medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
From: Henk 't Jong <[log in to unmask]>
> IMO it's just a parasol, due to the warm climate, the amount of clothing a
pope wore and because as from the 12th c onwards popes became as important
as emperors it became a sign of great ceremonial worth.
i doubt if, in actual practice, it had anything at all to do with climate,
much less clothes being worn by those beneath it.
there is a beautiful scene --which i can't find on the web, of course-- in
some recent move about Tibet (note the warm climate) which has a very long
shot of a monastic procession, in the middle distance.
the line of monks snakes its way through the landscape, and is punctuated by a
parasol near the front of the line.
this ceremonial apparatus works quite well to say "HERE! Here is the Center of
this Sacred Procession!"
"shade" has little or nothing to do with the matter.
beneath the parasol might be an important personage, or an important object
(e.g., a reliquary) or both"
http://www.ayukusala.org/2046.jpg
it serves the same purpose as any canopy over a sacred object being carried
http://rolfgross.dreamhosters.com/Nepal-GE/RatoMasyendranathProcessionBugamati.jpg
yeah, it keeps it out of the weather, but it also --and, imHo, most
important-- it served as a distinctive *sign* of "Where the Action Is,"
expanding and focusing the same idea which is behind carrying flags and
banners
http://www.gotuzzoworkshops.com/webpictures/Ceriana/CerianaProcession.JPG
http://img2.travelblog.org/Photos/16938/74773/t/452670-Procession-0.jpg
http://rodegglestone.co.uk/travelogue/procession1.jpg
http://tibet.prm.ox.ac.uk/photo_1998.285.546.1.html
http://www.gutenberg.org/files/19534/19534-h/images/fig008.jpg
whatever is important in this procession is beneath that black canopy near the
back of this image:
http://tibetindiafoundation.org/a1.jpg
otherwise, it's just a bunch of jerks walking down a road:
http://www.fwbo-news.org/uploaded_images/Procession-722671.jpg
http://www.nationalpost.com/related/topics/602687.bin?size=404x272
or down a mountainside:
http://www.tibetheritagefund.org/media/mediablog/image/lehbudpurnim_8799.jpg
as opposed to : "The Main Guy is Here"
http://ngb.csac.anthropology.ac.uk/Miniatures/ngbphotos_m/R_proc3.jpg
http://www.tribuneindia.com/2008/20080311/him1.jpg
http://tibet.prm.ox.ac.uk/photos/opt/400/2001.59.1.69.1-O.jpg
http://k43.pbase.com/u42/msallen/large/34298335.ShotonMonksatTopofThangka_2267.jpg
http://www.kagyuoffice.org/0512Varanasi_025.jpg
http://www.sccs.swarthmore.edu/users/01/cabrad/pics/monks1.jpg
http://www.aboutcirc.com/shrine.jpg
whatever.
>And the parasolbearer became an important dignitary.
as was the "Flag Carrier" [i forget the latin] of the Chapter of Chartres
Cathedral.
>I bet emperors and kings had parasols worn above them in warm countries.
and any emperor or king who was worth speaking of in colder climates had one,
too.
c
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