medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
Yo Jim,
i'm down here in Cassopolis, awaiting a ride from someone.
are you @ theZoo ??
c
------ Original Message ------
Received: Wed, 05 May 2010 05:38:46 PM EDT
From: Dr Jim Bugslag <[log in to unmask]>
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: [M-R] TAN: star and cross as shorthand symbols for "born" and
"dead"
> medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
>
> Dear Otfried,
> In 17th-century Brussels, a common type of institutional painting was a
> group portrait, often with a religious scene accompanying it. It was
> the custom to paint a small cross above the heads, or on the garments,
> of individuals in the painting who had died. Many of these crosses have
> subsequently been removed, but a painting by Peter Meert of The
> Guardians of the Foundlings in Brussels under the protection of the
> Virgin and Child accompanied by St Anne (1644), in the Brussels Museum
> of the OCMW, still shows them. For a study of this practice, see A.-M.
> Bonenfant-Feytmans, "Le probleme des enfants trouves a Bruxelles, A
> propos d'un tableau de Pierre Meert," Bulletin de la Societe Royale
> d'Archeologie de Bruxelles (1950), 1-20.
> Cheers,
> Jim
>
> [log in to unmask] wrote:
> > medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
> >
> > Dear list members
> >
> > This is only very remotely related to the purpose of this list, but maybe
you
> > can help me to get a better understanding and more background knowledge
about
> > the following issue:
> >
> > The German Wikipedia is currently discussing the question whether they
should
> > maintain or change their use of an asterisc (*) and a cross or "dagger"
(†) as a
> > standard for abbreviating the terms "born" and "died" at the beginning of
each
> > biographical articles, as for instance in:
> >
> > - Ambrosius von Mailand (* 339 in Trier; † 4. April 397 in Mailand)
> > - Jehuda ha-Levi (* um 1075 in Tudela; † 1141)
> > - Mohammed (* ca. 570 in Mekka; † 8. Juni 632 in Medina)
> >
> > In Germany, the use of these symbols is quite common on gravestones and
in
> > obituary notices, at least during the last hundred or so years, and in
this
> > context it is sometimes interpreted as symbolising the Star of Bethlehem
(or
> > Mary) and the Cross of Christ as the beginning and end of human life in
Christ.
> >
> > They are also part of the so called "genealogical symbols", together with
a
> > symbol of water for "baptised", the two rings or lemniscate for "married"
and a
> > small square symbolizing a grave for "buried", and a few more specific
symbols
> > of this kind.
> >
> > And, needless to tell you, as asteriscus (origianlly a cussed cross with
four
> > dots in its ankles) and obel(isc)us (originally a horizonal line or
arrowlike
> > sign) they are of course originally part of the set of ancient grammatical
notae
> > criticae that were later used also as reference signs for referencing
marginal
> > notes or footnotes, or as paragraph signs, or as a sort of
interpunctuation for
> > marking a prosodical pause.
> >
> > Now the questions that I have are the following:
> >
> > 1) Do you happen to know more about the "sepulcral" use of this pair of
symbols,
> > namely about its age, and/or about its presence in non-German countries?
> >
> > 2) Leaving aside the asterisc and focussing on the cross, do you recall
the
> > cross in its connection with the name of a deceased person or even with
the date
> > of this person's death in medieval or earlier inscriptions, or in
manuscripts? I
> > am generally aware of the Chi-Rho-monogramm and of Crosses in sepulcral
> > contexts, and also roughly familiar with small crosses marking the
beginning and
> > sometimes also other intersections of an epitaph or other inscription,
maybe
> > with mostly ornamental function, or maybe for indicating -- as in
liturgical
> > books -- where the reader is supposed to sign himself with a cross and
thus
> > highlighting the character of the text as a prayer (especially if closed
with
> > "Amen"). Yet I don't think I have seen a medieval epitaph or other text
where a
> > cross is used as a shorthand for "deceased". The closest that I can
remember are
> > small crosses on late medieval paintings, where a cross is placed above
the head
> > of a person for marking this person as deceased (e.g. on paintings where
the
> > donator is depicted together with deceased members of his family). But I
am not
> > familiar with premodern parish registers, monastic registers, memorial
lists, or
> > other texts where persons might be rated as "dead" by using a a cross.
> >
> > 3) Are you familiar, in your own countries and in prints of your own
languages,
> > with the secular use of asterisc and cross as a typographic shorthand for
"born"
> > and "died" in genealogy and lexicography or other writings? I have found,
on my
> > own shelves, a few rare examples in French and Italian books, and a few
more
> > examples in English books, yet the English examples are only English
language
> > publications by German publishers or in one case an English translation of
an
> > Italian book.
> >
> > 4) Would you say that this "secular" typographic use especially of the
cross (or
> > "dagger" or obelisc) is appropriate also for marking the death of
> > non-Christians, and especially of Jews or Moslems? Or would you rather
avoid it
> > in order to avoid religious offence? This is the question currently
debated by
> > German Wikipedians, and I have found only very few explicit statements in
> > published sources criticizing this conventional use (more precisely, I
have
> > found two short statements in jewish publications declaring it as
inappropriate,
> > one of them by a Christian author explaining why he is avoiding the cross
symbol
> > in a memorial list of Jewish victims of the holocaust)
> >
> > As regards my own position in the current Wikipedia debate, I am one of
those
> > objecting to the current usage of these symbols and demanding them to be
> > replaced by more neutral abbreviations. There is even a poll going on --
the
> > third one since 2005 --, and the current state is 202:64 votes against
replacing
> > these symbols. Personally, I think that it actually is an issue, but I am
not
> > sure how this German habit (at least I take it to be mostly German) of
> > "daggering" dead Jews and Moslems is received by the rest of the world.
> >
> > If you want to respond, please feel free to send your answer off the list!
Any
> > feedback will be appreciated!
> >
> > Otfried Lieberknecht
> > D-40477 Duesseldorf
> > Klever Strasse 37
> > Tel. +49 (0) 172 407 6073
> > mailto:[log in to unmask]
> >
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> >
> >
>
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