Musée de Cluny – Musée national du Moyen Âge
The Musée de Cluny - Musée national du Moyen Âge the Musée national du Moyen Âge, or just the Musée de Cluny, or the Musée national du Moyen Âge – Thermes et hôtel de Cluny, is a museum in Paris, France. It is located in the 5th arrondissement at 6 Place Paul-Painlevé, south of the Boulevard Saint-Germain, between the Boulevard Saint-Michel and the Rue Saint-Jacques. Among the principal holdings of the museum are the six the Unicorn tapestries; the structure is the most outstanding example still extant of civic architecture in medieval Paris. It was the town house of the abbots of Cluny, started in 1334; the structure was rebuilt by Jacques d'Amboise, abbot in commendam of Cluny 1485–1510. In 1843, it was made into a public museum, to hold relics of France's Gothic past preserved in the building by Alexandre du Sommerard. Though it no longer possesses anything connected with the abbey of Cluny, the hôtel was at first part of a larger Cluniac complex that included a building for a religious college in the Place de la Sorbonne, just south of the present day Hôtel de Cluny along Boulevard Saint-Michel.
Although intended for the use of the Cluny abbots, the residence was taken over by Jacques d'Amboise, Bishop of Clermont and Abbot of Jumièges, rebuilt to its present form in the period of 1485-1500. Occupants of the house over the years have included the sister of Henry VIII of England, she resided here in 1515 after the death of her husband Louis XII, whose successor, Francis I, kept her under surveillance to see if she was pregnant. Seventeenth-century occupants included several papal nuncios, including Mazarin. In the 18th century, the tower of the Hôtel de Cluny was used as an observatory by the astronomer Charles Messier who, in 1771, published his observations in the landmark Messier catalog. In 1789, the hôtel was confiscated by the state, for the next three decades served several functions. At one point, it was owned by a physician who used the magnificent Flamboyant chapel on the first floor as a dissection room. In 1833, Alexandre du Sommerard bought the Hôtel de Cluny and installed his large collection of medieval and Renaissance objects.
Upon his death in 1842, the collection was purchased by the state. The present-day gardens, opened in 1971, include a "forêt de la licorne" inspired by the tapestries; the Hôtel de Cluny is constructed on the remnants of the third century Gallo-Roman baths, famous in their own right, which may be visited. In fact, the museum itself consists of two buildings: the frigidarium, where the vestiges of the Thermes de Cluny are, the Hôtel de Cluny itself, which houses its impressive collections; the Musée de Cluny houses a variety of important medieval artifacts, in particular its tapestry collection, which includes the fifteenth-century tapestry cycle La Dame à la Licorne. Other notable works stored there include early medieval sculptures from the seventh and eighth centuries, works of gold, antique furnishings, stained glass, illuminated manuscripts. Herman Melville visited Paris in 1849, the Hôtel de Cluny evidently fired his imagination; the structure figures prominently in Chapter 41 of Moby-Dick, when Ishmael, probing Ahab's "darker, deeper" motives, invokes the building as a symbol of man's noble but buried psyche.
In G. K. Chesterton's The Man Who Was Thursday, the narrator states that the wealthy Dr. Renard's rooms "were like the Musée de Cluny". List of museums in Paris Seven Ages of Paris, Alistair Horne, 2004 Michelin, the Green Guide: Paris, 2001 Album du Musée national du Moyen Âge, Thermes de Cluny, Pierre-Yves Le Pogam, Dany Sandron. Official website, in French: Official website, in English
Mary of Hungary, Queen of Naples
Mary of Hungary, of the Árpád dynasty, was Queen consort of the Kingdom of Naples. She was a daughter of his wife Elizabeth the Cuman. Mary served as Regent in Provence in 1290–1294 and in Naples in 1295–96, 1296–98, 1302, during the absences of her consort. Mary's mother followed the Shamanist religion, like other Cumans, she was considered a Pagan by contemporary Christians of Europe and Elizabeth had to convert to Catholicism in order to marry Maria's father, Stephen. It's unknown at what age she chose Christianity, but could be possible that she was raised as an Orthodox in the Hungarian royal court since her childhood. Mary was the second of six children, her sisters and Catherine both became Queen of Serbia. Another sister, Anna married Andronikos II Palaiologos. Mary's only brother was Ladislaus IV of Hungary, her paternal grandparents were his wife Maria Laskarina. Her maternal grandparents could have been leader of a tribe of Cumans and an unknown mother. In 1270, when Mary was only twelve years of age, she married the future Charles II of Naples.
The wedding took place in Naples on 6 August 1270. The marriage was intended as a double alliance between Naples and Hungary to support the intended conquest of Byzantium by Naples, but it did not serve its purpose as her brother in 1272 made an alliance with Byzantium as well. Maria spent 1278-82 in Provence with her consort. In 1284, she made her first political act: when Charles was taken captive by Aragon, she made the decision to free the Aragonese prisoner Beatrice of Hohenstaufen. In 1285, Charles remained in Aragonese prison, she did not take part in the regency for him in Naples, but remained in Provence, where she did take part in the administration from time to time, though she was not formal regent. In 1288, she took part in the negotiations of her consort's release, the same year, she made a peace treaty with Aragon. Charles was released the same year, they returned to Naples together. In 1290-94, she was regent for him in Provence. On 10 July 1290, Mary's brother, Ladislaus IV of Hungary died childless.
The question now was who would succeed him: he had four sisters, three of them outlived him, all four had married powerful rulers and all four had their own children. On 21 September 1290, Mary claimed the throne of Hungary, she was up against her two sisters and Elisabeth, their children, plus the children of her younger sister Anna. The Pope confirmed her sole rights in Hungary on 30 August 1295. However, Catherine's son, Stephen Vladislav II of Syrmia, was still a dangerous rival for Mary and Charles Martel. In the end, Charles Martel gave his cousin Slavonia as a compromise. Charles Martel was only titular King of Hungary, it was Mary's grandson who became King, Charles I of Hungary; the claims of the sisters Mary and Catherine were united in a common descendant when the pair's great-great-granddaughter, Mary of Hungary, ascended to the Hungarian throne in 1382. When the line of Charles Martel and the Angevins in Hungary died out, it was Sigismund, a remote descendant of Bela IV, whose family succeeded.
During 1290, Mary's sister Elisabeth fled from Bohemia with her son because her husband had lost favour and was executed, Mary allowed Elisabeth and her son to stay in Naples with her, before she became a nun, but escaped and remarried to Stephen Uroš II Milutin of Serbia Elizabeth's stay in Naples is documented during July 1300. In 1294, Mary returned with Charles to Naples, she was his representative at the negotiations with the Pope in 1295-96. Between 1296 and 1298, she served as regent of Naples in the absence of her consort, she served as regent the last time in 1302. After this, she lost her influence over states affairs, retired to pious duties such as to finance convents and churches. Mary's husband died in August 1309. There is no evidence that she became a nun, which has sometimes been rumored, but she did spent a lot of her time in convents, she lived in Naples for the rest of her life, where she died on 25 March 1323. She was buried in Naples at the Santa Maria Donna Regina. Mary and her husband had fourteen children: titular King of Hungary.
Margaret, Countess of Anjou and Maine, married at Corbeil August 16, 1290 Charles of Valois, brother of king of France, became ancestress of the Valois dynasty. Louis, Bishop of Toulouse canonized. Robert I King of Naples. Philip I Prince of Achaea and Taranto, Despot of Romania, Lord of Durazzo, titular Emperor of Constantinople. Blanche, married at Villebertran November 1, 1295 James II of Aragon. Raymond Berengar, Count of Provence, Prince of Piedmont and Andria. John, a priest. Tristan. Eleanor, married at Messina May 17, 1302 Frederick III of Sicily. Maria, married firstly at Palma de Majorca September 20, 1304 Sancho I of Majorca, married secondly 1326 Jaime de Ejerica. Peter, Count of Gravina John, Duke of Durazzo, Prince of Achaea, Count of Gravina, married March 1318 Matilda of Hainaut, married secondly November 14, 1321 Agnes of Périgord. Beatrice, married firstly April 1305 Azzo VIII d'Este, Marquis of Ferrara, married secondly 1309 Bertrand III of Baux, Count of Andria. Marie of Hungary is a
Peter III of Aragon
Peter III of Aragon, known as Peter the Great, was King of Aragon, King of Valencia, Count of Barcelona from 1276 to his death. At the invitation of some rebels, he conquered the Kingdom of Sicily and became King of Sicily in 1282, pressing the claim of his wife, uniting the kingdom to the crown, he was one of the greatest of medieval Aragonese monarchs. Peter was the eldest son of his second wife Violant of Hungary. Among betrothals of his youth, he was betrothed to Eudoxia, the youngest daughter of Emperor Theodore II Laskaris of Nicaea, in or before 1260; this contract was dissolved, after Eudoxia's brother lost the imperial throne in 1261, Eudoxia was instead married to the Count of Tenda. On 13 June 1262, Peter married Constance and heir of Manfred of Sicily. During his youth and early adulthood, Peter gained a great deal of military experience in his father's wars of the Reconquista against the Moors. On James I's death in 1276, the lands of the Crown of Aragon were divided amongst his two sons.
The Kingdom of Aragon, the Kingdom of Valencia and the Catalan counties went to Peter III as being the eldest son. Peter the Great and Constance of Sicily, Queen of Aragon were crowned in Zaragoza in November 1276 by the archbishop of Tarragona. Peter's first act as king was to complete the pacification of his Valencian territory, an action, underway before his father's death. However, a revolt soon broke out in Catalonia, led by the viscount of Cardona and abetted by Roger-Bernard III of Foix, Arnold Roger I of Pallars Sobirà, Ermengol X of Urgell; the rebels had developed a hatred for Peter as a result of the severity of his dealings with them during the reign of his father. Now they opposed him for not summoning the Catalan corts, confirming its privileges after his ascension to the throne. At the same time, a succession crisis continued in the County of Urgell; when Count Álvaro died in 1268, the families of his two wives, Constance, a daughter of Pedro Moncada of Béarn, Cecilia, a daughter of Roger-Bernard II of Foix, began a long fight over the inheritance of his county.
Meanwhile, a good portion of the county had been repossessed by Peter's father, James I, was thus inherited by Peter in 1276. In 1278, Ermengol X, Álvaro's eldest son, succeeded in recovering most of his lost patrimony and came to an agreement with Peter whereby he recognised the latter as his suzerain. In 1280, Peter defeated the stewing rebellion led by Roger-Bernard III after besieging the rebels in Balaguer for a month. Most of the rebel leaders were imprisoned in Lleida until 1281, while Roger-Bernard was imprisoned until 1284; when Muhammad I al-Mustansir, the Hafsid Emir of Tunisia who had put himself under James the Conqueror, died in 1277, Tunisia threw off the yoke of Aragonese suzerainty. Peter first sent an expedition to Tunis in 1280 under Conrad de Llansa designed to re-establish his suzerainty. In 1281, he himself prepared to lead a fleet of 140 ships with 15,000 men to invade Tunisia on behalf of the governor of Constantine; the fleet landed at Alcoyll in 1282. It was these Aragonese troops that received a Sicilian embassy after the Vespers of 30 March asking Peter to take their throne from Charles of Anjou.
In 1266, the French Charles I of Anjou, king of Naples with the approval of Pope Clement IV, invaded the Kingdom of Sicily, governed by the house of Hohenstaufen, the house of Peter III's wife, Constance of Sicily, oldest daughter of Manfred I of Sicily and rightful heir to the throne of Sicily after the deaths of her father and cousin Conradin fighting against Charles' invading forces. This made Peter III the heir of Manfred of Sicily in right of his wife; the Italian physician John of Procida acted on behalf of Peter in Sicily. John had fled to Aragon after Charles' success at Tagliacozzo. John travelled to Sicily to stir up the discontents in favour of Peter and thence to Constantinople to procure the support of Michael VIII Palaeologus. Michael refused to aid the Aragonese king without papal approval, so John voyaged to Rome and there gained the consent of Pope Nicholas III, who feared the ascent of Charles in the Mezzogiorno. John returned to Barcelona but the pope died, to be replaced by Simon de Brion, a Frenchman and a staunch ally of Charles and the Anjou dynasty.
This set the stage for the upcoming conflict. Constance thus claimed to her father's throne, supported by her husband, but the claim was fruitless, as Charles was supported by the Papacy and his power remained stronger; the election of a new Pope Nicholas III in 1277 gave the king of Aragon a glimpse of hope, but Nicholas somehow died in 1280 and a pro-French Pope Martin IV dissipated hopes. Peter had begun making strategic alliances with his neighbouring monarchs. Peter made his brother James II of Majorca sign the treaty of Perpignan in 1279, in which he recognized the Kingdom of Majorca as a feudal kingdom of Peter III. Peter by February 1283 had taken most of the Calabrian coastline. Charles feeling desperate, sent letters to Peter demanding they resolve the conflict by personal combat. King Peter accepted and Charles returned to France to arrange the du
Saint symbolism
Christianity has used symbolism from its beginnings. Each saint has a reason why they led an exemplary life. Symbols have been used to tell these stories throughout the history of the Church. A number of Christian saints are traditionally represented by a symbol or iconic motif associated with their life, termed an attribute or emblem, in order to identify them; the study of these forms part of iconography in art history. They were used so that the illiterate could recognize a scene, to give each of the Saints something of a personality in art, they are carried in the hand by the Saint. Attributes vary with either time or geography between Eastern Christianity and the West. Orthodox images more contained inscriptions with the names of saints, so the Eastern repertoire of attributes is smaller than the Western. Many of the most prominent saints, like Saint Peter and Saint John the Evangelist can be recognised by a distinctive facial type – as can Christ. In the case of saints their actual historical appearance can be used.
Some attributes are general, such as the palm frond carried by martyrs. The use of a symbol in a work of art depicting a Saint reminds people, being shown and of their story; the following is a list of some of these attributes. Mary is portrayed wearing blue, her attributes include a blue mantle, crown of 12 stars, pregnant woman, woman with child, woman trampling serpent, crescent moon, woman clothed with the sun, heart pierced by sword, Madonna lily and rosary beads. Delaney, John P.. Dictionary of Saints. Garden City, NY: Doubleday. ISBN 0-385-13594-7. Lanzi, Fernando. Saints and their Symbols: Recognizing Saints in Art and in Popular Images. Translated by O'Connell, Matthew J. ISBN 9780814629703. Post, W. Ellwood. Saints and Symbols. SPCK Publishing. ISBN 9780281028948. Walsh, Michael. A New Dictionary of Saints: East and West. Liturgical Press. ISBN 978-0-8146-3186-7. Whittemore, Carroll E.. Symbols of the Church. Abingdon Press. ISBN 0687183014. Calendar of saints Christian symbolism Christianization of saints and feasts Doctor of the Church Iconography List of canonizations, for a list of Catholic canonizations by date Martyrology Patron saint Weather saints "Christian Iconography".
Augusta State University. Archived from the original on 2014-03-18. CS1 maint: BOT: original-url status unknown "Hagiographies and icons for many Orthodox saints". Orthodox Church in America. "Catholic Forum Patron Saints Index". Archived from the original on 2005-05-31. "Saints' Badges or Shields". "On the Canonizations of John Paul II". Archived from the original on 2007-09-28
Papal bull
A papal bull is a type of public decree, letters patent, or charter issued by a pope of the Roman Catholic Church. It is named after the leaden seal, traditionally appended to the end in order to authenticate it. Papal bulls have been in use at least since the 6th century, but the phrase was not used until around the end of the 13th century, only internally for unofficial administrative purposes. However, it had become official by the 15th century, when one of the offices of the Apostolic Chancery was named the "register of bulls". By the accession of Pope Leo IX in 1048, a clear distinction developed between two classes of bulls of greater and less solemnity; the majority of the "great bulls" now in existence are in the nature of confirmations of property or charters of protection accorded to monasteries and religious institutions. In an epoch when there was much fabrication of such documents, those who procured bulls from Rome wished to ensure that the authenticity of their bull was above suspicion.
A papal confirmation, under certain conditions, could be pleaded as itself constituting sufficient evidence of title in cases where the original deed had been lost or destroyed. Since the 12th century, papal bulls have carried a leaden seal with the heads of the Apostles Saint Peter and Saint Paul on one side and the pope’s name on the other. Papal bulls were issued by the pope for many kinds of communication of a public nature, but by the 13th century, papal bulls were only used for the most formal or solemn of occasions. Papyrus seems to have been used uniformly as the material for these documents until the early years of the eleventh century, after which it was superseded by a rough kind of parchment. Modern scholars have retroactively used the word "bull" to describe any elaborate papal document issued in the form of a decree or privilege, solemn or simple, to some less elaborate ones issued in the form of a letter. Popularly, the name is used for any papal document. Today, the bull is the only written communication in which the pope will refer to himself as "Episcopus Servus Servorum Dei".
For example, when Pope Benedict XVI issued a decree in bull form, he began the document with "Benedictus, Servus Servorum Dei". While papal bulls always used to bear a metal seal, they now do so only on the most solemn occasions. A papal bull is today the most formal type of public decree or letters patent issued by the Vatican Chancery in the name of the pope. A bull's format began with one line in tall, elongated letters containing three elements: the pope's name, the papal title "Episcopus Servus Servorum Dei", its incipit, i. e. the first few Latin words from which the bull took its title for record keeping purposes, but which might not be directly indicative of the bull's purpose. The body of the text had no specific conventions for its formatting; the closing section consisted of a short "datum" that mentioned the place of issuance, day of the month and year of the pope's pontificate on which issued, signatures, near, attached the seal. For the most solemn bulls, the pope signed the document himself, in which case he used the formula "Ego N. Catholicae Ecclesiae Episcopus".
Following the signature in this case would be an elaborate monogram, the signatures of any witnesses, the seal. Nowadays, a member of the Roman Curia signs the document on behalf of the pope the Cardinal Secretary of State, thus the monogram is omitted; the most distinctive characteristic of a bull was the metal seal, made of lead, but on solemn occasions was made of gold, as those on Byzantine imperial instruments were. On the obverse it depicted somewhat crudely, the early Fathers of the Church of Rome, the Apostles Saint Peter and Saint Paul, identified by the letters Sanctus PAulus and Sanctus PEtrus. St. Paul, on the left, was shown with flowing hair and a long pointed beard composed of curved lines, while St. Peter, on the right, was shown with curly hair and a shorter beard made of dome-shaped globetti; each head was surrounded by a circle of globetti, the rim of the seal was surrounded by an additional ring of such beads, while the heads themselves were separated by a depiction of a cross.
On the reverse was the name of the issuing pope in the nominative Latin form, with the letters "PP", for Pastor Pastorum. This disc was attached to the document either by cords of hemp, in the case of letters of justice and executory letters, or by red and yellow silk, in the case of letters of grace, looped through slits in the vellum of the document; the term "bulla" derives from the Latin "bullire", alludes to the fact that, whether of wax, lead, or gold, the material making the seal had to be melted to soften it for impression. In 1535, the Florentine engraver Benvenuto Cellini was paid 50 scudi to recreate the metal matrix which would be used to impress the lead bullae of Pope Paul III. Cellini retained definitive iconographic items like the faces of the two Apostles, but he carved them with a much greater attention to detail and artistic sensibility than had been in evidence. On the reverse of the seal he added several fleurs-de-lis, a heraldic device of the Farnese family, from which Pope Paul III descended.
Since the late 18th century, the lead bulla has been replaced with a red ink stamp of Saints Peter and Paul with the reigning pope's name encircling the picture, though formal letters, e. g. the bull of Pope John XX
Transcendental Meditation movement
The Transcendental Meditation movement refers to the programs and organizations connected with the Transcendental Meditation technique founded by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi in India in the 1950s. The organization was estimated to have 900,000 participants in 1977, a million by the 1980s, 5 million in more recent years. Programs include the Transcendental Meditation technique, an advanced meditation practice called the TM-Sidhi program, an alternative health care program called Maharishi Ayurveda, a system of building and architecture called Maharishi Sthapatya Ved; the TM movement's past and present media endeavors include a publishing company, a television station, a radio station, a satellite television channel. Its products and services have been offered through nonprofit and educational outlets, such as the Global Country of World Peace, the David Lynch Foundation; the TM movement operates a worldwide network of Transcendental Meditation teaching centers, universities, health centers, herbal supplement, solar panel, home financing companies, plus several TM-centered communities.
The global organization is reported to have an estimated net worth of USD 3.5 billion. The TM movement has been characterized in a variety of ways and has been called a spiritual movement, a new religious movement, a millenarian movement, a world affirming movement, a new social movement, a guru-centered movement, a personal growth movement, a religion, a cult. Participation in TM programs does not require a belief system and is practiced by people from a diverse group of religious affiliations. Maharishi Mahesh Yogi began teaching Transcendental Meditation in India in the late 1950s; the Maharishi began a series of world tours in 1958 to promote his meditation technique. The resulting publicity generated by the Maharishi, the celebrities who learned the technique and the scientific research into its effect, helped popularize the technique in the 1960s and 1970s. In the 1970s the Maharishi introduced advanced meditative techniques and his movement grew to encompass TM programs for schools and prisons.
In the 1980s additional programs aimed at improved health and well-being were developed based on the Maharishi's interpretation of the Vedic traditions. By the late 2000s, TM had been taught to millions of individuals and the Maharishi oversaw a large multinational movement which has continued since his death in 2008; the Maharishi's obituary in the New York Times credited the TM movement as being "a founding influence on what has grown into a multibillion-dollar self-help industry". The TM movement has been described as a "global movement" that utilizes its own international policies and transports its "core members" from country to country, it is said to be a "world affirming" and "accommodating" movement that does not seek to interfere with its member's involvement in their various religions. In 2008, The New York Times, reported that TM's "public interest" had continued to grow in the 1970s" however, some practitioners were discouraged "by the organization's promotion of.... Yogic Flying."
The organization was estimated to have 900,000 participants worldwide in 1977 according to new religious movement scholars Stark and Sims. That year the TM movement said there were 394 TM centers in the U. S. that about half of the 8,000 trained TM teachers were still active, that one million Americans had been taught the technique. The movement was reported to have a million participants by the 1980s, modern day estimates range between four and ten million practitioners worldwide; as of 1998, the country with the largest percentage of TM practitioners was Israel, where 50,000 people had learned the technique since its introduction in the 1960s, according members of the TM movement. In 2008, the Belfast Telegraph reported that an estimated 200,000 Britons practiced TM; the TM movement is said to have a flexible structure. Many are satisfied with their "independent practice of TM" and don't seek any further involvement with the organization. For many TM practitioners their meditation is "one of many New Age products that they consume."
Other practitioners are "dedicated" but are critical of the organization. Still others, are "highly devoted" and participate in "mass meditations" at Maharishi University of Management, perform administrative activities or engage in a monastic lifestyle; the organization has a "loose organisational heirarchy ". Transcendental Meditators who participate in group meditations at Maharishi University of Management are referred to as "Citizens of the Age of Enlightenment". Regional leaders and "leading Transcendental Meditators" trained as TM teachers and graduates of the TM-Sidhi program are called "Governors of the Age of Enlightenment". There are "national leaders" and "top officials" of the "World Peace Government" that are called Rajas. Notable practitioners include: politicians John Hagelin and Joaquim Chissano, musicians Donovan, The Beatles, Sky Ferreira, Mike Love and celebrities David Lynch, Clint Eastwood, Mia Farrow, Howard Stern and Doug Henning. Practitioners who became spiritual teachers or self-help authors include Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, Deepak Chopra, John Gray and Barbara De Angelis.
TM initiated celebrities include: Gwyneth Paltrow, Ellen DeGeneres, Russell Simmons, Katy Perry, Susan Sarandon, Candy Crowley, Soledad O’Brien, George Stephanopoulos and Paul McCartney’s grandchildren. As of 2013, Jerry Seinfeld had been practicing TM for over 40 years. Oprah Winfrey and Dr. Oz dedicated an entire show to T. M; the Transcendental Meditation technique is a specific form of mantra meditation developed by Maharishi Ma
