1.
Rome
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Rome is a special comune and the capital of Italy. Rome also serves as the capital of the Lazio region, with 2,873,598 residents in 1,285 km2, it is also the countrys largest and most populated comune and fourth-most populous city in the European Union by population within city limits. It is the center of the Metropolitan City of Rome, which has a population of 4.3 million residents, the city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, within Lazio, along the shores of the Tiber. Romes history spans more than 2,500 years, while Roman mythology dates the founding of Rome at only around 753 BC, the site has been inhabited for much longer, making it one of the oldest continuously occupied sites in Europe. The citys early population originated from a mix of Latins, Etruscans and it was first called The Eternal City by the Roman poet Tibullus in the 1st century BC, and the expression was also taken up by Ovid, Virgil, and Livy. Rome is also called the Caput Mundi, due to that, Rome became first one of the major centres of the Italian Renaissance, and then the birthplace of both the Baroque style and Neoclassicism. Famous artists, painters, sculptors and architects made Rome the centre of their activity, in 1871 Rome became the capital of the Kingdom of Italy, and in 1946 that of the Italian Republic. Rome has the status of a global city, Rome ranked in 2014 as the 14th-most-visited city in the world, 3rd most visited in the European Union, and the most popular tourist attraction in Italy. Its historic centre is listed by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site, monuments and museums such as the Vatican Museums and the Colosseum are among the worlds most visited tourist destinations with both locations receiving millions of tourists a year. Rome hosted the 1960 Summer Olympics and is the seat of United Nations Food, however, it is a possibility that the name Romulus was actually derived from Rome itself. As early as the 4th century, there have been alternate theories proposed on the origin of the name Roma. There is archaeological evidence of occupation of the Rome area from approximately 14,000 years ago. Evidence of stone tools, pottery and stone weapons attest to about 10,000 years of human presence, several excavations support the view that Rome grew from pastoral settlements on the Palatine Hill built above the area of the future Roman Forum. Between the end of the age and the beginning of the Iron age. However, none of them had yet an urban quality, nowadays, there is a wide consensus that the city was gradually born through the aggregation of several villages around the largest one, placed above the Palatine. All these happenings, which according to the excavations took place more or less around the mid of the 8th century BC. Despite recent excavations at the Palatine hill, the view that Rome has been indeed founded with an act of will as the legend suggests in the middle of the 8th century BC remains a fringe hypothesis. Traditional stories handed down by the ancient Romans themselves explain the earliest history of their city in terms of legend and myth
2.
Geographic coordinate system
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A geographic coordinate system is a coordinate system used in geography that enables every location on Earth to be specified by a set of numbers, letters or symbols. The coordinates are chosen such that one of the numbers represents a vertical position. A common choice of coordinates is latitude, longitude and elevation, to specify a location on a two-dimensional map requires a map projection. The invention of a coordinate system is generally credited to Eratosthenes of Cyrene. Ptolemy credited him with the adoption of longitude and latitude. Ptolemys 2nd-century Geography used the prime meridian but measured latitude from the equator instead. Mathematical cartography resumed in Europe following Maximus Planudes recovery of Ptolemys text a little before 1300, in 1884, the United States hosted the International Meridian Conference, attended by representatives from twenty-five nations. Twenty-two of them agreed to adopt the longitude of the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, the Dominican Republic voted against the motion, while France and Brazil abstained. France adopted Greenwich Mean Time in place of local determinations by the Paris Observatory in 1911, the latitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle between the equatorial plane and the straight line that passes through that point and through the center of the Earth. Lines joining points of the same latitude trace circles on the surface of Earth called parallels, as they are parallel to the equator, the north pole is 90° N, the south pole is 90° S. The 0° parallel of latitude is designated the equator, the plane of all geographic coordinate systems. The equator divides the globe into Northern and Southern Hemispheres, the longitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle east or west of a reference meridian to another meridian that passes through that point. All meridians are halves of great ellipses, which converge at the north and south poles, the prime meridian determines the proper Eastern and Western Hemispheres, although maps often divide these hemispheres further west in order to keep the Old World on a single side. The antipodal meridian of Greenwich is both 180°W and 180°E, the combination of these two components specifies the position of any location on the surface of Earth, without consideration of altitude or depth. The grid formed by lines of latitude and longitude is known as a graticule, the origin/zero point of this system is located in the Gulf of Guinea about 625 km south of Tema, Ghana. To completely specify a location of a feature on, in, or above Earth. Earth is not a sphere, but a shape approximating a biaxial ellipsoid. It is nearly spherical, but has an equatorial bulge making the radius at the equator about 0. 3% larger than the radius measured through the poles, the shorter axis approximately coincides with the axis of rotation
3.
Roman Catholic
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The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church or the Universal Church, is the largest Christian church, with more than 1.28 billion members worldwide. As one of the oldest religious institutions in the world, it has played a prominent role in the history, headed by the Bishop of Rome, known as the Pope, the churchs doctrines are summarised in the Nicene Creed and the Apostles Creed. Its central administration is located in Vatican City, enclaved within Rome, the Catholic Church is notable within Western Christianity for its sacred tradition and seven sacraments. It teaches that it is the one church founded by Jesus Christ, that its bishops are the successors of Christs apostles. The Catholic Church maintains that the doctrine on faith and morals that it declares as definitive is infallible. The Latin Church, the Eastern Catholic Churches, as well as such as mendicant orders and enclosed monastic orders. Among the sacraments, the one is the Eucharist, celebrated liturgically in the Mass. The church teaches that through consecration by a priest the sacrificial bread and wine become the body, the Catholic Church practises closed communion, with only baptised members in a state of grace ordinarily permitted to receive the Eucharist. The Virgin Mary is venerated in the Catholic Church as Queen of Heaven and is honoured in numerous Marian devotions. The Catholic Church has influenced Western philosophy, science, art and culture, Catholic spiritual teaching includes spreading the Gospel while Catholic social teaching emphasises support for the sick, the poor and the afflicted through the corporal and spiritual works of mercy. The Catholic Church is the largest non-government provider of education and medical services in the world, from the late 20th century, the Catholic Church has been criticised for its doctrines on sexuality, its refusal to ordain women and its handling of sexual abuse cases. Catholic was first used to describe the church in the early 2nd century, the first known use of the phrase the catholic church occurred in the letter from Saint Ignatius of Antioch to the Smyrnaeans, written about 110 AD. In the Catechetical Discourses of Saint Cyril of Jerusalem, the name Catholic Church was used to distinguish it from other groups that call themselves the church. The use of the adjective Roman to describe the Church as governed especially by the Bishop of Rome became more widespread after the Fall of the Western Roman Empire and into the Early Middle Ages. Catholic Church is the name used in the Catechism of the Catholic Church. The Catholic Church follows an episcopal polity, led by bishops who have received the sacrament of Holy Orders who are given formal jurisdictions of governance within the church. Ultimately leading the entire Catholic Church is the Bishop of Rome, commonly called the pope, in parallel to the diocesan structure are a variety of religious institutes that function autonomously, often subject only to the authority of the pope, though sometimes subject to the local bishop. Most religious institutes only have male or female members but some have both, additionally, lay members aid many liturgical functions during worship services
4.
Italy
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Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a unitary parliamentary republic in Europe. Located in the heart of the Mediterranean Sea, Italy shares open land borders with France, Switzerland, Austria, Slovenia, San Marino, Italy covers an area of 301,338 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate and Mediterranean climate. Due to its shape, it is referred to in Italy as lo Stivale. With 61 million inhabitants, it is the fourth most populous EU member state, the Italic tribe known as the Latins formed the Roman Kingdom, which eventually became a republic that conquered and assimilated other nearby civilisations. The legacy of the Roman Empire is widespread and can be observed in the distribution of civilian law, republican governments, Christianity. The Renaissance began in Italy and spread to the rest of Europe, bringing a renewed interest in humanism, science, exploration, Italian culture flourished at this time, producing famous scholars, artists and polymaths such as Leonardo da Vinci, Galileo, Michelangelo and Machiavelli. The weakened sovereigns soon fell victim to conquest by European powers such as France, Spain and Austria. Despite being one of the victors in World War I, Italy entered a period of economic crisis and social turmoil. The subsequent participation in World War II on the Axis side ended in defeat, economic destruction. Today, Italy has the third largest economy in the Eurozone and it has a very high level of human development and is ranked sixth in the world for life expectancy. The country plays a prominent role in regional and global economic, military, cultural and diplomatic affairs, as a reflection of its cultural wealth, Italy is home to 51 World Heritage Sites, the most in the world, and is the fifth most visited country. The assumptions on the etymology of the name Italia are very numerous, according to one of the more common explanations, the term Italia, from Latin, Italia, was borrowed through Greek from the Oscan Víteliú, meaning land of young cattle. The bull was a symbol of the southern Italic tribes and was often depicted goring the Roman wolf as a defiant symbol of free Italy during the Social War. Greek historian Dionysius of Halicarnassus states this account together with the legend that Italy was named after Italus, mentioned also by Aristotle and Thucydides. The name Italia originally applied only to a part of what is now Southern Italy – according to Antiochus of Syracuse, but by his time Oenotria and Italy had become synonymous, and the name also applied to most of Lucania as well. The Greeks gradually came to apply the name Italia to a larger region, excavations throughout Italy revealed a Neanderthal presence dating back to the Palaeolithic period, some 200,000 years ago, modern Humans arrived about 40,000 years ago. Other ancient Italian peoples of undetermined language families but of possible origins include the Rhaetian people and Cammuni. Also the Phoenicians established colonies on the coasts of Sardinia and Sicily, the Roman legacy has deeply influenced the Western civilisation, shaping most of the modern world
5.
Basilica
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The Latin word basilica has three distinct applications in modern English. The word was used to describe an ancient Roman public building where courts were held, as well as serving other official. To a large extent these were the halls of ancient Roman life. The basilica was centrally located in every Roman town, usually adjacent to the main forum, later, the term came to refer specifically to a large and important Roman Catholic church that has been given special ceremonial rights by the Pope. Roman Catholic basilicas are Catholic pilgrimage sites, receiving tens of millions of visitors per year. In December 2009 the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico City set a new record with 6.1 million pilgrims during Friday and Saturday for the anniversary of Our Lady of Guadalupe. The Roman basilica was a public building where business or legal matters could be transacted. The first basilicas had no function at all. The central aisle tended to be wide and was higher than the flanking aisles, the oldest known basilica, the Basilica Porcia, was built in Rome in 184 BC by Cato the Elder during the time he was Censor. Other early examples include the basilica at Pompeii, probably the most splendid Roman basilica is the one begun for traditional purposes during the reign of the pagan emperor Maxentius and finished by Constantine I after 313 AD. In the 3rd century AD, the elite appeared less frequently in the forums. They now tended to dominate their cities from opulent palaces and country villas, rather than retreats from public life, however, these residences were the forum made private. Seated in the tribune of his basilica, the man would meet his dependent clientes early every morning. A private basilica excavated at Bulla Regia, in the House of the Hunt and its reception or audience hall is a long rectangular nave-like space, flanked by dependent rooms that mostly also open into one another, ending in a semi-circular apse, with matching transept spaces. Clustered columns emphasised the crossing of the two axes, the remains of a large subterranean Neopythagorean basilica dating from the 1st century AD were found near the Porta Maggiore in Rome in 1915. The ground-plan of Christian basilicas in the 4th century was similar to that of this Neopythagorean basilica, the usable model at hand, when Constantine wanted to memorialise his imperial piety, was the familiar conventional architecture of the basilicas. In, and often also in front of, the apse was a platform, where the altar was placed. Constantine built a basilica of this type in his complex at Trier, later very easily adopted for use as a church
6.
Adrianus Johannes Simonis
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Adrianus Johannes Simonis is a Dutch Cardinal of the Catholic Church. He served as Archbishop of Utrecht from 1983 to 2007, and was elevated to the cardinalate in 1985, Simonis was born in Lisse, South Holland, the second eldest of eleven children. He studied at the Seminary of Hageveld from 1945 to 1951, following his return to the Netherlands, he served as pastor of the parish of Blessed Sacrament in The Hague and chaplain in the Red Cross Hospital. He became a canon of the chapter of Rotterdam in March 1969. He was named Bishop of Rotterdam on 29 December 1970, Simonis became Archbishop of Utrecht on 3 December 1983. A former president of the Dutch Bishops Conference, Simonis was a supporter of Pope John Paul IIs eventful visit to the Netherlands in 1985. He was elevated to the College of Cardinals during the Consistory of 25 May 1985, as Cardinal-Priest of Basilica of San Clemente and he held these memberships until his 80th birthday on 26 November 2011. Cardinal Simonis was one of the electors who participated in the 2005 papal conclave that selected Pope Benedict XVI. Simonis continued to govern the archdiocese as Apostolic Administrator until his successor, Wim Eijk, in 2011 Cardinal Simonis testified on 25 January that he had no role in the appointment or dismissal of a Catholic priest accused of drugging and raping a young man. The brief appearance by Cardinal Simonis at Middelburg District Court marked the first time such a cleric had appeared in a Dutch courtroom to answer questions about abuse in the church. The victim, Dave ten Hoor, says he was drugged and raped twice by the priest, I do not know him at all, Simonis said of Father Jan, adding that he had nothing to do with his appointment as a priest in Terneuzen. At the time, Simonis was Bishop of Rotterdam and Rijswijk fell within his diocese. However Cardinal Simonis said he had visited the centre just once for a party and did not recall meeting the priest, though he did not rule out that he may have been introduced to him. According to Radio Netherlands World, The cardinal was told by the bishop of Rotterdam, Philippe Bär. Bishop Bär wanted the priest out of his diocese, Archbishop Simonis then arranged for the man to be moved to a parish in Amersfoort. The cardinal kept the Amersfoort parish in the dark about the priest’s paedophile behaviour, the priest himself says the cardinal did nothing to monitor how the situation developed. Parents who complained about the priest to Cardinal Simonis were given no assistance, hanneke Brunt, whose altar-boy son was abused, Simonis told me – ‘This doesn’t go on in the Roman Catholic Church. We don’t do that. ’ Abuse victim Erwin Meester says Cardinal Simonis wilfully and knowingly gave a paedophile his protection, Cardinal Simonis, now retired, caused a furore in 2010, when he commented on the abuse in an interview on Pauw & Witteman
7.
Church (building)
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A church building, often simply called a church, is a building used for Christian religious activities, particularly worship services. The term in its sense is most often used by Christians to refer to their religious buildings. In traditional Christian architecture, the church is arranged in the shape of a Christian cross. When viewed from plan view the longest part of a cross is represented by the aisle, towers or domes are often added with the intention of directing the eye of the viewer towards the heavens and inspiring church visitors. The earliest identified Christian church was a church founded between 233 and 256. During the 11th through 14th centuries, a wave of building of cathedrals, a cathedral is a church, usually Roman Catholic, Anglican, Oriental Orthodox or Eastern Orthodox, housing the seat of a bishop. In standard Greek usage, the word ecclesia was retained to signify both a specific edifice of Christian worship, and the overall community of the faithful. This usage was retained in Latin and the languages derived from Latin, as well as in the Celtic languages. In the Germanic and some Slavic languages, the word kyriak-ós/-ē/-ón was adopted instead, in Old English the sequence of derivation started as cirice, then churche, and eventually church in its current pronunciation. German Kirche, Scottish kirk, Russian церковь, etc. are all similarly derived, according to the New Testament, the earliest Christians did not build church buildings. Instead, they gathered in homes or in Jewish worship places like the Second Temple or synagogues, the earliest archeologically identified Christian church is a house church, the Dura-Europos church, founded between 233 and 256. During the 11th through 14th centuries, a wave of building of cathedrals, in addition to being a place of worship, the cathedral or parish church was used by the community in other ways. It could serve as a place for guilds or a hall for banquets. Mystery plays were performed in cathedrals, and cathedrals might also be used for fairs. The church could be used as a place to thresh and store grain, a common architecture for churches is the shape of a cross. These churches also often have a dome or other large vaulted space in the interior to represent or draw attention to the heavens. Other common shapes for churches include a circle, to represent eternity, or an octagon or similar star shape, another common feature is the spire, a tall tower on the west end of the church or over the crossing. The Latin word basilica was used to describe a Roman public building
8.
Nave
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The nave /ˈneɪv/ is the central aisle of a basilica church, or the main body of a church between its western wall and its chancel. It is the zone of a church accessible by the laity, the nave extends from the entry — which may have a separate vestibule — to the chancel and may be flanked by lower side-aisles separated from the nave by an arcade. If the aisles are high and of a width comparable to the central nave and it provides the central approach to the high altar. The term nave is from medieval Latin navis, a ship was an early Christian symbol. The term may also have suggested by the keel shape of the vaulting of a church. The earliest churches were built when builders were familiar with the form of the Roman basilica and it had a wide central area, with aisles separated by columns, and with windows near the ceiling. Old St. Peters Basilica in Rome is a church which had this form. It was built in the 4th century on the orders of Roman emperor Constantine I, the nave, the main body of the building, is the section set apart for the laity, while the chancel is reserved for the clergy. In medieval churches the nave was separated from the chancel by the rood screen, medieval naves were divided into bays, the repetition of form giving an effect of great length, and the vertical element of the nave was emphasized. During the Renaissance, in place of dramatic effects there were more balanced proportions, longest nave in Denmark, Aarhus Cathedral,93 metres. Longest nave in England, St Albans Cathedral, St Albans,84 metres, longest nave in Ireland, St Patricks Cathedral, Dublin,91 metres. Longest nave in France, Bourges Cathedral,91 metres, including choir where a crossing would be if there were transepts, longest nave in Germany, Cologne cathedral,58 metres, including two bays between the towers. Longest nave in Italy, St Peters Basilica in Rome,91 metres, longest nave in Spain, Seville,60 metres, in five bays. Longest nave in the United States, Cathedral of Saint John the Divine, New York City, highest vaulted nave, Beauvais Cathedral, France,48 metres high but only one bay of the nave was actually built but choir and transepts were completed to the same height. Highest completed nave, Rome, St. Peters, Italy,46 metres high, abbey, with architectural discussion and groundplans Cathedral architecture Cathedral diagram List of highest church naves
9.
Italian language
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By most measures, Italian, together with Sardinian, is the closest to Latin of the Romance languages. Italian is a language in Italy, Switzerland, San Marino, Vatican City. Italian is spoken by minorities in places such as France, Montenegro, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Crimea and Tunisia and by large expatriate communities in the Americas. Many speakers are native bilinguals of both standardized Italian and other regional languages, Italian is the fourth most studied language in the world. Italian is a major European language, being one of the languages of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe. It is the third most widely spoken first language in the European Union with 65 million native speakers, including Italian speakers in non-EU European countries and on other continents, the total number of speakers is around 85 million. Italian is the working language of the Holy See, serving as the lingua franca in the Roman Catholic hierarchy as well as the official language of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta. Italian is known as the language of music because of its use in musical terminology and its influence is also widespread in the arts and in the luxury goods market. Italian has been reported as the fourth or fifth most frequently taught foreign language in the world, Italian was adopted by the state after the Unification of Italy, having previously been a literary language based on Tuscan as spoken mostly by the upper class of Florentine society. Its development was influenced by other Italian languages and to some minor extent. Its vowels are the second-closest to Latin after Sardinian, unlike most other Romance languages, Italian retains Latins contrast between short and long consonants. As in most Romance languages, stress is distinctive, however, Italian as a language used in Italy and some surrounding regions has a longer history. What would come to be thought of as Italian was first formalized in the early 14th century through the works of Tuscan writer Dante Alighieri, written in his native Florentine. Dante is still credited with standardizing the Italian language, and thus the dialect of Florence became the basis for what would become the language of Italy. Italian was also one of the recognised languages in the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Italy has always had a dialect for each city, because the cities. Those dialects now have considerable variety, as Tuscan-derived Italian came to be used throughout Italy, features of local speech were naturally adopted, producing various versions of Regional Italian. Even in the case of Northern Italian languages, however, scholars are not to overstate the effects of outsiders on the natural indigenous developments of the languages
10.
Minor basilica
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Minor basilica is a title given to some Roman Catholic church buildings. According to canon law, no church building can be honoured with the title of basilica unless by apostolic grant or from immemorial custom, presently, the authorising decree is granted by the Pope through the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments. In relation to churches, writers on architecture use the term basilica to describe a church built in a particular style, in the 18th century, the term took on a canonical sense, unrelated to this architectural style. Basilicas in this sense are divided into major and minor basilicas. Today only four, all in Rome, are classified as major basilicas. These external signs, except that of the cappa magna, are still seen in basilicas. It should be large and with an ample sanctuary. It should be renowned for history, relics or sacred images, many basilicas are notable churches, and often receive significant pilgrimages. In December 2009 the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico set a record with 6.1 million pilgrims in two days for the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe. As of June 30,2013, there were four major basilicas and 1,748 minor basilicas in the world, of these 1,748 minor basilicas, three have the title of papal minor basilica and four the title of pontifical minor basilica. The three papal minor basilicas are Saint Lawrence outside the Walls, Rome, and the Basilica of San Francesco dAssisi, All four pontifical minor basilicas now have individual pontifical delegates. For the Bari basilica, which is a dependency of the Secretariat of State, for the basilicas of Loreto and Pompei, which are within their own territorial prelatures, the pontifical delegate is the local territorial prelate. Only for the Paduan basilica is the pontifical delegate distinct from the local bishop, the remaining 1,741 minor basilicas are all classified merely as such. Another such Italian church, recognized as a basilica. This name, qualifying it as both pontifical and royal, is confirmed by other sources. Others are the Pontifical Basilica of Saints Cosmas and Damian in Bitonto, one patriarchal basilica, namely the Patriarchal Cathedral Basilica of St Mark in Venice, called patriarchal because it is the cathedral of the Patriarch of Venice, is a minor basilica. The minor basilicas form the vast majority, including cathedrals, many technically parish churches, some shrines. Some oratories and semi-private places of worship, have raised to the status of a minor basilica
11.
Pope Clement I
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Pope Clement I, also known as Saint Clement of Rome, is listed by Irenaeus and Tertullian as Bishop of Rome, holding office from 88 to his death in 99. He is considered to be the first Apostolic Father of the Church, few details are known about Clements life. Clement was said to have been consecrated by Saint Peter, early church lists place him as the second or third bishop of Rome after Saint Peter. Tertullian considered Clement to be the successor of Peter. In one of his works, Jerome listed Clement as the bishop of Rome after Peter. Clement is put after Linus and Cletus/Anacletus in the earliest account, that of Irenaeus, Clements only genuine extant writing is his letter to the church at Corinth in response to a dispute in which certain presbyters of the Corinthian church had been deposed. He asserted the authority of the presbyters as rulers of the church on the ground that the Apostles had appointed such. His letter, which is one of the oldest extant Christian documents outside of the New Testament, was read in church, along with other epistles and these works were the first to affirm the apostolic authority of the clergy. A second epistle,2 Clement, was attributed to Clement, in the legendary Clementine Literature, Clement is the intermediary through whom the apostles teach the church. According to tradition, Clement was imprisoned under the Emperor Trajan, thereafter he was executed by being tied to an anchor and thrown into the sea. Clement is recognized as a saint in many Christian churches and is considered a saint of mariners. He is commemorated on 23 November in the Roman Catholic Church, the Anglican Communion, in Eastern Orthodox Christianity his feast is kept on 24 or 25 November. Starting in the 3rd and 4th century, tradition has identified him as the Clement that Paul mentioned in Philippians 4,3, a fellow laborer in Christ. The 2nd-century Shepherd of Hermas mentions a Clement whose office it was to communicate with other churches, most likely, the Liber Pontificalis, which documents the reigns of popes, states that Clement had known Saint Peter. It also states that he wrote two letters and that he died in Greece in the year of Emperor Trajans reign. A large congregation existed in Rome c,58, when Paul wrote his Epistle to the Romans. His Captivity Epistles, as well as Mark, Luke, Acts, Paul and Peter were said to have been martyred here. Nero persecuted Roman Christians after Rome burned in 64, and the congregation may have suffered persecution under Domitian
12.
Middle Ages
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In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or Medieval Period lasted from the 5th to the 15th century. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and merged into the Renaissance, the Middle Ages is the middle period of the three traditional divisions of Western history, classical antiquity, the medieval period, and the modern period. The medieval period is subdivided into the Early, High. Population decline, counterurbanisation, invasion, and movement of peoples, the large-scale movements of the Migration Period, including various Germanic peoples, formed new kingdoms in what remained of the Western Roman Empire. In the seventh century, North Africa and the Middle East—once part of the Byzantine Empire—came under the rule of the Umayyad Caliphate, although there were substantial changes in society and political structures, the break with classical antiquity was not complete. The still-sizeable Byzantine Empire survived in the east and remained a major power, the empires law code, the Corpus Juris Civilis or Code of Justinian, was rediscovered in Northern Italy in 1070 and became widely admired later in the Middle Ages. In the West, most kingdoms incorporated the few extant Roman institutions, monasteries were founded as campaigns to Christianise pagan Europe continued. The Franks, under the Carolingian dynasty, briefly established the Carolingian Empire during the later 8th, the Crusades, first preached in 1095, were military attempts by Western European Christians to regain control of the Holy Land from Muslims. Kings became the heads of centralised nation states, reducing crime and violence, intellectual life was marked by scholasticism, a philosophy that emphasised joining faith to reason, and by the founding of universities. Controversy, heresy, and the Western Schism within the Catholic Church paralleled the conflict, civil strife. Cultural and technological developments transformed European society, concluding the Late Middle Ages, the Middle Ages is one of the three major periods in the most enduring scheme for analysing European history, classical civilisation, or Antiquity, the Middle Ages, and the Modern Period. Medieval writers divided history into periods such as the Six Ages or the Four Empires, when referring to their own times, they spoke of them as being modern. In the 1330s, the humanist and poet Petrarch referred to pre-Christian times as antiqua, leonardo Bruni was the first historian to use tripartite periodisation in his History of the Florentine People. Bruni and later argued that Italy had recovered since Petrarchs time. The Middle Ages first appears in Latin in 1469 as media tempestas or middle season, in early usage, there were many variants, including medium aevum, or middle age, first recorded in 1604, and media saecula, or middle ages, first recorded in 1625. The alternative term medieval derives from medium aevum, tripartite periodisation became standard after the German 17th-century historian Christoph Cellarius divided history into three periods, Ancient, Medieval, and Modern. The most commonly given starting point for the Middle Ages is 476, for Europe as a whole,1500 is often considered to be the end of the Middle Ages, but there is no universally agreed upon end date. English historians often use the Battle of Bosworth Field in 1485 to mark the end of the period
13.
Mithraeum
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A Mithraeum, sometimes spelled Mithreum, is a large or small Mithraic temple, erected in classical antiquity by the worshippers of Mithras. The Mithraeum was either a natural cave or cavern, or a building imitating a cave. When possible, the Mithraeum was constructed within or below an existing building, while a majority of Mithraea are underground, some feature open holes in the ceiling to allow some light in, perhaps to relate to the connection of the universe and the passing of time. The site of a Mithraeum may also be identified by its entrance or vestibule. Also its cave, called the Spelaeum or Spelunca, with raised benches along the walls for the ritual meal. Many mithraea that follow this plan are scattered over much of the Roman Empires former territory. Others may be recognized by their layout, even though converted as crypts beneath Christian churches. From the structure of the Mithraea it is possible to surmise that worshippers would have gathered for a common meal along the reclining couches lining the walls, finally, the ubiquity of the Mithraeums’ distinctive banqueting benches implies the ubiquity of the cult meal as the liturgie ordinaire. The Mithraeum primarily functioned as an area for initiation, in which the soul descends, the Mithraeum itself was arranged as an image of the universe. Remains open within Aquincum Archaeological Park, israel Caesarea Maritima, City of Herods. Italy In the city of Rome, Mithraeum of the Circus Maximus, Mithraeum of San Clemente, under the basilica of San Clemente. Mithraeum of the Baths of Caracalla, castra Peregrinorum mithraeum, under the church of Santo Stefano Rotondo. Mithraeum under the Santa Prisca basilica, in Campania, Mithraeum of Santa Maria Capua Vetere Mithraeum of Naples Romania A reconstructed Mithraeum in the Brukenthal Museums Lapidarium, with some of the items unearthed at Apulum. Spain Roman Ville of Fuente Álamos Mithraeum, switzerland Martigny - a reconstructed Mithraeum Syria Duro-Europos - Transported to and rebuilt at Yale Universitys Gallery of Fine Arts. List of mithraea from Mithraeum. eu Capuas Mithraeum
14.
Roman Republic
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It was during this period that Romes control expanded from the citys immediate surroundings to hegemony over the entire Mediterranean world. During the first two centuries of its existence, the Roman Republic expanded through a combination of conquest and alliance, by the following century, it included North Africa, most of the Iberian Peninsula, and what is now southern France. Two centuries after that, towards the end of the 1st century BC, it included the rest of modern France, Greece, and much of the eastern Mediterranean. By this time, internal tensions led to a series of wars, culminating with the assassination of Julius Caesar. The exact date of transition can be a matter of interpretation, Roman government was headed by two consuls, elected annually by the citizens and advised by a senate composed of appointed magistrates. Over time, the laws that gave exclusive rights to Romes highest offices were repealed or weakened. The leaders of the Republic developed a tradition and morality requiring public service and patronage in peace and war, making military. Many of Romes legal and legislative structures can still be observed throughout Europe and much of the world in modern nation states, the exact causes and motivations for Romes military conflicts and expansions during the republic are subject to wide debate. While they can be seen as motivated by outright aggression and imperialism and they argue that Romes expansion was driven by short-term defensive and inter-state factors, and the new contingencies that these decisions created. In its early history, as Rome successfully defended itself against foreign threats in central and then northern Italy, with some important exceptions, successful wars in early republican Rome generally led not to annexation or military occupation, but to the restoration of the way things were. But the defeated city would be weakened and thus able to resist Romanizing influences. It was also able to defend itself against its non-Roman enemies. It was, therefore, more likely to seek an alliance of protection with Rome and this growing coalition expanded the potential enemies that Rome might face, and moved Rome closer to confrontation with major powers. The result was more alliance-seeking, on the part of both the Roman confederacy and city-states seeking membership within that confederacy. While there were exceptions to this, it was not until after the Second Punic War that these alliances started to harden into something more like an empire and this shift mainly took place in parts of the west, such as the southern Italian towns that sided with Hannibal. In contrast, Roman expansion into Spain and Gaul occurred as a mix of alliance-seeking, in the 2nd century BC, Roman involvement in the Greek east remained a matter of alliance-seeking, but this time in the face of major powers that could rival Rome. This had some important similarities to the events in Italy centuries earlier, with some major exceptions of outright military rule, the Roman Republic remained an alliance of independent city-states and kingdoms until it transitioned into the Roman Empire. It was not until the time of the Roman Empire that the entire Roman world was organized into provinces under explicit Roman control
15.
Great Fire of Rome
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The Great Fire of Rome was an urban fire that started on the night between 18 and 19 July in the year 64 AD. It caused widespread devastation, before being brought under control after six days, differing accounts either blame Emperor Nero for initiating the fire or credit him with organizing measures to contain it and provide relief for refugees. The varying historical accounts of the event come from three secondary sources—Cassius Dio, Suetonius and Tacitus, the primary accounts, which possibly included histories written by Fabius Rusticus, Marcus Cluvius Rufus and Pliny the Elder, did not survive. At least five separate stories circulated regarding Nero and the fire, Motivated by a desire to destroy the city, Nero watched from his palace on the Palatine Hill singing and playing the lyre. Nero quite openly sent out men to set fire to the city, Nero watched from the Tower of Maecenas on the Esquiline Hill singing and playing the lyre. Nero sent out men to set fire to the city, Nero sang and played his lyre from a private stage. The fire was said to have been caused by the already unpopular Christians and this story was spread in order to blame someone else, because rumor had it that Nero started it. Tacitus describes the fire as beginning in shops where flammable goods were stored, in the region of the Circus neighboring the Caelian, the night was a windy one and the flames rapidly spread along the full length of the Circus. The fire expanded through an area of narrow, twisting streets, in this lower area of Rome there were no large buildings such as temples, or open areas of ground, to impede the conflagration. It then spread along the Palatine and Caelian slopes, the population fled first to areas unaffected by the fire and then to the open fields and rural roads outside the city. Looters and arsonists were reported to have spread the flames by throwing torches or, acting in groups, Tacitus surmises that some may have acted under orders or that they may simply have wanted to plunder unhindered. According to Tacitus, Nero was away from Rome, in Antium and he returned to the city and took measures to bring in food supplies and open gardens and public buildings to accommodate refugees. After six days the organized clearing of areas brought the conflagration to a halt before it reached the Esquiline Hill. There was an outbreak in the Aemilian district, involving the destruction of temples and arcades. However the fire was now under control, of Romes 14 districts,3 were completely devastated and only 4 completely escaped damage. Moreover, the destroyed parts of Neros own palace, the Domus Transitoria. It seems unlikely that Nero wanted to destroy this palace since he actually salvaged some of the marble decoration, even the paintings and wall decorations of the new palace were similar to the ones that had been burned. Last, the fire started just two days after a full moon, a time that, it is presumed, would not have been chosen by arsonists who would not have wished to be observed
16.
Dominican Order
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Members of the order, who are referred to as Dominicans, generally carry the letters O. P. after their names, standing for Ordinis Praedicatorum, meaning of the Order of Preachers. Membership in the order includes friars, nuns, active sisters, the order is famed for its intellectual tradition, having produced many leading theologians and philosophers. The Dominican Order is headed by the Master of the Order, in the year 2000, there were 5,171 Dominican friars in solemn vows,917 student brothers, and 237 novices. By the year 2013 there were 6,058 Dominican friars, a number of other names have been used to refer to both the order and its members. In England and other countries the Dominican friars are referred to as Black Friars because of the black cappa or cloak they wear over their white habits, Dominicans were Blackfriars, as opposed to Whitefriars or Greyfriars. They are also distinct from the Augustinian Friars who wear a similar habit and their identification as Dominicans gave rise to the pun that they were the Domini canes, or Hounds of the Lord. The Dominican Order came into being in the Middle Ages at a time when religion began to be contemplated in a new way, men of God were no longer expected to stay behind the walls of a cloister. Instead, they travelled among the people, taking as their examples the apostles of the primitive Church. Out of this emerged two orders of mendicant friars, one, the Friars Minor, was led by Francis of Assisi, the other. Dominics new order was to be an order, trained to preach in the vernacular languages. Rather than earning their living on vast farms as the monasteries had done, at the same time, Dominic inspired the members of his order to develop a mixed spirituality. They were both active in preaching, and contemplative in study, prayer and meditation, the brethren of the Dominican Order were urban and learned, as well as contemplative and mystical in their spirituality. While these traits affected the women of the order, the nuns especially absorbed the latter characteristics, in England, the Dominican nuns blended these elements with the defining characteristics of English Dominican spirituality and created a spirituality and collective personality that set them apart. The orders origins in battling heterodoxy influenced its development and reputation. Many later Dominicans battled heresy as part of their apostolate, indeed, many years after St. Dominic reacted to the Cathars, the first Grand Inquistor of Spain, Tomás de Torquemada, would be drawn from the Dominican Order. As an adolescent, he had a love of theology. During his studies in Palencia, Spain, he experienced a famine, prompting Dominic to sell all of his beloved books. At the age of twenty-four or twenty-five, he was ordained to the priesthood, at that time the south of France was the stronghold of the Cathar or Albigensian heresy, named after the Duke of Albi, a Cathar sympathiser and opponent to the subsequent Albigensian Crusade
17.
Forma Urbis Romae
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The Forma Urbis Romae or Severan Marble Plan is a massive marble map of ancient Rome, created under the emperor Septimius Severus between 203 and 211. Scholar Matteo Cadario gives specific years of 205-208, noting that the map was based on property records and it originally measured 18 m wide by 13 m high and was carved into 150 marble slabs mounted on an interior wall of the Temple of Peace. Created at a scale of approximately 1 to 240, the map was detailed enough to show the plans of nearly every temple, bath. The boundaries of the plan were decided based on the space on the marble. The map was oriented with south at the top, on the map are names and plans of public buildings, streets, and private homes. The creators used signs and details like columns and staircases, the Plan was gradually destroyed during the Middle Ages, with the marble stones being used as building materials or for making lime. In 1562, the young antiquarian sculptor Giovanni Antonio Dosio excavated fragments of the Forma Urbis from a site near the Church of SS, cosma e Damiano, under the direction of the humanist condottiere Torquato Conti, who had purchased excavation rights from the canons of the church. Conti made a gift of the fragments to Cardinal Alessandro Farnese. Little interest seems to have been elicited by the marble shards, part of the excavated plan showed a portion of the Forum of Augustus, interpreted as a working drawing or as a proof of the existence of a more ancient Forma Urbis. Piecing together the fragments of the plan is an activity that has engrossed scholars for centuries. Renaissance scholars managed to match and identify around 250 of the pieces, usually by recognizing famous landmarks such as the Colosseum, other scholars have re-interpreted the topography depicted on many fragments. A research project at Stanford University in 2002 had some success in positioning four fragments, a new piece of Forma Urbis Romae that completes the words Circus Flaminius has been uncovered in 2014 at the Palazzo Maffei Marescotti, a building owned by the Vatican. Topography of ancient Rome Henri Jordan Forma Urbis Romae, regionum XIIII Carettoni, Gianfilippo, Colini, Antonio, Cozza, Lucos, and Gatti, Guglielmo, eds. La pianta marmorea di Roma antica, Forma urbis Romae Rodríguez Almeida, Emilio. Aggiornamento topografico dei colli Oppio, Cispio e Viminale secondo la Forma Urbis marmorea, Rendiconti della Pontificia Accademia romana di Archeologia Vol XLVIII. Nuovi elementi di analisi e nuove ipotesi di lavoro, in Mélanges de lÉcole française de Rome 89/1, pp. 219-256. Miscellanea sulla «Forma Urbis» marmorea, + Rodríguez Almeida, E. Il Campo Marzio settentrionale, «Solarium» e «Pomerium», un nuovo frammento della Forma Urbis Marmorea. Un frammento di una nuova pianta marmorea di Roma, journal of Roman Archaeology, pp. 120-131
18.
Insula (building)
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The term was also used to mean a city block. The ground-level floor of the insula was used for tabernae, shops and businesses, like modern apartment buildings, an insula might have a name, usually referring to the owner of the building. Strabo notes that insulae, like domus, had running water, but this kind of housing was sometimes constructed at minimal expense for speculative purposes, resulting in insulae of poor construction. They were built in timber, mud brick, and later primitive concrete, among his many business interests, Marcus Licinius Crassus speculated in real estate and owned numerous insulae in the city. When one collapsed from poor construction, Cicero purportedly stated that Crassus was happy that he could charge higher rents for a new building than the collapsed one. Living quarters were typically smallest in the buildings uppermost floors, with the largest and most expensive apartments being located on the bottom floors. The insulae could be up to six or seven stories high, and despite height restrictions in the Imperial era, often those floors were without heating, running water or lavatories, which meant their occupants had to use Romes extensive system of public restrooms. Despite prohibitions, residents would sometimes dump trash and human excrement out the windows and into the surrounding streets, augustus instituted reforms aimed at increasing the safety of buildings in the city of Rome. According to the 4th-century regionaries, there were about 42, 000–46,000 insulae in the city, data on the number of insulae and to a lesser extent domus are used for classical demography. Photo of Insulae in Ostia Model of another insula in Ostia Insula 9, an excavation of a Pompeii insula Roman apartment building
19.
Mithraism
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Mithraism, also known as the Mithraic mysteries, was a mystery religion centred around the god Mithras that was practised in the Roman Empire from about the 1st to the 4th century. The mysteries were popular in the Roman military, worshippers of Mithras had a complex system of seven grades of initiation and communal ritual meals. Initiates called themselves syndexioi, those “united by the handshake” and they met in underground temples, called mithraea, which survive in large numbers. The cult appears to have had its centre in Rome, numerous archaeological finds, including meeting places, monuments and artifacts, have contributed to modern knowledge about Mithraism throughout the Roman Empire. The iconic scenes of Mithras show him being born from a rock, slaughtering a bull, about 420 sites have yielded materials related to the cult. Among the items found are about 1000 inscriptions,700 examples of the bull-killing scene and it has been estimated that there would have been at least 680 mithraea in Rome. No written narratives or theology from the religion survive, limited information can be derived from the inscriptions and brief or passing references in Greek, interpretation of the physical evidence remains problematic and contested. The Romans regarded the mysteries as having Persian or Zoroastrian sources, since the early 1970s the dominant scholarship has noted dissimilarities between Persian Mithra-worship and the Roman Mithraic mysteries. The term Mithraism is a modern convention, writers of the Roman era referred to it by phrases such as Mithraic mysteries, mysteries of Mithras or mysteries of the Persians. Modern sources sometimes refer to the Greco-Roman religion as Roman Mithraism or Western Mithraism to distinguish it from Persian worship of Mithra. The name Mithras is a form of Mithra, the name of an Old Persian god – a relationship understood by Mithraic scholars since the days of Franz Cumont. An early example of the Greek form of the name is in a 4th century BCE work by Xenophon, the Cyropaedia, the exact form of a Latin or classical Greek word varies due to the grammatical process of declension. There is archeological evidence that in Latin worshippers wrote the nominative form of the name as Mithras. Related deity-names in other languages include Sanskrit Mitra, the name of a god praised in the Rig Veda, in Sanskrit, mitra means friend or friendship. The form mi-it-ra-, found in a peace treaty between the Hittites and the kingdom of Mitanni, from about 1400 BCE. Iranian Mithra and Sanskrit Mitra are believed to come from an Indo-Iranian word mitra meaning contract / agreement / covenant, modern historians have different conceptions about whether these names refer to the same god or not. John R. Hinnells has written of Mitra / Mithra / Mithras as a deity worshipped in several different religions. On the other hand, David Ulansey considers the bull-slaying Mithras to be a new god who began to be worshipped in the 1st Century BCE, there have been many attempts to interpret this material
20.
Tauroctony
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Tauroctony is a modern name given to the central cult reliefs of the Roman Mithraic Mysteries. The imagery depicts Mithras killing a bull, hence the name tauroctony after the Greek word tauroktonos, despite the name, the scene is symbolic, and there is no evidence that patrons of the Roman cult ever performed such a rite. Like all Greco-Roman mysteries, the Mithraic Mysteries was limited to initiates, and, because the main bull-killing scene is often accompanied by explicit depictions of the sun, moon, and stars, it is also fairly certain that the scene has astrological connotations. But despite dozens of theories on the subject, none has received widespread acceptance, following several decades of increasingly convoluted theories, Mithraic scholarship is now generally disinclined to speculation. There is no evidence that ever performed such a rite, whether as a painting or as carved monument, a depiction of the tauroctony scene belonged to the standard furniture of every mithraeum. At least one depiction would be mounted on the wall at the far end of the space where ritual activity took place, richly furnished mithraea, such as one in Stockstadt am Main, had multiple cult reliefs. The scenes can be divided into two groups. Like the other five earliest monuments of the Mithraic mysteries, it dates to around 100 CE, although there are numerous minor variations, the basic features of the central tauroctony scene is highly uniform, Mithras half-straddles a bull that has been forced to the ground. The bull invariably appears in profile, facing right, in original depictions, Mithras invariably has his head turned away from the bull, and in many he is looking back over his right shoulder up to Sol. The bull is held down by Mithras left leg, which is bent at an angle, the bulls rump and right hind leg is restrained by Mithras right leg, which is almost fully extended. With his left hand, Mithras pulls back the head of the bull by the nostrils or the muzzle, in his right hand, Mithras usually holds a knife or short sword plunged into the neck/shoulder of the bull. Alternatively, the knife is sticking into the neck. Mithras is usually dressed in a knee-length long-sleeved tunic, closed boots, Mithras cape, if he wears one, is usually spread open, as if flying. On his head, Mithras usually wears a cap, like the one worn by Attis. The tail of the bull appears to end in an ear of wheat. The blood from the wound is also depicted as ears of wheat. Several cult images have the bull adorned with the Roman dorsuale and this dorsal band or blanket placed on the back of the animal is an adoption from the then-contemporary images of public sacrifice, and identifies the bull as a sacrificial beast. From traces of pigment found on some reliefs it seems there was no particular coloring tradition that was followed
21.
Cautes and Cautopates
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Cautes and Cautopates are torch-bearers depicted attending the god Mithras in the icons of the ancient Roman cult of Mithraism, known as Tauroctony. Cautes holds his torch raised up, and Cautopates holds his torch pointed downward, in Mithraic images, Mithras either represents the sun, or is a close friend of the sun god Helios or Sol Invictus with whom Mithras dines. If eclipses of the sun and moon formed part of Mithraic symbolism, both are depicted as smaller than Mithras to emphasize his significance, and both wear Persian style garments, notably a Phrygian cap, to emphasize the supposed oriental origins of the cult. Cautes holds a burning torch pointed up, whereas Cautopates holds a burning torch pointed down, Cautopates is usually depicted on the left, but not always. They are often shown standing with their legs crossed, but not always, the two torch-bearers are often interpreted as symbols of light, one for the rising, the other for the setting sun. Cautopates could also represent death, while Cautes might represent new life, an alternate interpretation advanced by David Ulansey is that Cautes represents the spring equinox and Cautopates the autumn equinox. Thus, represented on the left and right of the Tauroctony, they become a cadre of the celestial equator. M. J. Vermasaren shows Mithras, the unconquerable sun, Vermasaren suggests they form a Mithraic Trinity
22.
Antoninus Pius
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Antoninus Pius, also known as Antoninus, was Roman Emperor from 138 to 161. He was one of the Five Good Emperors in the Nerva–Antonine dynasty and he died of illness in 161 and was succeeded by his adopted sons Marcus Aurelius and Lucius Verus as co-emperors. He was born as the child of Titus Aurelius Fulvus. The Aurelii Fulvii were therefore a new senatorial family from Gallia Narbonensis whose rise to prominence was supported by the Flavians. The link between Antoninus family and their home province explains the importance of the post of Proconsul of Gallia Narbonensis during the late Second Century. Antoninus was born near Lanuvium and his mother was Arria Fadilla, the Arrii Antoninii were an older senatorial family from Italy, very influential during Nervas reign. Arria Fadilla, Antoninus mother, married afterwards Publius Julius Lupus, a man of rank, suffect consul in 98. Some time between 110 and 115, Antoninus married Annia Galeria Faustina the Elder and they are believed to have enjoyed a happy marriage. Faustina was the daughter of consul Marcus Annius Verus and Rupilia Faustina, Faustina was a beautiful woman, and despite rumours about her character, it is clear that Antoninus cared for her deeply. Faustina bore Antoninus four children, two sons and two daughters and they were, Marcus Aurelius Fulvus Antoninus, his sepulchral inscription has been found at the Mausoleum of Hadrian in Rome. Marcus Galerius Aurelius Antoninus, his sepulchral inscription has been found at the Mausoleum of Hadrian in Rome and his name appears on a Greek Imperial coin. Aurelia Fadilla, she married Lucius Lamia Silvanus, consul 145 and she appeared to have no children with her husband and her sepulchral inscription has been found in Italy. Annia Galeria Faustina Minor or Faustina the Younger, a future Roman Empress, married her maternal cousin, when Faustina died in 141, Antoninus was greatly distressed. In honour of her memory, he asked the Senate to deify her as a goddess and he had various coins with her portrait struck in her honor. These coins were scripted ‘DIVA FAUSTINA’ and were elaborately decorated and he further created a charity which he founded and called it Puellae Faustinianae or Girls of Faustina, which assisted destitute girls of good family. Finally, Antoninus created a new alimenta, instead, he lived with Galena Lysistrata, one of Faustinas freed women. Concubinage was a form of female companionship sometimes chosen by powerful men in Ancient Rome, especially widowers like Vespasian and their union could not produce any legitimate offspring who could threaten any heirs, such as those of Antoninus. Also, as one could not have a wife and a concubine at the same time
23.
Sol (mythology)
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Sol was the solar deity in Ancient Roman religion. It was long thought that Rome actually had two different, consecutive sun gods, the first, Sol Indiges, was thought to have been unimportant, disappearing altogether at an early period. Only in the late Roman Empire, scholars argued, did solar cult re-appear with the arrival in Rome of the Syrian Sol Invictus, perhaps under the influence of the Mithraic mysteries. The Latin sol for Sun is the continuation of the PIE heteroclitic *Seh2ul- / *Sh2-en-, cognate to Germanic Sol, Sanskrit Surya, Greek Helios, also compare Latin sol to Etruscan usil. Today, sol is still the word for sun in Romance languages. Sol is used in contemporary English by astronomers and many science fiction authors as the name of the Sun to distinguish it from other stars which may be suns for their own planetary systems. A shrine to Sol stood on the banks of the Numicius, in Rome Sol had an old temple in the Circus Maximus according to Tacitus, and this temple remained important in the first three centuries AD. There was also an old shrine for Sol on the Quirinal, the Roman ritual calendars or fasti also mention a feast for Sol Indiges on December 11, and a sacrifice for Sol and Luna on August 28. Neither the epithet indiges nor the epithet invictus are used with any consistency however, tertullian writes that the Circus Maximus was dedicated primarily to Sol. During the reign of Aurelian, a new college of pontiffs for Sol was established, there is some debate over the significance of the date December 21 for the cult of Sol. According to a single, late source, the Romans held a festival on December 21 of Dies Natalis Invicti, most scholars assume Sol Invictus was meant, although our source for this festival does not state so explicitly. December 25 was commonly indicated as the date of the winter solstice, there were also festivals on other days in December, including the 11th, as well as August. Gordon points out that none of other festivals are linked to astronomical events. When the festival on December 25 was instituted is not clear, the official status of the cult of Sol after Aurelian was significant, but there is no evidence that it was the supreme cult of the state. Hoey exaggerates the importance of an inscription from Salsovia that supposedy indicates an official empire-wide cult-prescription for Sol on December 19 and this simply means that Licinius accepted the erection of the statue in his honour. Throughout the 4th century the cult of Sol continued to be maintained by high-ranking pontiffs, the Greek assimilation of Apollo and Helios was already established in Rome by the end of the republic. Various Roman philosophers speculated on the nature of the sun, without arriving at any consensus, a typical example is Nigidius, a scholar of the 1st century BC. His works have not survived, but writing five centuries later, Macrobius reports that Nigidius argued that Sol was to be identified with Janus and that he had a counterpart, Jana, who was Moon
24.
Pope Zosimus
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Pope Zosimus reigned from 18 March 417 to his death in 418. He was born in Mesoraca, Calabria and he succeeded Innocent I and was followed by Boniface I. His fractious temper coloured all the controversies in which he took part, in Gaul, Africa and Italy, including Rome, according to the Liber Pontificalis, Zosimus was a Greek and his fathers name was Abram. Historian Adolf von Harnack deduced from this that the family was of Jewish origin, nothing is known of the life of Zosimus before his elevation to the Papal See. His consecration as Bishop of Rome took place on 18 March 417, the festival was attended by Patroclus, Bishop of Arles, who had been raised to that See in place of Bishop Heros of Arles, who had been deposed by Constantius III. In addition, he was made a kind of papal vicar for the whole of Gaul, in the year 400, Arles had been substituted for Trier as the residence of the chief government official of the civil Diocese of Gaul, the Prefectus Praetorio Galliarum. Patroclus, who enjoyed the support of the commander Constantine, used this opportunity to procure for himself the position of supremacy above mentioned, by winning over Zosimus to his ideas. The bishops of Vienne, Narbonne and Marseille regarded this elevation of the See of Arles as an infringement of their rights, the dispute, however, was not settled until the pontificate of Pope Leo I. In the summer of 417, Zosimus held a meeting of the Roman clergy in the Basilica of St. Clement before which Caelestius appeared. The propositions drawn up by the deacon Paulinus of Milan, on account of which Caelestius had been condemned at Carthage in 411, were laid before him. He wrote at once in this sense to the bishops of the African province, soon after this, Zosimus received from Pelagius a confession of faith, together with a new treatise on free will. Archbishop Aurelius of Carthage quickly called a synod, which sent a reply to Zosimus in which it was proved that the pope had been deceived by the heretics. In his answer Zosimus declared that he had settled nothing definitely, shortly after this, Zosimus became involved in a dispute with the African bishops in regard to the right of appeal to the Roman See clerics who had been condemned by their bishops. The pope at once accepted the appeal, and sent legates with letters to Africa to investigate the matter, another, potentially wiser, course would have been to have first referred Apiarius to the ordinary course of appeal in Africa itself. Zosimus next made the mistake of basing his action on a reputed canon of the First Council of Nicaea. This mistake ignited a serious disagreement over the appeal, which continued after the death of Zosimus, Zosimus was buried in the sepulchral Church of St. Laurence in Agro Verano. List of Catholic saints List of popes Opera Omnia by Migne Patrologia Latina
25.
Pope Symmachus
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Pope Symmachus was Pope from 22 November 498 to his death in 514. His tenure was marked by a serious schism over who was elected pope by the citizens of Rome. Symmachus was baptized in Rome, where he became Archdeacon of the Roman Church under Pope Anastasius II, Symmachus was elected pope on 22 November 498 in the Constantinian basilica. Both factions agreed to allow the Gothic King Theodoric the Great to arbitrate and he ruled that the one who was elected first and whose supporters were the most numerous should be recognized as pope. This was a political decision. An investigation favored Symmachus and his election was recognized as proper, Symmachus proceeded to call a synod, to be held at Rome on 1 March 499, which was attended by 72 bishops and all of the Roman clergy. Afterwards he was assigned the diocesis of Nuceria in Campania, in 501, the Senator Rufius Postumius Festus, a supporter of Laurentius, accused Symmachus of various crimes. The initial charge was that Symmachus celebrated Easter on the wrong date, the king Theodoric summoned him to Ariminum to respond to the charge. The pope arrived only to discover a number of charges, including unchastity. Symmachus panicked, fleeing from Ariminum in the middle of the night only one companion. His flight proved to be a miscalculation, as it was regarded as an admission of guilt, Laurentius was brought back to Rome by his supporters, but a sizeable group of the clergy, including most of the most senior clerics, withdrew from communion with him. A visiting bishop, Peter of Altinum, was appointed by Theodoric to celebrate Easter 502 and assume the administration of the See, pending the decision of a synod to be convened following Easter. Presided over by the other Italian metropolitans, Peter II of Ravenna, Laurentius of Milan, and Marcellianus of Aquileia, although the majority of the assembled bishops agreed with this, the Apostolic Visitor could not be made to withdaw without Theodorics permission, this was not forthcoming. In response to this deadlock, rioting by the citizens of Rome increased, causing a number of bishops to flee Rome, King Theodoric refused their request to move the Synod, ordering them instead to reconvene on 1 September. On 27 August the King wrote to the Bishops that he was sending two of the Majores Domus nostrae, Gudila and Bedeulphus, to see to it that the Synod assembled in safety, upon reconvening, matters were no less acrimonious. Symmachus retreated to St. Peters and refused to come out, the Life of Symmachus, however, presents these killings as part of the street-fighting between the supporters of Senators Festus and Probinus on the one side, and Senator Faustus on the other. The attacks were directed particularly against clerics, including Dignissimus a priest of S. Pietro in Vinculis, giovanni e Paolo, though the rhetoric of the passage extends the violence to anyone who was a supporter of Symmachus, man or woman, cleric or layperson. It was unsafe for a cleric to walk about in Rome at night, at this point, the synod petitioned king Theodoric once again, asking permission to dissolve the meeting and return home
26.
Pope Paschal II
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Pope Paschal II, born Ranierius, was Pope from 13 August 1099 to his death in 1118. A monk of the Cluniac order, he was created Cardinal-Priest of San Clemente by Pope Gregory VII in 1073 and he was consecrated as pope in succession to Pope Urban II on 19 August 1099. His reign of almost twenty years was long for a pope of the Middle Ages. He was born in Bleda, near Forlì, Romagna, in the long struggle with the Holy Roman Emperors over investiture, he zealously carried on the Hildebrandine policy in favor of papal privilege, but with only partial success. The future Emperor Henry V took advantage of his fathers excommunication to rebel, even to the point of seeking out Paschal II for absolution for associating with his father, Henry IV. But, Henry V was even more persistent in maintaining the right of investiture than Emperor Henry IV had been before his death in 1105. The imperial Diet at Mainz invited Paschal II to visit Germany and settle the trouble in January 1106, but the Pope in the Council of Guastalla simply renewed the prohibition of investiture. Preparations were made for the coronation on 12 February 1111, but the Romans rose in revolt against Henry, and the German king retired, taking the Pope and Curia with him. After 61 days of imprisonment, during which Prince Robert I of Capuas Norman army was repulsed on its rescue mission. Henry V was then crowned in St. Peters on 13 April 1111, Emperor Henry V at once laid claim to Matildas lands as imperial fiefs and forced the Pope to flee from Rome. Paschal II returned after the Emperors withdrawal at the beginning of 1118, Pope Paschal II ordered the building of the a basilica of Santi Quattro Coronati on the ashes of the one burned during the Norman sack of Rome in 1084. During Paschals trip to France in 1106-1107, he consecrated the Cluniac church of Notre Dame at La Charité-sur-Loire, in 1116, Paschal II, at the behest of Count Ramon Berenguer III, issued a crusade for the capture of Tarragona. This was something the patriarch could not do in face of opposition from the majority of clergy, the world. Paschals demand remained the status quo condition for re-unification of the Churches, the first bishop of America was appointed during Paschal IIs reign, nearly four centuries before Columbus first voyage across the Atlantic. Erik Gnupsson was given the province of Greenland and Vinland, the believed to refer to what is now Newfoundland. Pope Paschal II issued the bull Pie Postulatio Voluntatis on 15 February 1113 and it also confirmed the orders acquisitions and donations in Europe and Asia and exempted it from all authority save that of the Pope. First Council of the Lateran Concordat of Worms This article incorporates text from a now in the public domain, Chisholm, Hugh. Herbermann, Charles, ed. Pope Paschal II
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Santa Maria Antiqua
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Santa Maria Antiqua is a Roman Catholic Marian church in Rome, Italy, built in the 5th century in the Forum Romanum, and for a long time the monumental access to the Palatine imperial palaces. Located at the foot of the Palatine Hill, Santa Maria Antiqua is the oldest Christian monument in the Roman Forum, the church contains the earliest Roman depiction of Santa Maria Regina, the Virgin Mary as a Queen, from the 6th century. Built in the middle of the 5th century on the slope of the Palatine Hill. The church contains a collection of wall paintings from the 6th to late 8th century. The discovery of these paintings have many theories on the development of early medieval art. The church was abandoned in the 9th century after an earthquake buried the buildings, therefore, Santa Maria Antiqua represents a key element for the understanding of the cultural and urban development of the Roman Forum from Antiquity into the first centuries of the Christian period. From 1980 to 2012 the monument was closed to the general public, following a conservation program carried out by the Soprintendenza per il Patrimonio Storico in partnership with World Monuments Fund, the church is now open for tours. Santa Maria Antiqua is a church in the Roman Forum. The church itself is not always open to the public, owing to ongoing digging which has started in 2004 under the aegis of the World Monuments Fund and these frescoes date to a period of iconoclasm when in the East, figures in churches were destroyed. Pope John VII used this church in the early 8th century as the seat of the bishop of Rome, the church was partially destroyed in 847, when an earthquake caused parts of the imperial palaces to collapse and cover the church. Santa Maria Antiqua suffered further damages during the Norman Sack of Rome, the church of Santa Maria Liberatrice was built in 1617 on its ruins, but then demolished in 1900 to bring the remains of the old church to light. Santa Maria Antiqua was closed for restoration from 1980 to 2016, the heavily layered walls of Santa Maria Antiqua host numerous frescoes of varying artistic style and adaption during its time of intense decoration from the sixth to the ninth century. Each alcove, wall and altar can be attributed to different times and trends of style representative of its artists and patrons, including the Popes Martin I, John VII, Zachary, the amount of erosion and destruction makes obtaining an accurate record of the styles difficult. Using the fragments of the frescoes, archaeologists and historians have assembled a rough chronology of the decorations, the change of style at Santa Maria Antiqua is recognized through its layering of trends and styles. Rome changed hands multiple times during Santa Maria Antiquas use, the defeat of the Western Roman Empire by the Goths in the fifth century gave way to Byzantine and Lombard influence in the late fifth to mid eighth centuries. This continual change in influences is thought to be a factor in the different styles in this church. Influences can also be traced through remaining inscriptions, Greek in Pope Martin Is decorations, Greek and Latin in Pope John VIIs, the Palimpsest Wall, located in the Presbytery has at least six layers of decoration, representing different styles, dates and influences. The first two layers from the fourth to sixth century are of Ancient Roman Pagan mosaics, which quickly were replaced by the earliest frescoes of Santa Maria Antiqua, about two percent of these mosaics survive because they were overpainted with fresco
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Translation (relic)
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Translations could be accompanied by many acts, including all-night vigils and processions, often involving entire communities. The solemn translation of relics is not treated as the recognition of sanctity. This process is known as local canonization, the date of a translation of a saints relics was celebrated as a feast day in its own right. For example, on January 27 is celebrated the translation of the relics of St. John Chrysostom from the Armenian village of Comana to Constantinople, the most commonly celebrated feast days, however, are the dies natales. The relics of Saint Thyrsus at Sozopolis, Pisidia, in Asia Minor, were brought to Constantinople and his cult became popular in the Iberian Peninsula, where he is known as San Tirso or Santo Tirso. Some of his relics were brought to France, Thyrsus is thus the titular saint of the cathedral of Sisteron in the Basses Alpes, Thyrsus is thus the patron saint of Sisteron. Liborius of Le Mans became patron saint of Paderborn, in Germany, in the early church, the disturbance, let alone the division, of the remains of martyrs and other saints, was not of concern or interest, much less practised. It was assumed that they would remain permanently in their often unidentified resting places in cemeteries, then, martyriums began to be built over the site of the burial of saints. The earliest recorded removal of remains was that of Saint Babylas at Antioch in 354. However, partly perhaps because Constantinople lacked the many graves of Rome, translations soon became common in the Eastern Empire. The Eastern capital was able to acquire the remains of Saints Timothy, Andrew, the division of bodies also began, the 5th century theologian Theodoretus declaring that Grace remains entire with every part. An altar slab dated 357, found in North Africa but now in the Louvre, non-anatomical relics, above all that of the True Cross, were divided and widely distributed from the 4th century. In the 4th century, Basil the Great requested of the ruler of Scythia Minor, Junius Soranus, the sending of Sabbas relics and the writing of the actual letter has been attributed to Bretannio. This letter is the oldest known writing to be composed on Romanian soil and was written in Greek. The spread of all over Europe from the 8th century onward is explained by the fact that after 787. New churches, situated in areas newly converted to Christianity, needed relics, according to one legend concerning Saint Paternian, the inhabitants of Fano competed with those of Cervia for possession of his relics. Cervia would be left with a finger, while Fano would possess the rest of the saints relics, the translation of relics was a solemn and important event. In 1261, the relics of Lucian of Beauvais and his two companions were placed in a new reliquary by William of Grès, the bishop of Beauvais
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Alexius of Rome
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Saint Alexius or Alexis of Rome or Alexis of Edessa was an Eastern saint whose veneration was later transplanted to Rome. The relocation of the cult to Rome was facilitated by the belief that the saint was a native of Rome and had died there, the Greek version of his legend made Alexius the only son of Euphemianus, a wealthy Christian Roman of the senatorial class. Alexius fled his marriage to follow his holy vocation. After his death, his family found writings on his body which told them who he was and how he had lived his life of penance from the day of his wedding, St Alexius cult developed in Syria and spread throughout the Eastern Roman Empire by the 9th century. Only from the end of the 10th century did his name begin to appear in any books in the West. Since before the 8th century, there was on the Aventine in Rome a church that was dedicated to St Boniface, in 972 Pope Benedict VII transferred this almost abandoned church to the exiled Greek metropolitan, Sergius of Damascus. The latter erected beside the church a monastery for Greek and Latin monks, to the name of St Boniface was now added that of St Alexius as titular saint of the church and monastery known as Santi Bonifacio e Alessio. It is evidently Sergius and his monks who brought to Rome the veneration of St Alexius, while the Roman Catholic Church continues to recognize St Alexius as a saint, his feast was removed from the General Roman Calendar in 1969. The Tridentine Calendar gave his feast day the rank of Simple but by 1862 it had become a Semidouble and, in Rome itself and it was reduced again to the rank of Simple in 1955 and in 1960 became a Commemoration. The Eastern Orthodox Church venerates St Alexius on 17 March, five Byzantine Emperors, four Emperors of Trebizond and numerous other eastern European and Russian personalities have borne his name, see Alexius. Saint Alexis Parish and School, located in Wexford, Pennsylvania, is named for St Alexius, stefano Landi wrote an opera about him. Camilla de Rossi wrote an oratorio about him, rimsky-Korsakov wrote a secular cantata about him. Alexander Radishchev, in his Journey from St Petersburg to Moscow, refers to the story of St Alexis as sung by a blind soldier begging in Klin, mikhail Kuzmin wrote a play about the life of St. Alexis. St Alexius is also the Patron Saint of the institute known as the Alexians. The tale of St Alexius has parallels with that of The Prodigal Son, as it appears in Legenda aurea. A Biographical Dictionary of the Saints, St. Louis, Missouri, B
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Donor portrait
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A donor portrait or votive portrait is a portrait in a larger painting or other work showing the person who commissioned and paid for the image, or a member of his, or her, family. Donor portraits are very common in works of art, especially paintings, of the Middle Ages and Renaissance. Often, even late into the Renaissance, the portraits, especially when of a whole family, will be at a much smaller scale than the principal figures. By the mid-15th century donors began to be integrated into the main scene, as bystanders. The purpose of donor portraits was to memorialize the donor and his family, to do so during prayer is in accord with late medieval concepts of prayer, fully developed by the Modern Devotion. This process may be intensified if the praying beholder is the donor himself, when a whole building was financed, a sculpture of the patron might be included on the facade or elsewhere in the building. If they are on different sides, the males are normally on the left for the viewer, in family groups the figures are usually divided by gender. Groups of members of confraternities, sometimes with their wives, are also found, additional family members, from births or marriages, might be added later, and deaths might be recorded by the addition of small crosses held in the clasped hands. Although none have survived, there is evidence of donor portraits in small chapels from the Early Christian period. Their scale and composition are alone among large-scale survivals, also in Ravenna, there is a small mosaic of Justinian, possibly originally of Theoderic the Great in the Basilica of SantApollinare Nuovo. For example, a chapel at Mals in South Tyrol has two fresco donor figures from before 881, one lay and the other of a cleric holding a model building. In subsequent centuries bishops, abbots and other clergy were the donors most commonly shown, other than royalty, in these the portrait may adopt a praying pose, or may pose more like the subject in a purely secular portrait. The Wilton Diptych of Richard II of England was a forerunner of these, in some of these diptychs the portrait of the original owner has been over-painted with that of a later one. The person presenting might be a courtier making a gift to his prince, a later convention was for figures at about three-quarters of the size of the main ones. This innovation, however, did not appear in Venetian painting until the turn of the next century, normally the main figures ignore the presence of the interlopers in narrative scenes, although bystanding saints may put a supportive hand on the shoulder in a side-panel. But in devotional subjects such as a Madonna and Child, which were likely to have been intended for the donors home. Before the 15th century a physical likeness may not have often attempted, or achieved. In an often-quoted passage, John Pope-Hennessy caricatured 16th-century Italian donors, the elders in the story of Suzannah were some of the few figures respectable Venetians were unwilling to impersonate
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Antipope Clement III
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Guibert or Wibert of Ravenna was an Italian prelate, archbishop of Ravenna, who was elected pope in 1080 in opposition to Pope Gregory VII. This led to the known as the Investiture Controversy. He is considered an anti-pope by the Roman Catholic Church and he was born into the noble family of the Correggio, probably between 1020 and 1030. He had family connections to the Margraves of Canossa, a cleric, he was appointed to the Imperial chancellorship for Italy by the Empress Agnes in 1058, which position he held until 1063. And, although Pope Alexander II was reluctant to confirm this appointment, he was persuaded by Hildebrand to do so, Guibert then took an oath of allegiance to the pope and his successors and was installed at Ravenna in 1073. Shortly after Pope Alexander II died Hildebrand was proclaimed the next pope, having attended Gregorys first Lenten Synods, Guibert refused to attend the next, the Lenten Synod of 1075, although he was bound by oath to obey the summons to attend. Guibert was unsympathetic to Gregorys opposition to the Imperial Court, which Guibert had served as Chancellor of Italy, by his absence Guibert demonstrated his opposition to Gregory VII, who now suspended him for his refusal to attend the synod. It was in same year that Emperor Henry IV began his open war on Gregory. At the synod of Worms in January 1076, a resolution was adopted deposing Gregory, among these must have been Guibert, for he shared in the sentence of excommunication and interdiction which Gregory VII pronounced against the guilty Transpadine bishops at the Lenten Synod of 1076. In response to the action of Henrys 1076 Synod of Worms against Gregory, Gregory excommunicated Henry IV. During the next four years, the Emperor and the Pope reconciled but then quarreled again, Henry recognized Guibert as pope, swearing that he would lead him to Rome, and there receive from his hands the imperial crown. With Rudolph of Swabia, leader of the nobles, having fallen mortally wounded at the Battle of Mersburg in 1080. In 1081, he marched on Rome, but failed to force his way into the city, which he finally accomplished only in 1084. Gregory took refuge in Castel SantAngelo, and refused to entertain Henrys overtures, Gregory, however, insisted as a necessary preliminary that Henry should appear before a council and do penance. The Emperor, while pretending to submit to terms, tried hard to prevent the meeting of the bishops. A small number however assembled, and, in accordance with their wishes, john Lateran as Clement III, and on 31 March Guibert crowned Henry IV as Emperor at St. Peters. Pope Gregory was liberated, but the people were incensed by the excesses of his Norman allies, and he was compelled to leave Rome. Disappointed and sorrowing he withdrew to Monte Cassino, and later to the castle of Salerno by the sea, in 1084, three days before his death he withdrew all the censures of excommunication that he had pronounced, except those against the two chief offenders Henry and Guibert
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Arabesque
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Another definition is Foliate ornament, used in the Islamic world, typically using leaves, derived from stylised half-palmettes, which were combined with spiralling stems. It usually consists of a design which can be tiled or seamlessly repeated as many times as desired. Interlace and scroll decoration are used for most other types of similar patterns. Arabesques are an element of Islamic art but they develop what was already a long tradition by the coming of Islam. The past and current usage of the term in respect of European art can only be described as confused, some Western arabesques derive from Islamic art, but others are closely based on Ancient Roman decorations. At the popular level such theories often appear uninformed as to the context of the arabesque. The case for a connection with Islamic mathematics is much stronger for the development of the patterns with which arabesques are often combined in art. The arabesque developed out of the traditions of plant-based scroll ornament in the cultures taken over by the early Islamic conquests. Early Islamic art, for example in the famous 8th century mosaics of the Great Mosque of Damascus, often contained plant-scroll patterns, in that case by Byzantine artists in their usual style. The plants most often used are stylized versions of the acanthus, with its emphasis on leafy forms, the evolution of these forms into a distinctive Islamic type was complete by the 11th century, having begun in the 8th or 9th century in works like the Mshatta Facade. In the process of development the plant forms became increasing simplified and stylized, typically, in earlier forms there is no attempt at realism, no particular species of plant is being imitated, and the forms are often botanically impossible or implausible. Leaf forms typically spring sideways from the stem, in what is called a half-palmette form, named after its distant and very different looking ancestor in Ancient Egyptian. New stems spring from leaf-tips, a type often called honeysuckle, the early Mshatta Facade is recognisably some sort of vine, with conventional leaves on the end of short stalks and bunches of grapes or berries, but later forms usually lack these. Flowers are rare until about 1500, after which they more often, especially in Ottoman art. In Ottoman art the large and feathery leaves called saz became very popular, eventually floral decoration mostly derived from Chinese styles, especially those of Chinese porcelain, replaces the arabesque in many types of work, such as pottery, textiles and miniatures. The arabesques and geometric patterns of Islamic art are often said to arise from the Islamic view of the world, the depiction of animals and people is generally discouraged, which explains the preference for abstract geometric patterns. There are two modes to arabesque art, the first recalls the principles that govern the order of the world. These principles include the basics of what makes objects structurally sound and, by extension
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Acanthus (ornament)
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The acanthus is one of the most common plant forms to make foliage ornament and decoration. The motif is found in decoration in nearly every medium, the relationship between acanthus ornament and the acanthus plant has been the subject of a long-standing controversy. Alois Riegl argued in his Stilfragen that acanthus ornament originated as a version of the palmette. In Ancient Greek architecture acanthus ornament appears extensively in the capitals of the Corinthian and Composite orders, the oldest known example of a Corinthian column is in the Temple of Apollo Epicurius at Bassae in Arcadia, c. 450–420 BC, but the order was used sparingly in Greece before the Roman period, Acanthus decoration continued in popularity in Byzantine, Romanesque, and Gothic architecture. It saw a revival in the Renaissance, and still is used today. A few of her toys were in it, and a tile had been placed over the basket. An acanthus plant had grown through the basket, mixing its spiny. After centuries without decorated capitals, they were revived enthusiastically in Romanesque architecture, often using foliage designs, curling acanthus-type leaves occur frequently in the borders and ornamented initial letters of illuminated manuscripts, and are commonly found in combination with palmettes in woven silk textiles. In the Renaissance classical models were followed closely, and the acanthus becomes clearly recognisable again in large-scale architectural examples. The term is also found describing more stylized and abstracted foliage motifs. Palmette Arabesque Media related to Acanthus ornaments at Wikimedia Commons
34.
Italo-Norman
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Normans first arrived in Italy as pilgrims probably either on their way or returning from Rome or Jerusalem also visiting the shrine at Monte Gargano in the late tenth and early eleventh century. In 1017, the Lombard lords in Apulia recruited their assistance against the power of the Byzantine Catapanate of Italy. They began the conquest of Sicily in 1061 and it was complete by 1091, indeed, Italo-Normans were the primary Norman mercenaries in the employ of the Byzantine emperors. Many found service in Rome, under the pope, and some went to Spain to join the Reconquista, in 1096, the Normans of Bohemond of Taranto joined the First Crusade and set up the principality of Antioch in the Levant. In 1130, under Roger II, they created the Kingdom of Sicily, encompassing the whole of their conquests in the peninsula, from 1135 to 1155 Roger II even created the Italo-Norman Kingdom of Africa in coastal Tunisia and Tripolitania. He planned to unite this African kingdom to his Kingdom of Sicily and this Italo-Norman kingdom in southern Italy, when founded in 1130, united the whole of southern Italy under the same rule for the first time since the Roman Empire fell. The Roger II dynasty continued with William I and William II, hauteville family Drengot family Filangieri Pellegrino - baroni di San Demetrio]] Parisi or Parisio - conti di Aderno]] Loud, Graham A. The Age of Robert Guiscard, Southern Italy and the Norman Conquest Essex, Norman conquest of southern Italy Anglo-Norman, the Normans in England Cambro-Norman, the Normans in Wales Hiberno-Norman, the Normans in Ireland Scoto-Norman, the Normans in Scotland
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Robert Guiscard
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Robert Guiscard was a Norman adventurer remembered for the conquest of southern Italy and Sicily. Robert was born into the Hauteville family in Normandy, went on to become Count of Apulia and Calabria and his sobriquet, in contemporary Latin Viscardus and Old French Viscart, is often rendered the Resourceful, the Cunning, the Wily, the Fox, or the Weasel. In Italian sources he is often Roberto il Guiscardo or Roberto dAltavilla, from 999 to 1042 the Normans in Italy, coming first as pilgrims, were mainly mercenaries serving at various times the Byzantines and a number of Lombard nobles. The first of the independent Norman Lords was Rainulf Drengot who established himself in the fortress of Aversa becoming Count of Aversa, in 1038 there arrived William Iron-Arm and Drogo, the two eldest sons of Tancred of Hauteville, a petty noble of the Cotentin in Normandy. The two joined in the revolt of the Lombards against Byzantine control of Apulia, by 1040 the Byzantines had lost most of that province. Robert Guiscard was the son of Tancred of Hauteville and eldest by his second wife Fressenda. According to the Byzantine historian Anna Comnena, he left Normandy with only five mounted riders, upon arriving in Langobardia in 1047, he became the chief of a roving robber-band. He was a man of stature, surpassing even the biggest men, he had a ruddy complexion, fair hair, broad shoulders, eyes that all. In a well-built man one looks for breadth here and slimness there, in him all was admirably well-proportioned and elegant. Homer remarked of Achilles that when he shouted his hearers had the impression of a multitude in uproar, but Robert’s bellow, so they say, put tens of thousands to flight. Lands were scarce in Apulia at the time and the roving Guiscard could not expect any grant from Drogo, then reigning, Guiscard soon joined Prince Pandulf IV of Capua in his ceaseless wars with Prince Guaimar IV of Salerno. The next year, however, Guiscard left Pandulf, according to Amatus of Montecassino because Pandulf reneged on a promise of a castle, Guiscard returned to his brother Drogo and asked to be granted a fief. Drogo, who had just finished campaigning in Calabria, gave Guiscard command of the fortress of Scribla, dissatisfied with this position, Guiscard moved to the castle of San Marco Argentano. During his time in Calabria, Guiscard married his first wife, Alberada De Macon and she was the daughter of Reginald I, Count of Burgundy, also known as Renaud I De Macon, Baron of Buonalbergo, and Girard of Buonalbergo, and his wife Alice of Normandy. The Lombards turned against their allies, and Pope Leo IX determined to expel the Norman freebooters. His army was defeated, however, at the Battle of Civitate sul Fortore in 1053 by the Normans, Humphrey commanded the centre against the popes Swabian troops. Early in the battle Count Richard of Aversa, commanding the right van, put the Lombards to flight and chased them down, Guiscard had come all the way from Calabria to command the left. Honored for his actions at Civitate, Guiscard succeeded Humphrey as count of Apulia in 1057, in company with Roger, his youngest brother, Guiscard carried on the conquest of Apulia and Calabria, while Richard conquered the principality of Capua
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Atrium (architecture)
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In architecture, an atrium is a large open air or skylight covered space surrounded by a building. Atria were a feature in Ancient Roman dwellings, providing light. Modern atria, as developed in the late 19th and 20th centuries, are several stories high and having a glazed roof or large windows. Atria are a design feature because they give their buildings a feeling of space. The atrium has become a key feature of buildings in recent years. Atria are popular with building users, building designers and building developers, users like atria because they create a dynamic and stimulating interior that provides shelter from the external environment while maintaining a visual link with that environment. Designers enjoy the opportunity to new types of spaces in buildings. Fire control is an important aspect of contemporary atrium design due to criticism that poorly designed atria could allow fire to spread to a buildings upper stories more quickly. The Latin word atrium referred to the central court from which enclosed rooms led off. The impluvium was a shallow pool sunken into the floor to catch rainwater from the roof, some surviving examples are beautifully decorated. The opening in the ceiling above the pool called for some means of support for the roof, as the centrepiece of the house, the atrium was the most lavishly-furnished room. Also, it contained the chapel to the ancestral spirits. The term was used for a variety of spaces in public and religious buildings, mostly forms of arcaded courtyards. Byzantine churches were often entered through such a space, the 19th century brought the industrial revolution with great advances in iron and glass manufacturing techniques. Courtyards could then have horizontal glazing overhead, eliminating some of the elements from the space. One of the public spaces at Federation Square, in Melbourne, Australia, is called The Atrium and is a street-like space, five storeys high with glazed walls. The structure and glazing pattern follow the system of fractals used to arrange the panels on the rest of the facades at Federation Square, as of 2016, the Burj Al Arab hotel in Dubai, has the worlds tallest atrium at 590 feet. The Luxor Hotel, in Las Vegas, Nevada, has the largest atrium in the world at 29 million cubic feet, cavaedium Courtyard Quadrangle Roth, Leland M. Understanding Architecture, Its Elements History and Meaning
37.
Carlo Fontana
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Carlo Fontana was an Italian architect originating from todays Canton Ticino, who was in part responsible for the classicizing direction taken by Late Baroque Roman architecture. There seems to be no proof that he belonged to the family of architects of the same name. Born in Brusato, near Como, Fontana went to Rome before 1655 and he became a draughtsman for the architectural plans of Pietro da Cortona, Carlo Rainaldi, and Gian Lorenzo Bernini. Bernini employed him for nearly a decade in diverse projects and his first independent project may be the church of San Biagio in Campitelli, completed by 1665. His façade at San Marcello al Corso is described as one of his most successful works. Among his other works were the designs for a Jesuit complex in Azpeitia, Spain, in the village of Loyola where Saint Ignatius of Loyola. This grandiose basilica was an influence upon baroque architecture of the New World. Fontana was an able artist and a designer, but lacked the innovation that characterized early Baroque architects like Cortona. In addition, he was successful as an architect than as a writer. By order of Innocent XI he wrote a historical description of the Templum Vaticanum. Fontana made a calculation of the expense of St. Peters from the beginning to 1694. He also published works on the Colosseum, the Aqueducts, the inundation of the Tiber, furthermore, twenty seven manuscript volumes of his writings and sketches are preserved in the Royal Library at Windsor. Fontana was principe of the Accademia di San Luca in 1686, fontanas studio was one of the most prolific in Europe, its designs for fountains, tombs, and altars were often imitated or reproduced abroad. Other Fontana pupils include Giovan Battista Contini and Carlo Francesco Bizzaccheri, rebuilding and refurbishing, with Francesco Borromini and others Palazzo Montecitorio, the headquarters of the Camera dei Deputati of the Italian government since 1871. Façade of the church of San Marcello al Corso, the conventional scrolls that ordinarily flank the upper central section are appropriately replaced with the martyrs palms. Church of Santa Maria dei Miracoli, in collaboration with Gian Lorenzo Bernini, church of San Biagio in Campitelli. Interior of Basilica dei Santi Apostoli, the fountain in the left of the Piazza San Pietro. The fountain in front of Santa Maria in Trastevere, one of the oldest fountains of Rome, was restored by Fontana The Cybo Chapel in Santa Maria del Popolo, sistine Chapel in Santa Maria Maggiore
38.
Spolia
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The practice was common in late antiquity. Entire obsolete structures, including foundations, are known to have been demolished to enable the construction of new structures. According to Baxter, two churches in Worcester are thought to have been deconstructed so that their stone could be repurposed by St. Wulstan to construct a cathedral in 1084. And the parish churches of Atcham, Wroxeter, and Upton Magna are largely built of stone taken from the buildings of Viroconium Cornoviorum, Spolia in the medieval Islamic world include the columns in the hypostyle mosques of Kairouan, Gaza and Cordoba. Interpretations of spolia generally alternate between the ideological and the pragmatic, ideological readings might describe the re-use of art and architectural elements from former empires or dynasties as triumphant or as revivalist. Pragmatic readings emphasize the utility of re-used materials, if there is a supply of old marble columns available, for example. Clive Foss has noted that in the fifth century crosses were inscribed on the stones of buildings, as at Ankara. Clive Foss suggests that the purpose of this was to ward off the daimones that lurked in stones that had been consecrated to pagan usage and it is a way of acquiring the power of rival gods for ones own benefit, Liz James observes. Inscribing a cross works similarly, sealing the object for Christian purposes, crisis of the 3rd Century Roman Empire#Tetrarchy and Constantine the Great Dominate Palimpsest, the practice of erasing old texts from scarce old vellum to write new text. Diocletians Palace, a Roman Imperial palace in Split, re-purposed by later inhabitants as a town, there is a large modern literature on spolia, and the following list makes no claim to be comprehensive. J. Alchermes, Spolia in Roman Cities of the Late Empire, Legislative Rationales and Architectural Reuse, Dumbarton Oaks Papers 48, S. Bassett, The urban image of late antique Constantinople. L. Bosman, The power of tradition, Spolia in the architecture of St. Peters in the Vatican, brenk, Spolia from Constantine to Charlemagne, Aesthetics versus Ideology, Dumbarton Oaks Papers 41, 103–09. Brenk, Sugers Spolien, Arte Medievale 1, 101–107, R. Brilliant, I piedistalli del giardino di Boboli, spolia in se, spolia in re, Prospettiva 31, 2–17. Bruzelius, Columpnas marmoreas et lapides antiquarum ecclesiarum, The Use of Spolia in the Churches of Charles II of Anjou, in Arte dOccidente, studi in onore di Angiola Maria Romanini, 187–95. F. W. Deichmann, Die Spolien in der spätantike Architektur, J. Elsner, From the Culture of Spolia to the Cult of Relics, The Arch of Constantine and the Genesis of Late Antique Forms, Papers of the British School at Rome 68, 149–84. A. Esch, Spolien, Zum Wiederverwendung antike Baustücke und Skulpturen in mittelalterlichen Italien, Archiv für Kunstgeschichte 51, flood, The Medieval Trophy as an Art Historical Trope, Coptic and Byzantine Altars in Islamic Contexts, Muqarnas 18. J. M. Frey, Spolia in Fortifications and the Common Builder in Late Antiquity M. Greenhalgh, M. Greenhalgh, Spolia in fortifications, Turkey, Syria and North Africa, in Ideologie e pratiche del reimpiego nellalto medioevo. M. Fabricius Hansen, The eloquence of appropriation, prolegomena to an understanding of spolia in early Christian Rome, kiilerich, Making Sense of the Spolia in the Little Metropolis in Athens, Arte medievale n. s. anno IV,2,2005, 95-114
39.
Bell tower
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A bell tower is a tower that contains one or more bells, or that is designed to hold bells even if it has none. Church bell towers often incorporate clocks, and secular towers usually do, the Italian term campanile, deriving from the word campana meaning bell, is synonymous with bell tower, though in English usage Campanile tends to be used to refer to a free standing bell tower. A bell tower may also in some traditions be called a belfry, though this term may refer specifically to the substructure that houses the bells. The tallest free-standing bell tower in the world, approximately 110 m high, is the Joseph Chamberlain Memorial Clock Tower, located at the University of Birmingham, bells are rung from a tower to enable them to be heard at a distance. Church bells can signify the time for worshippers to go to church for a communal service and they are also rung on special occasions such as a wedding, or a funeral service. In some religious traditions they are used within the liturgy of the service to signify to people that a particular part of the service has been reached. A bell tower may have a bell, or a collection of bells which are tuned to a common scale. They may be stationary and chimed, rung randomly by swinging through a small arc and they may house a carillon or chimes, in which the bells are sounded by hammers connected via cables to a keyboard. These can be found in churches and secular buildings in Europe and America including college. A variety of electronic devices exist to simulate the sound of bells, some churches have an exconjuratory in the bell tower, a space where ceremonies were conducted to ward off weather-related calamities, like storms and excessive rain. The main bell tower of the Cathedral of Murcia has four, in addition, most Christian denominations ring church bells to call the faithful to worship, signalling the start of a mass or service of worship. The Christian tradition of the ringing of bells from a belltower is analogous to Islamic tradition of the adhan from a minaret. In AD400, Paulinus of Nola introduced church bells into the Christian Church, by the 11th century, bells housed in belltowers became commonplace. Historic bell towers exist throughout Europe, the Irish round towers are thought to have functioned in part as bell towers. Famous medieval European examples include Bruges, Ypres, Ghent, perhaps the most famous European free-standing bell tower, however, is the so-called Leaning Tower of Pisa, which is the campanile of the Duomo di Pisa in Pisa, Italy. In 1999 thirty-two Belgian belfries were added to the UNESCOs list of World Heritage Sites, in 2005 this list was extended with one Belgian and twenty-three Northern French belfries and is since known as Belfries of Belgium and France. In the Middle Ages, cities sometimes kept their important documents in belfries, not all are on a large scale, the bell tower of Katúň, in Slovakia, is typical of the many more modest structures that were once common in country areas. Archaic wooden bell towers survive adjoining churches in Lithuania and as well as in parts of Poland
40.
Cosmati
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The Cosmati were a Roman family, seven members of which, for four generations, were skilful architects, sculptors and workers in decorative geometric mosaic, mostly for church floors. Bands, panels and shaped reserves of intricate mosaic alternate with contrasting bands, guilloches, Pavements and revetments were executed in Cosmatesque technique, columns were inlaid with fillets and bands, and immovable church furnishings like cathedras and ambones were similarly treated. In addition, members of the Cosmati also engaged in commerce in ancient sculptures, more than one ancient Roman sculpture has survived with the name of one of these craftsmen incised in it. The following are the main known Cosmati, Lorenzo Jacopo Cosimo Luca Jacopo Deodato Giovanni The earliest recorded work was executed for a church at Fabieri in 1190,1294 tombs in Santa Maria sopra Minerva, in Santa Maria Maggiore, and in Santa Balbina. The chief signed works by Jacopo the younger and his brother Luca are at Anagni, a large number of other works by members and pupils of the same family, but unsigned, exist in Rome. These are mainly altars and baldacchini, choir-screens, paschal candlesticks, ambones, tombs, the magnificent cloisters of S. Paolo fuori le Mura, built about 1285 by Giovanni, the youngest of the Cosmati, are one of the most beautiful works of this school. The baldacchino of the basilica is a signed work of the Florentine Arnolfo di Cambio,1285, cum suo socio Petro. Other works of Arnolfo, such as the Braye tomb at Orvieto, in the crypt at Anagni is the largest section of undisturbed Cosmatesque flooring. Cosmatesque decoration is not entirely confined to Rome, or even to Italy and they are extremely unusual in England, more characteristic luxury flooring in England consisted of lead-glazed ceramic tiles painted in patterns. This mosaic is depicted in Hans Holbeins The Ambassadors, in detail, however, they differ widely from the purer Gothic of northern countries. Initial inspiration for the technique was Byzantine, transmitted through Ravenna and Sicily and this article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain, Chisholm, Hugh, ed. Cosmati. Catholic Encyclopedia 1908, Cosmati Mosaic Dorothy Glass,1984, linda Grant and Richard Mortimer,2002. Westminster Abbey, The Cosmati Pavements Courtauld Institute Research Papers,3, Cosmatesque Ornament, Flat Polychrome Geometric Patterns in Architecture On-line review Westminster Abbey, Protecting the ‘end of the world’ Pavement
41.
Chancel
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In church architecture, the chancel is the space around the altar, including the choir and the sanctuary, at the liturgical east end of a traditional Christian church building. It may terminate in an apse and it is generally the area used by the clergy and choir during worship, while the congregation is in the nave. Direct access may be provided by a door, usually on the south side of the church. In smaller churches, where the altar is backed by the outside east wall and there is no distinct choir, in churches with a retroquire area behind the altar, this may only be included in the broader definition of chancel. In a cathedral or other large church there may be a choir area at the start of the chancel, before reaching the sanctuary. All these may be included in the chancel, at least in architectural terms, in churches with less traditional plans the term may not be useful in either architectural or ecclesiastical terms. The chancel may be a step or two higher than the level of the nave, and the sanctuary is often raised still further and this is an arch which separates the chancel from the nave and transept of a church. As well as the altar, the sanctuary may house a credence table, in some churches, the congregation may gather on three sides or in a semicircle around the chancel. In some churches, the pulpit and lectern may be in the chancel, the word chancel derives from the French usage of chancel from the Late Latin word cancellus. This refers to the form of rood screens. The chancel was formerly known as the presbytery, because it was reserved for the clergy, a large chancel made most sense in monasteries and cathedrals where there was a large number of singing clergy and boys from a choir school to occupy the choir. These usually sat in the nave, with any lay congregation, however the screen enjoyed a small revival in the 19th century, after the passionate urgings of Augustus Pugin, who wrote A Treatise on Chancel Screens and Rood Lofts, and others. After the Reformation Protestant churches generally moved the forward, typically to the front of the chancel. The rear of deep chancels became little used in churches surviving from the Middle Ages, with the emphasis on sermons, and their audibility, some churches simply converted their chancels to seat part of the congregation. Fleming, John, Honour, Hugh, Pevsner, Nikolaus, Dictionary of Architecture,1980, Pevsner, Nikolaus, Priscilla Metcalf, The Cathedrals of England, Southern England,1985, Viking White, James F. The Cambridge Movement, The Ecclesiologists and the Gothic Revival,1962, Wipf and Stock Publishers, ISBN1592449379,9781592449378, google books Chancel
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Ciborium (architecture)
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In ecclesiastical architecture, a ciborium is a canopy or covering supported by columns, freestanding in the sanctuary, that stands over and covers the altar in a basilica or other church. It may also be known by the general term of baldachin. Early ciboria had curtains hanging from rods between the columns, so that the altar could be concealed from the congregation at points in the liturgy, smaller examples may cover other objects in a church. In a very large church, a ciborium is a way of visually highlighting the altar. The altar and ciborium are often set upon a dais to raise it above the floor of the sanctuary, a ciborium is also a covered, chalice-shaped container for Eucharistic hosts. In Italian the word is used for the tabernacle on the altar. The ciborium arose in the context of a range of canopies. Some of these were temporary and portable, including those using poles and textiles, examples can be seen on many coins, the Missorium of Theodosius I, the Chronography of 354, and other Late Antique works. This structure, erected under Constantine the Great, may itself have been important in spreading the idea of ciboria over altars. Ciboria were placed over the shrines of martyrs, which then had built over them. They also served to shelter the altar from dust and the like from high ceilings that could rarely be reached. This is described as a fastigium in the earliest sources, but was probably a ciborium, like most major early examples it was of silver, whose weight is given, presumably meaning that decorated silver plaques were fixed to a wood or stone framework. No early examples in precious metal have survived, but many are recorded in important churches, the ciborium commissioned by Justinian the Great for Hagia Sophia in Constantinople and described by Paulus Silentarius is now lost. The roof had eight panels rising to the globe and cross, an example of this type is in mosaic in the apse of the Saint Sophia Cathedral in Kiev, under a very large standing Virgin. It is placed in the church in order to represent concisely the crucifixion, burial and it similarly corresponds to the ark of the covenant of the Lord in which, it is written, is His Holy of Holies and His holy place. Next to it God commanded that two wrought Cherubim be placed on either side —for KIB is the ark, and OURIN is the effulgence, or the light, of God. The example by the Cosmati in the gallery is similar to another 12th-century Italian ciborium now in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, and that in the Basilica di San Nicola in Bari. By the Romanesque, gabled forms, as at SantAmbrogio, or ones with a top, as at the Euphrasian Basilica or St Marks
43.
Crypt
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A crypt is a stone chamber beneath the floor of a church or other building. It typically contains coffins, sarcophagi, or religious relics, originally, crypts were typically found below the main apse of a church, such as at the Abbey of Saint-Germain en Auxerre, but were later located beneath chancel, naves and transepts as well. Occasionally churches were raised high to accommodate a crypt at the level, such as St Michaels Church in Hildesheim. Crypt developed as a form of the Latin vault as it was carried over into Late Latin. It also served as a vault for storing important and/or sacred items, crypta, however, is also the female form of crypto hidden. The earliest known origin of both is in the Ancient Greek κρύπτω, the first person singular indicative of the verb to conceal, first known in the early Christian period, in particular North Africa at Chlef and Djemila in Algeria, and Byzantium at Saint John Studio in Constantinople. Where Christian churches have been built over mithraea, the mithraeum has often been adapted to serve as a crypt, crypts were introduced into Frankish church building in the mid-8th century, as a feature of its Romanization. Their popularity then spread widely in western Europe under Charlemagne. Examples from this period are most common in the early medieval West, for example in Burgundy at Dijon, after the 10th century the early medieval requirements of a crypt faded, as church officials permitted relics to be held in the main level of the church. By the Gothic period crypts were built, however burial vaults continued to be constructed beneath churches. In more modern terms, a crypt is most often a stone chambered burial vault used to store the deceased, crypts are usually found in cemeteries and under public religious buildings, such as churches or cathedrals, but are also occasionally found beneath mausolea or chapels on personal estates. Wealthy or prestigious families will often have a family crypt or vault in which all members of the family are interred, many royal families, for example, have vast crypts containing the bodies of dozens of former royalty. In some localities an above ground crypt is more commonly called a mausoleum, there was a trend in the 19th century of building crypts on medium to large size family estates, usually subtly placed on the edge of the grounds or more commonly incorporated into the cellar. After a change of owner these are often blocked up and the house deeds will not allow this area to be re-developed, catacomb Mausoleum Tumulus Ossuary Tomb Cemetery Media related to Crypt at Wikimedia Commons Chisholm, Hugh, ed. Crypt
44.
Cathedra
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A cathedra or bishops throne is the seat of a bishop. It is a symbol of the teaching authority in the Catholic Church, the Orthodox Church. A church into which a bishops official cathedra is installed is called a cathedral, the definitive example of a cathedra is that encased within the Triumph of the cathedra Petri designed by Gian Lorenzo Bernini in 1657 and completed and installed in 1666. It is a Byzantine throne with framed fragments of wood encased in the oak carcass. It was long believed to have used by the Apostle Saint Peter. Several rings facilitated its transportation during processions, Pope Alexander VII commissioned Bernini to build a monument to display this relic in a triumphant manner. Berninis gilded bronze throne, richly ornamented with bas-reliefs, encloses the relic, on January 17,1666 it was solemnly set above the altar of Saint Peters Basilica in Vatican City. Greater than life-sized sculptures of four Doctors of the Church form a guard, St. Ambrose and St. Athanasius on the left. Celebrated on February 22 in accordance with the calendar of saints, the Chair of St. Augustine represents one of the most ancient extant cathedrae in use. Named after the first Archbishop of Canterbury, St. Augustine of Canterbury, it is made of Purbeck Marble or Bethesda marble and those who argue for an older date suggest that it may have been used to crown the kings of Kent. Canterbury Cathedral, in which the cathedra is housed, maintains that the chair was once part of the furnishings of the shrine of St. Thomas Becket, since the Middle Ages, it has always been used in the triple enthronement of an Archbishop of Canterbury. He is seated on the throne in the quire as Diocesan Bishop, in the house as titular abbot. This is the occasion in which the cathedra is used. A second cathedra is used for other occasions at which the archbishop is present, the term ex cathedra, meaning from the chair, is used to designate official pronouncements of the pope intended for a world audience. The cathedra symbolizes the bishops authority to teach. According to Catholic dogma, the popes statements ex cathedra are infallible in matters of faith, the traditional position of the cathedra was in the apse, behind the high altar. It had been the position of the magistrate in the apse of the Roman basilica which provided the model type—and sometimes were adapted as the structures—for early Christian basilicas. In the Middle Ages, as came to be placed against the wall of the apse
45.
Apse
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In architecture, an apse is a semicircular recess covered with a hemispherical vault or semi-dome, also known as an Exedra. Smaller apses may also be in other locations, especially shrines, an apse is a semicircular recess covered with a hemispherical vault. Commonly, the apse of a church, cathedral or basilica is the semicircular or polygonal termination to the choir or sanctuary, in relation to church architecture it is generally the name given to where the altar is placed or where the clergy are seated. An apse is occasionally found in a synagogue, e. g. Maoz Haim Synagogue, the apse is separated from the main part of the church by the transept. Smaller apses are sometimes built in other than the east end. The domed apse became a part of the church plan in the early Christian era. In the Eastern Orthodox tradition, the apse is known as diaconicon. Various ecclesiastical features of which the apse may form part are drawn here, The chancel, directly to the east beyond the choir contains the High Altar. This area is reserved for the clergy, and was formerly called the presbytery. Hemi-cyclic choirs, first developed in the East, came to use in France in 470, famous northern French examples of chevets are in the Gothic cathedrals of Amiens, Beauvais and Reims. The word ambulatory refers to an aisle in the apse that passes behind the altar and choir. An ambulatory may refer to the passages that enclose a cloister in a monastery, or to other types of aisles round the edge of a church building
