 |
 |
medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture From: "George R. Hoelzeman" <[log in to unmask]> > I've managed to get myself into a situation where I need to do a bit of liturgical history research, specifically the history of celebrating Mass and other Christian rituals while facing East. I'm guessing the Collective will provide the usual bibliography of erudite and useful tomes - which will be highly appreciated - being Severely Liturgically Challenged, i'll probably best leave questions in that area to others. >but if anyone has some short answers to the following, it will be appreciated: >It is my impression that while orienting churches, et al was standard practice in the East, it was not so in the West. i've never heard that, one way or 'tother. but, if anything, i'd generalize that you've got it BackAsswards. many "Eastern" churches (esp. from Early Byzantine times) were "central plan" structures, whose "orientation" [or "occidentation" as the case might be] sometimes could only be determined by where the Main Altar was located, in relation to the rest of the structure. is Ste Sophia an "orientated" building (structurally)? >Bamberg Cathedral, for instance, I seem to recall is aligned N/S, not E/W. as was either the original (now mostly destroyed) cathedral of St. Nazare of Autun or the 12th c. collegial of St. Lazare, built at right angles to it (i can't recall which one is "oriented" and which is "australianated"). to a certain extent, "orientation" was Site Specific, having to take into account pre-existing topographical features, if these were significant. but, "orientation" was, as a general rule, the clear preference, wherever possible, presumably for Liturgical reasons, although that latter point might be Circumlocutionary, ReasoningWise. >. . I also seem to recall reading in Jansen's History of Art ogod. wean yourself off that "source," the quicker the better; and try and do a Brain Dump of whatever you might have received from it. >that even in pre-Christian "paganism" temples in the East were oriented, while in the Roman west they generally were not. Clarify my perceptions? not even a Trust but Verify situation. Jansen is a *hopeless* source, even when he is (ocassionally) right. > - Finally, it is my impression that some developments in liturgical art and architecture emerge in direct continuity from the immediate past (Gothic out of Romanesque, ayyye, Karumba. Viday Soupra, re Jansen. e.g., "Gothic out of Romanesque" is just Methodologically Unstable Mythology. "Gothic" as the "Romanesque" of the Ile-de-France (esp., early on, in the Soissonais) is a bit Closer to the Mark. >Early Byzantine out of Late Antique) where's the "Break" between the two? that's always the trouble with these All-too-Conveient Modren Constructs of Periodisation. (is Anselm of Laon a "scholastic" theologian?? why not? he's post-Anselm of Bec --who clearly was-- and a contemporary of Abelard.) those Constructs are *Great* for Pedological Purposes (i.e., Jansen); but just Melt Away quicker than July Hailstones, when actually examined under sunlight. the History of Art (esp. the Art of the Middle Ages) is made up of a series of Monuments (which we might imagine as destributed like Points on a Graph); the job of the Pedologically-Driven Art Hysterian is to draw a nice, neat curve through all those those points, one which is perceptable even to Undergraduates. but the Discipline ain't Rocket Science --it ain't even Cartesian (analytical)geometry-- and those nice, neat curves actually do more harm than good. mainly (but not entirely) because, for the M.A. esp., they are a Skewed Sample, only a mere fraction of the monuments which originally existed. >but other times there is a conscious and almost radical break with the previous era (Renaissance from Gothic). some places, perhaps. e.g., St. Eustache in Paris, begun under Francis I, with "Renaissance" decorations (classical capitals, round arches) but, essentially, a thoroughly Gothic building, structurally indistinguisable from its 12th c. linear ancestors. http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Image:St.-Eustache.jpg http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Image:StEustache_Gewoelbe_Chor.JPG >Is there any basis for this impression no. 'cept for Jansen. >or is that more the subject for a thesis/dissertation? yes. c ********************************************************************** To join the list, send the message: join medieval-religion YOUR NAME to: [log in to unmask] To send a message to the list, address it to: [log in to unmask] To leave the list, send the message: leave medieval-religion to: [log in to unmask] In order to report problems or to contact the list's owners, write to: [log in to unmask] For further information, visit our web site: http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/medieval-religion.html