Das Mittelalter. Perspektiven mediävistischer Forschung

Titelei

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Inhaltsverzeichnis

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Einleitung

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In the Middle Ages, meteorological phenomena were more than just everyday companions of human life. Wind, rain, lightning, or cloud formations had a decisive bearing on the fate of communities and individuals. ‘Meteorology’ in the Middle Ages was the systematic attempt to understand the (at times hidden) structures not only behind the weather but also behind a wide range of natural phenomena. These phenomena were seen as the result of an interweaving of visible and invisible cosmological structures, interpreted as signs and analysed in texts, often alongside diagrams and illustrations. Despite a wealth of surviving depictions and scientific approaches, medieval meteorology has often been neglected in research. In this introduction, the mentioned connections are also discussed using the example of the rainbow and sun dogs.

Die Istanbuler Handschrift Ayasofya 4832

2024-04-22T08:23:15+02:00

The aim of this article is to present the meteorological material contained in one of the most important Arabic manuscripts in the history of science and philosophy, namely, Istanbul, Ayasofya 4832. A detailed study of the contents reveals that meteorology is one of the main themes that permeates many of its mathematical and philosophical treatises. Therefore, this manuscript is a valuable witness to the various connections—both methodological and thematic—between meteorology and other disciplines, especially mathematics, astronomy, astrology, physics, and metaphysics. In this way, this manuscript contributes to our better understanding of how pre-modern scientists saw the realm of meteorological phenomena as intertwined with the terrestrial and celestial worlds, and what this meant for the methods they used to solve meteorological problems.

Al-Ašraf ʿUmar’s ‘Tabṣira’, Chapter XXXV

2024-04-22T08:26:55+02:00

Al-Ašraf ʿUmar (d. 695/1296), author of more than ten scholarly treatises and later in his life ruler over Yemen, merges two prognostic practices—weather forecasting and price prediction—in Chapter XXXV of his ‘Book of Enlightenment in the Science of the Stars’ (‘Kitāb al-Tabṣira fī ʿilm al-nuǧūm’). This article investigates the tradition strands of both prognostic practices in the Islamicate sources and discusses commonalities of their underlying techniques. With this background knowledge, Chapter XXXV of the ‘Tabṣira’ is discussed and assessed.

Meteorology and Environment in Islamic Scientific Tradition (4th/10th–6th/12th Century)

2024-04-22T08:29:58+02:00

Meteorology in the Islamic scientific tradition covers ample ground. Under this umbrella may fall astronomical anwāʾ, historical meteorology, and scientific understanding of several phenomena. This article will present on overview of meteorological contributions by fundamental authors of the later centuries of the so-called golden age of Islamic scientific tradition—namely, al-Bīrūnī, Ibn Sīnā, Abū l-Barakāt, and Ibn Rušd—focusing on the origin of clouds, precipitations, and rivers and climatic differences across regions. Building on their understanding of meteorological phenomena and atmospheric structures, it is possible to draw broader conclusions about their views of the (created) natural world and what we understand today in terms of the environment. The varied multiplicity of their approaches and conclusions features a shared prominence of experience as a fundamental tool of inquiry.

The Role of Comets between Historical Events and Natural Disasters

2024-04-22T08:30:54+02:00

Comets were historically linked with significant events and celestial omens. However, they were not considered noteworthy in ancient times, as they were simply regarded as being irregular phenomena caused by exhalations near the Earth’s surface. In his ‘Commentary on Aristotle’s Meteorology’, Ibn Bāǧǧa mentions the destruction of Byzantine cities, likely Helike and Boura, along with a comet in 373 BC. Although ancient authors have reported this event with mystification, Olympiodorus, Avicenna, and Averroes mentioned it in their comments on Aristotle’s ‘Meteorology’ without acknowledging the presence of a comet. This article explores why Ibn Bāǧǧa mentions the comet and how he organised meteorological events like this into a coherent system that presupposes regular movements, from which apparent irregularities follow.

Bridging the ‘Visible’ and the ‘Invisible’ in the Work of Albertus Magnus

2024-04-22T08:31:53+02:00

During the 13th century, the relation between macrocosm and microcosm was a topic which attracted the interest of many medieval scholars. In this context, medieval philosophers were scrutinising ways of bridging the ‘visible’ and the ‘invisible’ in order to come up with a cogent explanation of the various natural and meteorological phenomena that were noticed in the natural world. The Aristotelian symbola (“counterparts”) offered a means of bringing the two realms of reality together and provided a sufficient exegetical tool which could account for the influence of invisible procedures in the visible world. One of the most important commentators of the Aristotelian corpus in the 13th century was Albertus Magnus, who commented on Aristotle’s ‘De generatione et corruptione’ and, therefore, became well aware of the Aristotelian doctrine of symbola. This paper aims to offer a first account of the use of the Aristotelian symbola in the work of Albert and show how the Dominican master employed them so as to explain various natural, theological, and meteorological phenomena.

Natur(a) im Streik!

2024-04-22T08:33:35+02:00

Dreadful atrocities committed by the nobility— brutal rape and malicious murder—make the Arthurian land of Logres, the Grail’s realm, lie completely fallow and depopulate; and ever since, the formerly magnificent Fisher King’s castle, the Holy Grail’s hoard, has been untraceable. Since then, the inhabitants of the unfertile land once chosen by God as the Grail’s home have been longing for a noble saviour, the world’s best knight (Gauvain and Perceval), to save them from their ecological crisis. This remarkable interweaving of ethics and ecology in Logres’ dystopian conditions within the French and German Arthurian epics (12th and 13th centuries) can be linked to two medieval concepts: first, the School of Chartres’ notion of Nature as a procreatrix put into office by God for the world’s perpetual renewal (creatio continua); second, the transfer (translatio) of rule (imperium), learning (studium), knighthood (militia), and even Nature (natura) on their travels from region to region. Searching for a suitable home among the peoples, these concepts apparently choose a certain region as their temporary habitat in accordance with its ‘ethical fingerprint’. They will rest while the ruling classes in situ still behave in an exemplary manner. As soon as the local morals decay, however, these concepts (and Nature) will start migrating to an ‘ethosphere’ that is more favourable to ethical living. Therefore, by remaining or withdrawing, they ethographically indicate that a certain region is thriving in the right way or not. The local nobility’s immorality renders the living space ‘ethically uninhabitable’ and, thus, deeply dismays Nature, prompting it to escape from it.

Die blaue Sonne und der Einzug der Braut

2024-04-22T08:35:50+02:00

The entry of the Milanese prince’s daughter Ippolita Maria Sforza into Naples on September 14, 1465, on the occasion of her marriage to King Ferdinand’s son, is remarkable above all for an atmospheric-optical anomaly: the sun turned blue during those days and changed to other colours as well. This phenomenon is carefully observed and commented on by contemporaries, but hardly interpreted. The blue sun could be seen not only in Naples but in large parts of Europe, as numerous sources from the Aegean to northern Germany show. Three possibilities suggest themselves as factual explanations: a large volcanic eruption that released sulphur aerosols into the atmosphere, large forest fires, or Saharan dust storms; the volcanic scenario is the most likely, although so far no consensus can be established between data from ice core research, dendroclimatology, and historical research. It is interesting that the interpretative possibilities of 15th-century contemporaries are overwhelmed by a phenomenon for which there are no biblical, historiographical, or natural-philosophical explanations available. Two epigrams of humanist poets at the court of the Neapolitan king and a courtly panegyrist, who want to reconcile the blue sun with the arrival of the educated princess, find in the reception of antiquity of the 15th century and in a creative interpretation of conventional wisdom on celestial signs the appropriate framework to give meaning to what they could observe and to interpret the event in favour of Ippolita Maria Sforza.

Die Geheimnisse der Meteorologie erhellen

2024-04-22T08:37:53+02:00

This paper analyzes the meteorological knowledge in Antonino Saliba’s ‘Nuova Figura’, a universal map dedicated to the Viceroy of Sicily in 1582. Saliba, a polymath from Malta, encapsulated his knowledge in a single sheet, reconstructing the entirety of creation through paradigmatic explanations of meteorology. The paper argues that Saliba’s map employs the trinity of umbra, figura, and veritas as a guiding principle for revealing divine wisdom. This study aims to scrutinize the forms and functions of knowledge presentation in the ‘Nuova Figura’ through textual and visual analysis combined with approaches from medieval cartography and diagrammatic research. Saliba’s explanatory model is examined to evaluate traditional, established, and innovative weather knowledge, both explicitly and implicitly referenced. The study ultimately explores Saliba’s use of the umbra-figura-veritas scheme as a key element in unveiling meteorological secrets

Manuela Beer (Hg.): Magie Bergkristall

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Manuela Beer (Hg.), Magie Bergkristall. München, Hirmer 2022. 448 S. 394 farb. Abb.

Tobias Braune-Krickau u. Christoph Galle (Hgg.): Predigt und Politik

2024-04-22T09:14:53+02:00

Tobias Braune-Krickau u. Christoph Galle (Hgg.), Predigt und Politik. Zur Kulturgeschichte der Predigt von Karl dem Großen bis zur Gegenwart. Göttingen, V&R unipress 2021. 368 S.

Falko Daim u. Ewald Kislinger (Hgg.): The Byzantine Harbours of Constantinople

2024-04-22T09:15:36+02:00

Falko Daim u. Ewald Kislinger (Hgg.), The Byzantine Harbours of Constantinople (Byzanz zwischen Orient und Okzident 24; Interdisziplinäre Forschungen zu den Häfen von der Römischen Kaiserzeit bis zum Mittelalter in Europa 10). Mainz, Verlag des Römisch-Germanischen Zentralmuseums 2021. 288 S. 183 Abb.

Hans-Werner Goetz (Hg.): Kontroversen in der jüngeren Mediävistik

2024-04-22T09:17:35+02:00

Hans-Werner Goetz (Hg.), Kontroversen in der jüngeren Mediävistik. Köln, Böhlau 2023. 472 S.

Yehuda Halper (Hg.): The Pursuit of Happiness in Medieval Jewish and Islamic Thought

2024-04-22T09:18:25+02:00

Yehuda Halper (Hg.), The Pursuit of Happiness in Medieval Jewish and Islamic Thought. Studies Dedicated to Steven Harvey (Philosophy in the Abrahamic Traditions of the Middle Ages 1). Turnhout, Brepols 2021. 432 S.

Thomas Horst, Harald Schwaetzer u. Matthias Vollet (Hgg.): Universum Infinitum

2024-04-22T09:20:12+02:00

Thomas Horst, Harald Schwaetzer u. Matthias Vollet (Hgg.), Universum Infinitum. Nicolaus Cusanus and the 15th-Century Iberian Explorations of the Ocean World. In Collaboration with Kirstin Zeyer (Texte und Studien zur Europäischen Geistesgeschichte. Reihe B 25). Münster, Aschendorff 2022. 299 S. 47 Abb.

Bernhard Jussen: Das Geschenk des Orest

2024-04-22T09:21:30+02:00

Bernhard Jussen, Das Geschenk des Orest. Eine Geschichte des nachrömischen Europa 526–1535. München, C. H. Beck 2023. 480 S. 43 Abb.

Racha Kirakosian: From the Material to the Mystical in Late Medieval Piety

2024-04-22T09:22:22+02:00

Racha Kirakosian, From the Material to the Mystical in Late Medieval Piety. The Vernacular Transmission of Gertrude of Helfta’s Visions. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press 2021. 349 S. 41 s/w-Abb. 24 Farbtafeln.

Riccardo Strobino: Avicenna’s Theory of Science

2024-04-22T09:23:15+02:00

Riccardo Strobino, Avicenna’s Theory of Science. Logic, Metaphysics, Epistemology. Oakland, University of California Press 2021. 456 S.

Denise Theßeling: Verschwiegene Vertraute – Idealer Gefährte – Prekäre Gemeinschaft

2024-04-22T09:25:19+02:00

Denise Theßeling, Verschwiegene Vertraute – Idealer Gefährte – Prekäre Gemeinschaft. Pluralisation von Freundschaftssemantiken in höfischen Narrationen des hohen Mittelalters (Schriften zur Mediävistik 32). Hamburg, Dr. Kovač 2021. 351 S.

Thorlac Turville-Petre (Hg., Übers.): Pearl

2024-04-22T09:26:05+02:00

Thorlac Turville-Petre (Hg., Übers.), Pearl (Exeter Medieval Texts and Studies). Liverpool, Liverpool University Press 2021. X, 210 S.

Rebecca Tschümperlin: Weltentwürfe in Text und Bild

2024-04-22T09:27:21+02:00

Rebecca Tschümperlin, Weltentwürfe in Text und Bild. Erzählungen vom Anfang der Geschichte in illustrierten Handschriften der Weltchroniken Rudolfs von Ems, Jans’ von Wien und des sächsischen Anonymus (Zeitschrift für deutsches Altertum und deutsche Literatur. Beihefte 35). Stuttgart, S. Hirzel 2021. 227 S. 61 Abb.

Andrea Worm: Geschichte und Weltordnung

2024-04-22T09:28:12+02:00

Andrea Worm, Geschichte und Weltordnung. Graphische Modelle von Zeit und Raum in Universalchroniken vor 1500. Berlin, Deutscher Verlag für Kunstwissenschaft 2021. 560 S. 3 s/w-Abb., 341 farb. Abb.

Bernhard Zeller: Diplomatische Studien zu den St. Galler Privaturkunden des frühen Mittelalters

2024-04-22T09:28:56+02:00

Bernhard Zeller, Diplomatische Studien zu den St. Galler Privaturkunden des frühen Mittelalters (ca. 720–980) (Mitteilungen des Instituts für Österreichische Geschichtsforschung. Ergänzungsbd. 66). Wien, Köln, Böhlau Verlag 2022. 631 S. 125 s/w-Abb.

40 Jahre Mediävistenverband

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Der dritte Ort

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The so-called ‘new hermitism’ of the long 12th century exerted a great attraction on some visitors to the early scholastic schools. Distance from human settlements and radical asceticism were seen as a way of combining the new kind of rationality with practices of heightened religiosity. Forest and wasteland were seen as an attractive ‘third place’ apart from school and monastic life.

‚Normen und Ideale‘

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