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medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture There might be something helpful in Kendall, Calvin B. The Allegory of the Church: Romanesque portals and their verse inscriptions (Toronto: University of Toronto, 1998) all best laura ----- Original Message ----- From: "Jim Bugslag" <[log in to unmask]> To: <[log in to unmask]> Sent: 17 February 2006 00:29 Subject: door symbolism > medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture > > Dear Learned Ones, > I have recently been trying to make sense of a passage in Pierre de > Roissy's > Manuale de mysteriis Ecclesiae, a sort of early 13th-century precursor of > Durandus > by a chancellor of Chartres Cathedral. In other words, it is a symbolic > interpretation > of the fabric and decoration of a church. This is what he says on doors: > > De [h]ostio. [H]ostium est Christus, qui dicit: Ego sum [h]ostium [John > X, 7]. Si > autem sint plura [h]ostia, significant prelatos, per quos intratur ad > Christum; et sunt > versus meridiem et aquilonem, quia aliqui de utroque populo intrant. Unde > Ysaias : > Dicam aquiloni : Da ; et austro : Noli prohibere. > > My (undoubtedly faulty) translation of this is: > The door is Christ, who said: "I am the door". If, however, there are > more doors, > they signify prelates, by whom one enters to Christ; and they are toward > the south > and north, because some of the people enter from both directions. Whence > Isaiah: > it is said to the north: give [them up], and to the south: do not hold > them back. > > His parting reference to Isaiah XLIII, 6, is not at all clear to me. Does > it simply > signify that people would be welcome through either door? Or is there > something > more to it? Can anyone enlighten me with a comprehensible exegesis of > this > reference? > > Cheers, > Jim Bugslag > PS Any and all "improvements" to my translation would also be welcomed. > > ********************************************************************** > 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 ********************************************************************** 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