1.
Piero della Francesca
–
Piero della Francesca was an Italian painter of the Early Renaissance. As testified by Giorgio Vasari in his Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculptors, nowadays Piero della Francesca is chiefly appreciated for his art. His painting is characterized by its humanism, its use of geometric forms. His most famous work is the cycle of frescoes The History of the True Cross in the church of San Francesco in the Tuscan town of Arezzo. He was most probably apprenticed to the local painter Antonio di Giovanni dAnghiari, because in documents about payments it is noted that he was working with Antonio in 1432 and May 1438. Besides, he took notice of the work of some of the Sienese artists active in San Sepolcro during his youth. In 1439 Piero received, together with Domenico Veneziano, payments for his work on frescoes for the church of SantEgidio in Florence, in Florence he must have met leading masters like Fra Angelico, Luca della Robbia, Donatello and Brunelleschi. The classicism of Masaccios frescoes and his figures in the Santa Maria del Carmine were for him an important source of inspiration. Dating of Pieros undocumented work is difficult because his style does not seem to have developed over the years, in 1442 he was listed as eligible for the City Council of San Sepolcro. Three years later, he received the commission for the Madonna della Misericordia altarpiece for the church of the Misericordia in Sansepolcro, in 1449 he executed several frescoes in the Castello Estense and the church of SantAndrea of Ferrara, also lost. His influence was strong in the later Ferrarese allegorical works of Cosimo Tura. Two years later he was in Rimini, working for the condottiero Sigismondo Pandolfo Malatesta, in this sojourn he executed in 1451 the famous fresco of St. Sigismund and Sigismondo Pandolfo Malatesta in the Tempio Malatestiano, as well as Sigismondos portrait. Thereafter Piero was active in Ancona, Pesaro and Bologna, in 1454 he signed a contract for the Polyptych of Saint Augustine in the church of SantAgostino in Sansepolcro. The central panel of this polyptic is lost and the four panels of the wings, a few years later, summoned by Pope Nicholas V, he moved to Rome, here he executed frescoes in the Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore, of which only fragments remain. Two years later he was again in the Papal capital, for frescoes in Vatican Palace which have also been destroyed, the Baptism of Christ, in The National Gallery in London, was executed around 1460 for the high altar of the church of the Priory of S. Other notable works of Piero della Francescas maturity are the frescoes of the Resurrection of Christ in Sansepolcro, in 1452, Piero della Francesca was called to Arezzo to replace Bicci di Lorenzo in painting the frescoes of the basilica of San Francesco. The work was finished before 1466, probably between 1452 and 1456, the cycle of frescoes, depicting the Legend of the True Cross, is generally considered among his masterworks and those of Renaissance painting in general. The story in these frescoes derives from medieval sources as to how timber relics of the True Cross came to be found
2.
Camaldolese
–
The Camaldolese monks and nuns are two different, but related, monastic communities who trace their lineage to the monastic movement begun by Saint Romuald. Their name is derived from the Holy Hermitage of Camaldoli, high in the mountains of central Italy, the Camaldolese were established through the efforts of the Italian monk Saint Romuald. His reform sought to renew and integrate the eremetical tradition of life with that of the cenobium. In his youth Romuald became acquainted with the three schools of western monastic tradition. The monastery where he entered the Order, Sant Apollinare in Classe was a traditional Benedictine community under the influence of the Cluniac reforms. Romuald chose to be under a master, Marinus, who followed a much harsher ascetic. Some years later, Marinus and Romuald settled near the Abbey of Sant Miguel de Cuxa, around 1012 Romuald founded the Sacred Hermitage of Camaldoli in the Tuscan hills. There monks lived in cells, but also observed the common life, worshiping daily in the church. Here the distinctive habit first appears, at Camaldoli are first found in combination the two cenobite and hermit branches that are afterwards so marked a feature of the order. The order was approved by Pope Alexander II, in 1072, there are Camaldolese hermitages and monasteries throughout Italy. There are two Camaldolese congregations, The Benedictine Camaldolese are headquartered at Camaldoli, known as the Holy Hermitage, the first community founded by the congregation was the Monastery of St. Mary of the Angels in Florence. By the 13th century, its scriptorium was known as a source of high quality parchments throughout Europe. It was in this monastery that the artist Lorenzo Monaco explored his vocation as a monk, the other congregation, known as the Camaldolese Hermits of Monte Corona, was established by the Renaissance reformer, Paolo Giustiniani. This group lives solely in hermitages, usually with a small number of monks comprising the community. There are three houses in Italy, two in Poland, and one each in Spain, the United States, and Colombia, unlike the other congregation, it is not a member of the larger Benedictine Confederation. Eremo Di San Girolamo, founded in 1521, does not have the separate, annunziata Di Monte Rua was founded in 1537. In the past, it was the center of various Coronese Hermitages in the Republic of Venice, sacro Eremo Tuscolano was founded in 1607 at Frascati in the Alban Hills. It is the residence of the father major and the novitiate house for Italy
3.
Monastery
–
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
4.
Tuscany
–
Tuscany is a region in central Italy with an area of about 23,000 square kilometres and a population of about 3.8 million inhabitants. Tuscany is known for its landscapes, traditions, history, artistic legacy, Tuscany produces wines, including Chianti, Vino Nobile di Montepulciano, Morellino di Scansano and Brunello di Montalcino. Having a strong linguistic and cultural identity, it is considered a nation within a nation. Tuscany is traditionally a popular destination in Italy, and the main tourist destinations by number of tourist arrivals are Florence, Pisa, Montecatini Terme, Castiglione della Pescaia and Grosseto. The village of Castiglione della Pescaia is also the most visited destination in the region. Additionally, Siena, Lucca, the Chianti region, Versilia and Val dOrcia are also internationally renowned, Tuscany has over 120 protected nature reserves, making Tuscany and its capital Florence popular tourist destinations that attract millions of tourists every year. In 2012, the city of Florence was the worlds 89th most visited city, roughly triangular in shape, Tuscany borders the regions of Liguria to the northwest, Emilia-Romagna to the north and east, Umbria to the east and Lazio to the southeast. The comune of Badia Tedalda, in the Tuscan Province of Arezzo, has an exclave named Ca Raffaello within Emilia-Romagna, Tuscany has a western coastline on the Tyrrhenian Sea, containing the Tuscan Archipelago, of which the largest island is Elba. Tuscany has an area of approximately 22,993 square kilometres, surrounded and crossed by major mountain chains, and with few plains, the region has a relief that is dominated by hilly country used for agriculture. Hills make up nearly two-thirds of the total area, covering 15,292 square kilometres, and mountains. Plains occupy 8. 4% of the total area—1,930 square kilometres —mostly around the valley of the River Arno, many of Tuscanys largest cities lie on the banks of the Arno, including the capital Florence, Empoli and Pisa. The pre-Etruscan history of the area in the late Bronze and Iron Ages parallels that of the early Greeks, following this, the Villanovan culture saw Tuscany, and the rest of Etruria, taken over by chiefdoms. City-states developed in the late Villanovan before Orientalization occurred and the Etruscan civilization rose, the Etruscans created the first major civilization in this region, large enough to establish a transport infrastructure, to implement agriculture and mining and to produce vibrant art. The Etruscans lived in Etruria well into prehistory, throughout their existence, they lost territory to Magna Graecia, Carthage and Celts. Despite being seen as distinct in its manners and customs by contemporary Greeks, the cultures of Greece, one reason for its eventual demise was this increasing absorption by surrounding cultures, including the adoption of the Etruscan upper class by the Romans. Soon after absorbing Etruria, Rome established the cities of Lucca, Pisa, Siena, and Florence, endowed the area with new technologies and development, and ensured peace. These developments included extensions of existing roads, introduction of aqueducts and sewers, however, many of these structures have been destroyed by erosion due to weather. The Roman civilization in the West collapsed in the 5th century AD, in the years following 572, the Longobards arrived and designated Lucca the capital of their Duchy of Tuscia
5.
Triptych
–
A triptych is a work of art that is divided into three sections, or three carved panels that are hinged together and can be folded shut or displayed open. It is therefore a type of polyptych, the term for all multi-panel works, the middle panel is typically the largest and it is flanked by two smaller related works, although there are triptychs of equal-sized panels. The form can also be used for pendant jewelry, despite its connection to an art format, the term is sometimes used more generally to connote anything with three parts, particularly if they are integrated into a single unit. The triptych form arises from early Christian art, and was a standard format for altar paintings from the Middle Ages onwards. Its geographical range was from the eastern Byzantine churches to the Celtic churches in the west, renaissance painters such as Hans Memling and Hieronymus Bosch used the form. Triptych forms also allow ease of transport, from the Gothic period onward, both in Europe and elsewhere, altarpieces in churches and cathedrals were often in triptych form. One such cathedral with an altarpiece triptych is Llandaff Cathedral, the Cathedral of Our Lady in Antwerp, Belgium, contains two examples by Rubens, and Notre Dame de Paris is another example of the use of triptych in architecture. One can also see the form echoed by the structure of many stained glass windows. Although strongly identified as a form, triptychs outside that context have been created, some of the best-known examples being works by Hieronymus Bosch, Max Beckmann. The then highest price paid for an artwork at auction was $142.4 million for a 1969 triptych, Three Studies of Lucian Freud. The record was broken in May 2015 by $179.4 million for Pablo Picassos 1955 painting Les Femmes d’Alger, the format has migrated and been used in other religions, including Islam and Buddhism. Likewise, Tibetan Buddhists have used it in traditional altars, a photographic triptych is a common style used in modern commercial artwork. The photographs are arranged with a plain border between them. The work may consist of images that are variants on a theme
6.
Domenico Veneziano
–
Domenico Veneziano was an Italian painter of the early Renaissance, active mostly in Perugia and Tuscany. Little is known of his birth, though he is thought to have born in Venice, hence his last name. He then moved to Florence in 1422–23 as a boy, to become a pupil of Gentile da Fabriano and he is said to have worked with Pisanello in Rome around 1423–1430. His work was influenced by the style of Benozzo Gozzoli and he was a contemporary with Fra Angelico and Fra Filippo Lippi, since those two artists and himself are known to have valued the frescoes of Buonfigli at Perugia. Between 1439 and 1441 he painted a masterpiece of the Adoration of the Magi, another masterpiece is considered to be the Santa Lucia de Magnoli Altarpiece, originally in Santa Lucia dei Magnoli, Florence and now in the Uffizi. Painted in tempera on panel, the altarpiece displays such a palette for this period that Vasari wrote that it had been painted in oil. Domenico is also known for a panel of the Adoration of the Magi which was probably commissioned for the palace of the wealthy Medici family. Other important works are the Madonna del Roseto in the National Museum of Art of Romania, Vasari alleged that Domenico was murdered by Andrea del Castagno. He worked at the decorations of the Portinari chapel in the hospital of Santa Maria Nuova in Florence from 1439–1445, and had as his assistants Piero della Francesca and Bicci di Lorenzo. It is certain that whilst employed there he used linseed oil as his medium and his latter days were spent in Florence, where he died on 15 May 1461. Walter Armstrong & Robert Edmund Graves, ed, dictionary of Painters and Engravers, Biographical and Critical. York St. #4, Covent Garden, London, Original from Fogg Library, Digitized May 18,2007, George Bell, media related to Domenico Veneziano at Wikimedia Commons
7.
Baptism of Jesus
–
The baptism of Jesus marks the beginning of his public ministry. This event is described in the gospels of Matthew, Mark, Johns gospel does not directly describe Jesus baptism. Most modern theologians view the baptism of Jesus by John the Baptist as an event to which a high degree of certainty can be assigned. The baptism is one of the five major milestones in the narrative of the life of Jesus, the others being the Transfiguration, Crucifixion, Resurrection. Most Christian denominations view the baptism of Jesus as an important event, in Eastern Christianity, Jesus baptism is commemorated on 6 January, the feast of Epiphany. In Roman Catholicism, the baptism of Jesus is one of the Luminous Mysteries sometimes added to the Rosary and it is a Trinitarian feast in the Eastern Orthodox Churches. Mark, Matthew, and Luke depict the baptism in parallel passages, after the baptism, the Synoptic gospels describe the temptation of Jesus, where Jesus withdrew to the Judean desert to fast for forty days and nights. Matthew In Matthew 3,14, upon meeting Jesus, John said, I have need to be baptized of thee, however, Jesus convinces John to baptize him nonetheless. Matthew uniquely records that the voice from heaven addresses the crowd, rather than addressing Jesus himself as in Mark, Luke Luke uniquely depicts John as a family relative of Jesus, with Johns birth also announced by angel. Luke uniquely depicts John as showing kindness to tax collectors. Luke records that Jesus was praying when Heaven was opened and the Holy Spirit descended on him, Luke clarifies that the spirit descended in the bodily form of a dove, as opposed to merely descending like a dove. In Acts 10, 37–38, the ministry of Jesus is described as following the baptism which John preached, in John 1, 29–33 rather than a direct narrative, John the Baptist bears witness to the spirit descending like a dove. John 1, 35–37 narrates an encounter, between Jesus and two of his disciples, who were then disciples of John the Baptist. The episode in John 1, 35–37 forms the start of the relationship between Jesus and his future disciples, when John the Baptist called Jesus the Lamb of God, the two disciples heard him speak, and they followed Jesus. One of the disciples is named Andrew, but the other remains unnamed, and Raymond E. Brown raises the question of his being the author of the Gospel of John himself. In the Gospel of John, the disciples follow Jesus thereafter, and bring other disciples to him, and Acts 18, 24–19,6 portrays the disciples of John as eventually merging with the followers of Jesus. According to the non-canonical Gospel of the Nazarenes, the idea of being baptized by John came from the mother and brothers of Jesus, plus, the story came from the community that included the family of Jesus, who would have guaranteed the authenticity of the narrative. The Gospel of John refers to Enon near Salim as one place where John the Baptist baptized people, separately, John 1,28 states that John the Baptist was baptizing in Bethany beyond the Jordan
8.
John the Baptist
–
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
9.
Holy Spirit in Christianity
–
For the majority of Christian denominations, the Holy Spirit or Holy Ghost is the third person of the Trinity, the Triune God manifested as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, each person itself being God. The New Testament details a relationship between the Holy Spirit and Jesus during his earthly life and ministry. The Gospels of Matthew and Luke and the Nicene Creed state that Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary. The Holy Spirit descended on Jesus like a dove during his baptism, the theology of the Holy Spirit is called pneumatology. The Holy Spirit is referred to as the Lord, the Giver of Life in the Nicene Creed, since the first century, Christians have also called upon God with the trinitarian formula Father, Son and Holy Spirit in prayer, absolution and benediction. The Koine Greek word pneûma is found around 385 times in the New Testament, Pneuma appears 105 times in the four canonical gospels,69 times in the Acts of the Apostles,161 times in the Pauline epistles, and 50 times elsewhere. These usages vary, in 133 cases, it refers to spirit in a general sense, around 93 times, the reference to the Holy Spirit, sometimes under the name pneuma and sometimes explicitly as the pneûma tò Hagion. It was generally translated into the Vulgate as Spiritus and Spiritus Sanctus, the English terms Holy Ghost and Holy Spirit are complete synonyms, one derives from the Old English gast and the other from the Latin loanword spiritus. Like pneuma, they refer to the breath, to its animating power, and to the soul. In particular, Another Stoic concept which offered inspiration to the Church was that of divine Spirit, cleanthes, wishing to give more explicit meaning to Zenos creative fire, had been the first to hit upon the term pneuma, or spirit, to describe it. The sacredness of the Holy Spirit is affirmed in all three Synoptic Gospels which proclaim blasphemy against the Holy Spirit is the unforgivable sin. What the Hebrew Bible calls Spirit of God and Spirit of Elohim is called in the Talmud, although the expression Holy Spirit occurs in Ps.51,11 and in Isa. 63, 10–11, it had not yet acquired quite the same meaning which was attached to it in rabbinical literature, in Gen.1,2 Gods spirit hovered over the form of lifeless matter, thereby making the Creation possible. The most characteristic sign of the presence of the ruach ha-kodesh is the gift of prophecy, the use of the word ruach in the phrase ruach ha-kodesh seems to suggest that Judaic authorities believed the Holy Spirit was a kind of communication medium like the wind. The spirit talks sometimes with a masculine and sometimes with a feminine voice, the Holy Spirit does not simply appear for the first time at Pentecost after the resurrection of Jesus, but is present in the Gospel of Luke prior to the birth of Jesus. In Luke 1,15, John the Baptist was said to be filled with the Holy Spirit prior to birth, and the Holy Spirit came upon the Virgin Mary in Luke 1,35. In Luke 3,16 John the Baptist stated that Jesus baptized not with water but with the Holy Spirit, in Luke 11,13 Jesus provided assurances that God the Father would give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him. Matthew 10,20 refers to the act of speaking through the disciples
10.
Golden ratio
–
In mathematics, two quantities are in the golden ratio if their ratio is the same as the ratio of their sum to the larger of the two quantities. The figure on the right illustrates the geometric relationship, expressed algebraically, for quantities a and b with a > b >0, a + b a = a b = def φ, where the Greek letter phi represents the golden ratio. Its value is, φ =1 +52 =1.6180339887 …, A001622 The golden ratio is also called the golden mean or golden section. Other names include extreme and mean ratio, medial section, divine proportion, divine section, golden proportion, golden cut, the golden ratio appears in some patterns in nature, including the spiral arrangement of leaves and other plant parts. The golden ratio has also used to analyze the proportions of natural objects as well as man-made systems such as financial markets. Two quantities a and b are said to be in the golden ratio φ if a + b a = a b = φ, one method for finding the value of φ is to start with the left fraction. Through simplifying the fraction and substituting in b/a = 1/φ, a + b a =1 + b a =1 +1 φ, multiplying by φ gives φ +1 = φ2 which can be rearranged to φ2 − φ −1 =0. First, the line segment A B ¯ is about doubled and then the semicircle with the radius A S ¯ around the point S is drawn, now the semicircle is drawn with the radius A B ¯ around the point B. The arising intersection point E corresponds 2 φ, next up, the perpendicular on the line segment A E ¯ from the point D will be establish. The subsequent parallel F S ¯ to the line segment C M ¯, produces, as it were and it is well recognizable, this triangle and the triangle M S C are similar to each other. The hypotenuse F S ¯ has due to the cathetuses S D ¯ =1 and D F ¯ =2 according the Pythagorean theorem, finally, the circle arc is drawn with the radius 5 around the point F. The golden ratio has been claimed to have held a fascination for at least 2,400 years. But the fascination with the Golden Ratio is not confined just to mathematicians, biologists, artists, musicians, historians, architects, psychologists, and even mystics have pondered and debated the basis of its ubiquity and appeal. In fact, it is fair to say that the Golden Ratio has inspired thinkers of all disciplines like no other number in the history of mathematics. Ancient Greek mathematicians first studied what we now call the golden ratio because of its frequent appearance in geometry, the division of a line into extreme and mean ratio is important in the geometry of regular pentagrams and pentagons. Euclid explains a construction for cutting a line in extreme and mean ratio, throughout the Elements, several propositions and their proofs employ the golden ratio. The golden ratio is explored in Luca Paciolis book De divina proportione, since the 20th century, the golden ratio has been represented by the Greek letter φ or less commonly by τ. Timeline according to Priya Hemenway, Phidias made the Parthenon statues that seem to embody the golden ratio, plato, in his Timaeus, describes five possible regular solids, some of which are related to the golden ratio
11.
Council of Florence
–
At stake was the greater conflict between the Conciliar movement and the principle of papal supremacy. The Council entered a second phase after Emperor Sigismunds death in 1437, Pope Eugene IV convoked a rival Council of Ferrara on 8 January 1438 and succeeded in drawing the Byzantine ambassadors to Italy. The Council of Basel first suspended him, declared him a heretic, the rival Council of Florence concluded in 1445 after negotiating unions with the various eastern churches. This bridging of the Great Schism proved fleeting, but was a coup for the papacy. In 1447, Sigismunds successor Frederick III commanded the city of Basel to expel the Council of Basel, ambrogio Traversari attended the Council of Basel as legate of Pope Eugene IV. Under pressure for reform, Pope Martin V sanctioned a decree of the Council of Constance obliging the papacy to summon general councils periodically. At the expiration of the first term fixed by this decree, due to an epidemic the location transferred almost at once to Siena and disbande, in circumstances still imperfectly known, just as it had begun to discuss the subject of reform. Martin himself, however, died before the opening of the synod, the Council was seated on December 14,1431, at a period when the conciliar movement was strong and the authority of the papacy weak. The Council at Basel opened with only a few bishops and abbots attending and it adopted an anti-papal attitude, proclaimed the superiority of the Council over the Pope and prescribed an oath to be taken by every Pope on his election. On December 18 Martins successor, Pope Eugene IV, tried to dissolve it and open a new council on Italian soil at Bologna, but he was overruled. Sigismund, King of Hungary and titular King of Bohemia, had defeated at the Battle of Domažlice in the fifth crusade against the Hussites in August 1431. Under his sponsorship, the Council negotiated a peace with Calixtine faction of the Hussites in January 1433, Pope Eugene acknowledged the council in May and crowned Sigismund Holy Roman Emperor on May 31,1433. The divided Hussites were defeated in May 1434, in June 1434, the pope had to flee a revolt in Rome and began a ten-year exile in Florence. When the Council was moved from Basel to Ferrara in 1438, some remained at Basel and they elected Amadeus VIII, Duke of Savoy, as Antipope. Driven out of Basel in 1448, they moved to Lausanne, where Felix V, the pope they had elected, the next year, they decreed the closure of what for them was still the Council of Basel. The new council was transferred to Florence in 1439 because of the danger of plague at Ferrara and because Florence had agreed, against future payment, some, perhaps feeling political pressure from the Byzantine Emperor, accepted the decrees of the Council. Others did so by sincere conviction, such as Isidore of Kiev, only Bishop Mark of Ephesus, however, refused to accept the union and became the leader of opposition back home. The Russians, upon learning of the union, angrily rejected it, despite the religious union, Western military assistance to Byzantium was meager, and the fall of Constantinople occurred in May 1453
12.
Monk
–
A monk is a person who practices religious asceticism, living either alone or with any number of other monks. The concept is ancient and can be seen in many religions, in the Greek language the term can apply to women, but in modern English it is mainly in use for men. The word nun is typically used for female monastics, although the term monachos is of Christian origin, in the English language monk tends to be used loosely also for both male and female ascetics from other religious or philosophical backgrounds. However, being generic, it is not interchangeable terms that denote particular kinds of monk, such as cenobite, hermit, anchorite, hesychast. In Eastern Orthodoxy monasticism holds a special and important place. Orthodox monastics separate themselves from the world in order to pray unceasingly for the world and they do not, in general, have as their primary purpose the running of social services, but instead are concerned with attaining theosis, or union with God. However, care for the poor and needy has always been an obligation of monasticism, the level of contact though will vary from community to community. Hermits, on the hand, have little or no contact with the outside world. Orthodox monasticism does not have religious orders as are found in the West, basil the Great and the Philokalia, which was compiled by St. Nikodemos of the Holy Mountain and St. Makarios of Corinth. Hesychasm is of importance in the ascetical theology of the Orthodox Church. Meals are usually taken in common in a dining hall known as a trapeza. Food is usually simple and is eaten in silence while one of the brethren reads aloud from the writings of the Holy Fathers. The monastic lifestyle takes a deal of serious commitment. Within the cenobitic community, all monks conform to a way of living based on the traditions of that particular monastery. In struggling to attain this conformity, the comes to realize his own shortcomings and is guided by his spiritual father in how to deal honestly with them. For this same reason, bishops are almost always chosen from the ranks of monks, Eastern monasticism is found in three distinct forms, anchoritic, cenobitic, and the middle way between the two, known as the skete. One normally enters a community first, and only after testing and spiritual growth would one go on to the skete or, for the most advanced. However, one is not necessarily expected to join a skete or become a solitary, in general, Orthodox monastics have little or no contact with the outside world, including their own families
.jpg)
