Task for Practice seminar № 8

Ex.1. What is the world order according to De Cerimoniis aulae byzantinae?

 

The De Cerimoniis is a work of compilation produced for the emperor Constantine VII Porphyrogenitus (913-59), and partially revised or updated under Nikephoros II Phokas (963-9). It describes ceremonial procedures, often in minute detail, from the perspective of court officals, and addresses other matters insofar as they affected the day-to-day rhythm of life in Constantinople.

The central theme in this document is taxis. Taxis, or correct order, within Byzantine society produced the harmonious hierarchy of institutions that consituted the state. Taxis in human society mirrored that of heaven, and systems of precedence mirrored the divine hierarchy. Thus the Byzantine empire was rigidly structured, and the opposite of the world beyond the empire, the barbarian world where ataxia (disorder) reigned. However, the late antique concept of universality had been reinstituted as a principal component of imperial ideology before the tenth century, and this required that the empire introduce order to other human societies, to correct ataxia. This is evident in chapter 46, which comprises a list of Byzantine court titles which foreigners might be given; and in chapter 47, which lists not only how foreign ambassadors should be greeted, but how (exactly how) they should greet the emperor. In fact, it is most likely to have been the Logothete who delivered the greeting on behalf of the ambassadors, saving them from any potential faux pas consistent with their ataxia.

The extension of order to the non-Byzantine world led to the creation of a what has been dubbed " the hierarchy of states." At the top of the hierarchy, after Byzantium, came the Sassanian Persians, then the Arabs and later the sultan of Egypt, with whom the emperor negotiated on terms of quasi-equality. Next came the khagan of the Khazars, and after this various western potentates, including the king of the Franks. The order of precedence is illustrated in the protocols for letters despatched to the rulers of independent peoples, and also those rulers deemed to be subject to the emperor. Independent rulers received a letter (grammata), subject rulers received a command (keleusis). Each was sealed with a golden sealing, or bull, with a specified value in Byzantine solidi. Thus the 'Emir of the Faithful' received a letter with a golden bull of four solidi, while the 'Pope of Rome' received either a one- solidus or two- solidi bull. The repetition and contradiction in the text, for example in dealing with the pope, reflects the imperfect state of the protocols and their development to reflect prevailing political circumstances.

Protocols are included for addressing numerous peoples to the east and west, and the treatment of several complements information contained in other sources. For example, the Pechenegs have no single archon, but several leaders of distinct confederate groups who each receive the same honour. Moreover, each is accorded the status of an independent ruler and receives a letter (grammata) from the emperors. The rulers of the Pechenegs and Magyars are the only independent rulers to be accorded the title archontes. The archontes of the Croats and the Serbs are considered dependent peoples of the empire, and are issued with imperial commands; so are the rulers of the Slavic regions of Zahumlje, Kanali, Travunija, Duklja and Moravia.

The term archon, which is translated in the diplomatic style-sheet as Prince, is a title almost always reserved for semi-autonomous Christian rulers who have recognized the higher authority of the Byzantine emperor. (The exceptions are the rulers of the independent and pagan Pechenegs and Magyars.) The relationship usually involved ties of spiritual kinship, with the emperor regarding and styling himself as father, or grandfather. Exceptionally the emperor acknowledged the parity of a spiritual brother (pnematikos adelphos), for example the King (rex) of Francia. At this stage the title archon ceased to be appropriate: for a time the ruler of Bulgaria is addressed as a spiritual brother and an emperor (basileus).

The essence of the document, for although much of the information it contains is clearly antiquarian, and many of the ceremonies redundant, they are included to bolster the image of continuity and immutability that is central to the notion of taxis, and to impose a framework of idealized relations within the overarching hierarchy which has persisted from antiquity to the present. And in its accumulation of principles and precedents from the pool of Roman and Late Antique ideology, the De Cerimoniis was dynamic because it facilitated the invention of traditions suited to conditions in the mid-tenth century, and gave them solid pseudo-historical roots.

Ex.2. Analyze main features of medieval festivals.

Medieval Europeans celebrated numerous festivals, and many holiday traditions in the modern world represent vestiges of medieval European traditions. Likewise, some festivals and traditions of the Middle Ages had persisted from the ancient Roman Empire or from local practices. Most festivals marked religious events, both Christian and pagan, but their importance to medieval Europeans was not only in their religiosity but also as opportunities for communities to come together to celebrate important milestones throughout the year, including the arrival of spring and planting time, the autumn harvest, and the winter solstice.

Two good examples of festivals with pagan origins were the Festival of the Madman, which carried on the ancient Roman festival of Saturnalia, and the Feast of the Ass. The chief characteristic of the Festival of the Madman, celebrated either on Christmas Day or on the feast of the Epiphany, was that for one day servants played the role of masters and masters played the role of servants, thus turning the social order upside down. Similarly, the Feast of the Ass was typically held

on Christmas Eve. To commemorate the story of the birth of Christ, a young girl, playing the part of Christ’s mother, Mary, rode into the church on a donkey, or ass. Churchgoers ended each prayer during the Mass with a “hee-haw.” Church authorities, however, frowned on this celebration, which they considered sacrilegious.

Festivals surrounding the maypole and the first day of May likewise had their origins in pagan beliefs. The Saxons and Celts celebrated the first of May as Beltane, the day of fire; Bel was the Celtic god of the sun. In time it became common to celebrate the first of May as the end of the winter cold, and the date became associated with numerous planting festivals as well as festivals related to hunting and fertility. Europeans transformed the ancient Roman goddess Diana, the goddess of the hunt, into the Queen of the May; and Robin Goodfellow, who evolved into the legend of Robin Hood, was an adaptation of the English horned god Herne. Robin Goodfellow was the Lord of Misrule and made the nobility the butt of numerous jokes. Eventually the Queen of the May was associated with fertility of the fields, and Robin Goodfellow presided over the woods and forests. Later in the medieval period trade guilds elected an eligible young woman as Queen of the May, who was thought to rule over the harvest. Out of this medieval tradition emerged modern beauty pageants as well as the tradition in many communities of electing a queen to preside over a festival associated with that community’s important crops. A common practice in medieval European communities was the raising of a maypole, a symbol of male fertility. Young men and women gathered to dance around the maypole, where courting rituals took place.

The Christian Church frowned on these rituals, so the Queen of the May evolved into a celebration surrounding Mary, the mother of Christ, who was honored with processions and flowers. In some areas of central and northern Europe people celebrated the eve of May 1 as Walpurgisnacht, or the night of the witches. A common ritual associated with Walpurgisnacht was the lighting of huge bonfires on the night of April 30. The event was the occasion of much revelry and drinking, feasts, pranks, and rowdy behavior—a celebration of release from the confinement of winter. Equal in importance to the arrival of spring in the colder climates of Europe was autumn and the harvesting of crops. Many of the traditions of Halloween derive from medieval autumnal festivals. Halloween has its origins in the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain. Samhain, or the Feast of the Dead, marked the end of autumn and the beginning of winter.

Many ancient Celtic communities depended on herding for their living. As winter approached, they would move their herds down from their summer pastures on higher ground, and families would begin to huddle in their homes to work on handicrafts. It was also thought to be a time when fairies were especially active.

With the arrival of Christianity in the late ancient and early medieval periods the festival of Samhain evolved. It retained its origin as the Feast of the Dead but was celebrated by Christians as All Souls’ Day on November 2. Meanwhile Halloween, or Hallow E’en, was the night before the Christian feast of All Saints on November 1. The Celtic fairies were transformed into angels who wandered about the streets.

Later in the medieval period people began to imitate the angels, wandering from house to house demanding treats and performing practical jokes, or “tricks, ” on anyone who refused. Additionally, many of these people carried turnips carved to represent faces, the origin of the modern practice of carving Halloween pumpkins. Many modern Halloween traditions came to the United States in the 19th century with Irish immigrants who preserved the traditions in their folk beliefs.