappy life and mourns the death of her lover Gunnar.

‘Oddrúnargrátr’ has received little scholarly appreciation—most scholars have considered this text to be a distorted version of an earlier poetic ideal, of heroic poetry proper. The reading of ‘Oddrúnargrátr’ proposed here shows that the first part of the song can be read as a remedy, indeed, as a fragment of a healing charm. In addition to a careful and unbiased examination of the structure of the song, this article offers a detailed comparison with healing charms and magic formulae devoted to the topic of birth and death that have come down to us from the Viking Age and the Medieval North. Ultimately, it is argued here that ‘Oddrun’s Lament’ is a fragmentarily preserved testimony of a healing or parturition charm, which is integrated into the frame narrative of two women linked to the Nibelung story. ‘Oddrúnargrátr’ can thus allow us a rare insight into the role of poetry in the lives of medieval women.

„und bin sîn muoter und sîn wîp“

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This paper explores the character of Herzeloyde in Wolfram von Eschenbach’s ‘Parzival’ from a temporal and spatial perspective. Herzeloyde’s simultaneous experience of her husband Gahmuret’s death and the birth of her son, Parzival, leads to a temporal boundarylessness, preventing her from transitioning from the role of a wife to that of a widow. Thus, she has to flee into a heterotopy, namely, the solitude of Soltâne. Using concepts of liminality, the paper delves into Herzeloyde’s struggle to embrace her new role. The analysis focuses on the intertwining factors of temporality, space, embodiment, widowhood, and motherhood within the character of Herzeloyde.

Vom Tod ins Leben

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This article examines the literary representation of birth and death in Kunz Kistener’s fourteenth-century narrative ‘Die Jakobsbrüder’. The novel centres precarious transitions, such as birth or death during pilgrimage and lethal illness. Fidelity closely links birth and death in the narrative. By what means are the liminal states of birth and death represented? What are the consequences of the transition, and what role does the fidelity play in it? It will be shown that the narration of liminal states is able to represent the value of fidelity by illustrating the attitudes of the protagonists and to open up spaces of possibility.

Martyrium und „lignage“-Konstruktion in der ‚Naissance du chevalier au cygne‘ (‚Elioxe‘)

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The ‘Naissance du chevalier au cygne’ is part of the ‘Premier cycle de la croisade’, a cycle of chansons de croisade that narrates the birth of the ancestors of Godefroy de Boulogne and the resulting death of their mother. In the portrayal of this moment of simultaneous birth and death, it is important to accentuate that the mother is presented as a martyr. As a consequence of the indeterminate and ambivalent depiction of the character, the birth of the seven children who later transform into swans is considered the absolute point of commencement for the genealogical line from which the cycle’s action proceeds. With respect to the crucial significance genealogical models provide for the chanson de geste, general narrative concepts can be discerned on the basis of the ‘Naissance du chevalier au cygne’, facilitating a modified perspective to the cycle as a whole. For example, illustrating martyrdom as a narrative paradigm subsequently suggests various consequences for the other chansons de croisade.

Liminales Leben, Streben und Sterben in der altisländischen ‚Heimskringla‘

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Liminality has not featured prominently in Old Norse studies, and saga literature in particular has hardly caught attention in the discussion so far. While recent research into selected liminal aspects of saga society has highlighted formerly unrecognised aspects, large parts of the corpus have remained untouched. The present chapter intends to contribute to the tentative debate by focusing on the neglected Kings’ Sagas, more precisely, the compilation ‘Heimskringla’, as well as a neglected aspect of the debate, namely, liminal natural spaces. Based on three case studies, it demonstrates how geographical and topographical spaces are functionalised within the narrative to create a state of menacing indetermination and, thus, how liminality in ‘Heimskringla’ indicates a fundamental threat in entering certain natural spaces. The birth, life, and death of kings is closely linked to these spaces, which arguably renders the most powerful individuals of the medieval North mere pawns in the game of nature.

Tod im Kindbett

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Archaeological and anthropological examples provide a wide range of insights about death during childbirth and the subsequent puerperium. Women and children who died during this liminal phase were given special treatment in burial customs, due to reasons ranging from special care to protective measures to influence their postmortem fate. This study covers examples from the High Middle Ages to the nineteenth century, from Germany, Switzerland, and Austria.

The most significant findings are double burials of a woman and a foetus, often interpreted as mother–infant pairs. Based on the position of the child, it is possible to determine whether the child went through birth or remained in the womb at the time of burial. Other archaeological sources include special grave goods (e.g. scissors) and burial containers. The deposition of so-called placenta pots in domestic cellars testifies to magical ideas surrounding the birth topic.

Die Seele des Seidenäffchens

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From the mid-thirteenth century, fragmentary accounts of the Buddhist doctrine of reincarnation appear in Latin European travellers’ reports. General analyses of the idea of transmigration in Europe have so far ignored these pieces of knowledge. Against this background, this article will first summarise the sources for the idea of the transmigration of souls in the Far East in late medieval travel literature. Such a concept contrasted sharply with Christian anthropological and eschatological teachings. For this reason, in a second step, the article will explore the question of how Far Eastern ideas of birth and death were received and contextualised in European discourse.