Travel and Cross-Cultural Encounters - "Saracens" Flashcards
(38 cards)
“The whole people of Jerusalem bear witness to the truth of the narrative we now write. For on the testimony of several faithful citizens of Jerusalem, the sainted Arculf learned this statement which they very often repeated to him as he listened attentively : A certain trustworthy believing Jew […]”
Adamnan, De locis sanctis
On the fifteenth day of the month of September yearly, an almost countless multitude of various nations is in the habit of gathering from all sides to Jerusalem for the purposes of commerce by mutual sale and purchase. Whence it necessarily happens that crowds of various nations stay in that hospitable city for some days, while the very great number of their camels and horses and asses, not to speak of mules and oxen, for their varied(3) baggage, strews the streets of the city here and there with the abominations of their excrements. the smell of which brings no ordinary nuisance to the citizens and even makes walking difficult. Wonderful to say, on the night after the above-mentioned day of departure ;with the various beasts of burden of the crowds, an immense abundance of rain falls from the clouds on that city,
Adamnan, De locis sanctis
Hence therefore we must in no negligent manner note in what honour this chosen and glorious city is held in the sight of the Eternal Sire,(5) Who does not permit it to remain longer filthy, but because of the .honour of His Only Begotten cleanses it so quickly, since it has within the circuit of its walls the honoured sites of His sacred Cross and Resurrection
Adamnan, De locis sanctis
But in that renowned(6) place where once the Temple had been magnificently constructed, placed in the neighbourhood of the wall from the east, the Saracens now frequent a four-sided house of prayer, which they have built rudely, constructing it by raising boards and great beams on some remains of ruins: this house can, it is said, hold three thousand men at once.
Adamnan, De locis sanctis
Upon this, Mavias,(34) the King of the Saracens, was appealed to by both parties to adjudicate between them, and he said to the unbelieving Jews who were persistently retaining the Lord’s napkin;(35) `Give the sacred linen cloth which you have into my hand.’ In obedience to the king’s command, they bring it from its casket and place it in his bosom. Receiving it with great reverence, the king ordered a great fire to be made in the square
Adamnan, De locis sanctis
What are some giveaway for Adamnan (De locis sanctis)?
Mention of Arculf -> who the account is told through
Saracen king story, “rudely built” only mentions of Saracens
rain washing streets of Jerusalem
Mentions of architecture, etc
At this time, by the grace of God, the greater part of the Irish in Ireland and some of the Britons in Britain* adopted the reasonable and canonical date for keeping Easter. The priest Adamnan,* abbot of the monks on the island of Iona, was sent by his people on a mission to Aldfrith, king of the Angles, and stayed for some time in his kingdom to see the canonical rites of the church.
Bede, Ecclesiastical History of the English People
it happened that before the year was over he had departed from the world. Thus by the interposition of divine grace, it came about that a man who greatly loved unity and peace was called to life eternal so that he was not compelled, when Eastertime returned, to have a still graver controversy with those who would not follow him in the truth.
Bede, Ecclesiastical History of the English People
This man wrote a book on the holy places which has proved useful to many readers; his work was based upon information dictated to him by Arculf,* a bishop of Gaul who had visited Jerusalem to see the holy places. He had wandered all over the promised land and had been to Damascus, Constantinople, Alexandria, and many islands of the sea. But as he was returning to his native land by sea, he was cast by the violence of the tempest on to the west coasts of Britain. After
Bede, Ecclesiastical History of the English People
Bethlehem, the city of David, is situated on a narrow ridge, surrounded on all sides by valleys; it is a mile long from west to east, and has a low wall without towers, built around the edge of the plateau. In its eastern comer is a kind of natural half-cave, of which the outer part is said to have been the place of the Lord’s birth. (stands Church of Saint Mary)
Adamnan, De locis sanctis (via Bede)
honoured dead, while their bodies meanwhile remain outside in the street. To the west of the church is the church of the Anastasis, that is, the Resurrection of the Lord, a round building surrounded by three walls and supported by twelve columns. Between each pair of walls is a broad passage containing three altars fixed in three places in the central wall, namely to the south and north and west.
Adamnan. De locis sanctis
In the year of our Lord 729 two comets* appeared around the sun, striking great terror into all beholders. One of them preceded the sun as it rose in the morning and the other followed it as it set at night, seeming to portend dire disaster to east and west alike. One comet was the forerunner of the day and the other of the night, to indicate that mankind was threatened by calamities both by day and by night. They had fiery torch-like trains which faced northwards as if poised to start a fire.
Bede, Ecclesiastical History of the English People
fortnight. At this time* a terrible plague of Saracens ravaged Gaul with cruel bloodshed and not long afterwards* they received the due reward of their treachery* in the same kingdom.
Bede, Ecclesiastical History of the English People
The Piets now have a treaty of peace with the English and rejoice to share in the catholic peace and truth of .the Church universal. The Irish who live in Britain are content with their
own territories and devise no plots or treachery against the English. Though, for the most part, the Britons oppose the English through their inbred hatred, and the whole state of the catholic Church by their incorrect Easter and their evil customs, yet being opposed by the power of
Bede, Ecclesiastical History of the English People
4649 Justinian the second, the son of Constantine, [ruled for] ten years.
He made a ten-year peace on land and at sea with the Arabs, but the province of Africa that was subject to the Roman empire was assaulted by the Arabs, and Carthage itself was also captured by them and destroyed.
This
Bede, Ecclesiastical History of the English People (Greater Chronicle)
Leo [mied for] eight years.
The Arabs, coming with an immense army, besieged the city of Constantinople for three years; during which time many of the citizens, calling on God on numerous occasions, died of starvation, cold, and disease; until wearied of the siege the Arabs* withdrew. After
Bede, Ecclesiastical History of the English People (The Greater Chronicle)
Liutprand,* hearing that the Arabs had depopulated Sardinia and had dug up the place whither the bones of the holy bishop Augustine had once been moved (on account of the ravaging of the barbarians) and
Bede, Ecclesiastical History of the English People
Be it known to you, dear sister, that in regard to the matter on which you have sought my advice I cannot presume, on my own responsibility, either to forbid your pilgrimage or to encourage it. I
Boniface, Correspondences (15 Boniface Gives Advice to Abbess Bugga about Her Pilgrimage to Rome (Before 738 (725?))
It appears to me that if, through the interference of seculars, you cannot find freedom and peace of mind in your native land, you should try (provided you have the will and the power to do so) to find freedom for contemplation by making a pilgrimage abroad. This is what our sister Wilthburga did. She has told me by letter that she has found at the shrine of St. Peter the kind of quiet life which she had long sought for in vain. Since I had written to her about your intentions, she sent me word that you would do better to wait until the attacks and the threats of the Saracens against Rome had died down and until she herself could send you an invitation.
Boniface, Correspondences (Boniface gives advice to Abbess Bugga about her pilgrimage to Rome15)
We confess before God and His holy angels that whenever reliable messengers have brought us news of your prosperity, your faith and good deeds in the sight of God and men, we have been glad and given thanks to God in our prayers. We have also prayed and entreated the Saviour of the world to keep you for many years to come firm in faith, constant in good works and just in your government of a Christian people. But whenever it has come to our ears that you have suffered a setback either in the state of your realm, the outcome of war or, what is more dangerous, in the salvation of your soul, then we have been cast down with grief and sadness, because we share in your joys and suffer with you in your troubles.
Boniface, Correspondences: 32 Boniface Writes A Letter of Admonition to King Aethelbald of Mercia (746-7)
But with these good tidings one grave accusation against your otherwise good conduct, and one which we would prefer to think was false, ha
Boniface, Correspondences: 32 Boniface writes a letter of admonition to King Aethelbald of Mercia
And what is much worse, those who told us add that you have committed these sins, to your greater shame, in various monasteries with holy nuns and virgins vowed to God. Let us put the matter this way. If a slave is guilty of a heinous crime against his master, if he commits adultery with his lord’s wife, how much greater is the crime of the man who besmirches with his lust the spouse of Christ, Creator of heaven and earth?
Boniface, Correspondences: 32, Boniface writes a letter of admonition to King Aethelbald of Mercia
If the English race, as people in the provinces say and as the French, Italians and even the heathens insultingly proclaim, are despising lawful marriage and living in open adultery like the people of Sodom, then we must expect that from such intercourse with harlots, a people degenerate, degraded and mad with lust will be begotten. In the end the whole race, turning to base and ignoble ways, will cease to be strong in war, steadfast in faith, honoured by men or pleasing in the sight of God. So has it befallen other peoples of Spain, Provence and Burgundy. They turned away from God and yielded to lust until Almighty God allowed the penalties of such crimes to destroy them, first by letting them lose the knowledge of God and then by loosing the attacks of the Saracens upon them
Boniface, Correspondences: 32. Boniface writes a letter of admonition to King Aethelbald of Mercia
I am but a weak woman, yet I would like, as far as lies in my power, to gather together a kind of nosegay of his virtues and give you something by which you may remember them. And here I repeat that I am not urged on through presumption to attempt a task for which I am so ill fitted. It is your authority and kindness and God’s grace which has prompted me to describe the scenes where the marvels of the Incarnate Word were enacted, for Willibald visited and saw these places with his own eyes and trod with his feet in the footsteps of Him who was born into this world, suffered and rose again for our sake
Huneberc of Heidenheim, The Hodoeporicon of St. Willibald
