1.
Battle of Monte Cassino
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The Battle of Monte Cassino was a costly series of four assaults by the Allies against the Winter Line in Italy held by Axis forces during the Italian Campaign of World War II. The intention was a breakthrough to Rome, at the beginning of 1944, the western half of the Winter Line was being anchored by Germans holding the Rapido-Gari, Liri and Garigliano valleys and some of the surrounding peaks and ridges. Together, these formed the Gustav Line. Monte Cassino, a historic hilltop abbey founded in AD529 by Benedict of Nursia, dominated the town of Cassino. Lying in a historic zone, it had been left unoccupied by the Germans. They had manned some positions set into the slopes below the abbeys walls. Repeated pinpoint artillery attacks on Allied assault troops caused their leaders to conclude the abbey was being used by the Germans as an observation post, fears escalated along with casualties and in spite of a lack of clear evidence, it was marked for destruction. On 15 February American bombers dropped 1,400 tons of high explosives, the raid failed to achieve its objective, as German paratroopers occupied the rubble and established excellent defensive positions amid the ruins. Between 17 January and 18 May, Monte Cassino and the Gustav defences were assaulted four times by Allied troops, the German defenders were finally driven from their positions, but at a high cost. The capture of Monte Cassino resulted in 55,000 Allied casualties, with German losses being far fewer, estimated at around 20,000 killed and wounded. On the western front, the American Fifth Army, commanded by Lieutenant General Mark W. Clarks Fifth Army made slow progress in the face of difficult terrain, wet weather, the original estimates that Rome would fall by October 1943 proved far too optimistic. Highway 6 ran through the Liri valley, dominated at its entrance by the rugged mass of Monte Cassino above the town of Cassino. Excellent observation from the peaks of several hills allowed the German defenders to detect Allied movement and direct highly accurate artillery fire, preventing any northward advance. Running across the Allied line was the fast flowing Rapido River, there the Liri river joined the Gari to form the Garigliano River, which continued on to the sea. Nevertheless, some Allied reconnaissance aircraft maintained they observed German troops inside the monastery. The main central thrust by the U. S. II Corps would commence on 20 January with the U. S. 36th Infantry Division making an assault across the swollen Gari river five miles downstream of Cassino. Simultaneously the French Expeditionary Corps, under General Alphonse Juin would continue its right hook move towards Monte Cairo, VI Corps, under Major General John P. Lucas, was due to make an amphibious landing on 22 January. The intelligence assessment of Allied prospects was therefore over-optimistic and they hardly had time to prepare the new assault, let alone take the rest and reorganization they really needed after three months of attritional fighting north from Naples
2.
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
3.
Cassino
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Cassino is a comune in the province of Frosinone, Italy, at the southern end of the region of Lazio. Cassino is located at the foot of Monte Cairo near the confluence of the Gari and Liri rivers and it is also home to the University of Cassino. Cassino has a population of 35,860 As of August 2015, cassinos origins lie in the Volscan settlement of Casinum, sited atop the hill of Cassino near Monte Cairo, five kilometres to the north. Casinum passed under the control of the Samnites, but the Romans eventually gained control of Casinum, during the Roman era the most venerated god was Apollo, whose temple rose up on Monte Cassino, where today stands the abbey. At least once during Punic Wars, Hannibal passed near Casinum, Casinum was also the site of a villa presumed to belong to Marcus Terentius Varro. The ancient Casinum was deeply damaged by several barbarian raids, in the book Dialogues, Pope Gregory I gives us the testimony of the Benedict of Nursia settlement among the ruins of Casinum Acropolis. He destroyed the image of Apollo and pagan altars, and sanctified the place in name of St. John Baptist, in the meanwhile the population built a village called Castellum Sancti Petri. Because of their position, the abbey and the village were involved in military events. In 577 a raid of the Lombards, led by Zotto and they came back only after more than a century. In 744, thanks to the donation of Gisulf II of Benevento, few years later the town was re-founded by abbot Bertharius and called Eulogimenopoli, meaning The City of Saint Benedict. In 883 the monastery and the town were attacked, this time by Saracens. The abbey was rebuilt in 949 by the decision of Pope Agapetus II and, together with the town, renamed San Germano. For defensive purposes, the castle Rocca Janula, which dominates the town today, was also built. In the abbey are conserved the Placiti Cassinesi, dated 960-963, on July 23,1230, the city was the site of the signing of the peace between Pope Gregory IX and Frederick II, which took place in the church of San Germano. On 9 September 1349, San Germano was destroyed by a large earthquake, the reconstruction took place in 1366, at Pope Urbano Vs will. During the Renaissance era Cassino lay on the frontier of the Kingdom of Naples. In 1504, during the Second Italian War, the French attempted to capture the town in the Battle of Cassino, but failed. On May 15–17,1815, the town was the set of the cruel battle of the Neapolitan War between an Austrian force commanded by Laval Nugent von Westmeath and the King of Naples, Joachim Murat
4.
Benedict of Nursia
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Benedict of Nursia is a Christian saint, who is venerated in the Eastern Orthodox Churches, the Catholic Church, the Oriental Orthodox Churches, the Anglican Communion and Old Catholic Churches. He is a saint of Europe. Benedict founded twelve communities for monks at Subiaco, Lazio in Italy, the Order of Saint Benedict is of later origin and, moreover, not an order as commonly understood but merely a confederation of autonomous congregations. Benedicts main achievement is his Rule of Saint Benedict, containing precepts for his monks and it is heavily influenced by the writings of John Cassian, and shows strong affinity with the Rule of the Master. But it also has a spirit of balance, moderation and reasonableness. As a result, his Rule became one of the most influential religious rules in Western Christendom, for this reason, Benedict is often called the founder of western monasticism. The authenticity of this work has been disputed, especially by Dr Francis Clarke in his two volume work The Pseudo-Gregorian Dialogues. Book Two consists of a prologue and thirty-eight succinct chapters, gregory’s account of this saint’s life is not, however, a biography in the modern sense of the word. It provides instead a spiritual portrait of the gentle, disciplined abbot, in a letter to Bishop Maximilian of Syracuse, Gregory states his intention for his Dialogues, saying they are a kind of floretum of the most striking miracles of Italian holy men. Gregory did not set out to write a chronological, historically anchored story of Saint Benedict, but he did base his anecdotes on direct testimony. These followers, he says, are Constantinus, who succeeded Benedict as Abbot of Monte Cassino, Valentinianus, Simplicius, and Honoratus, who was abbot of Subiaco when St Gregory wrote his Dialogues. Gregory’s Dialogues Book Two, then, a medieval hagiography cast as a conversation between the Pope and his deacon Peter, is designed to teach spiritual lessons. He was the son of a Roman noble of Nursia, the modern Norcia, a tradition which Bede accepts makes him a twin with his sister Scholastica. If 480 is accepted as the year of his birth, the year of his abandonment of his studies, Saint Gregorys narrative makes it impossible to suppose him younger than 19 or 20 at the time. He was at the beginning of life, and he had at his disposal the means to a career as a Roman noble, clearly he was not a child. Benedict does not seem to have left Rome for the purpose of becoming a hermit and he took his old nurse with him as a servant and they settled down to live in Enfide. Enfide, which the tradition of Subiaco identifies with the modern Affile, is in the Simbruini mountains, about forty miles from Rome, a short distance from Enfide is the entrance to a narrow, gloomy valley, penetrating the mountains and leading directly to Subiaco. The cave has a large triangular-shaped opening and is ten feet deep
5.
Monastery
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A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in communities or alone. A monastery generally includes a place reserved for prayer which may be a chapel, church or temple, a monastery complex typically comprises a number of buildings which include a church, dormitory, cloister, refectory, library, balneary and infirmary. These may include a hospice, a school and a range of agricultural and manufacturing such as a barn. In English usage, the monastery is generally used to denote the buildings of a community of monks. In modern usage, convent tends to be applied only to institutions of female monastics, historically, a convent denoted a house of friars, now more commonly called a friary. Various religions may apply these terms in specific ways. The earliest extant use of the term monastērion is by the 1st century AD Jewish philosopher Philo in On The Contemplative Life, in England the word monastery was also applied to the habitation of a bishop and the cathedral clergy who lived apart from the lay community. Most cathedrals were not monasteries, and were served by canons secular, however, some were run by monasteries orders, such as York Minster. Westminster Abbey was for a time a cathedral, and was a Benedictine monastery until the Reformation. They are also to be distinguished from collegiate churches, such as St Georges Chapel, in most of this article, the term monastery is used generically to refer to any of a number of types of religious community. In the Roman Catholic religion and to some extent in certain branches of Buddhism, there is a more specific definition of the term. Buddhist monasteries are generally called vihara, viharas may be occupied by males or females, and in keeping with common English usage, a vihara populated by females may often be called a nunnery or a convent. However, vihara can also refer to a temple, in Tibetan Buddhism, monasteries are often called gompa. In Thailand, Laos and Cambodia, a monastery is called a wat, in Burma, a monastery is called a kyaung. A Christian monastery may be an abbey, or a priory and it may be a community of men or of women. A charterhouse is any monastery belonging to the Carthusian order, in Eastern Christianity, a very small monastic community can be called a skete, and a very large or important monastery can be given the dignity of a lavra. The great communal life of a Christian monastery is called cenobitic, as opposed to the life of an anchorite. In Hinduism monasteries are called matha, mandir, koil, or most commonly an ashram, jains use the Buddhist term vihara
6.
Order of Saint Benedict
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Each community within the order maintains its own autonomy, while the order itself represents their mutual interests. Internationally, the order is governed by the Benedictine Confederation, a body, established in 1883 by Pope Leo XIIIs Brief Summum semper, individuals whose communities are members of the order generally add the initials OSB after their names. The monastery at Subiaco in Italy, established by Saint Benedict of Nursia circa 529, was the first of the monasteries he founded. He later founded the Abbey of Monte Cassino, there is no evidence, however, that he intended to found an order and the Rule of Saint Benedict presupposes the autonomy of each community. It was from the monastery of St. Andrew in Rome that Augustine, the prior, at various stopping places during the journey, the monks left behind them traditions concerning their rule and form of life, and probably also some copies of the Rule. Lérins Abbey, for instance, founded by Honoratus in 375, probably received its first knowledge of the Benedictine Rule from the visit of St. Augustine, in Gaul and Switzerland, it supplemented the much stricter Irish or Celtic Rule introduced by Columbanus and others. In many monasteries it eventually displaced the earlier codes. Largely through the work of Benedict of Aniane, it became the rule of choice for monasteries throughout the Carolingian empire, Monastic scriptoria flourished from the ninth through the twelfth centuries. Sacred Scripture was always at the heart of every monastic scriptorium, as a general rule those of the monks who possessed skill as writers made this their chief, if not their sole active work. In the Middle Ages monasteries were founded by the nobility. Cluny Abbey was founded by William I, Duke of Aquitaine in 910, the abbey was noted for its strict adherence to the Rule of St. Benedict. The abbot of Cluny was the superior of all the daughter houses, one of the earliest reforms of Benedictine practice was that initiated in 980 by Romuald, who founded the Camaldolese community. The English Benedictine Congregation is the oldest of the nineteen Benedictine congregations, Augustine of Canterbury and his monks established the first English Benedictine monastery at Canterbury soon after their arrival in 597. Many of the sees of England were founded and governed by the Benedictines. Monasteries served as hospitals and places of refuge for the weak, the monks studied the healing properties of plants and minerals to alleviate the sufferings of the sick. Germany was evangelized by English Benedictines, willibrord and Boniface preached there in the seventh and eighth centuries and founded several abbeys. In the English Reformation, all monasteries were dissolved and their lands confiscated by the Crown, during the 19th century they were able to return to England, including to Selby Abbey in Yorkshire, one of the few great monastic churches to survive the Dissolution. St. Mildreds Priory, on the Isle of Thanet, Kent, was built in 1027 on the site of an abbey founded in 670 by the daughter of the first Christian King of Kent, currently the priory is home to a community of Benedictine nuns
7.
Pope Benedict XVI
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Pope Benedict XVI reigned as Pope of the Catholic Church from 2005 to 2013. He was elected pope on 19 April 2005, was inaugurated on 24 April 2005, Benedicts election occurred in a papal conclave following the death of Pope John Paul II. Ordained as a priest in 1951 in his native Bavaria, Ratzinger established himself as a highly regarded university theologian by the late 1950s and was appointed a professor in 1958. In 1981, he was appointed Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, from 2002 until his election as Pope, he was also Dean of the College of Cardinals. He was originally a liberal theologian, but adopted conservative views after 1968 and his prolific writings defend traditional Catholic doctrine and values. During his papacy, Benedict XVI advocated a return to fundamental Christian values to counter the increased secularisation of many Western countries and he views relativisms denial of objective truth, and the denial of moral truths in particular, as the central problem of the 21st century. He taught the importance of both the Catholic Church and an understanding of Gods redemptive love, Pope Benedict also revived a number of traditions, including elevating the Tridentine Mass to a more prominent position. He strengthened the relationship between the Catholic Church and art, promoted the use of Latin, and reintroduced traditional papal garments and he has been described as the main intellectual force in the Church since the mid-1980s. On 11 February 2013, Benedict announced his resignation in a speech in Latin before the cardinals, citing a lack of strength of mind and his resignation became effective on 28 February 2013. He is the first pope to resign since Pope Gregory XII in 1415, as pope emeritus, Benedict retains the style of His Holiness, and the title of Pope, and continues to dress in the papal colour of white. He was succeeded by Pope Francis on 13 March 2013, in his retirement, Benedict XVI has made occasional public appearances alongside Pope Francis. Joseph Aloisius Ratzinger was born on 16 April, Holy Saturday,1927, at Schulstraße 11, at 8,30 in the morning in his parents home in Marktl, Bavaria and he was baptised the same day. He was the third and youngest child of Joseph Ratzinger, Sr. a police officer and his mothers family was originally from South Tyrol. Pope Benedict XVIs brother, Georg Ratzinger, a priest and former director of the Regensburger Domspatzen choir, is still alive and his sister, Maria Ratzinger, who never married, managed Cardinal Ratzingers household until her death in 1991. Their grand-uncle was the German politician Georg Ratzinger, at the age of five, Ratzinger was in a group of children who welcomed the visiting Cardinal Archbishop of Munich with flowers. Struck by the distinctive garb, he later announced the very same day that he wanted to be a cardinal. He attended the school in Aschau am Inn, which was renamed in his honour in 2009. Ratzingers family, especially his father, bitterly resented the Nazis, in 1941, one of Ratzingers cousins, a 14-year-old boy with Down syndrome, was taken away by the Nazi regime and murdered during the Action T4 campaign of Nazi eugenics
8.
Second Vatican Council
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The Second Vatican Council, fully the Second Vatican Ecumenical Council and informally known as Vatican II, addressed relations between the Catholic Church and the modern world. It was the twenty-first and most recent ecumenical council of the Catholic Church, many of these changes remain divisive among the Catholic faithful. At the same time, the worlds bishops faced challenges driven by political, social, economic, some of these bishops sought new ways of addressing those challenges. The First Vatican Council had been nearly a century before but had been cut short when the Italian Army entered the city of Rome at the end of Italian unification. Pope John XXIII, however, gave notice of his intention to convene the Council on 25 January 1959 and this sudden announcement, which caught the Curia by surprise, caused little initial official comment from Church insiders. In various discussions before the Council actually convened, John XXIII often said that it was time to open the windows and he invited other Christians outside the Catholic Church to send observers to the Council. Acceptances came from both the Eastern Orthodox Church and Protestant denominations as internal observers, but these observers did not cast votes in the approbation of the conciliar documents. Pope John XXIIIs announcement on 25 January 1959 of his intention to call a general council came as an even to the cardinals present. The Pontiff pre-announced the council under a full moon when the faithful with their candlelights gathered in St. Peters square, after which, he instructed the people to go back home and give their children a kiss of goodnight, from the Pope himself. He had tested the idea only ten days before one of them, his Cardinal Secretary of State Domenico Tardini. Although the Pope later said the idea came to him in a flash in his conversation with Tardini, two cardinals had earlier attempted to interest him in the idea. They were two of the most conservative, Ernesto Ruffini and Alfredo Ottaviani, who had already in 1948 proposed the idea to Pope Pius XII and who put it before John XXIII on 27 October 1958. These groups, composed mostly of members of the Roman Curia, produced 987 proposed constituting sessions, attendance varied in later sessions from 2,100 to over 2,300. In addition, a number of periti were available for theological consultation—a group that turned out to have a major influence as the council went forward. Seventeen Orthodox Churches and Protestant denominations sent observers, more than three dozen representatives of other Christian communities were present at the opening session, and the number grew to nearly 100 by the end of the 4th Council Sessions. Pope John XXIII opened the Council on 11 October 1962 in a public session, what is needed is that this certain and immutable doctrine, to which the faithful owe obedience, be studied afresh and reformulated in contemporary terms. For this deposit of faith, or truths which are contained in our time-honored teaching is one thing, roncalli, Angelo Giuseppe, Opening address, Council, Rome, IT.13 October 1962 marked the initial working session of the Council. That days agenda included the election for members of the ten conciliar commissions, each would have sixteen elected and eight appointed members, and were expected to do most of the work of the Council
9.
Territorial abbey
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Such an abbot is called a territorial abbot or abbot nullius diœceseos. A territorial abbot thus differs from an ordinary abbot, who exercises authority only within the walls or to monks or canons who have taken their vows there. A territorial abbot is equivalent to a bishop in Catholic canon law, the practice arose in part because abbeys served the spiritual needs of Catholics who lived near the monastery, especially in mission territories. The monasterys own chapel was a space of worship for the laity who had settled nearby. After the Second Vatican Council, more emphasis has been placed on the nature of the episcopacy. As such, abbeys nullius have been phased out in favor of the erection of new dioceses or the absorption of the territory into an existing diocese, a few ancient abbeys nullius still exist in Europe, and one in Korea. The Abbot of Waegwan is the present apostolic administrator of the Tŏkwon abbacy and it has not been united with any diocese throughout Korea due to the effective vacancy of the ones in North Korea and the lack of effective jurisdiction applied by the Church in South Korea. Cluny Abbey is the one in France. It became extremely rich and influential within and beyond the Church, Abbey of Saint Paul Outside the Walls in Rome. It was formally suppressed as an abbey in 1977. St. Peter-Muenster, which from 1921 until 1998 served an area of Saskatchewan. GCatholic. org - List of Current Territorial Abbacies Attribution This article incorporates text from a now in the public domain, Herbermann, Charles
10.
Volsci
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The Volsci were an Italic tribe, well known in the history of the first century of the Roman Republic. Rivals of Rome for several hundred years, their territories were taken over by, strabo says that the Volsci formed a sovereign state near the site of Rome. It was placed in the Pomentine plain, between the Latins and the Pontine marshes, which took their name from the plain, the Volsci spoke Volscian, a Sabellic Italic language, which was closely related to Oscan and Umbrian, and more distantly to Latin. In the Volscian territory lay the town of Velitrae, home of the ancestors of Caesar Augustus. The Volsci were among the most dangerous enemies of ancient Rome, also, the legendary Roman warrior Gaius Marcius Coriolanus earned his cognomen after taking the Volscian town of Corioli in 493 BC. The supposed rise and fall of this hero is chronicled in Shakespeares Coriolanus, however, if Livys account of the war between Rome and Clusium is accurate, it can be seen that the relationship between Rome and the Volsci was not always hostile. Livy writes that, at the approach of the Clusian army in 508 BC, with the prospect of a siege, cicero, orator and writer, was a native of Arpinum in former Volscian territory. Camilla featured as one of the fighters in Virgils Aeneid, a Volscian Warrior Maiden, virgil says that she can outrun the wind and run over crops so lightly she never even bent them. She could run over the waves of the sea without getting her feet wet and she fights on the side of the Latins and kills many of the Trojan refugees before being killed herself by the Etruscan hero Arruns. Gaius Marius, reforming consul and general, was a native of Arpinum in former Volscian territory, Augustus Caesar spent his early life in Velitrae, where he may have been born. This article incorporates text from a now in the public domain, Chisholm, Hugh
11.
Pope Gregory I
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Pope Saint Gregory I, commonly known as Saint Gregory the Great, was pope of the Catholic Church from 3 September 590 to his death in 604. Gregory is famous for instigating the first recorded large-scale mission from Rome to convert a pagan people to Christianity, Gregory is also well known for his writings, which were more prolific than those of any of his predecessors as pope. He is also known as the Great Visionary of Modern Educational System, for his writings, the epithet Saint Gregory the Dialogist has been attached to him in Eastern Christianity because of his Dialogues. For this reason, English translations of Eastern texts will sometimes list him as Gregory Dialogos or the Latinized equivalent Dialogus. A senators son and himself the Prefect of Rome at 30, Gregory tried the monastery but soon returned to public life, ending his life. Although he was the first pope from a background, his prior political experiences may have helped him to be a talented administrator. Gregory regained papal authority in Spain and France, and sent missionaries to England, the realignment of barbarian allegiance to Rome from their Arian Christian alliances shaped medieval Europe. Gregory saw Franks, Lombards, and Visigoths align with Rome in religion, throughout the Middle Ages he was known as the Father of Christian Worship because of his exceptional efforts in revising the Roman worship of his day. His contributions to the development of the Divine Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts, Gregory is a Doctor of the Church and one of the Latin Fathers. He is considered a saint in the Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox Church, Anglican Communion, immediately after his death, Gregory was canonized by popular acclaim. The Protestant reformer John Calvin admired Gregory and declared in his Institutes that Gregory was the last good pope and he is the patron saint of musicians, singers, students, and teachers. The exact date of Gregorys birth is uncertain, but is estimated to be around the year 540. The medieval writer who provided this etymology did not hesitate to apply it to the life of Gregory, aelfric states, He was very diligent in Gods Commandments. Gregory was born into a wealthy patrician Roman family with connections to the church. Gregorys mother, Silvia, was well-born, and had a sister, Pateria. His mother and two aunts are honored by Catholic and Orthodox churches as saints. Gregorys great-great-grandfather had been Pope Felix III, the nominee of the Gothic king, Gregorys election to the throne of St Peter made his family the most distinguished clerical dynasty of the period. The family owned and resided in a villa suburbana on the Caelian Hill, the north of the street runs into the Colosseum, the south, the Circus Maximus
12.
Temple
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A temple is a structure reserved for religious or spiritual rituals and activities such as prayer and sacrifice. It is typically used for such buildings belonging to all faiths where a specific term such as church. These include Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism among religions with many modern followers, the form and function of temples is thus very variable, though they are often considered by believers to be in some sense the house of one or more deities. Typically offerings of some sort are made to the deity, and other rituals enacted, the degree to which the whole population of believers can access the building varies significantly, often parts or even the whole main building can only be accessed by the clergy. Temples typically have a building and a larger precinct, which may contain many other buildings. The word comes from Ancient Rome, where a templum constituted a sacred precinct as defined by a priest and it has the same root as the word template, a plan in preparation of the building that was marked out on the ground by the augur. Templa also became associated with the places of a god or gods. Hindu temples are large and magnificent with a rich history, there is evidence of use of sacred ground as far back as the Bronze Age and later the Indus Valley Civilization. Hindu temples have been built in countries around the world, including Cambodia, Nepal, Mauritius, Indonesia, Bangladesh, Great Britain. They include the structures called stupa, wat and pagoda in different regions, Temples in Buddhism represent the pure land or pure environment of a Buddha. Traditional Buddhist temples are designed to inspire inner and outer peace, a Jain temple is the place of worship for Jains, the followers of Jainism. Some famous Jain temples are Shikharji, Palitana Jain Temples, Ranakpur Jain Temple, Shravan Belgola, Dilwara Temples, Jain temples are built with various architectural designs. Jain temples in North India are completely different from the Jain temples in South India, additionally, a Manastambha is a pillar that is often constructed in front of Jain temples. The temple of Mesopotamia derived from the cult of gods and deities in the Mesopotamian religion and it spanned several civilizations, from Sumerian, Akkadian, Assyrian, and Babylonian. Ancient Egyptian temples were meant as places for the deities to reside on earth, indeed, the term the Egyptians most commonly used to describe the temple building, ḥwt-nṯr, means mansion of a god. A gods presence in the temple linked the human and divine realms and these rituals, it was believed, sustained the god and allowed it to continue to play its proper role in nature. They were therefore a key part of the maintenance of maat, maintaining maat was the entire purpose of Egyptian religion, and thus it was the purpose of a temple as well. Ancient Egyptian temples were also of significance to Egyptian society
13.
Apollo
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Apollo is one of the most important and complex of the Olympian deities in classical Greek and Roman religion and Greek and Roman mythology. The ideal of the kouros, Apollo has been recognized as a god of music, truth and prophecy, healing, the sun and light, plague, poetry. Apollo is the son of Zeus and Leto, and has a twin sister, Apollo is known in Greek-influenced Etruscan mythology as Apulu. As the patron of Delphi, Apollo was an oracular god—the prophetic deity of the Delphic Oracle. Medicine and healing are associated with Apollo, whether through the god himself or mediated through his son Asclepius, yet Apollo was also seen as a god who could bring ill-health and deadly plague. Amongst the gods custodial charges, Apollo became associated with dominion over colonists, as the leader of the Muses and director of their choir, Apollo functioned as the patron god of music and poetry. Hermes created the lyre for him, and the instrument became an attribute of Apollo. Hymns sung to Apollo were called paeans, Apollo and Helios/Sol remained separate beings in literary and mythological texts until the 3rd century CE. The name Apollo—unlike the related older name Paean—is generally not found in the Linear B texts, the etymology of the name is uncertain. The spelling Ἀπόλλων had almost superseded all other forms by the beginning of the common era and it probably is a cognate to the Doric month Apellaios, and the offerings apellaia at the initiation of the young men during the family-festival apellai. According to some scholars the words are derived from the Doric word apella, apella is the name of the popular assembly in Sparta, corresponding to the ecclesia. R. S. P. Beekes rejected the connection of the theonym with the noun apellai, several instances of popular etymology are attested from ancient authors. Thus, the Greeks most often associated Apollos name with the Greek verb ἀπόλλυμι, in the ancient Macedonian language πέλλα means stone, and some toponyms may be derived from this word, Πέλλα and Πελλήνη. The role of Apollo as god of plague is evident in the invocation of Apollo Smintheus by Chryses, the Hittite testimony reflects an early form *Apeljōn, which may also be surmised from comparison of Cypriot Ἀπείλων with Doric Ἀπέλλων. A Luwian etymology suggested for Apaliunas makes Apollo The One of Entrapment, Apollos chief epithet was Phoebus, literally bright. It was very commonly used by both the Greeks and Romans for Apollos role as the god of light, like other Greek deities, he had a number of others applied to him, reflecting the variety of roles, duties, and aspects ascribed to the god. However, while Apollo has a number of appellations in Greek myth. Aegletes, from αἴγλη, light of the sun Helius, literally sun Lyceus light, the meaning of the epithet Lyceus later became associated with Apollos mother Leto, who was the patron goddess of Lycia and who was identified with the wolf
14.
Paganism
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Paganism is a term that derives from Latin word pagan, which means nonparticipant, one excluded from a more distinguished, professional group. The term was used in the 4th century, by early Christian community, the term competed with polytheism already in use in Judaism, by Philo in the 1st century. Pagans and paganism was a pejorative for the same polytheistic group, Paganism has broadly connoted religion of the peasantry, and for much of its history a derogatory term. Alternate terms in Christian texts for the group was hellene. In and after the Middle Ages, paganism was a pejorative that was applied to any non-Abrahamic or unfamiliar religion, there has been much scholarly debate as to the origin of the term paganism, especially since no one before the 20th century self-identified as a pagan. In the 19th century, paganism was re-adopted as a self-descriptor by members of various artistic groups inspired by the ancient world. Forms of these religions, influenced by various historical pagan beliefs of pre-modern Europe, exist today and are known as contemporary or modern paganism, while most pagan religions express a worldview that is pantheistic, polytheistic, or animistic, there are some monotheistic pagans. It is crucial to stress right from the start that until the 20th century people did not call themselves pagans to describe the religion they practised, the notion of paganism, as it is generally understood today, was created by the early Christian Church. It was a label that Christians applied to others, one of the antitheses that were central to the process of Christian self-definition, as such, throughout history it was generally used in a derogatory sense. The term pagan is from Late Latin paganus, revived during the Renaissance and it is related to pangere and ultimately comes from Proto-Indo-European *pag-. The evolution occurred only in the Latin west, and in connection with the Latin church, elsewhere, Hellene or gentile remained the word for pagan, and paganos continued as a purely secular term, with overtones of the inferior and the commonplace. However, this idea has multiple problems, first, the words usage as a reference to non-Christians pre-dates that period in history. Second, paganism within the Roman Empire centered on cities, the concept of an urban Christianity as opposed to a rural paganism would not have occurred to Romans during Early Christianity. Third, unlike words such as rusticitas, paganus had not yet acquired the meanings used to explain why it would have been applied to pagans. Paganus more likely acquired its meaning in Christian nomenclature via Roman military jargon, Early Christians adopted military motifs and saw themselves as Milites Christi. As early as the 5th century, paganos was metaphorically used to persons outside the bounds of the Christian community. In response, Augustine of Hippo wrote De Civitate Dei Contra Paganos, in it, he contrasted the fallen city of Man to the city of God of which all Christians were ultimately citizens. Hence, the invaders were not of the city or rural
15.
Martin of Tours
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St. Martin of Tours was Bishop of Tours, whose shrine in France became a famous stopping-point for pilgrims on the road to Santiago de Compostela in Spain. He has become one of the most familiar and recognizable Christian saints, sometimes venerated as a military saint. As he was born in what is now Szombathely, Hungary, spent much of his childhood in Pavia, Italy and his life was recorded by a contemporary, the hagiographer Sulpicius Severus. Some of the accounts of his travels may have been interpolated into his vita to validate early sites of his cult. He is best known for the account of his using his sword to cut his cloak in two, to give half to a beggar clad only in rags in the depth of winter. Conscripted as a soldier into the Roman army, he found the duty incompatible with the Christian faith he had adopted, Martin was born in 316 or 336 AD in Savaria in the Diocese of Pannonia. His father was an officer in the Imperial Horse Guard, a unit of the Roman army, later stationed at Ticinum, in northern Italy. The date of his birth is a matter of controversy, with both 316 and 336 having rationales, at the age of ten he attended the Christian church against the wishes of his parents, and became a catechumen. Christianity had been made a religion in the Roman Empire. It had many adherents in the Eastern Empire, whence it had sprung. Christianity was far from accepted amongst the higher echelons of society, although the conversion of the Emperor Constantine and the subsequent programme of church-building gave a greater impetus to the spread of the religion, it was still a minority faith. As the son of an officer, Martin at fifteen was required to join a cavalry ala. At the age of 18 around 334 or 354, he was stationed at Ambianensium civitas or Samarobriva in Gaul and it is likely that he joined the Equites catafractarii Ambianenses, a heavy cavalry unit listed in the Notitia Dignitatum. Jacques Fontaine thinks that the biographer was somewhat embarrassed about referring to long stint in the army and he was charged with cowardice and jailed, but in response to the charge, he volunteered to go unarmed to the front of the troops. His superiors planned to take him up on the offer, but before they could, the invaders sued for peace, the battle never occurred, and Martin was released from military service. Martin declared his vocation, and made his way to the city of Caesarodunum, where he became a disciple of Hilary of Poitiers and he opposed the Arianism of the Imperial Court. When Hilary was forced into exile from Pictavium, Martin returned to Italy, according to Sulpicius Severus, he converted an Alpine brigand on the way, and confronted the Devil himself. Having heard in a dream a summons to revisit his home, Martin crossed the Alps, there he converted his mother and some other persons, his father he could not win
16.
John the Baptist
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John the Baptist, also known as John the Baptizer, was a Jewish itinerant preacher in the early first century AD. John is revered as a religious figure in Christianity, Islam, the Baháí Faith. He is called a prophet by all of these traditions, and is honoured as a saint in many Christian traditions, John used baptism as the central symbol or sacrament of his messianic movement. Most scholars agree that John baptized Jesus, scholars generally believe Jesus was a follower or disciple of John and several New Testament accounts report that some of Jesus early followers had previously been followers of John. John the Baptist is also mentioned by the Jewish historian Josephus, according to the New Testament, John anticipated a messianic figure greater than himself. Christians commonly refer to John as the precursor or forerunner of Jesus, John is also identified with the prophet Elijah. John the Baptist is mentioned in all four canonical Gospels and the non-canonical Gospel of the Nazarenes, the Synoptic Gospels describe John baptising Jesus, in the Gospel of John it is implied in John 1, 32-34. The Gospel of Mark introduces John as a fulfilment of a prophecy from the Book of Isaiah about a messenger being sent ahead, John is described as wearing clothes of camels hair, living on locusts and wild honey. John proclaims baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sin, and says another will come after him who will not baptize with water, Jesus comes to John, and is baptized by him in the river Jordan. The account describes how, as he emerges from the water, the heavens open, a voice from heaven then says, You are my Son, the Beloved, with you I am well pleased. Later in the gospel there is an account of Johns death and it is introduced by an incident where the Tetrarch Herod Antipas, hearing stories about Jesus, imagines that this is John the Baptist raised from the dead. It then explains that John had rebuked Herod for marrying Herodias, Herodias demands his execution, but Herod, who liked to listen to John, is reluctant to do so because he fears him, knowing he is a righteous and holy man. The account then describes how Herods daughter Herodias dances before Herod, when the girl asks her mother what she should request, she is told to demand the head of John the Baptist. Reluctantly, Herod orders the beheading of John, and his head is delivered to her, at her request, Johns disciples take the body away and bury it in a tomb. There are a number of difficulties with this passage, the Gospel wrongly identifies Antipas as King and the ex-husband of Herodias is named as Philip, but he is known to have been called Herod. Although the wording clearly implies the girl was the daughter of Herodias, many texts describe her as Herods daughter, Herodias. Since these texts are early and significant and the reading is difficult, many see this as the original version, corrected in later versions and in Matthew. Josephus says that Herodias had a daughter by the name of Salome, scholars have speculated about the origins of the story
17.
Hagiography
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A hagiography /ˌhæɡiˈɒɡrəfi/ is a biography of a saint or an ecclesiastical leader. The term hagiography may be used to refer to the biography of a saint or highly developed spiritual being in any of the spiritual traditions. Hagiographic works, especially those of the Middle Ages, can incorporate a record of institutional and local history, and evidence of popular cults, customs, and traditions. Hagiography constituted an important literary genre in the early Christian church, providing some informational history along with the inspirational stories. A hagiographic account of a saint can consist of a biography, a description of the saints deeds and/or miracles. The genre of lives of the saints first came into being in the Roman Empire as legends about Christian martyrs were recorded, the dates of their deaths formed the basis of martyrologies. In Western Europe hagiography was one of the important vehicles for the study of inspirational history during the Middle Ages. The Golden Legend of Jacob de Voragine compiled a great deal of medieval hagiographic material, Lives were often written to promote the cult of local or national states, and in particular to develop pilgrimages to visit relics. The bronze Gniezno Doors of Gniezno Cathedral in Poland are the only Romanesque doors in Europe to feature the life of a saint. The life of Saint Adalbert of Prague, who is buried in the cathedral, is shown in 18 scenes, the Bollandist Society continues the study, academic assembly, appraisal and publication of materials relating to the lives of Christian saints. Many of the important hagiographical texts composed in medieval England were written in the vernacular dialect Anglo-Norman, with the introduction of Latin literature into England in the 7th and 8th centuries the genre of the life of the saint grew increasingly popular. When one contrasts it to the heroic poem, such as Beowulf. Both genres then focus on the figure, but with the distinction that the saint is of a spiritual sort. Imitation of the life of Christ was then the benchmark against which saints were measured, in Anglo-Saxon and medieval England, hagiography became a literary genre par excellence for the teaching of a largely illiterate audience. Hagiography provided priests and theologians with classical handbooks in a form that allowed them the tools necessary to present their faith through the example of the saints lives. Of all the English hagiographers no one was more prolific nor so aware of the importance of the genre as Abbot Ælfric of Eynsham and his work The Lives of the Saints comprises a set of sermons on saints days, formerly observed by the English Church. The text spans the entire year and describes the lives of many saints, there are two known instances where saints lives were adapted into vernacular plays in Britain. These are the Cornish-language works Beunans Meriasek and Beunans Ke, about the lives of Saints Meriasek and Kea, Irish hagiographers wrote primarily in Latin while some of the later saints lives were written in the hagiographers native vernacular Irish
18.
Sulpicius Severus
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Sulpicius Severus was a Christian writer and native of Aquitania in modern-day France. He is known for his chronicle of sacred history, as well as his biography of Saint Martin of Tours, born of noble parents in Aquitaine, Severus enjoyed excellent educational advantages. He was imbued with the culture of his time and of his country and he studied jurisprudence and was renowned as an eloquent lawyer, his knowledge of Roman law is reflected in parts of his writings. He married the daughter of a wealthy family, who died young, leaving him no children. This choice incurred his fathers displeasure, but was encouraged in his determination by his mother-in-law, to use the words of his friend Paulinus, he broke with his father, followed Christ, and set the teachings of the fishermen far above all his Tullian learning. He rose to no higher rank in the church than that of presbyter and his ordination is vouched for by Gennadius, but no details of his priestly activity have reached us. He is said to have been led away in his old age by Pelagianism and his time was passed chiefly in the neighbourhood of Toulouse, and such literary efforts as he permitted to himself were made in the interests of Christianity. It is a source of importance for the history of Priscillianism. The book was a textbook, and was used as such in the schools of Europe for about a century, Severus nowhere clearly points to the class of readers for whom his book is designed. He disclaims the intention of making his work a substitute for the narrative contained in the Bible. The literary structure of the shows that Severus had in his mind principally readers on the same level of culture with himself. He was anxious to show that history might be presented in a form which lovers of Sallust and Tacitus could appreciate. The style is lucid and almost classical and it is free from useless digressions. As an authority for times antecedent to his own, Severus is of little moment, at only a few points does he enable us to correct or supplement other records. Jakob Bernays suggested that he based his narrative of the destruction of Jerusalem by Titus on the account given by Tacitus in his Histories and we are enabled thus to contrast Tacitus with Josephus, who warped his narrative to do honour to Titus. In his allusions to the Gentile rulers with whom the Jews came into contact from the time of the Maccabees onwards, the sympathies here betrayed by Severus are wholly those of St. Martin. The bishop had withstood Maximus, who ruled for years a large part of the western portion of the empire. He had reproached him with attacking and overthrowing his predecessors, on the throne, and for his dealings with the church
19.
Anthony the Great
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Saint Anthony or Antony was a Christian monk from Egypt, revered since his death as a saint. He is distinguished from other saints named Anthony by various epithets, Anthony the Great, Anthony of Egypt, Anthony the Abbot, Anthony of the Desert, Anthony the Anchorite, and Anthony of Thebes. For his importance among the Desert Fathers and to all later Christian monasticism and his feast day is celebrated on January 17 among the Orthodox and Catholic churches and on Tobi 22 in the Egyptian calendar used by the Coptic Church. The biography of Anthonys life by Athanasius of Alexandria helped to spread the concept of Christian monasticism and he is often erroneously considered the first Christian monk, but as his biography and other sources make clear, there were many ascetics before him. Anthony was, however, the first to go into the wilderness, Anthony is appealed to against infectious diseases, particularly skin diseases. In the past, many afflictions, including ergotism, erysipelas. Anthony was born in Coma in Lower Egypt in AD251 to wealthy landowner parents, when he was about 18 years old, his parents died and left him with the care of his unmarried sister. Shortly thereafter, he decided to follow the Evangelical counsel of Jesus which reads, If you want to be perfect, go, sell what you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasures in heaven. Anthony gave away some of his familys lands to his neighbors, sold the remaining property and he then left to live an ascetic life, placing his sister with a group of Christian virgins, a sort of proto-convent. For the next fifteen years, Anthony remained in the area, there are various legends associating Anthony with pigs, one is that he worked as a swineherd during this period. Anthony is sometimes considered the first monk, and the first to initiate solitary desertification, philo opined that this class of persons may be met with in many places, for both Greece and barbarian countries want to enjoy whatever is perfectly good. Christian ascetics such as Thecla had likewise retreated to isolated locations at the outskirts of cities, Anthony is notable for having decided to surpass this tradition and headed out into the desert proper. He left for the alkaline Nitrian Desert on the edge of the Western Desert about 95 km west of Alexandria and he remained there for 13 years. According to Athanasius, the devil fought Anthony by afflicting him with boredom, laziness, and the phantoms of women, after that, he moved to a tomb, where he resided and closed the door on himself, depending on some local villagers who brought him food. When the devil perceived his ascetic life and his worship, he was envious and beat him mercilessly. When his friends from the village came to visit him and found him in this condition. After he recovered, he made an effort and went back into the desert to a farther mountain by the Nile called Pispir. There he lived strictly enclosed in an old abandoned Roman fort for some 20 years, according to Athanasius, the devil again resumed his war against Anthony, only this time the phantoms were in the form of wild beasts, wolves, lions, snakes, and scorpions
20.
Rule of Saint Benedict
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The Rule of Saint Benedict is a book of precepts written by Benedict of Nursia for monks living communally under the authority of an abbot. The spirit of Saint Benedicts Rule is summed up in the motto of the Benedictine Confederation, pax, compared to other precepts, the Rule provides a moderate path between individual zeal and formulaic institutionalism, because of this middle ground it has been widely popular. The Rule of Saint Benedict has been used by Benedictines for fifteen centuries and his Rule was written as a guide for individual, autonomous communities, and to this day all Benedictine Houses remain self-governing. Advantages seen in retaining this unique Benedictine emphasis on autonomy include cultivating models of tightly bonded communities, perceived disadvantages comprise geographical isolation from important activities in adjacent communities. Other perceived losses include inefficiency and lack of mobility in the service of others, Christian monasticism first appeared in the Eastern Roman Empire a few generations before Benedict of Nursia, in the Egyptian desert. Within a generation, both solitary and communal monasticism became very popular and spread outside of Egypt, first to Palestine, Saint Basil of Caesarea codified the precepts for these eastern monasteries in his Ascetic Rule, or Ascetica, which is still used today in the Eastern Orthodox Church. In time, setting an example with his zeal, he began to attract disciples, after considerable initial struggles with his first community at Subiaco, he eventually founded the monastery of Monte Cassino in 529, where he wrote his Rule near the end of his life. In chapter 73, Saint Benedict commends the Rule of Saint Basil and he was probably aware of the Rule written by Pachomius, and his Rule also shows influence by the Rule of St Augustine of Hippo and the writings of Saint John Cassian. Chapter 3 ordains the calling of the brothers to council upon all affairs of importance to the community, Chapter 4 lists 73 tools for good work, tools of the spiritual craft for the workshop that is the enclosure of the monastery and the stability in the community. These are essentially the duties of every Christian and are mainly Scriptural either in letter or in spirit, Chapter 5 prescribes prompt, ungrudging, and absolute obedience to the superior in all things lawful, unhesitating obedience being called the first degree, or step, of humility. Chapter 6 recommends moderation in the use of speech, but does not enjoin strict silence, chapters 8-19 regulate the Divine Office, the Godly work to which nothing is to be preferred, namely the eight canonical hours. Detailed arrangements are made for the number of Psalms, etc. to be recited in winter and summer, on Sundays, weekdays, Holy Days, Chapter 19 emphasizes the reverence owed to the omnipresent God. Chapter 20 directs that prayer be made with heartfelt compunction rather than many words and it should be prolonged only under the inspiration of divine grace, and in community always kept short and terminated at a sign from the superior. Chapter 21 regulates the appointment of a Dean over every ten monks, each monk is to have a separate bed and is to sleep in his habit, so as to be ready to rise without delay, a light shall burn in the dormitory throughout the night. Chapters 31 and 32 order the appointment of officials to charge of the goods of the monastery. Chapter 33 forbids the possession of anything without the leave of the abbot. Chapter 34 prescribes a just distribution of such things, Chapter 35 arranges for the service in the kitchen by all monks in turn. Chapters 36 and 37 address care of the sick, the old, and they are to have certain dispensations from the strict Rule, chiefly in the matter of food
21.
Monasticism
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Monasticism or monkhood is a religious way of life in which one renounces worldly pursuits to devote oneself fully to spiritual work. Monastic life plays an important role in many Christian churches, especially in the Catholic, similar forms of religious life also exist in other faiths, most notably in Buddhism, but also in Hinduism and Jainism, although the expressions differ considerably. By contrast, in other religions monasticism is criticized and not practiced, as in Islam and Zoroastrianism, or plays a marginal role, males pursuing a monastic life are generally called monks while female monastics are called nuns. Many monks and nuns live in monasteries to stay away from the secular world, the way of addressing monastics differs between the Christian traditions. As a general rule, in Roman Catholicism, monks and nuns are called brother or sister, while in Eastern Orthodoxy, the Sangha or community of ordained Buddhist bhikkhus and original bhikkhunis was founded by Gautama Buddha during his lifetime over 2500 years ago. This communal monastic lifestyle grew out of the lifestyle of earlier sects of wandering ascetics and it was initially fairly eremitic or reclusive in nature. Bhikkhus and bhikkunis were expected to live with a minimum of possessions, lay followers also provided the daily food that bhikkhus required, and provided shelter for bhikkhus when they needed it. After the Parinibbana of the Buddha, the Buddhist monastic order developed into a primarily cenobitic or communal movement. The practice of living communally during the rainy season, prescribed by the Buddha. The number of rules observed varies with the order, Theravada bhikkhus follow around 227 rules, there are a larger number of rules specified for bhikkhunis. The Buddhist monastic order consists of the male bhikkhu assembly and the female bhikkhuni assembly, initially consisting only of males, it grew to include females after the Buddhas stepmother, Mahaprajapati, asked for and received permission to live as an ordained practitioner. Bhikkhus and bhikkhunis are expected to fulfill a variety of roles in the Buddhist community, first and foremost, they are expected to preserve the doctrine and discipline now known as Buddhism. A bhikkhu or Bhikshu, first ordains as a Samanera, novices often ordain at a young age, but generally no younger than eight. Samaneras live according to the Ten Precepts, but are not responsible for living by the set of monastic rules. Higher ordination, conferring the status of a full Bhikkhu, is only to men who are aged 20 or older. Bhikkhunis follow a progression, but are required to live as Samaneras for longer periods of time- typically five years. The disciplinary regulations for bhikkhus and bhikkhunis are intended to create a life that is simple and focused, however, celibacy is a fundamental part of this form of monastic discipline. Monasticism in Christianity, which provides the origins of the monk and monastery
22.
Totila
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Totila, original name Baduila was the penultimate King of the Ostrogoths, reigning from 541 to 552 AD. Totila proved himself both as a military and political leader, winning the support of the classes by liberating slaves. After a successful defence at Verona, Totila pursued and defeated a superior army at the Battle of Faventia in 542 AD. Building on his victories, Totila followed these victories by defeating the Romans outside Florence, by 543, fighting on land and sea, he had reconqured the bulk of the lost territory. Rome held out, and Totila appealed unsuccessfully to the Senate in a letter reminding them of the loyalty of the Romans to his predecessor Theodoric the Great, when Totila left to fight the Byzantines in Lucania, south of Naples, Belisarius retook Rome and rebuilt its fortifications. After Belisarius retreated to Constantinople in 549, Totila recaptured Rome, by the end of 550, Totila had recaptured all but Ravenna and four coastal towns. The following year Justinian sent his general Narses with a force of 35,000 Lombards, Gepids and Heruli to Italy in a march around the Adriatic to approach Ravenna from the north. In the Battle of Taginae, an engagement during the summer of 552, in the Apennines near present-day Fabriano, the Gothic army was defeated. Totila was succeeded by his relative, Teia, who died at the Battle of Mons Lactarius. Pockets of resistance, reinforced by Franks and Alemanni who had invaded Italy in 553, continued until 562, Totila was the nom de guerre of a man whose real name was Baduila, as can be seen from the coinage he issued. According to Henry Bradley, Totila and Baduila are diminutives of Totabadws, born in Treviso, Totila was a relative of Theudis, king of the Visigoths. Elected king of the Ostrogoths in 541 after the death of his uncle Ildibad, having engineered the assassination of Ildibads short-lived successor, Totilas strategy was to move fast and take control of the countryside, leaving the Byzantine forces in control of well-defended cities, and especially the ports. When Belisarius eventually returned to Italy, Procopius relates that during a space of five years he did not succeed once in setting foot on any part of the land, except where some fortress was, but during this whole period he kept sailing about visiting one port after another. Totila circumvented those cities where a siege would have been required, razing the walls of cities that capitulated to him. Totilas conquest of Italy was marked not only by celerity but also by mercy, and Gibbon says none were deceived, either friends or enemies, after a successful siege of a resisting city, such as at Perugia, however, Totila could be merciless, as Procopius recounts. And he himself, sitting upon a large horse, began to dance under arms skillfully between the two armies. And as he rode he hurled his javelin into the air and caught it again as it quivered above him, then passed it rapidly from hand to hand, shifting it with consummate skill. Procopiuss picture is given a setting, for Totila generally avoided formal battles with opposing armies drawn up in battle array
23.
Ostrogoths
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The Ostrogoths were the eastern branch of the later Goths. They built an empire stretching from the Black Sea to the Baltic, the Ostrogoths were probably literate in the 3rd century, and their trade with the Romans was highly developed. Their Danubian kingdom reached its zenith under King Ermanaric, who is said to have committed suicide at an old age when the Huns attacked his people and subjugated them in about 370. After their annexation by the Huns, little is heard of the Ostrogoths for about 80 years, after the collapse of the Hun empire after the Battle of Nedao, Ostrogoths migrated westwards towards Illyria and the borders of Italy, while some remained in the Crimea. During the late 5th and 6th centuries, under Theodoric the Great most of the Ostrogoths moved first to Moesia, in 493, Theodoric the Great established a kingdom in Italy. A period of instability then ensued, tempting the Eastern Roman Emperor Justinian to declare war on the Ostrogoths in 535 in an effort to restore the western provinces of the Roman Empire. Initially, the Byzantines were successful, but under the leadership of Totila, the war lasted for almost 20 years and caused enormous damage and depopulation of Italy. The remaining Ostrogoths were absorbed into the Lombards who established a kingdom in Italy in 568, a division of the Goths is first attested in 291. The Tervingi are first attested around that date, the Greuthungi, Vesi, the Ostrogoths are first named in a document dated September 392 from Milan. Claudian mentions that they together with the Greuthungi inhabit Phrygia, according to Herwig Wolfram, the primary sources either use the terminology of Tervingi/Greuthungi or Vesi/Ostrogothi and never mix the pairs. All four names were used together, but the pairing was always preserved, as in Gruthungi, Ostrogothi, Tervingi and that the Tervingi were the Vesi/Visigothi and the Greuthungi the Ostrogothi is also supported by Jordanes. This interpretation, however, though common among scholars today, is not universal. Both Herwig Wolfram and Thomas Burns conclude that the terms Tervingi and Greuthungi were geographical identifiers used by each tribe to describe the other and this terminology therefore dropped out of use after the Goths were displaced by the Hunnic invasions. In support of this, Wolfram cites Zosimus as referring to a group of Scythians north of the Danube who were called Greuthungi by the north of the Ister. Wolfram asserts that it was the Tervingi who remained behind after the Hunnic conquest and he further believes that the terms Vesi and Ostrogothi were used by the peoples to boastfully describe themselves. On this understanding, the Greuthungi and Ostrogothi were more or less the same people, the nomenclature of Greuthungi and Tervingi fell out of use shortly after 400. In general, the terminology of a divided Gothic people disappeared gradually after they entered the Roman Empire, the term Visigoth, however, was an invention of the sixth century. Cassiodorus, a Roman in the service of Theodoric the Great, invented the term Visigothi to match Ostrogothi, the western-eastern division was a simplification and a literary device of sixth-century historians where political realities were more complex
24.
Lombards
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The Lombards or Longobards were a Germanic people who ruled large parts of the Italian Peninsula from 568 to 774. In the 1st century AD, they formed part of the Suebi, the Lombard king Audoin defeated the Gepid leader Thurisind in 551 or 552, his successor Alboin eventually destroyed the Gepids at the Battle of Asfeld in 567. The Lombards were joined by numerous Saxons, Heruls, Gepids, Bulgars, Thuringians, and Ostrogoths, by late 569 they had conquered all north of Italy and the principal cities north of the Po River except Pavia, which fell in 572. At the same time, they occupied areas in central Italy and they established a Lombard Kingdom in north and central Italy, later named Regnum Italicum, which reached its zenith under the 8th-century ruler Liutprand. In 774, the Kingdom was conquered by the Frankish King Charlemagne, however, Lombard nobles continued to rule southern parts of the Italian peninsula, well into the 11th century when they were conquered by the Normans and added to their County of Sicily. In this period, the part of Italy still under Longobardic domination was known by the name Langbarðaland in the Norse runestones. Their legacy is apparent in the regional name Lombardy. The fullest account of Lombard origins, history, and practices is the Historia Langobardorum of Paul the Deacon, pauls chief source for Lombard origins, however, is the 7th-century Origo Gentis Langobardorum. The Origo Gentis Langobardorum tells the story of a tribe called the Winnili dwelling in southern Scandinavia. The Winnili were split into three groups and one part left their land to seek foreign fields. The reason for the exodus was probably overpopulation, the departing people were led by the brothers Ybor and Aio and their mother Gambara and arrived in the lands of Scoringa, perhaps the Baltic coast or the Bardengau on the banks of the Elbe. Scoringa was ruled by the Vandals and their chieftains, the brothers Ambri and Assi, the Winnili were young and brave and refused to pay tribute, saying It is better to maintain liberty by arms than to stain it by the payment of tribute. The Vandals prepared for war and consulted Godan, who answered that he would give the victory to those whom he would see first at sunrise. The Winnili were fewer in number and Gambara sought help from Frea, at sunrise, Frea turned her husbands bed so that he was facing east, and woke him. So Godan spotted the Winnili first and asked, Who are these long-beards. and Frea replied, My lord, thou hast given them the name, from that moment onwards, the Winnili were known as the Longbeards. When Paul the Deacon wrote the Historia between 787 and 796 he was a Catholic monk and devoted Christian and he thought the pagan stories of his people silly and laughable. Paul explained that the name Langobard came from the length of their beards, a modern theory suggests that the name Langobard comes from Langbarðr, a name of Odin. Priester states that when the Winnili changed their name to Lombards, they changed their old agricultural fertility cult to a cult of Odin
25.
Carloman (mayor of the palace)
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Carloman was the eldest son of Charles Martel, majordomo or mayor of the palace and duke of the Franks, and his wife Chrotrud of Treves. On Charless death, Carloman and his brother Pepin the Short succeeded to their fathers legal positions, Carloman in Austrasia, and Pepin in Neustria. He was a member of the later called the Carolingians. After the death of his father, power was not initially divided to include Grifo, another of Charless sons and this was per Charles wishes, though Grifo demanded a portion of the realm from his brothers, who refused him. Unlike most medieval instances of fraternal power sharing, Carloman and Pepin for seven years seemed at least willing to work together, certainly, Carloman joined Pepin against Hunald of Aquitaines rising in 742 and again in 745. Carloman was instrumental in convening the Concilium Germanicum in 742, the first major synod of the Catholic Church to be held in the regions of the Frankish kingdom. His father had frequently confiscated church property to reward his followers, by 742 the Carolingians were wealthy enough to pay their military retainers and support the Church. For Carloman, a religious man, it was a duty of love. Both saw the necessity of strengthening the ties between their house and the Church, Carloman donated the land for one of Bonifaces most important foundations, the monastery of Fulda. Despite his piety, Carloman could be ruthless towards real or perceived opponents and these actions strengthened Carlomans position, and that of the family as a whole, especially in terms of their rivalries with other leading barbarian families such as the Bavarian Agilolfings. On 15 August 747, Carloman renounced his position as majordomo and withdrew to a monastic life, Carloman founded a monastery on Monte Soratte and then went to Monte Cassino. All sources from the period indicate that he believed his calling was the Church and he withdrew to Monte Cassino and spent most of the remainder of his life there, presumably in meditation and prayer. His son, Drogo, demanded from Pepin the Short his fathers share of the family patrimony, seven years after Carlomans retirement and on the eve of his death, he once more stepped briefly on the public stage. In 754, Pope Stephen II had begged Pepin, now king, to come to his aid against the king of the Lombards, Carloman left Monte Cassino to visit his brother to ask him not to march on Italy. Pippin was unmoved, and imprisoned Carloman in Vienne, where he died on 17 August and he was buried in Monte Cassino. The Long Shadow of the Merovingians in, Charlemagne, Empire and Society, ed. Joanna Story
26.
Charles Martel
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Charles Martel was a Frankish statesman and military leader who as Duke and Prince of the Franks and Mayor of the Palace, was de facto ruler of Francia from 718 until his death. After work to establish a unity in Gaul, Charles attention was called to foreign conflicts, apart from the military endeavours, Charles is considered to be a founding figure of the European Middle Ages. Moreover, Charles—a great patron of Saint Boniface—made the first attempt at reconciliation between the Franks and the Papacy. Pope Gregory III, whose realm was being menaced by the Lombards, wished Charles to become the defender of the Holy See and offered him the Roman consulship and he divided Francia between his sons Carloman and Pepin. The latter became the first of the Carolingians, Charles grandson, Charlemagne, extended the Frankish realms to include much of the West, and became the first Emperor in the West since the fall of Rome. Charles The Hammer Martel was the son of Pepin of Herstal and he had a brother named Childebrand, who later became the Frankish dux of Burgundy. In older historiography, it was common to describe Charles as illegitimate and this is still widely repeated in popular culture today. But, polygamy was a legitimate Frankish practice at the time and it is likely that the interpretation of illegitimacy is an idea derived of Pepins first wifes desire to see her progeny as heirs to Pepins power. After the reign of Dagobert I the Merovingians effectively ceded power to the Pippinids and they controlled the royal treasury, dispensed patronage, and granted land and privileges in the name of the figurehead king. Charles father, Pepin, was the member of the family to rule the Franks. Pepin was able to all the Frankish realms by conquering Neustria. He was the first to call himself Duke and Prince of the Franks, in December 714, Pepin of Herstal died. Prior to his death, he had, at his wife Plectrudes urging, designated Theudoald, his grandson by their late son Grimoald and this was immediately opposed by the nobles because Theudoald was a child of only eight years of age. To prevent Charles using this unrest to his own advantage, Plectrude had him imprisoned in Cologne and this prevented an uprising on his behalf in Austrasia, but not in Neustria. The Austrasians were not to be supporting a woman and a young child. Before the end of the year, Charles Martel had escaped from prison and that year, Dagobert III, a Merovingian, died and the Neustrians proclaimed Chilperic II, the cloistered son of Childeric II, as king. In 716, Chilperic and Ragenfrid together led an army into Austrasia, the Neustrians allied with another invading force under Radbod, King of the Frisians and met Charles in battle near Cologne, which was still held by Plectrude. Charles had little time to gather men, or prepare, the king and his mayor besieged Plectrude at Cologne, where she bought them off with a substantial portion of Pepins treasure
27.
Ratchis
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Ratchis was the Duke of Friuli and King of the Lombards. He ruled in peace until he besieged, for reasons unknown, pope Zachary convinced him to lift the siege and he abdicated and entered, with his family, the abbey of Montecassino. After the death of Aistulf in 756, he tried again to reign over the Lombards. Paul the Deacon, Historia Langobardorum Storia dei Longobardi, introduzione di Claudio Leonardi, Milano, Electa,1985 Jörg Jarnut, Storia dei Longobardi, Torino, Einaudi,2002 ISBN 88-464-4085-4 Sergio Rovagnati, I Longobardi, Milano, Xenia,2003 ISBN 88-7273-484-3
28.
Aistulf
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Aistulf was the Duke of Friuli from 744, King of Lombards from 749, and Duke of Spoleto from 751. His father was the Duke Pemmo, after his brother Ratchis became king, Aistulf succeeded him in Friuli. He succeeded him later as king when Ratchis abdicated to a monastery, Aistulf continued the policy of expansion and raids against the papacy and the Byzantine exarchate of Ravenna. In 751, he captured Ravenna itself and even threatened Rome and he also conquered the Istria region from Byzantine occupation in same year. In 741, Pope Gregory III asked Charles Martel to intervene, in 753, Pope Stephen II visited Charles Martels son Pepin the Short, who had been proclaimed king of the Franks in 751 with the consent of Pope Zachary. In gratitude for the consent to his coronation, Pepin crossed the Alps, defeated Aistulf, and gave to the pope the lands which Aistulf had torn from the ducatus Romanus. He was succeeded by Desiderius as king of the Lombards and by Alboin as duke of Spoleto and he had given Friuli to his brother-in-law Anselm, abbot of Nonantula, whose sister Gisaltruda he had married, when he succeeded to the kingship in 749
29.
Paul the Deacon
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Paul the Deacon, also known as Paulus Diaconus, Warnefridus, Barnefridus, Winfridus and sometimes suffixed Cassinensis, was a Benedictine monk, scribe, and historian of the Lombards. An ancestor named Leupichis entered Italy in the train of Alboin, during an invasion, the Avars swept off the five sons of this warrior into Pannonia, but one, his namesake, returned to Italy and restored the ruined fortunes of his house. The grandson of the younger Leupichis was Warnefrid, who by his wife Theodelinda became the father of Paul, Paulus was his monastic name, he was born Winfrid, son of Warnefrid. It is probable that he was secretary to the Lombard king Desiderius, after Adelperga had married Arichis II, duke of Benevento, Paul at her request wrote his continuation of Eutropius. Soon he entered a monastery on Lake Como, and before 782 he had become a resident at the great Benedictine house of Monte Cassino, where he made the acquaintance of Charlemagne. About 776 his brother Arichis had been carried as a prisoner to Francia, and his literary achievements attracted the notice of Charlemagne, and Paul became a potent factor in the Carolingian Renaissance. In 787 he returned to Italy and to Monte Cassino, where he died on April 13 in one of the years between 796 and 799. His surname Diaconus, shows that he took orders as a deacon, Pauls extant works are edited in Patrologia Latina vol. The chief work of Paul is his Historia Langobardorum and this incomplete history in six books was written after 787 and at any rate no later than 795/96, maybe at Monte Cassino. The story is told from the point of view of a Lombard and is valuable for the relations between the Franks and the Lombards. Cognate with this work is Pauls Historia Romana, a continuation of the Breviarium of Eutropius and this was compiled between 766 and 771, at Benevento. The story runs that Paul advised Adelperga to read Eutropius and this work has value for its early historical presentation of the end of the Roman Empire in the West, although it was very popular during the Middle Ages. It has been edited by H Droysen and published in the Monumenta Germaniae Historica, auctores antiquissimi, Band ii. as well as by A. Crivellucci, in Fonti per la storia d Italia, n. He also wrote letters, verses and epitaphs, including those of Duke/Prince Arichis II of Benevento. Some of the letters are published with the Historia Langobardorum in the Monumenta, john the Baptist, which Guido dArezzo fitted to a melody which had previously been used for Horaces Ode 4.11. From the initial syllables of the first verses of the resultant setting he then took the names of the first notes of the musical scale, Paul also wrote an epitome, which has survived, of Sextus Pompeius Festus De verborum significatu. While in Francia, Paul was requested by Charlemagne to compile a collection of homilies and he executed this after his return to Monte Cassino, and it was largely used in the Frankish churches. A life of Pope Gregory the Great has also attributed to him
30.
Gisulf II of Benevento
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Gisulf II was the third last duke of Benevento before the fall of the Lombard kingdom. He ruled from 743, when King Liutprand came down and removed Godescalc, Gisulf was the son of Romuald II of Benevento and Gumperga, daughter of Aurona, sister of Liutprand. As a relative of the king, he was supported by the royal power, Liutprand removed Audelais and, placing another nephew, Gregory, on the throne, brought Gisulf back to be raised in the royal palace at Pavia. In 744, Gisulf made a donation of land to the Abbey of Montecassino which would become the basis for the Terra Sancti Benedicti, according to Hartmann, Gisulf followed the policies of Liutprand faithfully
31.
Duchy of Benevento
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The Duchy of Benevento was the southernmost Lombard duchy in the Italian peninsula, centered on Benevento, a city in Southern Italy. Being cut off from the rest of the Lombard possessions by the papal Duchy of Rome, only during the reigns of Grimoald I of Benevento and the kings from Liutprand on was the duchy closely tied to the kingdom. Paul the Deacon refers to Benevento as the Samnite Duchy after the region of Samnium, the circumstances of the creation of the duchy are disputed. According to some scholars, Lombards were present in southern Italy well before the complete conquest of the Po Valley, the Lombards may have entered later, around 590. Whatever the case, the first duke was Zotto, a leader of a band of soldiers who descended the coast of Campania, though at first independent, Zotto was eventually made to submit to the royal authority of the north. His successor was Arechis, his nephew, and the principle of hereditary succession guided the Beneventan duchy to the end, a swathe of territory that owed allegiance to Rome or to Ravenna separated the dukes of Benevento from the kings at Pavia. A unique Beneventan script was developed for writing Latin. The 8th-century writer Paul the Deacon arrived in Benevento in the retinue of a princess from Pavia, under Zottos successors, the duchy was expanded against the Byzantine Empire. Arechis, himself from the duchy of Friuli, captured Capua and Crotone, sacked Byzantine Amalfi, after his reign, Byzantines holdings in southern Italy were reduced to Naples, Amalfi, Gaeta, Sorrento, Calabria, and the maritime cities of Apulia. In 662, Duke Grimoald I, went north to aid the King Godepert against his brother, the co-king Perctarit, as king of the Lombards, he tried to reinstate Arianism over the Catholicism of the late king Aripert I. However, Arianism was disappearing even in the duchy, as was the distinction between the ethnic Lombard population and the Latin- and Greek-speaking one. In 663, the city itself was besieged by the Byzantines during the attempt of Constans II. Duke Romuald I defended the city bravely, however, and the Emperor, also fearing the arrival of Romualds father, King Grimoald, however, Romuald intercepted part of the Roman army at Forino, between Avellino and Salerno, and destroyed it. A peace between the Duchy and the Eastern Empire was signed in 680, in the following decades, Benevento conquered some territories from the Byzantines, but the main enemy of the duchy was now the northern Lombard kingdom itself. King Liutprand intervened several times to impose a candidate of his own on the ducal throne and his successor, Ratchis, declared the duchies of Spoleto and Benevento foreign countries where it was forbidden to travel without a royal permission. Seeing that this was impractical and would draw Frankish attention to himself, in 787, he was forced by Charlemagnes siege of Salerno to submit to Frankish suzerainty. At this time, Benevento was acclaimed by a chronicler as a Ticinum geminum—a twin Pavia, like their Byzantine enemies, the dukes linked the palace compound with a national church, Saint Sophia. In 788, the principality was invaded by Byzantine troops led by Desideriuss son, Adelchis, however, his attempts were thwarted by Arechis son, Grimoald III, who had, however, partially submitted to the Franks
32.
Byzantine Empire
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It survived the fragmentation and fall of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century AD and continued to exist for an additional thousand years until it fell to the Ottoman Turks in 1453. During most of its existence, the empire was the most powerful economic, cultural, several signal events from the 4th to 6th centuries mark the period of transition during which the Roman Empires Greek East and Latin West divided. Constantine I reorganised the empire, made Constantinople the new capital, under Theodosius I, Christianity became the Empires official state religion and other religious practices were proscribed. Finally, under the reign of Heraclius, the Empires military, the borders of the Empire evolved significantly over its existence, as it went through several cycles of decline and recovery. During the reign of Maurice, the Empires eastern frontier was expanded, in a matter of years the Empire lost its richest provinces, Egypt and Syria, to the Arabs. This battle opened the way for the Turks to settle in Anatolia, the Empire recovered again during the Komnenian restoration, such that by the 12th century Constantinople was the largest and wealthiest European city. Despite the eventual recovery of Constantinople in 1261, the Byzantine Empire remained only one of several small states in the area for the final two centuries of its existence. Its remaining territories were annexed by the Ottomans over the 15th century. The Fall of Constantinople to the Ottoman Empire in 1453 finally ended the Byzantine Empire, the term comes from Byzantium, the name of the city of Constantinople before it became Constantines capital. This older name of the city would rarely be used from this point onward except in historical or poetic contexts. The publication in 1648 of the Byzantine du Louvre, and in 1680 of Du Canges Historia Byzantina further popularised the use of Byzantine among French authors, however, it was not until the mid-19th century that the term came into general use in the Western world. The Byzantine Empire was known to its inhabitants as the Roman Empire, the Empire of the Romans, Romania, the Roman Republic, Graikia, and also as Rhōmais. The inhabitants called themselves Romaioi and Graikoi, and even as late as the 19th century Greeks typically referred to modern Greek as Romaika and Graikika. The authority of the Byzantine emperor as the legitimate Roman emperor was challenged by the coronation of Charlemagne as Imperator Augustus by Pope Leo III in the year 800. No such distinction existed in the Islamic and Slavic worlds, where the Empire was more seen as the continuation of the Roman Empire. In the Islamic world, the Roman Empire was known primarily as Rûm, the Roman army succeeded in conquering many territories covering the entire Mediterranean region and coastal regions in southwestern Europe and north Africa. These territories were home to different cultural groups, both urban populations and rural populations. The West also suffered heavily from the instability of the 3rd century AD
33.
Duchy of Naples
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It was governed by a military commander, and rapidly became a de facto independent state, lasting more than five centuries during the Early and High Middle Ages. The modern city of Naples remains a significant region of Italy, in 661, Naples obtained from the emperor Constans II the right to be ruled by a local duke, one Basil, whose subjection to the emperor soon became merely nominal. Among his titles were patrikios and hypatos, capri was later part of the duchy of Amalfi. He had authority over the neighbouring seaports of Gaeta, Amalfi, in this era, the duchy coined monies with the effigy of the emperor and Greek inscriptions. In 763, the duke Stephen II switched his allegiance from Constantinople to Rome, already during the reign of the imperially appointed John I, the papacy had come to the dukes aid against the Lombards, while Byzantine assistance seemed remote. Stephen IIs reign is considered a period of transition in the history of Naples, it moved away from the iconoclastic East, the Byzantine Greeks were soon to become as much a threat to the Neapolitans as the Lombards. Sometime around the beginning of the century, the dukes began striking coinage with Latin inscriptions. Saint Januarius replaced the emperor on the coins, acts were still dated by the imperial reign, but the emperor was of no consequence in regular Neapolitan affairs. Apparently, the Neapolitans felt themselves practically independent already and their underlings felt themselves independent of Naples, the duchy was not yet hereditary, in 818, the patrician of Sicily appointed Theoctistus without imperial approval. He revoked this appointment, and appointed one Theodore II in 821 and this Stephen first began to mint pieces with his own initials on them and not those of the Eastern Emperor. In 840, Duke Sergius I made the succession to the duchy hereditary, Naples was not a merchant city as other Campanian sea cities like Amalfi and Gaeta, but had a respectable fleet who took part in the Battle of Ostia against the Saracens in 849. In 1027, duke Sergius IV donated the county of Aversa to a band of Norman mercenaries led by Rainulf Drengot, in that period he could not imagine the consequences, but this settlement began a process which eventually led to the end of Naples independence itself. Sergius cemented his position with marital alliances with the Normans, but when these broke down, he was abandoned by his mercenaries and his son, John V, cosied up to Guaimar IV of Salerno and eventually did homage to him. Naples was the last of the southern Italian states which the Normans had met when they first entered Italy and it survived the fall of the Lombard principalities, Capua, Salerno, Benevento. It had survived the fall of its fellow Greek duchies, Amalfi, Gaeta, in 1137, Duke Sergius VII was forced to surrender to Roger II of Sicily, who had had himself proclaimed King of Sicily seven years earlier. Under the new rulers the city was administrated by a compalazzo, in this period Naples had a population of 30,000 and yet got its sustenance from the inland country, commerce activities were mainly delegated to foreign people, mainly from Pisa and Genova. Apart from the church of San Giovanni a Mare, Norman buildings in Naples were mainly lay ones, notably castles, walls, list of Dukes of Naples Skinner, Patricia. Family Power in Southern Italy, The Duchy of Gaeta and its Neighbours, Naples in the Dark Ages by David Taylor and Jeff Matthews
34.
Duchy of Gaeta
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The Duchy of Gaeta was an early medieval state centered on the coastal South Italian city of Gaeta. It began in the ninth century as the local community began to grow autonomous as Byzantine power lagged in the Mediterranean. However, unlike these sister seaports, Gaeta was never a centre of commercial importance, in 778, it was the headquarters from which the patrician of Sicily directed the campaign against the Saracen invaders of Campania. The first consul of Gaeta, Constantine, who associated his son Marinus with him, was a Byzantine agent, Constantine defended the city from the ravages of Muslim pirates and fortified it, building outlying castles as well. He was removed, probably violently, by the Docibilis I, the Docibilian dynasts regularly worked to advance Gaetan interests through alliance with whatever power was most capable of such at the time. They joined forces with the Saracens against their Christian neighbours and with the Pope against the Muslim pirates at the Battle of Ostia and they constructed a massive palace and greatly increased the citys prestige and wealth. The Gaetans remained nominally Byzantine in allegiance until the mid tenth century, the chief success of the Docibilians lay, however, in extracting Gaeta from the Ducatus Neapolitanus. It was Docibilis II who first took the title of dux or duke, Docibilis saw Gaeta at its zenith but began the process whereby it was chiefly weakened. In 962, Gaeta put itself under Pandulf Ironhead, the Lombard prince of Capua, in 963, however, only the municipal rulers appeared in the charters. In 976, the Holy Roman Emperor, Otto II, a complete revolution had occurred since the assumption of the ducal title and the Western Emperor had replaced the Eastern as overlord. Gaeta declined in importance in the tenth and early eleventh centuries. In 1012, a succession crisis weakened it further, John IV died, leaving one son by his wife Sichelgaita, a sister of Sergius IV of Naples. This son, John V, ruled under the regency of his grandmother Emilia. His uncle Leo I usurped the duchy only to be removed in a few months and his other uncle, Leo II. It wasnt until 1025 that the situation was settled, after that, John V sheltered the fleeing Sergius of Naples and aided him in retaking his city with Norman assistance. For this, John V earned the enmity of Pandulf IV of Capua, the local dynasty, descended from Docibilis, would never recover its duchy. Gaeta was conquered by the Lombards in 1032, in 1038, the conqueror, Pandulf of Capua, was deposed and replaced by Guaimar IV of Salerno. Guaimar did not reign personally for long before appointing the chiefest of his Norman mercenaries, Ranulf Drengot, on Ranulfs death, however, the Gaetans elected their own Lombard candidate, Atenulf, Count of Aquino
35.
Duchy of Amalfi
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The Duchy of Amalfi or the Republic of Amalfi was a de facto independent state centred on the Southern Italian city of Amalfi during the 10th and 11th centuries. The city and its territory were part of the larger ducatus Neapolitanus, governed by a patrician. In 1073, Amalfi lost its independence and fell to the Normans, the city of Amalfi was founded as a trading post in 339. Its first bishop was appointed in 596, in 838, the city was captured by Sicard of Benevento with help from traitors within the city, who led him in through the waterward defences. Many of the Amalfitans in Salerno sacked that city and left, in 839, Amalfi freed itself from Lombard domination and elected a prefect. Nearby Atrani participated in these early prefectural elections, subsequently, Amalfi helped to free Siconulf to oppose the ruling Prince of Benevento. In 897, the republic, still nominally tied to the Byzantine Empire, was defeated in a war with Sorrento, supported by Naples, in which her prefect was captured. In 914, the prefect Mastalus I was appointed first judge, in 958, Mastalus II was assassinated and Sergius I was elected first duke. From 981 to 983, Amalfi ruled the Principality of Salerno, in 987, the Amalfitan bishopric was raised to archiepiscopal status. From 1034, Amalfi came under the control of the Principality of Capua and, in 1039, in 1073, Robert Guiscard conquered the city and took the title dux Amalfitanorum, duke of the Amalfitans. In 1096, Amalfi revolted, but this was put down in 1101 and it revolted again in 1130 and was finally subdued in 1131, when the Emir John marched on Amalfi by land and George of Antioch blockaded the town by sea and set up a base on Capri. In 1135 and 1137, Pisa sacked the city and the glory of Amalfi was past, dukes of Amalfi Amalfi Coast Maritime republics
36.
Saracen
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Saracen was a term widely used among Christian writers in Europe during the Middle Ages. The terms meaning evolved during its history, in Europe during the Early Medieval era, the term came to be associated with Arab tribes as well. By the 12th century, Saracen had become synonymous with Muslim in Medieval Latin literature, such expansion in the meaning of the term had begun centuries earlier among the Byzantine Romans, as evidenced in documents from the 8th century. In the Western languages before the 16th century, Saracen was commonly used to refer to Muslim Arabs, the term Saraceni might be derived from the Semitic triliteral root srq signifies to steal, rob, plunder. The noun sāriq - sariqīn means, ptolemys 2nd century work, Geography, describes Sarakēnē as a region in the northern Sinai Peninsula. Ptolemy also mentions a people called the Sarakēnoi living in the northwestern Arabian Peninsula, the Augustan History also refers to an attack by Saraceni on Pescennius Nigers army in Egypt in 193, but provides little information as to identifying them. Both Hippolytus of Rome and Uranius mention three distinct peoples in Arabia during the first half of the century, the Saraceni, the Taeni. The Taeni, later identified with the Arabic-speaking people called Tayy, were located around Khaybar, the Saraceni were placed north of them. These Saracens, located in the northern Hejaz, were described as people with a certain military ability who were opponents of the Roman Empire, the Saracens are described as forming the equites from Phoenicia and Thamud. In one document the defeated enemies of Diocletians campaign in the Syrian Desert are described as Saracens. Other 4th century military reports make no mention of Arabs but refer to as Saracens groups ranging as far east as Mesopotamia that were involved in battles on both the Sasanian and Roman sides. The Saracens were named in the Roman administrative document Notitia Dignitatum—dating from the time of Theodosius I in the 4th century—as comprising distinctive units in the Roman army and they were distinguished in the document from Arabs. Beginning no later than the fifth century, Christian writers began to equate Saracens with Arabs. Saracens were associated with Ishmaelites in some strands of Jewish, Christian and this claim was popular during the Middle Ages, but derives more from Paul’s allegory in the New Testament letter to the Galatians than from historical data. The name Saracen was not indigenous among the populations so described but was applied to them by Greco-Roman historians based on Greek place names. As the Middle Ages progressed, usage of the term in the Latin West changed, but its connotation remained negative, associated with opponents of Christianity, in an 8th-century polemical work, John of Damascus criticized the Saracens as followers of a false prophet and forerunner to the Antichrist. By the 12th century, Medieval Europeans had more specific conceptions of Islam and used the term Saracen as an ethnic, in some Medieval literature, Saracens—that is, Muslims—were described as black-skinned, while Christians were lighter-skinned. An example is in The King of Tars, a medieval romance, the Song of Roland, an Old French 11th-century heroic poem, refers to the black skin of Saracens as their only exotic feature
37.
Southern Italy
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It generally coincides with the administrative regions of Abruzzo, Apulia, Basilicata, Campania, Calabria, Molise, Sicily, and Sardinia. Some also include the most southern and eastern parts of Lazio within the Mezzogiorno, Southern Italy carries a unique legacy of culture. It features many major tourist attractions, such as the Palace of Caserta, there are also many ancient Greek cities in Southern Italy, such as Sybaris, which were founded several centuries before the start of the Roman Republic. These same subdivisions are at the bottom of the Italian First level NUTS of the European Union, the term Mezzogiorno first came into use in the 18th century and is an Italian rendition of meridies. The term was popularised by Giuseppe Garibaldi and it eventually came into vogue after the Italian unification. In a similar manner, Southern France is colloquially known as le Midi, Southern Italy forms the lower part of the Italian boot, containing the ankle, the toe, the arch, and the heel, along with the island of Sicily. Separating the heel and the boot is the Gulf of Taranto, named after the city of Taranto and it is an arm of the Ionian Sea. The island of Sardinia, right below the French island of Corsica, on the eastern coast is the Adriatic Sea, leading into the rest of the Mediterranean through the Strait of Otranto. Along the northern coast of the Salernitan Gulf and on the south of the Sorrentine Peninsula runs the Amalfi Coast, off the tip of the peninsula is the isle of Capri. The climate is mainly Mediterranean, except at the highest elevations and the eastern stretches in Apulia, along the Ionian Sea in Calabria. The largest city of Southern Italy is Naples, a name from the Greek that it has maintained for millennia. Bari, Taranto, Reggio Calabria, Foggia, and Salerno are the next largest cities in the area. The region is very active and highly seismic, the 1980 Irpinia earthquake killed 2,914 people, injured more than 10,000. Also during this period, Greek colonies were established in places as widely separated as the eastern coast of the Black Sea, Eastern Libya and they included settlements in Sicily and the southern part of the Italian Peninsula. The Romans called the area of Sicily and the foot of Italy, Magna Graecia, the ancient geographers differed on whether the term included Sicily or merely Apulia and Calabria—Strabo being the most prominent advocate of the wider definitions. With this colonisation, Greek culture was exported to Italy, in its dialects of the Ancient Greek language, its religious rites, an original Hellenic civilization soon developed, later interacting with the native Italic and Latin civilisations. Many of the new Hellenic cities became very rich and powerful, like Neapolis, Syracuse, Acragas, other cities in Magna Graecia included Tarentum, Epizephyrian Locri, Rhegium, Croton, Thurii, Elea, Nola, Syessa, Bari, and others. After Pyrrhus of Epirus failed in his attempt to stop the spread of Roman hegemony in 282 BCE, from then to the Norman conquest of the 11th century, the south of the peninsula was constantly plunged into wars between Greece, Lombardy, and the Islamic Caliphate
38.
Pope Victor III
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Pope Victor III, born Dauferio, was Pope from 24 May 1086 to his death in 1087. He was the successor of Pope Gregory VII, yet his pontificate is far less impressive in history than his time as Desiderius, the great Abbot of Montecassino. His failing health was the factor that made him so reluctant to accept his pontifical election, the only literary work of his that remains is his Dialogues on the miracles performed by Saint Benedict of Nursia and other saints at Montecassino. Pope Leo XIII beatified him on 23 July 1887 and he was born in 1026 to a branch of the Lombard dukes of Benevento as the only son of Prince Landulf V of Benevento. After his father died in battle with the Normans in 1047, he fled from a marriage and, though brought back by force. He went to Cava de Tirreni, where he obtained permission to enter the monastery of S. Sophia at Benevento and it was a decision that his mother vehemently opposed, owing to his being the only son and the only child. About this time he was brought to the notice of St. Leo IX, somewhat later Desiderius attached himself to the court of Pope Victor II at Florence. There he met two monks of the renowned Benedictine monastery of Monte Cassino, with whom he returned in 1055 and he joined the community and was shortly afterwards appointed superior of the dependent house at Capua. In 1057 Pope Stephen IX, who had retained the abbacy of Monte Cassino, came to visit and at Christmas, believing himself to be dying, the pope recovered, and, desiring to retain the abbacy during his lifetime, appointed the abbot-designate his legate for Constantinople. It was at Bari, when about to sail for the East, having obtained a safe-conduct from Robert Guiscard, the Norman Count of Apulia, he returned to his monastery and was duly installed by Cardinal Humbert on Easter Day 1058. Pope Nicholas II elevated him into the cardinalate the Cardinal-Deacon of Santi Sergio e Bacco on 6 March 1058 and he opted to be the Cardinal-Priest of Santa Cecilia in 1059. Desiderius rebuilt the church and conventual buildings, perfected the products of the scriptorium and re-established monastic discipline, on 1 October 1071, the new Basilica of Monte Cassino was consecrated by Pope Alexander II. Desiderius reputation brought gifts and exemptions to the abbey, Desiderius had been appointed papal vicar for Campania, Apulia, Calabria and the Principality of Beneventum with special powers for the reform of monasteries. Within two years of the consecration of the Cassinese Basilica, Alexander II died and was succeeded by Hildebrand as Pope Gregory VII, Desiderius was able to call forth the help of the Normans of southern Italy repeatedly in favour of the Holy See. Already in 1059 he had persuaded Robert Guiscard and Richard of Capua to become vassals of St, at the end of 1080 Desiderius obtained Norman troops for Gregory. In 1082 he visited the Italian king and future Holy Roman Emperor Henry IV at Albano, in 1083 the peace-loving abbot joined Hugh of Cluny in an attempt to reconcile pope and emperor, and his proceedings seem to have aroused some suspicion in Gregorys entourage. In 1084, when Rome was in Henrys hands and the besieged in Castel SantAngelo. Yet when the latter lay dying at Salerno on 25 May 1085, the Roman people had expelled the antipope Clement III from the city, and hither Desiderius hastened to consult with the cardinals on the approaching election
