Dreams, Nature, and Practices as Signs of the Future in the Middle Ages 9789004519176, 9004519173

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Dreams, Nature, and Practices as Signs of the Future in the Middle Ages

Prognostication in History Edited by Michael Lackner (Friedrich-Alexander-University Erlangen-Nürnberg) Chia-Feng Chang (Taiwan National University) Klaus Herbers (Friedrich-Alexander-University Erlangen-Nürnberg) Alexander Fidora (icrea – Autonomous University of Barcelona)

Series Coordinator Fabrizio Pregadio

volume 10

The titles published in this series are listed at brill.com/prhi

Dreams, Nature, and Practices as Signs of the Future in the Middle Ages Edited by

Klaus Herbers Hans-Christian Lehner

leiden | boston

Cover illustration: Drachen über Hilpoltstein (1533). Augsburger Wunderzeichenbuch — Folio 129: “1533 years after the birth of Christ, on the Friday after St Ursula, the 24th day, such wondrous dragons were seen in the air for nigh on two hours around 10 o'clock at night in several places near Hilpoltstein and at the Hoffleins House there” (translation from German). Wikimedia Commons. The Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available online at https://catalog.loc.gov lc record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2022018523

Typeface for the Latin, Greek, and Cyrillic scripts: “Brill”. See and download: brill.com/brill‑typeface. issn 2589-4404 isbn 978-90-04-51599-4 (hardback) isbn 978-90-04-51917-6 (e-book) Copyright 2022 by Klaus Herbers and Hans-Christian Lehner. Published by Koninklijke Brill nv, Leiden, The Netherlands. Koninklijke Brill nv incorporates the imprints Brill, Brill Nijhoff, Brill Hotei, Brill Schöningh, Brill Fink, Brill mentis, Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Böhlau and V&R unipress. Koninklijke Brill nv reserves the right to protect this publication against unauthorized use. Requests for re-use and/or translations must be addressed to Koninklijke Brill nv via brill.com or copyright.com. This book is printed on acid-free paper and produced in a sustainable manner.

Contents Figures and Tables

vii

Introduction: Signs of the Future 1 Klaus Herbers and Hans-Christian Lehner

part 1 Signs and Dreams 1

Dreams, Visions, and Politics in Carolingian Europe Klaus Herbers

11

2

Dum illum utero gestaret: The premonitory Dreams of Saints’ Mothers in Latin Hagiography 29 Patrick Henriet

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Sepe verum somniant, qui presunt populis: The Dubious Veracity of Dreams 55 Albert Schirrmeister

part 2 Signs and Nature 4

The Emblematic Birth of a Monster in the High Middle Ages Hans-Christian Lehner

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Strange Events and Shaky Ground: On Earthquakes, Matthew Paris and ‘Solid Facts’ 95 Manuel Kamenzin

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Between Astrological Divination, Local Knowledge and Political Intentions: Prognostics and “Epignostics” Related to Natural Disasters in the Middle Ages 128 Christian Rohr

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contents

part 3 Practices and Experts 7

Analogy at Work in Western Medieval Divination Stefano Rapisarda

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Hohe Prälaten der römischen Kurie beim Wahrsager (xiii. Jahrhundert) 190 Agostino Paravicini Bagliani

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Signs from the Afterlife: Consulting the Dead about the Future in Medieval Times 206 Matthias Heiduk

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Alternative Losentscheidungsverfahren oder imitationes sortium in Byzanz 232 Michael Grünbart

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Al-Ashraf ˁUmar’s Tabṣira: Chapter xxxiv. Rainbows, Shooting Stars, and Haloes as Signs of the Future 252 Petra G. Schmidl Index

311

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Figures and Tables Figures 1.1 4.1 5.1 5.2 6.1

6.2

6.3

6.4

11.1 11.2 11.3 11.4

Visio Baronti, manuscripts, fig. 1 in mgh rer. Merov. 5 (835), (https://www.dmgh​ .de/mgh_ss_rer_merov_5/index.htm#page/834/mode/1up) 16 Monstrous birth as recorded in the Abbey of Fleury. Paris, Bibliothèque Nationale de France, lat. 5543, fol. 22r. 88 Cambridge, Corpus Christi College, ms 016ii, f. 245r 121 Cambridge, Corpus Christi College, ms 016ii, f. 245v 121 The Last Judgment and the divine plagues. Fresco by Thomas of Villach (1485) on the southern outer wall of the cathedral of Graz, reconstruction drawing by H. Schwach, c. 1870 (Lanc, Wandmalereien, fig. 144, retouched in Rohr, Extreme Naturereignisse, table 2). 146 The divine plagues. Fresco by Thomas of Villach (1485) on the southern outer wall of the cathedral of Graz, detail, current state. The single picture on the lower right edge of the painting shows the invasion of migratory locusts in Graz in 1480. Photograph by the author. 147 Knowledge transfer on comets, stellar constellations and extraordinary weather phenomena from Pliny to Konrad of Megenberg. Design by the author, based on Rohr, “Plinius.” 152 Miraculous portents announcing a new deluge in 1524. Wood carving from Carion, Prognosticatio, 1 (1521). Source: Augsburg, Staats- und Stadtbibliothek, 4 Kult 186–116 (digitized by Bayerische Staatsbibliothek). 163 ms. Hunt. 233 fol. 112b 264 ms. Hunt. 233 fol. 113a 265 ms. Hunt. 233 fol. 113b 266 ms. Hunt. 233 fol. 114a 267

Tables 5.1 5.2

Earthquakes mentioned in the Annales Monastici 118 Earthquakes in England during the Middle Ages mentioned in the Flores Historiarum, the Chronica majora and the Historia Anglorum 120 11.1 The (Eastern) Roman, or Syrian, months together with their length in days. 260

Introduction: Signs of the Future

Klaus Herbers and Hans-Christian Lehner

“Signs in the form of a cross fell on people’s robes, of lemon color, some also blood-colored; some people also fell on their bare bodies. These were burned as if a glowing coal was placed on the bare body. Some also died from it. And those who worshiped these signs received no harm, but those who treated them without reverence were punished. Signs in the form of snakes also appeared on the necks of people, and some of these snake signs were alive in some and even required food; and also many more [signs] appeared. This happened because of the people’s malignity and for amendment and as admonition.”1 This entry from the Bavarian Abbey of Niederaltaich reports the strange downfall of crosses in Southern Germany in the year 1503, which attracted considerable attention amongst the people. The majority agreed that this downfall must be a sign, sent by God. Even Maximilian i, King of the Romans, referred to it when pressing for a crusade against the Turks. In a letter dated November 12, 1503, he declared that, following a series of heavenly warnings, the “bloody and deadly coloured crosses” were another obvious expression of God’s wrath “in order that the Christian should resist the infidels.”2 In his Buch der Cronicken vnd seltzamen vnd vnerhorlichen geschichten im loblichen hawß Bairn, entsprungen nach absterben Hertzog Georgen in Bairn (“Book of chronicles and strange and unheardof stories in the laudable house of Bavaria, originating after the death of Duke George in Bavaria”), which was renamed De bello Bavarico liber memorialis 1 Ceciderunt signa in modum crucis super vestimenta hominucn coloris citrini, aliqua etiam sanguinolenta, aliquibus etiam hominibus ceciderunt super nudo corpore. Hii arserunt, ut si carbo ignitus ponitur super nudo corpore. Aliqui etiam exinde mortui sunt. Et si qui venerati sunt ea, nil lesionis acceperunt, si qui vero irreverencius se erga ea habuerunt, puniti sunt. Apparuerunt etiam signa ad modum serpentum in collis hominum et aliqua signa serpentum viva fuerunt cum aliquibus et indiguerunt etiam refectionem; et quoque plura alia visa sunt. Hec facta propter maliciam hominum et ob emendationem et pro admonitione. Notae Althaenses, ed. Georg Heinrich Pertz, mgh ss 17 (Hanover: Hahnsche Buchhandlung 1861), 421–427, here 425 (translation by Hans-Christian Lehner). 2 Ein ander und großer ermanung und bewegnuß Gottes zornß von Pluott und totfarben Creuzen […] damitt den unglaubigen widerstand beschehe. Johann Philipp Datt (ed.), Volumen Rerum Germanicarum Novum, Sive De Pace Imperii Publica Libri v, Ulm 1698, 218; cf. ri xiv,4,1 n. 17881, in: Regesta Imperii Online, uri: http://www.regesta‑imperii.de/id/1503‑11‑12_2_0_14​ _4_0_2154_17881 (last accessed 2022-04-24).

© Klaus Herbers and Hans-Christian L

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in the edition of 1763, the Bavarian town clerk Andreas Zainer registered the crosses as an annunciation of future evil and connected this retrospectively to the war of the Succession of Landshut,3 which devastated Bavaria and the Palatine area in an unprecedented manner in 1504 and was ended only in July 1505. Other accounts simply recorded that these signs were followed by a huge death toll.4 Indeed, a great plague occurred at that time. This is only one of many examples that show how desperate people sought to obtain a glimpse of the future or explain certain incidents retrospectively through signs that had occurred in advance. In that sense, signs are always considered a portent of future events. In different societies, and at different times, the written or unwritten rules regarding their interpretation varied, although there was perhaps a common understanding of these processes. Between 2009 and 2021, the International Consortium for Research in the Humanities (icrh) in Erlangen investigated phenomena of this nature under the slogan “Fate, Freedom and Prognostication. Strategies for Coping with the Future in East Asia and Europe.” Thanks to generous funding by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research, we were able to study and discuss a number of themes concerning prognostication from a comparative perspective. The way in which people deal with issues related to the future was analyzed across epochs and cultures under the guidance of the core disciplines of Asian and Medieval Studies, with additional input from many other disciplines. At numerous events—workshops, conferences, seminars, and lecture series—different aspects were discussed in depth and the results published, covering a wide range of topics, such as epistemology and mantic arts, an investigation of the great texts on divination, astrologers and their clients, the impact of the Arabic sciences in Europe, the role of prophecy within the hagiographic literature, an analysis of the variance and continuity of the topic of prognosis in legal texts from the European Middle Ages, as well as the field of apocalypticism and eschatology.5

3 Das aber zu bedecken Gott der allmächtig umb der Sund willen ze Straff im Land, des lange Zeit wie vorgedacht in Rwe, Frid und Son gestanden, verhengt; wie er dan seine Wunderwerck zu Anzeichen kunfftiges übels im funfzehnhunderisten und dritten Jar vergangen nicht allein im Land Baiern, sunder in gantzer teutscher Nation die Zaichen des Creutz, und sunst in ander wunderbarlichen Gestalt […] erzaiget. Andreae Zayneri, “de Bello Bavarico Liber memorialis,” in Rerum Boicarum Scriptores, vol. 2, ed. Andreas Felix von Oefele (Munich 1763), 347. 4 Magna mortalitas has Cruces scuta est. Johannis Trithemii Annalium Hirsaugensium, ed. Ioannes Georgius Schlegel (St. Gallen 1690), 580. 5 The corresponding proceedings include: Die mantischen Künste und die Epistemologie prognostischer Wissenschaften im Mittelalter, ed. Alexander Fidora (Cologne et al.: Boehlau 2013); Dialogues among Books in Medieval Western Magic and Divination, ed. Stefano Rapisarda and

3 Much of the last few years was dedicated, in both core disciplines, to the preparation of Handbooks, which were published for the medieval world (or, rather, the medieval worlds) in 2021.6 This Handbook was prepared through several workshops and with the support of its co-editors: Avriel Bar-Levav, Charles Burnett, Michael Grünbart, and Petra G. Schmidl. One of the aims was to represent the multi-fold aspects of prognostication and gather together some of the results of the research that was carried out at the icrh during the last decade. In this sense, we looked not only to the medieval Latin world in the west, but also to other “medieval”7 cultures; hence, Byzantium, together with the Arabic-Muslim, and Hebrew-Jewish worlds, are represented in the different sections of the book. Moreover, the research carried out over the past decade at the icrh concluded with an exhibition held at the Germanisches National Museum in Nuremberg, entitled “Signs of the Future. Divination in East Asia and Europe.”8 This event focused on objects of divination from the geographical areas in question, which included a number of signs in a narrower sense, like broadsheets with celestial signs, or signs created by humans to investigate the future. This narrower access to signs of the future was the idea behind an international conference. Therefore, on February 9–10, 2021, the icrh at the University of Erlangen-Nürnberg brought together a group of international scholars to reflect on perceptions of “Signs of the Future” in Medieval Europe. Following 12 years of ground-breaking research in the field of “Fate, Freedom and Erik Niblaeus (Firenze: SISMEL - Edizioni del Galluzzo, 2014); Astrologers and their Clients in Medieval and Early Modern Europe, ed. Wiebke Deimann and David Juste (Cologne et al.: Boehlau 2015); Mittelalterliche Zukunftsgestaltung im Angesicht des Weltendes. Forming the Future Facing the End of the World, ed. Felicitas Schmieder (Cologne et al.: Boehlau 2015); The Impact of Arabic Sciences in Europe and Asia, ed. Agostino Paravicini Bagliani (Firenze: SISMEL - Edizioni del Galluzzo, 2016); Hagiographie et prophétie, ed. Patrick Henriet et al. (Firenze: SISMEL - Edizioni del Galluzzo, 2017); Mittelalterliche Rechtstexte und mantische Praktiken, ed. Klaus Herbers and Hans-Christian Lehner (Cologne: Boehlau 2021); The End(s) of Time(s). Apocalypticism, Messianism, and Utopianism through the Ages, ed. Hans-Christian Lehner (Leiden: Brill 2021). 6 Handbook of Prognostication in the Medieval World. 7 The term “medieval” is crucial. Cf. the discussion in Thomas Bauer, Warum es kein islamisches Mittelalter gab: Das Erbe der Antike und der Orient (Munich: Beck, 2018). See also the review on this book by Hans-Christian Lehner, Rezension zu: Bauer, Thomas: Warum es kein islamisches Mittelalter gab. Das Erbe der Antike und der Orient (Munich 2018), isbn 978-3-406-72730-6, in: H-Soz-Kult, 30.01.2020, www.hsozkult.de/publicationreview/id/reb‑28267. 8 Zeichen der Zukunft: Wahrsagen in Ostasien und Europa / Signs of the Future. Divination in East Asia and Europe, eds. Marie-Therese Feist et al. (Heidelberg: arthistoricum.net, 2021), accessible online at https://books.ub.uni‑heidelberg.de/arthistoricum/catalog/book/​ 763 (last accessed 2022-04-24).

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Prognostication,” this was the final conference on Medieval History hosted by the icrh. Due to the pandemic, the conference was held online, with participants connected from all over Europe and South Korea. We wished to discuss some of the dominant themes which had arisen from our work here at the icrh, but without repeating ourselves. This is why themes like apocalypticism, which had been investigated in greater depth already in other contexts,9 were treated only casually. The list of authors shows some long-term confidants of the icrh—like Stefano Rapisarda or Petra G. Schmidl, who had already contributed magnificently to the research of the Consortium during the first funding period (2009–2015), and also to the aforementioned handbook—as well as renowned experts in the field, who eventually promote one of our projects with their expertise. The aforementioned Handbook, entitled Prognostication in the Medieval World, attempted to explore the Medieval Latin, Eastern Byzantine, Arabic and Hebrew traditions. We were delighted that the Byzantine and Arabic aspects could be integrated into the scope of the conference, too. The presentations explored the textual traditions related to different potential signs of the future in a wide variety of sources. Well-known texts were thereby combined with new material. Special emphasis was placed on the method of analogy and the “rationality” of signs, as well as the role of experts and expertise. The majority of the contributions to this volume originated at this conference.10 Unfortunately, the papers on metereological signs as well as the image representation of signs were not written for this volume. Whilst articles from the Islamic and Byzantine perspectives are included, the book fails to offer an article on signs in the Jewish belief. The volume is divided into three sections. The first part focuses on signs in dreams. Patrick Henriet deals with the premonitory dreams of saints’ mothers in Latin hagiography. With a specific arsenal of signs used in these dreams, such as moonlight or sunlight, the future life of the unborn child was indicated in these texts. Albert Schirrmeister also deals with such narrative formulae in dream descriptions. The focus lies on two dream depictions that are attributed to Frederick iii and Pope Nicholas v in the Commentarii by Pope Pius ii. They were presented as paradigmatic cases of the relationship between (prognostic) dream practices and dream theories in the late Middle Ages and their epistem9 10

Facing the future, ed. Schmieder; The end(s) of time(s), ed. Lehner (cf. n. 5). Cf. the conference report by Manuel Kamenzin and Hans-Christian Lehner: Tagungsbericht: Signs of the Future, 09.02.2021–10.02.2021 digital (Erlangen), in: H-Soz-Kult, 11.05. 2021, www.hsozkult.de/conferencereport/id/tagungsberichte‑8935.

5 ological positions. Klaus Herbers presents a variety of examples of dreams, visions, and politics in Carolingian Europe. The visions of the High Middle Ages developed into their own literary genre and certainly should be interpreted differently. Herbers argues that there was a further development of the fundamental orientations of Gregory the Great during the Carolingian period. The reason for this was the Christianization of prophecies in the form of visions, which developed the ancient forms of prodigium and omen considerably further. Showing the hidden truth remained an objective even during the Carolingian period, but creative action, which focused on the politics of the day, and eschatology, in the form of memoria, emerged. In his article entitled “Signs from the Afterlife,” Matthias Heiduk points out that, during the Middle Ages, different methods for contacting the deceased and knowledge about future things were sought. In addition to magical incantation rites, mystical journeys to the hereafter and visionary apparitions of the dead come into focus as central testimonies. Certain contexts of transmission even allowed the conclusion of an instrumentalization of the visionaries by third parties, whereby visions and magical rituals display commonalities in the sense of medial communication between the living and the dead. As a conclusion, Heiduk pleads for a detachment from a focus that is solely on scholarly discourse and for a perspective on the diversity of medieval forms of communication between the living and the dead. The second part is entitled “Signs and Nature.” The first two articles give credit to the medieval Latin chronicles as a treasury of (natural) signs that serve as indicators of future events—with the associated question of whether the signs were recognized as such when they occurred or when the seemingly announced event had happened, or whether they were recognized but their true meaning could only be understood after the event.11 Hans-Christian Lehner introduces historiographical reports on malformations in newborns and their respective interpretations. Since these incidents occurred so rarely, they attracted great attention—but only within a restricted range. It is noteworthy that the (original) authors of the texts in question operated at close proximity to the events. The signs themselves are either interpreted according to the visual nature of the malformation, or included in a collection of (bad) signs announcing a truly terrible phenomenon. Manuel Kamenzin analyses the unique way in which the English Benedictine monk Matthew Paris included 11

Cf. Hans-Christian Lehner, Prophetie zwischen Eschatologie und Politik. Zur Rolle der Vorhersagbarkeit in der hochmittelalterlichen Historiografie (Stuttgart: Steiner, 2015), esp. 225– 228.

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earthquakes as signs of the future in his Chronica Majora. Matthew constructs his narrative with great care, whereby signs are embedded and interpreted in order to support his arguments. Kamenzin even detects that meaning was ascribed to a natural event after the news of the seemingly proclaimed event— here, the death of the emperor—arrived. Thus, the modern reader might not primarily learn about a past event. Instead, as Kamenzin demonstrates, these examples of signs offer an insight into the medieval mindset. Natural signs also lie at the core of the next contribution. Christian Rohr points out that the connection between comets, planetary/stellar constellations, as well as solar and lunar eclipses, on the one hand, and (natural) disasters, diseases, and other catastrophes, on the other, had been evident for pre-modern societies in Europe. This was particularly true for events that occurred suddenly and could not be explained by local knowledge. Nonetheless, this relationship was manifold in nature. Several medieval authors used natural phenomena and disasters to serve as “markers” for a bad reign. Other events, such as locust invasions, were interpreted as a divine punishment and portent of the Last Judgement. Many of the medieval treatises on nature also dealt with comets (Gregory of Tours, Isidore of Seville, Bede the Venerable, Honorius Augustodunensis, Thomas of Cantimpré, and Konrad of Megenberg) and their associated meaning. The third part focuses on “Practices and Experts.” Stefano Rapisarda provides an overview of the medieval and early modern Western divination techniques, such as astrology, geomancy, chiromancy, scapulomancy, and avimancy. Agostino Paravicini Bagliani presents three examples in which cardinals and prelates consulted fortune-tellers. The commonality of these cases was divination combined with an election—be it as bishop, cardinal, or even pope. The chronological proximity of these cases was explained by the more general spread of mantic disciplines, which indicates a certain “fashion” character. This chronological intensity led to the conclusion that such practices must have been far more widespread than our sources indicate. The mantic practices seem to have evoked a fascination among the curial and ecclesiastical elites. This seems a far cry from the clerical underworld that Richard Kieckhefer reconstructed in his work, Forbidden Rites. Turning the discussion to Byzantium, Michael Grünbart introduces lots as a classical tool for delivering signs of the future and, therefore, supporting decision-making in the Byzantine Empire. He focuses on the materiality and visibility of the process of decision-making. The usage of lots seems to have been employed as a predominant tool before taking military action. In these cases, as Grünbart shows, time mattered most: a prompt, swift result was desired. The procedures are directly related to a concrete action and less directed toward an (indefinite) future.

7 As part of her research project entitled “The Sultan and the Stars,”12 funded by the German Research Foundation, Petra G. Schmidl introduces the prognostic practices included in chapter xxxiv of the Kitāb al-Tabṣira fī ˁilm alnujūm (“Enlightenment on the science of the stars”) by the 13th century scholar al-Ashraf ˁUmar. This text, whose author was to become Rasūlid sultan and ruler over the Yemen, interprets the spotting of rainbows, meteors, and comets, and halos around the sun and moon as a means of predicting future events. The examples presented here show that an orientation toward signs was a basic component of the pre-modern mindset. The great variety of signs that are reviewed in the set of articles is noteworthy. These signs can be categorized as natural, supernatural, or “human-produced.” All of them were embedded in a history of knowledge, with innovative combinations and contextualisation. Still, these depictions present commentaries on the time of their creation, whereas signs of the future display an ambiguous character. The volume would have been impossible without the support of the icrh at the Friedrich-Alexander-University Erlangen-Nürnberg, which is funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research to afford freedom for the humanities (Freiraum für die Geisteswissenschaften). Many of the contributors have benefitted from this freedom in the form of fellowships at the icrh. 12

Cf. https://tabsira.hypotheses.org/ (last accessed 2022-04-24).

part 1 Signs and Dreams

∵

1 Dreams, Visions, and Politics in Carolingian Europe Klaus Herbers

1

Introduction

Dreams, together with their interpretations, visions, and reports relating to them, apparently always had a deep meaning in the Middle Ages and it was possible for them to be interpreted in several ways. I recall a lecture on the political history of the High Middle Ages in Cologne, in which each new historical figure was introduced by reference to Dante, and the respective representation in his Divine Comedy1 was recorded as a contemporary evaluation of political activities in general. Considering the great, politically-loaded visions in the Middle Ages, the Divine Comedy of Dante appears to occupy a unique, immutable position. This great vision, however, whereby important personages from both the past and present appear in various locations in the other world, already had precedents because, even in Antiquity, in Greek, Hellenistic, but also in Jewish and early Christian times, prophecies and apocalypses were presented.2 The International Consortium for Research in the Humanities (icrh) has dealt with

1 Dante Alighieri, La Divina Commedia, testo critico della Società Dantesca Italiana, riveduto col commento scartazziniano, rifatto da Giuseppe Vandelli (Milan: Hoepli—Nota bene, 1928). It is impossible to sum up the vast investigation about this central work, cf. among others: Andreas Kablitz, “Bella menzogna. Mittelalterliche allegorische Dichtung und die Struktur der Fiktion: Dante, Convivio—Thomas Mann, Der Zauberberg—Aristoteles, Poetik,” in Literarische und religiöse Kommunikation in Mittelalter und früher Neuzeit: dfg-Symposium 2006, ed. Peter Strohschneider (Berlin: de Gruyter, 2009), 222–271. For a reassessment of research on the oft-neglected aspects of transmission: Andreas Bihrer, “Variable göttliche Offenbarungen. Überlieferungsgeschichtliche Perspektiven der Forschung zu Visionen und Jenseitsreisen im Mittelalter,” in Überlieferungsgeschichte transdisziplinär: Neue Perspektiven auf ein germanistischen Forschungsparadigma, ed. Dorothea Klein et al. (Wiesbaden: Dr. Ludwig Reichert Verlag, 2016), 241–262. 2 Cf. for the genre journeys to the other world: Julia Weitbrecht, Aus der Welt: Reise und Heiligung in Legenden und Jenseitsreisen der Spätantike und des Mittelalters (Heidelberg: Winter, 2011); Maximilian Benz, Gesicht und Schrift: Die Erzählung von Jenseitsreisen in Antike und Mittelalter (Berlin-Bosten: de Gruyter, 2013). Summing up in: Andreas Bihrer, “Journeys to the Other World: Medieval Latin Traditions,” in Prognostication in the Medieval World: A Handbook, eds. Matthias Heiduk et al. (Berlin: De Gruyter, 2021), 821–827.

© Klaus Herbers, 2022 | doi:10.1163/978

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these developments intensively, as most recently summarized in the handbook “Prognostication in the Medieval World”.3 The entries on dreams and visions are closely interrelated.4 Furthermore, the discussion at the icrh has also contributed to the theme in special studies, such as the anthology “Hagiographie et prophétie”,5 the edition of Hans-Christian Lehner and Maximilian Nix with the corresponding introduction,6 and contributions to the Purgatory of St Patrick.7 In this paper, I do not distinguish between dream and vision, as one might deduce from the Carolingian “Libri Carolini” or a letter of Hadrian i,8 as well as from the other contributions of this volume.

2

Gregory i (dec. 604) and the “Foundation” of Vision and Prophecy in the West

Despite the various traditions of Late Antiquity, for the Latin Middle Ages, Gregory the Great (dec. 604) became decisive, especially through his “Dialogi”. In the fourth Book of the dialogues, he states: How carnal men give the less credit to those things which be eternal and spiritual; because they know not by experience, what they hear others to

3 Heiduk, et al., eds., (note 2); cf. above all Bihrer, ibid. 4 Cf. Anke Holdenried, “Traditions and Practices in the Medieval World,” in Prognostication (note 2), 329–341; Albert Schirrmeister, “Traditions and Practices in the Medieval Western Christian World,” ibid., 371–385. 5 Patrick Henriet, Klaus Herbers and Hans-Christian Lehner, eds., Hagiographie et prophétie (vie-xiiie siècles) (Firenze: sismel—Edizioni del Galluzzo, 2017). 6 Marcus of Regensburg, Visio Tnugdali, eds. Hans-Christian Lehner and Maximilian Nix, Fontes Christiniani 74 (Freiburg i. Br.: Herder, 2018). 7 Klaus Herbers, „Blicke in die Zukunft im Mittelalter,“ in Köztes-Európa vonzásában: Ünnepi tanulmányok Font Márta tiszteletére, eds. Dániel Bagi, Tamás Fedeles und Gergely Kiss (Pécs: Kronosz, 2012), 199–214; Klaus Herbers, “Pilgrimages to St Patrick’s Purgatory: A Glimpse into the Future?” in Unterwegs im Namen der Religion: Pilgern als Form von Kontingenzbewältigung und Zukunftssicherung in den Weltreligionen, eds. Klaus Herbers und Hans-Christian Lehner, Beiträge zur Hagiographie 15 (Stuttgart: Franz Steiner Verlag, 2014), 45–49. 8 On the differences between visions and dreams from a medieval perspective cf. the Letter of pope Hadrian i. defending the decisions of the Council of Nicaea (787): Judith Werner, Waldemar Könighaus, and Klaus Herbers. Regesta Pontificum Romanorum ab condita ecclesia ad annum post Christum natum mcxcviii: Tomus 2, ab a. dciv ad a. dcccxliv (Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 2017), no. 4579; Epistolae selectae pontificum Romanorum Carolo Magno et Ludowico Pio regnantibus scriptae, ed. Karl Hampe, mgh Epist. 5 (Berlin: Weidmann, 1899), 20 (c. 13).; Cf. Opus Caroli Regis contra synodum: Libri Carolini, eds. Ann Freeman and Paul Meyvaert, mgh Conc. 2 (1) (Hanover: Hahnsche Buchhandlung, 1998), 459–466.

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speak of.” And later on: “whosoever as yet is not settled in this belief, out of all question, he ought of reason to give credit to the words of them that be more learned and holy, and believe them that, through the grace of God’s holy Spirit, have experience of those things that be invisible: for he were a very foolish child, that thought his mother lied, when she spake [sic] of light in other places, because himself, where he was, beheld nothing else but the darkness of the prison.9 Although prognostic and mantic practices were often attacked in the juridical norms of canon law, hagiography, dreams and visions obtained a firm place within Christian instruction. The narratives might reveal what people did not, or could not know yet. Visions and dreams usually appear to select people, with prophetic presents. Dreams and visions, however, not only refer to the future but, in the sense of Gregory the Great, also reveal what is hidden.10 In doing so, they seek to explain a deeper truth, thus becoming part of a discourse on truth. It would, nevertheless, be too quick to seek only the deeper truth in general, for the examples of these texts that have been handed down to us reveal more. It was also about vision and policy. Let us consider Gregory the Great’s vision of the death of Theoderic (iv, 30), in which a defender of the Roman Church briefed him about a hermit near the island of Lipari. Following an introductory section,11 it states: “‘Have you,’ quoth he, ‘heard that king Theodoricus is dead?’ to whom they quickly answered: ‘God forbid: we left him alive on our departure from Rome; and, until now, we had never heard of any such thing.’ Then, the servant of God informed them that he was definitely dead: ‘For yesterday,’ quoth he, ‘at nine of the clock, he was without shoes and girdle, and his hands fast bound, brought betwixt John the Pope and Symmachus the Senator, and thrown into Vulcan’s gulph, which is not far from this place.’ When they heard this news, they wrote down the time carefully and, on their return to Italy, learned that King Theodoricus had died upon that very day on which 9

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Gregory the Great, The Dialogues of Saint Gregory 4 (1), trans. Edmund Garratt Gardener (London: Philip Lee Warner, 1911), 178. For the original Latin version cf. Gregorii Magni Dialogi libri iv, ed. Umberto Moricca, Fonti per la Storia d’Italia 57 (Rome: Roma Tipografia del Senato, 1924), 229–230. “Qua in re animaduertendeum est quod recte prohetia dicitur, non quia praedicit uentura, sed quia prodit occulta.” Gregory the Great, Homiliae in Hiezechihelem prophetam, ed. Marcus Adriaen, Corpus Christianorum Series Latina 142 (Turnholt: Brepols, 1971), 5; cf. Henriet, “Quod recte prophetia dicitur. Introduction,” in Hagiographie (note 5), 5. English version: Gregory the Great, Dialogues 4 (30) (note 9), 213; original Latin version: Gregorii Magni Dialogi, ed. Moricca (note 9), 274.

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his unhappy passage out of this world and punishment were revealed to the servant of God. Moreover, for as much as he had, through miserable imprisonment, been the death of Pope John, and also killed Symmachus, justly did he appear to be thrown by them into fire, whom previously in this life he had unjustly condemned.”12 This narrative formed the starting point for the picture of Theoderic in the Middle Ages; Hans Ulrich Wiemer mentions it at the beginning of his biography.13 The glimpse into the other world and judgement result here from Theoderic’s attitude toward the Roman bishops. The didactic purpose is clear, although the descriptions of the afterlife remain brief in comparison to later texts and only include a judging assessment.

3

Vaticinia ex eventu, post eventum—Themes of Political Visions during the Carolingian Period

The visions are, in the sense of theological biblical scholarship, in many cases, Vaticinia ex eventu or Vaticinia post eventum,14 and thus refer to events of the respective contemporary history in a highly specific literary form. This concerns different political issues. Through the references to the Carolingian period, I wish to evoke just a few examples of how this source material might be better exploited and develop some of the different facets that it helps to detect. First, a few brief remarks on the Merovingian traditions in the work of Gregory of Tours15 or in the beautiful vision of Barontus, which was written

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English version: Gregory the Great, Dialogues 4 (note 9), 214; original Latin version: Gregorii Magni Dialogi, ed. Moricca (note 9), 274–275. Hans-Ulrich Wiemer, Theoderich der Große: König der Goten—Herrscher der Römer: Eine Biographie (Munich: Beck, 2018), 635. Eva Oswald, “Zum Problem der vaticinia ex eventu,” in Zeitschrift für die Alttestamentliche Wissenschaft 75 (1) (1963): 27–44; Dominik Helms, “Vaticinium ex eventu,” in Das wissenschaftliche Bibellexikon im Internet (WiBiLex), eds. Michaela Bauks, et al., last accessed July 8 2021, https://www.bibelwissenschaft.de/wibilex/dasbibellexikon/lexikon/sachwort /anzeigen/details/vaticinium‑ex‑eventu/ch/e80fb9f8f6ebeb2c4bb9cf973d122b77/. Gregory of Tours, Historia Francorum, eds. Bruno Krusch and Wilhelm Levison, mgh ss rer. Merov. 7 (1) (Hanover: Hahnsche Buchhandlung, 1920), 290–291; cf. Wilhelm Levison, “Die Politik in den Jenseitsvisionen des frühen Mittelalters,” in Festgabe Friedrich von Bezold (Bonn: Schroeder, 1921), 81–100; Reprint: Wilhelm Levison, Aus rheinischer und fränkischer Frühzeit (Dusseldorf: Schwann, 1948), 229–246, reprint 231. Levison’s short article remains a useful orientation, which was used continuously to prepare this article.

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about 678/679 in the Saint-Cyran monastery near Bourges16 and represents the oldest independent vision of the Middle Ages.17 The vision of Barontus, which Claude Carozzi has analyzed in depth, as well as the following ones,18 colorfully combine impressions of monastic life with conditions in the afterlife, articulated in the form of hopes or fears. Following a feverish attack, the noble monk Barontus is carried from hell to heaven by Raphael, candles help against devils, and it becomes very concrete when Peter takes the bunch of keys at the fourth gate of heaven to hurl against the devils, after other appeasing failed to have any effect. One of the manuscripts even depicts three keys with which Peter intervenes in the afterlife. In paradise, Barontus finds the deceased monastic brothers, who focus on earthly matters when discussing monastic affairs and about how many donations have increased the monastery’s property. While returning to the body, Barontus encounters two acquaintances, who burned in hell: Bishop Vulfoleod of Bourges and Bishop Dido of Poitiers. In this case, the visionary highlights the contrast between the secular clergy and the monastic world for, in his opinion, bishops are rather friends of a secular life. The concrete narrative material was largely diffused.19 Approaching the Carolingian period, I will examine not only visions as a genre, but also smaller passages embedded in the historiography. (1) The Visio Wettini is a central vision text of the 9th century. In 824, the monk Wetti fell ill at the Abbey of Reichenau and died five days later. Two versions of his visions prior to his death have been handed down—in prose by Heito and in bound speech by Walahfrid Strabo.20 Some things remained unspeakable. Heito omits the names of the people whom Wetti met during his visions.

16 17 18 19 20

Visio Baronti monachi Longoretensis, eds. Bruno Krusch and Wilhelm Levison, mgh ss rer. Merov. 5 (Hanover: Hahnsche Buchhandlung, 1910), 386–387. Compare picture 1. Cf. Jan Prelog, “Visio Baronti,” in Lexikon des Mittelalters 8 (Munich: Artemis, 1997), 1730– 1731. Claude Carozzi, Le voyage de l’âme dans l’Au-delà d’après la littérature latine (ve-xiiie siècle) (Rome: l’ École Française de Rome, 1994), 139–186. See Prelog (note 17). Wahlafrid Strabo. Wahlafridi Strabi carmina, ed. Ernst Dümmler, mgh Poetae latini aevi Carolini 2 (Berlin: Weidmann, 1884), 267–275 and 301–304; David A. Traill, Walahfrid Strabo’s Visio Wettini: text, translation and commentary, Lateinische Sprache und Literatur des Mittelalters 2 (Bern-Frankfurt: Lang, 1974), 187–208. For a summary cf. Arnold Angenendt, “Theologie und Liturgie der mittelalterlichen Totenmemoria,” in Memoria: Der geschichtlichen Zeugniswert des liturgischen Gedenkens im Mittelalter, eds. Karl Schmid and Joachim Wollasch (Munich: Fink, 1984), 79–199, esp. 94–96.

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figure 1.1 Visio Baronti, manuscripts, fig. 1 in mgh rer. Merov. 5 (835) https://www.dmgh.de/mgh_ss_rer_merov_5/index.htm#page/834/​ mode/1up

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Because of its importance, I will summarize the content of this vision in more detail, using Wahlafrid Strabo’s version.21 During dinner, the monk experienced severe pain. He closed his eyes and suddenly saw an evil spirit shrouded in darkness, carrying instruments of torture; as the evil spirit threatened Wetti, a horde of such spirits filled the room, turning it into a cell with no way out. Wetti’s deep fear was only relieved when monks appeared wearing unknown apparel, one of whom drove away the evil spirits with powerful words. Then, an angel appeared, stood at Wetti’s feet and comforted him. In the following dialogue, Wetti informed the angel that he would gladly accept the will of Almighty God, whether he was going to pardon his sins or not, thus holding themselves in the palm of his hand. Holy patriarchs, early prophets and apostles bore the human race aloft due to their efforts. Thus ended the first vision. When he awoke, Wetti saw only the Provost and another monk standing beside him. He called the others over, hastily reported what he had experienced, prostrated himself before them and begged them to make atonement for his sins with all their might. They sang the seven penitential hymns, after which the fourth book of the Dialogues of Gregory the Great was read out to him until, after lengthy passages had been read, he sent the fathers away to sleep. Recovering his body and soul, he soon experienced a new vision. The same angel reappeared and praised him for his prayer and reading from a holy work; especially Psalm 108 should be repeated often, because of its moral virtue. The angel then led Wetti down a pleasant path. On either side of it was a river of fire, in which a vast number of damned souls, including some acquaintances, had to serve their sentences. The penalties varied. On a lofty mountain, he saw an abbot who had died a decade earlier—Waldo of his own Reichenau Abbey—, who had to endure winds, storms and rain for purification, but not for eternity. Unfortunately, he had been denied the prayer that a bishop, who had recently died, had owed him. He also observed the former regent of Italy and Rome—Charlemagne—, who had had his genitals torn apart by an animal; despite his many good deeds on behalf of the Church and the people, this was for his shameful debauchery. Wetti also saw others of lower rank and different countries experiencing their fates. He arrived in an exquisitely beautiful place, where he saw golden walls and arches, and also buildings loaded with silver. The angel turned to Wetti and informed him that he would die the following day, and that meanwhile they would both pray for Christ’s mercy. Thus, they went to the blessed saints—among them Dionysius, Martinus, Anianus and Hilarius—and begged them to mitigate his sins. They drew near the holy

21

Traill, Wahlafrid (note 20), 46–74.

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throne, from which a voice announced that he should have inspired others due to his example, but he did not. Then, they both went to the martyrs, and likewise threw themselves before the throne, begging for remission. Again, the voice announced that Wetti would be forgiven, if he led those back to the path who were deceived by. The martyrs asked how such an atonement could still take place; he was to gather together all those whom he has, either by his actions or due to being an example, perverted, to kneel, to ask them for forgiveness, and to implore them, in the name of God and the saints, to desist from committing further sins. At the end, the angel added further admonitions of his own will, to preserve the apostolic way of life in the monasteries. Wetti woke around morning. He summoned the brothers to him and fearfully began to recite his vision, but they did not dare to disturb the nighttime spent in mediation in the monastery, and so Wetti demanded that his report should be written on wax for he feared that, by dawn, he might no longer be able to speak. After the morning praise, the abbot came to him with five other brothers and Wetti recounted what had already been written down. Then, he fell to the ground and begged their forgiveness and intercession. He thereafter wrote letters and, as we know from Walahfrid Strabo, requested a hundred masses and a hundred psalms from ten monasteries. (2) The Annales Bertiniani include an Anglo-Saxon vision, which was given to the emperor by legates, who were on their way to Rome.22 The content of this vision may be summarized briefly as follows. After Christmas, the spirit of a presbyter left his body. In his sleep, he followed a man, who led him to an unknown land. There he saw numerous boys reading books containing red and black letters. When questioned, he discovered that the blood-red lines represented the many sins of Christians, the boys being the souls of the saints, who mourn over these sins. Finally, there is a call to repentance, because pagans could come to devastate the countries with large numbers of ships. This final reference to the Normans is instructive. (3) The Visio pauperculae mulieris23 belongs to the period after 817. According to the Ordinatio imperii of 817 on the unification and division of the Empire, Bernhard, who ruled only in Italy, had rebelled. His plans failed, and he was

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Annales Bertiniani: Les Annales de Saint-Bertin, eds. Felix Grat, Jeanne Vielliard, and Suzanne Clémencet (Paris: C. Klincksieck, 1964), 32–34. Cf. Wilhelm Wattenbach, Wilhelm Levison, and Heinz Löwe, Deutschlands Geschichtsquellen im Mittelalter. Vorzeit und Karolinger 3 (Weimar: Böhlau, 1957), 317; new edition: Hubert Houben, “Visio cuiusdam pauperculae mulieris: Überlieferung und Herkunft eines frühmittelalterlichen Visionstextes,” in Zeitschrift für die Geschichte des Oberrheins 124 (Stuttgart: Kohlhammer, 1976), 31–42.

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condemned to death in 818, being later pardoned to blending. The fate of this unfortunate king in Italy soon became attributed to Empress Irmingard. This was revealed through the vision of a poor woman in the pagus of Laon, who entered the other world in ecstasy and there learned many things concerning the Carolingian house. The son-in-law of Louis the Pious, Bego, suffered a terrible fate, due to devils pouring liquid gold into his mouth because of his enormous greed. Furthermore, Empress Irmingard was struck down by millstones and begged the visionary to assist her. In paradise, the poor woman then found the name of King Bernard written in golden letters, while the name of the emperor could not be deciphered at all. When the woman was sent back to this world, she was ordered to report everything to the emperor. Since she lacked the courage to fulfill her task several times, she was punished with blindness. Later, she regained her sight, but only after telling Ludwig about the vision. In any case, this vision also raises the question of in which circumstances it was written down and to whom it was addressed. The time of Louis the Pious would, in any case, offer several points of reference. (4) In the Visio Rotcharii,24 Charlemagne is seen by the visionary amidst a crowd of saints in shining garments and is not afraid to confess to the monk Rotcharius, that only the uninterrupted prayers of the faithful had saved him from punishment in the hereafter. (5) The so-called “Revelationes” of a choirbishop of Sens,25 which Audradrus presented during a journey to Rome to the Pope Leo iv on 29 June 849,26 are quite different. They allude to contemporary political events, possibly because the different visions were passed down in fragments which contain, above all, the “political” parts of these versions and do not include the journeys beyond. Audradus appears as a prophet who mentioned numerous allusions to the years 840–843. The events are thereby reinterpreted as divine signs or divine judgments. Audradus, who was not only a choirbishop, but also a member of the monastery of St Martin in Tours, hoped that this important abbey could once again gain someone worthy of being the abbot; Christ now appeared and 24 25 26

Franz Neiske, “Visionen und Totengedenken,” in Frühmittelalterliche Studien 20 (1) (1986): 137–185, esp. 155–156. Ludwig Traube, O Roma nobilis: Philologische Untersuchungen aus dem Mittelalter, (Munich: Verlag der Königlichen Akademie, 1891), 299–395. Johann Friedrich Böhmer and Klaus Herbers, Regesta Imperii 1. Die Regesten des Kaiserreiches unter den Karolingern 751–918 (926/962), Band 4: Papstregesten 800–911. Teil 2: 844–872, Lieferung 1: 844–858 and Klaus Herbers, (Cologne-Weimar-Vienna: Böhlau, 1999), no. 209; cf. also: Klaus Herbers, Leo iv. und das Papsttum in der Mitte des 9. Jahrhunderts: Möglichkeiten und Grenzen päpstlicher Herrschaft in der späten Karolingerzeit, Päpste und Papsttum 27 (Stuttgart: Hiersemann, 1996, 2nd ed. 2017), esp. 403–404.

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exhorted Charles the Bald to take care of the monasteries in his kingdom,27 promising Charles good fortune in return. The Treaty of Verdun (843) was also legitimized by Audradus assigning a respective patron saint to the constituent kingdoms.28 It is striking that Audradus’ work was enlarged up to the 13th century; e.g., by Alberich of Troisfontaines.29 (6) In a similar way, local and monastic politics in Reims evoked several texts. A particular example from the 9th century is the pontificate of Hincmar of Reims. In the Visio Eucherii, questions about the secularization of church property under Charles Martell are mentioned. Eucherius of Orleans was exiled in 732. The political occasion for the visions of the Vita Eucherii,30 following in some manuscripts the actual vita, was probably the campaign of Louis the German in 858 in the West Francia. After his victories in battle, many clergymen refused to be summoned to Reims at the order of the king. Hincmar demanded that Louis should leave the church property untouched. As a warning, the vision seems to have emerged. It shows the process that caused Charles Martell to be damned, because he had trespassed on church property. When Eucherius opened the tomb of Charles, a dragon even appeared and the interior of the tomb is said to have been empty. (7) In connection with the well-known dispute of Lothar’s ii marriage and the conduct of the archbishops of Cologne and Trier, Gunther and Theutgaud, there is a shorter Italian tradition. Both clergymen had been damaged by their dispute with Popes Nicholas i and Hadrian ii.31 After his ordination, Pope Hadrian ii had assigned the former Archbishop Thietgaud of Trier to stay in the monastery (Santi Andrea e Gregorio al Monte Celio) in Rome.32 In the

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This concerned a successor for the lay abbot Vivian, see also: Franz Felten, Äbte und Laienäbte im Frankenreich: Studie zum Verhältnis von Staat und Kirche im früheren Mittelalter, Monographien zur Geschichte des Mittelalters 20 (Stuttgart: Hiersemann, 1980), 50. Traube, O Roma (note 25), 383–385. Peter for Italy, Greece and Asia and Africa, Paul for Germania and Martin for Gallia and Hispania. Herbers, Leo (note 26), 404. Passiones vitaeque sanctorum aevi Merovingici 5: Vita Eucherii episcopi Aurelianensis, eds. Bruno Krusch and Wilhelm Levison, mgh ss rer. Merov. 7 (Hanover: Hahnsche Buchhandlung, 1920), 41–53. The vision follows in a few manuscripts after the Vita Rigoberti (c. 13); cf. Levison, Visionen (note 15); Reprint 240–241 (note 2). Johann Friedrich Böhmer, Regesta Imperii 1. Die Regesten des Kaiserreiches unter den Karolingern 751–918 (926/962), Band 4: Papstregesten 800–911. Teil 2: 844–872, Lieferung 2: 858– 867, and Klaus Herbers, (Cologne-Weimar-Vienna: Böhlau, 2012), no. 899. Ibid.; cf. Johannes Hymonides, Vita S. Gregorii papae, ed. Jacques-Paul Migne, pl 75 (Paris: 1849), col. 237 (94); Gesta Treverorum, ed. Johannes Hugo Wyttenbach and Michael Franz Joseph Müller (3 vols.) (Trier: Typ. Blattaviana, 1836–1839), 83; Eneas Silvius Piccolomini, Pentalogus, ed. Christoph Schingnitz, mgh ss 8 (Hanover: Hahnsche Buchhandlung,

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Vita Gregorii of the Roman deacon Johannes Hymonides, Theutgaud’s dreams before his death on January 27th in 868 are described in detail.33 Pope Gregory the Great, in association with the monastic patron Andrew, appears in full ornal to Thietgaud in a dream, who awakens and sees the great Gregory again. The latter blames him for his misdeeds, focusses on the monastic community at Monte Celio, and predicts not only his death, but also that he will not see his homeland again. Thietgaud is then said to have revealed the dream, first to his own, then to the monks, and finally to all. (8) A vision of the year 874 in the Annales Fuldenses34 remains short. During Lent, Louis the German devoted himself more to prayer and, at night, he saw his father in a dream (in somnis), who appeared in great distress and addressed him in Latin (modo latino), asking his son to free him from his torments. Louis the German then wrote to all of the monasteries of the kingdom, asking them to redeem the emperor by their prayers. In the end, the vision reflects all of the mistakes committed by his father during his lifetime, which caused him to suffer like this. (9) The Visio Bernoldi evokes the time after the death of Charles the Bald in 877. Hincmar of Reims claims to have heard these visions of Bernold from his confessor.35 The visionary saw Charles the Bald in the afterlife, suffering punishments and remaining in a pitiful state, eaten by worms. The king then asked the visionary to inform Hincmar of Reims that he was suffering these punishments because he did not listen to the Archbishop of Reims. He asked for his assistance. In a strange way, the visionary met Hincmar, who was celebrating mass. He related Charles’ request, then returned to Charles the Bald, and behold: his pleading had been heard and he was sitting there completely healthy, clothed in royal robes. Did this clearly appeal to Charles successor Louis and the Archbishop of Reims, who was struggling to maintain his influence? The report was written in the 10th century in Reims by Flodoard.

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2009), 164; cf. Hans Grotz, Erbe wider Willen: Hadrian ii. (867–872) und seine Zeit (Wien: Böhlau, 1970), 203–204. Johannes Hymonides, Sancti Gregorii Magni Vita (note 32), 237–238. Annales Fuldenses sive Annales regni Francorum orientalis: ab Einhardo, Ruodolfo, Meginhardo Fuldensibus Seligenstadi, Fuldae, Mogontiaci conscripti cum continuationibus Ratisbonensi et Altahensibus, ed. Friedrich Kurze and Georg Heinrich Pertz, mgh ss rer. G. 7 (Hanover: Hahn, 1891), 82. Hincmar of Reims, Hincmari Rhemensis archiepiscopi opera omnia, ed. Jacques-Paul Migne, pl 125 (Paris: 1969), 1115–1120; cf. Flodoard of Reims, Historia Remensis ecclesiae 3, 18, ed. Martina Stratmann, mgh ss 36 (Hanover: Hahnsche Buchhandlung, 1998), 255– 256.

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(10) The Visio Caroli, which was created during the transition from the 9th to the 10th century, came up in the confusion after the last unification of the Carolingian empire under Charles iii,36 but the date and purpose of this vision are not yet clear.37 The vision of the afterlife contains recommendations for succession and is therefore considered a great political vision of the Carolingian period. The narrative seems to be a sort of official document of Charles iii, with Invocatio and Intitulatio. In the first person, Charles reports his disempowerment and death. Enraptured into the afterlife, he sees bishops and important secular persons, especially from the House of the Carolingians. Louis the German is in purgatory, but Lothar i and his son Louis ii are in paradise, with the help of St Remigius. They announce to the visionary that Louis the Blind should inherit the entire realm.38 This vision is also taken up by William of Malmesbury and Hariulf.39 (11) The vision of the monk Raduin points once again to Reims and St Remy, which is also passed on in Flodoard.40 Here, at the end of the chapter on the controversial archbishop Ebo of Reims, the historiographer explains that, in the monastery of St Remy, he had been informed of the vision of a Lombard monk Raduin, who had visited St Remy. When he remained on Assumption Day (August 15) after the matins in the choir, he received a vision while asleep, which led to a dialogue on Ebo and finally culminated in Our Lady’s remark, that the auctoritas of the Franconian Empire had been transferred to St Remy.

4

Shaping Politics and the Afterlife: Objectives—Functions—Dissemination

The examples presented are different, and Franz Neiske distinguished for Carolingian times between “Besserungsvisionen, Prophezeiungsvisionen” and

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Wilhelm Wattenbach, Wilhelm Levison, and Heinz Löwe, Deutschlands Geschichtsquellen im Mittelalter. Vorzeit und Karolinger 5 (Weimar: Böhlau, 1973), 527–528. For classical research, see Wattenbach et al., (note 36), 528; cf. Patrick Geary, “Germanic Tradition and Royal Ideology in the ninth Century: The ‘Visio Karoli Magni’,” in Frühmittelalterlichen Studien 21 (1987), 274–294. Carozzi, Voyage (note 18), 359–368. Hariulf, Chronique de l’ abbaye de Saint-Riquier, ed. Ferdinand Lot (Paris: Alphonse Picard, 1894), 144–148. Cf. Levison, reprint (note 15), 244–245; Carozzi, Voyage (note 18), 351ff. About the Visio Raduini: Flodoard of Reims, Historia Remensis ecclesiae 2, 19, ed. Stratmann (note 35), 182– 183; According to Ms. Vat. no. 466, cf. Oswald Holder-Egger, “Bericht über eine Reise nach Italien 1885”, in Neues Archiv 11 (1886), 253–288, esp. 262–263.

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“politischen Visionen”.41 Even if this is an excellent starting point, we should take a closer look at the many possibile interpretations—including the mixture in the various narratives—in order to examine the objectives and functions a little more closely. (1) Several of the visions have already been interpreted, from Wilhelm Levison to Hans Dünninger, Peter Dinzelbacher and Claude Carozzi. It remains an open question whether these visions—as Levison, for example, assumed— were simply political weapons in the conflicts of the Carolingian period. Of course, they take up aspects that are also part of other written material. If the punishments and forms of suffering of the Carolingian rulers in the afterlife specifically address their politics, the writings can certainly be interpreted as a mirror of princes and admonishing appeals to contemporary representatives. The interests of one’s own saint, the monastic interests, or the claims to leadership of an archbishop, which are particularly evident in writings from the diocese of Reims, are obvious in many cases. Some of the visions seem to have been added to existing vitae. In this way, they were—as the collections of miracles, that flourished in the Carolingian period—often intended to underline the fame of the respective saint after his death.42 That they sought papal confirmation for these writings at the same time as for other authentic books is, however, only handed down in the case of the Revelations of Audradus Modicus. Otherwise, it is noticeable which central role is taken by the respective local churchmen, monastery patrons or churchmen. (2) The briefly presented visions, however, cannot only be read in a restricted political sense and reveal not only the next world, bringing political aspects, but also the possibilities of human influences, which consist above all of prayers and the celebration of Mass. Research on Memoria has repeatedly underlined this in connection with different vision texts.43 I would like to highlight some aspects of the visions presented, of which the Visio Wettini, Visio pauperculae mulieris, Visio Rotcharii, the visio inserted in the Annales Fuldenses inserted vision narrative and Visio Bernoldi44 require a more detailed examination. 41 42

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Neiske, “Vision und Totengedenken” (note 24), 143–144. For miracle collections in Carolingian times, see: Hans-Werner Goetz, “Wunderberichte im 9. Jahrhundert: Ein Beitrag zum literarischen Genus der frühmittelalterlichen Mirakelsammlungen,” in Mirakel im Mittelalter. Konzeptionen, Erscheinungsformen, Deutungen, eds. Martin Heinzelmann, Klaus Herbers, and Dieter R. Bauer, Beiträge zur Hagiographie 3 (Stuttgart: Franz Steiner Verlag, 2002), 180–226. Cf. for example: Angenendt, “Theologie und Liturgie” (note 21). Neiske, “Vision und Totengedenken” (note 24), 150–157.

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(3) Other aspects, like how to gain a vision or how to handle the prophetic enlightenment afterwards, are also interesting. To have a vision after simply going is certainly the most common way. The Visio Wettini becomes more concrete: the dialogues of Gregory the Great are being read to the visionary; the correct reading enables the vision. Gregory’s writings could also be read at the hour of one’s death.45 When awakening, the vision was usually retold, and prohibitions were usually useless. This seems to be based on the idea that these stories were written not only for individuals, but also for communities and for practical consequences. (4) This leads to a fourth point on tradition and the context of tradition. One must distinguish between the cause and effects of writing. Only some of the visions have been handed down independently, and they far more often appear as an appendix to a vita or integrated into historiographical works. This determined the further dissemination, since many of the reports presented here were not handed down en masse. Instead, the reports were copied and rewritten frequently and, therefore, changed in the process. It would be a too narrow perspective to interpret the visions of the 9th century above all as political aspects, as there remains the didactic perspective, which was already founded by Gregory i, to interpret the signs seen: the improvement of one’s own way of life. Nevertheless, one must not overlook another important aspect. The idea of help by prayer, which was not yet a dominant one for Gregory the Great, was concretized and consistently developed further, thus making visions in individual cases not only political weapons, but also elaborating on the idea that, through the specific means of prayer and Mass, it was possible to gain a certain influence in the afterlife. A conception of purgatory is already recognizable in these texts—before the 12th and 13th centuries, although Le Goff argues otherwise. Thus, visions created not only the preconditions for shaping politics, but the signs also showed a way to shape the afterlife concretely. However, knowledge of how successfully these paths and opportunities have been used can only be obtained from other sources: from sources on politics or on memorial acts developed of the “school of Freiburg— Münster”. In any case, however, visions offered not only glimpses into the future or the hidden, but constituted at the same time a threat and an invitation to shape the future.

45

Neiske, “Vision und Totengedenken” (note 24), 142; with reference to Wetti.

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25

Conclusion

The visions of the later times evolved into their own literary genre and are certainly to be interpreted differently. In the Carolingian period, however, there was certainly a further development of the fundamental orientations of Gregory the Great, because the Christianization of prophecies in the form of visions also led to the further development of the ancient forms of prodigium and omen.46 Showing the hidden truth remained an objective even in the Carolingian period, but creative action, which focused on the actual politics and eschatology in the form of memoria, is sometimes slightly dominant in these texts.

Acknowledgements To the memory of Miriam Czock (1976–2020).

References Annales Bertiniani: Les Annales de Saint-Bertin. Edited by Felix Grat, Jeanne Vielliard, and Suzanne Clémencet. Paris: C. Klincksieck, 1964. Annales Fuldenses sive Annales regni Francorum orientalis: ab Einhardo, Ruodolfo, Meginhardo Fuldensibus Seligenstadi, Fuldae, Mogontiaci conscripti cum continuationibus Ratisbonensi et Altahensibus. Edited by Friedrich Kurze, mgh ss rer. G. 7. Hanover: Hahnsche Buchhandlung, 1891. Benz, Maximilian. Gesicht und Schrift: Die Erzählung von Jenseitsreisen in Antike und Mittelalter. Berlin-Bosten: De Gruyter, 2013. Bihrer, Andreas. “Variable göttliche Offenbarungen. Überlieferungsgeschichtliche Perspektiven der Forschung zu Visionen und Jenseitsreisen im Mittelalter.” In Überlieferungsgeschichte transdisziplinär: Neue Perspektiven auf ein germanistisches Forschungsparadigma, edited by Dorothea Klein et al., 241–262. Wiesbaden: Dr. Ludwig Reichert Verlag, 2016. Böhmer, Johann Friedrich and Klaus Herbers. Regesta Imperii 1. Die Regesten des Kaiserreiches unter den Karolingern 751–918 (926/962), Band 4: Papstregesten 800–911. Teil 2: 844–872 (Nikolaus i.), Lieferung 1: 844–858/ Lieferung 2: 858–867, Regesta Imperii 1 (4). Cologne-Weimar-Vienna: Böhlau, 1999/ Cologne-Weimar-Vienna: Böhlau, 2012. 46

Marie Theres Fögen, Die Enteignung der Wahrsager: Studien zum kaiserlichen Wissensmonopol in der Spätantike (Frankfurt a. M.: Suhrkamp, 1993).

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Charlemagne. Opus Caroli Regis contra synodum: Libri Carolini, edited by Ann Freeman and Paul Meyvaert. mgh Conc. 2 (1). Hanover: Hahnsche Buchhandlung, 1998. Carozzi, Claude. Le voyage de l’âme dans l’Au-delà d’après la littérature latine (ve-xiiie siècle). Rome: École Française de Rome, 1994. Dante Alighieri. La Divina Commedia, testo critico della Società Dantesca Italiana, riveduto col commento scartazziniano, rifatto da Giuseppe Vandelli. Milan: Hoepli—Nota bene, 1928. Eneas Silvius Piccolomini. Pentalogus, edited by Christoph Schingnitz, mgh ss 8. Hanover: Hahnsche Buchhandlung, 2009. Epistolae selectae pontificum Romanorum Carolo Magno et Ludowico Pio regnantibus scriptae. Edited by Karl Hampe, mgh Epist. 5. Berlin: 1899. Felten, Franz. Äbte und Laienäbte im Frankenreich: Studie zum Verhältnis von Staat und Kirche im früheren Mittelalter, Monographien zur Geschichte des Mittelalters 20. Stuttgart: Hiersemann, 1980. Flodoard of Reims. Historia Remensis ecclesiae 2, 19/ 3, 18. Edited by Martina Stratmann, mgh ss 36, 182–183/ 255–256. Hanover: Hahnsche Buchhandlung, 1998. Fögen, Marie Theres. Die Enteignung der Wahrsager: Studien zum kaiserlichen Wissensmonopol in der Spätantike. Frankfurt a. M.: Suhrkamp, 1993. Geary, Patrick. “Germanic Tradition and Royal Ideology in the ninth Century: The ‘Visio Karoli Magni’.” In Frühmittelalterlichen Studien 21 (1987): 274–294. Gesta Trevirorum. Edited by Johannes Hugo Wyttenbach and Michael Franz Joseph Müller, 3 volumes. Trier: Typ. Blattaviana, 1836–1839. Goetz, Hans-Werner. “Wunderberichte im 9. Jahrhundert: Ein Beitrag zum literarischen Genus der frühmittelalterlichen Mirakelsammlungen.” In Mirakel im Mittelalter. Konzeptionen, Erscheinungsformen, Deutungen. Edited by Dieter Richard Bauer, Klaus Herbers, and Martin Heinzelmann, Beiträge zur Hagiographie 3, 180– 226. Stuttgart: Franz Steiner Verlag, 2002. Gregory of Tours. Historia Francorum. Edited by Bruno Krusch and Wilhelm Levison, mgh ss rer. Merov. 7 (1). Hanover: Hahnsche Buchhandlung, 1920. Gregory the Great. Homiliae in Hiezechihelem prophetam. Edited by Marcus Adriaen, Corpus Christianorum Series Latina 142. Turnholt: Brepols, 1971. Gregory the Great. The Dialogues of Saint Gregory 4. Translated by Edmund Garratt Gardener. London: Philip Lee Warner, 1911. Gregory the Great. Gregorii Magni Dialogi libri iv. Edited by Umberto Moricca, Fonti per la Storia d’Italia 57. Rome: Roma Tipografia del Senato, 1924. Grotz, Hans. Erbe wider Willen: Hadrian ii. (867–872) und seine Zeit. Wien: Böhlau, 1970. Hariulf. Chronique de l’abbaye de Saint-Riquier. Edited by Ferdinand Lot. Paris: Alphonse Picard, 1894. Heiduk, Matthias, Klaus Herbers, and Hans-Christian Lehner, eds. Prognostication in the Medieval World: A Handbook. Berlin: de Gruyter, 2021.

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Helms, Dominik. “Vaticinium ex eventu.” In Das wissenschaftliche Bibellexikon im Internet (WiBiLex), eds. Michaela Bauks, et al. last acessed Juli 8 2021, https://www​ .bibelwissenschaft.de/wibilex/das‑bibellexikon/lexikon/sachwort/anzeigen/detail s/vaticinium‑ex‑eventu/ch/e80fb9f8f6ebeb2c4bb9cf973d122b77/. Henriet, Patrick, Klaus Herbers, and Hans-Christian Lehner, eds. Hagiographie et prophétie (vie-xiiie siècles). Firenze: sismel—Edizioni del Galluzzo, 2017. Henriet, Patrick. “Quod recte prophetia dicitur. Introduction.” In Hagiographie et prophétie (vie-xiiie siècles), edited by Patrick Henriet, Klaus Herbers and Hans-Christian Lehner, 3-14. Firenze : SISMEL - Edizioni del Galluzzo, 2017. Herbers, Klaus. „Blicke in die Zukunft im Mittelalter.“ In Köztes-Európa vonzásában: Ünnepi tanulmányok Font Márta tiszteletére, edited by Dániel Bagi, Tamás Fedeles and Gergely Kiss, 199–214. Pécs: Kronosz, 2012. Herbers, Klaus. Leo iv. und das Papsttum in der Mitte des 9. Jahrhunderts: Möglichkeiten und Grenzen päpstlicher Herrschaft in der späten Karolingerzeit, Päpste und Papsttum 27. Stuttgart: Hiersemann, 1996, 2nd edition 2017. Herbers, Klaus. “Pilgrimages to St Patrick’s Purgatory: A Glimpse into Future?” In Unterwegs im Namen der Religion: Pilgern als Form von Kontingenzbewältigung und Zukunftssicherung in den Weltreligionen, edited by Klaus Herbers and Hans-Christian Lehner. Beiträge zur Hagiographie 15, 45–49. Stuttgart: Franz Steiner Verlag, 2014. Hincmar of Reims. Hincmari Rhemensis archiepiscopi opera omnia, edited by JacquesPaul Migne, pl 125, 1115–1120. Paris 1879. Holder-Egger, Oswald. “Bericht über eine Reise nach Italien 1885”. In Neues Archiv 11 (1886): 253–288. Houben, Hubert. “Visio cuiusdam pauperculae mulieris: Überlieferung und Herkunft eines frühmittelalterlichen Visionstextes.” In Zeitschrift für die Geschichte des Oberrheins 124 (1976), 31–42. Johannes Hymonides. Vita S. Gregorii papae. Edited by Jacques-Paul Migne, pl 75, col. 237 (94). Paris: 1849. Kablitz, Andreas. “Bella menzogna. Mittelalterliche allegorische Dichtung und die Struktur der Fiktion (Dante, Convivio—Thomas Mann, Der Zauberberg—Aristoteles, Poetik).” In Literarische und religiöse Kommunikation in Mittelalter und früher Neuzeit: dfg-Symposium 2006, edited by Peter Strohschneider, 222–271. Berlin: de Gruyter, 2009. Levison, Wilhelm. Aus rheinischer und fränkischer Frühzeit. Dusseldorf: Schwann, 1948. Marcus of Regensburg. Visio Tnugdali, edited by Hans-Christian Lehner and Maximilian Nix, Fontes Christiniani 74. Freiburg i. Br.: Herder, 2018. Neiske, Franz. “Vision und Totengedenken.” In Frühmittelalterliche Studien 20 (1986): 137–185. Oswald, Eva. “Zum Problem der vaticinia ex eventu.” In Zeitschrift für die Alttestamentliche Wissenschaft 75 (1) (1963): 27–44.

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Passiones vitaeque sanctorum aevi Merovingici 5: Vita Eucherii episcopi Aurelianensis. Edited by Bruno Krusch and Wilhelm Levison, mgh ss rer. Merov. 7. Hanover: Hahnsche Buchhandlung, 1920, 41–53. Prelog, Jan. “Visio Baronti.” In Lexikon des Mittelalters 8, 1730–1731. Munich: Artemis, 1997. Traube, Ludwig. O Roma nobilis: Philologische Untersuchungen aus dem Mittelalter. Abhandlungen der königlich-bayerischen Akademie der Wissenschaften: Philosophisch-Philologische und Historische Klasse 19, 299–395. Munich: Verlag der Königlichen Akademie, 1891. Visio Baronti monachi Longoretensis. Edited by Bruno Krusch and Wilhelm Levison, mgh ss rer. Merov. 5, 368–394. Hanover: Hahnsche Buchhandlung, 1910. Wahlafrid Strabo. Wahlafridi Strabi carmina. Edited by Ernst Dümmler, mgh Poetae latini aevi Carolini 2. Berlin: Weidmann, 1884. Wahlafrid Strabo. Walahfrid Strabo’s Visio Wettini: text, translation and commentary. Edited by David A. Traill, Lateinische Sprache und Literatur des Mittelalters 2. BernFrankfurt: Lang, 1974. Wattenbach, Wilhelm, Wilhelm Levison, and Heinz Löwe. Deutschlands Geschichtsquellen im Mittelalter. Vorzeit und Karolinger 3. Weimar: Böhlau, 1957. Wattenbach, Wilhelm, Wilhelm Levison, and Heinz Löwe. Deutschlands Geschichtsquellen im Mittelalter. Vorzeit und Karolinger 5. Weimar: Böhlau, 1973. Weitbrecht, Julia. Aus der Welt: Reise und Heiligung in Legenden und Jenseitsreisen der Spätantike und des Mittelalters. Heidelberg: Winter, 2011. Werner, Judith, Waldemar Könighaus, and Klaus Herbers. Regesta Pontificum Romanorum ab condita ecclesia ad annum post Christum natum mcxcviii: Tomus 2, ab a. dciv ad a. dcccxliv. Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 2017. Wiemer, Hans-Ulrich. Theoderich der Große: König der Goten—Herrscher der Römer: Eine Biographie. Munich: Beck, 2018.

2 Dum illum utero gestaret …*: The Premonitory Dreams of Saints’ Mothers in Latin Hagiography Patrick Henriet

The anonymous monk who, in 1222 or shortly before, wrote the life of Robert of Molesme, founder of Cîteaux, reports that the Virgin Mary appeared to his mother while she was pregnant. The Virgin held a golden ring in her hand and said to her: “O, Ermengarde, I want the son you carry in your belly to marry me with this ring.” The Virgin appeared to her again, shortly afterwards. This promise, the hagiographer informs us, is reminiscent of that which God once made to Samuel.1 Latin hagiography has handed down several dozen similar stories: the pregnant mother dreams of the future holiness of her child. Usually, she does not understand her dream, but a priest, or another person more knowledgeable than she, explains it to her. The premonitory dreams of pregnant mothers can be found in almost every civilization. Since the 19th century, with the development of a non-confessional science of religion, many works have combined Christian and non-Christian miracles. One can, in fact, find accounts of the pregnant mother/premonitory dream type in Islam, Mazdeism, Tibet, Japan, China, etc.2 However, the Christian hagiographers were primarily influenced by two models: ancient pagan literature and, to a lesser extent, biblical stories. Contrary to assumptions, folklore provides virtually no such stories.3 * Quoting Giovanni Bonifacio Bagatta, Admiranda orbis christiani, vol. 2 (Venice 1980), 4, about Willibrord’s mother. 1 Prægnanti etenim matri ejus gloriosa Dei genitrix Virgo Maria in sompnis apparuit, aureum annulum habens in manu sua, dixitque ei: ‘O Ermengardis, volo filium, quem gestas in utero, ex isto michi annulo desponsari.’ In hec verba mulierem dormientem relinquens beata Virgo, disparuit. Illa vero de sompno consurgens, animo cepit revolvere visionem. Adiecit autem beata Dei Genitrix apparere iterum mulieri, sicut olim, ad confirmandam promissionem suam, Dominus legitur apparuisse denuo Samueli, Columban Spahr, Das Leben des hl. Robert von Molesme. Eine Quelle zur Vorgeschichte von Cîteaux (Freiburg im Breisgau: Paulusdruckerei, 1944), 4– 5. See Maria Gemma Tomaino, Roberto di Molesme e la fondazione di Cîteaux, nelle principali fonti storiche dell’xi e del xii secolo e nella Vita s. Roberti (xiii secolo), Quaestiones 3 (Florence: Nerbini, 2014). 2 See the examples provided by Saintyves, Les Vierges mères et les naissances miraculeuses (Paris: Nourry, 1908), 163sq., and Francesco Lanzoni, “Il sogno presago della madre incinta nella letteratura medievale e antica,” in Analecta Bollandiana 45 (1927): 225–261, here 245.

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There are many ancient Greek and Latin texts that report premonitory maternal dreams. Among the main ones, let us quote Herodotus, Cicero, Plutarch, the Historia Augusta, the Life of Apollonius of Tyana by Philostratus and that of Virgil by Donatus. We shall return to this text, which describes the mother of the poet dreaming that she gives birth to a branch which is immediately transformed into a tree laden with fruit.4 We do not find in the Bible maternal premonitory dreams in the strict sense of the term. However, the birth of important people is often linked to prophetic signs or phenomena related to foreknowledge. The Annunciation is clearly the reference that, explicitly or implicitly, arises most frequently in Latin hagiography, but we can also cite the appearance of an angel to Zechariah, father of John the Baptist.5 The bollandist Hippolyte Delehaye did not hesitate to place “the future greatness miraculously announced” of the saint among the elements necessary for a “very complete biography.”6 I will now present the principal works devoted to this question, then explore the origins of this type of story, before proposing a summary typology of them and, to finish, I will demonstrate, by means of a precise example, how these stories could pass from one text to another and from one mother to another, with notable adjustments.

1

Historiography

The research on the dreams of the mothers of saints has been marked by several early syntheses. This question is mentioned in recent research but, with the exception of a few works that I will discuss at the end of this article, it has been rarely studied since the 1930s. 3 This can be seen by consulting Thompson, Motif-index of folk-literature: a classification of narrative elements in folktales, ballads, myths, fables, mediaeval romances, exempla, fabliaux, jest-books, and local legends, 6 vols., revised and enlarged edition (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1955–1958). 4 Herodotus, Histories, i, 107–113 (dreams of Astyages and not of the mother); Cicero, De divinatione, i, 20 and i, 23; Plutarch, Paralell Lives, Pericles, 3 et Alexander, 2; Philostratus, Life of Apollonius of Tyana, iv; Historia Augusta (Aelius Lampridius, Vita Commodi Antonini); Aelius Donatus, Life of Virgil: see infra, 40–41 and note 53. Cf. Lanzoni, “Il sogno presago della madre ncinta,” 243–245, with more examples. 5 See Alfred Maury, Essai sur les légendes pieuses du Moyen Âge (Paris: Lanchange, 1843), 8sq.; Saintyves, En marge de la légende dorée. Songes, miracles et survivances: essai sur la formation de quelques thèmes hagiographiques (Paris: Nourry, 1931), 50–51. 6 Hippolyte Deleyaye, Les légendes hagiographiques (Bruxelles: Société des Bollandistes, 1905), 110.

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In 1680, Giovanni Bonifacio Bagatta (1649–1702), an Italian Theatine priest, published in Venice the two volumes of his Admiranda orbis christiani, a work that was regularly republished in Italy and Germany. In this monumental work, he gathers and classifies by theme 10,000 miracles or prodigious facts that demonstrate the omnipotence of God.7 At the beginning of the second volume, Bagatta dedicates a chapter to the “prodigies relative to the moment when the man is in the belly of his mother.” He mentions 34 maternal dreams, then adds eight further ones relating to foetuses speaking in their mother’s womb (a subject that I will not discuss here).8 The first scholar to approach this question from a scientific and critical viewpoint is perhaps, as early as 1843, Alfred Maury (1817–1892), at the beginning of an important book entitled Pious Legends of the Middle Ages. Maury, who later befriended Renan, intended to show that humanity had entered a critical age, characterized by the search for Truth, which forced it to examine critically the beliefs of the past.9 He was interested in history but also in medicine and psychology, which led him to publish, in 1861, an extremely innovative book on dreams, which was important reading for Freud. In 1927, the Italian priest Francesco Lanzoni (1862–1929) published, in the Analecta Bollandiana, an extensive article on the subject at hand.10 In it, he listed dozens of texts and presented Latin Christian hagiography from a broader perspective than that usually adopted by Bollandists. Lanzoni was a critical spirit accused several times.11 Finally, it is worth mentioning the Parisian publisher Émile Nourry, who played a double role. Under his real name, he published the modernist writings, 7

8 9

10 11

Bagatta, Admiranda orbis christiani, quae ad Christi fidem firmandam, christianam pietatem fovendam […], 2 vols. (Venice 1680). On Bagatta, see Schenda, “Bagatta, Giovanni Bonifazio.” In Enzyklopädie des Märchens, vol. 1 (Berlin: De Gruyter, 1977), 1141–1143; Irmgard Wirtz, “Abweichendes von Frauen: Biographische Momente in einem spätbarocken Kompendium,” in Frauenbiographik. Lebensbeschreibungen und Porträts, eds. Christian von Zimmermann and Nina von Zimmermann (Tübingen: G. Narr, 2005), 205–228, and id., “Wunder in Enzyklopädie und Kalender. Zur Wirklichkeitskonfiguration barocker Wundererzählungen,” in Staatsmacht und Seelenheil: Gegenreformation und Geheimprotestantismus in der Habsburgermonarchie, eds. Rudolph Leeb, Suzanne Claude Pils, and Thomas Winkelbauer (Munich-Vienna: Oldenbourg, 2007), 119–133. Bagatta, Admiranda orbis christiani, ii, 1, 1, 4–7 (De admirandis circa Hominem tempore, quo in utero matris portatur. Praesagia de occluso adhuc foetu in utero). Maury, Essai sur les légendes pieuses, 7–11. On Maury, see the studies collected in Jacqueline Carroy and Nathalie Richard, Alfred Maury, érudit et rêveur. Les sciences de l’homme au milieu du xixe siècle (Rennes: Presses Universitaires de Rennes, 2007). Lanzoni, “Il sogno presago della madre incinta.” On Lanzoni, see Guido Gregorio Fagioli Vercellone, “Lanzoni, Francesco,” in Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani 63 (Rome: Treccani, 2004).

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among them those of Alfred Loisy and, under the pseudonym Pierre Saintyves, he wrote texts on the history of folklore and popular traditions.12 In his most famous work, En marge de la légende dorée (1931), he wrote at length about divinatory dreams, particularly those experienced by the mothers of saints.13 His approach remained similar to that of Maury and Lanzoni, even if he criticizes the latter, who failed to cite his earlier work: it is true that he also published, as early as 1908, a book entitled Les Vierges mères et les naissances miraculeuses, in which he approached the question from a universal perspective, without displaying any close interest in Latin hagiographic texts.14 As we can see, the question of premonitory maternal dreams thus played a significant role in the development of a critical hagiology.

2

Origins of the Motif

I will turn now to the origins of this motif: not to the origins in general, since we have seen that it is more or less a universal motif, but to the origins in Latin hagiography. This is a difficult question that does not appear to have been asked previously as, to the best of my knowledge, this motif is absent from all of the early Christian hagiographic texts: Vita Antonii by Athanasius, Vitae patrum, Vita Martini by Sulpicius Severus, Vita sancti Benedicti in the Dialogues by Gregory the Great, etc. On the Byzantine side, Lanzoni mentions a premonitory vision of Saint Ephrem (†373), rather than his mother, in the encomium (bhg 583) that Gregory of Nyssa (†ca. 395) is said to have dedicated to him: the saint sees a vine spring up from his tongue and cover the whole earth, with all the birds descending from heaven to eat its fruits.15 This episode is taken up again in the metaphrastic Life of Ephrem (bhg 584), which, in any case, depends on bhg 583.16 Lanzoni attributes bhg 583 to Gregory, but it is now known that it is a poorly-dated pseudepigraphic text, which appears in the manuscript tradition from the tenth century onward.17 On the other hand, 12

13 14 15 16 17

On Saintyves, see Francis Lacassin, “P. Saintyves, savant et philosophe,” and “Chronologie. Bibliographie,” in Les contes de Perrault et les récits parallèles (leurs origines) – En marge de la légende dorée. Songes miracles et survivances – Les reliques et les images légendaires, ed. Pierre Saintyves (Paris: Robert Laffont, 1987), 1–14 and 1107–1128. Saintyves, En marge de la légende dorée, 53–62. Saintyves, Les Vierges-mères et les naissances miraculeuses. pg 46, col. 833–835. Lanzoni, “Il sogno presago della madre incinta,” 243. pg 114, col. 1259. Several authors questioned the attribution to Gregory of Nyssa as early as the 17th century. See Corcella, “L’ uso di Coricio in pseudo-Gregorio di Nissa, In sanctum Ephraem,” in Analecta Bollandiana 124 (2006), 241–251.

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several Byzantine texts from the late sixth or early seventh centuries do report visions of a pregnant mother, which seems to indicate that, in this matter, Byzantine hagiography preceded Latin hagiography.18 There is no evidence that the former influenced the latter, but this possibility cannot be completely excluded either. Thus, in the Life of Eutychius of Constantinople, during the night, the pregnant mother sees a great light surrounding her: she then understands that she will give birth to a star that is seven times brighter than the sun. The analogy with certain Latin texts, including the Vita Columbani, which we will now discuss, is clear. In fact, in the corpus that can be assembled by combining the aforementioned studies and the databases available today, the oldest Latin texts are, it seems to me, the Vita Columbani (†615) by Jonas of Bobbio, written around 639–642, and the Vita of saint Éloi (Vita Eligii), bishop of Noyon († 660), written by Audoenus (saint Ouen), bishop of Rouen, after 660 and before 673–674. In the Vita Columbani, Jonas de Bobbio relates how, while pregnant, the mother of the future saint saw in a dream “a resplendent sun which issued from her womb, shining with extreme brightness and bringing great light to the world.”19 She then consults people more knowledgeable than herself and learns that her child will accomplish great things, for her own salvation but also for that of others.20 Jonas of Bobbio, Colomban’s hagiographer, was Italian, but his hero was Irish. It may be a coincidence, but there is also a particularly strong concentration of maternal dreams in Irish texts from the early Middle Ages.21 While it is true that these texts are often difficult to date, some of them, like the Vita of Columba by Adomnán (bhl 1886), date back to the end of the 7th century. In this work, which allocates special importance to prophecy, the saint’s mother dreams of an angel, who presents her with a mantle (peplum) decorated with flowers,22 which then rises and expands to cover fields and mountains. A voice 18

19

20 21 22

Cf. The Lives of the saints Daniel the Stylite († 493), Alypyus (†ca 614), or Théodore of Sykeon († 613): Hippolyte Deleyaye, Les saints stylites, Subsidia Hagiographica 14 (Bruxelles: Société des Bollandistes, 1923); and Lanzoni, “Il sogno presago della madre incinta,” 241–242. Nam eius genetrix iam cum conceptu alvo gravida teneretur, subito per intempestam noctem sopore depressa vidit e sinu suo rutilantem solem et nimio fulgore micantem procedere et mundo magnum lumen praebere, Jonas of Bobbio, Vita Columbani, i, 2, edited by Bruno Krusch, mgh ss, Rer. germ. 37 (Hanover-Leipzig: Impensis Bibliopolii Hahniani, 1905), 154. Tandem peritorum libramine responsa recepit, se egregiae indolis utero tenere virum, qui et suae saluti utilia et proximorum provideret utilitati oportuna, ibid. Other examples in Lanzoni, “Il sogno presagio della madre incinta,” 240. Angelus Domini in somnis genitrici uenerabilis quadam nocte inter conceptum eius et partum apparuit ; eique quasi quoddam miræ pulchritudinis peplum adsistens detulit, in quo

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announces to Columba’s mother that her son will lead innumerable souls and be like a prophet among the other prophets of God (quasi unus inter prophetas Dei).23 These dreams can also be found in many lives of Anglo-Saxon saints, some of whom, such as Willibrord, had connections with Ireland.24 In the Vita Willibrordi by Alcuin (bhl 8935), on the night she conceives her child, the mother sees the new moon grow until it turns into a full moon and falls into her mouth, causing her body (intima sua) to radiate a supernatural light.25 The following day, a priest explains the vision: the moon is an image of her son, who will dispel the darkness of error.26 We also find this motif of the moon falling into the mother’s mouth in an Irish text which must refer to a very old tradition, the Vita of Máedóc or Aida, bishop of Ferns († 626).27 We cannot, therefore, exclude the possibility that the hagiographic motif of the dream of the preg-

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uniuersorum decorosi colores florum depicti uidebantur. Quodque post aliquod breue interuallum eius de manibus reposcens abstulit ; eleuansque et expandens in aere dimisit uacuo. Vita sancti Columbae/ Adomnan’s Life of Columba, edited by Alan Orr Anderson and Marjorie Orr Anderson (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1961) (new edition Oxford, 1991), iii, 1, 182. On the importance of prophecy in this Vita, see Bozoky, “La prophétie dans la Vie de Columba d’ Adomnan.” In Hagiograhie et prophétie (vie-xiiie siècles), edited by Patrick Henriet, Klaus Herbers, and Hans-Christan Lehner (Florence: sismel edizioni del Galluzzo, 2017), 51–70. (…) filium quippe editura es, qui innumerabilium dux animarum, quasi unus inter prophetas Dei connumerabitur, ibid. Willibrod spent 12 years in exile in Ireland. Visum est ei, quasi novam in caelo videret lunam, crescente illa, usque dum plena videbatur esse. Quam diligentius intuens, repentino cursu lapsa ruit in os eius; qua devorata, eius intima splendore perfusa sunt, Vita Willibrordi, edited by W. Levison, mgh srm, vii (Hanover, Hahnsche Buchhandlung 1920), 117, et Veyrard-Cosme, L’œuvre hagiographique en prose d’Alcuin: Vitae Willibrordi, Vedasti, Richarii, édition, traduction, études narratologiques (Florence: sismel Per verba, 21, Edizioni del Galluzzo, 2003), 40. On this episode, see Deug Su, L’ opera agiografica di Alcuino (Spoleto: Centro Italiano di Studi sull’Alto Medioevo, 1983), 37–43, and Veyrard-Cosme, “Le thème de la lumière dans l’œuvre d’Alcuin.” Bulletin de la société nationale des antiquaires de France (1997), 171–172, who notes on 171 that the relationship between the various texts highlighting the theme of light “est donc bien hagiographique et non légendaire, même si le récit hagiographique exploite parfois des éléments venant d’ un patrimoine vernaculaire légendaire.” Luna enim, quam ex modico vidisti in magnam crevisse, filius es, quam in ea nocte concepisti; qui luce veritatis caliginosos tenebrarum errores discutit …, ed. Levison, 116, and VeyrardCosme, L’ oeuvre hagiographique en prose d’ Alcuin, 40. The father also has a vision: In nocte autem sequenti, ante quam in coniugium se coniungerent, uidit uir, Sethneus nomine, stellam candidam de celo cadentem in os uxoris sue Eithne dormientis. Et ipsa uidit in uisione lunam lucidam in os suum cadentem, ed. Charles Plummer, Vitae sanctorum Hiberniae, 2 vols. (Oxford; Clarendon Press, 1910), 293 (Dublin’s Collection). See also the Vita sancti Ciarani episcopi de Saigir, ed. Plummer, ibid., 2 vols., 217 (Mater iam eius, antequam ipsum conciperet, vidit in sompnis stellam in os suum cadere).

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nant mother is of Irish origin in the Latin world and quickly spread across the continent, starting with Merovingian Gaul.28 This hypothesis must acknowledge that Jonas of Bobbio, the first hagiographer to report such a story, was Italian, so it is necessary to examine his account carefully and consider the possibility of an Irish source. We can read the story of Columban’s mother’s dream in chapter one, immediately following a poem of 16 verses that everyone agrees, since Bruno Krusch, to be of Irish origin:29 the vocabulary, style, syntax, and indeed everything about the poem resemble similar compositions transmitted by the Hisperica famina, a famous Hiberno-Latin poetic collection.30 The author of this poem was definitely Irish, as the words “our familiar shores” also prove,31 but the link between the story of Colomba’s mother’s dream and the poem is also thematic in nature: the latter indeed describes how Titan (that is to say, the sun) sets in Ireland and then, Following the North Wind, he seeks his rising-place in the East, So that, revived, he may give back a pleasant light to the world, And, with fire, show himself far and wide to the shivering world. Thus, having passes through all of the turning-points of day and night with completed course, He illuminates the lands filled with his brilliance, With his heat rendering the world, wet with dew, pleasant again.32 28

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It is also found, at the end of the 7th century, in the Chronicle of Fredegarius—who knew Jonas of Bobbio’s Vita Columbani—, Chronicarum quae dicuntur Fredegarii scholastici libri iv cum continuationibus, edited by Bruno Krusch, mgh srm, ii (Hanover: Impensis Bibliopolii Hahniani, 1888), § 57, 78. Bruno Krusch, “Praefatio,” in Vitae Columbani libri ii, mgh srg in usum scholarum (Hanover/Leipzig: Impensis Bibliopolii Hahniani, 1905), 56. See especially Edward Kennard Rand, “The Irish Flavor of the ‘Hisperica famina’,” in Studien zur lateinischen Dichtung des Mittelalters. Ehrengabe für Karl Strecker, edited by Walter Stach and Hans Walther (Dresden: Buchdr. der Wilhelm und Bertha v. Baensch Stiftung, 1931), 134–142 and Jonas of Bobbio, “Appendix 5: ‘Carmen de Hibernia insula’,” in Jonas of Bobbio: Life of Columbanus, Life of John of Réomé, and Life of Vedast, edited by Alexander O’Hara and Ian Wood (translated with introduction and commentary), Translated Texts for Historians 64 (Liverpool: Liverpool University Press, 2017), 303–308. The first and last two verses are probably by Jonas of Bobbio, contrary to what Krusch thought: see Adalbert de Vogüé, Jonas de Bobbio. Vie de saint Colomban et de ses disciples, Vie monastique 19 (Bégrolles-en-Mauges: Abbaye de Bellefontaine, 1988), 102, n. 1. Michael W. Herren, The ‘hisperica famina’. A new critical edition with English translation and philological commentary, Studies and Texts, ii, Pontifical Institute of Medieval Studies 35, 87 (Toronto: Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies, 1974–1987). Tremulo petentem salo dare nota litora nobis, Vita Colombani, 153, v. 8. Aquilonem sequens, orientis petit ad ortum, / Ut mundo redivivus lumen reddat amoenum, /

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The evident connection between the poem and the vision of Colomba’s mother has already been made in the Vita Walarici (bhl 8762), a text written, according to Krusch, in the 11th century but more likely around 700, the author claiming to summarize a first Merovingian vita assigned to Abbot Ragimbertus.33 In Bobbio, Jonas was certainly in contact with Irish monks who had accompanied Colomban after his expulsion from Burgundy in 610: Ian Wood does not hesitate to speak of a “multi-ethnic community”.34 It is, therefore, perfectly possible and even probable that information relating to Columban, and particularly to his mother’s dream, so closely linked to this Carmen de Hibernia insula, was transmitted to Jonas by Irish monks. We can also imagine that Jonas used a classical story, such as Plutarch’s account of the dream of Alexander the Great’s mother,35 but this is a conjecture which, in any case, would not necessarily challenge the Irish origin of this motif in the strictly Latin hagiographical domain. In any case, from the Merovingian period onward, the premonitory dream of the saint’s mother becomes a topos that is found in many Vitae. We have mentioned, for the Carolingian period, the vision of Willibrord’s mother and we will shortly discuss that of the mother of Saint Lioba. From the eighth century onward, this motif became sufficiently widespread as to appear as one of the most striking signs of holiness, whether or not holiness was recognized by the ecclesiastical authorities. We find a remarkable example in the story of Aldebert, a heretic of whom Boniface speaks at length in a letter that was read out at the Roman synod of 745. This astonishingly charismatic preacher founded churches dedicated to himself, evidently without authorization, and converted what appeared to be large crowds.36 At the Roman synod a Life of Aldebert,

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Sese mundo late tremulo ostendat et ille, Vita Columbani, 153, n. 11–13. I have adopted the translation of O’Hara and Wood. Etenim priusquam mater eum in auras lucis ederet, in sinu suo solem prospexit lumen effundere, quod rerum eventus ita in postmodum probavit, quia quasi sol ab occidente ortus retrogradiens, sic ille partes Europae sparsim gyrando sua doctrina splendida et clara inlustravit, Vita Walarici, 6, ed. Bruno Krusch, mgh srm, iv (Hanover-Leipzig: Impensis Bibliopolii Hahniani, 1902), 163. Cf. Vogüé, Jonas de Bobbio. Vie de saint Colomban, 103, n. 2 (replace 9 with 6). O’Hara and Wood, Jonas of Bobbio. Life of Columbanus, 308. Ibid., 97, n. 52. Nicole Zeddies, “Bonifatius und zwei nützliche Rebellen: die Häretiker Aldebert und Clemens,” in Ordnung und Aufruhr im Mittelalter. Historische und juristische Studien zu Rebellion, edited by Marie Therese Fögen (Frankfurt am Main: Klostermann, 1995), 232– 243; Matthew Innes, “Immune from Heresy: defining the boundaries of Carolingian Christianity,” in Frankland, the Franks and the World in the early Middle Ages. Essays in honour of Dame Jinty Nelson, eds. Paul Fouracre and David Ganz (Manchester: Manchester University Press, 2008), 101–125; Sven Meeder, “Boniface and the Irish Heresy of Clemens,”

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which had been composed by his circle, was read out in full. It reports that his pregnant mother received a vision of a calf emerging from her right side, which the “hagiographer” explains as follows: “This calf signified the grace she had received from an angel, before it came out of her vulva”.37 The premonitory dream of the saint’s mother thus appears to be an iro-franco motif that was very popular from the 7th century onward. It does not belong to the ancient hagiographic tradition and would remain absent for a long time from certain regions located far away from the Frankish world, such as the Iberian Peninsula.

3

Typology

3.1 Cosmos and Celestial Light Many visions, beginning with those of the mothers of Columban and Willibrord, which have already been mentioned, have a cosmological dimension and involve the sun, moon or stars.38 Othloh of Sankt Emmeran reports that the mother of Wolfgang of Regensburg saw that she was carrying a star in her womb, and then explained this image using the book of Daniel: “But they that are learned, shall shine as the brightness of the firmament: and they that instruct many to justice, as stars for all eternity.”39 More original is the account

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in Church History 80 (2011): 251–280; Warren Pezé, “Hérésie, exclusion et anathème dans l’ Occident carolingien (742-années 860),” in Exclure de la communauté chrétienne. Sens et pratiques sociales de l’ anathème et de l’ excommunication (ive-xiie siècle), eds. Geneviève Bührer-Thierry and Stéphane Gioanni, Haut Moyen Âge 23 (Turnhout: Brepols, 2015), 175– 196. “Quia dum in utero matris suae erat, ibidem gratia Dei caepit et, antequam pervenisset beatissima nativitas eius, sic vidit genetrix eius quasi per visionem egredientem vitulum de dextero latere suo. Quia qui vitulus illi designabat illam gratiam, quam acceperat ab angelo, antequam exiret de vulva ⟨…⟩ ». Cumque hic libellus usque ad finem relectus fuisset, Zacharias sanctissimus ac beatissimus papa dixit: ‘Quid ad haec blasphemia responditis, sanctissimi fratres?,’ Boniface, Epistolae, ed. Michael Tangl, mgh Epp. Sel. 1 (Berlin: Weidmannsche Buchhandlung, 1916), 114. I do not develop the case of Suitbert, Willibrord’s companion in the evangelization of Friesia, whose mother sees a star fall onto her bed. His vita (bhl 7941) is qualified by the bollandist Maurice Coens as follows: “Une fiction d’ origine rhénane: saint Suitbert, évêque martyr de Bethléem,” in Analecta Bollandiana 66 (1948): 91–117, here 91: “sa légende bhl 7941, qui se réclame d’ un auteur contemporain, est en réalité une rhapsodie littéraire de basse époque.” Fertur etiam quod eius matri visum fuerit stellam in gremio portare. Quod scilicet praesagium conveniens erat praeclaris filii virtutibus. Nam unus illorum extitit, de quibus scriptura sacra dicit: Qui docti fuerint, fulgebunt quasi splendor firmamenti, et qui ad iustitiam erudiunt multos, quasi stellae in perpetuas aeternitates, Otloh of Sankt Emmeram. Vita sancti

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given by the author of the Life of Ida (bhl 4141), the countess of Boulogne (†1113). Ida sees in her dream the sun detaching itself from the celestial vault to descend and lodge in her breast. The author fails to mention whether or not she was pregnant at the time, but he specifies that the meaning of the enigma appeared to her later: the sun prefigured her two sons, Godfrey of Bouillon and Baldwin i, later kings of Jerusalem at the end of the first crusade.40 This story is also original since, although inserted in a hagiographic text, it does not prefigure the future sanctity of the child but the future fame of the sons of the visionary, who is herself a saint. In other visions, a bright light announces the future holiness of the unborn child. Andrea of Strumi, author of a Life of Ariald (bhl 673), a major player in the Milanese Pataria who was martyred by his opponents in 1066, reports that Ariald’s pregnant mother dreamed one night of a great light coming from above, chasing away the darkness and illuminating the whole house. This was a sign that the child would be a boy of exceptional merit. This account is characterized by two rare details: on the one hand, Ariald obtained the account from the saint’s mother herself, because he spoke to her following her son’s death; on the other, she consulted “old matrons” rather than a priest for an explanation of her vision.41 We find these luminous visions in many hagiographic “dossiers,” including, for example, at the end of the Middle Ages, those of Aldobrandesca of Siena (†1310), of the Third Order of the Humiliati, or of the mystic Catherine of Genoa (†1510).42 3.2 Symbolic Animals Various symbolic animals are present in many visions. Plutarch had already related how the mother of Pericles had dreamed of giving birth to a lion.43 As

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Wolkkangi episcopi [bhl 8990], ed. Georg Waitz. mgh ss, 4 (Hanover: Impensis Bibliopolli Aulici Hahniani, 1841), § 1, 527. Vita written before 1062. Quadam namque nocte cum se sopori dedisset, de supernis cogitans, vidit per somnium, quod de cælo sol omnis descendisset, unumque tamquam momentum in sinu eius fecisset. Hoc autem magnum quid futurum ostendebat somnium, quoniam ex ea procederent, qui ad tempus possiderent regnum et imperium, aass, Avril, ii, Antwerp, 1675, 141 E. Vita, written shortly after Ida’s death by a monk from the abbey of Wast. Huic utique, sicut illius relatione didici, nocte quadam dormienti, eius adhuc vivente viro, ex quo tunc habebat filium, admirabile lumen in visione ceu solis meridiani splendor desuper illuxit, cuius claritas omnibus tenebris ab ea expulsis, totam domum, ubi erat iacens, implevit. Mane autem facto, insolitam secum visionem admirans antiquis matronis pandit, a quibus protinus audit habere se in utero infantem sexus masculini meritique futurum celsi, Andrea of Strumi, Vita Arialdi, ed. Fridrich Baethgen, mgh ss, 30/2 (Leipzig: Impensis Karoli W. Hiersemann, 1934), § 3, 1051. Lanzoni, “Il sogno presago della madre incinta,” 258. Plutarch, Paralell Lives, 3.

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early as the Merovingian period, Saint Ouen reports, in his life of Saint Eloi (†660) (bhl 2274), that the saint’s mother had a vision of a beautiful eagle flying over her bed and calling out to her three times to make a promise, the exact content of which escapes our hagiographer. On the day of the birth, a priest confirms to her, using the words of the archangel Gabriel to Mary, that her son will be a saint and “an important priest in the Church of Christ”.44 The eagle also appears in the life of St. Ethelwold (†984), bishop of Winchester, by the monk Wulfstan (bhl 2647). This text reports two successive visions of the pregnant mother, which he comments on at length. The first vision, which we will not explore here, shows a banner reaching up to heaven and descending to her which, for a moment, envelops her.45 On another night, Ethelwold’s mother dreams that a huge golden eagle flies out of her mouth and overshadows the whole city of Winchester before disappearing into the sky.46 Interestingly, she then goes to find an old woman introduced as the “nurse of the consecrated virgins of Winchester,” who gives her the following explanations.47 The ban-

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Cum adhuc vir beatus matris esset alvo inditus, vidit genitrix eius visionem, quae huiusmodi habet ordinem. Videbat quasi aquilam valde pulchram supra suo volitantem strato ac se tertio inclamantem sibique quid nescio pollicentem. Cumque ex reciproca voce evigilasse, perterrita nimis coepit mirare, quaenam esset haec visio. Interea venit tempus pariendi et prae magnitudine doloris coepit mater pereclitari. Vocaverunt autem quendam religiosum presbiterum boni testimonii virum, ut pro eadem orare deberet; qui cum venisset ad eam, quasi prophetico mox usurpans verbo, ait ad illam: “Noli,” inquiens, “mater, timere, quoniam benedictum partum tibi Dominus dignatus est largiri. Erit enim vir sanctus ac de gente sua electus vocabiturque magnus in Ecclesia Christi sacerdos”, Audoenus, Vita Eligii, ed. Bruno Krusch. mgh srm, 2 (Hanover-Leipzig: Impensis Bibliopolii Hahniani, 1902), 670–671. Lanzoni, “Il sogno presago della madre incinta,” 236, erroneously attributes the whole prophecy to the eagle and forgets the priest. Itaque felix ejus genitrix cum eum in utero conceptum gereret, vidit hujuscemodi intempesta nocte somnium, quod erat certum futuri effectus præsagium. Visum namque sibi est se prae foribus suæ domus sedere, et obtutibus suis adesse quoddam sublime vexillum, cuius summitas cælum tangere videbatur: quod se inclinando honeste ad terram, fimbriarum suarum uelamine circumdedit imprægnatam, rursumque procera altitudine erectum et inflexibili stabilitate robustum ipsum unde inclinabatur repetiit cælum, Wulfstan of Winchester, The Life of Æthelwold, ed. Michael Lapidge and Michael Winterbottom (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1991), § 2, 4. (…) et ecce repente vidit ex ore suo prosilire et auolare quasi auream miræ magnitudinis aquilam, quæ uolando cuncta Wentanæ ciuitatis ædificia auratis pennarum remigiis obumbrauit, et in alta cælorum se eleuando disparuit, ibid. (…) perrexit ad quandam Christi famulam, nomine Æthelthrytham, moribus et ætate maturam, quæ in præfata urbe nutrix erat Deo deuotarum virginum, cui narrauit ex ordine quod sibi ostensum fuerat in nocturna visione. At illa, sicut erat sagaci animo prudentissima, et interdum etiam futurorum, Domino reuelante, præscia, de nascituro infante multa prædixit, quæ uera esse rerum exitus indicauit, ibid.

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ner means that Ethelwold will be the standard-bearer of the divine militia but Wulfstan speaks at greater length about the meaning of the eagle, which signifies both the search for God through meditation and the protection of the Church (meaning here the community of the faithful).48 Shortly afterwards, he explains that the soul is not created by the two parents (“as some maintain”), but directly by the Creator, before birth.49 Other vitae feature lambs, wolves and especially dogs, as in the case of Bernard of Clairvaux and Saint Dominic of Guzman.50 We shall return to this point shortly. Finally, let us mention the vita of Andrea Corsini (bhl 445), bishop of Fiesole (†1373). Standing in front of a painting representing the Virgin, his parents vowed to give her their firstborn. The night before the birth, the mother dreams that she gives birth to a wolf, but the animal enters a church and is transformed into a white lamb.51 The explanation of this vision comes later. The young boy is boisterous, plays games, likes to hunt and he does not want to hear about the Church. One day, his mother says to him: “You’re the wolf I dreamed of!”52 When her son asks her to explain these words, she tells him about the premonitory dream that she had kept to herself and Andrea is converted. 3.3 Trees and Vegetation Many stories give great importance to the vegetal element. The origin is, again, ancient but the motif is more or less Christianized. In the Life of Virgil by 48

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Et quia aquila ab acumine oculorum uocatur, et testante sacro eloquio, thesaurus desiderabilis requiescit in ore sapientis [Prov, 21, 20], recte per auream aquilam, quæ totam urbem alarum uelamento obumbrare uisa est, idem præclarus uir totius sapientiae decoratus exprimitur, qui perspicaci et irreuerberata cordis acie diuina meditando, semper ad caelestia per contemplationem uolauit, et super Ecclesiam, magni regis ciuitatem [Cf. Matt, 5, 35], quam contrariae potestates impugnare nitebantur, umbraculum paternae protectionis longe lateque expandit, et, consummato boni certaminis cursu, ad uisionem Dei in sanctorum comitatu peruenit (…), ibid., 6. Ex quo ostenditur eum Deo electum extitisse etiam antequam nasceretur, et animam procreati hominis non, ut quidam aestimant, a patre uel a matre existendi initium sumere, sed, ut uere et absque omni dubietate creditur, a solo creatore uitalem spiritum uiuificari et singillatim unicuique dari, ibid., 8. Other examples in Lanzoni, “Il sogno presago della madre incinta.” Dum ergo tempus pariendi appropinquaret, nocte antea dum ipsa Pellegrina oraret, obdormiuit, et in somnis videbatur sibi lupum parere, de quo in visione nimium tristabatur, et de Maria Virgine lamentabiliter conquerebatur, et sic dolendo videbat lupum ecclesiam intrare, et quod statim agnus candidus efficiebatur, aass, Jan. ii, §2, 1065. This vita written by Pietro del Castagno dates from the mid-fifteenth century. (…) mater, alta voce ait: “Vere, vere Andrea fili mi, tu es lupus quem somniaui.” Audiens Andreas illa verba venit ad matrem, et ait: “Quid dicitis mater? Quomodo sum ego lupus?,” ibid., § 4.

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Donatus, the poet’s mother dreams that she is giving birth to a laurel branch which grows into a tree, laden with flowers and fruits.53 The story is certainly present in the mind of Boccaccio when he writes the life of Dante: the mother of the author of the Divine Comedy dreams that she gives birth to her future son near the spring of a river, under a laurel tree, whose fruits nourish him. We have seen how the golden eagle emerging from the mouth of St. Æthelwold’s mother signified the protective role of the future bishop. In another chapter, however, Wulfstan reports a vision in which a gigantic tree replaces the eagle. This time it is not the mother who receives the vision but Dunstan, abbot of Glastonbury (†988). The tree grows inside the monastery but it shades the whole of “Britain.” It bears, like fruits, many cowls, one of which, located at the top, dominates the others. Having requested an explanation from an aged priest (it is not specified that he is a monk), the abbot learns that this pergrandis cuculla represents Æthelwold.54 A century and a half later, taking up this account, William of Malmesbury clearly establishes the link between the vision of the golden eagle and that of the huge tree.55 The abbot, father of the monks, has thus replaced the mother, while the monastery where the future saint is now a monk has replaced the maternal womb. One could comment on many other texts. The Life of Geraud of Aurillac (†909) by Odon of Cluny (bhl 3411) is of particular interest in this regard. The author reports that the father of the saint (there is obviously a rare precision here,56 although it is not totally isolated) had dreamed of a small branch grow-

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Giorgio Brugnoli and Fabio Stok, Vitae vergilianae antiquae (Rome: Typis Publicae Officinae Polygraphicae, 1997), 19–20, 78–79. (…) uidit in somnis, extra dormitorium positus, quasi quandam mirae celsitudinis arborem, quae ramos suos expandere uisa est ad orientem et occidentem, septentrionem et meridiem, super uniuersam Britanniae regionem uasta longitudine et latitudine extensam. Cuius arboris rami innumeris erant maioribus atque minoribus cucullis onusti, ipsa uero arbor in summo cacumine gestabat unam pergrandem cucullam, quae manicarum uelamento supereminens protegebat ceteras et ingenti proceritate supergrediens uniuersas ipsum contingebat caelum. Vir autem Domini Dunstanus, super tali uisione uehementer attonitus, interrogabat haec sibi demonstrantem canis angelicis decoratum presbiterum …, Wulfstan of Winchester, The Life of Æthelwold, 56. Consonat huic presagio matris eiusdem uisio, quae ipsi utero iam grandescenti iamque puerperium meditandi ostensa est: auream aquilam ex ore suo auolasse, que pennarum plausu diu ciuitatem perlustrans, nouissime altitudine nubium euicta celum subisse, William of Malmesbury, Gesta pontificum anglorum, vol. 1, Text and Translation by Michael Winterbottom, with the assistance of Rodney M. Thomson (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 2007), 262. Odon of Cluny, Vita sancti Geraldi Auriliacensis. Édition critique, traduction française et commentaires, ed. Anne-Marie Bultot-Verleysen, Subsidia Hagiographica 89 (Bruxelles:

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ing out of his big toe that becomes a large tree that never stopped growing.57 One must clearly wonder about the role of the big toe: it is possible that Odon softened another version, which may have referred instead to Géraud’s father’s virile member, which would clearly have made more sense in this context.58 This hypothesis seems all the more likely, given the fact that, in the oriental and biblical traditions, the foot is an euphemism for the virile member.59 It also happens that the vegetal symbolism is linked to the scene of the Annunciation, which serves to underline the Christic dimension of the future saint. In the Carolingian Vita of Saint Taurin of Evreux (bhl 7990), an angel appears one night to the sleeping mother and touches her womb, from which a lily-shaped stick emerges, loaded with fragrant flowers.60 The scene is represented on the shrine of the saint in Evreux (13th century).61 In all cases, the plants and trees are fertile and symbolize both the saint and the protection he will offer to Christians, or even the protection of the Church, as in the Life of Fulcran of Lodève by Bernard Gui (bhl 3207).62

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Société des Bollandistes, 2009), observes, moreover, 290, note 6, that “la capitulatio du Livre i dans le remaniement attribue au chapitre le titre De uisione genitricis eius.” Dehinc iterum soporatus, uidebatur illi ut de pollice pedís eius dextri quedam uirgula nasceretur, que paulatim in magnam arborem succrescebat, ac subinde frondibus diuisis sensim spaciabatur; tum ille, quasi operarios uocans, iubebat furcarum uel perticarum amminicula subponi; et cum illa uehementer grandesceret, nullum tamen pondus in pollice sentiebat, see Odon of Cluny, Vita sancti Geraldi Auriliacensis, i, 2, 136–138. This hypothesis was first formulated by Lanzoni in 1927, “Il sogno presago della madre incinta,” 256: “i piedi, per un eufemismo biblico e orientale (…) potrebbero stare per le parti vergognose del corpo.” As Lanzoni already noted, ibid. Cf. Paul Dhorme, “L’emploi métaphorique des noms de parties du corps en hébreu et en akkadien (2),” in Revue Biblique 31 (1922): 232–233, with reference in particular to Isaiah 7:20 (“On that day, the Lord will shave with the razor praised beyond the River [the king of Assur] the head and hair of the feet”). In Hebrew, urine is “water from the feet.” Note that, in the Vita of saint Emerio (bhl 2531), abbot of Banyoles (Catalonia), the pregnant mother dreams that a vine-cep emerges from her foot and grows until it covers the whole earth (aass, Jan. ii, §2, 781). This saint is thought to have lived in the eighth century, but this poorly-dated Vita is, in any case, very late. For the vision of a vineyard, see also the Byzantine Life of Ephrem supra, 32, and Fredegarius, supra, note 29. Et, ecce, quadam nocte, cum fessa quiesceret, vidit sibi astare angelicum vultu, uterum suum virga tangentem, et post paululum procedere virgam instar lilii, cujus flores nimium dabant odorem. Expergefacta autem, cœpit intra se cogitare, quæ esset hæc visio. Confisa autem in Domino, arcana sibi secretim revelata suo hilaris abscondit in pectore et jam creberrime loca sanctorum frequentare cœpit. Adveniente autem tempore infans nascitur, et Taurinus a parentibus vocatur, Vita sancti Taurini by pseudo-Déodat (bhl 7990: correct on this point Lanzoni, p. 237), aass, Aug. ii, 639 E–F. Cf. Taralon, “La châsse de Saint-Taurin d’ Évreux.” In Bulletin monumental 140 (1982): 41–56. See Maury, Croyances et légendes, 96–97. Ferturque genitrici eius Biligardi per noctem ostensa visio, cum grauida eum adhuc gestaret

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3.4 Ecclesiology Many texts, especially from the eleventh and twelfth centuries onward, feature ecclesiological images and scenes that refer directly to the Church. As early as the Carolingian period, Lioba’s mother dreams that she is carrying a bell (cloccum), which she pulls out of her belly by ringing it.63 This image recurs in the xiith century, in the Life of the Limousin hermit Gaucher of Aureil († 1125): The mother dreams that she pulls the cord of a bell, which resounds up to the skies. The child will warn the people to hasten to the Church of God.64 In other cases, the mother dreams that her child is wearing a religious habit, possibly that of his or her future order: thus Agnes of Bohemia († 1282), whose mother dreams of dressed in her future habit of clarisse.65

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in vtero, quod arborem frondosam, pomis refertam, loco filii peperisset, sub cuius umbra multos homines quiescere ac refici, multumque gaudere cernebat. Quam visionem cum cuidam sancto viro narrasset, audiuit ab eo quasi diuinum responsum, quod talem filium paritura esset, qui magnum in Ecclesia Dei locum teneret, magnique apud Deum meriti futurum esse, sub cuius umbra multi Ecclesiæ filii optimam sibi requiem inuenirent, fortitudine roborarentur, bonis actibus, tamquam ramis, protegerentur, virtutibus quoque ac moribus, quasi floribus, ornarentur, ac reficerentur doctrinæ eius pabulo et fructibus meritorum, Bernard Gui, De sancto Fulcranno episcopo (bhl 3207), aass, Feb. ii, 711 C–D. Bernard Gui uses a Vita written by Peter of Millau at the end of the 12th century: cf. François Dolbeau, “Vie inédite de Saint Fulcran, évêque de Lodève,” in Analecta Bollandiana 100 (1982): 515–544. (…) mater eius per somnium vidit, se quasi signum aecclesiae quod vulgo cloccum vocant in sinu suo habere idque inmissa manu tinniens extrahere. Experrecta itaque nutricem suam iam vetulam vocavit et ei somnium quod viderat revelavit. Cui illa prophetico spiritu: ‘Adhuc,’ inquit, ‘ex utero tuo videbimus filiam, quam ut Domino iam nunc voveas, oportet. Et sicut Anna Samuel omnibus diebus suis in templo Dei serviturum obtulit, ita hanc ab infantia sacris litteris eruditam in sancta virginitate quamdiu vixerit illi servire concedas,’ Rudolf of Fulda, Vita Leobae [bhl 4845], ed. Georg Waitz, mgh ss, xv/1 (Hanover: Impensis Bibliopolii Hahniani, 1887), cap. 6, 124. (…) nocte quadam cum mater eius esset grauida de illo, in sompnis uidit se tenere restem unius cimbali, que tam prolixa uidebatur quod de terra usque ad celum protendebatur. Quam restem suspensam in cimbalo cum manu traheret, cimbalum in celo sonaret. Que uisio bene conuenit Dei famulo Gaucherio qui et si ductus propagatione carnis, quod signatur per restem, domans eam sub leui iugo Christi, factus est cimbalum tinniens. Quia quemadmodum sonantibus cimbalis fit quedam uox commotionis, quod populus Christi debeat properare ad ecclesiam Dei, ita et famulus Dei Gaucherius quodam modo fuit cimbalum exemplo uite et predicationis uoce commonens Dei plebem ne tardaret ire ad suum creatorem, see Jean Becquet, “La vie de saint Gaucher, fondateur des chanoine réguliers d’Aureil en Limousin.” In Revue Mabillon 216 (1964): 25–55, here 46. Cuius mater, cum adhuc eam gestaret in utero, uidit sompnium euidens presagium fiendorum. Videbatur enim sibi quod intraret cameram in qua uestes sue regie preciose et multe seruabantur. Quas conspiciens uidit inter eas tunicam et pallium coloris grisei, ac cordam qua sorores ordinis sancte Clare cinguntur. Cumque ualde miraretur quisnam uestem tam rudem et simplicem inter uestimenta eius preciosa posuisset, audiuit uocem dicentem sibi:

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The richest premonitory dreams from the perspective of ecclesiological symbolism are those that have a Eucharistic dimension and announce the future priestly condition of the saint. We will comment on two of these, which are simultaneously extremely different and perfectly complementary. In the hagiographic dossier of Hugh of Semur, abbot of Cluny from 1049 to 1109, we find an atypical account, since it is not the mother who experiences the premonitory dream. When she is suffering due to her pregnancy, she asks a priest to celebrate a mass, both to relieve her and to ensure that the birth goes well. It is then that the priest, while celebrating the mass, is filled with ecstasy and sees in the chalice a luminous child, who is clearly the future Hugh. The priest tells the mother about his dream, who keeps it secret. Thus, the gift of prophecy is transferred from the pregnant mother to the priest. The future sanctity of the child is closely associated with the sacerdotal function and celebration of the Eucharist, the child who appears being implicitly assimilated with Christ, whose passion Hugh will imitate.66 Even more original is an astonishing account found in the Life of Thierry of Leernes, abbot of Saint-Hubert in Belgium (†1087), which was written only a few years prior to Gilo’s Vita Hugonis. Thierry’s mother dreams that she is reciting mass, dressed in priestly vestments. She is surrounded by men who show her great respect and she sings without making any mistakes, even though she is illiterate. Before returning home, she blesses the people as a priest would, ut sacerdos. Feeling worried and confused about her dream, she then goes to consult an old woman with a reputation for being a prophetess, who leads an

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‘Noli mirari, quia proles quam portas tali ueste utetur, et erit lumen tocius Bohemie!,’ Vita Agnetis (Candor lucis eterne, bhl 154b–c): I have not been able to see the edition by J.K. Vyskočil, published in Prague in 1932, but the text can be read at https://www.thelatin library.com/agnes.html. On the hagiographical writings about Agnes, see Petr Kubín, “The Earliest Hagiography of St Agnes of Bohemia,” in Hagiographica 22 (2015): 265–290. The Vita Candor lucis eterne can be dated to the first half of the fourteenth century, the Vita bhl 154 (aass, Martii, i, Antverpen 1668, 509–512), long considered Vita prima, being earlymodern. Cum generosa genitrix grauida gravaretur et naturali malo laborans fastidia partus egre sustineret, quendam seruum Dei sacerdotem religiosum pro sui liberatione et nascituri salute missam celebrare exorauit. Qui dum missarum sollempnia attentius peroraret et in contemplatione suspensus super se semet sustolleret, uidisse fertur in calice, cui ardentius incumberat, speciem infantilem supra humanum modum mirifice radiantem. Digna prorsus uisio et uere presagia futuri. In calice apparuit nondum natus, qui ab adolescentia calicem salutaris accipiens, passionis imitator dominice, euangelii uerba uertit in opera et usque in senectam nomen Domini inuocauit, Gilon, Vita Hugonis (bhl 4007), Herbert Edward John Cowdrey, “Two Studies in Cluniac History 1049–1126: Memorials of Abbot Hugh of Cluny,” in Studi Gregoriani 11 (1978): 9–395, here 48–49.

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ascetic life. The old woman explains to her that she will give birth to a son who will be a priest and save many Christians.67 Centered on an episode of Eucharistic celebration, this story also stages a transfer, from the unborn saint to his mother and from the future to the past. The freedom of the hagiographer seems surprising: he does not hesitate to represent a woman as a priest, even though this vision is clearly symbolic. In the case of Hugh of Semur, the priest replaced the mother, and here the mother replaces the priest but, in both cases, the Eucharistic celebration lies at the center of prophecy, which can be perfectly explained in a totally clericalized

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Quae dum aliquando sopori se dedisset, vidit per somnium se in quadam ecclesia cum quibusdam reverendi habitus viris officiose sibi obsequentibus, sacerdotalibus indutam vestimentis astare sacro altari, et cum litteras penitus ignoraret, omne officium missae diligenter percantasse, et sic indubitanter illud mysterium celebrasse, tamquam si omni tempore huic vacasset operi; post expleta vero illa, ut sibi videbatur, missarum sollempnia, ut sacerdos populo benedixisse, dein exutis et sepositis in sacrario sacris illis vestibus exiisse, et valedictis omnibus domum reversam, post dulcedinem somnii leniter evigilasse. Hinc perterrita coepit sollicitari et conturbari intra semet ipsam pro visione, memor sexus et conditionis suae, timens quod viderat multam calamitatem praetendere sibi et domui suae, cum sciret illud mysterium a nulla feminarum umquam praesumptum esse. Porro autem ut sapiens mulier recogitabat apud se, quod si Deus vellet eam occidere, vel domum eius damnosis cladibus affligere, alio modo quam mysterio vivificationis humanae miserias et mortes suas praescire posset; certa tamen erat visionem huiusmodi non fantasticam esse, nec se deceptam nocturna vani somnii imagine, sed potius quidlibet magnum divinitus praedivinare. Neque vero femineo more cuivis, nec saltem ipsi marito, voluit visa referre, sed posuit faciem suam ad Dominum, rogare et deprecari in ieiuniis et elemosinis et oratione, ut Deus qui revelat mysteria et novit in tenebris constituta, mysterium visionis dignaretur ei revelare; et quia cor ad quaerendum apposuit, quod quaerebat, Deo monstrante ita scire meruit. Erat eo tempore in sanctae continentiae vivens proposito infra ipsam regionem quaedam anus longaeva, cui praeter cetera virtutum dona pro merito vitae Deus concesserat, ut multis nonnumquam praenuntiaret futura. Huius opinione illa mulier in spem interpretationis somnii sui adducta venit ad eam, brevique illi commendata, post mutuos amplexus et colloquia retulit ei cum multo tremore et lacrimis suam visionem, orans primum ut pro se Deum exoraret, ne quid prodigiale illi visio portenderet; deinde ut eius interpretationem sibi indicaret. At illa oratione fusa gratiaeque prophetalis munere afflata: “Fidens,” ait, “o mulier esto; quia quam vidisti, divinitus ad te facta est visio, quae ad salutem tuam et multorum implebitur hoc modo. Ecce filius quem habes in utero”—nam gravida erat—“nascetur tibi, quem iam Deus nunc sanctificavit et in opus sacerdotalis ministerii segregavit sibi, per quem et multorum saluti consulendum providit.” Haec dixit, et mulierem promissi certam domum remisit; quae ubi ad maritum rediit, tum demum somnium cum interpretatione, ut a prophetissa audierat, secreto illi exsolvit, Vita Theoderici abbatis Sancti Huberti Andaginensis (bhl 8050), ed. Wilhelm Georg Wattenbach, mgh ss, 12 (Hanover: Impensis Bibliopolii Hahniani, 1856), 38. This text is studied and translated by Michel Lauwers, “L’institution et le genre. À propos de l’ accès des femmes au sacré dans l’ Occident medieval,” in Clio. Femmes, Genre, Histoire 2 (1995): 279–317, here 279–281.

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monastic system, where the monks, in contrast to their role during the first centuries of Christianity, became specialists not only in prayer but also in the mass.

4

Transmission of a Motif: The Dog in the Mother’s Womb.

To conclude this presentation of a highly specific hagiographic topos, I would like to suggest that it is sometimes possible to trace how a sub-motif is transmitted. In the Vita prima of St. Bernard, William of St. Thierry reports that Aleth, the mother of the future abbot of Clairvaux, dreamed one night that she was carrying in her womb a small white dog with a red back, who was barking fiercely. William gives his reader all of the necessary explanations: the animal obviously prefigured Bernard, the white reflecting his purity (as well as the Cistercian habit, even if William is silent on this point) and the red symbolizing, in accordance with Psalm 67, the blood of the enemies of the Lord.68 This story has no direct precedents. However, almost a century later, the Dominican Jordan of Saxony reported that the pregnant mother of St. Dominic of Guzman dreamed that she was carrying a small dog. The dog did not bark, but carried a burning torch in its mouth. Later, adds Jordan, Dominic would set the world on fire with the flames coming from his mouth.69 We know of the vast influence of the Cistercians on the first Dominicans and on Dominic himself, and have seen that the motif of the dog did not appear before St. Bernard. It is, therefore, almost certain that the dream of Dominic’s mother was strongly inspired by that of St. Bernard. Of course, the significance of this vision would later become even more meaningful, as the Dominicans became the Domini canes, the “dogs of the Lord.” 68

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Haec cum in ordine generandorum filiorum tertium Bernardum haberet in utero, somnium uidit praesagium futurorum, catellum scilicet totum candidum, in dorso rufum et latrantem in utero se habere. Super quo territa uehementer cum religiosum quemdam uirum consuluisset, continuo ille spiritum prophetiae concipiens, quo Dauid de sanctis praedicatoribus Domino dicit: Lingua canum tuorum ex inimicis, trepidanti et anxiae respondit: ‘Ne timeas, bene res agitur, optimi catuli mater eris, qui domus Dei custos futurus | magnos pro ea contra inimicos fidei editurus est latratus. Erit enim egregius praedicator et tamquam bonus canis, gratia linguae medicinalis in multis multos morbos curaturus est animarum,’ William of Saint-Thierry, Vita prima sancti Bernardi, ed. Paul Verdeye, cc cm 89 B (Turnhout: Brepols, 2011), i, § 1, 33–34. Cuius matri, antequam ipsum conciperet, in visione monstratum est, quod catulum gestaret in utero, qui facem ardentem in ore portabat et de ventre egrediens omnem orbem succendere videbatur. Quo prefigurabatur concipiendum ab ea predicatorem insigne, qui (…) et ignem (…) mundo spargeret universo, Jordan of Saxony, “Libellus de principiis Ordinis Praedic-

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Other hagiographic texts confirm that William’s prophetic account was highly successful. Thus, the mother of Stephen of Obazine († 1159), a hermit from the Limousin, whose monastery joined Cîteaux in 1147, also saw in a premonitory dream a small white dog. Here, the hagiographer does not hide the Bernardine origin of the motif (“as we read in the Life of Saint Bernard”), which leads him to distance himself from the account he relates (“according to some”): some report that Stephen’s mother dreamed of giving birth to a lamb, and others that she dreamed of a dog.70 Much later, the mother of Saint Vincent Ferrer (†1419), the famous Dominican preacher, heard a dog barking in her womb:71 this reference is interesting, because, in the account of Jordan of Saxony, the dog is silent. Vincent was a Dominican, but his mother’s dream follows the model set by Guillaume de Saint-Thierry for Saint Bernard. There exist further cases. When the Jesuit Ribadeneyra wrote the Life of Julian, bishop of Cuenca, who died in 1208, summarizing earlier Spanish texts, he reported that the father of the saint (another dreaming father) dreamed, while his wife was pregnant, of a white dog barking at bats that had invaded the room, to chase them away.72 Finally, the mother of a French priest, who died in 1657, Jean-Jacques Olier, had

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atorum,” in Monumenta Ordinis Fratrum Praedicatorum Historica 16, ed. Herbert Christian Scheeben (Rome: Institutum Historicum ff. Praedicatorum, 1935), 27–28. (…) fertur ejus genitrici visio per noctem ostensa, cum eum pregnans utero tumescente gestaret, quod quasi agnum in loco filii peperisset, cui adulto magnus ovium grex tradebatur. Quod dum cuidam viro Dei sancto narraret, audivit ab eo quod talem ipsa filium generaret cui multus a Christo animarum populus crederetur celesti magisterio informandus. Dicunt tamen alii a predicta femina non agnum, sed catulum album visum fuisse, sicut legitur de santo Bernardo …, Vita sancti Stephani Obaznensis, i, 1: Michael Aubrun, Vie de saint Étienne d’Obazine (Clermont-Ferrand: Institut d’Études du Massif Central, 1970), 42. (…) eodem existens filio gravida, ex utero suo sæpe miro modo audivit, tamquam voces canis latrantis, sonos emitti. Cumque ex eadem re vehementer obstupefacta, a nonnullis, qui singulares servi Dei esse dicebantur (…) perquireret, quid sibi significare vellet hujusmodi latratus, ei responsum est, nihil aliud fore, nisi quod paritura esset infantem, qui esset futurus Euangelii Christi ferventissimus ac eruditissimus sanctissimusque prædicator: hi namque, qui in Ecclesia christiana prædicandi exercent officium, non absurde canibus comparari consueverunt, Pietro Ranzano, Liber de vita beati Vincentii (bhl 8658), aass, Apr. i, Antwerp, 1675, 485 A–B. Pietro Ranzano writes immediately following Vincent’s canonization in 1455. “Pareciale que el aposento donde estava se ardia todo, y que entravan en el muchos morcielagos, y otros animales negros, y andavan al rededor del aposento huyendo, y dando abullidos; y juntamente vei que un cachrillo mas blanco que la nieve, y muy hermoso, salia de su muger, y que por los ojos, y por la boca echava centellas resplandecientes, y con su ladrido ahuyentava aquellos animales; y que hecho esto, se bolvia adonde avia salido,” Ribadeneyra, Flos sanctorum, i (Barcelona 1734 (First edition 1599)), 241. The text edited by the Bollandists (aass, Jan. ii, § 2, Antwerp 1643), 894, is the Latin translation of a similar Spanish version included by Juan de Marieta in his Historiae ecclesiasticae omnium sanctorum Hispaniae. Lanzoni, “Il sogno presago della madre incinta,” 258, speaks of “Giovanni” of Cuenca.

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the same dream as Saint Dominic.73 This dossier thus allows us to observe the birth of a prophetic motif, and then its diffusion among different saints. The motif of the dog was well-known: we cannot therefore totally exclude the possibility that a saint’s parent, lulled by hagiographic stories, truly experienced the same dream as Aleth, the mother of Saint Bernard. In conclusion, I would like to draw attention to three points: 1) the permeability of this topos of the premonitory dream of the pregnant mother, which is found in often highly similar forms in texts belonging to very different literary registers and geographical areas; 2) the possible danger of interpreting these dreams in too marked a way as a sign of a valorization of the male clergy; and 3) the strong ecclesiological dimension of all of these episodes as soon as they appear in the hagiographic literature. 1) The motif of the mother’s premonitory dream is not limited to hagiography. It can also concern heroes, sovereigns and various characters from the secular world. It is thus omnipresent in the medieval vernacular literature. However, the stories sometimes display a significant similarity with hagiographic motifs. One of the most striking examples of this is the topos of the tree that rises, usually from the mother’s womb, and then casts a protective shadow over a region, country or kingdom. We have already mentioned several examples of this concept, already common in Antiquity and present in medieval Latin litterature from the Merovingian period in the chronicle of Frédégaire, but we also find it, among others, in the Roman de Rou of Wace (1160– 1170), concerning the mother of William the Conqueror, and in several of the Old Norse sagas.74 Alexander Hagerty Krappe and Herman Braet have tried to trace its genealogy.75 Its ancient origin and the pioneering role of Herodotus are undeniable, but it is illusory to claim to have identified a kind of stemma of this motif or even at a fine understanding of its transmission mechanisms: Hagerty Krappe proposed, for example, that Norwegians returning to Scandinavia from the Byzantine Empire via Russia had acclimatized it in the northern regions 73 74

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Étienne-Michel Faillon, Vie de M. Olier, fondateur du séminaire de Saint-Sulpice (Paris: Poussielgue et Wattelier, 1843), 94–95, note 5. Wace, Le Roman de Rou de Wace, ed. Anthony John Holden (Paris: Picard, 1970), i, v. 2863– 2874 (“Se n’est pur ceo ke sungie ai / Ke un arbre de mun cors isseit / Qui vers le ciel amunt creisseit / De l’ umbre, ki entur alout / Tute Normendie aumbrout”). References to Old Norse literature in Alexander Haggerty Krappe, “Le songe de la mère de Guillaume le Conquérant,” in Zeitschrift für französische Sprache und Literatur 61 (1938): 198–204, here 201–202. Krappe, “Guillaume le Conquérant”; Herman Braet, “Le songe de l’arbre chez Wace, Benoît et Aimon de Varennes,” in Romania 91 (1970): 255–267.

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of Europe (Se non è vero, è ben trovato …), but one can clearly imagine other scenarios. When it is impossible to trace the transmission of a sub-theme in a precise historical context, as can be done for the dog fighting in the service of the Church, it is probably better simply to indicate that the topos of the pregnant mother is malleable, circulates widely and can be found in works of a very different nature. In each story and during each period, it is adapted to suit the expectations of the authors and readers. 2) Women who are pregnant with a future saint are almost always unable to interpret their own dreams. Isabel Moreira, followed by Jesse Keskiaho, have insisted on the role of clerical mediation in Merovingian texts: the visionary must normally resort to the services of a priest to obtain an explanation of her dream.76 Thus, in the Merovingian Life of Saint Project (bhl 6917d), which Isabel Moreira comments on at length, the mother sees her son emerge from her in a flood of blood. She then consults her brother, who is an archpriest, to find out if this blood is hers, and learns that it is that of her son, who will be martyred.77 In general, some kind of male clerical supervision is required, as suggested and defended by the hagiographers. To the women the visions; from the authorized men, i.e., the priests, the orthodox explanation. Yet, in reality, even if this scheme works in many vitae, there are sufficiently numerous exceptions for it to be considered a possible, if not obligatory, model. For example, in Jonas’s Vita Columbani, the mother requests the advice of several “neighbors,” who are more knowledgeable than she (vicinorumque solaminis supplimentum petit).78 This expression certainly does not refer to a group of priests. Above all, other texts show that there were also, in different places and during different periods, women, usually elderly, who were not necessarily consecrated but who had a reputation for being a prophetess. Thus, Rudolf of Fulda specifies that Lioba’s mother had recourse to the services of her nurse, an old woman, who spoke

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Isabel Moreira, Dreams, visions and spiritual authority in Merovingian Gaul (New York: Cornell University Press, 2000); Isabel Moreira, “Dreams and divination in early medieval canonical and narrative sources: the question of clerical control,” in Catholic Historical Review 89 (2003): 621–642; Jesse Keskiaho, Dreams and Visions in the early Middle Ages. The Reception and Use of Patristic Ideas (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2015), 52–59. Passio Praeiecti episcopi et martyris Arverne, ed. Bruno Krusch, mgh ss rm, v (HanoverLeipzig: Impensiis Bibliopolii Hahniani, 1910), 226–227. Haec genetrix, postquam sopor membra laxavit et caecas mundo surgens aurora pepulit tenebras, semet intra clauso conamine pensare coepit et ancipiti gaudio tantae visionis vim sagaci animo trutinare vicinorumque solaminis supplimentum petit, quos doctrina sollertes reddebat, quaerens, ut tantae visionis vim sapientum corda rimarent, Jonas of Bobbio, Vita Columbani, i, 2, 154.

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to her prophetico spiritu.79 Æthelwold’s mother requests an explanation from an elderly famula Christi, who acted as nutrix to the nuns of Winchester.80 In Milan, in the eleventh century, Ariald’s mother relates her dream to “old matrons,” and requests an explanation. Finally, in the Life of Thierry of Leernes, the saint’s mother consults a very old woman (quaedam anus longaeva) who possessed the gift of prophecy.81 The hagiographer reports their meeting at length. Finally, the interpretation of dreams by a priest was not obligatory and the examples we cited are sufficiently numerous to prove that recourse to an elderly woman, reputed to be a prophetess, must have been relatively common. These women clearly remind us of the figure of the witch, and perhaps, in some cases, were on the fringes of the Church: however, in the texts we have mentioned above, their orthodoxy is never questioned. They had indeed an implicit model in Anna, the aged prophetess, who, in Luke’s Gospel, announces in the temple the future birth of Jesus (Luke 2:36–38). It is, therefore, necessary to nuance the idea, according to which the accounts of the dreams of pregnant mothers are always accompanied by a valorization by the male priesthood through the use of a clerical interpreter. This orientation is not incorrect, but it is not exclusive; as we have seen, these accounts also allow us to shed some light on a female prophetic group. 3) The ecclesiological dimension of all of these stories must be emphasized. If it becomes increasingly formulaic over time, it is nevertheless always present. From the sun coming out of Colomban’s mother’s womb to the dogs personifying Bernard of Clairvaux or Saint Dominic, to the tree of Æthelwold and the peplum of Columba, these visions almost support a discourse on the expansion of Christianity and the Church. On the other hand, there are very few visions that announce merely the holiness of the unborn child. We have here a structuring element of the hagiographic discourse, which is always also a discourse on the Church and on the role that the saints play in it in order to illuminate the darkness associated with a lack of faith.

References Adomnán of Iona. Vita sancti Columbae/Adomnan’s Life of Columba, edited by Alan Orr Anderson and Marjorie Orr Anderson. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1961 (new edition Oxford, 1991). 79 80 81

See supra, note 63. See supra, note 48. See supra, 44–45.

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Alfred Maury, érudit et rêveur. Les sciences de l’homme au milieu du xixe siècle, edited by Jacqueline Carroy and Nathalie Richard. Rennes: Presses Universitaires de Rennes, 2007. Andrea of Strumi. Vita Arialdi, edited by Fridrich Baethgen, mgh, ss, 30/2. Leipzig: Impensis Karoli W. Hiersemann, 1934. Aubrun, Michel. Vie de saint Étienne d’Obazine. Clermont-Ferrand: Institut d’Études du Massif Central, 1970. Audoenus. Vita Eligii, edited by Bruno Krusch, mgh, srm, 2. Hanover/Leipzig: Impensis Bibliopolii Hahniani, 1902. Bagatta, Giovanni Bonifacio. Admiranda orbis christiani, quae ad Christi fidem firmandam, christianam pietatem fovendam […], 2 volumes. Venice 1680. Becquet, Jean. “La vie de saint Gaucher, fondateur des chanoine réguliers d’Aureil en Limousin.” In Revue Mabillon 216 (1964): 25–55. Boniface. Epistolae, edited by Michael Tangl, mgh, Epp. Sel. 1. Berlin: Weidmannsche Buchhandlung, 1916. Bozoky, Edina. “La prophétie dans la Vie de Columba d’Adomnan.” In Hagiograhie et prophétie (vie-xiiie siècles), edited by Patrick Henriet, Klaus Herbers, and HansChristan Lehner, 51–70. Florence: sismel edizioni del Galluzzo, 2017. Braet, Herman. “Le songe de l’arbre chez Wace, Benoît et Aimon de Varennes.” In Romania 91 (1970): 255–267. Brugnoli, Giorgio, and Stok, Fabio. Vitae vergilianae antiquae. Rome: Typus officinae polygraphicae, 1997. Odon of Cluny. Vita sancti Geraldi Auriliacensis. Édition critique, traduction française et commentaires, edited by Anne-Marie Bultot-Verleysen, Subsidia Hagiographica 89. Bruxelles: Société des Bollandistes, 2009. Coens, Maurice. “Une fiction d’origine rhénane: saint Suitbert, évêque martyr de Bethléem.” In Analecta Bollandiana 66 (1948): 91–117. Corcella, Aldo. “L’uso di Coricio in pseudo-Gregorio di Nissa, ‘In sanctum Ephraem’.” In Analecta Bollandiana 124 (2006): 241–251. Cowdrey, Herbert Edward John. “Two Studies in Cluniac History 1049–1126: Memorials of Abbot Hugh of Cluny.” In Studi Gregoriani 11 (1978): 9–395. Deleyaye, Hippolyte. Les légendes hagiographiques. Bruxelles: Société des Bollandistes, 1905. Deleyaye, Hippolyte. Les saints stylites, Subsidia Hagiographica 14. Bruxelles: Société des Bollandistes, 1923. Deug Su, I. L’opera agiografica di Alcuino. Spoleto: Centro Italiano di Studi sull’Alto Medioevo, 1983. Dhorme, Paul. “L’emploi métaphorique des noms de parties du corps en hébreu et en akkadien (2).” In Revue Biblique 31 (1922): 215–233. Dolbeau, François. “Vie inédite de Saint Fulcran, évêque de Lodève.” In Analecta Bollandiana 100 (1982): 515–544.

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Fagioli Vercellone, Guido Gregorio. “Lanzoni, Francesco.” In Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani 63. Rome: Treccani, 2004. Faillon, Étienne-Michel. Vie de M. Olier, fondateur du séminaire de Saint-Sulpice. Paris: Poussielgue et Wattelier, 1843. Fredegarius. Chronicarum quae dicuntur Fregarii scholastici libri iv cum continuationibus, edited by Bruno Krusch, mgh, srm, ii. Hanover: Impensis Bibliopolii Hahniani, 1888. Herren, Michael W. The ‘hisperica famina’. A new critical edition with English translation and philological commentary, Studies and Texts, ii, Pontifical Institute of Medieval Studies 35, 87. Toronto: Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies, 1974–1987. Innes, Matthew. “Immune from Heresy: defining the boundaries of Carolingian Christianity.” In Frankland, the Franks and the World in the early Middle Ages. Essays in honour of Dame Jinty Nelson, edited by Paul Fouracre and David Ganz, 101–125. Manchester: Manchester University Press, 2008. Jonas of Bobbio. “Appendix 5: ‘Carmen de Hibernia insula’.” In Jonas of Bobbio: Life of Columbanus, Life of John of Réomé, and Life of Vedast, edited by Alexander O’Hara and Ian Wood (translated with introduction and commentary), Translated Texts for Historians 64, 303–308. Liverpool: Liverpool University Press, 2017. Jonas of Bobbio. Vita sancti Columbani, edited by Bruno Krusch, mgh, ss, Rer. germ. 37. Hanover/Leipzig: Impensis Bibliopolii Hahniani, 1905. Jordan of Saxony. “Libellus de principiis Ordinis Praedicatorum.” In Monumenta Ordinis Fratrum Praedicatorum Historica 16, edited by Herbert Christian Scheeben, 25–88, 1935. Keskiaho, Jesse. Dreams and Visions in the early Middle Ages. The Reception and Use of Patristic Ideas. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2015. Krappe, Alexander Haggerty. “Le songe de la mère de Guillaume le Conquérant.” In Zeitschrift für französische Sprache und Literatur 61 (1938): 198–204. Krusch, Bruno, “Praefatio.” In Vitae Columbani libri ii, mgh, ss. rer. Germ. in usum scholarum, 1–144. Hanover/Leipzig: Impensis Bibliopolii Hahniani, 1905. Kubín, Petr. “The Earliest Hagiography of St Agnes of Bohemia.” In Hagiographica 22 (2015): 265–290. Lacassin, Francis. “P. Saintyves, savant et philosophe.” In Les contes de Perrault et les récits parallèles (leurs origines) – En marge de la légende dorée. Songes miracles et survivances – Les reliques et les images légendaires, edited by Pierre Saintyves, 1–14. Paris: Robert Laffont, Collection ‘Bouquins’, 1987. Lacassin, Francis. “Chronologie. Bibliographie.” In Les contes de Perrault et les récits parallèles (leurs origines) – En marge de la légende dorée. Songes miracles et survivances – Les reliques et les images légendaires, edited by Pierre Saintyves, 1107–1128. Paris: Robert Laffont, Collection ‘Bouquins’, 1987. Lanzoni, Francesco. “Il sogno presago della madre incinta nella letteratura medievale e antica.” In Analecta Bollandiana 45 (1927): 225–261.

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Lauwers, Michel. “L’institution et le genre. À propos de l’accès des femmes au sacré dans l’Occident medieval.” In Clio. Femmes, Genre, Histoire 2 (1995): 279–317. Maury, Alfred. Essai sur les légendes pieuses du Moyen Âge. Paris: Lanchange, 1843. Meeder, Sven. “Boniface and the Irish Heresy of Clemens.” In Church History 80 (2011): 251–280. Moreira, Isabel. Dreams, visions and spiritual authority in Merovingian Gaul. New York: Cornell University Press, 2000. Moreira, Isabel. “Dreams and divination in early medieval canonical and narrative sources: the question of clerical control.” In Catholic Historical Review 89 (2003): 621– 642. Otloh of Sankt Emmeram. Vita sancti Wolkkangi episcopi, edited by Georg Waitz, mgh, ss, 4. Hanover: Impensis Bibliopolli Aulici Hahniani, 1841. Pezé, Warren. “Hérésie, exclusion et anathème dans l’Occident carolingien (742-années 860).” In Exclure de la communauté chrétienne. Sens et pratiques sociales de l’anathème et de l’excommunication (ive-xiie siècle), edited by Geneviève Bührer-Thierry and Stéphane Gioanni, Haut Moyen Âge 23, 175–196. Turnhout: Brepols, 2015. Plummer, Charles, ed. Vitae sanctorum Hiberniae, 2 volumes. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1910. Rand, Edward Kennard. “The Irish Flavor of the ‘Hisperica famina’.” In Studien zur lateinischen Dichtung des Mittelalters. Ehrengabe für Karl Strecker, edited by Walter Stach and Hans Walther, 134–142. Dresden: Buchdr. der Wilhelm und Bertha v. Baensch Stiftung, 1931. Ribadeneyra, Pedro de. Flos sanctorum, i. Barcelona 1734 (first edition 1599). Rudolf of Fulda. Vita Leobae, edited by Georg Waitz, mgh, ss, xv/1. Hanover: Impensis Bibliopolii Hahniani, 1887. Saintyves, Pierre. Les Vierges mères et les naissances miraculeuses. Essai de mythologie comparée. Paris: É. Nourry, 1908. Saintyves, Pierre. En marge de la légende dorée. Songes, miracles et survivances: essai sur la formation de quelques thèmes hagiographiques. Paris: É. Nourry, 1931. Schenda, Rudolph. “Bagatta, Giovanni Bonifazio.” In Enzyklopädie des Märchens, volume 1, 1141–1143. Berlin: De Gruyter, 1977. Spahr, Columban. Das Leben des hl. Robert von Molesme. Eine Quelle zur Vorgeschichte von Cîteaux. Freiburg im Breisgau: Paulusdruckerei, 1944. Taralon, Jean. “La châsse de Saint-Taurin d’Évreux.” In Bulletin monumental 140 (1982): 41–56. Thompson, Stith. Motif-index of folk-literature: a classification of narrative elements in folktales, ballads, myths, fables, mediaeval romances, exempla, fabliaux, jest-books, and local legends, 6 volumes. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1955–1958. Tomaino, Maria Gemma. Roberto di Molesme e la fondazione di Cîteaux, nelle principali fonti storiche dell’xi e del xii secolo e nella Vita s. Roberti (xiii secolo), Quaestiones 3. Florence: Nerbini, 2014.

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Vogüé, Adalbert de. Jonas de Bobbio. Vie de saint Colomban et de ses disciples, Vie monastique 19. Bégrolles-en-Mauges: Abbaye de Bellefontaine, 1988. Wace. Le Roman de Rou de Wace, edited by Anthony John Holden, 3 volumes. Paris: Picard, 1970–1976. William of Malmesbury. Gesta pontificum anglorum, volume 1, Text and Translation by Michael Winterbottom, with the assistance of Rodney M. Thomson. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 2007. William of Saint-Thierry. Vita prima sancti Bernardi, edited by Paul Verdeye, cc cm 89 B. Turnhout: Brepols, 2011. Wirtz, Irmgard. “Abweichendes von Frauen: Biographische Momente in einem spätbarocken Kompendium.” In Frauenbiographik. Lebensbeschreibungen und Porträts, edited by Christian von Zimmermann and Nina von Zimmermann, 205–228. Tübingen: G. Narr, 2005. Wirtz, Irmgard. “Wunder in Enzyklopädie und Kalender. Zur Wirklichkeitskonfiguration barocker Wundererzählungen.” In Staatsmacht und Seelenheil: Gegenreformation und Geheimprotestantismus in der Habsburgermonarchie, edited by Rudolph Leeb, Suzanne Claudine Pils, and Thomas Winkelbauer, 119–133. Munich-Vienna: Oldenbourg, 2007. Wulfstan of Winchester. The Life of Æthelwold, edited by Michael Lapidge and Michael Winterbottom. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1991. Zeddies, Nicole. “Bonifatius und zwei nützliche Rebellen: die Häretiker Aldebert und Clemens.” In Ordnung und Aufruhr im Mittelalter. Historische und juristische Studien zu Rebellion, edited by Marie Therese Fögen, 232–243. Frankfurt am Main: Klostermann, 1995.

3 Sepe verum somniant, qui presunt populis: The Dubious Veracity of Dreams Albert Schirrmeister

The point of departure of my reflections and a central point of my argument represents an episode of the Commentaries of pope Pius ii, Enea Silvio Piccolomini: Now I must not forget to mention one thing, a matter concerning dreams, which seems worth recording. The day after the coronation, together with three councilors, including Aeneas, the emperor went to the pope Nicholas. The conversation had gone on for some time when the emperor said, ‘Father, do you remember, after the coronation I was going to tell you my dream. It went like this. The night after you left me at Vienna for the last time, I dreamt I had come to Rome and you were placing a crown on my head. In my dream, I was amazed by this, thinking my coronation could not be legally valid since it wasn’t the bishop of Rome but the bishop of Bologna who was performing it. When I woke up, I despised this vision, but when I learned from Aeneas’s letters that you were elevated to the honour of a cardinal, and then elected pope, I knew immediately that I would be crowned by your hands—and so I have.’ Then Nicholas said, ‘It is frequently the case, that those who are in charge of the people are dreaming truthful. I myself, the night before Eugenius died, viewed in my sleep that I had come into this very room, which as you know, Aeneas, was then divided into two parts. Eugenius took off his robe and tunic and put them on me, and lifted a tall hat from his head, such as our soldiers wear, and put it onto mine. Then he took me by the hand and pointed to this throne, saying, ‘From this seat I go to St. Peter.’ He died the next day. His body was carried into St. Peter’s and perhaps his soul is even now rejoicing in the company of his glorious predecessor. Twelve days later, the papacy passed to me.’1

1 Pius ii. [Enea Silvio Piccolomini], Commentaries, ed. Margaret Meserve and Marcello Simonetta, The I Tatti Renaissance Library 12 (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard Univ. Press, 2003) i, 23

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It is possible to date this episode precisely to the night following 20 March 1452. It forms part of Book i, chapter 23 and summarizes the first meeting between Emperor Frederick iii and Pope Nicholas v following the former’s inauguration. As Claudia Märtl made clear, this narration is the first of three versions, where Piccolomini relates the discussion and the dreams: Piccolomini, the humanist and later pope, had already written this part of the Commentaries— the first 25 chapters—by early summer 1453 (before he got knowledge of the conquest of Constantinople) as an introduction to a collection of his literary works—and this as part of a letter to the archbishop of Cologne, Dietrich von Moers.2 The other versions form part of the Historia Austrialis, whose first redaction was written in the following autumn.3 (117). Sometimes, the translation is relatively free, therefore I have changed certain formulations when the wording is important. For the Latin text, I also consulted this edition: Pius ii. [Enea Silvio Piccolomini], Pii ii commentarii rervm memorabilivm qve temporibvs svis contigervnt, 2 vols., ed. Adrianus van Heck, Studi e testi / Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana (Città del Vaticano: Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, 1984), 77: Neque hic unum praetereundum arbitror, quod de somniis memoratu dignum videtur. Sequenti post coronationem die cesar cum tribus consiliariis, inter quos Eneas fuit, Nicolaum pontificem adiit; ubi sermone ad longum producto ‘Merministi, pater,’ inquit ‘dicturum me tibi somnium postquam coronam accepissem; id huiusmodi est. ex Vienna cum recessisti a me ultimo, vidi per quietem nocte proxima me Romam venisse, tuisque manibus meo capiti coronam imponi mirabar inter dormiendum, neque me legitime coronatum putabam, quem non Romanus sed Bononiensis episcopus coronasset. evigilans autem contempsi visum. at posteaquam te cardinalem creatum, deinde papam assumptum, Enee primum litteris intellexi, evestigio ratum credidi, quod secutum est, tuis me manibus coronandum.’ Tum Nicolaus: ‘Sepe verum somniant, qui presunt populis. Ego quoque,’ inquit, ‘nocte, quae mortem Eugenii praecessit, sopori deditus in hoc me cubiculum venisse videbar, quod tunc, ut tu nosti, Enea, bipartitum fuit. Eugenius pallium, deinde tunicam exuens, illis me induit, mitramque longam, qualem gestare nostri milites solent, suo capiti demens imposuit meo; postremo manu me apprehendens, ostensaque hac sella, ‘Sede hic,’ inquit, ‘ego ad Sanctum Petrum pergam.’ Sic ille in crastinum mortuus in aedem Sancti Petri delatus est; forsitan et anima gloriosi praedecessoris consortio gaudet. Mihi post duodecim dies summus apostolatus commissus est.’ 2 Claudia Märtl, “Pauca de origine Enee suaque vita. Ein unbekanntes Selbstzeugnis Piccolominis, Das erste Buch der Commentarii und Platinas Vita Pii ii,” Deutsches Archiv für Erforschung des Mittelalters 71, no. 1 (2015): 161: “bis zu jenem Punkt, da die Nachricht von der Eroberung Konstantinopels eintrifft. Deren Fehlen in dem Schreiben an den Kölner Erzbischof lässt vermuten, dass diese Neuigkeit noch nicht bekannt war, als der Text abgeschlossen wurde. Piccolomini erwähnt die Eroberung Konstantinopels erstmals am 12. Juli 1453 in seinem Briefwechsel; am 25. und 26. Juni 1453 hatte er zwei Briefe an Dietrich von Moers und den Kölner Stadtschreiber Johann Vrunt geschrieben, um ihnen Heinrich Steinhoff zu empfehlen, der nach Köln reisen wolle. Wahrscheinlich war Steinhoff gleich danach abgereist und hatte Piccolominis Anthologie samt dem Widmungsbrief mitgenommen.” 3 Martin Wagendorfer, “Einleitung,” in Historia Austrialis, ed. Martin Wagendorfer and Julia Knödler, 2 vols., mgh Scriptores rerum Germanicarum in usum scholarum separatim editi, Nova Series xxiv, 1 + 2 (Hannover: Hahn, 2009), 1, 17.

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Since we have three different versions of the same episode with different focal points, I have selected this episode as a paradigmatic case in order to discuss medieval dream practices on the eve of the Renaissance: the dispositions, epistemology and conditions of realization—referring to prognostication. Since it is a fundamental anthropological topic, I have woven in several ethnological cross-references to strengthen my considerations of the relevance of dream prognostications in the Middle Ages.4

1

The Context of the Dream Narrations: Pius, His Commentaries, the Pope, and the Emperor

Which role is reserved for the dream-narrations within Aeneas’ greater narratives? Aeneas Silvius Piccolomini5 conceived his Commentaries when he himself became pontiff in 1458, apparently starting in 1462, and therefore nine years after the first version of the dream-narration. They are, as Johannes Helmrath formulated, “a very personal, sharp judicious statement of accounts, composed for the posterity.” The unspoken motto of the Commentaries is, in the words of Helmrath, “the pontificate as work of art.”6 Claudia Märtl pointed out that it is necessary to bind the Commentaries in Pius’ preceding biography at the end of the schism with both the council of Bale and Aeneas’ time at Frederick’s court. Märtl recognized that an important aim of this work was to show the papacy at the center of the world, of Christianity.7 Pius presented himself as an eyewitness and, therefore, as outstanding authority regarding all of the events in which he had participated personally.8 Not only because of the earlier composition, the first book stands at the margins of the whole work of twelve books, recounting the events prior to Pius’ pontificate. Patricia Eichel-Lojkine char4 For a background to my contribution, see my overview: Albert Schirrmeister, “Dream Interpretation. Traditions and Practices in the Medieval Western Christian World,” in Prognostication in the Medieval World: A Handbook, eds. Matthias Heiduk, Klaus Herbers, and HansChristian Lehner (Berlin: de Gruyter, 2021). 5 For a brief overview of his life and work, see: Volker Reinhardt, “Piccolomini, Enea Silvio,” in Renaissance-Humanismus, ed. Manfred Landfester (Stuttgart: J.B. Metzler, 2014). 6 Johannes Helmrath, “Pius ii. und die Türken,” in Wege des Humanismus: Studien zu Praxis und Diffusion der Antikeleidenschaft im 15. Jahrhundert. Ausgewählte Aufsätze Band i, Spätmittelalter, Humanismus, Reformation 72 (Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2013), 300sq. 7 Claudia Märtl, “Les Commentarii d’Enea Silvio Piccolomini (Pie ii, 1405/1458–1464),” in Autobiographies Souveraines, eds. Pierre Monnet and Jean-Claude Schmitt (Paris: Éditions de la Sorbonne, 2019), http://books.openedition.org/psorbonne/33754. 8 Märtl, “Pauca de origine Enee suaque vita. Ein unbekanntes Selbstzeugnis Piccolominis, das erste Buch der Commentarii und Platinas Vita Pii ii.,” 151, 174.

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acterized it as a chronicle of a murder, repeatedly avoided. Nevertheless, she recognized a fundamental conflict between two principles in the Commentaries as a whole composition, including the first book: Pius’ conviction that he would be elected to the apostolic chair and desire to satisfy all of the exigencies required for historiography by classical rhetoric.9 By combining these different evaluations, an image emerges of a well-composed historiographical account of the papacy, with Aeneas Silvius—or, rather, Pius ii—in the leading role, with the first book as the exposition where the future pope indicated his predetermined character. A few words about the protagonists of the dream narration: similar to texts other than the Commentaries, Piccolomini mentioned his indirect predecessor Nicholas and described his knowledge and erudition. In his account about the conclave as a member of an imperial delegation in 1447, Aeneas described his impression of the human, erudite qualities of the new pontiff: “In the seven arts, which are called the liberal, he has been versed since childhood, so that everything stands at his command. He knows all of the philosophers as well as the historians, poets, cosmographs, and theologians, for he is also initiated in sacred knowledge. He is acquainted with civil and canon law and medicine is not foreign to him. What is unknown to him lies beyond knowledge. If ever one might hope for a happy future for the Church, that hope might blossom forth under this pope, because this ruler possesses wisdom. Now they are saying, among the people, that, since imperfections have been banished, virtue and learning will have dominion.”10 Volker Reinhardt, who conceived his biography

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Patricia Eichel-Lojkine, “Les quasi-morts d’Enea Silvio Piccolomini racontées par luimême (Commentarii, 1464) : l’ histoire aux prises avec l’insolite,” in De bonne vie s’ensuit bonne mort: Récits de mort, récits de vie en Europe (xve—xviie siècle), ed. Patricia EichelLojkine (Paris: Champion, 2006), 244, see also 242: „C’est l’évocation de la mort, ou plutôt du risque de mort, qui fait l’ originalité de ce premier livre.“ I owe this translation (with few modifications) to John B. Toews, “Formative Forces in the Pontificate of Nicholas v, 1447–1455,” The Catholic Historical Review 54, no. 2 (1968): 261, note 1. This section is extracted from: “Gesandtschaftsbericht des Eneas Silvius an K. Friedrich iii. über seine Reise nach Rom zu Eugen iv.” (De morte Eugenii iv. creationeque et coronatione Nicolai v), in: Pius ii. [Enea Silvio Piccolomini], Der Briefwechsel des Eneas Silvius Piccolomini. ii. Abteilung: Briefe als Priester und als Bischof von Triest (1447–1450), ed. Rudolf Wolkan, Fontes rerum Austriacarum 2. Abt. 67 (Wien, 1912), Anhang a, 237–263, 259: artibus septem, quas liberales vocant, sic a puero imbutus est, ut omnia presentia sint. philosophos omnes novit, historicos, poetas, cosmographos, theologos, nam et sacris artibus initiatus est. juris civilis et pontificii notitiam habet nec medicinam ignorat. extra scientiam est hominum, quicquid illi occultum est. Provincias plurimas peragravit, principes Christiane rei publice adivit, in rebus maximis versatus est, et domus et civitatem regimina est expertus. Quod si unquam beatam futuram sprare ecclesiam licuit, sub hoc pon-

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of Piccolomini nearly exclusively along the lines of the Commentaries, estimates that the election of Tommaso Parentucelli as pope represented a valuable precedent for Piccolomini since Nicholas was, as he himself too, an erudite, born in a provincial town and not descended from the Roman or the Venetian aristocracy.11 Even if one may concede that Piccolomini described Nicholas less clearly and less positively elsewhere, this estimation retains his relevance and may clarify the signification of the dream narration, especially with regard to the foundation of this judgement in the Commentaries. Nicholas can be distinguished in this manner fundamentally from his direct successor Callixtus iii, and resembled Pius himself more closely. For both Emperor Frederick and Pope Nicholas, the event of the coronation was crucial: immediately prior to it, Frederick met his future bride, Eleanor of Portugal; she was introduced to him by Aeneas in Siena. Frederick was under pressure from different sides, including from his brother Albrecht. Nevertheless, Frederick travelled to Italy to be crowned by the pontiff in Rome. For Nicholas, the coronation represented an opportunity to display the papacy in an unchallenged position after the Schism. This is the clear message of the two entangled dream-narrations, apparent even at a glance: the two universal powers, the papacy and empire—and the two individuals who embodied them—mutually confirmed their legitimacy through the dream prognostics which were fulfilled after the coronation.

2

The Dream Narrations

Therefore, it is necessary to illuminate the cultural conditions for the epistemological and, subsequently, political validity of dreams. But, before discussing the significance regarding the integration of dream prognostication into the political and religious context in detail, we will examine the construction of dream prognostication and its constitution as a sign in more detail through the constitution of the narration and the relationship of this narration to dream conceptions. All kinds of narrations share certain basic elements: actors, frame, event and space. In analysing especially these elements in the Commentaries, we should

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tifice spes ista florebit, quoniam rectorem ejus studere sapientie contigit. Nunc vulgo dicitur exclusis vitiis, virtutes et doctrinas imperium habituras. Volker Reinhardt, Pius ii. Piccolomini: Der Papst, mit dem die Renaissance begann (München: C.H. Beck, 2014), 141; Reinhardt ignores and disdains the relevant research but he summarizes relatively well Piccolomini’s self-expression and the profile of the letters and Commentarii.

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distinguish between three different interwoven narrations: the emperor’s dream, the dream of Nicholas and their discussion after the coronation. These narratives parallel each other in a peculiar way. Firstly, this can be said for both dream episodes: they are, in many respects, close and familiar to each other. The dramatis personae: both dreams contain only two protagonists: the dreamer—passive—and a pope as the principal actor of the action as a sign. The frame is constituted by events lying outside the dreams, but linked to them: on the one side, the departure of the future pope who appears in the dream and on the other, the death of the pope who appears in the dream. The central event of the dream is, in both cases, a crucial moment for the imperial and papal power, respectively—and through the narration they become signs: the coronation of the emperor and the election of the pope. In the same manner as the frame, the space can be named exactly and is well circumscribed: on the one hand, the location for the coronation and on the other, the papal bedroom. Compared to other dream-narrations and visions, as they are analysed by Patrick Henriet in this volume, we may observe the very concrete character of the location and the frame, the lack of metaphorical elements, accentuating the official political place of both dreams. Even the framing narration resembles the dream narrations with regard to these central elements: there are only two dream protagonists and three advisers, the frame provided with clear contours—the coronation and the departure of the emperor from Rome—and the space is the papal apartment. The central event consists in the opposition of both dreams and in the appreciation of their character as signs. The highly concrete character of all of these elements of the narration forms the base of its legitimating potentiality: it is the description of a reality which can be designated and checked. There are witnesses who can testify to the veracity of the narration, together with the papal protagonist at the core of the dream narration. This concrete character may underline once more the legitimacy of both dreamers qua officium: They don’t need an interpreter of their dream as it is the case for other dreamers.12 Another element should be emphasized in this context: both dreamers, the emperor and the pontiff, are presented as passive dreamers: the dream comes to them without them making any active effort to obtain it.13 Neither

12 13

See Patrick Henriet, “Dum illum utero gestaret …: the premonitory dreams of saints mothers in Latin hagiography,” in this volume. On the intersection between active and passive elements in the practices for gaining knowledge of the divine, see the important book: Jessica Barr, Willing to Know God: Dreamers and Visionaries in the Later Middle Ages (Columbus: Ohio State University Press, 2010).

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the emperor nor the pope have made any preparations, such as following a particular diet, as narrated and often recommended in other dream contexts and there is not any attempt to use magic (necromantic or nigromantic) practices14—this should be emphasized with regard to the case of duke Amedeo of Savoy, the pope Felix v, mentioned further down. Moreover, there is neither firm, explicit connection with established dream books, nor any clear formulated regularities, apart from a single remark made by the pope: “sepe verum somniant qui presunt populis”—“It is frequently the case that those who are in charge of the people are dreaming truthful”. Through this remark, we may identify the categorization established by Macrobius in his commentary to Cicero’s Somnium Scipionis and recognized by medieval authors as John of Salisbury—until Philipp Melanchthon. Contrary to Artemidorus or Daniel, however, Macrobius is not present as an authority in dream-books in either the Middle Ages or the Renaissance.15 One may suppose that both dreams might belong to the category of visio: these are dreams about future events in a figurative form, but also contain the elements of an oraculum: there is an authority like a Priest, ancestor or god, with a clear message about future events. As occurs in Philipp Melanchthon’s Admonitio de Somniorum generibus et coniectione, Nicholas interprets the dreams as divine messages: since they are sent to the elected emperor and (future) pontiff and since they deal with fundamental questions of power.16 This is not an unusual categorization, even from an universal perspective. A. Leo Oppenheim pointed out that “the Mesopotamian attitude towards 14

15

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For example: the ascetic preparation of his mother, mentioned by Guibert of Nogent: Jean-Claude Schmitt, “Les rêves de Guibert de Nogent,” in Le corps, les rites, les rêves, le temps: Essais d’anthropologie médiévale (Paris: Gallimard, 2001), 270; another case in the 16th century: Giambattista della Porta in his Magia naturalis, Albert Schirrmeister, “Traum,” in Renaissance-Humanismus, ed. Landfester, col. 979. See especially Matthias Heiduk, Signs from the Afterlife. Consulting the Dead about the Future in Medieval Times; and some remarks by Klaus Herbers, Dreams, visions and politics in Carolingian Europe, part iv, both in this volume. Annette Gerok-Reiter and Christine Walde, eds., Traum und Vision in der Vormoderne: Traditionen, Diskussionen, Perspektiven (Berlin: Akademie Verlag, 2012): there is no mention of Macrobius in the whole volume. On the difficulties of defining the dream categories in real cases and beyond the theory, see: Barbara Newman, “What Did It Mean to Say ‘I Saw’? The Clash Between Theory and Practice in Medieval Visionary Culture,” Speculum 80, no. 1 (2005): 5: “The dominant theology of visionary experience called for exclusive agency—whether divine, diabolical, or human—and had great difficulty admitting the possibility of mixture. In order to be considered authentic and reliable, a vision must have come directly from heaven: its authority could not survive any acknowledgment that it had been sought or improved upon by the seer.”

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ominous phenomena is ambiguous in a very characteristic way: they are considered warnings issued by the gods to those who observe and understand them. The gods release these ‘signs’ out of their concern for king, country, city, or individual.”17 From this anthropological perspective, Benjamin Kilborne claimed that “there is a relationship between the spectrum of dream categories and the cultural theories of the self and of thinking.”18 A similar estimation can be found in Wendy O’Flaherty’s formulation, that “dream classification is one of those instances of a classificatory system rooted in belief systems. Its existence and persistence testify to the meanings and perceived importance attached to dreams by social actors.”19 Moreover, as early as 1956, A. Leo Oppenheim postulated: “The basic tenet that dreams foretell the future is linked either with a specific soul-concept or a specific philosophical world-view. In the first instance, the human soul is considered endowed with certain precognitive qualities released in sleep (or under other conditions); in the second, the wandering soul of the sleeper is permitted to observe in the transcendent realm of ‘ideas’ his own fate before it materializes in time and space.”20 Thus, for example, can be understood the presence and use of altered states of mind, actual or simulated, as a crucial component in defining shamanism. For the India Culture, Wendy O’Flaherty argued that “the dream adventure often proves the very opposite point [to the European one], the ‘nothingness’ of the world that we see when we open our eyes, or the substantial reality of the dream itself.”21 For our case—and I presume also for nearly all Christian medieval practices—at least the tacit (if not outspoken) underlying theory of the self and the soul conceived them as being in contact with the divine celestial transcendent instance. It is this celestial activity which can bestow on certain excellent, elected individuals the knowledge of future events—and with regard to this 17

18

19 20 21

A.L. Oppenheim, “The Interpretation of Dreams in the Ancient Near East. With a Translation of an Assyrian Dream-Book,” Transactions of the American Philosophical Society 46, no. 3 (1956): 239. For an insight in the use of dream-narrations in different cultures—and not only from the European Middle Ages—see many examples from religious and profane didactic literature at the Thesaurus Exemplorum Medii Aevi (ThEMA) http://thema.huma​ ‑num.fr/keywords/KW0129 (last accessed 2021-06-01). Benjamin Kilborne, “On Classifying Dreams,” in Dreaming: Anthropological and Psychological Interpretations, ed. Barbara Tedlock, School of American Research advanced seminar series (Santa Fe, N.M: School of American Research Press, 1992), 179. Kilborne, “On classifying dreams,” 174. Oppenheim, “The Interpretation of Dreams in the Ancient Near East. With a Translation of an Assyrian Dream-Book,” 237. Wendy Doniger O’Flaherty, “The Dream Narrative and the Indian Doctrine of Illusion,” Daedalus 111, no. 3 (1982): 4.

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qualification, it is important to emphasize once again that both dreamers didn’t force to have their prognostic dream but that they received it without any personal effort. Moreover, even if Tommaso Parentucelli, Nicholas v, appears as the pontiff in Frederick’s dream, there is no evidence of any kind of dream community, as there was for Marsilio Ficino, who dreamed of Bernardo Bembo and designed a Platonic theory of different kind of visions referring to fame, desire and so on, including dreams, relying on the emptiness of the soul.22 Comparing Mesopotamian views and Artemidorus, in the Middle Ages, we may distinguish different dream categorizations that simultaneously refer to both the context and social status. Aeneas’s narration might be ranged on the side of the social status, dominating the value of the dream-content, but one element remains constant: the importance of the narrative mode as the tool for integrating the dream in the cultural, social and political context.

3

The Mediality of Dream Prognostications

Prognostication via dreams is an act of pure communication, for the first time without any media, fundamentally exclusive and, at the same time, completely ephemeral. So, if dreams acquire a social and cultural relevance, they need a second line of communication at least, consequently, all dream narrations and, above all, dream prognostications themselves, are a matter of trust: we may identify here the epistemological and communicative problem of how one can prove that chains of events are related to dreams and how one can express the narrative content.23 Four temporal points are generated within the whole process of the realization of the dreams we are discussing here: first, the dream itself; second, the remembering after awakening and realization of the sign-character; third, the narration within the discussion which produces the first social knowledge of the sign; and, fourth, the writing as the last temporal realization, with infinite possibilities of reactualization. I wish to pay particular attention to this communication act, which signifies the gaining of stability.

22

23

Marsilio Ficino, Platonic Theology, English translation by Michael J.B. Allen, and Latin Text edited by James Hankins, The I Tatti Renaissance Library 13 (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard Univ. Press, 2004), Book xiii, Chapter ii Signum secundum: ab affectibus rationis / The second sign: from what the reason accomplishes /: De fatidicis et prophetis / On seers and prophets (130–149); Septem vacationis genera / The seven kinds of emptiness or release (150–169). Hans Ulrich Reck, Traum. Enzyklopädie (Paderborn: Fink, 2010), 81.

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The social and (prior to that) private validation of an experience of the doubtful “magic web of imagination”24 is realized through the verbal discussion and written narration. It is possible to compare these practices of validation with Babylonian oracular practices in order to prove the veracity of dreams.25 These practices reflect the ambiguous position of dreams, lying as they do between (binary) typology and experience: “Like Augustine’s visio spiritualis, dreams in principle come in opposed binary types; that is, they can be either true or false. But in practice most are ambiguous and fall somewhere between the two extremes. Theorists persistently tried to impose some kind of dichotomy on these nightly encounters with the uncanny, but the dreamworlds of experience no less persistently escaped and demanded a more subtle typology.”26 Consequently, dreams may lose at least part of their exclusive character and—even more—it may be dangerous to narrate dreams, since it is difficult to judge their veracity and interpret their message, as in an exemplum used by Thomas de Chobham in a sermon: a clerk dreamed that he had received a silver arm and interpreted this as a message that he would become bishop but, a few days later, he received a silver arm along with some relics. This clerk had apparently made a mistake regarding dream categories in his interpretation.27 The uncertainty of the origin of dreams can also be used as grounds for rejecting the responsibility for the dream, just as the most prominent miller of historiography, Menocchio, the hero of the cheese and worms, assigned his heretical ideas to dreams which had been sent to him by the devil.28 Following that, one may understand and even anticipate Frederick’s hesitancy to relate his dream and wait until events proved its content to be true. 24 25

26 27

28

Wendy Doniger O’Flaherty, Dreams, Illusion and Other Realities (Chicago [etc.]: The University of Chicago Press, 1984), 173. On a Sumerian inscription, more than 4,000 years old, the princeps of the town Lagasch, Gudea, successfully requested a dream-vision to confirm other divinatory declarations: Stefan M. Maul, Die Wahrsagekunst im Alten Orient: Zeichen des Himmels und der Erde, Historische Bibliothek der Gerda Henkel Stiftung (München: C.H. Beck, 2013), 161sq. Newman, “What Did It Mean to Say ‘I Saw’? The Clash between Theory and Practice in Medieval Visionary Culture,” 8. See also Herbers, in this volume, part iv. Thomas de Chobham, Sermones, s. xxiii, ed. Franco Morenzoni, cccm, 82A (Turnhout: Brepols, 1993), 237: Quoted from Franco Morenzoni, “Rêves et visions dans le Liber de exemplis et similitudinibus rerum de Jean de San Gimignano,” Medieval Sermon Studies 59 (2015): 6–20, 8; see there also on the utilisation of dreams in sermons, where John of San Gimignano distinguishes seven origins of dreams (recalling Gregory and Augustine)— celestial and divine dreams differ (11). Therefore, he restricts himself to biblical dreams, since most other dreams are fallacious and false. Carlo Ginzburg, The Cheese and the Worms: The Cosmos of a Sixteenth-Century Miller With a New Preface (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2013), 101.

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First, he doubted the veracity of his dream and, moreover, disdained its message. When he learned about the fulfilment of the conditions, he accepted the veracity of his dream, having believed it even prior to his coronation, but revealing it only after the event. This two-folded unreality testing, well known from very different cultural contexts,29 was fulfilled—at least provisional—at the discussion with Nicholas. The emperor related the dream later, after the prophecy had been fulfilled; otherwise, his own legitimacy might have been questioned. With the narration of the dream, however, he reveals to the pontiff his own status as a recipient of divine messages. I suggest that he wished to express through that narration his equal status to the pontiff, who has fulfilled, through the coronation of the emperor, the divine plan, and he obliged Nicholas to show himself in the same privileged position. Both dreamers are shown in this narration in contrast to Amedeo viii, elected as (anti-)pope Felix v at the council of Basel in 1439: Piccolomini tells an episode when he met the Duke Amedeo, who had renounced the world and was living in a hermitage at Thonon above Lake Geneva, but—as Piccolomini judged—more in a life of pleasure than in penitence. Piccolomini’s last sentences for this episode are the most important: “He was waiting, I suppose, for the event which occurred eight years later, his summons to the papal throne by the cardinals assembled at Basel. For even then there was a rumor that Amedeo would be pope—a rumor some said had been started by certain fortune-tellers endowed with the gift of prophecy. There are a great many such women in the mountains of Savoy.”30 In a more detailed version in the seventh book of the Commentaries, Piccolomini follows the line of a bull from pope Eugen iv, designed by Poggio Bracciolini, and he elaborates the description of the witches in Savoy and Amedeo’s active search for the prophecy.31 Amedeo challenges the divine plan and he is trusting in the veracity of the prophecy promising the fulfilment of his wishes. 29 30

31

O’Flaherty, Dreams, illusion and other realities, 175, 195. Pius ii. [Enea Silvio Piccolomini], Commentaries; Pius ii. [Enea Silvio Piccolomini], Pii ii commentarii rervm memorabilivm qve temporibvs svis contigervnt, i, 4: Cardinalis Sanctae Crucis eo tempore legatus in Franciam designates erat, inter Carolum Francorum et Henricum Anglorum reges pacem compositurus. Cum eo in Aeneas tertio Mediolanum et Urbis ducem vidit atque inde montem Iovis, quem Sancti Bernardi melius hodie vocitant, ad Amedeum Sabaudiae ducem pervenit; qui tunc spreto saeculo in heremo apud Thononium supra lacum Lemannum magis voluptuosam quam poenitentialem cum sex viris equestris ordinis (qui secum penulam et baculum assumpserant, ut mos es heremitis) vitam degebat— credo, quod post annis octo secutum est, expectans ad summi pontificates cathedram per patres qui Basileae convenerant evocari. Nam et tunc rumor increbruerat Amedeum papam futurum, quem nonnulli a sortilegis Pythonicum habentibus spiritum feminis, quibus Sabaudiae montes abundant, ortum asserebant. Pius ii. [Enea Silvio Piccolomini], Commentaries; Pius ii. [Enea Silvio Piccolomini], Pii ii

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The function of the dream narration may be comparable to those formulated by Barbara Newman for hagiographic “poetic dream visions, whose aim is not the replication of conventional saintly experiences but the creation of aesthetically satisfying texts that enable readers to imagine, if not actually experience, the transcendent.”32 Both the pope and emperor enjoy privileged access to the transcendent, which may be imagined through the dream narration.

4

The Re-narrativations

Not only for these reasons it may be illuminating to examine more closely the re-narrativations33 of the dream episodes in the Historia Austrialis. Since it resembles the other versions closely, it is possible to neglect the first reference narrated at the occasion of the election of Nicholas v,34 and turn our attention instead to the real parallel versions regarding the night following the coronation. As early as the first redaction, that was completed by 9 April 1454, as Martin Wagendorfer has ascertained, Piccolomini has framed the dreams with an explicit, dense integration into the theoretical, erudite contexts of dream thoughts:35 instead of relating vaguely a long discussion (sermone ad longum producto) as in the Commentaries, he evokes explicitly the topic: “Libet hic referre, quod semel inter papam et cesarem dictum est, ut de somniis aliqua dicamus, que multi spernenda putant neque Danieli neque Macrobio credunt.”36 He interwove this contextualisation into the dream-narration of the emperor, who categorizes his own dream as: “non somnium, sed visionem cer-

32 33

34

35 36

commentarii rervm memorabilivm qve temporibvs svis contigervnt, vii, 8. Ursula Gießmann, Der letzte Gegenpapst: Felix V. Studien zu Herrschaftspraxis und Legitimationsstrategien (1434–1451), Papsttum im mittelalterlichen Europa 3 (Cologne: Böhlau Verlag, 2014), 35, 143 sq. Newman, “What Did It Mean to Say “I Saw”? The Clash between Theory and Practice in Medieval Visionary Culture,” 4. Achim Aurnhammer, “Variation, Transformation, Korrektur. Literaturwissenschaftliche Konzepte der narrativen Wiederholung,” in Renarrativierung in der Vormoderne: Funktionen, Transformationen, Rezeptionen, eds. Thorsten Glückhardt, Sebastian Kleinschmidt and Verena Spohn, Faktuales und fiktionales Erzählen (Baden-Baden: Ergon Verlag, 2019). Pius ii. [Enea Silvio Piccolomini], “Die 1. Redaktion der Historia Austrialis,” ed. Julia Knödler, in Historia Austrialis, ed. Martin Wagendorfer and Julia Knödler, 2 vols., mgh Scriptores rerum Germanicarum in usum scholarum separatim editi, Nova Series xxiv, 1 + 2 (Hanover: Hahn, 2009), 1, 44. Wagendorfer, “Einleitung,” in Historia Austrialis. Pius ii. [Enea Silvio Piccolomini], “Die 1. Redaktion der Historia Austrialis,” in Historia Austrialis, 173.

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tam me habuisse coniectans.”37 In contrast to the ambiguous, implicit characterization in the Commentaries, Piccolomini suspends the typological dubiety of the dream with this explicit terminological differentiation: the emperor emphasizes in his narration the validity of the prognostication due to this alignment with scientific culture. Through a textual analysis and with regard to the content, where he identified the Policraticus of John of Salisbury as a source for the passage about the nature of dreams38 and complemented with additional manuscript studies, Martin Wagendorfer interprets these additions convincingly as a result of the erudite lecture of Piccolomini: at the end of the Historia Austrialis follows immediately (as an autograph) a concept of a letter, where Piccolomini wished to relate a dream, beginning with several remarks about the problems associated with dream prognostication, which can be identified as an excerpt from Albertus Magnus (Summa de creaturis).39 Within the second redaction (written between 1454 and May 1455), there is an even denser net, with allusions to the dreams of Hercules, which are put the pontiff in the mouth: “Herculem multa per quietem vidisse tradunt veteres. Agamemnon dum obsidet Ilium, saepe inter somniandum commonitus est, acies quo pacto victurus instrueret. Octauius bello Pharsalico non evasisset, nisi pedagogi somnio fidem habuisset.”40 Unlike in the Commentaries, the counsellors are named and contribute to the discussion about dreams—or, more precisely, in the second redaction: about the nature of dreams—, following the dream-narrations: “Hec nos, qui affuimus, audientes mirati sumus cepimusque de somniis disputare.”41 There exists another peculiar modification outside the dream-narrations in the narrow sense, in the spatial movement of the frame: in the Commentaries, the emperor visited the pope (cesar … Nicolaum pontificem adiit), whereas quite the opposite occurred in the Historia Austrialis: “Romanus pontifex inter

37 38

39 40 41

Pius ii. [Enea Silvio Piccolomini], “Die 1. Redaktion der Historia Austrialis,” in Historia Austrialis, 174. Pius ii. [Enea Silvio Piccolomini], “Die 2. und 3. Redaktion der Historia Austrialis,” ed. Martin Wagendorfer, in Historia Austrialis, eds. Martin Wagendorfer and Julia Knödler, 2 vols., mgh Scriptores rerum Germanicarum in usum scholarum separatim editi, Nova Series xxiv, 1 + 2 (Hanover: Hahn, 2009), 2, 620, note 203. Wagendorfer, “Einleitung,” in Historia Austrialis, 18, 33. Pius ii. [Enea Silvio Piccolomini], “Die 2. und 3. Redaktion der Historia Austrialis,” in Historia Austrialis, 621. Pius ii. [Enea Silvio Piccolomini], “Die 1. Redaktion der Historia Austrialis,” in Historia Austrialis, 174; more precisely in the 2. redaction: Haec nos, qui affuimus, audientes plurimum demirati diu de somniorum natura disputavimus: Pius ii. [Enea Silvio Piccolomini], “Die 2. und 3. Redaktion der Historia Austrialis,” in Historia Austrialis, 622.

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hec sepe in cubiculum ad cesarem veniebat.”42 One may consider this irrelevant, but I presume that it may hint at a changed perspective, with an inverse hierarchy for the pontiff and emperor. Is it possible to associate these observations with the other modifications, the thick contextualisation with another kind of validity of the dreams? Is it possible to define a modification of the character as a sign for the dream narrations, even with the double narration at the conclave and after the coronation of the emperor in the first redaction? Above all, there are fundamental modifications for the reader: the scope of interpretation is decisively reduced in the Historia Austrialis. Whereas the reader of the Commentaries must create his own classification of the dreams, this classification already exists through the presentation of erudite knowledge. Through that, I propose to interpret the explicit link with the scientific culture as a process of cultural negotiation, intersection and appropriation, as Stephen Greenblatt analysed.43 The historiographer, as an expert on the narration of truth and facts, becomes more visible, and his attempts to direct the attention of the reader are intensified. One may argue that, in the Commentarii, the personae of the dream narrations have been placed in the foreground whereas, in the Historia Austrialis it is the historiographical oriented discussion about the character of the dreams that is most prominent. Nevertheless, there persists a stable central point in both the Commentaries and the Historia Austrialis: dream politics and religion are coming together: the religious quality of the emperor and the political quality of the pope are forming an entangled relationship. This entangled relationship represents the heart of the function of the dream prognostication in both Pius’ Commentaries and the Historia Austrialis. This might explain the silence regarding the relation of veracity of dream visions with the faith of the dreamer which established John of Salisbury:44 in the second redaction of the Historia Austrialis, Frederick not only described his dream after the first awakening as probably ridiculous, but

42

43

44

Pius ii. [Enea Silvio Piccolomini], “Die 1. Redaktion der Historia Austrialis,” in Historia Austrialis, 173; Pius ii. [Enea Silvio Piccolomini], “Die 2. und 3. Redaktion der Historia Austrialis,” in Historia Austrialis, 619: “Illud autem scimus saepe Nicolaum ad caesarem in cubiculum venisse.” Stephen Greenblatt, “Resonance and Wonder,” in Bulletin of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences 43, no. 4 (1990): 11, 19. The same erudite texts used in the Historia Australis are forming the basis for another, explicite erudite and fictional dream-narration: Duane Henderson, “Einleitung,” in Dialogus. Eneas Silvius Piccolomini, ed. Duane Henderson, mgh Quellen zur Geistesgeschichte des Mittelalters 27 (Hanover: Hahn, 2011), xxviisq. Schirrmeister, “Dream Interpretation. Traditions and Practices in the Medieval Western Christian World,” 381.

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also points out the retrospective verification after the coronation with the sentence “Id nunc re comprobatum est.”45 Wagendorfer discusses, in his introduction to the edition, the possible orientation of the Historia Austrialis. He proposes a didactic-practical interest and imitation of Sallust, especially in the first redaction, and also discusses the opinion that the Historia Austrialis continues consequently the imperial orientation from other works. He agrees only partially, particularly with regard to the description of the journey to Rome, and hence the part of the Historia in which our interest lies.46 Wagendorfer argues that Piccolomini wrote especially the sequences about the coronation as an eyewitness, relying on his memory alone. He draws attention, therefore, to the chronological errors, even at these culminating points.47 It seems that the chronology did not play a decisive role, in contrast to the other concrete elements of the narration. The differences between the Commentaries and the Historia Austrialis are accentuated by an episode, immediately prior to the dream-narrations. This episode represents the only addition in the Commentaries, compared to the autobiographical version from 1453. This addition is brief but important.48 In chapter 23 of the first book of the Commentaries, and before the coronation, Pius relates a vision experienced by the emperor: One day, Aeneas was out riding with the emperor. Climbing the ridge of Monte Cimino above Viterbo, the emperor summoned Aeneas to his side. “Now look,” he said, “We are going to Rome. It looks like you are going to be a cardinal. And your luck won’t stop there. You’re going to the top. The throne of Peter awaits you. When you get there, make sure you don’t forget me.” Aeneas replied. “I’m not looking for a cardinal’s hat, and I don’t want a tiara.” “And yet,” the emperor said, “I can see that’s how it will be.” Aeneas took this as a joke.49 45 46 47

48

49

Pius ii. [Enea Silvio Piccolomini], “Die 2. und 3. Redaktion der Historia Austrialis,” in Historia Austrialis, 620. Wagendorfer, “Einleitung,” in Historia Austrialis, 26, 32. Wagendorfer, “Einleitung,” in Historia Austrialis, 38: “Was jene Passagen des Werkes betrifft, die auf Autopsie beruhen, so sind tatsächlich die zahlreichen chronologischen Irrtümer auch bei Höhepunkten des Werks wie den beiden Krönungen Friedrichs in Rom auffallend. Sie sind ein eindeutiges Indiz dafür, daß die betreffenden Abschnitte aus dem Gedächtnis geschrieben wurden.” Märtl, “Pauca de origine Enee suaque vita. Ein unbekanntes Selbstzeugnis Piccolominis, das erste Buch der Commentarii und Platinas Vita Pii ii.,” 169. I am grateful to Claudia Märtl for confirmation and for providing me with her personal collation of the Sienese manuscript (Siena G.vii.45) on this passage. Pius ii. [Enea Silvio Piccolomini], Commentaries, 115; Pius ii. [Enea Silvio Piccolomini],

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The veracity of the vision has been proofed afterwards, but the validity of the message has been emphasized in the moment of the conversation through the persona of the visionary emperor and through his own prognostic dream, told to Piccolomini only a short time after the vision. Through this insertion, the pope Pius aligns himself with Nicholas and Frederick. Moreover, Aeneas displays the same reaction as the emperor—he fails to take the prognostic seriously, believing in the vision only after the event or, at least, only relates it afterwards, when the prognostication guarantees the legitimacy of Aeneas as Pius. This insertion, I would argue, accentuates the different focalisation of the imperial version in the Historia Austrialis and the pontifical version in the Commentaries. We may return to the characterization of the Commentaries by Patricia Eichel-Lojkine, who emphasized the depiction of Aeneas as the beneficiary of a supernatural protection.50 The vision of the emperor can be interpreted as a counterpart, as another sign of Aeneas’ privileged position.

5

Conclusion

Piccolomini’s different versions of the dream narrations represent very sophisticated possibilities to act with and through dream prognostications. The narrations are adapted to suit various purposes, but their fundamental function remains the same: the narration affirms the stability of the cosmic order and, through that, the political and religious order, too. This seems to be a common function in very different societies, but a possible distinction from other communities and cultural societies resides in their position: at times, the visionary guarantee of the order remains unchallenged but, in the late Middle Ages, dreams and visions stand in a conflictual relation to other instances, which are not referring to a transcendental instance.

50

Pii ii commentarii rervm memorabilivm qve temporibvs svis contigervnt: Cum Cimini montis iugum, qui Viturvio imminet, ascendisset imperator, accersito inter equitandum Enea, ‘Ecce,’ inquit, ‘Romam petimus. Videre videor te cardinalem futurum; neque hic tua fortuna conquiescet. altius eveheris: beati Petri te cathedra manet. Cave ne me contempseris, ubi hoc honoris assecutus sis!’ cui Eneas: ‘Nec pontificatum maximum mihi arrogo, neque cardinalatum.’— At ego, ‘subintulit cesar, hoc ita futurum video.’ Eneas tanquam iocantis verba suscepit. There exists a parallel a little bit later in the same book, a prophecy of king Alfonso of Naples with the same reaction of Piccolomini (i, 32); There can be added two examples for Piccolomini’s humility in comparable cases: i, 17 (possible election as a bishop), i, 30 (rumors of a cardinal’s hat). Eichel-Lojkine, “Les quasi-morts d’Enea Silvio Piccolomini racontées par lui-même (Commentarii, 1464): l’ histoire aux prises avec l’ insolite,” 249.

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This is, in my opinion, the major reason for the extremely exact, concrete narrative setting in Piccolomini’s accounts. There is a certain awareness of the possible fallacious character of dreamed messages, so the veracity of dreams remains dubious. The (un-)reality testing is necessary for social validation in the European Middle Ages. Therefore, Piccolomini’s narration of the dreams in all of the different versions can be understood as an expression of the epistemological and cultural changes that were occurring in the late Middle Ages: there is a persistent oscillation about the human condition—as Patricia Eichel-Lojkine formulated, the reader always stands between certitude and incertitude regarding the correlation of events, whether transcendent guidance exists or not, and Piccolomini and the emperor’s scepticism about the veracity of their visions represents an aspect of this oscillating world-view.51 They are aware of the serious consequences for their persona if they had taken a fallacious prophecy for veritable and if they had referred to this prognostication in any way. Piccolomini’s historiographical dream narratives represent, therefore, specific occurrences of a general, anthropological theme: the recognition of the veracity of the dreams demands a communicative process: divine knowledge exists and acts outside any temporal restriction.52 Transferred into human proportions: it is the written narration that captures the reader’s imagination and guarantees, as a result, the stable presence of the divine experience within the human interaction, so dreams can be signs of the future as part of the hidden reality.

References Aurnhammer, Achim. “Variation, Transformation, Korrektur. Literaturwissenschaftliche Konzepte der narrativen Wiederholung.” In Renarrativierung in der Vormoderne: Funktionen, Transformationen, Rezeptionen, edited by Thorsten Glückhardt, Sebastian Kleinschmidt, and Verena Spohn, 39–66. Faktuales und fiktionales Erzählen. Baden-Baden: Ergon Verlag, 2019.

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Eichel-Lojkine, “Les quasi-morts d’Enea Silvio Piccolomini racontées par lui-même (Commentarii, 1464): l’ histoire aux prises avec l’ insolite,” 255sq. Wolfgang Haubrichs named this the “flexibility of time” (Biegsamkeit der Zeit) within the visions told in the Chronicle of Thietmar of Merseburg, Id., “Visionen auf dem Zeitpfeil: Termine, Fristen, Zeitstruktur in den in der Chronik Thietmars von Merseburg (975–1018) berichteten Träumen und Visionen,” in Zeiterfahrungen im Traum. Was war, was ist, was sein wird, eds. Laura Vordermayer and Christian Quintes, Traum—Wissen—Erzählen 8 (Paderborn: Wilhelm Fink Verlag, 2021), 29.

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Barr, Jessica. Willing to Know God: Dreamers and Visionaries in the Later Middle Ages. Columbus: Ohio State University Press, 2010. Eichel-Lojkine, Patricia. “Les quasi-morts d’Enea Silvio Piccolomini racontées par luimême (Commentarii, 1464): l’histoire aux prises avec l’insolite.” In De bonne vie s’ensuit bonne mort: Récits de mort, récits de vie en Europe (xve—xviie siècle), edited by Patricia Eichel-Lojkine, 239–258. Paris: Champion, 2006. Ficino, Marsilio. Platonic Theology. English translation Michael J.B. Allen and Latin Text edited by James Hankins. The I Tatti Renaissance Library 13. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard Univ. Press, 2004. Gerok-Reiter, Annette, and Christine Walde, eds. Traum und Vision in der Vormoderne: Traditionen, Diskussionen, Perspektiven. Berlin: Akademie Verlag, 2012. Gießmann, Ursula. Der letzte Gegenpapst: Felix V. Studien zu Herrschaftspraxis und Legitimationsstrategien (1434–1451). Papsttum im mittelalterlichen Europa 3. Cologne: Böhlau Verlag, 2014. Ginzburg, Carlo. The Cheese and the Worms: The Cosmos of a Sixteenth-Century Miller. With a New Preface. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2013. Greenblatt, Stephen. “Resonance and Wonder.”Bulletin of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences 43, no. 4 (1990): 11–34. Haubrichs, Wolfgang. “Visionen auf dem Zeitpfeil: Termine, Fristen, Zeitstruktur in den in der Chronik Thietmars von Merseburg (975–1018) berichteten Träumen und Visionen.” In Zeiterfahrungen im Traum. Was war, was ist, was sein wird, edited by Laura Vordermayer and Christian Quintes, 23–43, Traum—Wissen—Erzählen 8. Paderborn: Wilhelm Fink Verlag, 2021. Helmrath, Johannes. “Pius ii. und die Türken.” In Wege des Humanismus: Studien zu Praxis und Diffusion der Antikeleidenschaft im 15. Jahrhundert. Ausgewählte Aufsätze Band i, 279–341. Spätmittelalter, Humanismus, Reformation 72. Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2013. Henderson, Duane. “Einleitung,” in Dialogus. Eneas Silvius Piccolomini, edited by Duane Henderson, xi-lxviii, MGH Quellen zur Geistesgeschichte des Mittelalters 27, Hanover: Hahn, 2011. Kilborne, Benjamin. “On Classifying Dreams.” In Dreaming: Anthropological and Psychological Interpretations, edited by Barbara Tedlock, 171–193. School of American Research advanced seminar series. Santa Fe, N.M: School of American Research Press, 1992. Landfester, Manfred, ed. Renaissance-Humanismus: Lexikon zur Antikerezeption. Neuer Pauly Supplemente 9. Stuttgart: J.B. Metzler, 2014. Märtl, Claudia. “Pauca de origine Enee suaque vita. Ein unbekanntes Selbstzeugnis Piccolominis, Das erste Buch der Commentarii und Platinas Vita Pii ii.” In Deutsches Archiv für Erforschung des Mittelalters 71, no. 1 (2015): 149–174. Märtl, Claudia. “Les Commentarii d’Enea Silvio Piccolomini (Pie ii, 1405/1458–1464).”

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In Autobiographies Souveraines, edited by Pierre Monnet and Jean-Claude Schmitt, 221–245. Paris: Éditions de la Sorbonne, 2019. http://books.openedition.org/psorbon ne/33754. Maul, Stefan M. Die Wahrsagekunst im Alten Orient: Zeichen des Himmels und der Erde. Historische Bibliothek der Gerda Henkel Stiftung. München: C.H. Beck, 2013. Morenzoni, Franco. “Rêves et visions dans le Liber de exemplis et similitudinibus rerum de Jean de San Gimignano.” In Medieval Sermon Studies 59 (2015): 6–20. Newman, Barbara. “What Did It Mean to Say ‘I Saw’? The Clash Between Theory and Practice in Medieval Visionary Culture.” In Speculum 80, no. 1 (2005): 1–43. O’Flaherty, Wendy Doniger. “The Dream Narrative and the Indian Doctrine of Illusion.” In Daedalus 111, no. 3 (1982): 93–113. O’Flaherty, Wendy Doniger. Dreams, Illusion and Other Realities. Chicago [etc.]: The University of Chicago Press, 1984. Oppenheim, A. Leo. “The Interpretation of Dreams in the Ancient Near East. With a Translation of an Assyrian Dream-Book.” In Transactions of the American Philosophical Society 46, no. 3 (1956): 179–373. Pius ii. [Enea Silvio Piccolomini]. Der Briefwechsel des Eneas Silvius Piccolomini. ii. Abteilung: Briefe als Priester und als Bischof von Triest (1447–1450), edited by Rudolf Wolkan. Fontes rerum Austriacarum 2. Abt. 67. Wien, 1912. Pius ii. [Enea Silvio Piccolomini]. Pii ii commentarii rervm memorabilivm qve temporibvs svis contigervnt. Edited by Adrianus van Heck. 2 vols. Studi e testi / Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana. Città del Vaticano: Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, 1984. Pius ii. [Enea Silvio Piccolomini]. Commentaries, edited by Margaret Meserve and Marcello Simonetta, The I Tatti Renaissance Library 12. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard Univ. Press, 2003. Pius ii. [Enea Silvio Piccolomini]. “Die 1. Redaktion der Historia Austrialis.” Edited by Julia Knödler. In Historia Austrialis 1, edited by Martin Wagendorfer and Julia Knödler, 2 vols., mgh, Scriptores rerum Germanicarum in usum scholarum separatim editi, Nova Series xxiv, 1+2, 1–233. Hanover: Hahn, 2009. Pius ii. [Enea Silvio Piccolomini]. “Die 2. und 3. Redaktion der Historia Austrialis.” Edited by Martin Wagendorfer. In Historia Austrialis 2, edited by Martin Wagendorfer and Julia Knödler. 2 vols., mgh, Scriptores rerum Germanicarum in usum scholarum separatim editi, Nova Series xxiv, 1+2, 235–846. Hanover: Hahn, 2009. Pius ii. [Enea Silvio Piccolomini]. Historia Austrialis, edited by Martin Wagendorfer and Julia Knödler, 2 vols., mgh, Scriptores rerum Germanicarum in usum scholarum separatim editi, Nova Series xxiv, 1+2. Hanover: Hahn, 2009. Reck, Hans Ulrich. Traum. Enzyklopädie. Paderborn: Fink, 2010. Reinhardt, Volker. “Piccolomini, Enea Silvio.” In Renaissance-Humanismus, edited by Manfred Landfester, col. 746–750. Stuttgart: J.B. Metzler, 2014.

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Reinhardt, Volker. Pius ii. Piccolomini: Der Papst, mit dem die Renaissance begann. München: C.H. Beck, 2014. Schirrmeister, Albert. “Traum.” In Renaissance-Humanismus, edited by Manfred Landfester, col. 974–983. Stuttgart: J.B. Metzler, 2014. Schirrmeister, Albert. “Dream Interpretation. Traditions and Practices in the Medieval Western Christian World.” In Prognostication in the Medieval World: A Handbook, edited by Matthias Heiduk, Klaus Herbers, and Hans-Christian Lehner, 371–385. De Gruyter reference. Berlin: de Gruyter, 2021. Schmitt, Jean-Claude. “Les rêves de Guibert de Nogent.” In Le corps, les rites, les rêves, le temps: Essais d’anthropologie médiévale, 263–294. Paris: Gallimard, 2001. Toews, John B. “Formative Forces in the Pontificate of Nicholas v, 1447–1455.” In The Catholic Historical Review 54, no. 2 (1968): 261–284. Wagendorfer, Martin. “Einleitung.” In Historia Austrialis 1, edited by Martin Wagendorfer and Julia Knödler, 2 vols., xi–clxxxiv, mgh, Scriptores rerum Germanicarum in usum scholarum separatim editi, Nova Series xxiv, 1+2. Hanover: Hahn, 2009.

part 2 Signs and Nature

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4 The Emblematic Birth of a Monster in the High Middle Ages Hans-Christian Lehner

A certain fascination for the abnormal is one of the fundamental characteristics of human societies of all times. Therefore, the dreadful-curious observation of abnormalities within living beings is emblematic. The imagination knows no limits when it comes to picturing and describing these abnormalities in a multiplicity of forms.1 At the same time, there is a search for the meaning of the abnormal—as concrete signs or, on a more abstract level, as the subject of the discussion of what “normal” even means. In the following, I will offer a brief overview of the scholarly traditions of thought regarding monsters in Antiquity and the European Middle Ages, which has inspired an increasing interest in the history of science in recent years.2 Against this backdrop, I will focus on monstrous individuals (as opposed to the monstrous collective or peoples). In the chosen examples of monstrous nativities from the High Middle Ages, I will show how they have been dealt with and interpreted in historiographical works and how this might be classified.

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Ancient and Medieval Traditions

The question of what such abnormal beings can supposedly show us gave them their names in many languages, when we refer to them as “Monster”, “mon-

1 This theme has indeed been an issue in a vast variety of fields, including film and comic books. An overview of the fascination for such abnormalities, from Stone Age monsters to cyborgs, is provided by Hubert Filser, Menschen brauchen Monster (Munich: Piper, 2017). 2 Cf. in selection: Lorraine Daston and Katherine Park, Wunder und die Ordnung der Natur (Frankfurt a. M.: Eichborn, 1998), 1150–1750; Gabriela Antunes and Björn Reich, eds., (De)formierte Körper: Die Wahrnehmung und das Andere im Mittelalter = Corps (Dé)formés: Perceptions et l’ Altérité au Moyen-Âge; Interdisziplinäres Seminar Straßburg, 19. März 2010 (Göttingen: Universitätsverlag Göttingen 2012), especially the introduction of the editors, 9–30, and the contribution of Volker Scior, “Monströse Körper: Zur Deutung und Wahrnehmung von ‘monstra’ im Mittelalter,” 31–50; Asa Simon Mittman and Peter J. Dendle, eds., The Ashgate Research Companion to Monsters and the Monstrous (Farnham/Surrey: Ashgate, 2013);

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ster”, “monstre”, “monstruo” or “mostro”—all derived from the Latin monstrum. In ancient times, the term monstrum had three different meanings, whose common feature was a deviation from the normality of expectations. This could be interpreted in various ways.3 First, we find the interpretation as a supernatural phenomenon through which the gods sent signs to humans; then, as an error of nature that could be classified according to the laws of nature; and, finally, as an expression of the creative freedom of nature or God. In his work De generatione animalium, Aristotle (384–322bce) referred to creatures that do not resemble their parents as terata (τέρατα), which he regarded as an error of nature; according to him, they were subject to the laws of nature as were normal births; therefore, they could be classified according to the degree of their malformation, ranging from dissimilitude between father and son to monstrous deformation.4 For Aristotle, these monsters did not mean or portend anything specific. Not being a “normal” male child was enough to consider a birth as monstrous; the female generative secretions had triumphed over the male seed. There are numerous examples of the word monstrum being employed to describe ugly individuals (even in a moral sense, if we consider the famous Cleopatra-Ode by Horace (65 bce–8ce), where he describes the Egyptian queen as fatale monstrum5). In his famous work De divinatione, Marcus Tullius Cicero (106–143bce) discusses abnormal births (a mule giving birth to a foal) as signs (portenta) sent by the gods to indicate future events.6 Pliny (23–79ce) as well as Solinus (3rd century ce) used the term monstra in the sense of both an extraordinary birth that was again a sign of future events, and also extraordinary people, with no comparable emblematic meaning. Another tradition deemed monsters to be mirabilia, wonders of nature. Considerably based on Pliny the Elder’s (ca. 77–79ce) encyclopedic outline in his Natural History,7 the authors in this tradition considered the possibility of monstrous collectives (or races of monsters) dwelling in the outermost corners of the

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Rudolf Simek, Monster im Mittelalter. Die phantastische Welt der Wundervölker und Fabelwesen (Cologne/Weimar/Vienna: Böhlau Verlag, 2015). Cf. Marina Münkler and Werner Röcke, “Der ordo-Gedanke und die Hermeneutik der Fremde im Mittelalter: Die Auseinandersetzung mit den monströsen Völkern des Erdrandes,” in Die Herausforderung durch das Fremde, ed. Herfried Münkler (Berlin: Akademie Verlag, 1998), 701–766, here 722–723. Cf. Pierre Louis, “Monstres et monstruosités dans la Biologie d’Aristote,” in Le monde grec, eds. J. Bingen et al. (Bruxelles: Editions de l’ Universite de Bruxelles, 1975), 277–284. Horace, Odes, i.37. Cicero, De Divinatione, i, 18 and ii, 22. Cf. Bert Gevaert and Christian Laes, “What’s in a Monster? Pliny the Elder, Teratology and Bodily Disability,” in Disabilities in Roman Antiquity. Disparate Bodies ‘A Capite ad Calcem’, eds. Christian Laes, Chris Goodey, and M. Lynn Rose (Leiden: Brill, 2013), 211–230.

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earth. The monstrosity of these distant peoples appeared in physical or behavioral abnormalities. They were staged splendidly on medieval mappae mundi (world maps).8 Latin-Greek Dictionaries show that the Latin terms monstrum, portentum, prodigium and ostentum, the possible translations of the Greek term teras (τέρας), differed from each another only with regard to shades of meaning. In his encyclopedic work De compendiosa doctrina, Nonius Marcellus (4th century ce) distinguished the different meanings according to the intentions of the gods pursued by their messages: Monstra (and ostenta), he explained, were warnings from the gods, while prodigia constituted threatening expressions of their wrath. Eventually, portenta came to point, rather generally, to an imminent danger.9 Through this interpretation, the term monstrum derived from the verb monere (admonish), specified a single phenomenon that was threatening or frightening in any case, because it was always treated as a portent of terrible events.10 This characteristic of being a fearsome reference to an upcoming event was transmitted to the monstra themselves: As nativities that deviate from the so-called normal, they caused fear not only by their indication, but also became terrible, malevolent beings themselves. In medieval times, the theological discussion about monstrous creatures was linked to the ancient traditions in a slightly modified manner. The determining factor was the question of their role in the divine plan of creation. Augustine of Hippo (354–430 ce) derived monstra not from monere/monendo (warn), but from monstrare (show). He targeted solely the symbolic nature of the phenomenon rather than its negative aspect. In De civitate Dei, he described malformed humans as part of God’s plan.11 Although there might be examples of the opposite, his attempt to interpret individual wonders and miraculous people as equivalent to a sign of divine omnipotence evoked relatively little response.12 Isidore of Seville (560–636ce) achieved a far greater influence: in 8

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Cf. Marina Münkler, “Experiencing Strangeness: Monstrous Peoples on the Edge of the Earth as Depicted on Medieval Mappae Mundi,” in Travellers, intellectuals and the world beyond Medieval, ed. James Muldoon (Aldershot et al.: Routledge, 2017), 331–358. monstra et prodigia et portenta hoc distant, quod sunt monstra ostenta et monita deorum […] prodigia deorum minae vel irae. […] portenta ostenta quae aliquid inminere significant. Nonius Marcelus, De compendiosa doctrina 3, ed. Wallace M. Lindsay (Leipzig: Teubner, 1903), 701–702 (435M). Cf. John Friedmann, The Monstrous Races in Medieval Art and Thought (Cambridge MA/ London: Harvard Univ. Press, 1981), 117–118. […] ex illo uno protoplasto originem ducere nullus fidelium dubitauerit. Apparet tamen quid in pluribus natura obtinuertit et quid sit ipsa raritate mirabile. Aurelii Augustini Opera Pars xiv, 2, De civitate Dei, libri xi–xxii, eds. Bernhard Dombart and Alphons Kalb, ccsl 48, xvi, 8 (Turnhout: Brepols, 2014), 508–509. Cf. Daston/Park, Wunder, 207–208.

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his Etymologiae, he referred to the older etymological derivation of the term monstrum from monere/monendo, which had always been interpreted as a warning of future dire events in the ancient etymologies. The section on monstra appears in the eleventh book, “De homine et partibus eius,” and is entitled “De portentis”. Isidor explained that a portentum (here: freak/monster) seems to be something against nature; this was, according to Isidore, not the case, since everything originated from the omnipotence of God and the things created by Him were nature. A portentum, therefore, was not against nature, just against the nature known to us. Some monsters seem to be created to indicate future phenomena. Occasionally, God wishes to herald the future through some damage to the newborn, as well as by dream-visions and oracles, through which he predicts and describes future misfortunes to some peoples or individuals.13 This idea seems important: the monster is explained as a sign sent by God to warn of impending doom. To explore how this view might have worked in concrete terms, I wish to consider three special cases in which monstrous individuals have been recorded in historiographical works and the authors ascribed an emblematic meaning to them.

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Annales Quedlinburgenses / Thietmar of Merseburg: Chronicon

The first example concerns a malformation of a newborn, reported in two chronicles, which probably depend on each other: The Annals of Quedlinburg and the famous chronicle by Thietmar of Merseburg. Example 1: The half-human child The Annals of Quedlinburg14 were written between 1008 and 1030 in the convent of Quedlinburg Abbey. The account of the year 995 reports that in the territory of Halberstadt, in Hordorf to be precise,15 a malformed child was born. The malfunction is described in detail. The child’s body ended at its buttocks. The buttocks themselves were birdlike in shape but without feathers. The right ear and eye were larger than their counterparts on the left. The teeth were horribly saffron-colored. The left arm was fine but four fingers were missing from the left hand, whilst there was no right arm at all. This unspeakable monster (infandum monstrum) looked around, irritated/dismayed (attonitus), before its 13 14 15

Etymologiae xi, iii, 4. Die Annales Quedlinburgenses, ed. Martina Giese, mgh ss rer. Ger. 72 (Hanover: Hahn’sche Buchhandlung, 2004). The manuscripts have Hordorp/Horthorp/Orthorp, all referring to Hordorf, today a part of the town Oschersleben in the Börde district, in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany.

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baptism but, once baptized, it no longer looked around and died on the fourth day after its birth.16 This report is followed by bad events: the whole of Germania suffered a general loss due to a disease among pigs and cattle. Also, the count palatine of Saxony, Theoderic, as well as his brother, Sigibert, died. Considering the fact that Quedlinburg and Hordorf lie only about 17 miles apart, it is plausible that the author of the chronicle had learned about this monstrum at first hand. In any case, as can be demonstrated, parts of the Annals of Quedlinburg were used by Thietmar, Bishop of Merseburg. Between 1012 and 1018, he composed his Chronicon,17 which comprises eight books covering the period from 908 to 1018. As counsellor of the Emperor and participant in many important political transactions, he was well-equipped to write a history of his times.18 However, he also carefully recorded events that seemed strange and portentous to him. This included a large number of natural phenomena and also the birth of a freak in Hordorf, about which he had learned from the Annals of Quedlinurg.19 The report—related to the year 996—is indeed partly a word-by-word adoption from the original, with only slight changes. The child is half-human with goose-like buttocks. The ear and eye on the right were smaller than those on the left; the teeth were saffron-colored; four fingers were missing from the left hand; before its baptism, it looked around, irritated, but did not look around at all following its baptism, dying on the fourth day.20 Up to this point, Thietmar sticks to the information he had found in the Quedlinburg Annals (or a 16

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In Halberstadensis territorio ecclesiae, Hordorpio nomine, natus est infans nihil corporis habens a posterioribus deorsum nec crura nec membrum virile aut muliebre, sed tantummodo dimidius homo, habens posteriora quasi auce sine plumis, aurem dextram maiorem sinistra et oculum similiter sinistro maiorem, dentibus vero crocei coloris horribilis, sinistro brachio absque quatuor digitis solo cum pollice integro, dextro penitus erat brachio privatus; qui ante baptismum attonitus videns oculis, post baptismum oculos nunquam aperiens quarto suae nativitatis die infandum moritur monstrum. Ann. Quedl., ed. Giese, 489. Thietmar of Merseburg, Chronicon, ed. Robert Holtzmann, mgh ss rer. Ger. Nova Series 9 (Berlin: Weidmannsche Buchhandlung, 1935). Hans-Christian Lehner, “On the Function and Account of Rulers’ Decision-Making in the Works of Thietmar of Merseburg, Adam of Bremen, Helmold of Bosau, and Henry of Livonia,” in Unterstützung bei herrscherlichem Entscheiden. Experten und ihr Wissen in transkultureller und komparativer Perspektive, ed. Michael Grünbart, Kulturen des Entscheidens 5 (Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 2021), 117–131. Already in the first mgh edition, ed. Johann Martin Lappenberg (mgh ss, 3) (Hanover: Hahn’sche Buchhandlung, 1839), 733–871, also in Thietmar ed. Holtzmann vii, 26 (17), 162. Interim in quadam villa Horthorp dicta natus est infans, dimidius homo, posterioribus auce similis, dextram aurem et oculum leva minorem habens, dentes croco similes, sinistrum brachium absque iiii digitis solo cum pollice integrum, ante baptismum attonite videns, et post nihil, iiiia die moriens. Thietmar, ed. Holtzmann, 162.

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source on which both chronicles relied21), but thereafter proceeds to interpret the child’s birth: “This monster induced a great pestilence because of our misdoings”.22 This is not an interpretation based on the malformation of the child, but on the birth of a freak itself. In addition, Thietmar complicates matters slight by writing that the pestilence arose because of the misdeeds, as indicated by the freak. The pestilence, in turn, was arguably that which the author of the Quedlinburg Annals had mentioned without making a direct link to the monstrous birth. The death of the count palatine is noted elsewhere in Thietmar’s text. As a matter of fact, we can find episodes with portentous signs throughout the Chronicon, but especially when Thietmar writes about his own time.23 He reports that the appearance of a comet in 989 indicated subsequent pestilence.24 This connection had been also made in the Annals of Quedlinburg.25 In the account for the year 992, he mentions that, at daybreak, the sky was as bright as day; in the same year, some witnessed three suns, three moons and the stars fighting each other. This is followed by the report of the death of the archbishop of Trier.26 In another episode, he confirms that he had received a trustworthy report about an incident, where blood poured out of bread. Thietmar explicitly adds his own interpretation, stating that he believes that this sign of the future (prodigium futuri) signified (presignavit) the outcome of a war, in which the blood of many was shed.27 In the closing parts of his chronicle, Thietmar observes a number of signs, possible harbingers of even bigger detriment. He presents a list, including toxic fungi, a nova, shining extremely bright, and a pack of wolves. The fear amongst the people is especially emphasized.28 To make matters worse, a terrible earth-

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In terms of chronology, the arrangement of information in both texts is indeed very different. Magnam hoc monstrum facinoribus nostris intulit pestilentiam. Ibid. (Both versions are similar). An exception would be the passage about the miraculous fountain of the Glomuzi tribe at the beginning of book i. This fountain was said to foreshadow (premonstrare) future events such as war. Cf. Thietmar ed. Holtzmann i, 3, 6. Cometa apparens damna in pestilenciis subsequutura indixit. Thietmari Chronicon, 4.10, 124. Cometae apparuerunt, quas pestilentia subsequuta est grandis hominum et iumentorum et maxime boum. Ann. Qued., ed. Giese, 477. Indeed, Comet Halley appeared in 989. Thietmar, ed. Holtzmann iv 19 (12), 154. Et, ut reor, hoc prodigium futuri exitum belli ac in eo multorum cruorem hominum presignavit emanaturum. Thietmar, ed. Holtzmann vii, 70, 485. Thietmar, ed. Holtzmann viii, 29, 527.

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quake and the loss of many knights had to be added to the list.29 Like in the monster-episode, Thietmar refers to the sinfulness of humans. All of these passages share in common the fact that Thietmar interprets the signs which had come to his attention—be it through other texts, oral reports or his own observation—as expressions of the sinfulness of humans and of imminent doom. The monster incident of Hordorf is in direct line with these narratives.30

3

Annales Egmundani

A chronicle from the Benedictine monastery in Egmond in the diocese of Utrecht, north of the present-day Netherlands, provides two further, vivid examples. This chronicle is known as “Annales Egmundani”.31 This text provides annalistic history in Latin prose from the year 640 ce up to 1207 ce. Independent reports become increasingly frequent in the 11th century, persistently from the year 1117 onward. Fortunately, the autograph of this chronicle survived and gave great advice on the different authors: according to the last published works by Jan W. Burgers,32 a first author wrote the period up to the year 1120. By a second hand, an account of the period from 1120 to 1173 was written between 1170 and 1175. His work was continued by a third hand and this scribe was responsible for writing about the period from 1176 to 1202. The chronicle was finalized by the Egmond chaplain Allinus,33 who also made additions to the years 1190–1202. 29 30

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Ibid. viii, 30, 527–528. Thietmar’s chronicle is entirely composed in this way. Indeed, the prologue sets the tone at the very beginning. Cf. Stefano Manganaro, “Eschatological Awareness without Apocalyptic or Millenarian Expectations: Facing the Future in the Ottonian World (from the 10th to the Early 11th Century),” in International Journal of Divination & Prognostication 1 (2019), 204–250. Annales Egmundani, ed. Georg Heinrich Pertz, mgh ss 16 (Hanover: Hahn’sche Buchhandlung, 1859), 442–479. I use this edition, henceforth: Ann. Egm. Cf. also the bilingual edition (Latin/Dutch): Annalen van Egmond. De ‘Annales Egmundenses’ tezamen met de ‘Annales Xantenses’ en het Egmondse Leven van Thomas Becket. Het ‘Chronicon Egmundanum’, ed. Marijke Gumbert-Hepp, Johann P. Gumbert, and Jan W. Burgers, Middeleeuwse Studies en Bronnen cvii (Hilversum: Verloren, 2007)—henceforth Annalen van Egmond. Jan W. Burgers, “Geschiedschrijving in Holland tot omstreeks 1300,” in Jaarboek voor middeleeuwse geschiedenis 3 (2000): 92–130, especially the table on 97; cf. also Annalen van Egmond, 19–29. Cf. Jan W. Burgers, “Allinus, grafelijk kapelaan en Egmonds geschiedschrijver,” in In het spoor van Egbert. Aartsbisschop Egbert van Trier, de bibliotheek en geschiedschrijving van

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With regards to the content, the “Annales Egmundani” maintain a relatively local focus, especially for the independent sections. The chronicle provides a clear representation of which issues mattered essentially: events that affected the daily lives of people, such as war and storms. What makes the chronicle even more interesting is the explicit perception of abnormalities concerning humans or animals as a forecast of developments on the level of policy. Example 2: The boy with no arms or legs In the first example, the reader learns that, in 1122, a boy was born in the village of Honela who had—like a fish—neither legs nor arms, which prophesied (portendere) that Flanders would soon be bereaved of hands and feet, as became evident from the death of Charles.34 Charles i the Good, Count of Flanders, was indeed victim of an assassination in 1127,35 which the “Annales Egmundani” report in detail in the entry for the year 1126. Here, the importance of the malformation is presented as a prediction that has come true— without limitation or relativization. Of course, it is written in retrospective. The murder of Charles is one of the best-documented deaths. Galbert of Bruges recorded it in great detail in his work “The Murder, Betrayal, and Slaughter of the Glorious Charles, Count of Flanders.”36 In the Egmond Annals, the credibility of the predictive power in this matter is clearly considered as given and unquestionable. The indication of the time and place emphasizes the authenticity. The reference to an event of such great political significance highlights this importance even further. The fact that this passage was written about 50 years after the events raises the question of the possible source. If Honela is correctly identified with modern-day Houlles—Flemish Holne—in in the Pasde-Calais department in the Hauts-de-France region of France, then the author of the Annales Egmundani might well have learnt of the incident through a (lost) Flemish source from Saint Winnoc Abbey, Bergues, as the latest edition suggests.37 Bergues is 18 miles distant from Houlles. It seems even more likely that the Egmond chronicler used a continuation of the chronicle of Sigebert of

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het klooster Egmond, ed. Georgius Norbertus Maria Vis, Egmondse Studiën 3 (Hilversum: Verloren, 1997), 65–149. Anno 1122. in villa Honela natus est puer in modum piscis nec brachia habens nec coxas, portendens Flandriam viribus tanquam manibus et pedibus in suis principibus privandam, quod in morte Karoli evidenter patuit. Ann. Egm., Anno 1122, 451. Cf. most recently Laurent Feller, L’ assassinat de Charles le Bon comte de Flandre: 2 mars 1127, Synthèses historiques (Paris: Perrin, 2012). Galbertus Brugensis, De multro, traditione et occisione gloriosi Karoli comitis Flandriarum (Turnhout: Brepols, 1994). Cf. Annalen van Egmond (n. 6), 167.

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Gembloux written in St Mary’s Abbey, Bourbourg, 12 miles distant from Houlle. In this text, the entry for the year 1122 offers the same information about the malformed child, rendering the place more precisely as a village in Flanders called Hovela.38 The birth is not interpreted as a sign of future calamity here. The same source was probably used by the author of the Chronicle of St Bavo’s abbey in Ghent, who also recorded the event without further interpretation.39 It was then the exclusive idea of the Egmond chronicler to link this event with the murder of Charles. It is remarkable that the notification about the birth of the malformed boy found its way into these chronicles. Nevertheless, there were even other attempts to connect the unheard-of death of Charles with a portentous event. The aforementioned contemporary report on the murder of Charles by Galbert of Bruges notes that God deigned to recall his people through terrible signs (signa): bloody water appeared in ditches as a sign of coming murder.40 This sign is also recorded in a similar way by two other chroniclers. Simon of St Berthin, who continued the Gesta Abbatum Sancti Berthini Sithiensium, writes that the death of Charles had been preceded by portentous signs (signa portentuosa): plenty of blood emanated from castles’ ditches; as the blood was decocted by many, it led to an unbearable stink.41 The author of the Annales Blandinienses, an annalistic work written in Ghent, reports that, in the year 1127, blood poured out of the castles’ donjons, portending (portendens) the blood, which was shed in that same year.42 The description of these signs illustrates the need to explain or try to make sense out of this most terrible act. Even the most contemporary report by Gal38

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In Flandria apud villam quae dicitur Hovela, natus est puer in modum piscis, nec brachia habens nec coxas. Continuatio Burburgensis, ed. Ludwig Konrad Bethmann, mgh ss 6 (Hanover: Hahn’sche Buchhandlung, 1844), 456. In villa Honela natus est puer in modum piscis, nec brachia hahens nec coxas. Chronicon Sancti Bavonis, ed. Joseph-Jean de Smet, Corpus Chronicorum Flandriae (Buxells: Hayez, 1837), 577. Nam circa viciniam nostram in fossatis aquae cruentae apparuerunt in signum futurae cedis […]. Galbertus Notarius Brugensis, De multro, traditione et occisione gloriosi Karoli Comitis Flandriarum, ed. Jeff Rider, cccm 131 (Turnhout: Brepols 1994), 35. Anno 1127. Karolus apud Brugis […] occiditur. Cuius mortem portentuosa signa praecurrunt. Nam in dungionum fossis abundantia sanguinis emanans et a plerisque decoctus, intolerabilem foetorem de se reddidit, sanguinem qui effusus est in morte Karoli vel in ipsius ultione pretendens et foetorem proditionis quaquaversus expandens. Gesta Abbatum Sancti Berthini Sithiensium, ed. Oswald Holder-Egger, mgh ss 13 (Hanover: Hahn’sche Buchhandlung 1881), 600–673, here 658. Hoc anno multa mira evenerunt. Nam sanguis ex dunnionibus castellorum emanavit, ipsum sanguinem qui eodem anno effusus est portendens. Nam Karolum comitem Flandriae servi sui apud Bruggas […] ante altare interemerunt. Annales Blandinienses, ed. Ludwig Bethmann, mgh ss 5 (Hanover: Hahn’sche Buchhandlung, 1844), 20–34, here 28.

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bert is concerned with the question and states that God himself had caused the signs in order to deter the conspirators from their crime—but in vain, because they “had been plotting the count’s betrayal with a hardened zeal of heart.”43 Example 3: The lamb with two heads The Egmond Annals provide another example of an interpretation of a monster as a sign. In 1167, it is said, a lamb was born in the village of Egmond, with one head from which issued two bodies, six feet and two tails. This was viewed by many and was a feast for the eyes of the viewers. As a sign / freak (portentum) used to announce something, many considered the two parts of the lamb to be a prediction of the division of the county of Holland into two different peoples, namely the Dutch and the Frisians, both belonging to the same county, but usually separated from each other by hostility and discord. The border district of one of these two peoples and the division was the village of Egmond, where the monster (monstrum) of discord and division had appeared. This had taken place at a time when one of the peoples did not hesitate to take the life and possessions of the other, if it could.44 As in the first example, it is clear that an event like the nativity of a malformed lamb could be seen as a sign / portent of something else. This is a unique statement, reflecting the conviction of the author. In addition to the time and place specified, persons are called as witnesses here. Given that this part of the chronicle was compiled only a few years after this incident, we may well assume that the author had learned about it from first-hand. As in the previous example, the deformity is interpreted vividly in an obvious manner as a forecast of future phenomena. In this case, an important political event is concerned, the dissension in the county of Holland with the Frisians, which was of great importance at that time (and long afterward)45 and probably, therefore, referred to as monstrous, symbolized by 43

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Sed piissimus Deus iterum suos revocare dignatus est per terrorem signorum. […] per quod a suo scelere revocari poterant si indurato cordis zelo non conspirassent in tradendo comitem. Galbertus, De multro, 35. Eodem anno in villa Egmunda natus est agnus unum caput habens et duas partes posteriores, sex pedes et duas caudas. Qui visus a multis, cunctis intuentibus spectaculo fuit. Et cum portentum aliquid soleat portendere vel significare, creditum est a quibusdam, per duas agni partes significari comitatum Holtlandiae in duos populos plurimum diversos divisum, Holthlandensem scilicet et Fresonicum, qui cum utrique ad unum pertineant comitem, dividuntur tamen plerumque inter se per hostilem discordiam. Cuius utriusque populi confinium et quasi divisio est villa Egmundensis, ubi apparuit monstrum discordiae et divisionis, quae ipso tempore tanta fuit, ut alter populus alteri vicissim et vitam et omnia sua si posset auferre non dubitaret. Ann. Egm., Anno 1167, 466. Cf. Dirk P. Blok, “Holland und Westfriesland,” in Frühmittelalterliche Studien 3 (1969), 347– 361, who chooses this passage as starting point (347), but doesn’t address the prophetical

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a monster. Egmond was directly affected by this, being the “frontline” between the Frisians and the Dutch.46 In both cases of malformed nativities, an explanation was found retrospectively. The author may have known at least the first example only from oral accounts. The subsequent interpretation was possibly made by himself. The (political) history can be found to be predestined in signs representing the future. They must be understood properly.47 This can be seen as an allusion to the intention to include similar cases in other historiographical works, which do not involve further comments: chronicles from that time mention such abnormalities, but in the vast majority of cases without an explicit attribution of meaning.

3

Further References to Monstrous Births

The Easter tables from 532–1063, in a manuscript from the abbey of Fleury,48 form an interesting case; scribes proceeded to add brief notes in the outer margin. The entry for the year 1003 is significantly longer than all of the other entries. It is written at the bottom of a folio (Fig. 4.1)—surprisingly not the one that contained the same year in the table. It reads: “We learned through a rumor among the people that a child was born with feet like animals and only the head as well as one foot and one hand resembling humans. The parents drowned this […] in the river. Upon its fall, a noise was heard all over the place”.49 Next, the death of Pope Gerbert of Aurillac (Sylvester ii) is reported.

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aspect. Cf. also Burgers, Geschiedschrijving, 102, who identifies the lamb as “symbool […] voor de tweedracht binnen het graafschap”. Burgers, Geschiedschrijving, 102–103. Concerning the “sensus spiritualis”, cf. Klaus Grubmüller, “Etymologie als Schlüssel zur Welt? Bemerkungen zur Sprachtheorie des Mittelalters,” in Verbum et signum. Beiträge zur mediävistischen Bedeutungsforschung 1, eds. Hans Fromm et al. (Munich: Fink, 1975), 209– 230, here 209, and Elmar Locher, “Zur Zeichenstruktur des monströsen Körpers,” in Bild und Abbild vom Menschen im Mittelalter, ed. Elisabeth Vavra, Schriftenreihe der Akademie Friesach 6 (Klagenfurt: Wieser Verlag, 1999), 253–269, here 255–256. Paris, Bibliothèque Nationale de France, lat. 5543, fol. 9r–23r. The monstrous birth is noted on fol. 22r. Infantem quoque fama uulgante audiuimus natum fuisse, omnium animalium pedes habentem, soloque capite, unoque pede et manu hominem simulantem. Quem parentes dolore et rubore confusi bis terque terra occulentes, dum nequeunt eum perdere, consilio accepto in fluuio demerserunt. Cuius casum tantus vocum fragor secutus est, ut tota regio erulasse crederetur. Annales Fleuricenses anno 1003.

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figure 4.1 Monstrous birth as recorded in the Abbey of Fleury paris, bibliothèque nationale de france, lat. 5543, fol. 22r

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Probably another scribe added the death of Abbot Abbo of Fleury (November 1004); this information is also registered in the margin of the respective folio. In these cases, the final analysis of the meaning is left to a later recipient, the incidents are simply recorded because someone believed they could augur something, or they are included for scientific interest or pure oddity. The Royal Chronicle of Cologne, writing close to the reported events in that part, notes that in the year 1172, near Xanten, a woman gave birth to an infant with two heads, three arms, and three legs.50 Therewith, notes of this type correspond with the reflections on the historiographical reports about extraordinary natural phenomena, visions and other unusual occurrences that we find. Likewise, they were recorded, in many cases, without comment or interpretative annotation.51 The “Annales Egmundani” are full of such examples.52 The Benedictine historian Guibert of Nogant (1055– 1124) gives a prime example of the combination of such events. Just like the Egmond chronicle, Guibert provides invaluable information on daily life in castles and monasteries. In detail, he reports on an uprise in Laon in 1116. In the given example, he compiles a list of portentous signs that preceded the uprising. He describes at length the ungodly behavior of certain monks, before continuing: There appeared also visions foreshowing the calamities I have described. A man thought he saw a moon-shaped ball fall over Laon, which meant that a sudden rebellion would arise in the city. One of our monks also saw before the knees of the crucifix in the chapel of the Blessed Mary, three great bars in order placed opposite. Moreover, the place where Gerard perished appeared to be covered in blood. The crucifix signified someone high up in the church, who was truly opposed by three bars, his poor entry to office, his sin against Gerard and, lastly, against the people, being the offences that brought about his end. That place in which Gerard had perished was covered in blood, in that the wickedness done was wiped out by no punishment. Besides there were heard, I have learned from the monks of St. Vincent, certain noises, it was supposed of malignant spirits, and

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Eodem anno apud Xanctum ferebatur mulier infantem peperisse cum duobus capitibus et tribus brachiis et tribus pedibus. Chronica Regia Coloniensis, ed. Georg Waitz, mgh ss rer. Ger. 18 (Hanover: Hahn’sche Buchhandlung 1880), 123. We might think of the famous notices of conjoined twins in the Chronicle of Hydatius or in the Chronicle of Theophanes Confessor. In selection: 1129 Eclipsis Lunae; 1147 Eclipsis Solae; 1152 Mirabile Signum circa Lunam Plenam; 1156 Divina Mysteria; 1158 Terribils Visio; 1176 Tempestas; 1183 Diverse Calamities.

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there was the appearance of flames in the air at night in the city. There was born also some days before a boy who was double down to the buttocks, having, that is, two heads and right down to the loins two bodies, each with its own arms: being double, therefore, above, it was single below. After it was baptised, it lived for three days. In short, many portents were seen to occur, about which there was no doubt that they foreshadowed the great disaster which ensued.53 It should not be precluded that narrations like this cannot be attributed to a particular fascination for the unusual and abnormal in general, yet it is precisely the mysterious and inexplicable, which may have been a cause for reflection in some cases. In that sense, a (retrospective) understanding could have fulfilled the need and desire for explanation or knowledge—as possibly in the examples presented here. Eclipses, comets and other celestial phenomena were widely visible to all. This does not apply to monstrous nativities. As the examples show, these were local reports, which were occasionally registered by authors as signs: Thietmar made something out of the report from the Quedlinburg Annals and so did the author of the Egmond Annals with the information provided by the scribe from Bougourg (or Bergues). Quedlinburg as well as Bougourg/Bergues lie in close distance to the reported incidents. Additionally, it is usually said that the monsters died within a few days of being born,54 indicating that there was limited opportunity to witness these

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Apparuere et visiones malum quod praetulimus praesagantes. Visum est cuidam super Laudunum lunarem cecidisse globum, quod significat repentinum venturum urbi defectum. Cuidam quoque ex nostris visum est ante genua crucifixi in ecclesia Beatae Mariae tres ingentes seriatim trabes oppositas. Locus autem in quo Gerardus interiit craore videbatur opertus. Crucifixus eminentiorem ecclesiae personam significavit, cui vere terna trabes obstitit, dum parvus introitus, et peccatum quod in Gerardo, et ad ultimum in plebe commiserat, ingens fini ejus offendiculum praebuit. Locus ille in quo obierat sanguine tegebatur, dum perpetrata malignitas nulla poenitudine abolebatur. Audiebantur praeterea sicut a monachis Sancti Vincentii didici, et tumultus quidam, ut putabatur, malignorum spirituum, et species incendiorum in aere nocturnis horis in urbe. Natus est etiam ante aliquot dies puer geminus clune superius ibidem, duo scilicet habens capita, duo usque ad renes cum suis brachiis habens corpora. Duplex ergo superius, inferius simplex erat. Baptizatus itaque triduo quoque vixit. Multa denique et visa sunt, et contingere portenta, de quibus minime ambigebatur, quin praecineret malum illud maximum quod sequabatur. Guibert, De vita sua, Liber iii, 11, Migne pl 156, col. 937. Translation: Guibert, The Autobiography Of Guibert, Abbot of Nogent-sous-Coucy, trans. Charles Cooke Swinton Bland (London: Routledge 1925), 180. A counter-example would be Augustine’s reference in The City of God: “Some years ago, quite within my own memory, a man was born in the East, double in his upper half, but

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incidents. This may be one reason why portentous monsters were reported only seldom until the 13th century. Such news piled up dramatically during the Late Middle Ages and Early Modern Period, when broadsheets were produced and made them visible to a broader public.55

∵ In the European Middle Ages, numerous discussions were held regarding the question of the humanitarian status of physically-deformed creatures / monsters. Monstrous individuals were the subject of scholarly discussion and perceived as a theological problem, but perceptions and interpretations of monstra were also evident outside scholarly circles. As the example of the Annales Egmundani shows, (individual) monsters are usually interpreted (in retrospect) as (portentous) signs and negative, sinful warnings of future events. They often provoke a kind of helpless astonishment, were interpreted as a purposeful message from God and were seen as temporary deviations from the normal arrangement of the established order. Physically-deformed monstra were, therefore, justly regarded as signs.

Acknowledgements This article is dedicated to the memory of the icrh 2009–2021, particularly to the fantastic colleagues, who added their great part to this project.

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single in his lower half—having two heads, two chests, four hands, but one body and two feet like an ordinary man; and he lived so long that many had an opportunity to see him.” Augustine of Hippo, De Civitate Dei xvi,8, trans. Marcus Dods (2014). This case is also described in the 8th-century Liber monstrorum de diversis generibus: “And we have heard of a person born in Asia from human parents with a monstrous mixture. He was like his father in the feet and stomach, but had two chests and four hands and two heads. And wide-spread rumour drew many people to marvel at him.” Cf. Andrew Orchard, Pride and Prodigies: Studies in the Monsters of the Beowulf Manuscript, (Toronto: University of Toronto Press 1995), 86–115. Cf. in general Daston and Park, Wunder, chapter 6; on the example of Spain: Elena del Rio Parra, Una era de monstruos: representaciones de lo deforme en el Siglo de Oro español, Biblioteca áurea hispánica 27 (Madrid: Iberoamericana, 2003); Marco Heiles, Monster und Humanisten. Zum Bedeutungswandel der Monstra im ausgehenden Mittelalter (Oxford, 2010).

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References Sources Annalen van Egmond. De ‘Annales Egmundenses’ tezamen met de ‘Annales Xantenses’ en het Egmondse Leven van Thomas Becket. Het ‘Chronicon Egmundanum’, edited by Marijke Gumbert-Hepp, Johann P. Gumbert, and Jan W. Burgers, Middeleeuwse Studies en Bronnen cvii. Hilversum: Verloren, 2007. Annales Blandinienses, edited by Ludwig Bethmann, mgh ss 5. Hanover: Hahn’sche Buchhandlung, 1844. Annales Egmundani, edited by Georg Heinrich Pertz, mgh ss 16. Hanover: Hahn’sche Buchhandlung, 1859. Annales Fleuricenses. Augustine of Hippo. Opera Pars xiv, 2. De civitate Dei, libri xi–xxii, edited by Bernhard Dombart and Alphons Kalb, ccsl 48, xvi, 8. Translated by Marcus Dods. Turnhout: Brepols, 2014. Chronica Regia Coloniensis, edited by Georg Waitz, mgh ss rer. Ger. 18. Hanover: Hahn’sche Buchhandlung, 1880. Chronicon Sancti Bavonis, edited by Joseph-Jean de Smet, Corpus Chronicorum Flandriae. Bruxelles: Hayez, 1837. Cicero, De Divinatione. Continuatio Burburgensis, edited by Ludwig Konrad Bethmann, mgh ss 6. Hanover: Hahn’sche Buchhandlung, 1844. Die Annales Quedlinburgenses, edited by Martina Giese, mgh ss rer. Ger. 72. Hanover: Hahn’sche Buchhandlung, 2004. Isidore of Seville. Etymologiae xi, iii, 4. Galbertus Notarius Brugensis. De multro, traditione et occisione gloriosi Karoli Comitis Flandriarum, edited by Jeff Rider, cccm 131. Turnhout: Brepols, 1994. Gesta Abbatum Sancti Berthini Sithiensium, edited by Oswald Holder-Egger, mgh ss 13. Hanover: Hahn’sche Buchhandlung, 1881. Guibert, De vita sua, Liber iii, 11 (Migne pl 156, column 957). Horace, Odes. Nonius Marcelus. De compendiosa doctrina, vol. 3, edited by Wallace M. Lindsay. Leipzig: Teubner, 1903. Paris, Bibliothèque Nationale de France, lat. 5543, fol. 9r–23r. The Autobiography Of Guibert, Abbot of Nogent-sous-Coucy. Translated by Charles Cooke Swinton Bland. London: Routledge 1925. Thietmar of Merseburg. Chronicon, edited by Robert Holtzmann, mgh ss rer. Ger. Nova Series 9. Berlin: Weidmann’sche Buchhandlung 1935.

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Bibliography Antunes, Gabriela, and Björn Reich, eds. (De)formierte Körper: Die Wahrnehmung und das Andere im Mittelalter = Corps (Dé)formés: Perceptions et l’Altérité au Moyen-Âge, Interdisziplinäres Seminar Straßburg, 19. März 2010. Göttingen: Universitätsverlag Göttingen, 2012. Blok, Dirk P. “Holland und Westfriesland.” In Frühmittelalterliche Studien 3 (1969): 347– 361. Burgers, Jan W. “Allinus, grafelijk kapelaan en Egmonds geschiedschrijver.” In In het spoor van Egbert. Aartsbisschop Egbert van Trier, de bibliotheek en geschiedschrijving van het klooster Egmond, edited by Georgius Norbertus Maria Vis, Egmondse Studiën 3, 65–149. Hilversum: Verloren, 1997. Burgers, Jan W. “Geschiedschrijving in Holland tot omstreeks 1300.” In Jaarboek voor middeleeuwse geschiedenis 3 (2000): 92–130. Daston, Lorraine, and Katherine Park. Wunder und die Ordnung der Natur. Frankfurt a. M.: Eichborn, 1998. Feller, Laurent. L’assassinat de Charles le Bon comte de Flandre: 2 mars 1127, Synthèses historiques. Paris: Perrin, 2012. Filser, Hubert. Menschen brauchen Monster. München: Piper, 2017. Friedmann, John. The Monstrous Races in Medieval Art and Thought. Cambridge MA/ London: Harvard University Press, 1981. Gevaert, Bert, and Christian Laes. “What’s in a Monster? Pliny the Elder, Teratology and Bodily Disability.” In Disabilities in Roman Antiquity. Disparate Bodies ‘A Capite ad Calcem’, edited by Christian Laes, Chris Goodey, and M. Lynn Rose, 211–230. Leiden: Brill, 2013. Grubmüller, Klaus. Etymologie als Schlüssel zur Welt? Bemerkungen zur Sprachtheorie des Mittelalters, in: Hans Fromm et al. (Edd.), Verbum et signum. Beiträge zur mediävistischen Bedeutungsforschung 1, München 1975, 209–230. Heiles, Marco. Monster und Humanisten. Zum Bedeutungswandel der Monstra im ausgehenden Mittelalter. Oxford, 2010. Available online: https://hcommons.org/deposits/​ objects/hc:11674/datastreams/CONTENT/content (last access 01-05-2022). Lehner, Hans-Christian. “On the Function and Account of Rulers’ Decision-Making in the Works of Thietmar of Merseburg, Adam of Bremen, Helmold of Bosau, and Henry of Livonia.” In Unterstützung bei herrscherlichem Entscheiden. Experten und ihr Wissen in transkultureller und komparativer Perspektive, edited by Michael Grünbart, Kulturen des Entscheidens 5, 117–131. Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 2021. Locher, Elmar. “Zur Zeichenstruktur des monströsen Körpers.” In Bild und Abbild vom Menschen im Mittelalter, edited by Elisabeth Vavra, Schriftenreihe der Akademie Friesach 6, 253–269. Klagenfurt: Wieser Verlag, 1999. Louis, Pierre. “Monstres et monstruosités dans la Biologie d’Aristote.” In Le monde grec,

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edited by J. Bingen et al., 277–284. Bruxelles: Editions de l’Universite de Bruxelles, 1975. Manganaro, Stefano. “Eschatological Awareness without Apocalyptic or Millenarian Expectations: Facing the Future in the Ottonian World (from the 10th to the Early 11th Century).” In International Journal of Divination & Prognostication 1 (2019), 204– 250. Merseburg, Thietmar of. Chronicon, edited by Robert Holtzmann, mgh ss rer. Ger. Nova Series 9. Berlin: Weidmannsche Buchhandlung, 1935. Mittman, Asa Simon, and Peter J. Dendle, eds. The Ashgate Research Companion to Monsters and the Monstrous. Farnham/Surrey: Ashgate, 2013. Münkler, Marina, and Werner Röcke. Der ordo-Gedanke und die Hermeneutik der Fremde im Mittelalter: Die Auseinandersetzung mit den monströsen Völkern des Erdrandes. In Die Herausforderung durch das Fremde, ed. Herfried Münkler, 701–766. Berlin: Akademie Verlag, 1998. Münkler, Marina. “Experiencing Strangeness: Monstrous Peoples on the Edge of the Earth as Depicted on Medieval Mappae Mundi.” In Travellers, intellectuals and the world beyond Medieval, edited by James Muldoon, 331–358. Aldershot et al.: Routledge, 2017. Orchard, Andrew. Pride and Prodigies: Studies in the Monsters of the Beowulf Manuscript. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1995. Rio Parra, Elena del. Una era de monstruos: representaciones de lo deforme en el Siglo de Oro español, Biblioteca áurea hispánica 27. Madrid: Iberoamericana, 2003. Scior, Volker. “Monströse Körper: Zur Deutung und Wahrnehmung von ‘monstra’ im Mittelalter.” In (De)formierte Körper: Die Wahrnehmung und das Andere im Mittelalter, Interdisziplinäres Seminar Straßburg, 19. März 2010, edited by Gabriela Antunes and Björn Reichs, 31–50. Göttingen: Universitätsverlag Göttingen, 2012. Simek, Rudolf. Monster im Mittelalter. Die phantastische Welt der Wundervölker und Fabelwesen. Cologne/Weima/Vienna: Böhlau Verlag, 2015. Rio Parra, Elena del. Una era de monstruos: representaciones de lo deforme en el Siglo de Oro español, Biblioteca áurea hispánica 27. Madrid: Iberoamericana, 2003. Scior, Volker. “Monströse Körper: Zur Deutung und Wahrnehmung von ‘monstra’ im Mittelalter.” In (De)formierte Körper: Die Wahrnehmung und das Andere im Mittelalter, Interdisziplinäres Seminar Straßburg, 19. März 2010, edited by Gabriela Antunes and Björn Reichs, 31–50. Göttingen: Universitätsverlag Göttingen, 2012. Simek, Rudolf. Monster im Mittelalter. Die phantastische Welt der Wundervölker und Fabelwesen. Cologne/Weima/Vienna: Böhlau Verlag, 2015.

5 Strange Events and Shaky Ground: On Earthquakes, Matthew Paris and ‘Solid Facts’ Manuel Kamenzin

1

Introduction

Medieval chroniclers show a tendency to notice strange or unusual events in their environment and record them in their chronicles as portents predicting future events. Comets, lunar and solar eclipses, other phenomena in the sky or earthquakes were depicted as meaningful revelations of things to come. However naturally, most of these texts were written after the supposedly announced events took place. This leads to a series of serious questions: Was the significant event recognized as a potential meaningful portent when itself occurred or when the seemingly announced event happened? Were these portents really seen as a glimpse into the future beforehand? Or could it have happened the other way around: When a meaningful event occurred, unusual phenomena witnessed before were declared portents in retrospect?1 Could it be, that some chroniclers even invented the strange phenomenon to stress the importance of a certain event? Is there even a way to tell? When looking at some of the afore mentioned strange events, consulting research outside the humanities offers the possibility to countercheck some of the chronicler’s assertions. Astronomy can tell us if there was a comet visible in 1066 or a solar eclipse in 814.2 Other phenomena like the occurrence of crosses

1 This would be a variant of the Vaticinium ex eventu, for a classical point of reference on reasons for this see Robert E. Lerner, The Powers of Prophecy. The Cedar of Lebanon Vision from the Mongol Onslaught to the Dawn of Enlightenment (Los Angeles and London: University of California Press, 1983), 185–186, 192. 2 According to several chroniclers, 814 solar eclipses and a comet were observed. These phenomena were associated with the death of Charlemagne, see Thomas Woszniak, Naturereignisse im frühen Mittelalter. Das Zeugnis der Geschichtsschreibung vom 6. bis 11. Jahrhundert, Europa im Mittelalter 31 (Berlin and Boston: De Gruyter 2020), 723–724; Manuel Kamenzin, Die Tode der römisch-deutschen Könige und Kaiser (1150–1349), Mittelalter-Forschungen 64 (Ostfildern: Thorbecke, 2020), 42–43. In 1066 Halley’s Comet was visible and therefore was seen as a portent for the Norman conquest of England, see Jörg Peltzer, 1066. Der Kampf um England (Munich: C.H. Beck, 2016), 16–17, 163–164.

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in the sky can be questioned as to their likelihood by meteorology, even if the dating cannot be verified.3 These phenomena leave no traces and follow no specific pattern like the trajectory of a comet. Earthquakes belong to the latter category. Examining the damage in buildings or rocks provides some insights into these past events, but the range of these approaches is limited. For information about past earthquakes even the natural sciences are looking at narrative accounts, like medieval chronicles. This case study explores the use of earthquakes as portents of future events in medieval historiography. In its main part, it will focus on one specific chronicle, the Chronica majora, written by Matthew Paris, a thirteenth century Benedictine monk from St Albans, England. This chronicle was chosen due to several reasons: Most important for this paper is the fact that Matthew Paris showed interest in earthquakes. He recorded them, connecting the events both to ‘natural causes’ as well as to supernatural ones.4 Furthermore he wrote several different historiographic texts that can be used for comparison.5 His texts are also relatively well datable. In his œuvre, the Chronica majora stand out by their scope and consequently they cover the most earthquakes. For these reasons, this case study is dedicated to the depictions of earthquakes in the Chronica majora of Matthew Paris.

3 This approach is shown, for example, in an upcoming paper by Caspar Ehlers on Thietmar of Merseburg, “Voodoo an Elbe und Saale? Ein Versuch über Glauben und Aberglauben bei Thietmar von Merseburg”. I am very grateful for the insight into the manuscript beforehand. 4 Richard Vaughan, Matthew Paris, Cambridge Studies in Medieval Life and Thought ns 6 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1958), 148 stated: “He [Matthew Paris] was a firm believer in the miraculous and in the validity of portents. Earthquakes and thunder were a presage of future events and a sure sign of Divine wrath and the approach of the end of the world.” On Matthew Paris and his depiction of portents and prophecies see: Karl Schnith, England in einer sich wandelnden Welt (1189–1259). Studien zu Roger Wendover und Matthäus Paris, Monographien zur Geschichte des Mittelalters 7 (Stuttgart: Hiersemann, 1974), 165; Lerner, Powers (see n. 1), 27–29; Hans-Eberhard Hilpert, “Zu den Prophetien im Geschichtswerk des Matthäus Paris,” in Deutsches Archiv für Erforschung des Mittelalters 41 (1985): 175–191; Suzanne Lewis, The Art of Matthew Paris in the Chronica majora, California Studies in the History of Art 21 (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1987), 103–106; Sarah L. Hamilton, “Tales of Wonder in the Chronica Maiora of Matthew Paris,” in Reading Medieval Studies 26 (2000): 113– 140; Anke Holdenried, The Sibyl and her Scribes. Manuscripts and Interpretation of the Latin Sibylla Tiburtina c. 1050–1500, Church, Faith, and Culture in the Medieval West 3 (Aldershot: Ashgate, 2005), 147–163; Anne Lawrence-Mathers, The True History of Merlin the Magician (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2012), 84–85; Björn Weiler, “History, Prophecy and the Apocalypse in the Chronicles of Matthew Paris,” in English Historical Review 561 (2018): 253–283. 5 It would exceed the scope of this paper to include his hagiographic texts as well.

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Researchers on Shaky Ground

There are two types of research on medieval earthquakes: one concluded by historians interested in the cultural history of catastrophes and the other one undertaken by scientists focusing on the number, strength and frequency of past earthquakes, thereby trying to establish ‘solid facts’.6 Research into earthquakes by medievalists is relatively new, usually an essay by Arno Borst from 1981 is referred to as the starting point. In his study, Borst examined an earthquake in 1348, that is particularly well described in various sources.7 Borst’s essay paved the way for the further research. His study contains three features which, individually or collectively, are still present in the majority of research on medieval earthquakes conducted by historians: The period under study is what in Germany is referred to as the late medieval period (1250– 1500), the focus is on a single quake or a small number of quakes and the study aims at using the quake for dating questions or at reconstructing the quake and/or the damage it caused.8

6 Of course, these approaches are not mutually exclusive. Andrea von Hülsen-Esch, “Verona 3. Januar 1117: Möglichkeiten und Unsicherheiten der interdisziplinären Erdbebenforschung,” in Historische Anthropologie 1 (1993): 218–234 is a classic point of reference for this contrast and offers a casestudy. Emanuela Guidoboni and John E. Ebel, Earthquakes and Tsunamis in the Past. A Guide to Techniques in Historical Seismology (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2009) tries to act as a mediator between these two research traditions. 7 Arno Borst, “Das Erdbeben von 1348,” in Historische Zeitschrift 233 (1981): 529–569. Being quite familiar with the sources Borst used, Wilhelm Neumann wrote two articles responding to Borst, correcting mistakes, he had made: Wilhelm Neumann, “Zu den Folgen des Erdbebens von 1348. 1. Teil: in Villach,” in Jahrbuch des Stadtmuseums Villach 24 (1987): 25–39; Wilhelm Neumann, “Zu den Folgen des Erdbebens von 1348. 2. Teil: im Gailtal bei Arnoldstein,” in Jahrbuch des Stadtmuseums Villach 25 (1988): 9–68. When Borst announced the publication of an Italian translation of his original essay in a prestigious journal, Borst accused Neumann without explanation, claiming that he had a frog’s view (“Froschperspektive”) on the matter, Arno Borst, “Selbstanzeige,” in Deutsches Archiv für Erforschung des Mittelalters 47 (1991): 784. Although this attribution is tied into a comparison with a bird’s-eye view, and Neumann is thus attributed to be working close to the sources, this is an attack. Neumann reacted by correcting more mistakes: Wilhelm Neumann, “Das Erdbeben und der Dobratschbergsturz von 1348—Fehldeutungen und Plagiate,” in Carinthia i 194 (2004): 399–409. 8 For example: Lukas Clemens, “Katastrophenbewältigung im Mittelalter. Zu den Folgemaßnahmen bei Erdbeben,” in Ein gefüllter Willkomm. Festschrift für Knut Schulz zum 65. Geburtstag, eds. Franz J. Felten, Stephanie Irrgang, and Kurt Wesoly (Aachen: Shaker Verlag, 2002), 251–266; Martin Mulzer, “Ablässe und Erdbeben. Zur Datierung eines englischen Pilgerberichts (15.–16. Jh.),” in Zeitschrift des deutschen Palästinavereins 126 (2010): 43–61; Gerhard Fouquet, “Das Erdbeben in Basel 1356—für eine Kulturgeschichte der Katastrophen,” in Basler Zeitschrift für Geschichte und Altertumskunde 103 (2003): 31–49; Christian Rohr, “Man and Natural Disaster in the Late Middle Ages: The Earthquake in Carinthia and Northern Italy on

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Over the last decade, a lot of comparative disaster studies were published that cover a large period of time, also dealing with medieval earthquakes, for example Thomas Woszniak’s substantial book “Naturereignisse im frühen Mittelalter” covering the 6th to the 11th century and Christian Rohr’s “Extreme Naturereignisse im Ostalpenraum” on the later Middle Ages. Both of these books deal with earthquakes as well as eclipses, floods and comets.9 In 2021 Konrad Schellbach published his PhD-Thesis titled „Erdbeben in der Geschichtsschreibung des Früh- und Hochmittelalters“, the first extensive study focusing exclusively on earthquakes in the Middle Ages.10 Schellbach’s book covers the Holy Roman Empire up to 1250. Since earthquakes are neither traceable nor predictable, modern evaluation of earthquake-risks in a specific area depends on statistics. This is quite necessary, for example when choosing a place to build a nuclear power plant. As the knowledge of previous earthquakes is of sincere importance to calculate the risk of further ones, this is a use case for catalogs of past earthquakes. These catalogs have a long tradition. The earliest one in England was compiled in 1580.11 Moreover, they cover enormous periods. When compiling these datasets, natural science depends on written sources as there is no other way to obtain

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25 January 1348 and its Perception,” in Enviroment and History 9,2 (2003): 127–149; Winfried Frey, “Das große Erdbeben und die Juden. Zum ‚Buch der Natur‘ ii,33,” in Konrad von Megenberg (1309–1374). Ein spätmittelalterlicher Enzyklopädist im europäischen Kontext, ed. Edith Feistner, Jahrbuch der Oswald von Wolkenstein-Gesellschaft 18 (Wiesbaden: Reichert, 2011), 241–253; Konrad Schellbach, “Erdbeben in der Mark Brandenburg? Vorstellung und Wirklichkeit in den Rezeptionsgewohnheiten spätmittelalterlicher Weltchronistik,” in Das Mittelalter endet gestern. Beiträge zur Landes-, Kultur- und Ordensgeschichte. Heinz-Dieter Heimann zum 65. Geburtstag, eds. Sascha Bütow, Peter Riedel, and Uwe Tresp, Studien zur brandenburgischen und vergleichenden Landesgeschichte 16 (Berlin: Lukas Verlag, 2014), 50–64. Woszniak, Naturereignisse (see n. 2). Christian Rohr, Extreme Naturereignisse im Ostalpenraum. Naturerfahrung im Spätmittelalter und am Beginn der Neuzeit, Umwelthistorische Forschungen 4 (Cologne, Weimar, and Vienna: Böhlau, 2007). See also Gerhard Waldherr, Erdbeben. Das aussergewöhnliche Normale. Zur Rezeption seismischer Aktivitäten in literarischen Quellen vom 4. Jahrhundert v. Chr. bis zum 4. Jahrhundert n. Chr., Geographica Historica 9 (Stuttgart: Franz Steiner Verlag, 1997). Konrad Schellbach, Erdbeben in der Geschichtsschreibung des Früh- und Hochmittelalters. Ursprung, Verständnis und Anwendung einer spezifisch mittelalterlichen Traditionsbildung, Historical Catastrophe Studies (Berlin and Boston: De Gruyter, 2021). Abraham Fleming, A bright burning beacon […], (London 1580).—On the history of English earthquake catalogs from the perspective of a contributor: Roger M.W. Musson, “A Critical History of British Earthquakes,” in Annals of Geophysics 47 (2004): 597–609. On historic earthquake catalogs in general, see the overview in Guidoboni and Ebel, Earthquakes (see n. 6), 27–35.

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information. Unlike historians, these scientists are not trained in working with historical sources. Therefore most of these catalogs are flawed from a historian’s perspective and they tend to refer to older catalogs and not the source material. The latest catalog for England—published in 2008—does make some amends.12

3

Chroniclers on Shaky Ground

Even though there were other attempts of explaining earthquakes in the Middle Ages, they were very often perceived as emanating from a higher power.13 After all, the ground was shaking, buildings were collapsing, people were dying—for no obvious reason. Furthermore, there are several passages from the Bible depicting earthquakes as portents for bad things, e.g. the wrath of God (Ezechiel 38:18–22) or the Last Judgement (Luke 21:10–11). It is therefore no surprise that medieval chroniclers often emphasized a connection between bad events and earthquakes. But Medieval chroniclers were also interested in their surroundings and reported about them. Some recorded earthquakes just for this purpose, without implying further significance. While a potential ascription of meaning must always be considered, an interpretation as portent should not be assumed too rashly.14

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Roger M.W. Musson, The Seismicity of the British Isles to 1600 (Keyworth 2008), British Geological Survey, http://www.earthquakes.bgs.ac.uk/historical/data/studies/MUSS008/​ MUSS008.pdf (last acessed August 30 2021).—Charles Davison, A History of British Earthquakes (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1924) is often cited, even though it is technically outdated by Musson. See Eugen Fehrle, “s. v. ‘Erdbeben’,” in Handwörterbuch des deutschen Aberglaubens, vol. 2 (Berlin/Leipzig: De Gruyter, 1929–1930), 890–892. Several examples from the Arabic world are recorded in Guidoboni and Ebel, Earthquakes (see n. 6), 153–158. On portents and prophecies in historiographic sources see: Richard William Southern, “Aspects of the European Tradition of Historical Writing iii: History as Prophecy,” in Transactions of the Royal Historical Society, Ser. 5 22 (1972): 159–180. Christian Rohr, “Signa apparuerunt, quae aut regis obitum adnunciare solent aut regiones excidium. Naturerscheinungen und ihre ‚Funktion‘ in der Historia Francorum Gregors von Tours,” in Naturkatastrophen. Beiträge zu ihrer Deutung, Wahrnehmung und Darstellung in Text und Bild von der Antike bis ins 20. Jahrhundert, eds. Dieter Groh, Michael Kempe, and Franz Mauelshagen, Literatur und Anthropologie 13 (Tübingen: G. Narr, 2003), 65–78; Matthias Becher, “Mantik und Prophetie in der Historiographie des frühen Mittelalters. Überlegungen zur Merowinger- und frühen Karolingerzeit,” in Mantik. Profile prognostischen Wissens in Wissenschaft und Kultur, ed. Wolfram Hogrebe (Würzburg: Königshausen und Neumann, 2005), 167–187; Alheydis Plassmann, “Prophezeiungen in der englischen His-

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Also, medieval chroniclers recorded earthquakes quite often.15 For example, if we leaf through the medieval texts collected in the four volumes of the Annales Monastici published by Henry Richards Luard between 1864 and 1869,16 we find 25 earthquakes in England between 1076 and 1378 covered in 56 separate mentions.17 Only a few of these are referred to as a portent.18 References of this kind are not always clearly recognizable. For example, the Annales de Wigornia report for the year 1275 on an earthquake that, combined with a dragon and a comet, frightened the English.19 Directly before this statement, it is depicted, that the wives of two princes who were present at the coronation of Edward i died.20 The context suggests a connection here, but it is not explicitly stressed in the text. But even if a connection between an earthquake and an event is directly addressed in a source its significance is not always clear. An earthquake reported for 1119 is connected in two sources to an event using the term “and” (et)—one time with the wedding of William Ætheling and Matilda of Anjou, the other time to the so-called White Ship Disaster.21 Whether the

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toriographie des 12. Jahrhunderts,” in Archiv für Kulturgeschichte 90 (2008): 19–50; HansChristian Lehner, Prophetie zwischen Eschatologie und Politik: Zur Rolle der Vorhersagbarkeit von Zukünftigem in der hochmittelalterlichen Historiographie, Historische Forschungen 29 (Stuttgart: Franz Steiner Verlag, 2015). For works on Matthew Paris see the studies cited in n. 4. Mostly the phrase terrae motus factus est is used, see Schellbach, Erbeben (see n. 10). The fifth volume provides an index and a glossary. The sources edited in these volumes cover the period from the 1st to the 15th century in terms of content, with a clear focus from the 11th to the 13th century. The sources were written from the 12th to the 15th century, with a focus in the 13th century. These volumes were selected for reasons of comparability. See Table 5.1. The 1275 earthquake is mentioned twice in two sources each. The vast majority (12 out of 25 = 48 %) is covered in just one mention. The high score is marked by the earthquake in 1275, covered in eight mentions. Both the “Annales de Theokesberia” and the “Annales de Wigornia” report ten earthquakes, but since the “Annales de Wigornia” mention one earthquake two times, they should be seen as the source containing the most earthquakes in this sample. See Table 5.1. “Annales de Wigornia,” in Annales Monastici iv, ed. Henry Richards Luard, Rolls Series (London 1864), 356–562, ad a. 1275, 467: In vigilia Sancti Nicholai terraemotus, fulgura, et tonitura; draco igneus et cometa Anglicos terruerunt. “Annales de Wigornia” (see n. 19), ad a. 1275, 467. This refers to Margaret of England (†1275) and Beatrice of England († 1275). Their husbands Alexander iii of Scotland and John ii, Duke of Brittany, were present at the coronation of Edward i. “Annales de Margan,” in Annales Monastici i, ed. Henry Richards Luard, Rolls Series (London 1864), 3–40, ad a. 1119, 10: Terraemotus fuit in Anglia in festivitate Sancti Michaelis, et filius regis accepit in conjugem filiam comitis Andegravensis, et obiit Henricus de Warewic, et Herbertus episcopus de Norwiz, et abbas Sancti Albani. “Annales de Theokesberia,” in Annales Monastici i, ed. Henry Richards Luard, Rolls Series (London 1864), 43–180, ad a.

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„and“ should be pregnant with meaning is not clear in either case.22 But even if a quake is clearly referred to as a portent, it is not necessarily clear what it is supposed to be connected with, as an account from the Annales de Waverleia shows.23 Another mention, taken from the Annales de Osnia, underlines the rather unspectacular cause why earthquakes were recorded in case they were not portrayed as a portent: “Nothing to remember. This year the earth was moved.”24 Earthquakes were recorded because they were of interest. Apart from the mere fact that one took place, this account leaves a lot of questions unanswered. One cannot tell if this is an eyewitness account, if it may be based on hearsay or copied from another, earlier text.25 It is not even certain whether an earthquake really occurred or whether someone just observed a landslide and misclassified it. And this is just the tip of the iceberg. Another example from the Annales Monastici leads us deeper into the rabbit hole: For the year 1132 the Annales de Margan report the departure of King Henry i for Normandy. Extreme natural events followed—solar eclipses and finally a terrible earthquake: “On the sixth day of the week [after Henry’s departure] there was so great an earthquake that the ground appeared to sink down; a horrid sound being first heard from beneath the surface.”26 Since Henry was

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1119, 45: Terra mota est, et Willelmus filius regis mergitur.—Of the 56 mentions examined in total, 13 (23.21 %) are to be classified as unclear cases, see Table 5.1. Another example is the earthquake of 1089: In the “Annales de Theokesberia” (see n. 21), ad a. 1089, 43 the depiction of the earthquake is connected with the death of Archbishop Lanfranc of Canterbury using the term „and“ (Obiit Lanfrancus archiepiscopus, et terra mota est […]). Depicting an earthquake as a portent for the death of an important person is very common, but it is not clear, if this is the case here. The “Annales de Waverleia,” in Annales Monastici ii, ed. Henry Richards Luard, Rolls Series (London 1864), 130–411, ad a. 1089, 200 and the “Annales de Wintonia,” in Annales Monastici ii, ed. Henry Richards Luard, Rolls Series (London 1864), 1–125, ad a. 1089, 36 mention both the earthquake and the death of Lanfranc as well, but with a sentence separating the two events hereby. “Annales de Waverleia” (see n. 22), ad a. 1247, 338: In addition to the earthquake, which is described in great detail, a meteorite impact is also described. Finally there is the statement that this had been assumed by many as a portent. What should have been announced by these events, is not indicated. “Annales de Osneia,” in Annales Monastici iv, ed. Henry Richards Luard, Rolls Series (London 1864), 3–352, ad a. 1091, 12: Nihil memoriale. Eodem anno terrae motus factus est. See Table 5.1. Of the 56 mentions examined in total, 20 (35.71%) are marked as extracts from other texts. “Annales de Margan” (see n. 21), ad a. 1132, 13: Rex Henricus Normanniam navigavit. Erant tunc nonae Augusti et feria quarta. Prosecuta sunt elementa extremum tanti principis transitum; ipsa enim feria quarta qua rex transfretavit, sol perpessus eclipsim mentes hominum ex repentina sui defectione vehementer exterruit; proxima vero sexta feria, primo mane, tantus fuit terrae motus ut subsidere ipsa videretur, horrifico sono prius sub terra audito.

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about to die on this journey,27 this seems to be a clear case at first glance. A divine portent, an earthquake, marks a bad event—the departure of the king for all time. This is a common narrative.28 Several other chroniclers even recorded this earthquake in the exact same words, for example William of Malmesbury and Radulph of Coggeshall.29 The reason for this is simple: Originally the passage was written by William of Malmesbury and Radulph of Coggeshal as well as the anonymous writer of the Annales de Margan copied it.30 Since William’s account is considered to be one of the rare eyewitness accounts31 of medieval earthquakes it deserves a closer look. William, the son of a Norman father and an English mother, was a monk in Malmesbury Abbey in Wiltshire. Inspired by the work of Bede the Venerable he wrote several historical narratives, first of them being the Gesta Regum Anglorum. He finished this chronicle in 1125, but remodeled and expanded it later.32 In 1140 he started writing another chronicle, the Historia Novella, on which he was still working, when he died around 1143.33 In this chronicle, the passage about Henry starts with

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See Michael Evans, The Death of Kings. Royal Deaths in Medieval England (London and New York: Hambledon Continuum, 2003), 61–65. On the departure of Henry i with some remarks on chroniclers attributing unusual phenomena to it, see Charles W. Hollister, Henry i, Yale English Monarchs (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2001), 465. Wiliam of Malmesbury, “Historia Novella,” in Willelmi Malmesbiriensis monachi De gestis regum Anglorum libri quinque. Historiae novellae libri tres, vol. 2, ed. William Stubbs, Rolls Series (London 1889), 523–596, lib. i, § 457, 535. Radulph of Coggeshall, “Chronicon Anglicanum,” in Radulphi de Coggeshall Chronicon Anglicanum, De expugnatione Terræ Sanctæ libellus […], ed. Joseph Stevenson, Rolls Series (London 1875), 1–208, 9. On Radolphus of Coggeshall’s use of earthquakes see Michael Staunton, The Historians of Angevin England (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2017), 124–125. As well as the “Annales de Wintonia” (see n. 22), ad a. 1132, 49. Musson, Seismicity (see n. 12), 16: “This earthquake is unusual for the period in that one of the sources gives an eye-witness account [William of Malmesbury].”—There is a stimulating discussion about eyewitness testimony and historiography concerning the first crusade, see with further references Elizabeth Lapina, “‘Nec signis nec testibus creditur […].’ The Problem of Eyewitnesses in the Chronicles of the First Crusade,” in Viator 38, 1 (2007): 117–139. Another excellent example outside of this context is offered by Rudolf Schieffer, “Otto von Freising. Der Geschichtsschreiber als Augenzeuge,” in Die Geburt Österreichs: 850 Jahre Privilegium minus, eds. Peter Schmid and Heinrich Wanderwitz, Regensburger Kulturleben 4 (Regensburg: Schnell und Steiner, 2007), 167–177. There are countless studies on William of Malmesbury, for a start see the articles in Rodney M. Thomson, Emily Dolmans, and Emily A. Winkler, eds., Discovering William of Malmesbury (Woodbridge: Boydell Press, 2017). On the Historia Novella see John Gillingham, “Civilizing the English? The English Histories of William of Malmesbury and David Hume,” in Historical Research 74 (2001): 17–43; Björn Weiler, “Royal Virtue and Royal Justice in William of Malmesbury’s Historia Novella and

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the words: “The day after the thirty-second year of his reign was completed, Henry, on the nones of August, the very day on which he had formerly been crowned at Westminster, set sail for Normandy. This was the last, the fatal voyage of his reign.”34 On August 5 1132, a day with significance, the ruler went on his last journey, after this, the aforementioned lunar eclipse and the earthquake occurred. William described the quake in the following words: “At the time of the earthquake, the wall of the house in which I was sitting was lifted up by two shocks, and settled again with a third.”35 This is a vivid description after almost ten years with William even remembering the exact date. Unfortunately, other sources show that Henry left for Normandy on August 3 1133, not August 5 1132, as William stated.36 The chronicler must have misremembered this detail when he wrote down his report, that included many details and concrete indications to achieve credibility.37 It could be discussed, if these sentences are really an allowance of eye witnessing. The passage is clearly designed to highlight the king’s departure and is also flawed in detail. The single sentence describing

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Walter Map’s De nugis curialium,” in Virtue and Ethics in the Twelfth Century, eds. István Pieter Bejczy and Richard Gordan Newhauser, Brill’s Studies in Intellectual History 130 (Leiden: Brill, 2005), 317–340; Sverre Bagge, “Ethics, Politics, and Providence in William Of Malmesbury’s Historia Novella,” in Viator 41, 2 (2010): 113–132. William of Malmesbury, “Historia Novella” (see n. 29), lib. i, §457, 535: Anno tricesimo secundo regni pridie transacto, Henricus nonis Augusti, quo die quondam apud Westmonasterium coronae culmen acceperat, Normanniam navigavit. Translation: William of Malmesbury, “The Modern History,” trans. Johan Allen Giles, in William of Malmesbury, Chronicle of the Kings of England. From the earliest Period to the Reign of King Stephen (London 1847), 480–535, 488. William of Malmesbury, “Historia Novella” (see n. 29), lib. i, §457 535: […] in terrae motu parietem domus in qua sedebam, bifario impetu elevatum, tertio resedisse. Translation: William of Malmesbury, “Modern History,” transl. Giles (see n. 34), 488. There are two ‘errors’ in William of Malmesbury’s dating: He wrote tricesimo secundo, the thirty-second year, instead of tricesimo tertio, the thirty-third year of Henry’s reign, been completed on August 4 1133 (Henry was crowned on August 5 1100, after his brother died on August 2). There was an eclipse when Henry left for Normandy on August 3 1133—this would be the third day before the nones of August, not the nones of August as William wrote. This is covered best in a footnote in William of Malmesbury, “Modern History,” trans. Giles (see n. 34), 488. Radulph of Coggeshall, the “Annales de Margan”, and the “Annales de Wintonia” all copy William’s date, see n. 26/29/30. Like William of Malmesbury many chronicles assumed a connection between Henry’s departure and an eclipse of the sun. John of Worcester seems to be the only one to describe an earthquake like William did. It is quite remarkable that in the manuscripts of John of Worchesters Chronicle the date of this earthquake seems to be not completely clear, it could be 1132 or 1133, see John Reginald Homer Weaver, ed., The Chronicle of John of Worcester, 1118–1140 […] (Oxford: Clarendon, 1908), 36 n. 5, description of the earthquake: ibid, 37.

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the earthquake bears no specific information about this concrete quake and is almost symbolically stressing the force of the quake and the importance of the king’s departure as well. On a higher level, however, the example shows that earthquake mentions were copied, that dating errors occurred, and that the status of an “eyewitness” was sometimes given away a little too easily. These points will be addressed again.

4

Matthew Paris on Shaky Ground

Matthew Paris was a Benedictine monk in St Albans, Herfordshire (England), as has already been mentioned. From his own writing, we get 1217 as the date of his entering the convent. The meaning of his surname is not quite clear as he calls himself “Matthaeus Parisiensis”. We do not know if he studied or lived in Paris. In 1248 he was sent on a mission to Norway—a journey that he appears to be quite proud of. He probably died in 1259.38 In 1236 Matthew Paris started writing historiographical texts. His most important chronicle are the Chronica majora.39 Matthew drew heavily upon the 38

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Classic studies on Matthew Paris include: Vivian H. Galbraith, Roger Wendover and Matthew Paris, Lecture on the David Murray Foundation in the University of Glasgow/Glasgow University Publications 61 (Glasgow: Jackson, 1944); Vaughan, Matthew Paris (see n. 4); Robert Brentano, Two Churches. England and Italy in the Thirteenth Century (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1968); Schnith, England (see n. 4). Latest monograph: Miriam Weiss, Die Chronica maiora des Matthaeus Parisiensis, Trierer Historische Forschungen 73 (Trier: Kliomedia, 2018). See also the important studies by Björn Weiler: Björn Weiler, “Stupor Mundi. Matthäus Paris und die zeitgenössische Wahrnehmung Friedrichs ii. in England,” in Herrschaftsräume, Herrschaftspraxis und Kommunikation zur Zeit Kaiser Friedrichs ii., eds. Knut Görich, Jan Keupp, and Theo Boekmann, Münchener Beiträge zur Geschichtswissenschaft 2 (Munich: Herbert Utz, 2008), 63–95; Björn Weiler, “Matthew Paris on the Writing of History,” in Journal of Medieval History 35 (2009): 254–278; Björn Weiler, “How Unusual was Matthew Paris? The Writing of Universal History in Angevin England,” in Universal Chronicles in the High Middle Ages, eds. Michele Campopiano and Henry Bainton, Writing History in the Middle Ages 4 (Woodbridge: York Medieval Press, 2019), 199–222. On the journey to Norway see Björn Weiler, “Matthew Paris in Norway,” in Revue Bénédictine 122 (2012): 153–181. 1259 as the year of his death was doubted by Frederick Maurice Powicke, “Notes on the Compilation of the ‘Chronica Majora’ of Matthew Paris,” in Modern philology 38, 3 (1941): 305–317, 315–317, but defended by Galbraith, Roger Wendover (as above), 30. Renewing the discussion: David Carpenter, Chronology and Truth: Matthew Paris and the Chronica majora, https://finerollshenry3.org.uk/redist/​ pdf/Chronologyandtruth3.pdf (accessed March 29 2021). In a very recent paper, Nathan Greasley was able to propose a plausible new dating for the different parts of the Chronica majora: Greasley suggested that around 1236, the Flores Historiarum by Roger of Wendover were copied and revised, without any continuation being

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work of his predecessor Roger of Wendover, the Flores Historiarum, partly rewriting it, partly copying it.40 For the most part, he continued the chronicle up to 1259. Apart from gathering information from whomever he could, Matthew also copied many documents into his chronicle. These additions became so numerous that he created a Liber Additamentorum for them.41 Matthew also wrote an abridged version of his chronicle, the so-called Historia Anglorum. He probably started in 1250 and finished in 1255, covering the history from 1050 to 1253.42 Being a productive writer, he also composed several saint’s lives and copied astrological texts.43 The extent of his work is highlighted by the fact that he illustrated some of his texts himself, among these pictures are many maps or iconic drawings.44 The Estoire de Seint Aedward le Rei, a French version of Aelred’s of Riveaulx Vita Edwardi as a poem

40

41 42

43

44

planned. After a longer break, during which Matthew Paris turned to other works, the part dealing with the years 1236 to 1250 was probably written in 1247–1250. The continuation until 1259 was finally written from 1254. See Nathan Greasly, “Revisiting the Compilation of Matthew Paris’s Chronica majora. New Textual and Manuscript Evidence,” in Journal of Medieval History (2021): doi: 10.1080/03044181.2021.1897651. I would like to thank Nathan Greasley very much for sending me a copy of his article. Edited as: Roger of Wendover, Flores Historiarum ab Anno Domini mcliv. annoque Henrici Anglorum regis secundi primo, 3 vols., ed. Henry Gay Hewlett, Rolls Series (London 1886– 1889). Unfortunately, this edition covers only the time period starting 1154. Another edition has to be considered as well: Roger of Wendover, Chronica sive Flores Historiarum, 5 vols., ed. Henry Coxe (London 1841–1844). In the following footnotes “fh rs” refers to the Rolls Series edition, “fh” to the edition by Henry Coxe. Edited as: Matthew Paris, Chronica majora, 7 vols., ed. Henry Richards Luard, Rolls Series (London 1872–1884). Cited in the following as “cm”. Edited as: Matthew Paris, Historia Anglorum, sive, ut vulgo dicitur, Historia minor. Item, ejusdem abbrevatio chronicorum Angliae, 3 vols., ed. Frederick Madden, Rolls Series (London 1866–1869). Cited in the following as “ha”. The texts and their dates of creation are listed in Antonia Gransden, Historical Writing in England, 2 vols. (London: Routledge, 1974–1982), vol. 1, 356–359. On Matthew Paris’ hagiographical texts see Cynthia Hahn, “Proper Behavior for Knights and Kings. The Hagiography of Matthew Paris, Monk of St. Albans,” in Haskins Society Journal 2 (1990): 237–248, or Björn Weiler, “Monastic Historical Culture and the Utility of a Remote Past. The Case of Matthew Paris,” in How the Past was Used. Historical Cultures, c. 750–2000, eds. Pater Lambert and Björn Weiler (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2017), 91–120.—The manuscript containing the astrological texts and some drawings is now available as a facsimile: Matthew Paris, Le Moine et le Hasard. Bodleian Library, ms Ashmole 304, ed. Allegra Iafrate, Textes littéraires du Moyen Age 39,5 (Paris: Classiques Garnier, 2016). See also Allegra Iafrate, “Of Stars and Men: Matthew Paris and the Illustrations of ms Ashmole 304,” in Journal of the Warburg and Courtauld Institutes 76 (2013): 139–177. See Lewis, Art (see n. 4), the classic study on his drawings and Daniel K. Connolly, The Maps of Matthew Paris. Medieval Journeys through Space, Time and Liturgy (Woodbridge/Rochester: Boydell Press, 2009) as a recent monograph on the maps.

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and probably an early copy of Matthew’s original, is considered to be one of the most beautiful gothic manuscripts.45 He might even have left us his selfportrait.46 In his historiographic texts Matthew mentions fifteen earthquakes during the middle ages, eleven in England, four in other regions.47 Of all these quakes, only four can also be found in the chronicle of Roger of Wendover, Matthew’s predecessor.48 Matthew not only added more earthquakes in the passages he wrote completely on his own, he also included quakes in his version of Roger’s text.49 As stated before, Matthew had a keen interest in earthquakes. For the remainder of this paper we will focus on the earthquakes in England recorded by Matthew Paris. The most interesting ones are the three last earthquakes he reports—1247, 1248 and 1250—because on these quakes, the Benedictine monk offers the largest amount of information.50 The 1247 earthquake is precisely dated: idus Febrarii, videlicet in vigilia Sancti Valentini—“on February 13, that is the day before St. Valentine’s day”.51 The localization is very precise as well: According to Matthew, the earthquake was felt all over England, but especially in London, at the banks of the Thames. The monk reports that buildings were shaken. He claims that “the solid mass of England is free from those underground caverns and deep cavities in which, according to philosophers, an earthquake is generally produced.”52 So, not only is this earthquake very precisely dated and localized by our chronicler, he also 45

46 47

48 49 50

51 52

Still one of the most important papers on the Estoire is Paul Binski, “Reflections on ‘La estoire de Seint Aedward le rei’. Hagiography and Kingship in Thirteenth-century England,” in Journal of Medieval History 16 (1990): 333–350. Judith Collard, “Matthew Paris’s ‘Self-Portrait with the Virgin Mary’ in the Historia Anglorum,” in Parergon ns 32,1 (2015): 151–182. See Table 5.2 for the Earthquakes within England. Earthquakes outside of England: 1113ad, near East: cm (see n. 41) ii, 141; 1117ad, Lombardy: cm (see n. 41) ii, 143; 1244ad, mediterranean area: cm (see n. 41) iv, 346; 1248 ad, Savoy: cm (see n. 41) v, 30. See Table 5.2 for the Earthquakes within England. Earthquakes outside of England: 1113ad, near East: fh (see n. 40) ii, 191; 1117 ad, Lombardy: fh (see n. 40) ii, 194. Rogers text ends with the year 1235—see Table 5.2 for a comparison of Earthquakes mentioned by Roger of Wendover and Matthew Paris. Weiler, “History” (see n. 4), 274 pointed out that starting with the report of 1247, Matthew’s account becomes more chronological, his depictions of natural events become more detailed, and he offers more references to the Apocalypse. cm (see n. 41) iv, 603. Weiler, “Unusual” (see n. 38), 206–208 offers a summary of the report on 1247 but does not mention the earthquakes. cm (see n. 41) iv, 603: […] cum soliditas Angliae cavernis terrestribus et profundis traconibus ac concavitatibus, in quibus secundum philosophos solet terraemotus generari, careat. Translation: Matthew Paris’s English History, trans. by John Allen Giles. 3 vols., London 1852–1854, vol. 2, 210. See also Hamilton, Tales (see n. 4), 122.

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adds an explanation for earthquakes. Since this explanation does not fit on this specific earthquake, the quake is marked unusual. When describing the 1248 earthquake, he goes even more into detail: a precise date (“the fourth day before Christmas”) is followed by the explanation, that the information was given to the writer by none other than the Bishop of Bath.53 In his diocese “the walls of buildings were burst asunder, the stones were torn from their places, and gaps appeared in the ruined walls. The vaulted roof which had been placed on the top of the church of Wells by the great efforts of the builder, a mass of great size and weight, was hurled from its place, doing much damage, and fell on the church, making a dreadful noise in its fall from such a height, so as to strike great terror into all who heard it.”54 Matthew Paris then continues to describe damage caused by the earthquake. The account of the 1250 earthquake follows the same lines: It is dated December 13, even the exact hour is mentioned.55 This may be because it occurred in St Albans—Matthew’s home—and in the surrounding area. According to the monk this was by no means a region generally affected by earthquakes: “for the land there is solid and chalky, not hollow or watery, nor near the sea.”56 Obviously, the monk continued his search for an explanation for earthquakes. In this case, he elaborates on another detail: “It [the earthquake] came on with a trembling motion, and attended by a sound as if it were dreadful subterranean thunder”.57 He also mentions strange animal behavior: “The pigeons, jackdaws, sparrows, and other birds which were perched on the houses and on the branches of the trees, were seized with fright, as though a hawk were hovering over them, and suddenly expanding their wings, took to flight, as if they were mad, and flew backwards and forwards in confusion, exciting fear and dread in those who saw the occurrence.”58 53 54

55 56

57 58

cm (see n. 41) v, 46. cm (see n. 41) v, 46: […] in ejus diocesi evenit, dissipatae sunt maceriae aedificiorum, et lapides de locis suis avulsi in muris hiatus fecerunt patulos et rimas cum ruinis. Tholus quoque lapideus magnae quantitatis et ponderis, qui per diligentiam caementariorum in summitate ecclesiae de Velles ponebatur, raptus de loco suo, non sine dampno super ecclesiam cecidit; et cum ab alto rueret, tumultum reddens horribilem, audientibus timorem incussit non minimum. Translation: cm, trans. Giles (see n. 52) ii, 286. cm (see n. 41) v, 187. “Annales de Wigornia” (see n. 19), ad a. 1250, 440 also mention an earthquake in 1250, but this is dated June 30. cm (see n. 41) v, 187: Ipsa enim patria solida est et cretosa, minime cavernosa, aquosa, vel maritima; unde talis eventus insolitus et innaturalis magis extitit admirandus. Translation: cm, trans. Giles (see n. 52) ii, 401. cm (see n. 41) v, 187: Factus est etiam cum ipso motu et tremore tanquam terribilis tonitrus subterraneus. Translation: cm, trans. Giles (see n. 52) ii, 402. cm (see n. 41) v, 187: Sed et hoc mirabile simul cum terrae motu contigit, quod columbae, monedulae, passeres, et aliae aves, quae in domiciliis vel in ramis arborum quiescebant, ac

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In his depictions of these three earthquakes Matthew Paris offers a lot of vivid details, including some precise reports on damage to buildings. In one case he refers to a bishop as a source of information and in another one he could count as an eye witness himself. Just as William of Malmesbury is seen as a trustworthy source for the 1132/33 earthquake, Matthew Paris should be viewed in the same light when looking at the earthquakes of 1247, 1248 and 1250. The aforementioned catalog of British earthquakes states, regarding the 1247 earthquake: “This earthquake is very problematic.”59 The reason for this assessment is the precise dating Matthew offers, February 13. This date is not compatible with the majority other sources reporting an earthquake on February 20.60 This difference leads to the qualification “uncertain” for the 1247 quake.61 The description of the 1248 earthquake has some flaws as well: Even though Matthew Paris is considered a “principal source” in the catalog, it is argued that the bishop mentioned by the chronicler was in Rome at that time and therefore cannot have been an eyewitness.62 The damage described furthermore cannot be brought into harmony with archeological findings.63 Despite these doubts, in the catalog it is assumed that the earthquake took place.64 According to the catalog the account of the 1250 earthquake is credible. Based on Matthew Paris’s description of the animal behavior, the earthquake is attributed an intensity of four on the European Macroseismic scale.65 Matthew Paris made a few mistakes. His dating is slightly off, in one case he names an unlikely source, and he exaggerated some damage. Considering that he is generally a more or less accurate chronicler of events, why the ‘mistakes’ in these minor details? Because he did not want to describe ordinary earthquakes as he himself admits.

59 60

61 62 63

64 65

si ancipitre supervolitante perterritae, subito excussis alis, velut amentes, avolabant, et inordinate huc illucque ex transverso redeuntes et fugientes, videntibus timorem incusserunt et horrorem. Translation: cm, trans. Giles (see n. 52) ii, 402. Musson, Seismicity (see n. 12), 30. See Table 5.1—The other sources mentioning an earthquake in 1247 give February 20 as dating. The exception are the “Annales de Wigornia” (see n. 19), ad a. 1247, 438 as they state March 10. This is maybe due to an error, since the other sources state “tenth day bevor the kalends of March” (x. kal. Martii, see Table 5.1 for references) and the “Annales de Wigornia” note “tenth day of March” (decima die Martii). Musson, Seismicity (see n. 12), 30. Musson, Seismicity (see n. 12), 33. For a detailed account of the discussion see Musson, Seismicity (see n. 12), 33. For more information see Carolyn Marino Malone, Façade as Spectacle. Ritual and Ideology at Wells Cathedral, Studies in Medieval and Reformation Traditions 102 (Leiden: Brill, 2004), 25. Musson, Seismicity (see n. 12), 34. Musson, Seismicity (see n. 12).

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In his depiction of the 1247 earthquake, directly after discussing the causes of the earthquake and emphasizing, that there was no explanation, he concludes: “It was therefore expected, according to the threats of the Gospel, that the end of the world was at hand, and that this movement of the earth indicated corresponding movements in the world, so that the elements might be agitated and disturbed by frequent motions.”66 He continues by reporting that the seas had also acted strangely at the times, something no one had ever seen before—“nor had there been an earthquake in England since the year 1133, which was the third year before the death of King Henry the Second.”67 Even though we have seen the importance attributed to this 1132/1133 earthquake by British chroniclers, this statement is not correct, since Matthew himself reported earthquakes for 1165, 1185 and 1186.68 But it soon becomes apparent, what the monk meant by “movements in the world” when referring to the 1247 earthquake. Just shortly after his depiction of this earthquake, Matthew opened his narrative of the death of Henry Raspe, the King elected by the opposition in the Empire against Frederick ii and his son Conrad iv, by stating, that with the events leading to and the death itself “the above-mentioned earthquake might not fail in its threatening signification”.69 The story of Henry’s death is one of several anecdotes in the Chronica majora about the bad deaths of kings, that were elected while members of the Hohenstaufen family still ruled as emperor or king. Matthew Paris claims, that the kings in opposition (‘Anti-kings’) were depending completely on papal money and that this money was extracted from England.70 Henry Raspe died on February 16 1247.71 If Matthew had given the same dating of the 1247 earthquake as the other sources—February 20—it

66

67

68 69

70 71

cm (see n. 41) iv, 603: Erat igitur, secundum minas Evangelii, [prope] finem mundi senescentis descriptus quasi per loca, ut proinde verius crederetur motus ille memoratus, magnae mundi immutationis ostensivus; ut secundum commotiones etiam elementa concuterentur et insolitis motibus turbarentur. Translation: cm, trans. Giles (see n. 52) ii, 210– 211. cm (see n. 41) iv, 603: nec terraemotus extitit in Anglia post annum gratiae mcxxxiii., videlicet anno tertio ante mortem regis Henrici primi. Translation: cm, trans. Giles (see n. 52) ii, 211. See Table 5.2. cm (see n. 41) iv, 610: Ipso quoque tempore Quadragesimali, ne terraemotus supramemoratus minaci careret significatione […]. Translation: cm, trans. Giles (see n. 52) ii, 216. See also, Lewis, Art (see n. 4), 266–267. See Kamenzin, Tode (see n. 2), 122–131 (Henry Raspe)/324–332 (King William ‘William of Holland’). See Regesta Imperii, v,1,2 n. 4885a, http://www.regesta‑imperii.de/id/1247‑02‑16_1_0_5_1_2​ _1627_4885a (accessed March 29 2021). The records of the Regesta Imperii are used in the digital form, since here supplements and additions are possible.

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would have been hard to establish a connection between the two events. But with the earthquake occurring a few days earlier, on the February 13, it all fits.72 This leads us to the ‘flaws’ in Matthew’s account of the 1248 earthquake. In order to deal with this matter, we first have to correct two mistakes: First of all, Matthew Paris never presented the Bishop of Bath as an eyewitness. The chronicler simply claimed that he acquired the information from the bishop. Secondly, the bishop was not in Rome during the earthquake—he was consecrated in Lyon by pope Innocent iv on June 14,73 so he could have easily been home in time by December to witness the quake firsthand, even though this is not what Matthew implies. To figure out why he may have exaggerated the extend of the damage, we must follow the clues a little bit further. Matthew concludes his depiction of the damage in a similar way to his narration of the 1247 earthquake by stressing the extraordinary quality of unique event,74 closing with the words: “This earthquake was the third which had occurred within three years on this side of the Alps: one in Savoy, and two in England; a circumstance unheard of since the beginning of the world, and therefore the more terrible.”75 Matthew also provides details on the said earthquake in Savoy. He reports an “awful earthquake” in the valleys of Maurienne, Savoy, in 1248, that allegedly destroyed five villages and killed about nine thousand men and countless animals.76 Again, Matthew describes the damage in quite some detail and reflects about the cause of the event: “It [the earthquake] seems to have been caused

72

73 74 75

76

It cannot be said for certain whether Matthew Paris knew the exact date of Henry Raspe’s death. He had already dated Henry’s coronation into the wrong year (1243 instead of 1246, see cm [see n. 41] iv, 248, see Weiler, “History” [see n. 4], 277 n. 134). However, the “Annales de Theokesberia”, which also mention both events, show, that the order of these events was known in England: they give Henry Raspe’s death first and then the earthquake, “Annales de Theokesberia” (see n. 21), ad a. 1247, 137. Furthermore, another detail stands out: February 13 1247, the date Matthew Paris gives for the earthquake, was Ash Wednesday. The chronicler starts the report on Henry Raspe’s death with the words „During this same Lent, that the above-mentioned earthquake might not fail in its threatening signification“ (cm, trans. Giles [see n. 52] ii, 216, see n. 69 for the Latin text). Since Lent could be started on Ash Wednesday, this is a very exact reference to a date only Matthew Paris gives for the earthquake. See “Bishops,” in Fasti Ecclesiae Anglicanae 1066–1300: Volume 7, Bath and Wells, ed. Diana E Greenway (London: Athlone Press, 2001), 1–6. cm (see n. 41) v, 46. cm (see n. 41) v, 46: Et ille terraemotus tertius fuit, qui in triennio citra Alpes evenit; unus in partibus Sabaudiae, et duo in Anglia, quod ab initio mundi est inauditum, et ideo terribilius. Translation: cm, trans. Giles (see n. 52) ii, 287. cm (see n. 41) v, 30. On this quake see also Weiler, “History” (see n. 4), 272–273.

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by a miracle rather than the common course of events.”77 With this earthquake, Matthew takes his reasoning one step further by explicitly referring to it as divine punishment: “It was said that the severity of divine punishment justly vented its fury on the abodes of the inhabitants of those parts, because they so shamelessly and indiscriminately practiced the disgraceful trade of usury, and were so contaminated with the stain of avarice, that, in order to cover their wickedness with an appearance of virtue, they did not hesitate to call themselves money-merchants.”78 Matthew continues to describe the evil deeds of these Savoyans, finishing with the momentous words “Divine rigor proceeds to punishment with a slow step, but it afterwards makes up for its tardiness by its severity.”79 Matthew does not mince his words when it comes to the meaning of the Savoyen earthquake. If we look at the context, we get the impression that these words are not just meant to judge this incident. After the earthquake, Matthew reports a series of bad events, interrupted only by the short passage about his travels to Norway.80 After this interruption, the account of the 1248 earthquake in England mentioned above follows. On several occasions the chronicler explicitly stresses the connection between these earthquakes, 1247 and 1248 in England, 1248 in Savoy and as we will see 1250 in England. There is a pattern visible: Mostly precise dating of the event, a description of the enormous damage and an analysis of possible natural reasons that leads to claims of divine origins of the quake. The 1247 earthquake supposedly announced the death of a king that is in itself a part of a tale of the evil influence of the money collected by a corrupt papacy. In the description of the 1248 earthquake in England, Matthew states expresis verbis, that all of these quakes are connected. The lessons to be taken from his depiction of the 1248 earthquake in Savoy is that these earthquakes are divine punishment and the greater the damage, the greater the sin that caused the earthquake. This could be an explanation for Matthew’s exaggeration of the damage at the Bath cathedral by the 1248 earthquake. 77 78

79

80

cm (see n. 41) v, 30: […] videtur quod potius miraculose quam casualiter evenisset. Translation: cm, trans. Giles (see n. 52) ii, 287. cm (see n. 41) v, 30 f.: Dicebatur enim, quod in eorundem incolarum mansiones merito desaevit divinae ultionis severitas, eo quod jam impudenter usurarum turpia commercia exercuerunt indifferenter, polluti libidinis ignominia, seque, ut vitium virtutis species operiret, mercatores denariorum sophistice non erubuerunt appellare. Translation: cm, trans. Giles (see n. 52) ii, 274. See also Hamilton, “Tales” (see n. 4), 125. cm (see n. 41) v, 31: Lento gradu procedit ad ultionem divina severitas, sed tarditatem compensat postea gravitate. Translation: cm, trans. Giles (see n. 52) ii, 274. Matthew Paris incorrectly attributes this quote to Gregory the Great, but it is most likely taken from Valerius Maximus. See Weiler, “Matthew Paris” (see n. 38).

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This leads us to our last earthquake, the 1250 earthquake in St Albans and the surrounding area. As mentioned above, it is precisely dated. In addition, there is another analysis of the ground structure, claiming that earthquakes cannot occur here for natural reasons.81 When describing the destruction, Matthew gives a surprising statement: “This earthquake, if it had been as destructive in its effects as it was unusual and wonderful, would have shaken all buildings to pieces.”82 He then elaborates on birds leaving their nests in fears as has already been described. Even though this earthquake seems to have caused no damage at all, according to Matthew Paris it was very significant. He wrote this explicitly: “This earthquake, indeed, struck horror into the hearts of all, which I think to be more than amazement or fear, and it was believed to be indicative of future events.”83 He even reveals us the identity of these future events, by quoting the Bible: “there shall be earthquakes in diverse places” (Luke 21:11) and in claiming: “the end of the world was at hand.”84 As he did with the 1247 earthquake and the death of Henry Raspe, Matthew later connected the 1250 earthquake to the death of a ruler—in this case emperor Frederick ii.85 In his depiction of the emperor’s death, famously containing the epithet stupor mundi, he states: “He [Frederick ii] died on the day of St. Lucia; so that the earthquake which occurred on that day was evidently not without its signification.”86 These lines noting the death of Frederick ii are very important and have been carefully drafted by Matthew Paris, as they conclude several narratives: a prophecy of the immutator mirabilis, a tale of the repentance of Frederick ii leading to the good death of the former sinner, the glorification as stupor mundi and the interconnected earthquakes.87 This second time connection between earthquakes and a ruler’s death leads to the question, whether these earthquakes were simply portents predicting 81 82 83

84

85 86 87

See also Weiler, “History” (see n. 4), 278–279, 281. cm (see n. 41) v, 187: Ipse autem terrae motus, si fuisset tam dampnosus ut insolitus et admirandus, omnia aedificia concussisset. Translation: cm, trans. Giles (see n. 52) ii, 401f. cm (see n. 41) v, 187: Praeterea motus ipse memoratus in omnium cordibus horrorem generavit, quod plus esse aestimo quam stuporem vel timorem. Translation: cm, trans. Giles (see n. 52) ii, 402. cm (see n. 41) v, 187: Sensit igitur anno illo tam terra quam mare insolitas commotiones et horribiles, quae secundum evangelicam comminationem, quae est Erunt terrae motus per loca, mundi terminum minabantur imminere. Translation: cm, trans. Giles (see n. 52) ii, 402. See also Lewis, Art (see n. 4), 268–269. Weiler, “History” (see n. 4), 281. cm (see n. 41) v, 190: Obiit autem die Sanctae Luciae, ut non videretur ea die terraemotus sine significatione et inaniter evenisse. Translation: cm, trans. Giles (see n. 52) ii, 404. On the prophecy, stupor mundi, and the good death of Frederick ii according to Matthew Paris see Kamenzin, Tode (see n. 2), 131–168.

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these particular deaths. The answer is: Nothing regarding Matthew Paris is simple. First, just the 1247 earthquake could be seen as a portent predicting the death of a ruler, since the 1250 earthquake is depicted to be simultaneously. In this case it is more fitting to speak of proclaiming, rather than predicting.88 Furthermore there is some evidence in the manuscript, that this connection was not originally planned, but was inserted afterwards: In the manuscript, the death of Frederick ii—including the reference to the earthquake—is not recorded in the main text, but in the margin.89 Since the death of the emperor is mentioned again in the summary of the year 1250 on an erasure90 and again at the beginning of the entry for 1251 (in both cases without reference to the earthquake),91 Richard Vaughan concluded, that Matthew Paris had already finished his report on 1250 including the summary, when news of the emperor’s death reached him, probably in early 1251.92 Sometime later he added the information into the manuscript—in one case on the margin, in the other on an erasure. Therefore, we can conclude that it was not originally intended to portrait the earthquake as a sign for a ruler’s death, this meaning was later attributed to it. This conclusion fits very well with the overall narrative of the 1250 earthquake. As stated before Matthew Paris stresses this quake as announcing future events, precisely the end of the world. After the report about the events in 1250, Matthew Paris wrote an extensive summary of the year, also already mentioned, and then concluded the chronicle with some final remarks. This was supposed to be the end of the Chronica majora.93 Matthew Paris justifies this by arguing that, since the year of grace, the birth of Christ, 25 half centuries had passed and a new era was about to begin. Matthew cut his summary short by emphasizing, that “not in all the other half-centuries were there seen so many prodigies and astonishing novelties, as occurred in the one now ended; and even worse events than these were now expected with fear.”94 In his summary 88 89

90 91 92 93 94

On this distinction see Will-Erich Peuckert, “s. v., ‘Vorzeichen’,” in Handwörterbuch des deutschen Aberglaubens 8 (Berlin/Leipzig: De Gruyter, 1936–1937), 1730–1760, 1730. Cambridge, Corpus Christi College, ms 016ii, f. 245r. See Figure 5.1. The manuscript is digitized and available at: https://parker.stanford.edu/parker/catalog/qt808nj0703 (accessed March 29 2021). Cambridge, Corpus Christi College, ms 016ii, f. 245v. See Figure 5.2. Vaughan, Matthew Paris (see n. 4), 60–61. cm (see n. 41) v, 196, 216. Vaughan, Matthew Paris (see n. 4), 60–61. On Matthews’s methods for drafts and preparatory work see Carpenter, Chronology (see n. 38). It was as late as 1254 that he commenced his chronicle, abolishing the original plan to close with the report of the year 1250. cm (see n. 41) v, 191: Et sunt quidam et multi historiarum scriptores et diligentes inspectores, qui dicunt, quod nec in omnibus aliis quinquagenis visa sunt tot prodigia et novitates admirandae, sicut in hac jam terminata. Translation: cm, trans. Giles (see n. 52) ii, 405.

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of the last 50 years, he stresses the importance of several portents, starting with eclipses, then referring to the earthquakes and continuing with a rise of the sea level and occurrences in the sky. He ends this enumeration with a quote from the Bible: “There shall be signs in the sun” (Luke 21:25),95 again quoted from the speech of Jesus Christ, naming the signs that will appear before the end of time. At the very end of the summary Matthew Paris stated, that it could not be without significance, that in the last year of this age, all the elements suffered. He gives examples of the respective elements suffering and closes with “land, because it quaked in England, and even at Chiltern, which is a chalky and solid country”.96 After this reference to the 1250 earthquake he inserted a short poem, ending with the lines “Seek not what the future brings; another age has other things”.97 Matthew Paris considered 1250 as the end of an age and believed that the portents told him, that the next age would bring the end of time. The earthquakes were part of these portents. The quakes did not proclaim or announce that the kings died, the quakes predicted the end of time, with the deaths stressing the importance of these quakes as portents. It is interesting to note that Matthew Paris obviously went through some trouble, when he tried to adapt this construction from the Chronica majora for his shorter Historia Anglorum. There are some bits and pieces, but the overall design does not fit: Again, Matthew Paris initially described the 1247 earthquake as unusual and terrifying. The Benedictine scribe even noted that it had been believed that the quake was of special significance.98 The special significance of this quake, however, is not resolved in the Historia Anglorum, because the death of Henry Raspe is not described in detail.99 But there is more missing. The 1248 quake in Savoy, which is mentioned in four places in the Historia Anglorum, lacks the reference to the sins, which is so important in 95 96 97 98 99

cm (see n. 41) v, 193: Erunt signa in sole. cm (see n. 41) v, 198: […] terra, quia in Anglia, immo etiam in Ciltria quae cretosa est et compacta, contremuit. Translation: cm, trans. Giles (see n. 52) ii, 411. cm (see n. 41) v, 198: Nec Ventura petas quae postera proferet aetas. Translation: Giles (see n. 52) ii, 411. See also Hamilton, “Tales” (see n. 4), 127–130; Weiler, “History” (see n. 4), 276. ha (see n. 42) iii, 20. The passage directly before the description of the earthquake is written on parchment, which was initially covered with a different text, that was erased with a razor. The preserved coat of arms drawings and comments in the marginalia thereby reveal that the deaths of Fulk of Newcastle and Heinrich Raspe had initially been described here, London, British Library, Royal ms 14 c vii, f. 141r. The manuscript is digitized and available at: http://​ www.bl.uk/manuscripts/Viewer.aspx?ref=royal_ms_14_c_vii_fs001ar (accessed March 29 2021). The deleted passages were not added elsewhere, see ha (see n. 42) iii, 19, especially 19 n. 10. Only in the report at the end of the year the deaths are listed, ibid., 31.

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the Chronica majora.100 In the description of the 1248 quake in England, a connection between the quakes is made and the importance of this accumulation is emphasized,101 but the narrative, so elaborately worked out in the Chronica majora, remains a fragment in the Historia Anglorum. The quake of 1250 is in the shorter chronicle also charged with special significance, but since the death of Frederick ii is initially treated only in the marginalia, the point of reference is missing here as well.102 In his summary of the last 50 years, Matthew Paris also described in the Historia the unusual processes in nature and thus also the earthquakes. The renewed description of the earthquake in 1250 is followed by a corrupted sentence, which is probably meant to say that this was seen as a portent for the death of a famous prince. In the next sentence follows, grammatically connected, the death of Frederick ii.103 Thus, the elaborated story in the Chronica majora became in the Historia Anglorum, by shortening, merely a portent for the death of Frederick ii. One can only speculate what the reason for this was. The very corrections indicate that the chronicler did not have an easy time adapting just these components of his larger chronicle for the shorter version. This unsuccessful rewrite clearly indicates how sophisticated Matthew Paris originally embedded the earthquakes in the Chronica majora and connected them with each other. Perhaps too sophisticated, so that not even he himself could concisely convey his story of these earthquakes.

5

Solid Facts?

It is very likely that the chronicler Matthew Paris paid particular attention to the earthquakes of 1247, 1248 and 1250 in order to portray them as portents of the upcoming end of time in his Chronica majora. Therefore, he recorded a lot of details, making sure they were seen as being of divine origin and causing much damage. Two quakes were connected to significant deaths. He used very elaborate constructions for these, separating the quakes and the deaths in his narration, but noting the connection and thereby making sure, that the 100 101 102

103

ha (see n. 42) iii, 38, 90–91, 304, 319. ha (see n. 42) iii, 42. ha (see n. 42) iii, 88 n. 2. This is a commonality to the description of death of Henry Raspe, see n. 99. This note in the margin was originally partly erased and covered with a leaf of parchment, see f. 149r of the manuscript (see n. 99) and Weiler, “Stupor Mundi” (see n. 38), 84. ha (see n. 42) iii, 315–316: Quae dicebantur vel futuram … mortem famosi principis praesignare. Obiit igitur eadem die maximus principum, mundi stupor, Frethericus.

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quakes and the deaths were perceived as separate but meaningfully connected events. Maybe he misdated the 1247 earthquake on purpose to achieve this. He did leave clues in his text, connecting the dots and pointing towards the end of time. First, this shows us once again, what an immense amount of narrative constructions Matthew Paris inserted into the Chronica majora. His specific way of using the 1247 and the 1250 quakes, describing them and only ascribing meaning to them later on in another paragraph, almost gives the impression that it took him a while to comprehend the significance of the quakes. The evidence of the manuscript for the 1250 earthquake strongly suggests this, since Matthew had already finished his account on 1250 when he added the death of Frederick ii connecting the demise to the quake. This was possible because it fitted the already laid out construction perfectly: The earthquakes of 1247, 1248, and 1250 were already portrayed as signs for the upcoming end of the world. Regarding the 1247 earthquake Matthew changed the concrete date a little bit—or was relaying on false information—to be able to stress the importance of the quake by connecting it to the death of Henry Raspe. When the news of the emperor’s death reached him, it was therefore easy to repeat this and stress the importance of the 1250 earthquake by connecting it to this death. This is a rare occurence, since at least in this case it is provable, that meaning was ascribed to a natural event after the news of the seemingly proclaimed event came in— even though the earthquake was already depicted as a portent for another event that still had not occurred, being the end of the world. The handling of these earthquakes by Matthew Paris in his Historia Anglorum shows that the usage by one and the same writer could also change—if the context changes. Matthew wrote this chronicle between 1250 and 1255— roughly between originally putting down the pen on the Chronica majora (1250/1251) and picking it up again (1254). It is remarkable that Matthew seems to have had problems adapting the tale of the earthquakes announcing the end of the world for his abbreviation. On the one hand the deaths of Henry Raspe and Frederick ii, that are connected to these quakes in the Chronica majora, were written down, but erased later. On the other hand, the 1250 quake is probably reduced to a mere portent for the emperor’s death at the end. We cannot say if this is because of the complexity of the original tale in the longer version, making it difficult to adapt to a shorter one, or if Matthew changed his mind about the significance of these events since the end of the world did not occur until 1255. What we do know is that some traits of medieval chronicles that are sometimes perceived as indicators of reliable eyewitness accounts—many details, extensive description of the damage, naming sources—are not as trustworthy

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as they seem.104 Thus, we learn more about the contemporary beliefs of a specific time, than about the likeliness certain events like earthquakes occurred. Even though this is satisfying from the view point of the cultural historian, there is a legitimate demand for ‘solid facts’ on past earthquakes for important safety reasons. Since we have to admit that historians are the trained experts for working with the sources on past earthquakes, mainly narrative sources, and as even they cannot offer solid ‘proof’ because of the very nature of these sources, we have to go for the next best thing, that being possibilities. This paper has shown that it is highly likely that in 1247 an earthquake occurred in England, as different sources tell us about such an event. Matthew Paris is one of them, even though he deviates from other accounts concerning the exact timing and the date. Reading Matthew Paris carefully—that is not just parts of the narrative—one comes to the conclusion that it is quite likely that the date as well as the depiction of the destruction serve a purpose in a larger story frame. Therefore, it is not fitting to base statements about the strength of the 1247 earthquake on this passage, as this probably is heavily influenced by Matthew’s narrative technique and aims. The 1248 earthquake in England is even more difficult to judge, because Matthew Paris seems to be the only source reporting details of destruction. He names an informant and gives several details concerning destruction that do not match with the archeological findings. Overall, this earthquake fits into several of Matthew’s narratives, making it quite likely that this impressive account of an earthquake is construction. For similar reasons the same could be true for the 1250 earthquake. Beyond these particular cases, we have to reconsider a basic assumption: Detailed passages in medieval chronicles do not mean that the author was an eyewitness of the event. In other cases, it has been proven that many details in historiographical accounts are proof of a specific narrative construction. In this case we might ‘lose’ some assumed clarity about a past event, but we gain insight into fascinating stories, like Matthew Paris’ interconnected tale of the earthquakes announcing the end of the world.105 104

105

Concerning earthquakes, for example, concise Schellbach, Erdbeben (see n. 10), 224: “It is considered proven that the descriptions of false earthquakes are distinguished from the transmission of real tremors by a higher degree of detail and vividness.” (“Es gilt als belegt, dass sich gerade die Schilderungen falscher Erdbeben von der Überlieferung realer Erschütterungen durch ein höheres Maß an Detailreichtum und Anschaulichkeit abgrenzen.”) Andrea von Hülsen-Esch pointed this out in a paper almost 30 years ago, Hülsen, “Verona” (see n. 6), 234: “The interpretation of historical earthquakes, however, is beyond such clarity; the challenge here is to leave adequate room for the many uncertainties and to

118 table 5.1

kamenzin Earthquakes mentioned in the Annales Monastici

Year

Source(s)

Copied106 Described as portent (Yes/No/Maybe)107

1076

Annales de Bermundeseia, ad a. 1076, 425. Thomas Wykes, Chronicon, 10.108 Annales de Margan, ad a. 1089, 4. Annales de Theokesberia, ad a. 1089, 43. Annales de Wintonia, ad a. 1089, 36. Annales de Waverleia, ad a. 1089, 200. Annales de Bermundeseia, ad a. 1089, 427. Annales de Osneia, ad a. 1091, 12. Annales de Wigornia, ad a. 1117, 376. Annales de Margan, ad a. 1119, 10. Annales de Theokesberia, ad a. 1119, 45. Annales de Wintonia, ad a. 1119, 45. Annales de Waverleia, ad a. 1119, 217. Annales de Osneia, ad a. 1119, 17. Annales de Margan, ad a. 1122, 10. Annales de Margan, ad a. 1132, 13. Annales de Wintonia, ad a. 1132, 49. Annales de Osneia, ad a. 1132, 19.

copied

1089

1091 1117 1119

1122 1132

106 107 108 109 110

111 112 113 114 115

copied

copied

copied copied copied

No No No Maybe109 No No No No Maybe110 Maybe111 Maybe112 No No No Maybe113 Yes114 Yes115 No

assess them in their entirety.” (“Die Interpretation historischer Erdbeben aber befindet sich jenseits einer solchen Eindeutigkeit; die Herausforderung besteht hier gerade darin, den vielen Unsicherheiten angemessenen Raum zu lassen und sie in ihrer Gesamtheit zu beurteilen.”) No remark equals not copied. If not stated otherwise, the statement is based on the editor’s specifications. See n. 21 of this paper. This mention is remarkable, because the closely related Annales de Osneia (see n. 24 or references), ad a. 1076, 10 explicitly state Nihil memoriale accidit. See n. 22. Actually two earthquakes are mentioned here, one connected with many anonymous deaths and a blood moon, the other connected with a collapsing tower and the deaths of a bishop, pope Paschal ii and queen Matilda. See pp. 100–101 of this paper. See p. 101 of this paper. Connected with the deaths of several bishops. See pp. 101–102 of this paper. See pp. 101–102 of this paper.

119

strange events and shaky ground table 5.1

Earthquakes mentioned in the Annales Monastici (cont.)

Year

Source(s)

1158 1164

Annales de Theokesberia, ad a. 1132, 48. Annales de Bermundeseia, ad a. 1164, 442. Annales de Wigornia, ad a. 1164, 381. Annales de Osneia, ad a. 1184, 39. Thomas Wykes, Chronicon, 40. Annales de Waverleia, ad a. 1185, 243. Annales de Dunstaplia, ad a. 1185, 23. Annales de Bermundeseia, ad a. 1185, 446. Annales de Wigornia, ad a. 1185, 385. Annales de Theokesberia, ad a. 1197, 55. Annales de Wigornia, ad a. 1197, 389. Annales de Wigornia, ad a. 1201, 390. Annales de Wintonia, ad a. 1201, 74. Annales de Theokesberia, ad a. 1202, 56. Annales de Margan, ad a. 1228, 36. Annales de Theokesberia, ad a. 1128, 70. Annales de Theokesberia, ad a. 1240, 115. Annales de Theokesberia, ad a. 1246, 135. Annales de Wintonia, ad a. 1246, 90. Annales de Osneia, ad a. 1246, 95. Thomas Wykes, Chronicon, 96. Annales de Theokesberia, ad a. 1247, 136. Annales de Burton, ad a. 1247, 285. Annales de Waverleia, ad a. 1247, 338. Annales de Wigornia, ad a. 1247, 438. Annales de Wigornia, ad a. 1248, 439. Annales de Theokesberia, ad a. 1249, 139.

1184 1185 1185 (Lincoln)

1197 1201 1202 1228 1240 1246

1247

1248 1249

116 117 118 119 120 121 122

Copied

copied copied copied

copied copied copied copied copied

copied copied copied

There is a connection to the Exil of Thomas Becket. There is a connection to the Exil of Thomas Becket. Connected to the death of a bishop. Connected to the death of a bishop. Connected with two deaths. Connected with several deaths and papal politics in England. See n. 23.

Described as portent (Yes/No/Maybe) No Maybe116 Maybe117 Maybe118 Maybe119 No No No No No Maybe120 No No No No Maybe121 No No No No No No Yes122 No No No

120 table 5.1

kamenzin Earthquakes mentioned in the Annales Monastici (cont.)

Year

Source(s)

1250 1275

Annales de Wigornia, ad a. 1250, 440. Annales de Wintonia, ad a. 1275, 119. Annales de Waverleia, ad a. 1275, 384/386. Annales de Dunstaplia, ad a. 1275, 266. Annales de Osneia, ad a. 1275, 264. Thomas Wykes, Chronicon, 265. Annales de Wigornia, ad a. 1275, 467/469. Annales de Wigornia, ad a. 1298, 539. Annales de Bermundeseia, ad a. 1398, 480.

1298 1398

table 5.2

Year 974 1076 1081 1133 1165 1185 1186 1247 1248 1250

123 124 125 126 127

Copied

Described as portent (Yes/No/Maybe) No No No No Maybe123 No Maybe124 No No

copied

Earthquakes in England during the Middle Ages mentioned in the Flores Historiarum, the Chronica majora and the Historia Anglorum

Flores Historiarum125

fh ii, 21

fh ii, 421/fh rs i, 139

Connected to several deaths. See p. 100 of this paper. See n. 40. See n. 41. See n. 42.

Chronica majora126 cm cm cm cm cm cm cm cm cm cm

i, 467 ii, 16 ii, 18 ii, 159 ii, 233 ii, 324 ii, 326 iv, 603/610 v, 46/192 v, 187/192/198

Historia Anglorum127

ha ha ha ha ha

i, 22 i, 26 i, 247 i, 338 i, 434.

ha iii, 20/299 ha iii, 42/305 ha iii, 87/97/314–319

strange events and shaky ground

figure 5.1 Cambridge, Corpus Christi College, ms 016ii, f. 245r.

figure 5.2 Cambridge, Corpus Christi College, ms 016ii, f. 245v.

121

122

kamenzin

Acknowledgements This paper was finished during a stay as Visiting Fellow at the International Consortium for Research in the Humanities “Faith, Freedom and Prognostication” in Erlangen in 2021. Many thanks to everybody involved in making this a quiete and productive phase during a time of global crisis.

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Rohr, Christian. “Man and Natural Disaster in the Late Middle Ages: The Earthquake in Carinthia and Northern Italy on 25 January 1348 and its Perception.” In Enviroment and History 9,2 (2003): 127–149. Rohr, Christian. “Signa apparuerunt, quae aut regis obitum adnunciare solent aut regiones excidium. Naturerscheinungen und ihre ‚Funktion‘ in der Historia Francorum Gregors von Tours.” In Naturkatastrophen. Beiträge zu ihrer Deutung, Wahrnehmung und Darstellung in Text und Bild von der Antike bis ins 20. Jahrhundert, edited by Dieter Groh, Michael Kempe, and Franz Mauelshagen, Literatur und Anthropologie 13, 65–78. Tübingen: G. Narr, 2003. Schellbach, Konrad. Erdbeben in der Geschichtsschreibung des Früh- und Hochmittelalters. Ursprung, Verständnis und Anwendung einer spezifisch mittelalterlichen Traditionsbildung, Historical Catastrophe Studies. Berlin and Boston: De Gruyter, 2021. Schellbach, Konrad. “Erdbeben in der Mark Brandenburg? Vorstellung und Wirklichkeit in den Rezeptionsgewohnheiten spätmittelalterlicher Weltchronistik.” In Das Mittelalter endet gestern. Beiträge zur Landes-, Kultur- und Ordensgeschichte. HeinzDieter Heimann zum 65. Geburtstag, edited by Sascha Bütow, Peter Riedel, and Uwe Tresp, Studien zur brandenburgischen und vergleichenden Landesgeschichte 16, 50–64. Berlin: Lukas Verlag, 2014. Schieffer, Rudolf. “Otto von Freising. Der Geschichtsschreiber als Augenzeuge.” In Die Geburt Österreichs: 850 Jahre Privilegium minus, edited by Peter Schmid and Heinrich Wanderwitz, Regensburger Kulturleben 4, 167–177. Regensburg: Schnell und Steiner, 2007. Schnith, Karl. England in einer sich wandelnden Welt (1189–1259). Studien zu Roger Wendover und Matthäus Paris, Monographien zur Geschichte des Mittelalters 7. Stuttgart: Hiersemann, 1974. Southern, Richard William. “Aspects of the European Tradition of Historical Writing iii: History as Prophecy.” In Transactions of the Royal Historical Society, Ser. 5 22 (1972): 159–180. Staunton, Michael. The Historians of Angevin England. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2017. Thomas Wykes “Chronicon,” in Annales Monastici iv, edited by Henry Richards Luard, Rolls Series, 1–352. London 1864. Thomson, Rodney M., Emily Dolmans, and Emily A. Winkler, eds. Discovering William of Malmesbury. Woodbridge: Boydell Press, 2017. Vaughan, Richard. Matthew Paris, Cambridge Studies in Medieval Life and Thought ns 6. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1958. Waldherr, Gerhard. Erdbeben. Das aussergewöhnliche Normale. Zur Rezeption seismischer Aktivitäten in literarischen Quellen vom 4. Jahrhundert v. Chr. bis zum 4. Jahrhundert n. Chr., Geographica Historica 9. Stuttgart: Franz Steiner Verlag, 1997. Weaver, John Reginald Homer, ed. The Chronicle of John of Worcester, 1118–1140 […]. Oxford: Clarendon, 1908.

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Weiler, Björn. “History, Prophecy and the Apocalypse in the Chronicles of Matthew Paris.” In English Historical Review 561 (2018): 253–283. Weiler, Björn. “How Unusual was Matthew Paris? The Writing of Universal History in Angevin England.” In Universal Chronicles in the High Middle Ages, edited by Michele Campopiano and Henry Bainton, Writing History in the Middle Ages 4, 199–222. Woodbridge: York Medieval Press, 2019. Weiler, Björn. “Matthew Paris in Norway.” In Revue Bénédictine 122 (2012): 153–181. Weiler, Björn. “Matthew Paris on the Writing of History.” In Journal of Medieval History 35 (2009): 254–278. Weiler, Björn. “Monastic Historical Culture and the Utility of a Remote Past. The Case of Matthew Paris.” In How the Past was Used. Historical Cultures, c. 750–2000, edited by Pater Lambert and Björn Weiler, 91–120. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2017. Weiler, Björn. “Royal Virtue and Royal Justice in William of Malmesbury’s Historia Novella and Walter Map’s De nugis curialium.” In Virtue and Ethics in the Twelfth Century, edited by István Pieter Bejczy and Richard Gordan Newhauser, Brill’s Studies in Intellectual History 130, 317–339. Leiden: Brill, 2005. Weiler, Björn. “Stupor Mundi. Matthäus Paris und die zeitgenössische Wahrnehmung Friedrichs ii. in England.” In Herrschaftsräume, Herrschaftspraxis und Kommunikation zur Zeit Kaiser Friedrichs ii., edited by Knut Görich, Jan Keupp, and Theo Boekmann, Münchener Beiträge zur Geschichtswissenschaft 2, 63–96. Munich: Herbert Utz, 2008. Weiss, Miriam. Die Chronica maiora des Matthaeus Parisiensis, Trierer Historische Forschungen 73. Trier: Kliomedia, 2018. Wiliam of Malmesbury. “Historia Novella.” In Willelmi Malmesbiriensis monachi De gestis regum Anglorum libri quinque. Historiae novellae libri tres, volume 2, edited by William Stubbs, Rolls Series, 523–596. London 1889. William of Malmesbury. “The Modern History.” Translated by Johan Allen Giles, in William of Malmesbury, Chronicle of the Kings of England. From the earliest Period to the Reign of King Stephen. London 1847. Woszniak, Thomas. Naturereignisse im frühen Mittelalter. Das Zeugnis der Geschichtsschreibung vom 6. bis 11. Jahrhundert, Europa im Mittelalter 31. Berlin and Boston: De Gruyter 2020.

6 Between Astrological Divination, Local Knowledge and Political Intentions: Prognostics and “Epignostics” Related to Natural Disasters in the Middle Ages Christian Rohr

1

Introduction

The study of natural hazards from a cultural history perspective has become very popular in the last two decades.1 This research tends to focus on the perception, interpretation, (risk) management and commemoration of events by those affected and by human societies in general. In this context, the term “natural hazard” is taken to mean the physical event itself, which in some instances impacts on the human environment, whereas the term “natural disaster” is used to denote the perception of such an event as extraordinary, threatening and disturbing by those involved.2 This contribution will therefore start with a general consideration of the questions how to define—or rather approach—

1 See, for instance, Christian Rohr, Extreme Naturereignisse im Ostalpenraum. Naturerfahrung im Spätmittelalter und am Beginn der Neuzeit (Cologne: Böhlau, 2007); Christopher M. Gerrard and David N. Petley, “A risk society? Environmental hazards, risk and resilience in the later Middle Ages in Europe,” in Natural Hazards 69 (2013): 1051–1079; Thomas Labbé, Les catastrophes naturelles au Moyen Âge, xiie–xve siècle (Paris: cnrs Éditions, 2017); Gerrit Jasper Schenk, ed., Historical disaster experiences. Towards a comparative and transcultural history of disasters across Asia and Europe (Cham: Springer International Publishing, 2017); Thomas Wozniak, Naturereignisse im frühen Mittelalter. Das Zeugnis der Geschichtsschreibung vom 6. bis 11. Jahrhundert (Berlin: Walter de Gruyter, 2020). 2 See Enrico Louis Quarantelli, What is a disaster? Perspectives on a question (London: Routledge, 1998); Anthony Oliver-Smith, “Theorizing Disasters,” in Catastrophe and culture. The anthropology of disaster, ed. Susanna M. Hoffman and Anthony Oliver-Smith (Santa Fe NM: School of American Research Press, 2002), 23–47; Dieter Groh, Michael Kempe, and Franz Mauelshagen, “Einleitung. Naturkatastrophen—wahrgenommen, gedeutet, dargestellt,” in Naturkatastrophen. Beiträge zu ihrer Deutung, Wahrnehmung und Darstellung in Text und Bild von der Antike bis ins 20. Jahrhundert, ed. Dieter Groh, Michael Kempe, and Franz Mauelshagen (Tübingen: Gunter Narr, 2003), 11–33; Keith Smith and David N. Petley, Environmental hazards. Assessing risk and reducing disaster (London: Routledge, 2009).

© Christian Rohr, 2022 | doi:10.1163/97

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disaster perception in pre-modern European societies before turning the focus to the topic of this study itself; i.e., explaining disasters between prognostics and “epignostics.” The term “epignostics” is, however, not used in the sense of the Koine Greek epignosis (ἐπίγνωσις), which means “accurate knowledge” in the biblical Letters of Paul and Peter.3 In this context, “epignostics” is a neologism introduced by the author to refer to the opposite of “prognostics”; i.e., it refers to an astrological vaticination or explanation ex post. In the following, it will be demonstrated how natural hazards were described as disasters by combining them with “prognostic” astronomical occurrences, such as comets, specific constellations of stars as well as solar and lunar eclipses. Several types of interconnections can be distinguished. Firstly, disasters may serve as “markers” of bad rulers. This is exemplified in Gregory of Tours’s Historiarum libri x, who was an early medieval author with an interest in astronomy in general. Secondly, the disasters themselves can be interpreted as “portents,” particularly of the Last Judgment. This is particular true of the locust invasions in the Late Middle Ages. Thirdly, comets, eclipses and specific planetary and stellar constellations were even seen as the “reason” for natural disasters and diseases. Finally, two major periods of crises are analysed concerning the question of how those specific planetary and stellar constellations were connected with natural disasters and diseases. On the one hand, the crises of the 1310s and mid-fourteenth century are examined in more detail by referring to chronicles from Austria, Bavaria and Bohemia, and to Konrad of Megenberg’s Buch der Natur, the first extensive natural history in contemporary German. On the other hand, an astrological discourse at the beginning of the sixteenth century will be highlighted, which deals with the question of whether or not a “deluge” would occur in 1524.

2

From Natural Hazards to (Natural) Disasters

There has been a lively but ultimately fruitless discussion at many conferences dealing with historical disaster research in the 1990s and 2000s about how to define the phenomenon of a “natural disaster” concisely. It is clear that disaster perceptions are manifold and diverse in different societies and at various times, as well as dependent on individual and collective experiences and beliefs. It is,

3 The term is used 20 times in the New Testament, mostly in the Letters of Paul (15 times, e.g., Philippians 1:9; Colossians 3:10; Ephesians 1:17), but also in the Letters of Peter (four times) and in the Letter to the Hebrews (once).

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therefore, clearly more effective to describe disaster perception according to a sample of parameters, so several factors are necessary in order for a natural hazard to be considered a natural disaster. Not all of them are necessarily relevant at the same time, but at least three or four should be applicable:4 (a) the helplessness of humans when attempting to cope with damage through the available means; (b) an inability to explain and understand the event; (c) material and personal suffering; (d) the unexpectedness of the event, which depends on how prepared a society is for single or recurrent threats; (e) whether a series of natural hazards occurs within a short period of time, thereby raising the vulnerability of those afflicted; (f) symbolic connotations and patterns of interpretation, such as connections to the natural disasters described in the Bible; (g) the wider historical context in the form of the economic, religious and climatic crises (e.g., in the fourteenth and sixteenth centuries). Unexpected and sudden natural hazards, such as earthquakes, storm surges, severe thunderstorms with hail, or ice floods, are typically perceived as disasters, because people have insufficient time to install an effective system of prevention, which, in turn, increases the number of victims. In some cases, vulnerability also plays a role; for example, if settlements are erected carelessly in dangerous places or if unsuitable building materials are used. If a society is prepared to cope with an environmental hazard, the people will account for this in their daily life and also within their socio-economic system. Based on their communal experience, they adapt the design and layout of the settlement and their behaviour in order to minimise the risks. Where the level of resilience in such a society is sufficiently heightened, the result may be a “culture of disaster”5 or, more correctly, a “culture of risk management.”6 For these

4 Cf. Rohr, Extreme Naturereignisse, 50–57; Christian Rohr, “Floods of the upper Danube river and its tributaries and their impact on urban economies (c. 1350–1600): the examples of the towns of Krems/Stein and Wels (Austria),” in Environment and History 19, no. 2 (2013): 135; Christian Rohr, “Disaster or everyday risk? Perceiving, Managing and Memorizing Floods in Medieval Central Europe,” in Waiting for the end of the world? New perspectives on natural disasters in medieval Europe, ed. Christopher M. Gerrard, Paolo Forlin, and Peter J. Brown (London: Routledge, 2021), 201–203. 5 Greg Bankoff, Cultures of disaster. Society and natural hazard in the Philippines (London: Routledge Curzon, 2003). 6 Rohr, Extreme Naturereignisse; Gerrit Jasper Schenk, “Human Security in the Renaissance? Securitas, Infrastructure, Collective Goods and Natural Hazards in Tuscany and the Upper Rhine Valley,” in The Production of Human Security in Premodern and Contemporary History

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communities, most natural hazards cease to be disasters at all and their inhabitants understand the reasons for and indications of these extreme events. They undertake strategies for their prevention. These can include building and regularly maintaining dykes, locating settlements on relatively secure ground and adapting building techniques to accommodate the risk. For example, windows are not placed at ground floor level in order to prevent the ingress of floodwater, or roofs are designed to withstand heavy storms. As far as possible, warning systems may be installed as a further preventative measure. Since the prehistoric cultures, but especially in the early advanced cultures of the Near East, East Asia and Central America as well as in Greek and Roman antiquity, people closely observed the course of the stars and planets. Certain stellar constellations, solar and lunar eclipses, as well as comets, aroused their particular interest. In contrast to today’s thinking, these were—as they were also part of nature—perceived as “natural disasters,” as they were considered responsible for consequences such as epidemics, war or death in the tradition of the ancient and early medieval natural history literature.7 The perception of cosmic signs shows particularly clearly how human perception and interpretation transform a—rationally speaking—harmless cosmic phenomenon into an “astrological” one; i.e., how a catastrophe can be “constructed” by astrologers.8

/ Die Produktion von Human Security in Vormoderne und Zeitgeschichte, ed. Cornel Zwierlein, Rüdiger Graf, and Magnus Ressel, Special Issue of Historical Social Research 35, vol. 4 (Cologne: gesis—Leibniz Institute for the Social Sciences, 2010), 209–233 for riverine cultures; for Early Modern Times, see also Manfred Jakubowski-Tiessen, Sturmflut 1717. Die Bewältigung einer Naturkatastrophe in der Frühen Neuzeit (Munich: Oldenbourg, 1992); Marie Luisa Allemeyer, “Kein Land ohne Deich …!” Lebenswelten einer Küstengesellschaft in der Frühen Neuzeit (Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 2005); Adriaan M.J. de Kraker, “Reconstruction of storm frequency in the North Sea area of the preindustrial period, 1400–1625 and the connection with reconstructed time series of temperatures,” in History of Meteorology 2 (2005): 51–69 for maritime coasts. 7 Cf. Vito Fumagalli, Wenn der Himmel sich verdunkelt. Lebensgefühl im Mittelalter (Berlin: Wagenbach, 1999), 13–24; Thomas Meier, “Archäologie und Naturereignis,” in Naturkatastrophen und Naturrisiken in der vorindustriellen Zeit und ihre Auswirkungen auf Siedlungen und Kulturlandschaft, ed. Winfried Schenk and Andreas Dix, Special Issue of Siedlungsforschung. Archäologie—Geschichte—Geographie 23 (Bonn: arkum, 2005), 255–257; Marion Gindhart, Das Kometenjahr 1618. Antikes und zeitgenössisches Wissen in der frühneuzeitlichen Kometenliteratur des deutschsprachigen Raumes (Wiesbaden: L. Reichert, 2006), 1–10; Rohr, Extreme Naturereignisse, 517–546. 8 Christian Rohr, “Macht der Sterne, Allmacht Gottes oder Laune der Natur? Astrologische Expertendiskurse über Krisen und Naturrisiken im späten Mittelalter und am Beginn der Neuzeit,” in Krisengeschichte(n). “Krise” als Leitbegriff und Erzählmuster in kulturwissenschaftlicher Perspektive, ed. Carla Meyer, Katja Patzel-Mattern, and Gerrit Jasper Schenk (Stuttgart: Franz Steiner, 2013), 361.

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In the Old and New Testaments, extraordinary celestial phenomena, especially solar eclipses and the red discoloration of the moon, are associated with the Last Judgment.9 In the Gospels, Jesus himself refers to the cosmic appearances at the end of the world: the sun will darken, the moon will no longer shine and the stars will fall from the sky.10 The solar eclipse at the death of Jesus is announced in the Book of Amos in the Old Testament.11 According to the reports in the Gospels, this eclipse lasted from the sixth to the ninth hour, i.e., from noon to around 3pm.12 This solar eclipse was accompanied by a severe earthquake.13 According to the Revelation of John, cosmic signs also play an important accompanying role before and during the Last Judgment: When the sixth seal is opened, not only will a tremendous earthquake occur,14 but the sun will also darken, the moon turn blood-red and the stars fall from the sky. The sky itself will roll up, like a scroll.15 Biblical references like these clearly show how inseparable cosmic signs and natural disasters were from religious thought. The sound of the third and fourth trumpets will also cause severe cosmic disturbances.16 Furthermore, a star that had fallen to earth when the fifth trumpet sounds will be responsible for a shaft leading into the abyss, from which locusts will emerge without number.17 Repeatedly, stars falling to the earth are mentioned. Therefore, comets and meteors could—and did—frighten people in the face of the prophecies of the Last Judgment.18 Due to the biblical references, it is unsurprising that the perception and interpretation of certain celestial phenomena as natural disasters and portents were widespread in the Christian world. Several late antique and early medieval authorities consolidated the opinion that individual constellations of stars,

9 10 11 12 13 14

15 16 17 18

Joel 3:4. Matthew 24:29; Mark 13:24–25; Luke 21:11, 21:25. Amos 8:9. Matthew 27:45; Mark 15:33; Luke 23:44. Matthew 27:51. On the epideictic character and escatological meaning of earthquakes in medieval literature, cf. in detail Konrad Schellbach, Erdbeben in der Geschichtsschreibung des Früh- und Hochmittelalters. Ursprung, Verständnis und Anwendung einer spezifisch mittelalterlichen Traditionsbildung, Historical Catastrophe Studies (Berlin and Boston: Walter de Gruyter, 2021), in particular 225–286. Revelation 6:12–17. Ibid. 8:10–12. Ibid. 9:1–2. Cf. Johannes Fried, Aufstieg aus dem Untergang. Apokalyptisches Denken und die Entstehung der modernen Naturwissenschaft im Mittelalter (Munich: C.H. Beck, 2001), in particular 14–15 and 105–111.

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solar and lunar eclipses as well as other cosmic phenomena, such as the northern lights and wreaths of rays, but above all comets, herald disasters. Meteorologically explainable phenomena such as “bloody rain” were also interpreted as ominous astronomical signs. Something that interfered with the stars turned into a dis-aster,19 i.e., “a corruption of the stars,” and had an impact on people’s lives and on nature. Clearly, scientifically correct observations, for example that the tides are stronger at full moon and new moon, were combined with astrological and speculative knowledge in the tradition of antiquity.20

3

Disasters as “Markers” of Bad Rulers: The Example Gregory of Tours’s Historiarum libri x

In the year 587, Gregory of Tours reports, there were several natural signs that usually indicate either the death of a king or a disaster covering a larger area.21 The author had only one problem: he clearly did not know which events he could connect with the signs—or was he simply reluctant to do so? To answer this question, it will be necessary to examine more closely his personality and his entire work. Gregory of Tours was born in the Auvergne around 538 and came from a respected Roman provincial senatorial family on both his father’s and mother’s side. He thus belonged to the upper class of society, which held local leadership positions in both the late Roman and Merovingian times, initially as public 19

20 21

The term disaster in the sense of a “natural catastrophe” is mentioned for the first time in 1564 in French (desastre); in 1580, the English term disaster appeared. On the history and etymology of this term, cf. David Alexander, Confronting catastrophe. New perspectives on natural disasters (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000), 20; Oliver-Smith, “Theorizing Disasters”; Gerrit Jasper Schenk, “Historical Disaster Research. State of Research, Concepts, Methods and Case Studies,” in Historical Disaster Research. Concepts, Methods and Case Studies / Historische Katastrophenforschung. Begriffe, Konzepte und Fallbeispiele, ed. Gerrit Jasper Schenk and Jens Ivo Engels, Special Issue of Historical Social Research 32, vol. 3 (Cologne: gesis—Leibniz Institute for the Social Sciences, 2007), 12 (with a survey of earlier studies). Rohr, “Macht der Sterne,” 362. Gregory of Tours. Historiarum libri x, ed. Bruno Krusch and Wilhelm Levison, mgh ss rer. Merov. 1/1 (Hanover: Hahnsche Buchhandlung, 1937–1951, reprint 1992), 9, 5: Et multa alia signa apparuerunt, quae aut regis obitum adnunciare solent aut regiones (!) excidium. Cf. for this subchapter in more detail Christian Rohr, “Signa apparuerunt, quae aut regis obitum adnunciare solent aut regiones excidium. Naturkatastrophen und ihre ‘Funktion’ in der Historia Francorum Gregors von Tours,” in Naturkatastrophen. Beiträge zu ihrer Deutung, Wahrnehmung und Darstellung in Text und Bild von der Antike bis ins 20. Jahrhundert, ed. Dieter Groh, Michael Kempe, and Franz Mauelshagen (Tübingen: Gunter Narr, 2003).

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officials in the Roman municipal administration, and later as bishops in the cities of early medieval Gaul, where late Roman urban civilization was largely present, at least in the sixth century. How much these positions lay in the hands of individual families is demonstrated by Gregory’s remark that he was related to all but five of his 18 predecessors as Bishop of Tours.22 Since the year 573, Gregory held the office of Bishop of Tours and thus a special honorary position, as he was located where the Frankish national saint Martin had been active. Installed by King Sigibert i (561–575), from 575, he was constantly in opposition to his successor, the Neustrian King Chilperich i (561–584), and granted his political opponents political asylum in the cathedral of Saint-Martin in Tours. Gregory also acted as a mediator between the Austrasian King Childebert ii (575–596) and the Franco-Burgundian King Gunthramn (561–593). Gregory died on 17 November, probably in the year 594. This highly political position as Bishop of Tours is shown repeatedly in Gregory’s main work, the Historiarum libri x. With an almost Augustinian dualism, he depicts history as a constant sequence of opposition between good and evil, often represented by the contrast between the church and the royal family.23 Only individual Merovingian kings, like Gunthramn, are clearly on the side of the good. Gregory must have made annual notes for the period from the 560s onward, for which he wrote a “contemporary history,” which he finally subjected to thorough editing toward the end of his life, probably in the spring and summer of 594.24 The reliability of his contemporary historical reports is gen22

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Gregory of Tours, Historiarum libri 5, 49. On the role of the Gaulian bishops as representatives of late antique urban continuity in Merovingian times, cf. Martin Heinzelmann, Bischofsherrschaft in Gallien. Zur Kontinuität römischer Führungsschichten vom 4. bis zum 7. Jahrhundert (Munich: Artemis, 1976); Georg Scheibelreiter, Der Bischof in merowingischer Zeit (Vienna: Böhlau, 1983). Rohr, “Signa,” 67. On Gregory’s personality and particularly his most influential work, the Historiarum libri x, cf. Felix Thürlemann, Der historische Diskurs bei Gregor von Tours. Topoi und Wirklichkeit (Bern: Herbert Lang, 1974); Margerete Weidemann, Kulturgeschichte der Merowingerzeit nach den Werken Gregors von Tours, 2 vols. (Mainz: Verlag des Römisch-Germanischen Zentralmuseums, 1982); Kathleen Mitchell, History and Christian Society in Sixth-Century Gaul. A Historiographical Analysis of Gregory of Tours’ Decem libri Historiarum (East Lansing MI: Michigan State University, 1983) (PhD thesis, Michigan State University); Giselle de Nie, Views from a Many-Windowed Tower. Studies of Imagination in the Works of Gregory of Tours (Amsterdam: Rodopi, 1987); Walter Goffart, The Narrators of Barbarian History (a.d. 550–800). Jordanes, Gregory of Tours, Bede and Paul the Deacon (Princeton NJ: Princeton University Press, 1988); Martin Heinzelmann, Gregor von Tours (538–594): “Zehn Bücher Geschichte.” Historiographie und Gesellschaftskonzept im 6. Jahrhundert (Darmstadt: Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft, 1994); Adriaan H.B. Breukelaar, Historiography and Episcopal Authority in Sixth-Century Gaul. The Histories of Gregory of Tours Interpreted

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erally rated very highly in research, despite all political intensions of this work. As for the inclusion of miracle reports in the narrative style, Kathleen Mitchell, Walter Goffart and Martin Heinzelmann emphasized that Gregory used them as planned for the antithetical presentation of his statements.25 Books 1 to 4 are based on several sources, above all on the world history of Orosius. In its composition, the Historiarum libri show a clear shift between the fourth and fifth book, which is also indicated by a very gloomy preface at the beginning of the fifth book to introduce the “contemporary history” part. The front part (Books 1–4), originally conceived as world history in the style of Orosius, develops, after changes to its structure and style, to a contemporary and social history (Books 5–10).26 With regard to the description of natural disasters, this shift is also evident, as will be shown below. In the first part (Books 1–4), natural phenomena and natural disasters are referred to only rarely. However, when they are mentioned, it can clearly be assumed—at least for several cases—that the original was largely incorporated. Several short chapters of the second book for the period 463 to 484 contain brief, annalistic reports about earthquakes. The earthquake of 484, the detailed location of which is not revealed, is associated with the death of the Visigothic king Eurich, whose vicious life and shameful end were briefly examined beforehand.27 Stylistically, the entire passage stands out clearly, and it cannot be overlooked that Gregory may have adopted an annalistic source largely verbatim. Clearly, his source has not been preserved.28 In our context, the description of a fratricidal war in 534 between Childebert i (511–558) and Theudebert i (533–547/548), on the one hand, and Chlothar (511–560/561), on the other, is also interesting.29 When the latter was inferior but entrusted himself to the grace of God, He came to his aid by sending heavy storms over the army of Childebert and Theudebert. Chlothar, on the other hand, was completely spared. The other two brothers had no choice but to make repentance. In terms of the history of the motif, the representation

25 26 27

28

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in their Historical Context (Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 1994); Kathleen Mitchell and Ian Wood, eds., The World of Gregory of Tours (Leiden: Brill 2001). Mitchell, History; Goffart, Narrators; Heinzelmann, Gregor. Cf. Heinzelmann, Gregor, 96–98. Gregory of Tours, Historiarum libri 2, 18–20: eo anno [463?] minso (!) nono terra tremuit (positioned between other short notices about diseases, church fires and wars) or fuit etiam et tunc [scil. 484] terrae motus magnus (on the death of the Visigothic king Eurich). Rudolf Buchner, Gregor von Tours, Zehn Bücher Geschichten, 2 vols., Ausgewählte Quellen zur Deutschen Geschichte des Mittelalters 2–3 (Darmstadt: Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft, 1955–1956), vol. 1, 100, note 1. Gregory of Tours, Historiarum libri 3, 28.

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recalls the famous rain miracle in the realm of the Quadi. According to the report by Cassius Dio and other sources, the Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius encountered problems during his war north of the Danube Limes in 172. The downpours are said to have been caused by the prayers of the Christian Roman soldiers.30 Although a direct borrowing of the motif is relatively unlikely, the parallels are at least very noticeable. Otherwise, there are reports of cosmic phenomena or weather anomalies, which—from Gregory’s point of view—coincided with negative events. A partial solar eclipse coincided with the conversion of the North African bishop Revocatus to Arianism. The brief explanation of the solar eclipse is interesting: credo pro tantis sceleribus et effusione sanguinis innocentes (!), but is clearly overshadowed by the play on words: Revocatus est revocatus a fide catholica.31 The description of the portents of the death of King Theuderic i in the year 555 falls into the same category. According to this, a star entered the disc of the moon on the fifth day after new moon from the opposite direction. At that time, grapes were also growing on an elder tree and other similar anomalies were observed.32 Similarly, before the death of King Sigibert in 575, a bright light appeared across the sky. In this case, Gregory adds that he had seen a similar one before the death of King Chlothar (561).33 In the second part, which deals with the contemporary history directly experienced by Gregory, the method of presentation changes abruptly. The reporting is strictly chronological year by year. This is also manifested in an almost regular closing chapter, in which epidemics, weather anomalies, cosmic signs, but also major natural disasters, animal plagues and other catastrophes, such as the collapse of churches or major fires, are summarized. The

30

31 32 33

Cassius Dio, Roman History 71, ed. and trans. Earnest Cary, 9 vols. (London: Heinemann, 1914–1927, reprint 1961–1968), 8–10. On additional sources, on the historical and religious background and the exact date of the so-called rain miracle, cf. Werner Jobst, 11. Juni 172 n. Chr. Der Tag des Blitz- und Regenwunders im Quadenlande (Vienna: Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, 1978); Péter Kovács, Marcus Aurelius’ Rain Miracle and the Marcomannic Wars (Leiden: Brill, 2009). Gregory of Tours, Historiarum libri 2, 3 on the year 485. Gregory of Tours, Historiarum libri 4, 9. Gregory of Tours, Historiarum libri 4, 51: In eo anno fulgor per caelum discurrisse visus est, sicut quondam ante mortem Chlothari factum vidimus [followed by the report of the death of Sigibert]. If the word forms visus est and vidimus are actually to be taken literally, then a foreign perception of the sign is to be assumed for Sigibert’s death, which Gregory included as credible in his presentation, not least because he himself (as a 23-year-old) had made a similar observation. From this, the assumption of Gregory’s interest in astronomy and natural history, or at least of an early sensitization in his perception, is further supported.

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news appears to be correspondingly dry and annalistic. Exact location information is used for differentiation, for example, according to the pattern: “In Paris there was …, in Angers … something happened, in Clermont, however …”34 In the brittle annalistic presentation, no connection to political events is made. Gregory reports objectively on natural phenomena without explicitly citing metaphysical patterns of interpretation. For Gregory, and every welleducated reader, this always resonated to a certain extent and, therefore, did not require mentioning specifically, as a matter of course. On the other hand, the natural history and metaphysical patterns of interpretation actually only appear in highly specific cases, as will be explained in more detail below. It is clear that Gregory largely avoided a connection between natural phenomena and (unpleasant) daytime phenomena simply out of diplomatic sensitivity. The only explicit connection between natural phenomena and politics is made in connection with the person of King Chilperic, to whom Gregory stood in open opposition in his function as the Bishop of Tours and whom he, therefore, described as the embodiment of evil and morally reprehensible par excellence in Books 5 and 6. Specifically, Gregory calls him Nero nostri temporis et Herodis.35 Gregory extends this black-and-white painting in the two “Chilperic books” to his family and some of his partisans.36 For the year 579/580, Gregory describes a chain of natural phenomena and miraculous signs.37 Numerous floods had occurred in several areas of the Frankish Empire, after which a fiery glow in the sky, a great crash that could be heard from afar, an earthquake and fires, perhaps through divine order—forsitan iussione divina—were created. Real blood had also flowed from broken bread. Finally, a major epidemic followed: dysentery. This disease raged, above all, 34

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Gregory of Tours, Historiarum libri 5, 23 (on the year 579/580); 5, 33–36 (on 579/580); 5, 41 (on 580); 6, 14 (on 581/582); 6, 21 (on 582); 6, 25 (on 582/583); 6, 33 (on 583/584); 6, 44 (on 584); 7, 11 (on 584); 8, 8 (on 585); 8, 23–25 (on 585); 8, 42 (on 586); 9, 5 (on 587); 9, 17 (on 587/588); 9, 44 (on 589); 10, 30 (on 591). Gregory of Tours, Historiarum libri 4, 46. Cf. Heinzelmann, Gregor, 42–49. The inclusion of disaster reports in the course of Gregory’s black-and-white painting can already be found to some extent in the fourth book, which stands at the threshold of the time directly experienced by Gregory. Thus, in Gregory of Tours, Historiarum libri 4, 20, the fire of Saint-Martin in Tours is connected with the succession disputes following the death of King Childeric i, especially with the ungodly actions of a certain Wiliacharius, the father-in-law of King Chlothar i. In the style of the later books, however, Gregory immediately adds the sober remark that, simultaneously, two swarms of locusts descended on Clermont and Limoges, which finally fought and destroyed each other. Gregory of Tours, Historiarum libri 5, 33–36.

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among sinful people and carried off the children of King Chilperic. Queen Fredegunde then gave orders for the tax books to be burnt, due to a bad conscience. Of course, Gregory himself is speaking here and not the queen. He takes up thoughts from the pessimistic preface to Book 5. The description of the natural disasters and epidemics announces the numerous moral grievances, the description of which Gregory saw as an annoying, arduous task.38 In this sense, it is unsurprising that Gregory also introduced Chilperic’s death in 584 with reports of hail and drought, but also of the devastation wreaked by his army.39 In the subsequent Books (7–10), however, the connection between natural disasters, weather anomalies and epidemics, on the one hand, and current politics, on the other, is strikingly absent, although these phenomena are listed in detail for practically every year. The rare—in a broader sense—political interpretations of natural disasters and weather anomalies refer mostly to church issues. A flooding of the River Tiber and a subsequent epidemic are associated with the change of pontificate to Gregory the Great in 590.40 Moreover, there are differences within the Frankish Church, when the author connects cosmic signs and the dispute over the calculation of Easter for 590.41 In 591, many people in Limoges were struck by lightning for violating the ban on working on Sundays.42 When the church intervened to oppose this, Gregory himself was clearly present in the city, as he presumably attended the funeral of his colleague Aredius of Limoges. He probably speaks from the traditional episcopal order against Sunday work. All of these accounts are reported in Book 10, which generally conveys a gloomy mood, with multiple references to the Apocalypse.43

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Gregory of Tours, Historiarum libri 5, praef.: taedit (!) me bellorum civilium diversitatis (!), que Francorum gentem et regnum valde proterunt, memorare; in quo, quod peius est, tempore illud, quod Dominus de dolorum praedixit initium (!), iam videmus. Gregory of Tours, Historiarum libri 6, 45: impletumque est quod dictum est per Iohel propheta [Joel 1, 4]: Residuum locustae comedit eruga, et residuum erucae comedit brucus, et residuum bruci comedit rubigo. Ita et hoc actum est tempore, ut residuum proinae proteriret tempestas et residuum tempestatis exuriret siccitas et residuum siccitatis auferret hostilitas—a summary of the events reported in Historiarum libri 6, 45 preceding the report of Chilperic’s death in Historiarum libri 6, 46. Gregory of Tours, Historiarum libri 10, 1. Gregory of Tours, Historiarum libri 10, 23. Fire signs in the sky (meteors) and a partial solar eclipse accompanied the year 590 with its Easter dispute. Gregory of Tours, Historiarum libri 10, 30. However, Gregory quickly returns to purely natural history observations, without making any judgments, when he mentions in an addendum to this report that some people in Tours had also been killed by lightning, but not on a Sunday. Cf. in detail Heinzelmann, Gregor, 72–78 and 84.

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There are numerous explicit cross-references between natural disasters and the end of the world, whether during the aforementioned plague in Rome or in the context of a catastrophic earthquake in Antioch.44 Gregory finally concludes that all of the epidemics, famines and earthquakes reported by him in different places—noteworthy is the expansion of the material to areas far beyond the Frankish Empire—signified the beginning of all end-time sufferings.45 In summary, we may assume that Gregory very consciously places extreme natural events and epidemics in a causal relationship with a poor rule of law or the morally reprehensible behaviour of the population. As far as cosmic signs are concerned, the Historiarum libri repeatedly express uncertainty regarding the interpretation. In the passage on the year 587 mentioned at the beginning, Gregory anticipated the death of a king due to numerous strange phenomena, including conspicuous rays of light in the sky, an alleged rain of snakes, but also excessive rain and a poor wine harvest, but he was unable to relate them to any real event.46 Also in 584, cosmic signs, misshapen grapes, and earthquakes were observed. Gregory’s formulation clearly reflects his uncertainty regarding whether the signs truly heralded the death of the Visigoth king Gundowald.47 It, therefore, seems appropriate at this point to make a brief comparison with Gregory’s De cursu stellarum ratio. In this treatise, he first describes in detail “man-made” and “natural” miracles. This is followed by a star atlas, which is clearly based on his own, very precise observations rather than the traditional patterns. It concludes with a section on astronomical clues for measuring time at night, especially in connection with the night service.48 Among the

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Gregory of Tours, Historiarum libri 10, 24. The earthquake is ranked under the events of 590/591, but is more likely to be the great earthquake of 573, or also possibly a smaller one in 581 or 588. Allegedly, only the house of a single, benevolent man was spared—an echo of Genesis 19 (Lot’s survival of the fall of Sodom) that recurs frequently in disaster reports. Gregory’s witness is the Armenian Bishop Symon, who finally came to visit him after a long odyssey. Cf. Heinzelmann, Gregor, 74 with note 89. Gregory of Tours, Historiarum libri 10, 25: initia sunt enim haec dolorum iuxta illud quod Dominus ait in euangelio [Matthew 24:7–8]: Erunt pestilentiae et fames et terrae motus per loca; et exurgent pseudochristi et pseudoprophetae et dabunt signa et prodigia in caelo, ita ut electos in errore mittant, sicut praesenti gestum est tempore. Gregory of Tours, Historiarum libri 9, 5. Gregory of Tours, Historiarum libri 7, 11: […] et multa alia signa apparuerunt, quae, ut opinor, ipsius Gundovaldi interitum nuntiarunt. Gregory of Tours. De cursu stellarum ratio, ed. Bruno Krusch, mgh ss rer. Merov. 1/2 (Hanover: Hahnsche Buchhandlung, 1885, reprint 1969/1988), 1–16 (miracula), 16–34 (star atlas), 35–47 (astronomical time measurement). On this treatise and its review, cf. in detail

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“natural” miraculous signs cited in the first part of this work are primarily natural phenomena, such as high and low tide, the cycle of growth and wilting in nature, volcanism (using the example of Mount Etna) and the hot springs of Gratianopolis (Saint-Barthélémy near Grenoble). They manifest, as it were, God’s omnipotence.49 The description of the constellations of stars is also subject to Gregory’s rational, natural history interest and clearly based on his own observations that are largely independent of the ancient models.50 Only Chapter 34 on comets differs significantly from this and is based on the antique tradition deriving from Pliny the Elder:51

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Werner Bergmann and Wolfhard Schlosser, “Gregor von Tours und der ‘rote Sirius.’ Untersuchungen zu den astronomischen Angaben in ‘De cursu stellarum ratio’,” in Francia 15 (1987): 43–74; Andreas Loose, Astronomische Zeitbestimmung im frühen Mittelalter: “De cursu stellarum” des Gregor von Tours (Bochum: Ruhr-Universität, 1989) (PhD thesis, University of Bochum); Rohr, “Signa,” 76–77. Gregory of Tours, De cursu stellarum ratio 9: Sed ista, licet quaepiam iussione Dei, quaepiam autem adinventione humana constructa sint, ab hominibus tamen constat esse fundata, ideoque et quaedam deruerunt, quaedam autem ruinae sunt proxima. Nam sunt alia quae ipse omnipotens Deus noster proprio opere in hoc mundo vel per dies singulos renovat, vel post transacto (!) anni curriculum repraesentat, quae et in locupletatione ostenduntur muneris, ut est commotio oceani et fructus […] Haec sunt enim miracula, quae nulla aetate seniscunt, nullo occasu occidunt, nulla labe minuuntur, nisi cum Dominus mundum dissolvi praeciperit. Bergmann and Schlosser, “Gregor,” 47–48 and 55–62. Cf. Rohr, Extreme Naturereignisse, 519. Pliny’s the Elder description of comets (Naturalis historia, ed. Karl Mayhoff, 6 vols. (Leipzig: Teubner, 1906, reprint Stuttgart: Teubner, 1967), 2, 89–94) influenced not only Gregory of Tours, but also Isidore of Seville, De natura rerum liber, ed. Gustav Becker (Berlin: Weidmann, 1857, reprint Amsterdam: Adolf M. Hakkert, 1967), 26, 13; Etymologiarum sive originum libri xx, ed. Wallace Martin Lindsay, 2 vols. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1911, reprint 1962 / ed. and trans. Giovanni Gasparotto, Isidoro di Siviglia, Etimologie, Libro xiii: De mundo et partibus (Paris: Les Belles Lettres, 2004), 3, 71, 16, Bede the Venerable, De natura rerum 24, ed. Charles W. Jones, Corpus Christianorum, Series Latina 123A (Turnhout: Brepols, 1975) / ed. Elisa Tinelli, Biblioteca della Tradizione Classica 6 (Bari: Cacucci Editore, 2013), Honorius Augustodunensis, De imagine mundi, ed. Valerie I.J. Flint, in Archives d’histoire doctrinale et littéraire du moyen âge 57 (1982): 1–153, 1, 137, Thomas of Cantimpré, Liber de natura rerum, ed. Hermann Boese (Berlin: Walter de Gruyter, 1973), 20, 18, and Albertus Magnus, Meteora, ed. Paul Hossfeld, Alberti Magni Opera Omnia 6/1 (Münster: Aschendorff, 2003), lib. 1 tract. 3 cap. 10. On the transmission of antique natural history knowledge to the authorities of the Middle Ages, cf. also Christian Rohr, “Von Plinius zu Isidor und Beda Venerabilis. Zur Übernahme antiken Wissens über Witterungsphänomene im Mittelalter,” in Exzerpieren— Kompilieren—Tradieren. Transformationen des Wissens zwischen Spätantike und Frühmittelalter, ed. Stephan Dusil, Gerald Schwedler, and Raphael Schwitter (Berlin: Walter de Gruyter, 2017) and 150–153 below.

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This star is called a comet by several scholars. Not always, but most of the time, it appears either when a king dies or when a disaster strikes an area. It can be recognized and interpreted as follows: when its head appears with a shining diadem as a tail, it heralds the death of a king but, if it carries something like a sword, glows red or casts a dark tail, it indicates great harm to the country. That is how it appeared in the Auvergne region before the plague and hovered over the region for a whole year. […] And even before King Sigibert died, it showed itself to many with its tail.52 One may assume that Gregory’s De cursu stellarum ratio is far less affected by intentional influences and politically motivated precautionary measures than the Historiarum libri. In comparison, relatively reliable conclusions can be drawn about Gregory’s understanding of nature, especially with regard to natural disasters, cosmic signs and weather anomalies. This indicates that the connection between natural disasters, conspicuous cosmic phenomena and epidemics, on the one hand, and political events on the other, may have depended on the circumstances of the time and political reasoning. Accordingly, it may be assumed that the version of Books 5 and 6 preserved today, with a clear position against King Chilperic, was probably only composed “in safe distance” timewise from Chilperic’s death in 584. The epideictic character of catastrophes is virtually absent from Gregory’s books on contemporary history; only cosmic signs serve as prodigies at times. Disasters themselves are only “incorporated” in Book 10 with its eschatological orientation. The use of prodigies from nature for black-and-white painting was clearly a conscious, intentional construct by Gregory or, as far as the early books are concerned, also by his sources. Gregory’s interpretation of nature only begins to falter when it comes to the phenomenon of comets.

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Gregory of Tours, De cursu stellarum ratio 34: Haec stella comitis vocatur a plerisque peritis. Non omni tempore, sed maxime aut in obitu regis aut in excidio apparet regionis. Qualiter ergo intellegatur, haec est ratio. Cum capud crinitum deadimate apparuerit fulgorans, regalem adnuntiat letum; si autem gladium ferens, rutilans, cum negrore sparserit comas, patriae monstrat excidium. Sic enim et ante pestilentia (!) Arvernae regionis apparuit, pendens per annum integrum super regionem illam. […] Nam et priusquam Sigibertus rex obierit, crinita multis apparuit. Gregory describes the outbreak of the Black Death in Clermont (563) in detail and refers to the occurrence of a comet in Historiarum libri 4, 31. However, he was clearly not an eyewitness of the comet observed around the death of King Sigibert (Historiarum libri 4, 51).

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Locust Invasions as Apocalyptic Portents: Examples from Fourteenth- and Fifteenth-Century Central Europe

Animal plagues, especially in the Old Testament, but also in the Book of Revelation, occupy considerable space among God’s punishments for humankind. Locusts, as well as flies, mosquitoes and frogs, are sent by God as plagues on people. These biblical patterns decisively influenced the perception and interpretation of animal plagues in the Middle Ages and the Early Modern Period: the reports in the annals and chronicles, and even in inscriptions on paintings dedicated to biblical animal plagues (see below), are usually modelled, linguistically and metaphorically, on those biblical references. In the following, the most important passages from the Bible will be discussed in detail. It will become clear to what degree the locust invasions were perceived and represented as repetitions of the biblical plagues and the onset of apocalyptic omens.53 After a cattle plague and hail, the Egyptians suffered an invasion of locusts as the eighth plague.54 In addition to the detailed description of the plagues sent to the Egyptians in the book of Exodus, there are two other passages of the Old Testament, which were repeatedly referred to in the Middle Ages in connection with animal plagues. On the one hand, a “summary” of the divine plagues is included in Psalm 104 (105), which was also quoted in the inscription to the depiction of the divine plagues in Graz (Figures 1 and 2 below).55 On the other hand, the motif of locust invasions is extensively included in the Book of Joel.56 This detailed report became highly influential in the Middle Ages and Early Modern Period because of the detailed description of the animals approaching, like a large, threatening army. In addition, this report includes a call for repentance and a connection to the general famine, which follows the locust plague. The apocalyptic description of the locusts and the subsequent hunger in the Book of Joel also led to the connection of the locusts with the apocalyptic riders in the Book of Revelation of John. Thus, prior to the Last Judgment, the personifications of war, hunger, and pestilence would appear riding on horses, followed

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Cf. Rohr, Extreme Naturereignisse, 457; Christian Rohr, “Apocalyptic riders in the borderlands. Dealing with locust invasion, diseases and war in fifteenth- and sixteenth-century Eastern and Southern Austria,” in The Dance of Death in Late Medieval and Renaissance Europe. Environmental Stress, Mortality and Social Response, ed. Andrea Kiss and Kathleen Pribyl (Abingdon: Routledge, 2020), 112–113. Exodus 10:3–19. Psalm 104 (105):28–36. Joel 1–2.

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by death on another horse.57 The coincidence of these three plagues—war, epidemics and famine—was repeatedly associated with current events in the late Middle Ages and Early Modern Period. After all, locusts played a decisive role in the Book of Revelation during the sounding of the fifth trumpet, i.e., shortly before doomsday.58 Again, the locusts are compared with the warriors of a terrifying army. The descriptions of locusts in the Bible decisively shaped their perception and interpretation. In many medieval sources, the locusts appear as the heavilyarmed soldiers of an army, with teeth harder than iron, which, like scythes, mow all grass and grain, with helmets on their heads and iron armour. Their appearance in swarms is also described using military terminology. The justification for the occurrence of the plagues follows the Bible: just as the Egyptian pharaoh continued to act against God’s will and refused to allow the Israelites to leave Egypt, so the people of the present time persist in their ancestral, sinful lifestyle. Those who do not acknowledge the signs of repentance, are punished by God with renewed plagues.59 In addition, locusts were not only interpreted as a plague from God or as a sign of repentance, but were also considered harbingers of the Last Judgment. During the locust plague in August 1338, the future Roman-German Emperor Charles iv witnessed a locust invasion in the Lower Austrian Weinviertel region, close to the small town of Pulkau. According to his autobiography, a soldier awoke him one morning with the words: “My King, get up, the Last Day is approaching, because the whole world is full of locusts.”60 In the following, the series of locust invasions of the Eastern Alpine areas in the 1470s will be highlighted in more detail. In 1473, the continuation of the Annals of Melk (Continuatio Mellicensis) reports an invasion that reached Austria from Moldova via Transylvania and Hungary; the locusts finally penetrated the area of Linz (Upper Austria) and caused damage until 1476. The most remarkable detail of this report is that people explicitly interpreted the synchronicity of a series of severe earthquakes in Transylvania with the appearance of locusts as a portent of the Last Judgment. The end-time setting is finally rounded off by a reference to the wars of the Hungarian king against the

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Revelation 6:1–8, based on Ezekiel 5:12 and 17; Ezekiel 14:12–23; Zechariah 1:8 and 6:1–8. Revelation 9:1–11. Rohr, Extreme Naturereignisse, 462–463; Rohr, “Apocalyptic riders,” 113. Vita Caroli Quarti / Die Autobiographie Karls iv., ed. Eugen Hillebrand (Stuttgart: Fleischhauer und Spon, 1979), 142: in ortu solis unus militum suscitavit nos de sompno dicens: Domine surgatis, dies novissimus adest, quia totus mundus plenus est locustis. Cf. Rohr, Extreme Naturereignisse, 469; Rohr, “Apocalyptic riders,” 114.

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Bohemians and Ottomans.61 For the preceding year (1472), the same annalistic source had documented the appearance of a comet.62 In addition, the locusts also left a trace of destruction in Bohemia and Moravia in 1474 and the subsequent year.63 While the plague lasted until 1476 in Upper and Lower Austria, it continued until 1480 in Styria and Carinthia. According to Jakob Unrest’s Austrian chronicle (Österreichische Chronik) from the 1490s, the locusts reached the Lavant valley in 1477 from Hungary via the Mur and Drau valleys, as well as the Lake Wörther See region, the village of Reifnitz and the Rosental valley. Afterwards, they entered the Gail valley and Val Canale valley (today located in the extreme northeast of modern Italy) and from there moved to Venice as well as Lienz (East Tyrol) and into the Pustertal area (South Tyrol in modern Italy). In South Tyrol, they mainly devastated the areas around Vipiteno-Sterzing and Bolzano-Bozen and penetrated the Adige valley southwards toward Lake Garda.64 Unrest’s detailed report, clearly based on his own experiences as well as that of other eyewitnesses, demonstrates that the locusts followed the Alpine valleys and basins where they could find plenty of food. In 1478, at the time of the Nativity of the Virgin Mary (8 September), locusts from Hungary returned to Carinthia.65 The locusts of the year 1479 emerged from the earth, i.e., the eggs laid in the previous year had hatched. They also differed in colour and size from those of previous years, being smaller than unsual and almost as black as beetles. Again, they were observed in many Carinthian valleys and also reached 61

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Continuatio Mellicensis, ed. Wilhelm Wattenbach, mgh ss 9 (Hanover: Hahnsche Buchhandlung, 1851, reprint 1963), ad a. 1473: Hoc anno in Corona [Kronstadt] Transsilvanensi regni Ungarie die decollationis sancti Iohannis [29 August] hora undecima vel quasi terremotus factus est magnus, ita ut pene omnia domata et fornaces ipsius civitatis, eciam muri pars magna caderet, et putarent homines instare diem iudicii. Item per quinque dies ibidem septem terremotus magni facti sunt, et per totam Transsilvaniam seu Septemcastra, Walachiam maiorem et minorem, Moldaviam et Siciliam [the area of the Székelys/Szeklers, a Hungarian speaking community in present-day Romania, not the island of Sicily] montes et colles moti sunt; et fuit terremotus ille per septem provincias orientales. Eodem anno et sequentibus tribus locustarum grex magnus et innumerabilis ex Moldavia emersus, per totam Transsilvaniam, Ungariam, usque Bohemiam, et in Austria usque Lincz multa debachatus est. Fuerunt et regi Ungarie in Bohemos et Turcos bella multa hoc anno. Continuatio Mellicensis ad a. 1472: Cometa grandis apparuit in hyeme, radios preacutos mittens versus occidentem. Rudolf Brázdil et al., “Past locust outbreaks in the Czech Lands: do they indicate particular climatic patterns?,” in Theoretical and Applied Climatology 116 (2014): 343–357, doi: 10.1007/s00704-013-0950-9, here 348. Jakob Unrest, Österreichische Chronik, ed. Karl Großmann, mgh ss rer. Germ., Nova Series 11 (Weimar: Böhlau, 1957), 10, 84. Unrest, Österreichische Chronik 11, 95.

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the Duchy of Carniola (today in modern Slovenia) that year. In Ljubljana, the authorities offered rewards for the killing of locusts.66 Finally, the year 1480 marked the end to this series of locust invasions in Carinthia. The coinciding of military raids by the Ottomans and the Hungarian occupation,67 pestilence, general bad weather and grasshoppers evidently created a sense of an extensive catastrophe: “The above-mentioned year 1480 was a disastrous one in the Duchy of Carinthia, because both the Ottomans and the Hungarians invaded the country as well as locusts. In addition, the Black Death was widely spread and bad weather let the grain moulder in the fields.”68 This heavy rain in summer might explain why the locusts disappeared for decades after this year. The situation in Styria was similar. In 1478, Ursula Silberberger (1474–1497), the abbess of the monastery of Göß, described the devastating effects of the locusts in her neighbourhood dramatically in the monastery’s chronicle: the ground was covered with locusts up to one’s calves, and some of insects were as big as siskins and tits.69 In 1480, a new invasion of locusts reached the city of Graz, whose inhabitants had previously been affected by Ottoman raids, the Hungarian occupation and the Black Death. The comparison with the apocalyptic riders, i.e., war, hunger and plague, which combined lead to death,70 was clear to contemporaries. The occurrence of these plagues found its artistic and religious expression—which thereby offered a coping mechanism—in a cycle of frescoes depicted on the southern outer wall of the St. Egidius cathedral in Graz. In 1485, Thomas of Villach, one of the most prominent painters in the Styrian-Carinthian area, was employed by the authorities of the city of Graz to paint a large depiction of the Last Judgment, which combined the so-called divine plagues (Figure 1). The lower left

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Ibid. On these Ottoman raids and the period of the Hungarian occupation, cf. in detail Leopold Toifl and Hildegard Leitgeb, Die Türkeneinfälle in der Steiermark und in Kärnten vom 15. bis zum 17. Jahrhundert (Vienna: Bundesverlag, 1991), 5–10 and 33–46; Rohr, “Apocalyptic riders,” 108–110. Unrest, Österreichische Chronik 12, 108: das yeczgenannt achzigist jar was dem lanndt Kernndten gar eyn verderblich jar, wann es khamen die Turckhen und khamen die Vngrischen inn das lanndt und khamen auch die haberschreckh und ward groß pestilenntz und was eyn unwetterlich jar, das vill traydt auff dem veldt belyb und verdarb. Dorothea Wiesenberger, “Türken, Pestilenz und Heuschrecken,” in Die Steiermark. Brücke und Bollwerk. Katalog der Landesausstellung auf Schloß Herberstein bei Stubenberg, 3. Mai bis 26. Oktober 1986, eds. Gerhard Pferschy and Peter Krenn (Graz: Steiermärkisches Landesarchiv, 1986), 187. Revelation, 6:1–8.

figure 6.1 The Last Judgment and the divine plagues. Fresco by Thomas of Villach (1485) on the southern outer wall of the cathedral of Graz, reconstruction drawing by H. Schwach, c. 1870 lanc, wandmalereien, fig. 144, retouched in rohr, extreme naturereignisse, table 2

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figure 6.2 The divine plagues. Fresco by Thomas of Villach (1485) on the southern outer wall of the cathedral of Graz, detail, current state. The single picture on the lower right edge of the painting shows the invasion of migratory locusts in Graz in 1480 photograph by the author

picture (Figure 2) depicts relatively realistically the invasion of the locusts in Graz. On the left-hand side is one of the churches of Graz, perhaps the cathedral itself (still in its Romanesque form) or the church of Strassgang. Two people are ringing the bells as the locusts arrive. The centre of the picture has unfortunately been completely destroyed by unsuccessful restoration attempts in the nineteenth century.71 The image was undoubtely donated as an immediate reaction to the plagues, as the inscription proves: 1480 umb unser frauntag der schiedung sind hie zu Gratz gotsplag drey gewesn, haberschrekh, türken u(nd) pestilentz u(nd) so grosz dasz dem menschn unerhörlich ist. Gott sei uns gn(ä)di(g) (“In 1480, around the Ascension of the Virgin Mary [i.e., 15 August], three divine plagues afflicted the city of Graz: locusts, the Ottomans and the pestilence. They were so tremendous, yet unmeasurable to the human mind. May God have mercy on us.”) A comparison of the frequently recurring motifs reveals that the accounts of late medieval (and also sixteenth-century) locust plagues follow specific patterns and are linguistically based on their biblical models, so that the sig-

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Rohr, Extreme Naturereignisse, 484–486; Rohr, “Apocalyptic riders,” 112–113 and 117. Another votive picture of the divine plagues in the period 1478–1480, but painted 150 years later, can be found in the monastery of Seckau in Upper Styria. From the subsequent series of locust invasions in the 1540s, a similarly structured depiction of the divine plagues exists from the Lower Austrian city of Waidhofen an der Ybbs. Cf. Rohr, Extreme Naturereignisse, 486–488; Rohr, “Apocalyptic riders,” 117–120 (containing figures of the paintings mentioned below).

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nificance of the actual appearance and impact of the locusts are relativized. From the point of view of the history of mentalities, this finding is indeed significant, as it demonstrates the high degree to which the Bible was formative regarding the perception and interpretation of locust swarms. It was unavoidable to perceive them as a disaster, yet it was a divine plague and a portent of the Last Judgment, even if their actual damage was limited to presumably a strip across Europe only a few miles wide—the above-mentioned Vita Caroli Quarti speaks of seven miles72—and their economic impact may have been limited. It is, therefore, only possible to read “between the lines” when reconstructing the extent of the devastation and economic damage caused by the locust incursions. Clearly, the “symbolic damage” was, in many cases, significantly higher than the actual material cost. Contrary to the apocalyptic scenario depicted, it is remarkable that no medieval source from Austria reports increasing grain prices due to the locust plagues. This is even more striking in light of the fact that several sources, such as the Annals of Mattsee near Salzburg or the so-called Kleine Klosterneuburger Chronik, show a high interest in the fluctuation of grain prices.73 Clearly, the grain prices did not react to the damage wreaked by the locust invasions, at least not in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, whereas they did react to very hot, very dry or very rainy summers, when the wheat and other cereal harvests fell short. The extent of the actual economic impact of the locust invasions must have depended on several aspects: first, three phenotypes of locusts have to be distinguished. Flying migratory locusts caused apocalyptic associations among the people of the late Middle Ages and Early Modern Period, not least because these swarms were often described as so dense that the sun darkened. When in flight, however, the locusts do not harm the grain or meadows. In addition, no poisoning of humans and livestock can take place while the locusts are in flight, as reported in several sources. Only when the locusts were hopping on the ground did the actual damage began. The animals ate the grain and grass from the root, and the fields and meadows were severely affected. The locusts may not have completely destroyed the meadows, but may simply have “grazed” thoroughly, like cattle.74 Nonetheless, this resulted in a temporary food loss for the grazing livestock, which would have been significantly increased if the locusts also consumed the haystacks. As a third manifestation, the young locust hoppers are mentioned, some of which even served as animal food. Since 72 73 74

Vita Caroli Quarti, 142. Rohr, Extreme Naturereignisse, 488–489. Ibid., 489–490 with the respective sources.

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the hoppers were unable to fly, people tried to reduce this type of locust by collecting hoppers in large containers and then burning or burying them. In addition, very wet, cold weather often put a swift end to locust swarms. Thus, it would appear that the only areas that truly suffered significant economic damage were those in which the locusts actually dropped to the ground and began to devour the vegetation. Second, an assessment of the economic impact must consider the topographic conditions. The sources suggest that the locusts in the lowlands, for example in the Lower and Upper Austrian as well as in the Bavarian Alpine foothills, normally left a path of devastation through the landscape, which was presumably several kilometres wide. The areas on each side of the affected track will probably have remained largely intact. In the inner Alpine valley and basin terrains, such as in Styria, Carinthia, Carniola and North and South Tyrol, the locusts were only able to spread in the valleys. This can be exemplified by the descriptions of Jakob Unrest of the locust plague of 1477, mentioned above. These valleys and basins, in turn, were precisely the main areas used for cereal cultivation and cattle breeding on the Alpine pastures so, for these regions, a significantly higher percentage of destroyed crops must be assumed. It is remarkable that the catastrophes interpreted as divine plagues, described above, each arose in valley and basin regions, i.e., in areas that were particularly affected by the locust invasions of the 1470s (and later the 1540s). To summarize, we may assume that, in many cases, the regionally limited damage caused by locusts caused no more loss of the grain harvest than the destruction due to heavy rain and hail. Third, the period when the locusts probably arrived suggests that their damage did not affect the entire harvest. Most of the locust invasions occurred in mid-August: many sources mention dates, such as St. Laurence (10 August), the Day of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary (15 August) and St. Bartholomew (24 August). The locust invasion of 1340 of South Tyrol even took place in September. The harvest season, in turn, tends to occur at the end of July or beginning of August, although some of the reports of the locust invasions in mid-August are dated tempore messis (“during harvest”).75 After the grain had been cut, it remained under considerable threat because it was dried on the field in sheaves, which needed to be turned in order to dry. This process could take weeks. As long as the grain was still in these sheaves on the field, it remained highly vulnerable to locust damage. We may presume that only a 75

Eveline Pautsch, Elementarereignisse in den erzählenden österreichischen Geschichtsquellen des 14. und 15. Jahrhunderts (Vienna: University of Vienna, 1953) (PhD thesis, University of Vienna), 43.

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part of the harvest could finally be stored in barns in the Late Middle Ages, so most of the dried sheaves were stacked in the fields and thatched. It was, therefore, important for the harvest to have been completed before the arrival of the locusts in order to limit the damage. It might prove disastrous if the locusts arrived very early, such as occurred in the central Inn valley from 26 May 1547 onward. This led not only to shortfalls in the supply of grain in the respective years, but this situation also continued in the following year, since about a quarter of the yield in normal years was needed for sowing. Finally, we cannot distinguish accurately how much damage had been caused by the locust invasions and how much by the Ottoman raids and the Hungarian occupation affecting Lower Austria, Styria, Carinthia and Carniola in the 1470s (and 1540s respectively). The looting not only of the villages but also of the grain on the fields and the cattle on the pastures was customary in wartime.76

5

Comets, Eclipses and Specific Planetary/Stellar Constellations

The appearance of comets was observed in many cultures as a strange celestial sign, which in most cases was associated with negative consequences.77 The fact that this view was also widespread in the Christian West has already been explained in detail in relation to Gregory of Tours’s De cursu stellarum ratio. Also, the last universal scholar of antiquity, Isidore of Seville († 636), mentions more than once that comets herald changes of government, epidemics or wars.78 The Anglo-Saxon scholar Bede the Venerable (672/673–735) adopted this doctrine.79 Chroniclers of the Middle Ages also referred explicitly 76 77 78

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Rohr, Extreme Naturereignisse, 492. Cf. Argyris Sfountouris, Kometen, Meteore, Meteoriten. Geschichte und Forschung (Rüschlikon-Zürich: Albert Müller, 1986). Isidore of Seville, De natura rerum 26, 13: Cometes stella est quae velut comas luminis ex se fundit. Haec cum nascitur, aut regni mutationem fertur ostendere aut bella et pestilentias surgere. […] Omnis stellas erraticas temporibus cometas fieri dicunt et prout unicuique sunt motus, ita secunda vel adversa portendere; Isidore of Seville, Etymologiae 3, 71, 16– 17: Cometes stella est dicta eo quod comas luminis ex se fundat. Quod genus sideris quando apparuerit, aut pestilentiam, aut famem, aut bella significat. […] Cometae autem Latine crinitae appellantur, quia in modum crinium flammas spargunt. Bede the Venerable, De natura rerum 24: De cometis: Cometae sunt stellae flammis crinitae, repente nascentes, regni mutationem, aut pestilentiam, aut bella, aut ventos aestusve portendentes. Quarum aliae moventur errantium modo, aliae immobiles haerunt. Omnes ferme sub ipso septentrione, aliqua eius parte non certa sed maxime in candida quae lactei circuli nomen accepit. Brevissimum quo cernerentur spatium septem dierum adnotatum est, longis-

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to both authors when they reported comets.80 In the same sense, Honorius Augustdodunensis (around 1080–1137) wrote in his astronomical-astrological treatise De imagine mundi that comets should be interpreted as omens.81 In the early thirteenth century, Aristotle was “rediscovered”—and with him the knowledge of the natural philosophers that he transmitted. It was thanks to the most important polymath of this era, the philosopher and theologian Albertus Magnus (1193/1194–1280), that we received not only the writings of Aristotle and his forebears, but also the commentaries on them from the Jewish and Arab world. In Meteora, one of his major scientific works, he dealt with comets as well as the respective origin of rain and earthquakes. Albertus Magnus rejected the opinion that the appearance of comets and catastrophes, such as the deaths of kings or wars, were closely connected, even if some authorities claimed this to be the case, arguing that comets would have a natural cause and not be a trigger for anything else.82 Aristotle’s findings were largely adopted without deviation; empirical natural research was uncommon to scholasticism. The Aristotelian-scholastic ideas of Albertus Magnus finally exerted a wider impact through the Buch der Natur (Book of Nature) by Konrad of Megen-

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simum lxxx. Sparguntur aliquando et errantibus stellis ceterisque crines. Sed cometes numquam in occasura parte coeli est. Bede’s remarks follow Pliny’s Naturalis historia almost literally. On examples from eleventh- to thirteenth-century chronicles where reports of comets are combined with the deaths of kings and natural disasters, cf. the overview table in Isabelle Draelants, “Le temps dans les textes historiographiques du Moyen Âge,” in Le temps qu’il fait au Moyen Âge. Phénomènes atmosphériques dans la littérature, la pensée scientifique et religieuse, ed. Claude Thomasset and Joëlle Ducos (Paris: Presses de l’Université de ParisSorbonne, 1998), 124–127. Honorius Augustodunensis, De imagine mundi 1, 137: De cometa. Cometae sunt stellae flammis crinitae, in lactea zona versus aquilonem apparentes, regni mutationem, aut pestilentiam, aut bella, vel ventos aestus, vel siccitatem portendentes. Cernuntur autem septem diebus, si diutius, octoginta. Albertus Magnus, Meteora lib. 1 tract. 3 cap. 11: Nunc autem querendum esset, si possemus comprehendere, quare dicitur cometes significare mortes magnatorum et bella futura. Hoc enim dicunt plerique auctores. Non autem videtur esse ratio, quare hoc sit, cum non magis elevetur in terra, ubi habitat pauper, quam ubi habitat dives, sive sit rex sive sit alius. Adhuc autem constat quod cometes causam habet naturalem non dependentem ad aliud aliquid. Videtur ergo quod nullam habeat relationem ad mortem alicuius sive ad bellum. Si enim dicatur se habere ad bellum vel ad mortem alicuius, aut se habet ut causa aut ut effectus aut ut signum. Constat autem quod non se habet unum ad aliud sicut causa, quia nec est ut efficiens nec ut forma nec ut finis neque ut materia. Similiter autem probatur, quia nec ut effectus, quia neutrum necessario sequitur causam. nec etiam se habet ut signum, quia non habet convenientiam. Omne autem signum convenientiam habet cum signato.

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figure 6.3 Knowledge transfer on comets, stellar constellations and extraordinary weather phenomena from Pliny to Konrad of Megenberg design by the author, based on rohr, “plinius.”

berg (1309–1378).83 The scholar, who came from Schweinfurt in Franconia, had studied at the Sorbonne University in Paris and continued living and teaching in Paris from 1334 to 1342. In the following years, he moved to Vienna to teach at St. Stephen’s School. Finally, from 1348 onward, he was a canon in Regensburg. His 22 works were mostly written between 1348 and 1354, including theological, political, economic and moral philosophical treatises. His Buch der Natur, composed in 1349, was the first natural history in German, which quickly enjoyed widespread use due to its popular language and style; it was finally printed for the first time in 1499. In terms of content, Konrad embraced the findings of Albertus Magnus and Aristotle, mostly via Thomas of Cantimpré’s Liber de natura rerum (20 books, 1225–1241), but also added his own observations and other contemporary information; for example, about the aforementioned locust invasion of 1338–134184 or the earthquake in Carinthia and Friuli in 1348.85 Konrad of Megenberg thus becomes an independent, abundant source for the perception and interpretation of natural hazards as well as cosmic signs in the mid-fourteenth century, as he transmits views that do not feature in other narrative or normative sources. Written in a vernacular lan-

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On Konrad of Megenberg’s life and work, cf. Dagmar Gottschall, Konrad von Megenbergs Buch von den natürlichen Dingen—ein Dokument deutschsprachiger Albertus-MagnusRezeption im 14. Jahrhundert (Leiden: Brill 2004); Claudia Märtl, Gisela Drossbach, and Martin Kintzinger, eds., Konrad von Megenberg (1309–1374) und sein Werk. Das Wissen der Zeit (Munich: C.H. Beck, 2006). Cf. in detail Rohr, Extreme Naturereignisse, 464–465 and 468–476. Cf. ibid., 112–114 and 131–158.

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guage, it is explicitly directed to a lay readership and, therefore, the first natural history that circulated outside monastic or scholastic communities. The Buch der Natur also contains a chapter that illustrates perfectly both how the phenomenon of a comet had been explained and which consequences were related to its occurrence. The report argues that comets are caused by humid vapours that start burning in the atmosphere. The author then refers to a comet observed in many regions of Europe over several months in 1337. He himself had been an eyewitness of this phenomenon while living in Paris. In the next step, he connects the comet with dry weather and hunger in some areas as well as locusts arising from humid seeds, i.e., the series of invasions in Central Europe from 1338 to 1341. As a further consequence, more than a decade later, even the severe earthquake of 25 January 1348 in Carinthia and Friuli and the Black Death in the subsequent years are related to this comet:86 Der geschopft stern haizet ze latein cometa und ist niht ain rehter stern: er ist ain flamm und ain feur prinnend in dem obristen reich des luftes. dar umb scholt dû wizzen, daz daz hitzig gestirn an dem himel zeuht irdischen dunst auz der erden und wäzzerigen dunst auz dem wazzer und die dünst paide gênt auf in den luft, dar umb daz si leiht sint sam der luft. wenne nu daz ist, daz ain irdischer vaizter rauch aufgezogen wirt in den luft, sô enzündet er sich oben in dem luft pei dem feur ze næhst, und ist des dunstes vil, sô wert diu flamm lang, und gêt der materi ze stunden vil zuo auz dem ertreich, sô wert diu flamm lang und scheint uns des nahtes als ain stern, der an dem himel stêt, reht als ainer, der pei dunkelr naht reitt und verren siht ain lieht, den dunket daz lieht ain stern sein. […] der stern bedäut hungerjâr in dem land, dâ er den schopf hin kêrt, dar umb, daz diu fäuhten auz dem ertreich ist gezogen […] und koment oft dâ mit vil kefern und häuschrecken. […] alsô sach ich ainen comêten ze Pareis, dô man zalt von gotes gepürt dreuzehenhundert jâr und 86

This crested star is called cometa in Latin and is not a real star: in fact, it is a flame and fire, burning in the upper realm of the atmosphere. Therefore, you should know that this ardent star in the sky detracts vapour from the earth and the water, which disperses into the air, because it is lighter than the air itself. If this vapour is diffused up to the sky, it inflames up there near the fire [the comet] and, if there is a lot of vapour, this flame will be visible for a longer time. If the vapour is exhaled for several hours from the earth’s crust, the flame will shine during the night as if it was a star in the sky; in particular, if someone is riding during the night and observes a light, he will think about a star. […] This star heralds a year of starvation in the land, to which the crest is directed, because it extracts the humidity from the soil […], which also causes a large number of beetles and locusts. […] I have observed a comet in Paris in the year 1337 from the birth of Christ, which was visible

Konrad of Megenberg, Buch der Natur, eds. Robert Luff and Georg Steer: Kritischer Text nach den Handschriften (Tübingen: Max Niemeyer, 2003), ii, 11.

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siben und dreizig jâr, der werte mêr denne vier wochen und stuont gegen dem himelwagen und het den sterz gekêrt gegen däutschen landen und wegt sich mit ainr überwertigen wegung gegen mittem tag, unz er verschiet. dô was ich gar junk und prüeft doch allez, daz dâ nâch geschach, wann dâ nâch kürzleich kom ich her auz in däutscheu lant, dô kâmen sô vil häuschrecken geflogen von Ungern durch Oesterreich und durch Paiern auf über den Sant den Main ab gegen dem Rein, daz si sô vil getraides verderbten auf dem veld, daz manich gäuman verdarb. daz geschach dâ von, daz der stern kraft daz wüest lant in Preuzen und an etsleichen steten in Ungern, dâ ez hüelich was und mosich, beraubte seiner behenden fäuhten und liez die gerben dâ, auz den wart ain fäuhten und ain sâm, dar auz die häuschrecken wurden. […]

for more than four weeks. It was positioned opposite the Big Dipper and had its crest toward the German territories moving toward the south at the end. I was quite young at that time, but had a close look at any subsequent events. When I travelled through the Germanic countries, a huge amount of locusts flew from Hungary through Austria and Bavaria up to the Main and Rhine valleys. They destroyed so much grain in the fields that some of the peasants came to an end [died/were ruined?]. This swarm of locusts was caused by the fact that the power of the comet deprived the uncultutivated areas in Prussia and parts of Hungary, which are normally moist and mossy, of their humidity and dried out the soil. The locusts, however, developed from this evaporating humidity and seeds.

Especially in times of general crisis and upheaval, comets and other astronomical phenomena were paid special attention in annals and chronicles.87 In 1316, a comet appeared which was linked by the author of the Königssaal Chronicle from Bohemia (Chronica Aulae Regiae) to the heavy flooding that year in Austria, Bohemia, Poland and Meissen.88 However, this author is considered to be one of the few to make such connections between astronomical signs and catastrophes of all kinds. This finding differs significantly from the chronicles of the Přemyslid period, i.e., the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, in which both natural hazards and weather anomalies, and astronomical phenomena, such as lunar eclipses, were reported, but astrological consequences were seldom derived from them.89 The so-called Anonymus Leobiensis from Styria specifically connects the comet’s appearance with two catastrophes that occurred that 87

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On the observation of comets in the Late Middle Ages, cf. Wolfgang Kokott, “Kometenbeobachtungen im Spätmittelalter,” in Mittelalter und Moderne. Entdeckung und Rekonstruktion der mittelalterlichen Welt. Kongreßakten des 6. Symposiums des Mediävistenverbandes in Bayreuth 1995, ed. Peter Segl, 109–120 (Sigmaringen: Thorbecke, 1997). Chronica Aulae Regiae, ed. Johann Loserth, Fontes Rerum Austriacarum i/8 (Vienna: Gerold, 1875), 1, 126–128 ad a. 1316. Marie Bláhová, “Natur und Naturerscheinungen in der böhmischen Geschichtsschreibung der Přemyslidenzeit,” in Mensch und Natur im Mittelalter, eds. Albert Zimmermann and Andreas Speer, vol. 2 (Berlin: Walter de Gruyter, 1992), 849.

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year: on the one hand, rinderpest raged in many countries at the time, and on the other, flooding caused unprecedented damage.90 The series of natural disasters that occurred in the mid-fourteenth century were, from the point of view of several chroniclers of that time, a consequence of the comet that appeared in 1337. Similar to Konrad of Megenberg, Johann of Viktring interpreted the appearance of this comet, with reference to Isidore of Seville more generally, as an omen of numerous accidents and plagues; following the order of the reports, the locust invasion of 1338 was numbered among these.91 The Chronica Aulae Regiae only associates the comet with a very hot, dry summer that year, which burned all of the herbs and drastically reduced the wine harvest.92 In other sources, such as the so-called Bolzano Chronicle (Bozner Chronik), however, an interpretation as a portent of misfortune is completely absent.93 A remark in the Continuatio Zwetlensis iv on the year 1361 shows that the consequences of a comet could also be ambivalent in the eyes of the annalists. The appearance of a comet around the time of the Annunciation (25 March) brought an abundant harvest and rich fruit, but also much thunder and lightning. In a village near Zwettl (Lower Austria), ten cattle were killed due to being struck by lightning.94 The most detailed astrological-scientific treatise on the appearance of a comet in 1402 is contained in the so-called Vienna Annals (Wiener Annalen). Into this chronicle, which was written in Middle High German, the Latin report of Master Friedrich of Drosendorf was inserted. As the Hapsburg court astrologer at the time (astrologus Austrie), he was the irrefutable authority.95 In his

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Anonymus Leobiensis, Chronicon, ed. Joseph Zahn (Graz: Leuschner & Lubensky, 1865), ad a. 1316. Johann of Viktring, Liber certarum historiarum, ed. Fedor Schneider, 2 vols., mgh ss rer. Germ. in usum scholarum separatim editi 36, 1–2 (Hanover: Hahnsche Buchhandlung, 1909–1910), 6, 5 ad a. 1336 (!) (Recensio D. A2). Through his position that the comet is not a star at all, Johann von Viktring opposes the doctrine of the older Pliny in his Naturalis historia. Chronica Aulae Regiae 3, 14 ad a. 1337. This message is also used analogously in Franz of Prague, Chronica (Continuatio chronicae Aulae Regiae), ed. Jana Zachová, Fontes Rerum Bohemicarum, Series Nova/Prameny dějin českých, Nová řada 1 (Prague: Nadace Patriae, 1997), 3, 11 ad a. 1337. Bozner Chronik, ed. Sigune Masser-Vuketich, Die Bozner Chronik. Regionalgeschehen und Weltereignis in lokaler Wahrnehmung. Textausgabe und Kommentar (Innsbruck: University of Innsbruck, 2004) (PhD thesis, University of Innsbruck), ad a. 1337. Continuatio Zwetlensis iv a. 1348–1386, ed. Wilhelm Wattenbach, mgh ss 9 (Hanover: Hahnsche Buchhandlung, 1851, reprint 1963), ad. a. 1361. The chronicler notes, at the beginning and end of the Latin section of the Wiener Annalen

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statement, Friedrich of Drosendorf adopts the Aristotelian view that a comet is not a star, but earthly smoke (vapor terrestris), which, due to its warmth, rises and is contaminated with particles. Due to the frictional heat between the lower sphere close to the earth and the sphere of the ether above, this evaporation of the earth finally ignites.96 This explanation is followed by a detailed treatise on the significance of cometary phenomena in certain planetary conjunctions. Friedrich does not hide the interpretation that comets indicate drought, eye diseases, cattle plagues and extreme heat, or, according to other scholars, heavy rainfall and floods.97 However, he could not see any evidence of these occurring in the year 1402,98 especially since the comet’s appearance coincided with a solar eclipse. On the contrary, the year was fruitful and free from wars, which he connects with the fact that the planet Jupiter, the sign of good, would be on the rise, while Saturn and Mars were on the decline and, as a result, had lost their strength.99

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1348–1404, ed. Joseph Seemüller, mgh Dt. Chron. 6 (Hanover: Hahnsche Buchhandlung, 1909, reprint Munich 1980), ad a. 1402, that the comet had been visible for six weeks from the beginning of March 1402 and was described in detail by magister Fridericus de Drosendorff, canon of St. Stephen in Vienna and astrologus Austrie. Ibid.: Materia cometarum sive stellarum caudatarum est vapor terrestris, grossas habens partes fortiter sibi coniacentes et compacientes propter viscositatem illius materie. Que quidem materia ascendit sursum ratione sue caliditatis sibi inexistentis et eciam ratione caliditatis solis et aliarum stellarum vel eciam ratione aliarum proprietatum, secundum quas corpora celestia agunt in ista inferiora, quia sine dubio ista, que fiunt in istis inferioribus a corporibus celestibus, non semper possunt ascribi istis superioribus, quoad ista agunt ratione caliditatis, frigiditatis, humiditatis et siccitatis, quantas effective producunt in istis inferioribus. Ibid.: Igitur secundum mentem Ptolemei et Hali [Abul Hasan Ali ben Abu-Rigal] et aliorum multorum significat […] siccitatem magnam et dolores oculorum et mortem boum et aliorum animalium quadrupedum et magnum calorem in estate. Item secundum sentenciam eorum magnates male habebunt [omni?]bus, et significat stragem in occidente. Etiam dicunt, quod significat multas pluvias et inundaciones aquarum, eo quod apparet in occidente. Tamen mihi apparet, quod inter omnia illa magis certitudinaliter significet hec, scilicet gwerras, mortalitates, calores et siccitates, tonitrua et coruscaciones, et simili modo significat eclipsis, que precessit. Et ista maxime eveniunt in regionibus nominatis. This appraisal was evidently written before the great flood in June and July 1402, which caused severe damage throughout the Austrian Danube region. On this flood, cf. Rohr, Extreme Naturereignisse, 231 with note 80. Wiener Annalen ad a. 1402: Licet tamen ista mala omnia significentur per cometam et eclipsin, tamen ex parte significatorum presentis anni et figure celi nichil invenio. Nam significator boni est Iupiter et est fortis ymo in angulo ascendente, et mali, scilicet Saturnus et Mars, sunt cadentes ab angulis et per consequens non fortes. Ita quod ex parte figure celi ad istum annum omnia prospere eveniunt, scilicet victualia et concordia inter homines, licet non in

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Furthermore, certain stellar constellations also spread fear and terror, as it was believed that they were responsible for misfortune and epidemics. The appearance of the planet Saturn on 29 January 1280 gave cause for concern.100 Severe floods followed in July while, in August, hail, storms and other storms led to severe damage.101 The connection between the astronomical constellation and extreme natural hazards on earth was evident, and not only to the author of the Continuatio Vindobonensis. It was particularly terrifying when Saturn migrated into the zodiac of Capricorn, as happened on 1 March 1341. According to the author of the Chronica de ducibus Bavariae, the consequence of this constellation was the outbreak of the Black Death,102 and even the plague wave from July to October 1370 in Constantinople, Venice and Germany was connected by the author to this constellation by referring to his remarks on 1341.103 According to the chronicler Franz of Prague, the extreme flood of the River Vltava in Prague of 1342 was not only a consequence of the hostile constellation of stars, but astronomers even predicted the collapse of the bridge in Prague, based on the celestial signs.104 In 1345, a lunar eclipse and a solar eclipse coincided, which per se meant misfortune and war. Franz of Prague emphasizes the astronomical portent by also reporting, for that same year, a Jupiter and Saturn constellation at the end of March and the meeting of five planets—Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, the sun and Mercury—in the zodiac of Aquarius.105 For him, the catastrophes of the ensuing years were simply a logical consequence of these unfortunate astronomical constellations.

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omnibus regionibus habeant hanc disposicionem celi nos habemus. Ideo alibi possent predicta mala se ostendere, et si aliquid mali nostre eveniret regioni, hoc tamen esset levius et minus quam alibi, et forte bonitas anni quoad nos non sufficit aufferre predicta omnia mala nec omnes significaciones perficientur isto anno sed posterius, quando consimiles constellaciones prestant adiutorium. Continuatio Vindobonensis a. 1267–1302 et 1313–1327, ed. Wilhelm Wattenbach, mgh ss 9 (Hanover: Hahnsche Buchhandlung, 1851, reprint 1963), ad a. 1280: Saturnus planeta apparuit, quarto Kalendas Februarii ab hora nona usque ad undecimam horam diei artificialis. On those flood events, cf. in detail Rohr, Extreme Naturereignisse, 221–222. Chronica de ducibus Bavariae, ed. Georg Leidinger, mgh ss rer. Germ. in usum scholarum separatim editi 19 (Hanover: Hahnsche Buchhandlung, 1918), ad a. 1341. The wording is taken directly from Andreas of Regensburg, Chronica pontificum et imperatorum Romanorum, ed. Georg Leidinger, Quellen und Erörterungen zur bayerischen und deutschen Geschichte, Neue Folge 1 (Munich: Rieger’sche Universitätsbuchhandlung, 1903, reprint Aalen: Scientia, 1969), ad a. 1341, 87. Chronica de ducibus Bavariae ad a. 1370. Franz of Prague, Chronica (Continuatio chronicae Aulae Regiae) 3, 15 ad a. 1342. Ibid. 3, 19 ad a. 1345.

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The earthquake that occurred in Carinthia and Friuli on 25 January 1348 was attributed by several authors to a specific constellation of stars; for example, the connection between Mars and Saturn by the author of the so-called Notae Veronenses.106 For Konrad of Megenberg, the connection between Mars, Jupiter and Saturn was crucially linked to the disaster.107 Franz of Prague even assumed that a constellation of five planets had appeared eight days prior to the earthquake.108 The reports of solar and lunar eclipses are indeed numerous in the annals and chronicles of the Late Middle Ages, but they were only partially related to other (negative) events. For example, the coincidence of a solar eclipse with an earthquake in Austria in 1267109 was particularly emphasized in the Annales Sancti Rudberti Salisburgenses from Salzburg110 and by Gutolf of Heiligenkreuz.111 An association with the consequences of Christ’s death on the cross, i.e., a solar eclipse and earthquake, was clear to many people at the time.112 A solar eclipse that occurred in 1321, only a few years after the series of great floods and a period of famine, was also associated with natural disasters: the grain crops that had previously flourished no longer thrived. In addition, extensive flooding wreaked great damage on the fields, towns and villages. The author of the Chronica Aulae Regiae fails to reveal where this severe flooding occurred, but it was probably in Bohemia or not far away from there.113 The same source, that displayed a particular interest in such phenomena, also notes an almost total solar eclipse that occurred in 1330, which, in his opinion, led to the loss of the rye harvest.114 Another solar eclipse that could be observed in 1333 is said to have brought an extreme drought in summer and crop failures.115

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107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115

Notae Veronenses, ed. Carlo Cipolla, Monumenti storici pubblicati dalla Deputazione Veneta di storia patria, Ser. iii, 2: Antiche Cronache Veronesi (Venice: Deputazione veneta di storia patria, 1890), ad a. 1348. Konrad of Megenberg, Buch der Natur ii, 33. Franz of Prague, Chronica (Continuatio chronicae Aulae Regiae) 3, 26 ad a. 1348. On the earthquake of 1267 in Styria, cf. in detail Rohr, Extreme Naturereignisse, 120–121. Annales Sancti Rudberti Salisburgenses a. 1–1286, ed. Wilhelm Wattenbach, mgh ss 9 (Hanover: Hahnsche Buchhandlung, 1851, reprint 1963), ad a. 1267. Gutolf of Heiligenkreuz, Historia annorum 1264–1279, ed. Wilhelm Wattenbach, mgh ss 9 (Hanover: Hahnsche Buchhandlung, 1851, reprint 1963), ad a. 1267. Matthew 27:45 and 27:51. On the connection between earthquakes and solar eclipses, cf. also Isaiah 24:18; Job 9:5; Revelation 6:12. Chronica Aulae Regiae 2, 10 ad a. 1321. This solar eclipse is also testified for the same date by the Continuatio Mellicensis ad a. 1321 and the Anonymus Leobiensis, Chronicon ad a. 1321. Chronica Aulae Regiae 2, 24 ad a. 1330. An abbreviated form of the content was adopted by Franz of Prague, Chronica (Continuatio chronicae Aulae Regiae) 2, 20 ad a. 1330. Chronica Aulae Regiae 2, 33 ad a. 1333, adopted by Franz of Prague, Chronica (Continuatio

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Amidst the great crises of the late 1330s and 1340s, the sensitivity to cosmic signs, such as solar eclipses, was particularly high. When a total solar eclipse was observed in 1339, during the several years of locust plagues, the annalist in the Styrian Cistercian monastery of Neuberg an der Mürz drew an unquestionable connection between the two events, as well as the cold winter that followed.116 His remark about the year 1344 is also interesting, according to which the astronomers had predicted another solar eclipse and disasters for that year, which, however, failed to materialize.117 Furthermore, the solar eclipses of 1348118 and 1349119 were associated not only with the Black Death, but also with thunderstorms. Lunar eclipses are significantly more common than solar eclipses, but do not appear to have been reported regularly in the annals and chronicles. Lunar eclipses were mostly mentioned if, in the opinion of the author, they had a special connection with disastrous events. In addition, the annalists appear to consider the coincidence of solar and lunar eclipses within a short period of time worth reporting.120 It also aroused the interest of the annalists when a lunar eclipse was associated with special lighting conditions, such as a reddening of the moon.121 The Continuatio Sancrucensis ii reports that there were even two lunar eclipses in 1262, one during Lent and a second on the night of 30/31 August. Immediately afterward, the news arrived that a fire had devastated almost the whole of Vienna; many other cities in Austria and Moravia were destroyed by fire as well, presumably in the course of wars. In addition, the grain prices rose sharply, probably due to the bad harvest and wars.122 For 24 February 1263, the

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119 120 121

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chronicae Aulae Regiae) 2, 24 ad a. 1333 (repeated in 3, 12 ad a. 1339). For a record of the solar eclipse without reference to a dry period, cf. Anonymus Leobiensis, Chronicon ad a. 1333. Continuatio Novimontensis a. 1329–1396, ed. Wilhelm Wattenbach, mgh ss 9 (Hanover: Hahnsche Buchhandlung, 1851, reprint 1963), ad a. 1339. This solar eclipse is also testified by the Bozner Chronik ad a. 1339 and Franz of Prague, Chronica (Continuatio chronicae Aulae Regiae) 3, 12 ad a. 1333, although neither offers any further interpretation. Continuatio Novimontensis ad a. 1344 (Codex N). The same information can be found in Anonymus Leobiensis, Chronicon ad a. 1344. Kleine Klosterneuburger Chronik, ed. Hermann Maschek, Deutsche Chroniken, Deutsche Literatur, Reihe Realistik des Spätmittelalters 5 (Leipzig: Reclam, 1936, reprint Darmstadt: Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft, 1964), ad a. 1348. Ibid. ad a. 1349. For detailed references, cf. Rohr, Extreme Naturereignisse, 533 with note 84. Annales Gotwicenses a. 1068–1230, ed. Wilhelm Wattenbach, mgh ss 9 (Hanover: Hahnsche Buchhandlung, 1851, reprint 1963), ad a. 1222. For similar examples from Germany, cf. Draelants, “Temps,” 106. Continuatio Sancrucensis ii a. 1234–1266, ed. Wilhelm Wattenbach, mgh ss 9 (Hanover: Hahnsche Buchhandlung, 1851, reprint 1963), ad a. 1262 (Codex 4).

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same annals report again a lunar eclipse and great famine throughout Austria, Hungary, Bohemia and Moravia, which was most uprecedented. After that, however, there followed a particularly rich harvest.123 The Continuatio Sancrucensis iii linked the lunar eclipse of 1309 with a noble revolt against Duke Frederick i of Hapsburg, who plotted revenge for the murder of King Albrecht i.124 The author of the Chronica Aulae Regiae, who was nearly always able to provide the right disaster for numerous solar and lunar eclipses, connected the lunar eclipse of 1335 with the following severe, snowy winter and cool, rainy summer (1336).125

6

Astrological Disputes in the Tradition of the Toledo Letter: A New Deluge in 1524?

Astrology flourished in the Middle Ages, especially in Spain, at the crossroads between Christian, Muslim and Jewish-Sephardic thought. The so-called Toledo Letter, a prophecy by John of Toledo for September 1186, which the astrologer had sent to numerous recipients throughout Europe the preceding year, also derives from this cultural background. It predicts that the meeting of all of the planets in the zodiac of Libra would cause an earthquake to shake the world; a solar and lunar eclipse would initiate the real catastrophe, winds destroy almost every house, and hunger and death herald the approach of the Antichrist. People were, therefore, advised to leave their homes.126 The Latin version of the letter appeared for the first time around 1179, but it is based on numerous prophecies that were circulating in the Christian-ArabJewish contact area at that time and were known up to Constantinople. In the following centuries, the Toledo Letter was repeatedly “reissued” with identical or similar content but different dates, although—or even because—the great catastrophe did not materialize in 1186.127 123 124 125

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Ibid. ad a. 1263. Continuatio Sancrucensis iii a. 1302–1310, ed. Wilhelm Wattenbach, mgh ss 9 (Hanover: Hahnsche Buchhandlung, 1851, reprint 1963), ad a. 1309. Chronica Aulae Regiae 3, 10 ad a. 1335. Similarly, Franz of Prague, Chronica (Continuatio chronicae Aulae Regiae), 2, 17 ad a. 1328 connects a lunar eclipse with storms lasting for four weeks and numerous victims of an epidemic. The letter caused panic in Strasbourg. Bishop Heinrich fled the city, as did numerous residents who, out of fear, went to live in the surrounding fields or earthen huts for several years. Cf. Sfountouris, Kometen, 33. On the so-called Toledo Letter and its aftermath, cf. in detail Dorothea Weltecke, “Die Konjunktion der Planeten im September 1186. Zum Ursprung einer globalen Katastrophenangst,” in Saeculum 54 (2003): 179–212, particularly 209–214, for a compilation of the early

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Around the mid-fifteenth century, apocalyptic prophecies experienced a new boom in the wake of the Toledo Letter. Regiomontanus (Johannes Müller, 1436–1476) predicted a biblical flood for 1454. Three decades later, in 1484, the court astrologer of Emperor Frederick iii, Johannes Lichtenberger,128 used a conjunction of Jupiter, Saturn and Mars in the zodiac of Scorpio as an opportunity to prophesy the approach of a great plague. Since, according to the opinion of contemporary astrology, the constellation of Scorpio dominates the genitals, the occurrence of the “French disease” (syphilis) from 1493 onward was linked to this prophecy although, for a long time, syphilis was not recognized as a sexually-transmitted disease.129 In 1499, the mathematician and astronomer Johann Stoeffler from Tübingen published another prophecy of catastrophic events (mutatio, variatio ac alteratio), since in February of that year there would arise no fewer than 20 conjunctions of all sizes.130 Since the second half of the fifteenth century, i.e., since the activity of Johann Lichtenberger, the importance of astrologers at the court of Emperor Frederick iii and his son Maximilian i grew noticeably.131 They were tasked with paying attention to omens of every kind and, on the basis of these, offering their prognoses about the ruler’s political and personal future. For example, the death of Frederick iii in Linz on 19 August 1493 was interpreted as the consequence of numerous miraculous portents of this event: a comet was observed, a meteor fell from the sky,132 the royal residence in Linz was in flames due to having been struck by lightning, an ostrich lay with a broken neck in the castle moat and dead birds littered the castle’s drawbridge. However, according to the report by the court astrologer Joseph Grünpeck (around 1473–1532), Frederick himself regarded these signs merely as “treacherous jokes of nature.”133

128 129

130 131 132 133

sources referring to the Toledo Letter, and Gerd Mentgen, Astrologie und Öffentlichkeit im Mittelalter (Stuttgart: Hiersemann, 2005), 17–135 for a detailed analysis of the legacy of the Toledo Letter in the thirteenth to fifteenth centuries throughout Europe. On Johannes Lichtenberger cf. Mentgen, Astrologie, 227–235. On the highly disputed question since the end of the fifteenth century about the causes of the “French disease,” cf. Tilmann Walter, “Die Syphilis als astrologische Katastrophe. Frühe medizinische Fachtexte zur ‘Franzosenkrankheit’,” in Naturkatastrophen. Beiträge zu ihrer Deutung, Wahrnehmung und Darstellung in Text und Bild von der Antike bis ins 20. Jahrhundert, eds. Dieter Groh, Michael Kempe, and Franz Mauelshagen (Tübingen: Gunter Narr, 2003). On the prognostications in the second half of the fifteenth and first half of the sixteenth centuries, cf. in detail Fried, Aufstieg, 171–175. Cf. in detail Mentgen, Astrologie, 235–248. The striking of a comet near Ensisheim in the Sundgau (Alsace) on 7 November 1492, documented in numerous contemporary sources. Joseph Grünpeck, Historia Friderici iii. et Maximiliani i., edited by Joseph Chmel, in Der

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A major European media event was the flood prophecies for 1524. Based on the afore-mentioned prophecies of the Toledo Letter and Johann Stoeffler’s from 1499, an intense discussion arose in astrological circles about whether or not an extreme event would occur in 1524 due to the existence of no fewer than 16 planetary conjunctions in the zodiac of Pisces and, if so, which one.134 The Brandenburg court astrologer Johann Carion suspected, in 1521, that a great deluge (diluvium) would approach that would usher in the end of the world.135 More than 150 pamphlets by a total of 59 authors, written in numerous languages, were composed between 1517 and 1525 to predict course of the year 1524. They agreed with the forecast, rejected it, interpreted it or appeased the readership.136 Even the young Charles v is said to have obtained a statement from the philosopher Augustinus Niphus (Agostino Nifo) in 1519, which proved soothing.137 Numerous people nevertheless began taking precautionary measures, such as climbing mountains or building arks.138 When finally no flood occurred in February 1524 and the whole year was not characterized by heavy rains but, on the contrary, by drought, not only did a sense of helplessness arise in the astrological circles, but also the entire

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österreichische Geschichtsforscher 1 (1838): 64–97, 12: quodtidiana nature ludibria. On this “dynastic textbook” for the later Emperor Charles v, cf. Otto Benesch and Erwin M. Auer, Die Historia Friderici et Maximiliani (Berlin: Deutscher Verein für Kunstwissenschaft, 1957); Peter Michael Lipburger, “De prodigiis et ostentis que mortem Friderici imperatoris precesserunt. Zum Tod Kaiser Friedrichs iii.,” in Der Tod des Mächtigen. Kult und Kultur des Todes spätmittelalterlicher Herrscher, ed. Lothar Kolmer (Paderborn: Schöningh, 1997), 136; Mentgen, Astrologie, 236–238. On this discourse, cf. in detail Mentgen, Astrologie, 123–127 and 135–155; Gabriele Wimböck, “In den Sternen geschrieben—in die Bilder gebannt. Die Furcht vor der Großen Sintflut im Zeitalter der Reformation,” in AngstBilderSchauLust. Katastrophenerfahrungen in Kunst, Musik und Theater, eds. Jürgen Schläder and Regina Wohlfarth (Berlin: Henschel, 2007). Johann Carion, Prognosticatio vnd erklerung der grossen wesserung. Auch anderer erschrockenlichenn würckungen. So sich begeben nach Christi vnsers lieben hern geburt funfftzehen hundert und xxiiii Jar etc. (Leipzig: [Landsberg], 1521). Cf. in detail Heike Talkenberger, Sintflut. Prophetie und Zeitgeschehen in Texten und Holzschnitten astrologischer Flugschriften 1488–1528 (Tübingen: Niemeyer, 1990), 154–325; Wimböck, “In den Sternen.” Augustinus Niphus, De falsa diluvii prognosticatione, quae se conventu omnium planetarum, qui in piscibus contiget anno 1524, divulgata est, libri tres ad Karolum primum divino affilante spiritu Caesarem semper Augustum (Naples: [no publisher cited], 1519). On the interpretation that Niphus not only dedicated his treatise to Charles v, but was even commissioned to compose it by the Emperor, terrified by the prophecies of a deluge, cf. Fried, Aufstieg, 175. Against this assumption, cf. Mentgen, Astrologie, 138 note 572, who argues that there exists no clear evidence of an active role on Charles’ part. Fried, Aufstieg, 175.

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figure 6.4 Miraculous portents announcing a new deluge in 1524. Wood carving from Carion, Prognosticatio, 1 (1521) source: augsburg, staats- und stadtbibliothek, 4 kult 186–116 (digitized by bayerische staatsbibliothek)

reputation of astrology, which enjoyed immense popularity at that time, was put to the test. Numerous opponents of astrological interpretations saw their scepticism confirmed and did not hold back on their polemics. For example, Martin Luther, a staunch opponent of astrology, stated: “Nothing could persuade me […] to believe the divinations of astrology, which are so often wrong

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that nothing is more uncertain (than they).”139 Parodies on astrology and its prophecies boomed at that time, particularly after the flood, which failed to materialize.140

7

Conclusions

The analysis of natural disasters and diseases of the Middle Ages (and also Modern Times) must always deal with the crucial question of whether or not, and how, people were able to explain the extraordinary event. This could be based on a profound knowledge of nature or local experience of recurring threats, but also within a moral and religious sphere. This knowledge about the reasons and portents of an upcoming event increases preparedness and leads to what disaster sociology, since Lowell Carr’s studies of the interwar period, calls “social certainty” (“soziale Gewissheit”).141 The observation of a specific setting of dark clouds and upcoming winds at the end of a hot summer day can be interpreted as a “portent” of an upcoming and probably destructive thunderstorm that will lead to appropriate protective measures. For pre-modern societies, this interconnection between portent and consequence was also made when celestial phenomena, such as comets, lunar and solar eclipses and specific stellar/planetary constellations, occurred. Something in the sky had been disturbed and led to a “dis-aster,” which had consequences also on earth, be it the death of a ruler, a natural disaster or an epidemic. This contribution attempted to illustrate the various types of interconnections between celestial phenomena and natural disasters. According to the sources, both prognostics and “epignostics” can be observed. As the example of the supposedly imminent deluge of 1524 shows, forecasts based on precalculated stellar and planetary constellations were sometimes published several years in advance and thus could lead to uncertainty and controversial debates. In other cases, as shown by the example of the locust plagues, the 139

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Martin Luther, Tischreden, 6 vols., Kritische Gesamtausgabe. Weimarer Ausgabe, Abteilung 2: Tischreden 1–6. Weimar: Böhlau, 1913–1921, reprint 2000; quoted in Fried, Aufstieg, 176. On the parodies of astrological treatises of this time, cf. in detail Silvia Pfister, Parodien astrologisch-prophetischer Schriften 1470–1590. Textform—Entstehung—Vermittlung— Funktion (Baden-Baden: Koerner, 1990). Cf. Lowell J. Carr, “Disaster and the Sequence-Pattern Concept of Social Change,” in American Journal of Sociology 38 (1932): 207–218; Wolf R. Dombrowsky, “Soziologische Katastrophenforschung im Aufriss,” in Einführung in die Soziologie der Katastrophen, eds. Lars Clausen and Wolf R. Dombrowsky (Bonn: Osang, 1983).

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extraordinary natural event itself was interpreted as a portent of an even greater eschatological catastrophe. The biblical tradition was formative for the entire Middle Ages and Early Modern Period. Since the connection between “suspicious” celestial signs and subsequent catastrophes was sometimes unclear to contemporaries, as the passage quoted from Gregory of Tours’s Historiarum libri shows, there was abundant space for interpretation. Thus, in many cases, “epignostics,” i.e., causal relationships constructed ex post, can be assumed. In addition, these constructed causal relationships could be used deliberately to portray certain rulers in a negative light. It could only be indicated in this article that the sensitivity to conspicuous celestial signs was extremely high, especially in times of crisis, because there was a need for explanation and general uncertainty regarding the current political, social, religious and climatic developments. The crisis-ridden fourteenth and early sixteenth centuries, as times of upheaval, are, therefore, particularly productive epochs for exploring the question posed here.

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Bergmann, Werner, and Wolfhard Schlosser. “Gregor von Tours und der ‘rote Sirius.’ Untersuchungen zu den astronomischen Angaben in ‘De cursu stellarum ratio’.” In Francia 15 (1987): 43–74. Bláhová, Marie. “Natur und Naturerscheinungen in der böhmischen Geschichtsschreibung der Přemyslidenzeit.” In Mensch und Natur im Mittelalter, edited by Albert Zimmermann and Andreas Speer, vol. 2, 831–850. Berlin: Walter de Gruyter, 1992. Brázdil, Rudolf, Ladislava Řezníčková, Hubert Valášek, Andrea Kiss, and Oldřich Kotyza. “Past locust outbreaks in the Czech Lands: do they indicate particular climatic patterns?” Theoretical and Applied Climatology 116 (2014): 343–357, doi: 10.1007/s00 704-013-0950-9. Breukelaar, Adriaan H.B. Historiography and Episcopal Authority in Sixth-Century Gaul. The Histories of Gregory of Tours Interpreted in their Historical Context. Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 1994. Carr, Lowell J. “Disaster and the Sequence-Pattern Concept of Social Change.” In American Journal of Sociology 38 (1932): 207–218. De Kraker, Adriaan M.J. “Reconstruction of storm frequency in the North Sea area of the preindustrial period, 1400–1625 and the connection with reconstructed time series of temperatures.” In History of Meteorology 2 (2005): 51–69. De Nie, Giselle. Views from a Many-Windowed Tower. Studies of Imagination in the Works of Gregory of Tours. Amsterdam: Rodopi, 1987. Dombrowsky, Wolf R. “Soziologische Katastrophenforschung im Aufriss.” In Einführung in die Soziologie der Katastrophen, edited by Lars Clausen and Wolf R. Dombrowsky, 11–39. Bonn: Osang, 1983. Draelants, Isabelle. “Le temps dans les textes historiographiques du Moyen Âge.” In Le temps qu’il fait au Moyen Âge. Phénomènes atmosphériques dans la littérature, la pensée scientifique et religieuse, edited by Claude Thomasset and Joëlle Ducos, 91– 138. Paris: Presses de l’Université de Paris-Sorbonne, 1998. Fried, Johannes. Aufstieg aus dem Untergang. Apokalyptisches Denken und die Entstehung der modernen Naturwissenschaft im Mittelalter. Munich: C.H. Beck, 2001. Fumagalli, Vito. Wenn der Himmel sich verdunkelt. Lebensgefühl im Mittelalter. Berlin: Wagenbach, 1999. Gerrard, Christopher M., and David N. Petley. “A risk society? Environmental hazards, risk and resilience in the later Middle Ages in Europe.” In Natural Hazards 69 (2013): 1051–1079. Gindhart, Marion. Das Kometenjahr 1618. Antikes und zeitgenössisches Wissen in der frühneuzeitlichen Kometenliteratur des deutschsprachigen Raumes. Wiesbaden: L. Reichert, 2006. Goffart, Walter. The Narrators of Barbarian History (a.d. 550–800). Jordanes, Gregory of Tours, Bede and Paul the Deacon. Princeton NJ: Princeton University Press, 1988. Gottschall, Dagmar. Konrad von Megenbergs Buch von den natürlichen Dingen—ein

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Dokument deutschsprachiger Albertus-Magnus-Rezeption im 14. Jahrhundert. Leiden: Brill 2004. Groh, Dieter, Michael Kempe, and Franz Mauelshagen. “Einleitung. Naturkatastrophen—wahrgenommen, gedeutet, dargestellt.” In Naturkatastrophen. Beiträge zu ihrer Deutung, Wahrnehmung und Darstellung in Text und Bild von der Antike bis ins 20. Jahrhundert, edited by Dieter Groh, Michael Kempe, and Franz Mauelshagen, 11–33. Tübingen: Gunter Narr, 2003. Heinzelmann, Martin. Bischofsherrschaft in Gallien. Zur Kontinuität römischer Führungsschichten vom 4. bis zum 7. Jahrhundert. Munich: Artemis, 1976. Heinzelmann, Martin. Gregor von Tours (538–594): “Zehn Bücher Geschichte.” Historiographie und Gesellschaftskonzept im 6. Jahrhundert. Darmstadt: Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft, 1994. Jakubowski-Tiessen, Manfred. Sturmflut 1717. Die Bewältigung einer Naturkatastrophe in der Frühen Neuzeit. Munich: Oldenbourg, 1992. Jobst, Werner. 11. Juni 172 n. Chr. Der Tag des Blitz- und Regenwunders im Quadenlande. Vienna: Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, 1978. Kokott, Wolfgang. “Kometenbeobachtungen im Spätmittelalter.” In Mittelalter und Moderne. Entdeckung und Rekonstruktion der mittelalterlichen Welt. Kongreßakten des 6. Symposiums des Mediävistenverbandes in Bayreuth 1995, edited by Peter Segl, 109– 120. Sigmaringen: Thorbecke, 1997. Kovács, Péter. Marcus Aurelius’ Rain Miracle and the Marcomannic Wars. Leiden: Brill, 2009. Labbé, Thomas. Les catastrophes naturelles au Moyen Âge, xiie–xve siècle. Paris: cnrs Éditions, 2017. Lanc, Elga. Die mittelalterlichen Wandmalereien in der Steiermark, Textband und Tafelband. Vienna: Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, 2002. Lipburger, Peter Michael. “De prodigiis et ostentis que mortem Friderici imperatoris precesserunt. Zum Tod Kaiser Friedrichs iii.” In Der Tod des Mächtigen. Kult und Kultur des Todes spätmittelalterlicher Herrscher, edited by Lothar Kolmer, 125–135. Paderborn: Schöningh, 1997. Loose, Andreas. Astronomische Zeitbestimmung im frühen Mittelalter: “De cursu stellarum” des Gregor von Tours. Bochum: Ruhr-Universität, 1989 (PhD thesis, University of Bochum). Märtl, Claudia, Gisela Drossbach, and Martin Kintzinger, ed. Konrad von Megenberg (1309–1374) und sein Werk. Das Wissen der Zeit. Munich: C.H. Beck, 2006. Meier, Thomas. “Archäologie und Naturereignis.” In Naturkatastrophen und Naturrisiken in der vorindustriellen Zeit und ihre Auswirkungen auf Siedlungen und Kulturlandschaft, edited by Winfried Schenk and Andreas Dix, Special Issue of Siedlungsforschung. Archäologie—Geschichte—Geographie 23, 253–290. Bonn: arkum, 2005.

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Stress, Mortality and Social Response, edited by Andrea Kiss and Kathleen Pribyl, 107–124. Abingdon: Routledge, 2020. Rohr, Christian. “Disaster or everyday risk? Perceiving, Managing and Memorizing Floods in Medieval Central Europe.” In Waiting for the end of the world? New perspectives on natural disasters in medieval Europe, edited by Christopher M. Gerrard, Paolo Forlin, and Peter J. Brown, 201–217. London: Routledge, 2021. Scheibelreiter, Georg. Der Bischof in merowingischer Zeit. Vienna: Böhlau, 1983. Schellbach, Konrad. Erdbeben in der Geschichtsschreibung des Früh- und Hochmittelalters. Ursprung, Verständnis und Anwendung einer spezifisch mittelalterlichen Traditionsbildung. Berlin: Walter de Gruyter, 2021. Schenk, Gerrit Jasper. “Historical Disaster Research. State of Research, Concepts, Methods and Case Studies.” In Historical Disaster Research. Concepts, Methods and Case Studies / Historische Katastrophenforschung. Begriffe, Konzepte und Fallbeispiele, edited by Gerrit Jasper Schenk and Jens Ivo Engels, Special Issue of Historical Social Research 32, vol. 3, 9–31. Cologne: gesis—Leibniz Institute for the Social Sciences, 2007. Schenk, Gerrit Jasper. “Human Security in the Renaissance? Securitas, Infrastructure, Collective Goods and Natural Hazards in Tuscany and the Upper Rhine Valley.” In The Production of Human Security in Premodern and Contemporary History / Die Produktion von Human Security in Vormoderne und Zeitgeschichte, edited by Cornel Zwierlein, Rüdiger Graf, and Magnus Ressel, Special Issue of Historical Social Research 35, vol. 4, 209–233. Cologne: gesis—Leibniz Institute for the Social Sciences, 2010. Schenk, Gerrit Jasper, ed. Historical disaster experiences. Towards a comparative and transcultural history of disasters across Asia and Europe. Cham: Springer International Publishing, 2017. Sfountouris, Argyris. Kometen, Meteore, Meteoriten. Geschichte und Forschung. Rüschlikon-Zürich: Albert Müller, 1986. Smith, Keith, and David N. Petley. Environmental hazards. Assessing risk and reducing disaster. London: Routledge, 2009. Talkenberger, Heike. Sintflut. Prophetie und Zeitgeschehen in Texten und Holzschnitten astrologischer Flugschriften 1488–1528. Tübingen: Niemeyer, 1990. Thürlemann, Felix. Der historische Diskurs bei Gregor von Tours. Topoi und Wirklichkeit. Bern: Herbert Lang, 1974. Toifl, Leopold, and Hildegard Leitgeb. Die Türkeneinfälle in der Steiermark und in Kärnten vom 15. bis zum 17. Jahrhundert. Vienna: Bundesverlag, 1991. Walter, Tilmann. “Die Syphilis als astrologische Katastrophe. Frühe medizinische Fachtexte zur ‘Franzosenkrankheit’.” In Naturkatastrophen. Beiträge zu ihrer Deutung, Wahrnehmung und Darstellung in Text und Bild von der Antike bis ins 20. Jahrhundert, edited by Dieter Groh, Michael Kempe, and Franz Mauelshagen, 165–186. Tübingen: Gunter Narr, 2003.

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part 3 Practices and Experts

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7 Analogy at Work in Western Medieval Divination Stefano Rapisarda

Analogy is one of the basic tools of rational thinking in many world civilizations.1 I am speaking of ‘analogical reasoning’ but perhaps this is not the correct term to apply to the Western Middle Ages. The reason for this is that when considering this period, the use of the word analogy is normally limited to the linguistic context. It means literally ana-logos, “related to logos”, to speech, to grammar and discourse, whereas probably a more appropriate medieval word to indicate similarity relations based on shared features or complementary relations based on co-occurrence in events or situations would be similitudo, “similitude”. However, despite the fact that ‘analogy’ may not be correct in a technical sense, I will nevertheless use it, on the basis that in the contemporary vocabulary it is commonly connected with logic, reasoning and rational processes not only strictly related to language. Yet what does ‘rationality’ mean? Even though Western philosophy has maintained from its very beginnings, that rationality is the essential feature which distinguishes human beings from other animals; rationality in itself is a complex, multifaceted notion which seemingly eludes simple definition. When reading The Oxford Handbook of Rationality, it is impossible not to feel stunned by the difficulty of defining rationality, and we might repeat of it, what Augustine said of time: “If no one asks me, I know what it is. If I wish to explain it to him who asks, I do not know.” The notion has been complicated by an extensive literature, especially anthropological, which, within a postcolonial framework, has reflected on the relativistic aspects of reason and rationality in different societies around the globe, producing scholarship on issues such as: “apparently irrational beliefs” and “rationality, relativism, the translation and commensurability of cultures”; and titles such as African Traditional Thought and Western Science; Patterns of Thought in Africa and the West: Essays on Magic, Religion, and Science; Magic, Science, Religion, and the Scope of Rationality; etc. Divination is one of the fields that has greatly contributed to this “relativistic” implementation of Western rationality. A turning point came due to the

1 Volkov, Analogical reasoning.

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combination of two academics of very different tempers and fields of scholarship, Jean-Pierre Vernant (1914–2007) and Carlo Ginzburg (1939–), who can be considered founders of a new paradigm in the perception of divination; that is to say, “divination and rationality.” As a matter of fact, under the title of Divination et rationalité Vernant edited in 1974 a collection of essays dealing with divination in different world civilizations. Despite their heterogeneity, all the essays were nonetheless bound by the idea that “La rationalité divinatoire ne forme pas, dans ces civilisations, un secteur à part, une mentalité isolée, s’opposant aux modes de raisonnement qui règlent la pratique du droit, de l’administration, de la politique, de la médecine ou de la vie quotidienne; elle s’insère de façon cohérente dans l’ ensemble de la pensée sociale.”2 The French classicist and his fellow scholars wondered “quelle est, d’une part, la nature des opérations intellectuelles impliquées dans le déroulement de la consultation oraculaire, en quoi consiste la logique du système mis en oeuvre par le devin pour déchiffrer l’ invisible et répondre à la demande des consultants; en bref, quel type de rationalité s’ exprime dans le jeu des procédures divinatoires.”3 It is likely that Vernant was able to reach this turning point as a result of the original way he merged classical studies and Marxist doctrine,4 and it was through this elaboration that he was able to consider religion a “rational” superstructural aspect of the material “base”. Quite incidentally a decade later, Ginzburg elaborated the so-called “evidential paradigm”. With no specific reference to divination, it instead more widely focused on forms of knowledge based on hints and clues. Additionally, it also aimed to overcome the sterile opposition between rational and irrational, which for Ginzburg leads to a dead end. The evidential paradigm reshapes ancient and medieval knowledge according to the “evidential” (‘indiziario’) vs. “inspired” dichotomy rather than that of “rational” vs. “irrational”. In doing so, not only did a fortunate reconsideration of a “constellation of evidential disciplines” emerge, but it also showed that the majority of future modern sciences would be inspired by a divinatory type of epistemology, with reference to “an attitude orientated towards the analysis of specific cases which could be

2 Jean-Pierre Vernant, “Parole et signes muets,” in Divination et rationalité (Paris: Seuil, 1974), 10. 3 Ibid., 9. 4 Jean-Pierre Vernant, La Traversée des frontières (Paris: Seuil, 2004). Needless to say, in Marxist theory, society consists of two parts: the “base” and “superstructure”. The former comprises the forces and relations of production into which people enter to produce the necessities and amenities of life. It determines society’s other relationships and ideas to comprise its “superstructure”, including its culture, institutions, political power structures, roles, rituals, and state.

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reconstructed only through traces, symptoms and clues”.5 If Vernant’s starting point is the merging of Marxist perspective and ancient Greek society, Ginzurg’s starting point is the study of the inquisition processes and the meaning of proofs and probatory systems. This paradigm quickly turned out to be fertile, as can be seen through its application collected in titles such as Divination and Interpretation of Signs in the Ancient World.6 This volume contains essays like that by Francesca Rochberg, “If P, then Q. Form and Reasoning in Babylonian Divination”,7 largely inspired by Jean Bottero’s essays on the Mesopotamic semiosis. I myself have also made wide use of it in the Medieval Western field, even in textual criticism. As is widely recognized, after the Enlightenment, divination was considered a gallery of monsters and human foolishness. Referring to one of the period’s most fundamental thinkers, a recent article on divination and the Enlightenment states: “L’abondance des adjectives dépréciatifs (chimérique, extravagant, capricieux, faux, superstitieux) et l’obsédante présence du mot « superstition » révélent clairement l’opinion de Diderot”.8 Thanks to the change in paradigms, however, divination is nowadays recognized as a common and pervasive phenomenon in almost all of the world’s cultures. Furthermore, it is acknowledged as having a specific ‘rationality’ including the capacity to decode signs and to perform modes of thought which are shaped by analogy, deduction, logical thinking, and even on (presumed or possible) experimental verification. Nevertheless, skepticism concerning astrology and divination in general does not begin in the century of Voltaire. Doubts about the ‘rationality’ of divination were widely expressed in Classical, Medieval and Early Modern European culture. The literature on theological condemnations of astrology is extensive, while the literature on rational and pragmatic claims of usefulness seems, on the contrary, to be quite thin. By ‘rational skepticism,’ I refer to all

5 Carlo Ginzburg, “Clues: Roots of an Evidential Paradigm,” in Myths, Emblems, Clues, trans. John and Anne C. Tedeschi, (London: Hutchinson Radius, 1990), 96–125; first published in Italian, 1979. Also published in the United States under the title Clues, Myths, and the Historical Method (Baltimore MD: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1989), quot. at 104. 6 Ed. A. Annus (Chicago: The Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago, 2010). 7 Ibid., 19–27; as far as Mesopotamic divination is concerned the path was opened by Jean Bottero, Divination et rationalité, cit., 70–197 and Id., Mésopotamie : l’écriture, la raison et les dieux (Paris: Gallimard, 1987), 157–169. 8 Luciana Allocco, “Le domaine obscur et inconfortable de la « magie »,” in Recherches sur Diderot et sur l’ Encyclopédie. Les branches du savoir dans l’Encyclopédie 40–41 (2006): 233– 250.

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those expressions of doubt about the intrinsic validity and usefulness of divination theories, techniques, practices, instruments, based on rational grounds, whatever they might be, and not on religious and/or theological reasons. Unfortunately, to the best of my knowledge, a monograph specifically devoted to the history of anti-divinatory skepticism is not currently available to scholars. It is true that some general histories of skepticism, like that by Machuca-Reed (2018) are on the market but, in this kind of monograph, divinatory and, more specifically, astrological skepticism is generally discussed in scattered chapters rather than being organically treated as a topic in itself; similarly, many episodes of ‘rationalism’ are discussed in various single sources, but a real, systematic history of anti-divinatory skepticism is not currently available and, in my opinion, would be highly desirable. The story of “rationalism” in matters of divination is not at all a linear story. It is full of detours and frequently “rationalists” are losers in the short run. In the West, this story begins with Cicero On divination (44 bc c.), the basic text of a ‘rationalist’ approach in the Western tradition. It is a philosophical treatise in two books, taking the form of a dialogue between two interlocutors. One is Quintus, the brother of Cicero, speaking in Book i, and the other is Cicero himself, speaking mostly in Book ii. Book i deals with Quintus’s defense of divination, in line with some Stoic beliefs, as a principal part of religion and of the ancient customs of the Roman people, while Book ii contains Marcus’s refutation of these from his academic, philosophical standpoint. Cicero displays an excellent knowledge of many techniques of divination, dividing them into the “inspired” ones, and the techniques requiring some skills of interpretation (i.e., haruspicy, astrology, avimancy) but his approach, as a debater, is rationalist and against divination. Many examples are very famous in the history of ‘rationalism.’ Just imagine that you are setting out on a journey. You get your shoes and you find them eaten by rats. Many would find this a bad omen. But what kind of omen is this, says Cicero? A “real” omen it would be not if you found that a rat has eaten your shoe, but if you found that your shoe had eaten a rat, he says ironically. What I have mentioned above as the ‘clash of cosmologies’ appears clearly in another passage from the same Cicero, when he says: what sort of connection can there be between the liver, heart, and lungs of a sacrificial ox and the cosmos (On divination, ii, xii, 29)?9

9 Cicero, On Divination, ii, xii, 29, trans. W[illiam] A[rmistead] Falconer, vol. 20, Loeb Classical Library (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1923), 403: “Surely if entrails have any prophetic force, necessarily that force either is in accord with the laws of nature, or is fashioned in some way by the will and power of the gods. But between that divine system of nature whose great and glorious laws pervade all space and regulate all motion what possible

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Many logical problems arose around the issue of multiple births. They are prodigies and omens, especially the birth of triplets, but they can also be studied as natural biological phenomena. The birth of monstrous creatures, abnormal deliveries and so on, is a very disquieting sign, but at the same time we find in the Western tradition (Greek and Roman at first) many attempts to offer a medical explanation. Twins and triplets had a different relevance in Greek and Roman cultures, in relation to two opposite medical explanations of multiple pregnancies (Hippocrates vs. Aristotle), but what is important is that an attempt to elaborate a theory is given. According to Aristotle, twins are abominable, because they were generated by two subsequent copulations, which is typically animal, or, better, is typical of only certain female animals, known for their lasciviousness, such as female horses and rabbits. On the contrary, according to Hippocrates, generating twins is absolutely normal. They are natural. Woman have two teats—says Hippocrates—because nature provided for the possibility of nourishing two babies at the same time. What is especially interesting is that twins are a ‘rational’ challenge to the theory of astrology. They have the same sky map, horoscope and constellation so, according to astral theory, they should have the same destiny. But this does not happen, says Cicero:10 we have the case of Procles and Eurysthenes, kings of Sparta, who had very different fates: one died earlier than the other, was much braver than his brother and was illustrated by more glorious enterprises. Yet, we have in Roman literature cases of people who were born on the same day and died on the same day, like the philosophers Polistratos and Ippoclides, mentioned by Valerius Maximus, but they were considered symbols of Concordia (friendship) rather than posing an astrological problem. Moreover, Cicero’s counter-argument is effective: all of the children born at the same moment as Scipio the African should have had the same courage and braveness as him, and all the dead at the battle of Cannes should have been born at the same astrological moment. Both statements are manifestly absurd. Nevertheless, twins remain a problem, but an explanation has been found. In my opinion it is one of the most brilliant theories ever found: the so-called ‘potter argument’, by Nigidius Figulus, ‘the potter’, as reported by Augustine:

10

connexion can there be with—I shall not say the gall of a chicken, whose entrails, some men assert, give very clear indications of the future, but—the liver, heart, and lungs of a sacrificial ox? And what natural quality is there in the entrails which enables them to indicate the future?” Ibid., 472.

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It is to no purpose, therefore, that that famous fiction about the potter’s wheel is brought forward, which tells of the answer which Nigidius is said to have given when he was perplexed by this question, and on account of which he was called Figulus. For, having whirled round the potter’s wheel with all his strength, he marked it with ink, striking it twice with the utmost rapidity, so that the strokes seemed to fall on the very same part of it. Then, when the rotation had ceased, the marks which he had made were found upon the rim of the wheel at no small distance apart. Thus, said he, considering the great rapidity with which the celestial sphere revolves, even though twins were born with as short an interval between their births as there was between the strokes which I gave this wheel, that brief interval of time is equivalent to a very great distance in the celestial sphere. The argument was logically very brilliant and it remains basically unrefuted, even by Augustine. It was well known by astrological enthusiasts and experts. In fact, when discussions about the problem of twins or of two persons born on the same day were continued in the framework of the new horoscopic astrology, derived from Arabo-Latin translations, the same final result was targeted, in 1141, by a defendant of Christian astrology in the person of Raymond de Marseilles in his Liber cursuum planetarum.11 Struggling with the arguments of St Augustine and Gregory the Great, thanks to his technical dexterity, Raymond of Marseilles manages to reject two favorite arguments of the opponents of astrology: the different destiny of twins, but also the different destinies of a king and a slave or a serf born simultaneously. How does one explain the very differing fortunes of the biblical twins, Jacob and Esau? Simply: the twins were not real astral twins, as Raymond of Marseilles answers. They were not born at exactly the same time; Esau came into the world a few minutes earlier than Jacob, as Genesis 25,25 says. This short interval is long enough to change the celestial configurations; Raymond illustrates this by giving different horoscopes to the twins. Nevertheless, the same argument is used in the opposite sense by Nicole Oresme (1320–1382), a landmark of Western anti-astrological ‘rationalism’, who puts in doubt the same possibility of a scientific astrology. In a sense, he uses the argument of the potter in the reverse way, in order to demonstrate that forecasting by astrology is impossible, because instruments capable of catching the 11

Raymond de Marseilles, Opera omnia. Tome 1, Traité de l’astrolabe, Liber cursuum planetarum, eds. Marie-Thérèse d’ Alverny, Charles Burnett, and Emmanuel Poulle (Paris: cnrs, 2009).

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exact position of celestial bodies running so fast are—and in his perspective will always be—unavailable. Kings especially should remember that it is better to keep one’s mind on the earth rather than gazing at the stars; a sovreign should practice more politics than astrology.12 The Italian poet Petrarch (1304–1374) ridicules astrology in some passages of a famous letter to the novelist Boccaccio on the ages of man,13but nevertheless he has an excellent knowledge of it, while Erasmus (1466–1536) and Montaigne (1533–1592) are skeptical as well. When a child is born, says the former, doctors become astrologers, to predict its future from the astrum or astral theme. Erasmus criticizes this kind of medical practice: “As soon as the belly of a woman is round, they go to the astrologer … If, after the horoscope, the astrologer declared that the child will be apt to war, the parents say: we will dedicate him to the king’s court” writes Erasmus.14 And Montaigne adds that the only legitimate diagnosis should come from the pedagogue. Parents should consult him rather than watching the horoscope. 2. All of this shows how ‘rationality’, true or alleged, is connected with, or rather, depends upon, cosmology. The perception of ‘rationality’ depends on the congruence in the cosmological model between the ‘external observer’ and the diviner. In cases of a clash of cosmologies between the two, the “skeptical” observer generally blames the foolishness of the diviner and conversely the diviner blames the “skeptical” observer for a lack of religious sensibility. In a geocentric cosmos, it is ‘rational’ to expect that all planets will have effects on the lower world, considering that the sun and moon have evident effects; then, as a consequence, if it is rational that all heavenly bodies should have influence by analogy. The problem of predictive astrology is to discover which influence precisely. On the contrary, it would be ‘irrational’ if some of them had an influence and others not, which would alter the basic principle of analogy in the natural order. We will see now some cases of analogy at work in ancient and medieval divinatory techniques.15 Analogical thinking works in one of the most ancient techniques of divination practiced on the bodies of sacrificed animals, namely

12 13 14

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Stefano Rapisarda and Nicole Oresme, eds., Contro la divinazione. Consigli anti-astrologici al Re di Francia (1356) (Rome: Carocci, 2010). Seniles, viii, 1, 15–19, see Res seniles, Libri v–viii, ed. S. rizzo (Firenze: Le Lettere, 2009). Erasmus of Rotterdam, De pueris statim ac liberaliter educandis (Bâle: Froben, 1529); French translation: Qu’ il faut donner très tôt aux enfants une éducation libérale, ed. J.C. Margolin, (Paris: Laffont, 1992), 485. See e.g., analogy at work in Mesopotamic divination: “Another common method used in the correlation of protasis to apodosis was that of analogy. For example: “If someone’s

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aruspicine, that is without doubt one of the oldest forms of divination. As a subspecialty of extispicy, which refers to the interpretation of animal entrails, hepatoscopy refers specifically to interpreting divine signs in animal livers; already practised in the Babylonian, Greek, and Latin world, it persisted until the threshold of the Middle Ages.16 In fact aruspicina, though it may seem irrational to a modern observer, has an internal logic based on the application of analogy: if the animal chosen for sacrifice presents entrails in a good condition, then the forecast is positive, if not, it is negative; the upper part of the liver is the caput, a protuberance of the right lobe, which is particularly meaningful: if it is “full,” red and wellrounded, the verdict will be favorable; if conversely it is small, wrinkled, or even absent, the verdict will be negative. By further analogy, the head of the liver provides specific predictions about the head of the community: «The implication was that, if the “head” of the liver was missing, then a king, leader, or the country itself would suffer misfortune. The logic of this method of analogizing from metaphorical features of the liver to events in the world is sometimes transparent: if a missing head of the liver represented catastrophe, in the same way, observing the abnormality of two heads on the same liver represented a struggle for power among rivals ».17 The aruspicina, therefore, has its own logic, which operates in a cosmology that was widely disseminated in the classical world. According to this cosmological design, all parties interact in a trial of “cosmic sympathy”; for those who do not share this vision of the universe, like Cicero, it is very difficult to imagine that a point of the liver “can relate to the rest of the universe,” as the Roman philosopher expressly states. Analogy works in physiognomy as well, the science of reading features of the human face in order to make predictions about character and behavior. In the debate on the licitness or not of divination techniques, physiognomy is generally considered as the more “natural” of the techniques, and then the less forbidden. As a matter of fact, the seminal book of Western physiognomy, the

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firstborn is short: his house will be short(-lived).” Simple analogies from form and appearance are found in the physiognomic omens, where, for example, a short face means a short life, and its opposite, a long face means a long life. A clear example from Enima Anu Enlil is the omen which correlates the “entering” (usurpation) of the king’s throne by the crown prince to the “entering” of the plant Venus within the moon, an expression used to describe the occultation of the planet by the lunar disk.”, Rochberg, “If P, then Q” …, cit., 567. Derek Collins, “Mapping the Entrails: The Practice of Greek Hepatoscopy,” in American Journal of Philology 129 (2008): 319–345, esp. 337–338. Ibid. 337–338.

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(pseudo-)AristotelianΦυσιογνωμονικά, in Latin Physiognomonica18is based on syllogistic deductions and analogic extensions between man and animals, «ex similitudineanimalium ».19 Big extremities, for example, are in animals a sign of courage, as in the lion. Then, courage being an attribute proper to a species, but not exclusive to one, every other species presenting that determinate sign, in this specific case large extremities, participates in that specific attribute. As a consequence, by deduction and extension, a man having great extremities, hands and feet, is as courageous as a lion. Aristotle’s Historia animalium can be defined, in general, as a zoological encyclopedia founded on the “method of semiotic inference.”20 Almost the same feature is shared by chiromancy.21 At least in its written form, it is an original Western ‘invention,’ springing from the combination and amplification of two biological passages in Aristotle’s Historia animalium (The history of animals), dealing with the duration of life in animals as it can be read in their extremities.22 It consists in the interpretation of the lines appearing in the hand of Man; basically the three fundamental naturals forming a triangle in the hand, and the naturales-accidentales which can or cannot be seen in the palm. Both are interpreted in an analogical way. The meaning differs according to the position in the palm, but in general long signs indicate a good prognosis, and short lines are bad. Analogy is at work: a sharp line indicates an acute mind; a well-drawn cross at the end of the ‘line of life’ is a sign of a good Christian death, because of the analogy of the sign; a rough line means vulgarity of mind; a moderate extension indicates moderation of character and behavior; a Y-shaped sign represents the crossroads of a destiny; a sign enveloped in a spiral denotes future conversion to religion; the circle of an O announces the loss of the eyes or the testicles; a line circling the thumb is an omen of hanging, but if the line remains open, the

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20 21 22

Pseudo-Aristoteles, Fisiognomica, Anonimo latino, Il Trattato di fisiognomica, Introduzione, traduzione e note di G. Reina (Milan: Rizzoli, 1993), 21, and Patrizia Magli, Il volto e l’ anima. Fisiognomica e passioni (Milan: Bompiniani, 1995). In German see Sabine Vogt (trans. and comm.), Aristoteles: Physiognomonica (Berlin: Akademie Verlag, 1999). Anonimo latino, Il trattatto di fisiognomica, in Pseudo-Aristotele, Fisiognomica, Anonimo latino, Il Trattato di fisiognomica, Introduzione, traduzione e note di G. Reina (Milano: Rizzoli, 1993), 218. Magli, Il volto e l’ anima, cit., 00. Stefano Rapisarda, ed., Manuali medievali di chiromanzia, trans. and notes by Stefano Rapisarda and Rosa M. Piccione (Rome: Carocci, 2005). Roger A. Pack, “Aristotle’s Chiromantic Principle and Its Influence,” in Transactions of the American Philological Association 108 (1978): 00–00, esp. 121–122; Rapisarda, Manuali medievali di chiromanzia (note 20).

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gallows is only a danger. Chiromancers present their science as ‘natural,’ showing only ‘natural inclinations’ and without violating free will. It nevertheless drew criticism; e.g., John of Salisbury in the Policraticus judged it to be absolutely senseless. He excludes the possibility that chiromancy may be considered as a ‘natural science’ and neglects the alleged illustrious Aristotelian origin, judging it so deprived of a rational basis as not even to deserve a rational refutation: “Chiromants pretend to be acquainted with the truths which are hidden into the lines of the hand. It is unnecessary to attack with reasons an error which has no foundation in reason, defeating with reason these people who lack reason.”23 It is evident that John fails to perceive that those who believed in chiromancy (including Thomas Becket) had their reason rooted in a different view of the cosmos. A passage in Michael Scot about birth forecasts leads us into a field common to medicine and prognostication. As Frederick ii’s philosopher writes in his Liber introductorius, to predict the sex of a baby accurately, the doctor should observe the hand of the pregnant woman. If she offers her right hand to the doctor, a male will be born; if she offers her left, it will be a girl. Aside from appearances, we are in the realm of rationality, as it is an analogical extension of the embryological theory, starting from a medical tradition dating back to the De generatione animalium of Aristotle (iv, 1). As the philosopher states, males are conceived on the right side of the uterus, females on the left. These are nonmagical assertions, but of an analogical-deductive type, as by virtue of direct communication with the liver, naturally warm, the right side of the uterus and the right testicle are warmer than their left counterparts and therefore fit to produce and nourish the male, which is warmer than the female, and therefore needs more heat. Analogy operates in geomancy as well. This is perhaps the second most practiced technique after astrology. Also called scientia arenalis, ‘science of the sand,’24 it consists in the random tracing of four rows of dots on a surface such as paper, sand or earth, then in the elimination of pairs of points in such a way that only one or two points for each line remain, leading to the recognition of the consequent figures. These number 16, each having a name based mainly on

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John of Salisbury, Policraticus, ii (27), trans. Joseph B. Pike (Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1938), 127: “Chiromantici quoque vera quae in rugis manuum latent se nosse gloriantur. Quorum errorem, quia ratione non nititur, non necesse est rationibus impugnare, licet eo ipso illos expugnet ratio quod deficiunt ratione”. Stefano Rapisarda and Agata Calcagno, “Il Manoscritto Plut. 86.14 della Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana di Firenze Una miscellanea fiorentina di materia divinatoria,” in Byzantinische Zeitschrift 109(1) (2016): 151–178.

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its analogical aspect. It is a technique easy to practice: in contrast to haruspicina, it is inexpensive; and, in contrast to astrology, it requires no special tools or particular knowledge. It was widely recognized and practiced. Learning the name of the figures is not particularly difficult, considering that names and figures are relatively analogical, such as the case of via, 4 points in alignment; of cauda draconis, represented by a figure in a two-tailed Scorpion tail; of puella, having two points at the place of the breast; of puer, having two points at the place of the testicles; of carcer, a space enclosed between 6 points and so on. The same principle of analogy works in scapulomancy, the technique of reading prognosticatory signs from the shoulder blade of certain animals.25 Dark areas on the surface of the shoulder blade are bad omens, while smooth, white surfaces are good ones. The ‘topography’ of the shoulder blade is similar to that of the hand, resembling apparently the two techniques of scapulomancy and chiromancy, both having origins which share similarities.26 Reading shoulder blades contains an internal ‘rationality.’ In a neo-platonic vision of the world, Truth resides in the upper world and is carried down into the inferior world by the rain, before being deposited on the grass and finally absorbed by the shoulder blades of ruminants. As a matter of fact, the prologue of the (pseudo) al-Kindi, translated in Latin in Andalusia, expresses this form of “rationality.” In line with hermetic conceptions, the text postulates the existence of an occult and ancient truth, a prisca veritas. God has located the secrets of the universe in a higher world; hence they can come into the terrestrial world, being carried down to earth in accordance with a “mechanical” principle of transmission; then truth is transported materially by the rain, on which the food and growth of the plants depends; the latter, and herbs in particular, would thus absorb, through water, the secret of the upper world. It recalls the basic Hermetic principle of the correspondence between quod est superius and quod est inferius. At the moment when herbivorous animals come into contact with herbs for food, the “secrets” would pass into their bodies and settle in their shoulder blades. In conclusion, beyond the “revelation” and the apparent hermetic outlook, we have here a type of divination that attempts to be more evidential than inspired; hence, in short, “rational,” if the author takes the trouble of explaining a convincing way in which truth is conveyed on earth.

25 26

Stefano Rapisarda et al., eds., Textes médiévaux de scapulomancie (Paris: Classiques Garnier, 2017). Stefano Rapisarda, “Chiromanzia e scapulomanzia in anglo-normanno nel ms. Londra, British Library, Add. 18210,” in Geomancy and Other Forms of Divination, eds. A. Palazzo and I. Zavattero, Micrologus Library 87 (Firenze: Sismel—Edizioni del Galluzzo, 2017), 421–442.

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Finally, a logic can be detected in avimancy, prognostications based on birds, one of the most ancient, which relies on aspects of the following data: the species of birds that one observes, the height of their flight, the direction from or toward which they are flying, whether they fly off when one approaches, whether they turn their head, and so on. Avimancy was widely practiced by both Greek and Romans, and the latter especially developed a sophisticated science based on this technique, distinguishing between oscines (birds furnishing prognostics according to the sound of their voice) and alites (birds furnishing prognostics according to their flight).27 Though, to the best of my knowledge, no written text specifically dedicated to this technique survives from Classical Antiquity, nevertheless many omina have been recorded in the literature, as in Cicero’s De divinatione or collected in Valerius Maximus’Factorum et dictorum memorabilia, a widely-circulated collection of anecdotes and episodes from Graeco-Roman history (first century ad). As far as the Middle Ages are concerned, a precious chapter of John of Salisbury’s Policraticus, De variis ominibus (i, xiii), includes a compilation of prognostics concerning birds that can be considered as, in fact, a small handbook of avimancy.28 In this case as well, there is a method in the madness. Generally speaking, birds that indicate the future are those that have been metamorphosed by men, and here it is evident that John refers to Ovid’s celebrated Metamorphoses, one of the most widely-read and influential Latin poems in the Middle Ages. Just one example: the splendid swan, cygnus in Latin, derives from the metamorphosis of Cycnus, a beautiful boy friend of Phaethon (ii, 367–380). The tragedy of the latter is well-known. He asked his father Apollo for some proof that would demonstrate his love for his son. When the god promised to grant him whatever he wanted, he insisted on being allowed to drive the sun chariot for a day. The father tried to dissuade Phaethon, telling him that even Zeus was not strong enough to steer these horses, but reluctantly kept his promise. Placed in charge of the chariot, Phaethon was unable to control the horses and when the chariot put the Earth in danger by swinging too near, Zeus decided to prevent disaster by striking it down with a thunderbolt. His friend Cygnus assisted to this tragedy and was shocked. After Phaethon died, he sat by the banks of the river Eridanos mourning his death. The gods turned him into a swan to relieve him of his sorrow. Being memor ignis, having seen the divine flashes and flames that had killed his friend, the

27 28

Cicero, On divination, i, 53, 120. Transl. Pike, cit., 44 and followings.

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swan has a special sensibility in relation to fire. Analogically, observing the behaviour of swans can be useful in the prognostication of tempests and of flames. Other birds are prophetic because they played a role in episodes of Roman history. The most important of these is the eagle, about which various legends are reported; then, crows and ravens have a remarkable meaning, but other birds such as storks, cranes, vultures and owls can also manifest signs of the future. Their positive or negative value is related, in some cases, to the pseudoetymology of their names, in the typically medieval linguistic logic of Isidore of Seville’s Etymologies. To give an example, the crane, in Latin grus, provides positive prognostics, not on the basis of natural reasons or by virtue of anecdotes connected with Roman history, but because its name is pseudo-etymologically connected with the archaic word gruere, which in Latin is a propitious word that is linked with the idea of advantage, since from gruere derives the word congruere, meaning “to be advantageous.” In conclusion, this conceptual framework implies that the great majority of Western divinatory techniques can be defined as “rational” because they are based on observation, study, the collection of data and their analysis (calculations, traces, clues, evidences, inferences, analogical extensions, etc.); even the omens require an active analysis of the content of the “message” made by the user; only such forms of divination as oracles and (partially) sortes cannot be included in the category of rationality, because they are not based on the analysis of data, but are simply a flow, or a poly-semiotic message sent from God or from the gods to a medium and thence to the interrogant, with no evidential analysis. Even such a technique as scapulomancy shows an inner rationality: Divination is a mode and system of thought that is rationally valid if viewed from within its own internally consistent frames of reference. The rationality of the method is guaranteed by the cosmology dominant at a given moment in time. When the cosmology changes, the related divination techniques became obsolete and absurd. Of course, cosmologies do not change from one day to the other. A shift in cosmology follows the dynamics illustrated by Thomas Kuhn in his fundamental classic of the scientific revolutions. To believe nowadays in chiromancy or astrology would be folly, considering our knowledge of the dimension of the universe, our knowledge of a space-time connection, our conscience that the sun will sooner or later consume its fuel, and our conscience that we live in one of the theoretically many possible worlds: in the Western Middle Ages cosmology, considering the model of the super-lunar universe based on the incorrupt-

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ibility of the stars and planets, the corruptibility of the sub-lunar world and on the effect of quod est superior on quod est inferior, it was perfectly plausible and coherent. It was then rational, and accepted by the most.

References Allocco, Luciana. “Le domaine obscur et inconfortable de la « magie ».” In Recherches sur Diderot et sur l’Encyclopédie. Les branches du savoir dans l’Encyclopédie 40–41 (2006): 233–250. Aristoteles. Physiognomonica. Translated by Sabine Vogt. Berlin: Akademie Verlag, 1999. Bottero, Jean. Mésopotamie : l’écriture, la raison et les dieux. Paris: Gallimard, 1987. Bottero, Jean. Divination et rationalité. Paris: Seuil, 1974. Collins, Derek. “Mapping the Entrails: The Practice of Greek Hepatoscopy.” In American Journal of Philology 129 (2008): 319–345. Erasmus of Rotterdam. De pueris statim ac liberaliter educandis. Bâle: Froben, 1529. Ginzburg, Carlo. “Clues: Roots of an Evidential Paradigm.” In Myths, Emblems, Clues, translated by John and Anne C. Tedeschi. London: Hutchinson Radius, 1990. Ginzburg, Carlo, John Tedeschi, and Anne C. Tedeschi. Clues, Myths, and the Historical Method. Baltimore MD: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1989. John of Salisbury. Policraticus, ii (27). Translated by Joseph B. Pike. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1938. Labinaz, Paolo. La razionalità. Rome: Carocci, 2013. Magli, Patrizia. Il volto e l’anima. Fisiognomica e passioni. Milan: Bompiniani, 1995. Pack, Roger A. “Aristotle’s Chiromantic Principle and Its Influence.” In Transactions of the American Philological Association 108 (1978): 121–130. Pseudo-Aristoteles. Fisiognomica, Anonimo latino, Il Trattato di fisiognomica, Introduzione, traduzione e note di G. Reina. Milan: Rizzoli, 1993. Rapisarda, Stefano and Agata Calcagno, “Il Manoscritto Plut. 86.14 della Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana di Firenze Una miscellanea fiorentina di materia divinatoria.” In Byzantinische Zeitschrift 109(1) (2016): 151–178. Rapisarda, Stefano and Nicole Oresme, eds. Contro la divinazione. Consigli anti-astrologici al Re di Francia (1356). Rome: Carocci, 2010. Rapisarda, Stefano. “Chiromanzia e scapulomanzia in anglo-normanno nel ms. Londra, British Library, Add. 18210.” In Geomancy and Other Forms of Divination, edited by A. Palazzo and I. Zavattero, Micrologus Library 87, 421–442. Firenze: Sismel— Edizioni del Galluzzo, 2017. Rapisarda, Stefano, ed. Manuali medievali di chiromanzia. Translated by Stefano Rapisarda and Rosa M. Piccione. Rome: Carocci, 2005.

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Rapisarda, Stefano et al., eds. Textes médiévaux de scapulomancie. Paris: Classiques Garnier, 2017. Raymond de Marseilles. Opera omnia. Tome 1, Traité de l’astrolabe, Liber cursuum planetarum, edited by Marie-Thérèse d’Alverny, Charles Burnett, and Emmanuel Poulle. Paris: cnrs, 2009. Res seniles, Libri v–viii, edited by S. rizzo. Firenze: Le Lettere, 2009. Rochberg, Francesca. “‘If P, then Q.’ Form and Reasoning in Babylonian Divination.” In Divination and Interpretation of Signs in the Ancient World, edited by Amar Annus, 19–28. Chicago: The Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago, 2010. Qu’il faut donner très tôt aux enfants une éducation libérale, edited by J.-C. Margolin. Paris: Laffont 1992. Vernant, Jean-Pierre. La Traversée des frontières. Paris: Seuil, 2004. Vernant, Jean-Pierre. “Parole et signes muets.” In Divination et rationalité, 9–25. Paris: Seuil, 1974. Volkov, Alexei. “Analogical reasoning in Ancient China: some examples.” In ExtrêmeOrient Extrême-Occident 14 (1992), 15–48.

8 Hohe Prälaten der römischen Kurie beim Wahrsager (xiii. Jahrhundert) Agostino Paravicini Bagliani

In einem nicht genug beachteten, 1982 im Deutschen Archiv veröffentlichten Aufsatz mit dem Titel Clemens iv. beim Wahrsager, hat Lothar Kolmel auf ein Inquisitionsverhör hingewiesen, das bezeugen soll, dass Guido Fulcodii zweimal, als Kardinal und als Papst, einen Wahrsager konsultiert haben soll.1 Das betreffende Inquisitionsverhör stammt aus der Collection Doat der Bibliothèque nationale in Paris, eine große und sehr bekannte Sammlung von Kopien von Urkunden und sonstigen Dokumenten, die zwischen 1663 und 1670 von Jean de Doat, Président de la Chambre des Comptes de Navarre, zusammengetragen wurde. Die Collection Doat enthält 258 großformatige Bände, die sich seit langem als eine Fundgrube für die Geschichte der Inquisition des xiii. Jahrhunderts im südlichen Frankreich erwiesen hat.2 Das Inquisitionsverhör, das Guido Fulcodii betrifft, stammt aus der Tätigkeit des Inquisitors Pontius de Parnaco (Pons de Parnac) aus dem Predigerorden,3 die Jean de Doat 1668 hat transkribieren lassen. Die Originale sind verschollen. Ihre Authentizität kann aber nicht angezweifelt werden.

1 Lothar Kolmel, „Papst Clemens iv. beim Wahrsager,“ in Deutsches Archiv für Erforschung des Mittelalters 38 (1982): 141–165. Auf das Interesse dieses Inquisitionsverhörs für ein besseres Verständnis der Divinationspraktiken seitens des hohen Klerus im Spätmittelalter hat Klaus Schreiner, „Laienfrömmigkeit – Frömmigkeit von Eliten oder Frömmigkeit des Volkes? Zur sozialen Verfaßtheit laikaler Frömmigkeitspraxis im späten Mittelalter,“ in Laienfrömmigkeit im späten Mittelalter. Formen, Funktionen, politisch-soziale Zusammenhänge, hrsg. Elisabeth Müller-Luckne und Klaus Schreiner (München: Oldenburg Wissenschaftsverlag 1992), 1–78 (insbesondere 37–38) hingewiesen. 2 Über die Collection Doat s. neuerdings Laurent Albaret, Recherches sur l’inquisition dans le Midi de la France d’après la Collection Doat (Paris: Université de Paris, 1996); Id., „La Collection Doat, une collection moderne, témoignage de l’ histoire religieuse méridionale des xiiie et xive siècles,“ in Historiens modernes et Moyen Âge méridional, hrsg. Michelle Fournié, DanielOdon Hurel und Daniel Le Blévec (Toulouse: Éditions Privat, 2014), 57–94. 3 Parnac liegt nördlich von Limoges, im Département de l’Indre. Edition der Inquisitionsdokumente des Dominikaners Pontius de Parnaco als Inquisitor in Toulouse : Ranulphe de Plassac, Pons de Parnac, Pierre Arsieu, Hugues Amiel und Hugues de Bouniols, hrsg., Registre de l’ Inquisition de Toulouse (1273–1280), Ms Fonds Doat tomi xxv et xxvi, Bibliothèque nationale

© Agostino Paravicini Bagliani, 2022 |

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Diese Protokolle, die vermutlich von Pontius de Parnaco selbst, oder von einem der Inquisitionsnotare, redigiert worden sind, enthalten das Verhör eines gewissen Raymundus de Puteo, der zweimal im Jahre 1277 vernommen worden ist, am 5. Juni und am 4. September.4 Raimundus wurde angeklagt, den Beruf des Wahrsagers ausgeübt zu haben; der Inquisitor wollte wissen, welche Personen er betreut hatte, wo das Treffen stattgefunden habe und wer anwesend gewesen sei. Raimundus gab beim ersten Verhör (5. Juni) zu, früher vor zwei Inquisitoren – Iohannes und Raginaldus de Carnoto – den Eid abgegeben zu haben, sich von jeder Wahrsagerei abzuhalten; er gibt jedoch zu, diesen Eid gebrochen zu haben: Anno Domini millesimo ducentesimo septuagesimo septimo, die sabbati post festum sanctorum Marcellini et Petri, Raymundus de Puteo de Soricino, constitutus in iudicio, testis iuratus etc., recognovit quod ipse iuravit fratribus Johanni et Raginaldo de Carnoto, quondam inquisitoribus, quod ipse deinceps non servaret auguria, nec daret / consilium alicui persone, nec officio augurie uteretur ullomodo. Interrogatus si postea servavit auguria, dixit quod sic. Requisitus quotiens, dixit quod non recordatur. Requisitus quibus personis inde postea consuluit, dixit quod pluribus – clericis et religiosis et laicis.5 Raimundus gestand außerdem, den Bischof von Carcassonne Guillaume Arnaud (1248–1255)6 und zwei Äbte, Petrus Raymundi, Abt von Sorèze,7 und

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de Paris, (http://jean.duvernoy.free.fr/text/pdf/Parnaclatin.pdf). Über seine Texte hrsg., komm. und übers. J. Duvernoy, 1993. Edition und englische Übersetzung: Inquisitors and Heretics in Thirteenth-Century Languedoc: Edition and Translation of Toulouse Inquisition Depositions, 1273–1282, hrsg. Peter Biller, Caterina Bruschi, und Shelag Sneddon, Studies in the History of Christian Traditions 147 (Leiden: Brill, 2011), 1040 (ad indicem). Über die Tolosaner Inquisitionstätigkeit des Pontius de Parnaco s. Caterina Bruschi, „Gli inquisitori Raoul de Plassac e Pons de Parnac e l’inchiesta tolosana degli anni 1273–1280,“ in Praedicatores inquisitores, i, The Dominican and the Mediaeval Inquisition. Acts of the 1st International Seminar on the Dominicans and the Inquisition. Rome, 12–25 February, 2002, hrsg. Wolfram Hoyer (Rom: Istituto storico domenicano, 2004), 471–494. Collection Doat xxvi, ff. 272r-274v, hrsg. Duvernoy, 178; Inquisitors and Heretics, 724–730. Collection Doat xxvi, ff. 272r-v, ibid., S. 724. Collection Doat xxvi, ff. 272v-273r, ibid., 724, 726: „Interrogatus de personis: quod domino Guillelmo Arnaldo, quondam episcopo Carcassone, domino P(etro) Raymundi, quondam abbati de Soricino, domino Uzalgerio, quondam abbati Electon(si), et pluribus aliis, tam clericis et religiosis quam laicis, de quibus modo non recordatur.“ Die Abtei Sorèze liegt nördlich von Carcassonne.

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Uzalger, Abt von Alet,8 als Wahrsager betreut zu haben. Der Bischof hatte ihn konsultiert super quadam infirmitate. Der Wahrsager traf ihn nur einmal und sprach mit ihm so, dass niemand zuhören konnte, obwohl viele Leute den Bischof begleitet hatten. Um den Wahrsager zu treffen, zwischen Saissac (nördlich von Carcassonne) und Sorèze, hatte der Bischof eine relativ lange Reise unternommen, denn er war von seinem Schloss La Loubatière, bei Aix-enProvence, aufgebrochen.9 Dass der Bischof von Carcassonne den Wahrsager zwölf Jahre zuvor besucht hatte, kann wohl nicht richtig sein, denn dieser war bereits mehr als zwanzig Jahre vorher, am 4. September 1255, gestorben.10 Der Wahrsager gab weiter zu, den Abt Petrus Raymundi von Sorèze mehr als viermal getroffen zu haben. Thema der Wahrsagerei war diesmal die von Petrus Raymundi erwünschte Wahl als Abt von Sainte-Marie de La Grasse. Den Abt traf der Wahrsager mehr als zehn Jahre zuvor in seiner Abtei, aber so, dass niemand zuhören konnte. Dass sich seine Vorhersage bewahreitet hatte, vermochte der Wahrsager, vielleicht mit Genugtuung, zu unterstreichen.11 Den Abt von Alet traf der Wahrsager zweimal, und zwar etwa zwölf Jahre zuvor. Der Abt wollte vom Wahrsager wissen, ob er und seine Abtei in einem Streit (discordia) mit dem dominus Olivier de Termins die Oberhand behalten würden.12

8 9

10

11

12

Die Abtei Alet liegt südlich von Carcassonne. Uzalger, Abt von Alet, ist noch am Leben im Jahre 1258, s. Inquisitors and Heretics, 727 Anm. 7. Collection Doat xxvi, ff. 272v--273r, ibid., 726: „Item requisitus quotiens consuluit domino episcopo, dixit quod semel tantum. Requisitus super quo facto, dixit quod super quadam infirmitate. Requisitus de loco ubi fuit locutus cum eo, dixit quod inter Saxiacum et Soricinum, in loco ubi vocatur Al Fau de Portel; et venerat ibi de quodam cas/tro suo quod vocatur Lupateria. Et fuit nuntius ipsi testi ex parte episcopi Petrus de Podio Suirano de Saxiaco, postea defunctus. De tempore dixit quod sunt duodecim anni elapsi vel circa. De personis dixit quod plures erant cum episcopo qui viderunt ipsum episcopum loquentem cum ipso teste in loco predicto, sed credit ipse testis quod ignorabant de quo loquebantur“. Über die Inquisitionstätigkeit des Bischofs von Carcassonne Guillaume Arnaud s. Jaques Paul, “Le tribunal d’ inquisition de l’ évêque de Carcassonne,” in Inquisition et société en pays d’ Oc, hrsg. Jean-Louis Biget, (Toulouse: Éditions Privat, 2014), 175–184. Collection Doat xxvi, f. 273r, ibid., 726: „Item requisitus quotiens consuluit predicto abbati Soricini, dixit quod quater et pluries. Requisitus super quo, dixit quod super electione que facta erat in abbatem Crassensem de ipso; et dixit ei quod otineret – et obtinuit. De tempore dixit quod sunt decem anni vel plures. De loco dixit quod apud Soricinum. Requisitus de personis, dixit quod nullus alius audivit“. Collection Doat xxvi, ff. 273r-v, ibid., 728: „Item requisitus quotiens consuluit supradicto abbati Electensi, dixit / quod bis. Requisitus super quo negotio, dixit quod super discordia quam habebat cum domino Olivario de Terminis; dixit etiam quod predicto abbati Electensi consuluit quod componeret de predicta discordia. Requisitus de loco, dixit quod

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Im zweiten Verhör (4. September) legte Raymundus de Puteo die Latte höher. Zuerst erklärte er, dass der Bischof von Toulouse Raymond du Falga (1232–1270) sich an ihn gewendet hatte, wegen eines Prozesses an der römischen Kurie (pro negotio quod habebat ulterius in Curia Romana).13 Schon 1264 hatte Urban iv. Untersuchungen über die fama des Bischofs von Toulouse angestellt, der wegen Simonie, Brudermord, und einer vita … enormiter dissoluta mehrmals angeklagt wurde. Raymond hatte sich auch zweimal 1265 an die Kurie begeben, um die Absolution von der Exkommunkation zu bekommen, die ihm der Erzbischof von Narbonne, Urban iv. und Clemens iv. auferlegt hatten. Auch im darauffolgendem Jahr 1266 war die Affäre noch nicht beendet.14 Bevor die Aussagen des Raymundus de Puteo über den Bischof von Toulouse beendet waren, quasi also zwischendurch, wie wenn der Hinweis an die curia Romana analogisch ihm etwas in Erinnerung rief – oder vielleicht hatte er sich darauf vorbereitet –, fügte der Wahrsager in einer Art crescendo hinzu, dass er auch Guido Fulcodii zweimal als Wahrsager betreut hatte. Der Wahrsager nannte die Person mit seinem Namen – Guido Fulcodii –, also nicht mit dem Namen des Papstes, vielleicht weil in der Provence Vor- und Nachname des zweiten französischen Papstes des xiii. Jahrhunderts wohl sehr bekannt waren: Item servavit auguria pro domino Guidone Fulcodii quondam, primo super facto cardinalatus, secundo pro negotio papatus. Ipse vero dominus Guido nunquam fuit loqutus ipsi testi de predictis, sed predictus dominus P(etrus) Raymundi, factus postea abbas Crassensis, / loquebatur ipsi testi de premissis.15 Die Aussage ist, wie man sieht, sehr konzise, aber trotzdem reichhaltig, denn sie besagt, dass Raymundus de Puteo, der Wahrsager, dem dominus Guido Fulcodii zweimal seine Dienste erwiesen haben soll, und zwar super facto cardinalatus und pro negotio papatus, was sich auf eine längere Zeitspanne ausgedehnt haben soll. Raymundus de Puteo sagt auch, dass er Guido Fulcodii selbst nicht

13

14 15

apud Brugairolas in Redesio. Requisitus de tempore, dixit quod sunt duodecim anni vel circa. Requisitus de personis, dixit quod nullus alius audiebat“. Collection Doat xxvi, f. 274r, ibid., 728: „Anno quo supra, secundo nonas Septembris, predictus Raymundus de Puteo de Soricino, testis iuratus et requisitus ut supra, addidit confessioni sue, dicens quod ipse testis servavit auguria aliquotiens pro domino Raymundo, quondam episcopo Tholosano, pro negotio quod habebat in curia romana“. Inquisitors and Heretics, 728 Anm. 18. Collection Doat xxvi, ff. 274r-v, ibid., 730.

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getroffen habe, sonderm ihm seine Weissagungen durch den schon genannten Petrus Raymundi, der inzwischen (1262) Abt von Sainte-Marie La Grasse geworden war,16 übermittelt habe. Die Guido Fulcodii betreffende Aussage ist nicht wie alle anderen vom Wort interrogatus oder requisitus eingeführt. Dies erklärt auch, warum der Wahrsager nicht die üblichen Fragen des Inquisitors beanworten soll, wo und wann das Treffen (mit Petrus Raymundi) stattgefunden habe. Dies lässt die Vermutung zu, dass der Inquisitor nicht vorgesehen hatte, Fragen über Guido Fulcodii zu stellen. Auf die Aussagen bezüglich Guido Fulcodii ist er jedenfalls in keiner Weise eingegangen. Der Text geht weiter nach dem üblichen Protokoll, d.h. mit den üblichen Fragen, ob der Wahrsager den Bischof von Toulouse selbst getroffen habe, wie oft, wo und ob das Treffen nur unter vier Augen stattgefunden hätte und wer es vermittelt hatte.17 Lothar Kolmel hat treffend die Tatsache unterstrichen, dass die Aussagen des Wahrsagers zu keiner Anklage seitens des Inquisitors Anlass gegeben haben, dies offensichtlich weil alle Personen, die ihn konsultiert hatten, eben schon gestorben waren. Man muss aber hinzufügen, dass das Inquisitionsverhör des Raymundus de Puteo genau so verfasst ist, wie alle anderen Inquisitionsprotokolle in der Collectio Doat xxvi, so dass es nicht möglich ist, Schlussfolgerungen zu ziehen aus der Tatsache, dass der Inquisitor die Aussagen des Wahrsagers ohne irgendwelchen Kommentar seinerseits hat vertiefen wollen oder dass er sie mit Anklagen begleitet hat. Es wäre natürlich wichtig gewesen, über Indizien hinsichtlich der Reaktion des Inquisitors Pontius de Parnaco auf diese Aussagen des Wahrsagers zu verfügen, zumal wir annehmen dürfen, dass er als Inquisitor und Dominikaner wusste, dass wichtige Kanonisten Divinationspraktiken seitens der kirchlichen Hierarchie strikt verboten hatten. Der Dominikaner Raymundus de Pennafort (†1275), der dritte Generalmagister des Predigerordens, hat beispielsweise in seiner Summa den Kanon 30 des iv. Konzils von Toledo aus dem Dekret von Gratian übernommen. Dieser besagt, dass Bischöfe, Priester und Diakone sowie alle Personen, die dem ordo clericorum angehörte, als Strafe suspendiert werden und in einem Kloster lebenslang (perpetue) ein Leben der Reue und

16 17

Urban iv. hat die Wahl von Petrus als Abt von La Grasse in einem Brief vom 5. Juni oder 7. Juli 1262 bestätigt, s. Inquisitors and Heretics, 726 Anm. 11. Collection Doat xxvi, f. 274v, ibid., 230: „Interrogatus si dominus Raymundus, episcopus Tholosanus, fuit locutus ipsi testi de observatione auguriorum super negotio suo in propria persona, dixit quod sic: apud Tholosam, et apud Balmar’, et apud Sanctum Martinum de Landa, sed nullus alius audiebat. Fuit tamen bis vel ter internuntius Petrus Pictavini de Soricino“.

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der Busse führen sollten, hätten sie sich an Magier, Zauberer, Wahrsager, Losdeuter (magos, haruspices, incantatores, ariolos, augures, sortilegos) oder Leute, die die ars magica ausübten, gewandt: Si quis episcopus, aut presbyter vel diaconus vel quilibet ex ordine clericorum magos aut haruspices aut incantatores aut ariolos aut certe augures vel sortilegos vel qui profitentur artem magicam aut aliquos eorum similia exercentes consuluisse fuerit deprehensis, ab honore dignitatis sue suspensus, monasterii curam suscipiat, ibique penitentie perpetue deditus, scelus admissum sacrilegi solvat.18 Aber was wollte Guido Fulcodii vom Wahrsager wissen? Eine Antwort auf diese Frage kann man nur mit Hilfe der Chronologie zu beantworten versuchen. Da Guido Fulcodi am 24. 12. 1261 zum Kardinal ernannt wurde und da Petrus Raymundi erst 1262 Abt von La Grasse geworden ist, könnte man sich mit Lothar Kolmel fragen, ob Guido die Dienste des Wahrsagers gesucht hat, in der Hoffnung, zum Kardinal ernannt zu werden, oder ob er es dies nach der Ernennung getan hat, um vom Wahrsager Aussagen über seine neue Würde zu erhalten. Petrus Raymundi hätte den Wahrsager konsultiert haben können auch bevor er Abt von Lagrasse wurde, denn die Worte factus postea abbas könnten eine Präzisierung a posteriori über die Laufbahn des Abtes sein. Auch was die Aussage de negotio papatus angeht, kann man auf die Frage, ob der Kardinal vor oder nach seiner Wahl zum Papst sich dem Wahrsager zugewendet hat, keine klare Antwort geben. Für die gesamte Zeitspanne, die vom Tode Urbans iv. (2. Oktober 1264) zur Wahl Clemens’ iv. reicht – das quellenmäßig bestgesicherte Datum ist der 5. Februar 1265 –, wissen wir, dass der zukünftige Papst in Paris vor seiner Abreise Ludwig ix. getroffen hatte, ohne dass es möglich ist, den genauen Tag festzulegen.19 Weiter wissen wir, dass der

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Raymundus de Pennafort O.P., Summa (Verona 1774), 107–108 (C. 30 des iv. Toletanum, Gratian, C. 26 q. 5): „C.V. Honore priuetur episcopus aut presbiter, qui magos uel aruspices consulit. Item ex Concilio Tolletano iv., c. 30. Si quis episcopus, aut presbiter, siue diaconus, uel quilibet de ordinibus clericorum aruspices, aut incantatores, aut ariolos, aut certe augures uel sortilegos, uel qui profitentur artem magicam, aut aliquos eorum similia exercentes consuluisse fuerit deprehensus, ab honore dignitatis suæ suspensus monasterii curam excipiat, ibi que penitenciæ perpetuæ deditus scelus admissum sacrilegii soluat“. Siehe auch Rufinus, Die „Summa Dekretorum“ des Magister Rufinus, hrsg. H. Singer (Paderborn: Schöningh, 1902), 427, und Hostiensis, Summa (Lyon 1537), f. 254v, zit. Kolmel, „Papst Clemens iv.,“ 163 Anm. 69. Edmond Martène und Ursin Durand, Thesaurus novus anecdotorum, tomus 2, col. 128 (Paris 1717), Nr. 56; cf. Clemens iv. bei August Potthast, Regesta pontificum Romanorum,

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Papst selbst in einem Brief an den Erzbischof von Kalocsa (in Ungarn),20 wie auch in der Wahlanzeige,21 erklärt hat, dass er am Wahltage abwesend war, weil er sich auf der Rückreise von Frankreich befand. Wenn Raymundus de Puteo die Wahrheit gesagt hat, so können wir annehmen, dass Guido Fulcodii den Wahrsager, über den Abt von La Grasse, de negotio papatus konsultiert hat, als er daran war, Frankreich zu durchqueren, um sich nach Perugia zu begeben. Da zwei Briefe Clemens’ iv. schon am 22. Februar von der Kanzlei expediert worden sind,22 muss man aber annehmen, dass der Kardinal Guido Fulcodii nicht sehr weit von Perugia war (also eher in Norditalien als in Frankreich), als seine Wahl zum Papst vorgenommen worden ist. Er könnte aber wohl schon relativ früh darüber informiert gewesen sein, dass die beratenden Kardinäle ihn in die engere (oder sogar engste) Wahl eingeschlossen hatten.23 Gegen Mitte Januar 1265 – so die Datierung, die Karl Hampe vorgeschlagen hat –, schrieb der Kardinal Ottobono Fieschi in einem Brief (an den Kardinal Simon de Brie?) ganz offen von den regen Verhandlungen und Meinungsverschiedenheiten unter den Kardinälen, die noch keine Einigung gefunden hätten,24 und man kann mit einer gewissen Sicherheit vermuten, dass solche Verhandlungen nicht geheim geblieben sind.

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Nr. 19132: „[Ludovico] regi Franciae significat se eius nuncios, magistrum Iohannem de Trecis archidiaconum in ecclesia Baiocensi et fratrem Rogerium priorem Vallis Viridis Carthus. ord., laete recepisse in eiusque memoriam verba sub compendio reducit « quae tecum familiariter pridie quam Parisius exiremus habuimus circa tria, libertatem videlicet ecclesiasticam conservandam et praelatorum scandala praescindenda, pacem etiam inter coniugem et [Carolum] comitem Provinciae fratrem tuum amicabiliter et utiliter reformandam necnon et ea salubriter complananda quae circa terram tuam et confinia terrae Provinciae inter te et fratrem tuum eundem dissensionis spiritum et materiam ministrabant », etc.“ (befragbar in der Datenbank Aposcripta, http://telma.irht.cnrs.fr/chartes/en/​ aposcripta/notice‑acte/146917). Karl Hampe, „Reise nach England vom Juli 1895 bis Februar 1896 (ii.),“ in Neues Archiv für ältere deutsche Geschichtskunde 22 (1897): 408–409 (aus der Hs. Oxford, Balliol College, 227): „[…] statim effecti unanimes et concordes, nos absentes, qui tunc omisso legationis officio […] revertebamur ad matris ecclesie gremium de partibus Gallie in summum pontificem potestate sibi tradita concorditer elegerunt“. Clemens iv., Les Registres de Clément iv (1265–1268). Recueil des bulles de ce pape, hrsg. Édouard Jordan, Bibliothèque des Écoles françaises d’Athènes et de Rome ser. 2, 1 (Paris: Thorin et al., 1893–1945), Nr. 1, 2. August Potthast, Regesta pontificum Romanorum inde ab a. post Christum natum mcxviii ad a. mccciv, 2 Bde., tomus 2 (Berlin 1875), Nr. 19034–19035. Über die Wahl Clemens iv. s. Joseph Heidenmann, Papst Clemens iv. Eine Monographie. 1. Teil (Münster: Schöningh, 1903), 174–180; Kolmel, „Papst Clemens iv. beim Wahrsager,“ 153–154. Hampe, „Reise nach England,“ 368 (aus der Briefsammlung, in der Hs. Oxford, Bodleian Library, Laud. Misc. 645).

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Wichtig scheint die Frage, ob wir es hier mit einer vereinzelten Episode zu tun haben oder ob die Quellenlage uns ermöglicht, andere Beispiele zu sammeln und weitere Fragen zu stellen, auch um die Forschungslage in dieser Beziehung zu stärken. Dass die Quellen nicht reichhaltig sein können ist wohl zu erahnen. Dass die Texte, die ich hier vorstellen möchte, einen ganz bedeutenden Namen wie Thomas von Aquin einbeziehen, zeigt schon, dass die von Prälaten der römischen Kurie geübten Praktiken der Wahrsagerei kein sekundäres historisches Problem darstellen. Alle grossen handschriftlichen Sammlungen der Opuscula des Thomas von Aquin enthalten einen Traktat De sortibus, von denen zwei Versionen in 49 Handschriften erhalten sind, eine längere und eine kürzere. Im Prolog der beiden Versionen liest man, dass Thomas von Aquin diesen Traktat auf Anfrage einer Person redigiert hat, die in der handschriftlichen Überlieferung und in den alten Katalogen der Werke von Thomas von Aquin mit vielen Varianten erscheint: dominum Iacobum de Burgo (Ptolomaeus von Lucca, Bernardus Gui), ad dominum Iacobum de Tonengo, de Bonegio et de Tolongo (Katalog von Prag, Kanonisationsprozess), Turoneio, Bonego. Bontgo, Tonego, Tonago, Togone (Hss. des xiv. Jahrhunderts), Tonego, Tonengo, Couengo, Thonengo (Hss. des xv. Jahrhunderts).25 Schon im ersten Satz des Prologs wendet sich Thomas von Aquin, ohne sie zu nennen, an die Person, die ihm eine solche Anfrage gestellt hat: «Postulavit a me vestra dilectio ut quid de sortibus sentiendum sit vobis conscriberem». Obwohl zahlreich, scheinen die Varianten des Namens des Destinatars keinen Zweifel auf seine Identität zu. Es handelt sich sehr wahrscheinlich um Iacobus de Tonengo, der als päpstlicher Kaplan in mehreren Briefen Urbans iv. erscheint und aus seiner kleinen Ortschaft stammt, die in der heutigen italienischen Provinz Asti liegt.26 Iacobus ist in Orvieto, wo die römische Kurie unter Urban iv. für zwei Jahren verblieb,27 in den Monaten August, Okto-

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Thomas von Aquin, „Liber de sortibus ad dominum Iacobum de Tonengo,“ in Sancti Thomae de Aquino Opera omnia (Edition Leonina), tomus 43, (Rom: Ed. di san Tommaso, 1976), 203–241 (https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k9495t/f211.item): Destinatar und Datum: 207–209; Handschriften: 209–213; lange Version: 229–238; kurze Version: 238–241. Urban iv. Les Registres d’Urbain iv (1261–1264). Recueil des bulles de ce pape, hrsg. Jean Guiraud, Léon Dorez und Suzanne Clémencet, 4 Bde., Bibliothèque des Écoles françaises d’ Athènes et de Rome ser. 2, 13 (Paris 1899–1958), Nr. 520, 967, 968, 972, 1095, 1109, 1110, 1787. Agostino Paravicini Bagliani, „La mobilità della curia romana nel Duecento: riflessi locali,“ in Società e istituzioni nell’Italia comunale: l’esempio di Perugia (secoli xii–xiv). Congresso storico internazionale. Perugia, 6–9 novembre 1985, tomus 1 (Perugia: Deputazione di storia patria per l' Umbria, 1988), 155–278; abgedr. ohne das Itinerar der römischen Kurie: Id., „La mobilità della corte papale nel secolo xiii,“ in Itineranza pontificia. La mobilità della curia papale nel Lazio (secoli xii–xiii), hrsg. S. Carocci (Rom: Istituto storico italiano per

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ber und Dezember 126328 bezeugt, also zu der Zeit, als Thomas von Aquin als Lector Theologie im Dominikanerkloster dieser Stadt lehrte (1263–1264).29 Iacobus de Tonengo war sicher verwandt mit Otto von Tonengo, der über 25 Jahre als Kardinal eine wichtige politische Rolle am päpstlichen Hofe ausgeübt hat. Seine Legation in England ist eine der wichtigsten englischen Legation des xiii. Jahrhunderts.30 1227 wurde er zum Kardinaldiakon von San Nicola in Carcere Tulliano ernannt, 1244 zum Kardinalbischof von Porto und Santa Rufina. Gerstorben ist er Ende 1250 oder Anfang 1251 in Lyon während des ersten gleichnamigen Konzils.31 In fünf Papstbriefen Urbans iv. ist Iacobus von Tonengo in Verbindung mit dem Kardinal Uberto da Cocconato, der an der Kurie zum ersten Mal am 8. November 1256, als Kaplan Papst Alexanders iv., bezeugt ist.32 Zum Kardinaldiakon von S. Eustachio wurde er von seinem Nachfolger, Urban iv., am 24. Dezember 1261 ernannt. Cocconato ist fünf Kilometer von Tonengo entfernt. Iacobus von Tonengo war also ein päpstlicher Kaplan mit weitreichenden kurialen Beziehungen, dem es auch möglich gewesen ist – und dies ist sicher nicht unbedeutend –, Thomas von Aquin zu bitten, einen Traktat über die Weissagungen zu entwerfen. Aber aus welchem Grunde? Antoine Dondaine und J. Peters haben dafür folgende Erklärung. Als 1268 der Bischof von Vercelli starb, hat sich das Kapitel in zwei Parteien geteilt. Die eine Partei hat Iacobus de Tonengo, Kanoniker von Vercelli, zum Bischof gewählt; die andere den prepositus des Kapitels, Raniero degli Avogadro. Wie immer in solchen Fällen hätte der Papst eingreifen sollen um eine Entscheidung zu treffen. Von 1268 bis 1271 blieb aber der heilige Stuhl vakant – es ist ja die längste Vakanz des Sedis apostolica in der Geschichte –, und da die Kanoniker von Vercelli die Entscheidung des neuen Papstes nicht abwarten wollten,

28 29 30

31 32

il Medio Evo, 2003), 3–78. Unter Urban iv. blieb der päpstliche Hof vom 18. Oktober 1262 bis zum 9. September 1264, ibid., 237. Urban iv., Les Registres d’Urbain iv (1261–1264), Nr. 972 (8.12.1263), 1095 (8.8.1263), 1109 (2.10.1263). Antoine Dondaine und J. Peters, „Jacques de Tonengo et Giffredus d’Anagni auditeurs de saint Thomas,“ in Archivum Fratrum Praedicatorum 29 (1959): 52–72. Heinrich Weber, Über das Verhältnis Englands zu Rom während der Zeit der Legation des Cardinals Otho in den Jahren 1237–1241 (Berlin 1883); Dorothy M. Williamson, „Some Aspects of the Legation of Cardinal Otto in England, 1237–1241,“ in English Historical Review 64 (1949): 145–173. Mit dem Itinerar des Legaten und der Liste der Legationsurkunden. Agostino Paravicini Bagliani, Cardinali di curia e ‘familiae’ cardinalizie, dal 1227 al 1254, 2 Bde., tomus 1, Italia Sacra 18–19 (Padova: Antenore, 1972), 77. Urban iv., Les Registres d’ Urbain iv, Nr. 967, 968, 972, 1095, 1787.

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haben sie – so die These von Antoine Dondaine und J. Peters – die Entscheidung dem Los (sors) überlassen. Daraufhin hätte dann Iacobus de Tonengo Thomas von Aquin angefragt, ob dies zulässig sei. Das würde auch erklären, warum der Autor des Traktats namentlich die Tradition des Losens in den kirchlichen Wahlen erwähnt, die er unter den vier modi erwähnt, wonach die Verlosung als eine Sünde betrachtet werden kann.33 Die Wahl eines Bischofs oder eines hohen kirchlichen Würdenträgers mittels des Losziehens ist nach Thomas von Aquin sündhaft, denn in diesen Fällen würde das Losen einer Sünde gegen den Heiligen Geist entsprechen. Eine solche Art des Losens ist aber für Thomas in den Wahlen von weltlichen Obrigkeiten zulässig, weil dort das Fehlen der nötigen concordia eine Gefahr für die Einigkeit der Gemeinschaft bedeutet.34 Der Traktat De sortibus – sicher einer der wichtigsten Traktaten dieser Art in der zweiten Hälfte des xiii. Jahrhunderts – ist sehr wahrscheinlich, so Dondaine und Peters, von Thomas von Aquin in Paris redigiert worden, während der Universitätsferien (solempnium uacationum tempore) von 1270 oder 1271. Diese These ist neuerdings von Pasquale Porro bekräftigt worden durch die Feststellung, dass die Schrift De sortibus einen Hinweis auf den Liber de bona fortuna enthält. Nun weist ein solcher Titel auf den Liber de bona fortuna als autonomes Werk hin, das erst gegen Ende der Sechziger oder an den Anfang der Siebziger Jahre entstanden sein soll.35 Zu diesen Ausführungen kann man hinzufügen, dass aus der lokalen Quellenlage ersichtlich ist, dass der Rivale von Iacobus von Tonengo, Raniero degli Avogadro, in den Jahren 1268–1271 (also während der gesamten Vakanz des Apostolischen Stuhles) als episcopus electus von Vercelli tätig gewesen ist, was

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Thomas von Aquin, Liber de sortibus, hrsg. A. Dondaine und J. Peters (Rom 1976), 24o, 247– 250: „Quarto, si id quod est diuina inspiratione faciendum aliquis sorti uelit committere, sicut ad ecclesiasticas dignitates sunt homines eligendi sorte quam Spiritus Sanctus facit; ideo non licet in huiusmodi sorte uti“. Ibid., 238, 178–186: „Et quia terrene dignitatis officium ad temporalia dispensanda ordinatur, potest etiam licite ad huiusmodi sortes haberi recursus, si aliter electio concors esse non posset; quamuis enim rector querendus sit non sorte sed industria prudens, tollerabilius tamen est sorte secularem rectorem querere quam populum dissentionibus laborare. De rectore uero spirituali est alia ratio, ut supra iam diximus“. Pasquale Porro, „Divinazione e geomanzia in Tommaso d’Aquino: qualche osservazione sul De sortibus,“ in Geomancy and Other Forms of Divination, hrsg. Alessandro Palazzo und Irene Zavattero, Micrologus Library 87 (Firenze: sismel – Edizioni del Galluzzo, 2017), 143–166. Zum Traktat De sortibus s. auch Alberto Alonso Guardo, „Apuntes sobre el De sortibus de Tomas de Aquino,“ in Dialoges among books in Medieval Western magic and divination, hrsg. Stefano Rapisarda und Erik Niblaeus, Micrologus’ Library 65 (Firenze: sismel – Edizioni del Galluzzo, 2014), 127–146.

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vermutlich die Befürchtungen von Iacobus de Tonengo noch verstärkt hatte.36 Erst am 21. Dezember 1273 hat der neue Papst Gregor x. einen neuen Bischof von Vercelli (Aymon de Challant) ernannt. Iacobus von Tonengo war zu diesem Zeitpunkt bereits verstorben und sein Rivale, Raniero degli Avogadro, hatte sich aus dem Wahlprozedere zurückgezogen.37 Was mir wichtig erscheint, ist die Tatsache, dass Thomas von Aquin auf eine rein persönliche Anfrage eines päpstlichen Kaplans einen relativ langen Traktat über Weissagungen zusammengestellt hat, der auch ein langes Kapitel über die verschiedenen sortes-Praktiken enthält, die er verurteilt, so dass De sortibus als ein wichtiges indirektes Zeugnis der am Papsthof bestehenden DivinationsPraktiken anzusehen ist – und ansonsten in der Kirchenwelt im xiii. Jahrhundert auf sehr hohem Niveau. Dies wird bestätigt durch die Tatsache, dass im drittem Kapitel auch die mantische Disziplin der Geomantia behandelt und verurteilt wird.38 Dass die Geomantie zu dieser Zeit in kurialen Kreisen39 eine gewisse Verbreitung erfahren hat wird indirekt durch die Tatsache bestätigt, dass einige Jahre später der Astrologe Bartholomaeus von Parma seinen geomantischen Traktat einem päpstlichen Kaplan namens Tedisius aus der Familie Fieschi

36

37

38 39

Fedele Savio, Gli antichi vescovi d’Italia dalle origini al 1300 descritti per regioni. Il Piemonte (Turin 1899), 493; s. auch Marc’ Aurelio Cusano, Discorsi historiali concernenti la vita, et attioni de’ vescovi di Vercelli (Vercelli 1676), 217–218. Gregor ix., Les Registres de Grégoire ix (1227–1241). Recueil des bulles de ce pape, hrsg. Lucien Auvray, Suzanne Clémencet und Louis Carolus-Barré, 3 Bde., Bibliothèque des Écoles françaises d’ Athènes et de Rome ser. 2, 9 (Paris 1890–1955), 104–105, Nr. 261. Vgl. Savio, Gli antichi vescovi d’Italia … Il Piemonte, 493. Thomas von Aquin, Liber de sortibus, hrsg. A. Dondaine und J. Peters (Rom 1976), 203–232. Der Traktat Geomantia, der von einer starken handschriftlichen Tradition dem päpstlichen Pönitentiar Wilhelm von Moerbeke zugesprochen wird, kann hier nicht in Betracht gezogen werden, nicht nur weil diese Zuschreibung nicht ganz unproblematisch ist, sondern auch weil der Adressat als Neffe von Wilhelm angegeben ist, aber nicht als Kleriker. In Erwartung der kritischen Edition der Geomantia durch Elisa Rubino soll hier auf ihre Edition des Prologs hingewiesen werden: Elisa Rubino, „Per un’edizione della Geomantia di Guglielmo di Moerbeke. Il testo del proemio e della prima distinzione della prima parte,“ in Geomancy and Other Forms of Divination, hrsg. Alessandro Palazzo und Irene Zavattero, Micrologus Library 87, (Firenze: sismel – Edizioni del Galluzzo, 2017), 101–120: 101, auf Grund von acht Handschriften, die alle Wilhelm von Moerbeke als Autor angeben, und dass er diesen Traktat seinem Neffen anvertraut (commendavit) hat, dem magister Arnulphus, und zwar pro secreto. In der Hs. Wolfenbüttel, Herzog August Bibliothek, cod. 76. 1, Aug. f. (xiv Jhd.), ibid., 101, ist das Datum 1288 angegeben (Geomantia fratris Guilhelmi de Morbeta, penitentiarii domini pape, dedicata Arnulpho nepoti anno domini millesismo ducentesimo octuagesimo octavo, ibid., 101), die vielleicht eine fehlerhafte Transkription von 1278 ist, das Todesjahr des Wilhelm von Moerbeke.

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gewidmet hat. Tedisius soll ein Neffe des Kardinals Guglelmo Fieschi gewesen sein.40 Im Breviloquium des Bartholomaeus von Parma ist der Name des Destinatars in der Hs. Metz, Médiathèque „Le Pontiffroy“, ms. 287 (8 settembre 1420), f. 1r, so als dominus Thedisius de Fusto41 (Incipit Breuiloquium magistri Bartholomei nacione Parmensis Bononie compilatum et consumatum per prudentes viros de fructu artis tocius astronomie ad preces et honorem domini Thedisii de Fusto (!). Anno Dominj m(illesimo) ducentesimo octuagesimo sexto).42 In der Hs. Wien, Österreichische Nationalbibliothek, 5523, der Ars geomantiae (xv.–xvi. Jh.), f. 1r, erscheint Tedisio Fieschi als Bischof electus von Reggio Emilia (Incipit ars geomantiae nova docens solvere questiones rerum de quibus quis dubitat et inde divina virtute certificatur que composita fuit per m(agistrum) Bartholomeum de Parma in civitate Bononie ad preces nobilis domini Thedisii ellecti civitatis Regii feliciter mcclxxxviii).43 Im Breviloquium artis geomantie (1288) ist Tedisio Fieschi (Hs. München, Bayerische Staatsbibliothek, Clm 196, xvi. Jahrhundert), f. 1r, wiederum als dominus definiert44 (Incipit breviloquium artis geomantie noviter compilate a magistro Bartholomeo de Parma quod breviter extraxit de summa eiusdem artis quam prius compilavit anno Domini 1288 ad preces viri domini Theodorisi (!) de Flischo natione Janue civitatis et sic compilasse fatetur, verumque opus fideliter et verius quam scivit utilius scribens) und als nobilis vir in der Hs. München, Bayerische Staatsbibliothek, Clm 489 (xvi. Jahrhundert), f. 61r (Geomantie prohemium. Incipit breviloquium artis geomantie, noviter compilate a Bartholomeo de Parma, quod breviloquium extraxit de summa eius artis quam compilavit in 1288 ad partes nobilis viri Theodorici de Flisco).45 Als Bartholomaeus ihm seinen geomantischen Traktat dedizierte, hatte Tedisius bereits eine lange kuriale Karriere hinter sich, mit vielen Pfründen in Frankreich, England und Irland.46 Wie Iacobus von Tonengo wurde Tedisio Fieschi als Bischof von Reggio Emilia von einem Teil der Kanoniker gewählt und

40 41

42 43 44 45 46

Biogaphie in Marina Firpo, La famiglia Fieschi dei Conti di Lavagna. Strutture familiari a Genova e nel contado fra xii e xiii secolo (Genua: De Ferrari, 2006), 247–248. Edition des incipit: Enrico Narducci, „Intorno al Tractatus spherae di Bartolomeo da Parma, astronomo del secolo xiii, e ad altri scritti del medesimo autore,“ in Bullettino di bibliografia e di storia delle scienze matematiche e fisiche 17 (1884): 1–120, 165–217: 17 (https://bvmm​ .irht.cnrs.fr/mirador/index.php?manifest=https://bvmm.irht.cnrs.fr/iiif/22969/ma nifest). Narducci, „Intorno“, 1. Edition des incipit: ibid., S. 22. Edition des incipit: ibid., S. 9. Edition des incipit: ibid., S. 21. Siehe oben, Anm. 37.

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musste so auf die Entscheidung des Papstes warten, die aber erst am 22. Juni 1290 von Papst Nikolaus iv. gefällt wurde, durch die Ernennung des Guglielmo di Bobbio als neuen Bischof von Reggio Emilia.47 Wie wir gesehen haben, trägt Tedisio in der Widmung des geomantischen Traktats von Bartolomeo da Parma den Titel des episcopus electus, gefolgt vom Datum 1288, so dass wir uns die Frage stellen dürfen, ob er von Bartolomeo da Parma durch die mantische Disziplin der Geomantie etwas über die Ausübung seiner Würde erfahren wollte. Die drei Fälle, die ich hier vorgestellt habe, betreffen allesamt Prälaten der römischen Kurie, zwei päpstliche Kapläne und einen Kardinal und zukünftigen Papst. Alle diese Fälle haben eines gemeinsam, die Wahrsagerei in Verbindung mit einer Wahl, sei es als Bischof, als Kardinal oder sogar als Papst. Dass sich diese drei Fälle in einem Zeitraum von etwa fünfzehn Jahren abspielten, von 1261 bis 1286, hängt mit der allgemeineren Verbreitung mantischer Disziplinen wie die Geomantie zusammen, was auf einen Mode-Charakter hinweist. Diese zeitliche Intensität lässt aber die Schlussfolgerung zu, dass solche Praktiken viel verbreiteter gewesen sein müssen als die Quellenlage uns zeigt und zwar unangeachtet kirchlicher Zensuren und Verurteilungen. Der Inquisitor Pontius de Parnaco kann mit kirchlichen Strafen gegen die Prälaten, die zum Wahrsager gegangen sind, nicht eingreifen, da alle schon gestorben waren. In seinem Traktat De sortibus verurteilt Thomas von Aquin geomantische und sonstige mantische Praktiken, aber welche Folgen seine kritische Stellungnahme gehabt hat wissen wir nicht. Zumindest nicht für die Zeit, in der wir uns hier bewegen, in der Zeit also zwischen 1260 und 1280. Schon die Tatsache, dass die geomantischen Traktate des Bartholomaeus von Parma und des Wilhelm von Moerbeke in ihren Titeln die Namen von Adressaten enthalten – ein Neffe und ein episcopus electus – weist nicht auf Angst vor Zensur hin. Es sind ja auch Traktate, die schnell an die Öffentlichkeit gelangt sind, wie ihre starke handschriftliche Verbreitung zeigt. Die mantischen Praktiken, die eine Faszination auf kuriale und kirchliche Eliten von hohem und sogar höchstem Niveau ausgeübt haben, erscheinen somit weit entfernt von der clerical underworld, die Richard Kieckhefer seit seinem berühmtem Buch Forbidden Rites rekonstruiert hat;48 sie sollten also in der Forschung eine viel größere Beachtung finden, als dies bislang der Fall gewesen ist.

47

48

Nicolaus iv., Les registres de Nicolas iv, hrsg. E. Langlois (Paris: Thorin et al., 1905), Nr. 2760–2765; cf. G. Saccani, Vescovi di Reggio-Emilia. Cronotassi (Reggio Emilia: Stabilimento tipo-litografico degli Artigianelli, 1902), 84. Richard Kieckhefer, Necromancy in the Clerical Underworld (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2014); Id., Forbidden Rites: a Necromancer’s Manual of the Fifteenth Century (University Park: Pennsylvania State University Press, 2002).

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References Albaret, Laurent. „La Collection Doat, une collection moderne, témoignage de l’histoire religieuse méridionale des xiiie et xive siècles.“ In Historiens modernes et Moyen Âge méridional, herausgegeben von Michelle Fournié, Daniel-Odon Hurel und Daniel Le Blévec, 57–94. Toulouse: Éditions Privat, 2014. Albaret, Laurent. Recherches sur l’inquisition dans le Midi de la France d’après la Collection Doat. Paris: Université de Paris, 1996. Bruschi, Caterina. „Gli inquisitori Raoul de Plassac e Pons de Parnac e l’inchiesta tolosana degli anni 1273–1280.“ In Praedicatores inquisitores, i, The Dominican and the Mediaeval Inquisition. Acts of the 1st International Seminar on the Dominicans and the Inquisition. Rome, 12–25 February, 2002, herausgegeben von Wolfram Hoyer, 471– 494. Rom: Istituto storico domenicano, 2004. Clemens iv. Les Registres de Clément iv (1265–1268). Recueil des bulles de ce pape, herausgegeben von Édouard Jordan. Paris: Thorin et al., 1893–1945. Cusano, Marc’ Aurelio. Discorsi historiali concernenti la vita, et attioni de’ vescovi di Vercelli. Vercelli 1676. Dondaine, Antoine und J. Peters. „Jacques de Tonengo et Giffredus d’Anagni auditeurs de saint Thomas.“ In Archivum Fratrum Praedicatorum 29 (1959): 52–72. Firpo, Marina. La famiglia Fieschi dei Conti di Lavagna. Strutture familiari a Genova e nel contado fra xii e xiii secolo. Genua: De Ferrari, 2006. Gregor ix. Les Registres de Grégoire ix (1227–1241). Recueil des bulles de ce pape, herausgegeben von Lucien Auvray, Suzanne Clémencet und Louis Carolus-Barré, 3 Bände, Bibliothèque des Écoles françaises d’Athènes et de Rome ser. 2, 9. Paris 1890–1955. Guardo, Alberto Alonso. „Apuntes sobre el De sortibus de Tomas de Aquino.“ In Dialoges among books in Medieval Western magic and divination, herausgegeben von Stefano Rapisarda und Erik Niblaeus, Micrologus’ Library 65, 127–146. Firenze: sismel – Edizioni del Galluzzo, 2014. Hampe, Karl. „Reise nach England vom Juli 1895 bis Februar 1896 (ii.).“ In Neues Archiv für ältere deutsche Geschichtskunde 22 (1897): 408–409. Heidenmann, Joseph. Papst Clemens iv. Eine Monographie. 1. Teil. Münster: Schöningh, 1903. Hostiensis. Summa. Lyon 1537. Inquisitors and Heretics in Thirteenth-Century Languedoc: Edition and Translation of Toulouse Inquisition Depositions, 1273–1282, herausgegeben von Peter Biller, Caterina Bruschi und Shelag Sneddon, Studies in the History of Christian Traditions 147. Leiden: Brill, 2011. Kieckhefer, Richard. Forbidden Rites: a Necromancer’s Manual of the Fifteenth Century. University Park: Pennsylvania State University Press, 2002. Kieckhefer, Richard. Necromancy in the Clerical Underworld. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2014.

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9 Signs from the Afterlife: Consulting the Dead about the Future in Medieval Times Matthias Heiduk

According to the imagination of many cultures, the dead know more about the future than the living. The souls of the deceased are closer to the divine in the otherworld, which equips them with advanced knowledge about hidden matters about the past, present, and future. This idea makes it seem obvious to seek to contact the dead and ask them about their knowledge. The ancient Greek and Roman world knew several ways and divinatory methods for making the desired contact with the dead:1 1) communicating with apparitions of the dead both while awake or during dreams while asleep, 2) communicating via mediums who are possessed or inspired by the dead, 3) contacting the dead with the aid of objects, as in the process of lekanomanteia (= lecanomancy), where reflections and shadows are observed on the surface of a mixture of oil and water, 4) and conjuring the dead and forcing their spirits back into their corpse, or into body parts like the skull, through which the dead may speak to the living. Contacting the dead for the purpose of divination also played an important role in the mythological and historical narratives. They present even more ways of crossing the border between the world of the living and the dead, such as opening a gate for the shadows of the deceased to pass into our world or to allow the descent of a living person into the realm of the dead. In the Homeric epos, for instance, Odysseus traveled to the end of the okeanos, close to the mythical entrance to the underworld, and lured out the shadow of the dead seer Teiresias with the blood of sacrificial animals to ask him about the prospective course of his voyage. A side effect of this ritual, which Odysseus performed according to the advice of the sorceress Circe, was his encounter with a multitude of shadows who appeared at the site of his offering, which

1 This brief summary follows Fritz Graf, Gottesnähe und Schadenszauber. Die Magie in der griechisch-römischen Antike (Munich: C.H. Beck, 1996), 177. For an extensive overview on the topic, see Daniel Ogden, Greek and Roman Necromancy (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2001).

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ultimately caused him to flee.2 The hero of Vergil’s Aeneid descended to the underworld to hear the predictions of his dead father Anchises about the fate of Rome. The Sibyl of Cumae guided him on this dangerous voyage through the realm of Pluto across the Styx and past Cerberus.3 Rituals for conjuring the dead received further, highly impressive descriptions in ancient literature. According to Lucan’s “De bello civili” (= “Pharsalia”), Erichtho, for instance, conjured the spirit of a dead into his corpse to predict the outcome of the battle of Pharsalos.4 Very similar narratives were also known outside the ancient Graeco-Roman world. The Old Testament contains the example of the story of King Saul visiting the so-called witch of En-Dor, who was compelled to conjure the deceased prophet Samuel to predict the outcome of the campaign against the Philistines.5 The ancient narratives provide several terms for these different methods of divination through communicating with the dead, which indicates an initial variety of concepts and notions.6 However, the common label of modern research is ‘necromancy’, according to the Greek nekromanteia, but the existence of concrete necromantic ritual practices during Antiquity remains debated. Many researchers emphasize that modern associations with necromancy occur only in literary polemics, and that the majority of the descriptions of rites come from fictional texts. According to Sarah Iles Johnston, for example, the conclusion in reference to the Greeks and Romans can only be that they often thought about necromancy, but seldom or never practiced it.7 However, this statement seems to sweep aside too hastily several hints at the deep ritualistic roots that the ancient narratives about necromancy contain. Several ancient sanctuaries were dedicated specifically to communicating with the dead, mainly to placate them and secure their transition into the underworld, but these were usually connected with oracles, too.8 Even the tale of Erichtho reflects ritualistic practices, because Lucan’s description displays clear parallels to the instructions of the “Greek Magical Papyri.”9

2 3 4 5 6

Homer, Odysee, 11, 20–638. Vergil, Aeneis, 6, 262–899. Lucan, Pharsalia, 6, 419–830. 1 Samuel 28, 3–25. In addition to nekromanteia, other common terms include, for instance, the Greek psychagogia and nekyomanteia as well as the Latin sciomantia; see Jan N. Bremmer, “Ancient Necromancy: Fact or Fiction?” in Mantic Perspecitves: Oracles, Prophecy and Performance, ed. Krzysztof Bielawski (Warzaw: Uniwersytet Warszawski, 2015), 121–122. 7 Sarah Iles Johnston, Ancient Greek Divination (Malden, MA: Wiley-Blackwell, 2008), 97. 8 See Daniel Ogden, Greek and Roman Necromancy, 17–92. 9 See Jan N. Bremmer, “Ancient Necromancy: Fact or Fiction?”, 133–135.

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Researchers also discuss the phenomenon of necromancy during the Middle Ages in Europe, but the plurality of ancient approaches to the dead seems to have shifted in another direction. Sebastià Giralt, for instance, writes under the heading “Medieval necromancy: the art of controlling demons”: Although the original sense of ‘necromantia’ was not forgotten, during the Middle Ages the term was often used in a broader sense, (…) which included not just predictive practices but also experiments to obtain material or psychological illusions and benefits through the invocation of spirits.10 According to Giralt, the focus of medieval necromancy is rarely the conjuring of the dead, but generally the invocation of spirits to use for magical purposes. Frank Klaassen is even stricter in his contribution on necromancy to a very recent handbook on magic in medieval times: Necromancy is a category of ritual magic that concerns itself principally with conjuring demons, though sometimes also angels, terrene spirits such as fairies, and very rarely spirits of the dead.11 Necromancy is defined here as ritual conjuring, too, but the dead became marginal. Following this shift in the meaning of necromancy, divination through communicating with the dead tends to have disappeared from view in the current research. It is often mentioned only at the margins of relevant titles.12 However, such practices did not disappear during the Middle Ages. This paper shows that contacting the dead remained a common way to gain hidden knowledge and predictions about the future. It was not even necessary to appeal to the miraculous powers of saints, as all deceased people could serve as oracles about future events. The medieval examples of such predictions presented here

10 11 12

https://www.sciencia.cat/temes/medieval‑necromancy‑art‑controlling‑demons (accessed May 25, 2021). Frank Klaassen, “Necromancy,” in The Routledge History of Medieval Magic, eds. Sophie Page and Catherine Rider (London: Routledge, 2019), 201. Cf., for example: Richard Kieckhefer, Magic in the Middle Ages (Cambridge: University Press, 1990); Charles Burnett, Magic and Divination in the Middle Ages (Aldershot: Variorum, 1996); Jean-Patrice Boudet, Entre science et ‘nigromance.’ Astrologie, divination et magie dans l’ Occident medieval (xiie-xve siècle) (Paris: Publications de la Sorbonne, 2006); Helmut Birkhan, Magie im Mittelalter (Munich: C.H. Beck, 2010); Sophie Page and Catherine Rider, eds., The Routledge History of Medieval Magic (London/New York: Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group, 2019).

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follow the list of antique practices mentioned above, from the conjuring of the dead to the use of objects, the consultation of mediums, the apparitions of the dead in visions and dreams, and finally to the crossing of the boundaries to the world of the dead through the living. Considering the often blurred boundaries between these methods of consultation, the examples are divided into two main sections: 1) medieval notions and practices related to conjuring the dead, and 2) apparitions of the dead and journeys to the Otherworld. As with the debate about ancient necromancy, the question of whether what is recounted was real practice or literary fiction will be addressed with regard to the medieval sources. After all, the ancient narratives also influenced the medieval imagination. Only fragments of the Odyssey were known in the age of the parchment, but the works of Vergil and Lucan, for instance, were widespread and extremely popular.13 The aim of this paper is to problematize the focus on necromancy in the recent research in order to categorize the medieval practices related to dealing with the dead. This requires, however, an awareness of the medieval understanding of necromancy and its impact on the current view of research. Therefore, a paragraph on necromancy precedes the examples of medieval practices.

1

Necromancy in the Medieval Scholarly Debate

A brief glance at the treatises of medieval scholars reveals that they coined the definitions of necromancy employed in recent research, such as that by Giralt and Klaassen. Isidore of Seville (d. 636) provided the definition of necromancy at the transition of Antiquity to the Middle Ages: Necromancers are those by whose incantations the dead, brought back to life, seem to prophesy, and to answer what is asked.14 Isidore counted the necromancers among the magii, the magicians, who were the representatives of heathen cult practices, according to Christian doctrine. The conjuration of the dead was thereby an act of damnable demon worship.

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Cf. Franz Brunhölzl, “Lucanus im Mittelalter,” in Lexikon des Mittelalters 5 (Munich/Zurich: Artemis & Winkler, 1991), col. 2152; Paul Klopsch, „Vergil im Mittelalter,“ in Lexikon des Mittelalters 8 (Munich: LexMA-Verlag, 1997), col. 1522–1526. Etymologiae viii.9.11: Necromantii sunt, quorum praecantationibus videntur resuscitati mortui divinare, et ad interrogata respondere. Translation: The ‘Etymologies’ of Isidore of Seville, eds. Stephen A. Barney et al. (Cambridge: University Press, 2006), 182.

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The meaning of necromancy shifted due to the translations of Arabic treatises from the end of the 11th century, after which it became part of the new knowledge adapted by the Latin West, ranked at times among the more established arts and sciences. The medieval biography of Constantine the African (d. ca. 1087), the pioneering translator of Arabic medical texts into Latin who lived in Monte Cassino Monastery, provides an early hint at this shift.15 It states that Constantine was educated in Bagdad in grammar, dialectic, rhetoric, geometry, arithmetic, mathematics, astronomy, necromancy, music, and physics of the Oriental world.16 In the early twelfth century, Petrus Alfonsi (d. after 1130), who also translated Arabic scientific texts,17 discussed necromancy as an alternative seventh art among the liberal arts: These are the arts: dialectic, arithmetic, geometry, physics, music, and astronomy. The opinions of most are divided about the seventh art. Those philosophers who listen to prophecies say that nigromancy [nigromantia!] is the seventh. Others, who do not believe in prophecies, want philosophy to be the seventh.18 Dominicus Gundissalinus (d. 1190), canon of Toledo Cathedral and another translator of Arabic during the later 12th century,19 counted necromancy among the eight disciplines of the scientia naturalis. These natural sciences were medicine, judicial astrology, nigromancy [!], talismans, agriculture, navigation, optics, and alchemy.20 Judicial astrology, the knowledge of astro-magical

15

16 17 18

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On Constantine’s work and biography see Raphaela Veit, “Quellenkundliches zu Leben und Werk von Constantinus Africanus,” in Deutsches Archiv zur Erforschung des Mittelalters 59 (2003): 121–152. Herbert Bloch, Monte Cassino in the Middle Ages, vol. 1 (Rome: Edizioni di storia e letteratura, 1986), 127. On Petrus Alfonsi, see John Tolan: Petrus Alfonsi and his Medieval Readers (Gainesville: University of Florida Press, 1993). Petrus Alfonsi: Disciplina clericalis i, eds. Alfons Hilka and Werner Söderhjelm (Helsinki: Finnische Literatur-Gesellschaft, 1911), 10: Hae sunt artes: dialectica, arithmetica, geometria, phisica, musica, astronomia. De septima vero diversae plurimorum sunt sententiae quaenam sit: philosophi qui prophetias secctantur, aiunt nigromantiam esse septimam. Aliqui ex illis videlicet qui prophetiis non credunt, philosophiam volunt esse septimam. This and the following translations are by the author, unless otherwise stated. On Dominicus Gundissalinus, see Alexander Fidora, Die Wissenschaftstheorie des Dominicus Gundissalinus. Voraussetzungen und Konsequenzen des zweiten Anfangs der aristotelischen Philosophie im 12. Jahrhundert (Berlin: Akademie-Verlag, 2003). Dominicus Gundissalinus, De divisione philosophiae, eds. Alexander Fidora and Dorothée Werner (Freiburg: Herder, 2007), 76.

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talismans, optics, alchemy, and also nigromancy were all new disciplines to the Latin West, transmitted through treatises by oriental scholars. The new spelling in Latin of ‘nigro’ (= black) rather than ‘necro’ (= dead) underlined the shift in context and meaning: nigromancy was meant to be equivalent to the Arabic term for magic: sihr.21 Divination was only one of many fields of this kind of magic, in which the desired aims could be achieved through the performance of complex rituals, usually with the invocation of metaphysical entities as their core element. The invocation of planetary spirits was, for example, an extremely common topic. The magicians tried to ban the placing of the powers of these spirits into talismans, designed to offer protection against harmfull spells or to help to manipulate people.22 The scholars of the Latin world were especially interested in the cosmological background of this new literature on magic. This background provided a concise model of the hidden powers between the heavenly spheres and nature on earth, which were also intertwined with the fields of astrology and alchemy in a complementary manner. In this way, it was possible to count magic, now called nigromancy, among the sciences, as did Dominicus Gundissalinus. The element of ritual conjuring, however, soon caused a strong sense of unease within the scholarly discourse due to the clear parallels to the pagan invocation of demons, according to Christian doctrine. This led to much boundary work, with a kind of magic with positive connotations, based on pure natural powers, on the one side, and damnable rituals involving spirits on the other. The Speculum astronomiae from the mid-13th-century was the standard reference for this kind of boundary work, in which necromancy or nigromancy was again connoted negatively.23 From the very beginning, the Speculum expresses the ge-

21

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Cf. Charles Burnett, “Talismans: Magic as Science? Necromancy among the Seven Liberal Arts,” in Magic and Divination in the Middle Ages, Chap. i, ed. id. (Aldershot: Variorum, 1996), 3. On divination in the field of medieval learned magic, cf., for example, Bernd-Christian Otto and Matthias Heiduk, “Prognostication in Learned Magic of the Medieval Western Christian World,” in Prognostication in the Medieval World. A Handbook, eds. Matthias Heiduk, Klaus Herbers, and Hans-Christian Lehner (Berlin: de Gruyter, 2021), 948–949. The research focus concerning the Speculum astronomiae lies mainly on the question of its attribution to Albertus Magnus. See, for example, Paola Zambelli, The ‘Speculum astronomiae’ and its enigma (Dordrecht: Kluwer, 1992); Agostino Paravicini Bagliani, Le Speculum Astronomiae, une énigme? Enquête sur les manuscrits (Firenze: sismel—Edizioni dell Galluzzo, 2001). More recently, Scott Hendrix argued again for the historicity of Albertus’ authorship, albeit in an unconvincing way of reasoning: Scott E. Hendrix, How Albert the Great’s ‘Speculum astronomiae’ was Interpreted and used by Four Centuries of Readers (Lewiston / NY: Edwin Mellen Press, 2010).

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neral intention of the work to distinguish noble books on astrology from those disguising necromancy.24 Titles on talismanic magic, for instance, are prominently listed among the necromantic works mentioned in the Speculum.25 The dangers of necromancy/nigromancy were even pointed out far more dramatically in the late medieval demonology. The Catalan inquisitor Nicholas Eymerich (d. 1399),26 for example, emphasized, in his treaty Contra astrologos imperitos atque nigromanticos, that the conjuring of dead persons did not occur. According to him, necromantic invocations would only lead to demons entering the corpses or body parts of the dead, and only demons could speak out of the deceased.27 According to the scholarly discourse of the Middle Ages, necromancy— by then often called nigromancy—became a synonym for a specific knowledge of magic, which the Latin world learned from Arabic texts. This knowledge aimed to manipulate the hidden cosmic powers and supernatural entities which worked between the earthly elements and heavenly spheres, according to the common world view of this period. Modern research picks up exactly this medieval understanding of necromancy, as demonstrated exemplarily by the definitions offered by Giralt and Klaassen. Initially, medieval scholars were open-minded about this kind of knowledge but, since the mid-13th century, the opinion became increasingly prevalent that the practical application of this knowledge would open the gate to diabolic powers and contradict Christian faith. The rigorous view, as expressed by Nicholas Eymerich, determined the awareness and interpretation of the practices. There was no longer any scope for differentiation between the scholarly categorizations nor the applications of the law if, for instance, the rituals were addressing the dead or supernatural entities.

24 25 26 27

Anonymus, “Speculum astronomiae,” eds. Stefano Caroti et al., in The ‘Speculum astronomiae’ and its enigma, ed. Paola Zambelli (Dordrecht: Kluwer, 1992), 208. Ibid., 240–246. The Speculum explicitly separates licit astronomical talismans from illicit necromantic ones: ibid., 246–250. On Nicholas Eymerich, see Derek Hill, Inquisition in the Fourteenth Century: The Manuals of Bernard Gui and Nicholas Eymerich (Woodbridge: York Medieval Press, 2019). Nicolas Eymerich, “Contra astrologos imperitos atque nigromanticos,” ed. Julien Véronèse, in Chasses aux sorcières et démonologie. Entre discours et pratiques (xive-xviie siècles), eds. Martine Ostorero, Georg Modestin, and Kathrin Utz Tremp (Firenze: sismel—Edizioni del Galluzzo, 2010), 295–296.

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Medieval Notions and Practices Regarding Conjuring the Dead

Medieval necromancy very rarely concerns the spirits of the dead, according to the contemporary literature on learned magic, as mentioned above; however, very rarely does not equate to never. The Liber Razielis, for example, contains one such ritual to conjure the dead: And if you wish to speak to a dead person and ask him whatever you like, place yourself upon his grave and call the names of the angels of the fifth division and the name of the mighty Ascymor and keep in your hand a vessel of new glass, which should contain oil mixed with honey. And say this: I conjure [over] you, oh spirit, who has the power and who is committed over the graves, Chozynarudya, who sits in the graves over the bones of the dead, that you shall receive this eiyoemum [mixture?] and do everything according to my will […].28 The Liber Razielis is a compilation of Arabic and Hebrew treatises, which was fabricated at the court of King Alfonso x of Castile in the 13th century.29 The invocations of the Liber are usually addressed to angels, which are grouped according to the ranks of an imagined hierarchy in heaven. These hierarchies of angels clearly reflect the apocryphal traditions within Jewish Mysticism. Certain angels are invoked in the mentioned ritual, too, to encourage the deceased person to speak from his grave. Predicting the future is not explicitly mentioned as the aim of the ritual, but the idea that the dead can be asked anything is certainly included in the formula. It would be easy to argue that a written recipe for a ritual is no proof that it was ever performed. Considering the practice of such magic rituals, the per28

29

“Liber Razielis,” eds. Bill Rebiger and Peter Schäfer, in Sefer ha-Razim i und ii. Das Buch der Geheimnisse i und ii, vol. 1, ed. id. (Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2009), 36 (§§98–99): Et si volueris loqui cum mortuo et interrogare ab ipso, quaecunque velis, pone te super eius sepulcrum et nomina nomina angelorum quinti exercitus et nomen sui potentis Ascymor et tene in manu tua unum vas vitreum novum, in quo sit oleum commixtum cum melle. Et dicas sic: Coniuro super te, o spiritus, qui habes potestatem et es recommendatus super sepulcra, Chozynarudya, qui sedes in sepulcris super ossa mortuorum, quod recipias de manu mea istud eiyoemum et facias omnem meam voluntatem […]. On the “Liber Razielis,” see: Reimund Leicht, Astrologumena Judaica. Untersuchungen zur Geschichte der astrologischen Literatur der Juden (Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2006), 257– 290; Sefer ha-Razim i und ii. Das Buch der Geheimnisse i und ii, vol. 2, eds. Bill Rebiger and Peter Schäfer (Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2009), 100–104; Bernd-Christian Otto and Matthias Heiduk, “Prognostication in Learned Magic of the Medieval Western Christian World,” 953–955.

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spective of research has changed recently. The focus is clearly now on arguments that emphasize the practical relevance of such manuals for a relatively wide audience. The personal testimonials of the practitioners, the notes in the manuscripts, and the statements made during trials must be seen now as traces of practical use and not simply as comments by readers or springing from the imagination of the inquisitors.30 The Liber florum celestis doctrine of the Benedictine-monk Jean de Morigny from the early 14th century is a personal testimony by a keen practitioner of such conjuring rituals.31 It remains difficult, however, to draw any conclusions about the practice of conjuring the dead simply based on manuals like the Liber Razielis. The Das půch aller verpoten kunst (= Book of all forbidden arts) by Johannes Hartlieb (d. 1468) is a very popular source on medieval magic in recent research. The physician and courtier Johannes Hartlieb dedicated his book to margrave John of Brandenburg-Kulmbach and composed it as a warning against engaging in the damnable practices of magic, although is astonishingly well-informed about the details of a wide range of magical and divinatory practices.32 In addition to many references to the scholarly discourse, it also refers to elements of popular magic in everyday life. The book also includes a few ways to conjure the dead, too. The first method described therein focusses on a skull: There is another evil, damnable practice of the art of nigromancy, which entails the use of the skull of a dead person. It must be invoked and you achieve this through excellent, aromatic smoke as well as candles, then the skull answers.33 30

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See, exemplarily, Richard Kieckhefer, Forbidden Rites. A Necromancer’s Manual of the Fifteenth Century (University Park: The Pennsylvania State University Press, 1997); Conjuring Spirits. Texts and Traditions of Medieval Ritual Magic, ed. Claire Fanger (University Park: The Pennsylvania State University Press, 1998); Invoking Angels. Theurgic Ideas and Practices, Thirteenths to Sixteenth Centuries, ed. Claire Fanger (University Park: The Pennsylvania State University Press, 2012). Cf. Claire Fanger, Rewriting Magic. An Exegesis of the Visionary Autobiography of a Fourteenth-Century French Monk (University Park, PA: The Pennsylvania State University Press, 2015). On Johannes Hartlieb, see Frank Fürbeth, Johannes Hartlieb. Untersuchungen zu Leben und Werk (Tübingen: Niemeyer, 1992) and the additions in Bernhard Schnell, „Neues zur Biographie von Johannes Hartlieb,“ in Zeitschrift für deutsches Altertum und deutsche Literatur 136 (2007): 444–448. Recent manuscript studies provide further, new information about the biography of Johannes Hartlieb, especially his authorship of works on the mantic arts. See the coming article by Marco Heiles, “Johannes Hartliebs Leben und Werk vor 1441. Zugleich ein Beitrag zur Schreiberidentifizierung,” in Zeitschrift für deutsches Altertum und deutsche Literatur (forthcoming). Johannes Hartlieb, Das půch aller verpoten kunst (Das Buch aller verbotenen Künste), eds.

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According to the second method described by Hartlieb, the spirit of a dead person can be forced into complete obedience: When a simple man is on the verge of death and wants to die, then his spirit must be invoked to return and serve him [his master] and stay with him for a determined number of years; and the master receives vows and oaths from the dying man and invokes him with mighty incantations, which are part of this procedure.34 The purpose of asking the dead about the future is not mentioned explicitly in these examples, but it always implicitly forms part of the wide range of suggested services offered by the conjured dead. The question remains of whether Johannes Hartlieb is reporting real practices or simply summing up his knowledge of literature.35 He states several times that he is describing in his book not only what he has read but also what he has himself witnessed.36 Several passages indeed give the impression that this statement is not simply topical, such as his descriptions of his encounters with practitioners of magical and divinatory arts. On the other side, his profound knowledge of learned treatises on magic is unquestionable. He quotes, for example, the Picatrix and the Book of the Three Holy Kings immediately before the passages on the conjuring of the dead.37 Further information about the provenance of the conjuring of the dead is lacking, however. It is possible that the descriptions are hinting at some textual source. The ingredients of the skull-ritual could be one such hint, especially since the fabrication of the incense that it mentions was often elaborate and expensive, so incense was probably not used in everyday life. The practical

34

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Falk Eisermann and Eckhard Graf (Munich: Diederichs, 21998), 88: Es ist noch ain böser, schnöder list der kunst Nigramancia, der gůt zu mit ainem totten haubt, das beswert man und macht darzů gůt, wolschmeckent růch, auch kertzen; dann so gibt das haupt antwurt. Ibid., 90: Wann ain ainvaltiger mensch in den zügen leitt und sterben will, so beswert man seinen gaist, das er herwider komm und dem menschen dien und beywon die benannten jar; und nymbt der maister des sterbenden triü und aide und beswert in mit gar grossen beswerung, die dann dazu gehören. On this question in Hartlieb’s work in general, see also two recent studies: Marco Heiles, “Hydromancia—ein leerer Begriff? Die Hydromantie der lateinischen Tradition des Mittelalters und bei Johannes Hartlieb,” in Archiv für Kulturgeschichte 101, no. 1 (2019): 347–376 and Id., “Late Medieval German Texts on Superstition,” in Prognostication in the Medieval World. A Handbook, eds. Matthias Heiduk, Klaus Herbers, and Hans-Christian Lehner (Berlin: de Gruyter, 2021), 831–840. Cf., for instance, the prologue by Johannes Hartlieb, Das půch aller verpoten kunst, 46. Ibid., 86–88.

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relevance of the passages in Hartlieb’s book cannot be determined with certainty, but he gives an important hint to look beyond the field of the scholarly discourse on magic. The monk and scholar Jacob of Paradies (d. 1465) from Krakow, living in the chartreuse of Erfurt since 1442, provides far more practically-orientated insights into the consultation of the dead in his treatise De apparationibus animarum separatarum (= About the apparition of separated souls). Jacob of Paradies was a highly productive author of theological works, which gained a wide readership.38 His text on the apparition of souls appears, at first, to be one of many scholarly medieval treatises on the soul and its destination in the hereafter, according to Christian doctrine. The treaty starts, traditionally, with the physiological fundamentals which explain the separation of the soul from the body after death, and continues with the usual differentiation between the four locations in the afterlife (heaven, hell, limbo, and purgatory) as destinations for the soul, according to the contemporary belief system.39 In the third chapter of his text, Jacob explains that the souls of the dead appear to the living in order to instruct the latter. Without providing any explicit definitions, Jacob subsequently uses different terms for the soul. The Latin anima denominates the soul in contrast to the human body, whereas spiritus represents the apparitions of the souls in the world of the living.40 The souls of the damned report their torments, while the blessed ones offer solace and the poor souls from purgatory request help. The apparitions do not happen on a regular basis, but more frequently at night. The dead are often be invisible, but make audible noises. Nevertheless, the apparitions often frighten the living.41 In the following, Jacob differs from the traditional doctrines by, surprisingly, advising them to conduct an interrogation of the souls.42 Such an interrogation aims to gain revelations from God, generally about human actions—clearly implicating the future. The interrogator must prepare himself with prayers, confession, fasting, and the celebration of Mass, which is why an experienced priest is the best person to perform the interrogation, preferably on feast days. Candles, holy water, 38

39 40 41 42

On Jacob of Paradies, see Dieter Mertens, Iacobus Carthusiensis. Untersuchungen zur Rezeption der Werke des Kartäusers Jakob von Paradies (1381–1465) (Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Rprecht, 1976); Christoph Fasbender, ed., Von der Wiederkehr der Seelen Verstorbener. Untersuchungen zu Überlieferung und Rezeption eines Erfolgstextes Jakobs von Paradies (Heidelberg: C. Winter, 2001). Jacob of Paradies, “De apparicionibus animarum separatarum,” in Von der Wiederkehr der Seelen Verstorbener, ed. Christoph Fasbender (Heidelberg: Winter, 2001), 36–53. Cf. ibid., 35. Ibid., 54–61. Ibid., 62–67.

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a wooden cross, and a censer are helpful utensils, but not essential. After praying to Christ, the interrogator addresses the conjured soul to enquire about its provenance and its need for prayers. Jacob does not mention any limitations on the scope of the information provided by the spirit, but the questions should avoid indecent and superstitious matters. There is no need to fear any harm as a result of the procedure, because usually only good souls appear and good people need not fear them. The interrogation of souls, according to Jacob, recalls the structure of the conjuring rituals found in the magical literature, as in the Liber Razielis. There exists no literary model for its self-evident embedment into an orthodox theological frame and religious practice, however, which demonstrates its ‘sitz im leben.’ Jacob’s text hints at the grey area of the cult of the dead, the devotion of poor souls, every-day piety and magical aids, as the true location for the medieval practice of consulting the dead about the future. Die pluemen der tugent (= The Flowers of Virtue) by the Tyrolian district magistrate Hans Vintler (d. 1419) points in the same direction. Hans Vintler wrote his extensive poem, based on an Italian model, in the form of didactics about virtue and vice.43 Large sections of the poem deal with everyday magic and divination practices, which he listed under the category of vice, including the following verses: There are many women, who go backward around the church and order the dead to rise, and they are taking the ring from the door into their hand and calling and speaking: ‘I touch this ring, raise up, you old bearded men!’44 The exact context of these verses remains a mystery, but Vintler’s text leads to cemeteries as border regions between the respective worlds of the living and the dead. Cemeteries were not only the location where the official liturgical rites of funerals and commemoration were held, but also the place for making contact, which formed part of an intimate religiosity. This also included 43

44

On Hans Vintler, see Helmut Birkhan, Magie im Mittelalter (Birkhan uses Vintler’s text as the major source for his book); Marco Heiles, “Late Medieval German Texts on Superstition.” Die Pluemen der Tugent des Hans Vintler, ed. Ignaz Zingerle (Innsbruck: Verlag der Wagner’schen Universitäts-Buchhandlung, 1874), 266 (v. 7925–7931): so sein etleich fraun, / die arsling umb die chirchen gen / und haissen die totten aufsten, / und nemen den ring von der tür / in die hant und rueffent her für / und sprechen: “ich rüer disen ring, / stet auf ir alten pärting”.

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multiple practices, with often blurred the boundaries between orthodox and unorthodox actions, like the interrogations described by Jacob of Paradies. Cemeteries were also the location for the interpretation of auspices, which were usually connected with predictions that the death of community members was approaching. ‘Church-seership’ is an example for such practices, which suggests that a visionary encounter with the dead on lichways and in churchyards portended an upcoming funeral.45 The wide field of such notions and interpretations should be mentioned here only briefly, because their recording, often in vague circumstances and in the post-medieval period, lies beyond the scope of this paper. The research on objects used to contact the dead often reveals similar problems. Several studies assume that certain practices were deeply-rooted in history, which can hardly be verified by the medieval accounts of them. Saint Lucy’s stools may be mentioned exemplarily, which function as a collective term for divinatory techniques in wide parts of Europe, grounded assumedly on a connection with the dead.46 The performer of this technique sits on a specially crafted stool or uses a symbolical object to uncover what is hidden. The wide majority of accounts of this technique originated during the late Early Modern Period and deal with the detection of witches. The connection with the dead appears to be limited to the eponymous date of St Lucy (the 13th of December), which marked, according to certain calendar systems, the period of the return of the dead. The spirits of the dead also play a prominent role in divinatory practices designed to locate hidden treasures, for which certain objects like dowsers are often used.47 The rich tradition related to this phenomenon dates consistently from post-medieval times. There may be a very good reason for the hints at far older traditions, but traces from the Middle Ages alone fail to 45

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Cf. Carl Mengis, “Geisterweg,”/“Geisterzug,” in Handwörterbuch des deutschen Aberglaubens 3 (Berlin: de Gruyter, 32000), col. 557–559. More concrete practices, like the church porch watch, are definitely post-medieval; cf., Samuel P. Menefee, “Dead Reckoning: The Church Porch Watch in British Society,” in The Seer in Celtic and Other Traditions, ed. Hilda Ellis Davidson (Edinburgh: John Donald, 1989), 80–99. Cf. Ingeborg Weber-Kellermann, „Der Luzienstuhl im deutschen und ungarischen Volksglauben,“ Hessische Blätter für Volkskunde 49/50 (1958): 295–316; Zoltán Kovács, “Das Erkennen der Hexen in der Westeuropäischen und der russischen Traditio,” in Acta Ethnographica 26 (1977): 241–284; Éva Pócs, Between the Living and the Dead. A Perspective on Witches and Seers in the Early Modern Age (Budapest: Central European University Press, 1999), 122–129. Cf. Johannes Dillinger, Auf Schatzsuche. Von Grabräubern, Geisterbeschwörern und anderen Jägern verborgener Reichtümer (Freiburg: Herder, 2011); Owen Davies, Popular Magic. Cunning-folk in English History (London: Continuum, 2003), 93–118; Yves-Marie Bercé, A la découverte des trésors cachés du xvie siècle à nos Jours (Paris: Perrin, 2004).

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explicate the connection with the dead. Recalling the list of ancient techniques at the beginning of this paper, the broad range of medieval divinatory methods, with the aid of reflecting objects, should be mentioned briefly. Mirrors, crystals, metal objects like swords, glasses or bowls filled with water, and even shining fingernails were used during such procedures. Children often function as a medium for observing the reflections in such objects. John of Salisbury (d. 1180) reported this divination technique in his Policraticus and even claimed to have experienced it personally: During my boyhood I was placed under the direction of a priest, to teach me psalms. As he practiced the art of crystal gazing, it chanced that he after preliminary magical rites made use of me and a boy somewhat older, as we sat at his feet, for his sacrilegious art, in order that what he was seeking by means of finger nails moistened with some sort of sacred oil or crism, or of the smooth polished surface of a basin, might be made manifest to him by information imparted by us. And so after pronouncing names which by the horror they inspired seemed to me, child though I was, to belong to demons, […] my companion asserted that he saw certain misty figures, but dimly, while I was so blind to all this that nothing appeared to me […].48 This passage from the Policraticus, however, serves in only a limited sense as proof of the life praxis of this divination technique, considering the conception of the work as intellectual entertainment for courtiers and full of literary innuendos.49 Contact with the dead is not explicitly mentioned in any case, and is also lacking in further medieval principal accounts, such as that by Johannes Hartlieb.50 48

49 50

Ioannis Saresberiensis episcopi Carnotensis policratici sive de nugis curialium et vestigiis philosophorum libri viii, vol. 1, ed. Clemens Webb (Oxford: Clarendon, 1909), 164: Dum enim puer, ut psalmos addiscerem, sacerdoti traditus essem, qui forte speculariam magicam exercebat, contigit ut me et paulo grandiusculum puerum, praemissis quibusdam maleficiis, pro pedibus suis sedentes ad speculariae sacrilegium applicaret, ut in unguibus sacro nescio oleo aut crismate delibutis uel in exterso et leuigato corpore peluis quod quarebat nostro manifestaretur indicio. Cum itaque praedictis nominibus, quae ipso horrore licet puerulus essem demonum videbantur, […] socius meus se nescio quas imagines tenuiter tamen et nubilosas uidere indicasset, ego quidem ad illud ita cecus extiti, ut nichil michi apparert […]. Translation: Frivolities of courtiers and footprints of philosophers: Policraticus, ed. Joseph Pike (Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1938), 164. On John of Salisbury, see The World of John of Salisbury, ed. Michael Wilks (Oxford: Blackwell, 1984). Johannes Hartlieb, Das půch aller verpoten kunst, 116–118, 148–156.

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Apparitions of the Dead and Journeys to the Otherworld

Bearing the Odyssey and Aeneid in mind, it is surprising that a kind of descent to the Underworld existed in a Christian context, too. According to the common belief during the Middle Ages, paradise, hell, and purgatory were concrete locations in earthly geography and many scholars attempted to establish their exact location.51 Some of these locations remain speculative, such as Aetna being the gate to hell or the rivers of India being the rivers of Eden as recorded in the bible, but purgatory was given a very concrete location in popular belief, which allowed at least a glimpse into the Other World: the cave of Saint Patrick on an island in Lough Derg, Ireland. After a report that the knight Owain had visited this place spread from the 12th century onward, the island became a popular pilgrimage site, attracting visitors from across Europe. During the late Middle Ages, this location, now known as St Patrick’s Purgatory, became a renowned destination for pilgrims seeking an even more challenging experience than travelling to Jerusalem, Rome or Santiago. Only one medieval aristocrat is known for completing his Grand Slam of all four pilgrimage sites, however.52 Today, the location of Station Island in Lough Derg, with its modern hostels, does not appear welcoming, but it still attracts pilgrims. As in medieval times, the pilgrims of today follow a parcours to several holy sites on the island.53 In addition to the chapels and main church, there are, for example, the so-called penitential beds, which are small, stone-walled circles, which are visited for prayer in front of crosses or statues of saints. The main medieval attraction, the cave of St Patrick, is closed today and only the bell tower marks its original location. Medieval pilgrims were shut in the cave for a day or even longer, and many of them reported afterwards experiencing visions of purgatory within the darkness of this narrow place.54 51 52

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Cf., for example, Folker Reichert, „Geographie und Weltbild am Hof Friedrichs ii.,“ in Deutsches Archiv für Erforschung des Mittelalters 51 (1995): 433–491, esp. 454–459. Cf. Katherine Walsh, “Pilger, denen Santiago nicht genügte. Spätmittelalterliche Bußfahrten zum Purgatorium Sancti Patricii,“ in Stadt und Pilger. Soziale Gemeinschaften und Heiligenkult, ed. Klaus Herbers (Tübingen: Günter Narr, 1999), 69–108; Folker Reichert, “Ehre durch Demut. Wallfahrten des Adels im späten Mittelalter,“ in Asien und Europa im Mittelalter. Studien zur Geschichte des Reisens, ed. id. (Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 2014), 143–160. On the pilgrimage procedures on Station Island both in medieval times and nowadays, see Victor Turner and Edith Turner, Image and Pilgrimage in Christian Culture. Anthropological Perspectives (New York: Columbia University Press, 1978), 104–139; Siegfried Meier, Das Wallfahrtswesen in Irland unter besonderer Berücksichtigung von ‘Lough Derg’ (Frankfurt: Peter Lang, 1992). For an overview of the medieval accounts and tales, see The Medieval Pilgrimage to

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The visionary visits to the otherworld starting from this cave often proceeded according to a similar pattern, according to the established literary conventions followed by the writers of the reports, who were usually not pilgrims themselves. According to this pattern, the mystical voyagers were received by saints who guided them to the locations of the hereafter. The visit was quite dangerous, because the demons of the underworld would attempt to drag the visionaries down into the fire. Thereby, the journey was, first of all, a test of the strength of the pilgrims’ belief, as evident from the high, slippery, narrow bridge that visitors had to cross, observed by demons. The visionaries could usually obtain merely fleeting glimpses of paradise and hell, because they were barred from approaching the entrance to them. Sightings of the torture happening in purgatory, however, were described in lurid detail. While in purgatory, visitors often encountered their deceased relatives and acquaintances, who reminded them to pray for the dead in order to shorten their period of penitence. Sometimes, these encounters with souls in purgatory were associated with the future. William of Stranton from Durham experienced such a prediction during his visit of the cave in Lough Derg in the early 15th century.55 At the end of his mystical voyage, William met an unspecified man, whom he identified as a bishop. William received the final explanation of his visions from this bishop, and furthermore a blessing and prediction about his salvation: Then the bishop said to me, “William pass thou home in the blessing of God and mine, and say as thou has heard and seen to them that his belongeth to. And live rightfully and thou shalt come to everlasting joy. And dread thee not of thy way as thou passest homeward, for thou shalt see no evil sprites [!] that shell dis-ease thee; thou shalt not fail of thy way.” And with that I took my leave. Anon i was at the door where I first went in.56 The Hungarian nobleman George Grissaphan even desired to be informed of his predicted lifespan during his visit to the cave in 1353.57 He received this

55

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St Patrick’s Purgatory: Lough Derg and the European Tradition, eds. Michael Haren and Yolande Pontfarcy (Enniskillen: Clogher Historical Society, 1988). On William of Stranton’s visit to Lough Derg, see Robert Easting, “The English Tradition,” in The Medieval Pilgrimage to St Patrick’s Purgatory: Lough Derg and the European Tradition, 67–82. Ibid., 78. Michael Haren, “Two Hungarian Pilgrims,” in The Medieval Pilgrimage to St Patrick’s Purgatory: Lough Derg and the European Tradition, 151.

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information from the archangel Michael himself rather than from an ordinary poor soul, however, so his account lies beyond the scope of this paper. It was unnecessary to visit Lough Derg to start a mythical voyage to paradise, hell, and purgatory or experience dreams and visions relating to these places during the Middle Ages. Abundant reports of visions reflect the prominence of the question regarding what happens to humans after death. The focus lay mainly on purgatory, where sinners were punished but still anticipated final salvation. Therefore, the clearly dominant aspect of all visions of the afterlife was the question of the fate of souls and details of the locations where they received their punishment, no matter whether the vision of the Other World was received at Lough Derg, while sleeping in the cloister or during an ecstatic trance-like experience anywhere.58 In the context of this paper, those visions are remarkable in which a visionary (male or female) communicates with the souls of the deceased.59 This kind of communication is often limited: the souls are simply bemoaning their fate, but sometimes explain to the visionaries their exact punishment and also ask the living to pray for them, so that the duration of their punishment in purgatory might be reduced. In some reports, the communication between the visionaries and the souls is mutual, and the dead could be questioned about the fate of certain persons in the afterlife. This mutual communication occurred not only in the locations of the afterlife during the mystical journey of the visionaries, but the dead could also visit the living in dreams or even appear to them while awake. The topics of conversation during those meetings between the living and the dead were not limited to aspects of punishments in purgatory; instead, both sides could offer solace and advice to each other. The dead have the advantage that they can provide information about the future, as the two following examples illustrate. The first example covers the usual topic of the fate of souls in the afterlife. It originates from the Vita et revelations (= Life and Revelations) of Agnes Blannbekin (d. 1315) who lived as Beguine in Vienna.60 She related her visions to her 58

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Cf. exemplarily Wendy L. Anderson, The Discernment of Spirits. Assessing Visions and Visionaries in the Late Middle Ages (Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2011); Peter Dinzelbacher, Vision und Visionsliteratur im Mittelalter (Stuttgart: Hiersemann, 22017); Andreas Bihrer, “Journeys to the Other World: Medieval Latin Tradition,” in Prognostication in the Medieval World, 821–827. Peter Dinzelbacher dedicated a whole chapter to visionaries’ communication with persons in the other world in his fundamental study about visions in the Middle Ages. He included only communication with Christ and the saints, however, which indicates that communication with poor souls is an usually neglected research topic. Cf. Peter Dinzelbacher, Vision und Visionsliteratur im Mittelalter, 269–296. On Agnes Blannbekin, see Peter Dinzelbacher, Deutsche und niederländische Mystik des Mittelalters. Ein Studienbuch (Berlin: de Gruyter, 2012), 107–110.

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confessor, who remained anonymous but wrote down Agnes’ reports. In the passage quoted below, she describes an apparition of a deceased fellow friar of the order, Siegfried, during a dream and the conversation he started. The dead person predicts the forthcoming death of another friar, Erlolf, but also that he should not fear any punishment in the afterlife. Then I asked about Friar Syfrido, who was a fellow minister of said Friar Erlolf, during the illness. He said: ‘He will follow me in a short time and he will pass without punishment, if he will recognize his sin which he committed against his servants through his impatience. However, he will not pass over to the great glory which I gained, because he did not work for such a long time in the service as I did.61 The second example is taken from the Revelations of the Dominican nun Margareta Ebner (d. 1351), who lived in a cloister near Dillingen at the Danube during the first half of the 14th century.62 We know about her revelations due to the letters she wrote to other mystics of her time, but mainly to her spiritual adviser Henry of Nördlingen. According to her revelations, Margareta often spoke not only with Jesus but also with poor souls in purgatory while in a trance-like condition and the poor souls often predicted future events. The quoted example is one such prediction, concerning a man who was predicted to make a successful journey to Italy and survive a certain event in the Bavarian town of Burgau: I had a great desire to pray for poor souls; and they consoled me about all things and revealed everything that I wished to know about myself and about the souls. […] God and the souls revealed to me how he felt with his works. […] And the souls said to me that the man fares well in Italy and, while he was in Burgau, I received this verse in a dream, shining in a light: All kings will honor him; all people will serve him.63 61

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Agnetis Blannbekin vita et revelationes, ed. Bernard Pez (Vienna: Peter Conrad Monath, 1731), 294: Tunc interrogavit de Frater Syfrido Coufario [sic!], qui fuerat collega dicti Fratris Erlolfi in infirmitate. Cui dixit: ipse in brevi me sequetur, et transibit absque poena, si tamen recognoverit culpam suam in hoc, quod per impatientiam molestavit suos servitores. Sed non perveniet ad tantam gloriam, ad quantam ego perveni, eo quod non tam diu laboravit in servitio, sicut ego. On Margareta Ebner, see Peter Dinzelbacher, Deutsche und niederländische Mystik des Mittelalters, 161–165. “Offenbarungen der Margareta Ebner,” in Margareta Ebner und Heinrich von Nördlingen: Ein Beitrag zur Geschichte der deutschen Mystik, ed. Philipp Strauch (Freiburg/Tübingen: Mohr, 1882), 5–6: Ich het grozz begird den selen ze beten; und die warn mir gar trostlichen in allen sachen und ofenten mir die ding diu ich gern west von mir selber und auch den selen.

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This prediction did not relate to an ordinary man, but Emperor Louis iv from the Wittelsbach-dynasty. It is a striking example, because the context of these prophesies around Louis iv seems to be no coincidence. Henry of Nördlingen was a strong supporter of Louis during his conflicts, especially with the pope. He asked Margareta about the emperor and the visionary constantly received prophesies about Louis from the dead after Henry mentioned him.64 The whole setting of these visions about the emperor implies a kind of instrumentalization of Margareta’s prophetic gift for the benefit of the supporters of the Wittelsbach dynasty. This important role of third parties in these visionary conversations with the dead was not limited to the example of Margareta Ebner. Visitors clearly pushed visionaries repeatedly to gain information especially about the fate of their deceased beloved in the afterlife. The biography of the blessed Liedwy of Schiedam (d. 1433), for instance, from the late 15th century, relates how the young, bedridden visionary complained about such harassment for information by some of her many visitors.65 The widow of the recently-deceased Earl William vi of Holland, for instance, wished Liedwy to inform her whether or not her husband had already attained eternal life in paradise. She received a very bold answer from the visionary, advising her to cease offending against God. Liedwy’s biographer added immediately after this episode, however, the affirmation that she usually provided information about the fate of the dead to their relatives.66 It seems, therefore, that some of the visionaries during medieval times were not only in dialogue with God and the poor souls but also functioned as a kind of medium for third parties. In addition to such visionary views of the deceased in the hereafter, the belief in direct communication by the dead with the living via a medium was popular in the Middle Ages, too.67 Accounts of such phenomena were usually

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[…] Von dem wart mir kunt getaun von got und von den selen, wie ez im ergaun sölt in sinen arbaiten. […] Und die sel seten mir, daz der mensch von Lamparten wohl kum, und in der zit, do er was vor Burgau do wart mir in sinem traume zuo gesprochen in ainem licht der vers ‘Adorabunt eum omnes reges, omnes gentes servient ei.’ Cf. also Erich Bauer, Die Armen Seelen- und Fegefeuervorstellungen der altdeutschen Mystik (Diss. Würzburg, 1960), 150–152. About Liedwy of Schiedam see Peter Dinzelbacher, Deutsche und niederländische Mystik des Mittelalters, 271–275. Thomas van Kempen, Het leven van de Heilige Maagd Liuina, trans. Rijcklof Hofman, in Een bovenaards vrouw. Zes eeuwen verering van Liuina van Schiedam, ed. Charles Caspers (Hilversum: Verloren, 2014), 143–144. For a general overview, see Ronald C. Finucane, Appearances of the Dead. A Cultural History of Ghosts (New York: Prometheus, 1984), 49–89.

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accompanied by deep skepticism on the part of the church authorities. The theologians assumed insinuations by the devil or simply fraud. The Dominican theologian and reformer Johannes Nider (d. 1438) recounts in his Formicarius one such alleged fraud in the city of Berne. The Formicarius is an extensive collection of exempla, which contrasts human deeds with the ideal community of an anthill. The recent research focusses mainly on the chapters in which Nider reports the early witch hunts in the Swiss Simmental.68 The Berne episode of the Formicarius describes an anonymous monk, through whom prominent deceased citizens of the commune of Berne were supposed to speak to the living at night.69 Johannes Nider is convinced that the monk simply grew rich at the expense of naïve Bernese, but must implicitly admit the popularity of the voices from the beyond among the citizenship: There was a fraticello in the city of Berne […] who got up at night in his house, and using stones and wood, he pretended that some spirit was present. Thus, to the admiration of many each night in that place he asserted (and many believed him) that either some divine revelation must be forthcoming, or a ghost was abroad, or an evil spirit. Not infrequently, he changed his voice and, in wailing accents like the ghost of some dead man who had been well known in the city, he gave responses to those who asked him questions, saying that he was the ghost of a certain recently deceased person, both those known to him and strangers, whose name he would give. He persuaded them that he would perform a pilgrimage to particular saint’s shrines on [the souls’] behalf […] and while journeying to these saint’s shrines for the above mentioned souls, he acquired […] not a little money.70

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Cf., exemplarily, Werner Tschacher, Der ‘Formicarius’ des Johannes Nider von 1437/38. Studien zu den Anfängen der europäischen Hexenverfolgungen im Spätmittelalter (Aachen: Shaker, 2000); Michael D. Bailey, Battling Demons. Witchcraft, Heresy and Reform in the Late Middle Ages (University Park: The Pennsylvania State University Press, 2003). On the episode in Berne, see Nancy Caciola, “Spirits seeking bodies: death, possession and communal memory in the Middle Ages,” in The Places of the Dead. Death and Remembrance in Late Medieval and Early Modern Europe, eds. Bruce Gordon and Peter Marshall (Cambridge: University Press, 2000): 66–86. Johannes Nider, Myrmecia bonorum sive Formicarius (Douai: Balthazar Bellerus; 1602), 181–182: Fuit in ciuitate Bernensi Fraticellus […] nocturno tempore surrexit, lapidibus et lignis spiritum aliquem adesse finxit, et ita in admirationem multorum noctibus locum posuit, pluribus autumantibus, quod reuelatio diuina expectanda esset aliqua, an anima foret, vel malignus spiritus. Nonnumquam enim mutate voce verbis gemebundis, tanquam anima esset alicuius defuncti in ciuitate bene noti response sciscitantibus dedit, asserendo se anima

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Outlook

The presentation of consulting the dead about the future in this paper is merely of a cursory nature and indicates many starting points for further research as well as more precise differentiations. The examples mentioned are mainly taken from the field of religio-magical practice, on the one side, and visionary literature, on the other. Both areas could certainly provide far more relevant findings. The text by Jacob of Paradies already implies a rich lore of every-day practices, which could only be touched upon lightly here. The examples from visionary texts revealed the importance of examining more closely the context of the communication between the living and the dead in such settings, especially the role of third parties in attempting to influence the scenario. Visions and magic clearly share much in common in the sense of transferring the knowledge of the dead to the living. The case of supposed possession in Berne demonstrated the attitude present in the tradition of accounts. It was first of all the point of view of the report, if a phenomenon was judged as fraud, demonic insinuation or blessed revelation. However, encounters between the living and dead with revelatory insights were not limited to the genera of magical rituals and visionary literature in medieval times. The exempla and legends also relate numerous experiences with the dead, which were interpreted in a prophetic way. According to such stories, the living could witness many nightly activities of the dead, from the celebration of mass by spirits to the wanderings of a wild horde, which regularly indicated forthcoming events. Bearing in mind this wide field of communication between the living and the dead, the only small snippet provided by the scholarly debate on necromancy became clear. The turning to the dead in every-day life proved to be less systematic but far more intimate than suggested in the learned treatises on necromancy. Scholars might have sought to define the essence of souls and supernatural beings, but the practice of consulting the dead opens up further meanings related to identifying spirits. Questions about the specific methods and ways of communicating could be extended by asking questions about coping with contingencies, individual and collective memory, and the social implications that defined the boundaries between the living and the dead.

cuiusdam nuper defunctae personae, quam Fraticellus ipse tam proprio, quam alieno expressit nomine. Nam peregrinationi ad destinata loca sanctorum pro ea se dare persuasit. […] interim peregrinando ad quaedam sanctorum limina, pecuniam non modicam a se destinantibus acquisiuit. Transl. Nancy Caciola, “Spirits seeking bodies,” 69.

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10 Alternative Losentscheidungsverfahren oder imitationes sortium in Byzanz Michael Grünbart

1

Einleitung

Menschliches Handeln basiert auf Entscheidungsprozessen, die auf unterschiedliche Weise durchgeführt werden können: Oftmals kann man auf Erfahrung bauen, Beratung konsultieren oder Routinen folgen, doch existieren Situationen, die ausweglos und nicht entscheidbar scheinen.1 Um den Prozess des Entscheidens nicht zu lange auszudehnen und ein ‚objektives‘ Ergebnis zu erlangen, setzte man seit der Antike auf externalisierte Formen des Entscheidens. Das klassische Format dieser Praxis war das Losen: Dabei bediente man sich Objekten (Steine, Scherben, Knochen etc.), mit deren Hilfe eindeutige, manchmal auf Mehrheiten basierende Ergebnisse erzielt wurden und die Entscheidungsprozesse zu einem klaren sowie akzeptierten Ende brachten. Die göttliche Sphäre miteinbeziehen stellt eine zusätzliche Option dar, um den Prozess akzeptabel, autoritativ und gültig erscheinen zu lassen.2 Der Einsatz des Loses formt einen fixen Bestandteil in der Kultur des Entscheidens auf allen Erdteilen bis in die Gegenwart. Der Einsatz des Loses oder losähnlicher Verfahren, die im Zentrum dieses Beitrags stehen sollen, machte aufgrund von gesellschaftlichen Veränderungen Entwicklungen bzw. Adaptionen durch. Gilt das Losen als das demokratische Mittel, welches die klassische Athener politische Versammlungs- und Entscheidungskultur auszeichnete,3 so verschwand dieses Form der Bestimmung und

1 Zur Beratung zuletzt Michael Grünbart, hrsg., Unterstützung bei herrscherlichem Entscheiden. Experten und ihr Wissen in transkultureller und komparativer Perspektive (Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 2020). 2 Schon für die römische Zeit vgl. Sarah Iles Johnston, „Lost in the Shuffle: Roman Sortition and Its Discontents,“ Archiv für Religionsgeschichte 5 (2003): 146–156 (Losen zwischen Zufall und göttlichem Eingriff). 3 Vgl. zuletzt Hubertus Buchstein, Demokratie und Lotterie. Das Los als politisches Entscheidungsinstrument von der Antike bis zur EU (Frankfurt am Main und New York: Campus, 2009); Yves Sintomer, Das demokratische Experiment. Geschichte des Losverfahrens in der Politik von

© Michael Grü nbart, 2022 | doi:10.1163

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Auswahl von Personal allmählich, wenngleich es bei Besetzungsverfahren in der christlichen Hierarchie (im Klerus) oder bei der Bestimmung des Dogen in Venedig eine übliche Praxis war. Verkörpert wird das Losen sowohl durch Lossteine als auch die Losmaschine. Das Athener Kleroterion produzierte gleichsam Entscheidungen, und es wurde bei der Besetzung von Funktionen in der demokratischen Organisation der Athener verwendet. Ein Echo dieser Form findet man auch später. Eine übliche Maschine des Bestimmens stellte die urnenförmige Vorrichtung dar, mit Hilfe derer die Startpositionen bei den Pferderennen im konstantinopolitanischen Hippodrom zugewiesen wurden.4 Im christlichen Kontext ist das Losen ebenso präsent: Jünger werden zugelost und die Soldaten teilen die Kleidung Jesu durch das Los auf.5 Die klassischen Losorakelstätten wurden im Laufe der spätrömischen Jahrhunderte geschlossen oder zerstört.6 Trotz der simpel und eindeutig scheinenden Anwendungsmöglichkeiten stellt das Losen dennoch einige Probleme dar: Losen gehört nicht zu den rational geleiteten Prozeduren. Die Ergebnisse sind nur an der Oberfläche zufällig, da es in den meisten Fällen eine Vor-Selektion und damit Einschränkung von Möglichkeiten gibt. So wählt man nur aus qualifizierten Wagenlenkern einen für die pole position aus (etwa 1 aus 4), so bestimmt man aus einer Anzahl von möglichen Kandidaten einen Patriarchen (meistens 3 auf einer „short-list“) etc.

Athen bis heute (Wiesbaden: Springer VS, 2016), allerdings fehlt zumeist ein Großteil der vormodernen Lospraktiken – zwischen der römischen Republik bis ins 11. Jahrhundert wird meist eine Lücke oder sogar ein Bruch konstatiert. Eine „Zusammenfassung“ der Hauptgedanken des Buches von Buchstein findet man in idem, „Zufallsentscheidungen historisch betrachtet. Eine (kleine) Geschichte des Einsatzes von Losverfahren für Regierungshandeln,“ in Zeitschrift für Führung und Organisation 88 (2019): 162–168; darin werden die Hauptprinzipien bzw. – vorteile des Verfahrens herausgearbeitet: 1. Dezisions-, 2. Egalitäts-, 3. Repräsentations-, 4. Effizienz- und 5. Produktionslegitimation. Der Aspekt der (notwendigen) Intentionalität wird nicht angesprochen, das Verfahren ist nicht beliebig und keine Lotterie. 4 Zuletzt dazu Michael Grünbart, „Losen als Verfahren des Entscheidens im griechischen Mittelalter,“ in Frühmittelalterliche Studien 52 (2018): 217–252, 227–231. 5 Act. 1, 23–26 bzw. Io 19, 23–24. Dazu Grünbart, „Losen“, 220–221. 6 Die Erinnerung daran blieb erhalten, verformte sich aber, siehe z.B. Enrico Magnelli, „Crooked oracles or naive inquirers ?: Theodore Prodromus, Rhodanthe and Dosicles 9, 184–240,“ in Stimmen der Götter: Orakel und ihre Rezeption von der Spätantike bis in die Frühe Neuzeit, hrsg. Lucia M. Tissi, Helmut Seng und Chiara O. Tommas (Heidelberg: Winter, 2019), 239–252. Bildliche Darstellungen von antiken Orakeln in Kurt Weitzmann, „Representations of Hellenic Oracles in Byzantine Manuscripts,“ in Mansel’ e Armağan (Ankara: Turk Tarih Kurumu Basimevi 1974), 397–410.

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Klar ist bei den Losverfahren, dass sie eine Intentionalität aufweisen, d.h. die Entscheider drängen auf ein Ergebnis in einer bestimmten Frage. Die Zeitlichkeit spielt beim Losen ebenfalls eine Rolle: Zum einen muss für den Vorgang eine bestimmte Zeitspanne berechnet werden – das Prozedere kann je nach Komplexität und beteiligten Personen unterschiedlich viel Zeit in Anspruch nehmen–, zum anderen ist das Verfahren ein rascher Ausweg bei einem lange andauerndem Ringen um Lösungen.7 Die Zukunft an sich nimmt einen geringeren Stellenwert ein.8 In der letzten Zeit standen die sortes biblicae im Vordergrund mehrerer Untersuchungen: Die Bibliomantik ist ein Zweig der prognostischen Techniken, bei der Schriftlichkeit und Zufälligkeit kombiniert werden. Dabei werden bekannte und anerkannte Leittexte als materielle Grundlage verwendet – hier kann man ebenso eine Vorauswahl konstatieren. Die lateinischen Sortes Vergilianae stehen in der Tradition der griechischen Buchorakel (Sortes Homericae): Der Text der vergilischen Aeneis wurde aufgerollt und der erste Vers, den das Auge erfasste, mit einem konkreten Anliegen in Beziehung gesetzt. Das Verfahren lebte in der christlichen Bibliomantik weiter:9 Anstelle von Vergil (oder Homer) wurden nun besonders Evangelien als Ressourcen der Befragung herangezogen.10 Es existieren Evangelien-Handschriften, welche eindeutige

7

8

9

10

Zum Losen in nachantiker Zeit: Wolfgang Eric Wagner, „Der ausgeloste Bischof. Zur Situation und Funktion des Losverfahrens bei der Besetzung hoher Kirchenämter im Mittelalter,“ in Historische Zeitschrift 305 (2017): 307–333; Barbara Stollberg-Rilinger, „Entscheidung durch das Los. Vom praktischen Umgang mit Unverfügbarkeit in der Frühen Neuzeit,“ in Die Verfassung des Politischen. Festschrift für Hans Vorländer, hrsg. André Brodocz, Dietrich Herrmann, Rainer Schmidt, Daniel Schulz und Julia Schulze Wessel (Berlin: Springer, 2014), 63–83. Franziska Naether, Die Sortes Astrampsychi. Problemlösungsstrategien durch Orakel im römischen Ägypten (Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2010), 313–322, dort auch ein Abschnitt zum Würfeln für die Götter und Würfeln für die Zukunft (319–322); vgl. Fritz Graf, „Rolling the Dice for an Answer,“ in Mantikê. Studies in Ancient Divination, hrsg. Sarah Iles Johnston und Peter T. Struck (Leiden: Brill, 2005), 51–97. Pieter Van der Horst, „‘sortes’. Sacred Books as Instant Oracles in Late Antiquity,“ in The Use of Sacred Books in the Ancient World, hrsg. Leonard Victor Rutgers, Pieter Willem Van der Horst, Henriette W. Havelaar und Lieve Teugels (Leuven: Peeters, 1998), 143–173. William E. Klingshirn, „Defining the Sortes Sanctorum. Gibbon, Du Cange, and Early Christian Lot Divination,“ in Journal of Early Christian Studies 10 (2002): 77–130; Naether, Die Sortes Astrampsychi, 330–332. AnneMarie Luijendijk und William E. Klingshirn, hrsg., My Lots are in Thy Hands: Sortilege and its Practitioners in Late Antiquity (Leiden und Boston: Brill, 2018), vgl. die Besprechung von Florin Filimon, The Byzantine Review, 1 (2019): 27–33 (https://doi.org/10.17879/byzrev​ ‑2019‑2578); Jeff Childers, Divining Gospels. Oracles of Interpretation in A Syriac Manuscript of John (Berlin und Boston: De Gruyter, 2020), s. die Rezension von Florin Filimon, The

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Hinweise auf diese Praxis durch Anleitungen und Annotationen geben.11 LosBücher waren bis in die frühe Neuzeit gefragte Ressourcen, um Auskünfte einzuholen.12 Ziel der folgenden Ausführungen ist es, den Begriff des Losentscheides ein wenig zu weiten und nach verwandten Methoden (einem binären Schema folgend) zu suchen. Wichtig sind dabei die Aspekte des zeitlichen und räumlichen Kontextes, des Settings, des Framings (Problembezogenheit),13 der Intentionalität des Verfahrens (Anlage zur Problemlösung) und der möglichen Miteinbeziehung der göttlichen Sphäre. Eine Versuchsanordnung mit Schweinen (6. Jh.), helfende Hände und ein sich hebender Vorhang (beide 11. Jh.) dienen dabei als Grundlage zur Analyse von Lösungsstrategien anstehender Probleme. Der Aspekt „Zukunft“ ist dabei sehr eng gefasst und an eine konkrete Entscheidungssituation (mit Urgenz) geknüpft.

2

König Theodahad und das Schweineorakel

Wenn man das Geschichtswerk des Prokopios von Kaisareia liest, dann wird man feststellen, dass der Autor an bestimmten Stellen Schilderungen von Zeichen und Erscheinungen einflicht, die in Zusammenhang mit Ereignissen gesetzt werden und gelegentlich auch praxeologische Konsequenzen entwickeln.14 Hier soll der Blick auf die Handlung eines Entscheiders gelenkt werden, die intentional und prognostisch angelegt ist.15

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12 13 14

Byzantine Review 3 (2021): 99–105, (https://doi.org/10.17879/byzrev‑2021‑3275). Zu lateinischen frühmittelalterlichen Traditionen siehe William E. Klingshirn, „Christian Divination in Late Roman Gaul: The Sortes Sangallenses,“ in Mantikê. Studies in Ancient Divination, hrsg. Sarah Iles Johnston und Peter T. Struck (Leiden: Brill, 2005), 99–128. Michael Zellmann-Rohrer, „‘Psalms Useful for Everything’: Byzantine and Post-Byzantine Manuals for the Amuletic Use of the Psalter,“ in Dumbarton Oaks Papers 72 (2019): 113–159; vgl. AnneMarie Luijendijk, Forbidden Oracles? The Gospel of the Lots of Mary (Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2014); Erich Renhart, Ein spätantikes Los-Buch. Die Handschrift 2058/2 der Universitätsbibliothek Graz – ein armenisches Palimpsest (Graz: Uni-Press, 2015); zuletzt Florin Filimon, „The Prediction Method by Means of the Holy Gospel and the Psalter: a Late Byzantine Case of a Reassigned Geomantic Text,“ in Savoirs prédictifs et techniques divinatoires de l’ Antiquité tardive à Byzance, hrsg. Paul Magdalino und Andrei Timotin, (Seyssel: La pomme d’ or, 2019), 235–301. Marco Heiles, Das Losbuch. Manuskriptologie einer Textsorte des 14. bis 16. Jahrhunderts, (Köln: Böhlau Verlag, 2018). Robert Entman, „Framing: Towards a Clarification of a Fractured Paradigm,“ in Journal of Communication 43 (1993): 51–58. Anders als die Perserkriege enthalten die Vandalen- und Gotenkriege beträchtlich mehr

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Unter Justinian i. (527–565) wurden Versuche unternommen, ehemals römische Reichsteile wieder unter kaiserliche Kontrolle zu bringen. Die Feldherren Belisarios und Narses erreichten dieses Ziel für eine kurze Zeitspanne. Gegner auf der Apenninenhalbinsel waren die Ostgoten unter dem König Theodahat (534–536), der Athalarich als Herrscher gefolgt war.16 Dieser war noch minderjährig unter der Regentschaft Amalasunthas verstorben. Theodahat empfing Boten in Rom, die um militärische Unterstützung für das durch den oströmischen Feldherren Belisar belagerte Neapel baten. Der ostgotische König wird bei Prokopios als ein wenig begabter Militär, ja sogar als unmännlich bzw. Feigling (φύσει ἄνανδρος) charakterisiert.17 Um Notlagen zu beenden oder einen Ausweg zu finden, soll Theodahat Umgang mit Experten gehabt haben, die Dinge voraussagen konnten (τῶν τι προλέγειν ἐπαγγελλομένων). Im konkreten Fall wußte der König nicht, wie er einen Lösungsweg finden sollte (τότε δὲ τοῖς παροῦσιν ἀπορούμενος) und befasste damit einen bekannten jüdischen Experten in Mantik (μαντεία), dessen Namen Prokopios jedoch nicht verrät.18 Er wollte wissen, wie der Konflikt mit den Römern ausginge (τῷ πολέμῳ πέρας ἔσται). Um eine Antwort zu finden, empfahl der Mantiker die folgende Methode anzuwenden bzw. eine Versuchsanordnung aufzubauen. Der König möge 30 Schweine in drei Zehnergruppen teilen, sie in Koben sperren und als

15

16 17 18

Schilderungen von Vorzeichen und Erscheinungen. Dem Phänomen wurde nur in geringem Ausmaß in der Forschung Beachtung geschenkt, man findet nur wenige Studien zu Prokopios und Prognostik, vgl. Juan Signes Codoñer, „Der Historiker und der Walfisch: Tiersymbolik und Millenarismus in der Kriegsgeschichte Prokops,“ in Zwischen Polis, Provinz und Peripherie. Beiträge zur byzantinischen Kulturgeschichte, hrsg. Lars Hoffmann und Anuscha Monchizadeh (Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz, 2005), 37–58. David Engels, „Der Hahn des Honorius und das Hündchen der Aemilia. Zum Fortleben heidnischer Vorzeichenmotivik bei Prokop,“ in Antike und Abendland 55 (2009): 118–129. Zu den sibyllinische Orakeltexten Tamás Kovács, „Procopius’s Sibyl – The Fall of Vitigis and the Ostrogoths,“ in Graeco–Latina Brunensia 24 (2019): 114–124, zu Traumgeschehen Ilias Anagnostakis, „Procopius’s Dream before the Campaign against Libya: a Reading of Wars 3.12.1–5,“ in Dreaming in Byzantium and Beyond, hrsg. Christina Angelidi und George Calofonos, (Aldershot: Ashgate 2014), 79–94. Hier sind nur Beispiele von männlichen Entscheidern versammelt; ein instrumentum decisionis bildete die Ikone des Christos Antiphonetes, welche Kaiserin Zoe um negative und positive Antworten bittet (die Ikone verfärbt sich, je nachdem). Zu dieser Geschichte Michael Psellos, Leben der byzantinischen Kaiser (975–1076). Chronographia, übers. Diether Roderich Reinsch (Berlin, München und Boston: De Gruyter, 2015), 381 (6.66). Massimiliano Vitiello, Theodahad. A Platonic King at the Collapse of Ostrogothic Italy (Toronto: Toronto University Press, 2014). Proc. Bella 5 (1),9.1. Proc. Bella 5(1),9.1–6. Übersetzung Vitiello, Theodahad, 153–154 diese Stelle, wobei eher über die Authentizität als über die Funktion des Verfahrens diskutiert wird.

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Goten, Römer (= die Einwohner Roms) sowie oströmische Soldaten markieren. Dann wartete man einige Tage, bis am entscheidenden Tag (κυρία [ἡμέρα]) beide, König und Experte, das Ergebnis inspizierten. Die Goten waren bis auf zwei Tiere alle tot, die kaiserlichen Soldaten hatten fast zur Gänze überlebt, während die „Römer“ ihre Borsten verloren hatten und die Hälfte von ihnen gestorben war. Der Ausgang dieses Versuches, der eine Entscheidung generieren sollte, erfüllte Theodahat mit Angst, da die Römer zur Hälfte umkommen und ihre Besitztümer verlieren, die Goten hingegen unterliegen und fast zur Gänze ausgelöscht würden; der Kaiser würde jedoch mit wenigen Verlusten die Oberhand gewinnen. Theodahat leitete daraus keine Notwendigkeit zu handeln ab, er hatte keinen Impetus (ὁρμή) gegen Belisar zu ziehen. Belisar besetzte in der Folge Rom, und Theodahad wollte sich Justinian unterordnen, worauf ihn die Goten absetzten; sein Nachfolger Witigis ließ ihn auf seiner Flucht aus der Ewigen Stadt nach Ravenna durch seinen Vertrauten Optaris töten.19 Einige Anmerkungen sind zu dieser Episode zu machen: Der Ostgotenkönig versuchte einen militärischen Konflikt zu vermeiden und befasste deswegen einen Experten, um eine Prognose zum weiteren Vorgehen erstellen zu lassen. Im Sinne der Entscheidungsforschung ist dies eine Externalisierung.20 Der Experte wurde benötigt, um die Methode zu arrangieren und das Ergebnis zu deuten. Dass dieser jüdischer Herkunft war, ist einerseits dadurch zu erklären, dass die jüdische Bevölkerung (vor allem in Neapel) den Goten gegenüber positiv eingestellt war, zum anderen Prognosetechniken im Judentum eine lange Tradition hatten.21 Das prognostische Spezialwissen war bei den Römern im 6. Jahrhundert zwar noch im Bewusstsein, doch hatten jahrhundertlange Repressionen seitens der Machthaber dieses massiv eingedämmt.22

19 20 21

22

Vitiello, Theodahad, 157–158. Ulrich Pfister, „Einleitung,“ in Kulturen des Entscheidens. Narrative – Praktiken – Ressourcen, hrsg. Ulrich Pfister (Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 2019), 17–18. Zur Gematrie siehe Avriel Bar-Levav, „Prognostication in Medieval Jewish Culture,“ in Prognostication in the Medieval World. A Handbook, hrsg. Matthias Heiduk, Klaus Herbers und Hans Christian Lehner (Berlin und Boston: De Gruyter, 2020), 175–188. Marie Theres Fögen, Die Enteignung der Wahrsager. Studien zum kaiserlichen Wissensmonopol in der Spätantike (Frankfurt am Main: Suhrkamp, 1993).

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Das Verfahren, in dem Tiere als Namensträger fungieren und über einen längeren Zeitraum zum Erstellen einer Prognose beobachtet werden, ist nicht belegt.23 Diese Form der Prognosetechnik kann mit einem Losverfahren verglichen werden: Das Ergebnis ist durch das Auszählen der lebenden und toten Tiere eindeutig. Es wird eine Dreierreihung vorgenommen. Zeit spielte eine Rolle bei diesem Verfahren: Man wartete einige Tage auf das Ergebnis, um an einem festgesetzten oder entscheidenden Tag das Resultat abzulesen. Theodahad akzeptierte gleichsam als weiser Herrscher – bei Prokop werden gelegentlich nicht-römische Anführer als solche bezeichnet24 – den Ausgang des „Experiments“ und zog aus dem Ergebnis die Konsequenz, nicht in den Krieg zu ziehen.

3

Helfende Hände

Um die Bandbreite von Formen und Strategien des Entscheidens vorzuführen, soll ein Blick ins 11. bzw. 12. Jahrhundert getan werden. Byzantinische Herrscher mussten sich häufig mit Umsturzversuchen und Usurpationen auseinandersetzen.25 Normalerweise wurden gescheiterte Usurpatoren zum Tode verurteilt (besonders in der Spätantike), später änderte man die Hinrichtung durch Körperverstümmelungen (üblicherweise Blendung).26 Anna Komnene beschreibt in ihrer Alexias nicht nur die „Aufführung“ einer Blendung,27 sondern auch die Möglichkeit, dieser Strafe zu entkommen. Michael Anemas trachtete danach, Kaiser Alexios i. (1081–1118) zu stürzen, doch wurde die Verschwörung aufgedeckt.28 Der gescheitere Umstürzler wurde verurteilt und zu seiner Bestrafung geschickt. Anna erlebte den Vorgang als Augen-

23

24 25 26

27 28

Bei Prokop ist eine Episode aufgezeichnet, in der sich samnitische Knaben mit einem Rollenspiel vergnügen: Sie stellen einen Kampf zwischen zwei Schafswiddern nach, wobei der eine Witigis, der andere Belisarios verkörpert (Proc. Bella 5.[1]20.1–4). Z.B. auch Attila, Proc. Bella 3.4, 30–35 (bei der Belagerung Aquileias und der verständigen Deutung eines Vogelzeichens). Überblick bei Jean-Claude Cheynet, Pouvoir et Contestations à Byzance (963–1210) (Paris: Publications de la Sorbonne, 1990). Judith Herrin, „Blinding in Byzantium,“ in Polypleuros nous. Miscellanea für Peter Schreiner zu seinem 60. Geburtstag, hrsg. Cordula Scholz und Georgios Makris (Berlin und New York: De Gruyter, 2000), 56–68. Anna Komnene, Alexias, 1.3.1–4; Anna Komnene, Alexias, übers. Diether R. Reinsch (Berlin, New York: De Gruyter, 2001), 30–32. Cheynet, Pouvoir, 100–101 (Nr. 130).

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zeugin mit.29 Eine Prozession begab sich vom Kaiserpalast bis zur Richtstätte, als sich die Kaiserin und Anna um die Begnadigung des Delinquenten, d.h. die Verschonung seines Augenlichts, bemühten. Folgender Prozess wurde dabei in Gang gesetzt (dieser ist nur bei Anna überliefert). Ein Mann wurde ausgeschickt, um die Wache, die Michael Anemas begleitete, zu stoppen. Der Bote holte den Zug zur Richtstätte ein, bevor er den Platz „Die Hände“ genannt erreicht hatte. Dieser Punkt markierte die Stelle, wo die Strafe unabwendbar war. Anna erläutert die Geschichte dieses Ortes: Auf kaiserliches Geheiß seien die Bronzehände auf einem Steinbogen angebracht worden; diese markierten gleichsam die Grenze zwischen Leben und Tod bzw. Bestrafung; wenn ein zum Tode Verurteilter diesseits wäre, dann würde ihn die Milde des Herrschers erreichen und er gleichsam gnädig ergriffen werden, falls er jenseits der Hände wäre, würde die Bestrafung exekutiert und die Hände (des Herrschers) würden ihn verstoßen. Anna führt dann einen kleinen Exkurs zum Schicksal (tyche) ein und meint sinngemäß, dass der positive oder negative Ausgang dieses Verfahrens durch Gottes Vorsehung bestimmt sei. Sie führt auch den ihren Einsatz und den ihrer Mutter für Michael auf göttlichen Einfluß zurück. Anna beschreibt hier einen Gegenstand, welcher wahrscheinlich im fünften Jahrhundert hergestellt worden ist. An einem silbernen Trockenmaß waren zwei bronzene Hände angebracht.30 Diese zeigten die Bestrafung bei der Verwendung falscher Maße an: Den Straffälligen wurden die Hände abgehackt. Das Mal stand am Forum Amastrianum, an dem Bestrafungen und Hinrichtungen vollzogen wurden.31 Anhand der Beschreibung zeigt sich, wie sich Funktion und Erinnerung über die Jahrhunderte veränderten bzw. verformten. Doch ist die Stelle abgesehen von realienkundlichem Interesse auch für die Geschichte des Entscheidens bedeutsam. Der oberste Entscheider auf (byzantinischen) Erden hatte die Bestrafung des Anemas festgesetzt. Doch konnte das abgeschlossene Verfahren durch die Externalisierung, in diesem Fall eine Delegation an die göttliche Macht, noch einmal geöffnet werden. Der

29 30

31

Anna Komnene, Alexias, 12.6.4–9; Übersetzung Alexias, übers. Reinsch, 419–420. Parastaseis syntomoi chronikai Preger s. 12 von Valentinianus iii. (525–455) aufgestellt, Raymond Janin, Constantinople byzantine: développement urbain et répertoire topographique (Paris: Institute Français d’ Études Byzantines, 21964), 66. Averil Cameron und Judith Herrin, Constantinople in the Eighth Century. The Parastaseis syntomoi chronikai. Introduction, translation and commentary (Leiden: Brill, 1984), 186– 189, 224–225; Albrecht Berger, Untersuchungen zu den Patria Konstantinupoleos (Bonn: Habelt, 1988), 342–346.

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Kaiser verliert durch die mögliche Revision keineswegs seine Autorität, da er seine Entscheidung nicht mehr ändert, sondern das „letzte Wort“ an Gott delegiert. Der nachgeschickte Bote, der als Verkünder der Rettung (angelos tes soterias, ἄγγελος τῆς σωτηρίας) tituliert wird, ist letztendlich ausschlaggebend, ob die Bestrafung durchgeführt wird oder nicht. Er läuft also um das Leben des Verurteilten. Das Element der Schnelligkeit und des richtigen (rechtzeitigen) Zeitpunktes (momentum oder besser kairos) rückt nun in den Prozess der Entscheidung über den positiven oder negativen Ausgang. Der Kaiser profitiert noch aus einem anderen Grund von diesem externalisierten Verfahren: Er kann damit seine Philanthropia und Milde visualisieren.

4

Die Befragung des Übernatürlichen i: Der Vorhang hebt sich

Anna Komnene bietet ein weiteres Beispiel herrscherlichen Agierens, welches Licht auf den Vorgang des Entscheidens in einer ausweglosen Situation wirft. In der konstantinopolitanischen Blachernenkirche fand freitags üblicherweise ein Wunder statt.32 Diese Kirche befand sich im Nordwesten des Stadtgebietes und barg Reliquien der Mutter Gottes, der Patronin von Konstantinopel.33 Insbesondere das maphorion, also der Schleier der Theotokos, wurde dort verwahrt. Dieses kostbare Stück wurde in Notzeiten sogar aus der Kirche geholt und als spiritueller Schild eingesetzt (z. B. angeblich schon gegen die Avaren im Jahre 626,34 Romanos I. Lakapenos35). Auch Alexios i. benutzte die kostbare Textilie zur Unterstützung gegen die Petschenegen als Banner (1087), doch musste er diese in einem Strauch verstecken, nachdem er im Kampf verwundet worden war.36 In der besagten Kirche der Mutter Gottes ereignete sich regelmäßig ein wundersamer Vorgang, welcher nicht nur bei Anna Komnene, sondern auch in anderen Quellen erwähnt wird (Ioannes Skylitzes, Michael Psellos, Anony-

32

33 34 35 36

Wolfgang Müller-Wiener, Bildlexikon zur Topographie Istanbuls: Byzantion, Konstantinupolis, Istanbul bis zum Beginn des 17. Jahrhunderts (Tübingen: Wasmuth, 1977), bes. 223– 224; Janin, Constantinople byzantine, 123–128. John Wortley, „The Marian Relics at Constantinople,“ in Greek, Roman and Byzantine Studies 45 (2005): 171–187, bes. 177–180. Wortley, „The Marian Relics“, 183. Wortley, „The Marian Relics“, 185. Alexias 7.3.9 und 7.3.12 – vgl. Wortley, „The Marian Relics“, 186 meint, dass es sich vielleicht nur um einen Teil der Reliquie gehandelt haben könnte. Von einer Rückholung wird nirgends etwas berichtet.

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mous Tarragonensis).37 Am eindrücklichsten berichtet der Gelehrte und Kaiserberater Michael Psellos in einer Rede, in der ein juristischer Fall dargelegt wird, über dieses Ereignis (wahrscheinlich 1070er Jahre).38 Jeden Freitag versammelte sich eine Menschenmenge vor dem geschlossenen Tor der Kirche und wartete auf Einlass; im Inneren des Gotteshauses praktizierten währenddessen die Geistlichen ein liturgisches Ritual. Die Gläubigen durften dann eintreten und sahen, wie sich ein vorhangartiges Tuch, das an der Ikone der Mutter Gottes angebracht war, hob,39 „wie wenn ein Luftzug ihn sanft bewegte“.40 Gleichzeitig schien sich das Antlitz der dargestellten Heiligen zu verändern, es wirkte belebt und beseelt (Z. 138 ἔμψυχον ἐπιδημίαν).41 Bezüglich des Zeitpunktes des Wunders (καιρὸς τοῦ θαύματος, Z. 147) merkt Psellos an, dass es (das Heben des vorgehängten Tuches) manchmal – anders als dies bei vorausberechenbaren Sonnen- und Mondfinsternissen der Fall sei – nicht eintrete.42 Damit möchte er Skeptikern entgegentreten, die eine „naturwissenschaftliche“ Analyse des Phänomens anstrebten, und den göttlichen Willen hinter dem Schauspiel betonen. Aus dem Parisinus lat. 2628 gewinnt man die zusätzliche Angabe, dass der Vorhang sich von Freitag abends bis zur neunten Stunde am Samstag in der Höhe hielt. In der Rede des Psellos wird das Marienwunder im Kontext eines Streitfalles um eine Wassermühle erwähnt. Zwei Parteien beanspruchten deren

37 38

39

40 41

42

Krinije N. Ciggaar, „Une description de Constantinople dans le « Tarragonensis » 55,“ in Revue des Études Byzantines 53 (1995): 117–140. Michael Psellus, Orationes hagiographicae, hrsg. Elizabeth A. Fisher (Stuttgart und Leipzig: Teubner 1994), 200–229 (or. 4: „De miraculo in Blachernais patrato,”); dazu Elizabeth Fisher, Michael Psellos on the ‘Usual’ Miracle at Blachernae, the Law, and Neoplatonism,“ in Byzantine Religious Culture: Studies in Honor of Alice–Mary Talbot, hrsg. Dennis Sullivan, Elizabeth Fisher und Stratis Papaioannou (Leiden: E.J. Brill, 2011), 187–204 (mit Verweisen auf ältere Literatur). Ikonen wurden in Byzanz oftmals verhängt, siehe dazu ausführlich Valerie Nunn, „The Encheirion as Adjunct to the Icon in the Middle Byzantine Period,“ in Byzantine and Modern Greek Studies 10 (1986): 73–102; vgl. AnneMarie Weyl Carr, „Threads of Authority: The Virgin Mary’s Veil in the Middle Ages,“ in Robes and Honor. The Medieval World of Investiture, hrsg. Stewart Gordon (London: Palgrave, 2001), 59–93. Michael Psellus, Or. hag., 4, Z. 133–134: ὥσπερ τινὸς αὐτὸν ὑποκινήσαντος πνεύματος, Charles Barber, „Movement and Miracle in Michael Psellos’s Account of the Miracle at the Blachernae,“ in Envisioning Experience in Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages: Dynamic Patterns in Texts and Images, hrsg. Giselle de Nie und Thomas F.X. Noble (Aldershot: Ashgate Publishing, 2012), 9–22. Michael Psellus, Or. hag., 4, 149–152: αὐτὸς ἑνὸς ἐγγὺς τῶν ἐκλειπτικῶν συνδέσμων ἔχῃ τὴν ἐποχὴν καὶ τò τῆς σελήνης αὐτὸν ὑποδράμῃ σῶμα καὶ τὰς πεμπομένας ἐκεῖθεν πρὸς ἡμᾶς ἐπίσχῃ μαρμαρυγάς.

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Besitz: Der aristokratische General Leon Mandalos und eine Mönchsgemeinschaft, der das Kloster tu Kalliu in Konstantinopel gehörte. Der Konflikt dauerte lange an und man konnte keine richterliche Entscheidung herbeiführen. Die beiden Parteien stimmten nun zu, den Fall einem speziellen Richter vorzulegen, was im Zivilrecht erlaubt war.43 Die Mutter Gottes möge nun endgültig darüber befinden und entscheiden. Zu diesem Zwecke setzte man auf ein offenbar bewährtes Verfahren. Man begab sich in der Abenddämmerung zur Blachernenkirche – wichtig ist, dass es dabei nicht der Freitag war44 – und brachte alle Dokumente mit.45 Vor der wundertätigen Ikone bezogen die Parteien Stellung und kamen überein, dass Maria die Entscheidung fällen solle.46 Wenn sich der Vorhang nicht bewegte, wären die Mönche die gewinnende Partei, wenn er sich bewegte, dann bekäme der General recht. Anzumerken ist, dass die Mönche ihr Vorwissen um die geringere Wahrscheinlichkeit des Eintretens des Wunders ausnutzten. Man wartete und wartete, nichts geschah – Michael Psellos vermutet sogar eine mögliche Manipulation.47 Die Mönche frohlockten schon, dass ihnen die Mühle zufalle; als der General im Begriffe war, ihnen die Dokumente auszuhändigen und seine Niederlage fairerweise einzugestehen, da hob sich mit einem Mal der Vorhang. Der General war nun der Sieger (trotz weiterer Proteste der Geistlichen). Psellos meint abschließend, dass dieses Verfahren eine Lösung bei verfahrenen juristischen Auseinandersetzungen sein könne (Z. 348ff.).48 Das ausweglos scheinende Verfahren wurde also glücklich beendet, indem die göttliche Instanz miteinbezogen wurde, die ein klares Ergebnis anzeigen solle. Die Streitparteien begaben sich unter Konsens in einen als heilig definierten Raum, in dessen Rahmen sie die endgültige und bindende Entscheidung zu finden bereit waren. Da das „Wunder“ regelmäßig stattfand, konnte dieses

43 44 45 46

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Michael Psellus, Or. hag., 4, Z. 210–213: καὶ συγκροτοῦσιν ἑαυτοῖς αἱρετὸν δικαστήριον, ἐκ νόμων μὲν πολιτικῶν δεξάμενον τὴν ἀρχήν, οὐ πολιτικῶς δὲ τούτοις συμπεραινόμενον. Fisher, „Michael Psellos on the ‘Usual’ Miracle,“ 191. Ich danke Florin Filimon für einen ausführlichen Austausch bezüglich dieser Stelle. Die Mutter Gottes als Richterin ist ein häufiges Thema in der byzantinischen Dichtung und Ikonographie, vgl. Herbert Hunger, Schreiben und Lesen in Byzanz. Die byzantinische Buchkultur (München: C.H. Beck, 1989), 14–16 mit einigen Belegen. Michael Psellus, Or. hag., 4, Z. 221–224: τολμῶσι δέ τι καὶ παρὰ τὸν καιρὸν τῆς θεοσημίας, καὶ τὸ δρώμενον ἐπιμερίζονται (οὐκ οἶδα εἴτε δικαίως εἴτε ἐπιβόλως τοῖς μοναχοῖς), ἐπιμερίζονται δ’ οὖν οὕτως· Das ist nichts Neues, s. Franziska Naether, „Sortilege between Divine Ordeals and ‘Secular’ Justice. Aspects of Jurisdiction in (Ritual) Texts from Ptolemaic and Roman Egypt,“ in My Lots are in Thy Hands, hrsg. AnneMarie Luijendijk und William E. Klingshirn (Leiden und Boston: Brill, 2019), 232–247.

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als „Entscheidungsgenerator“ eingesetzt werden. Die Aussagen Psellos’ sind bedeutsam, da er einer der besten Kenner von Verwaltungs- und Gerichtsprozessen in seiner Zeit war. Dieser Fall zeigt, dass die Marienikone bei Entscheidungsprozessen eine bedeutsame Funktion übernehmen konnte. Und so nimmt es nicht wunder, dass dies auch der Kaiser konsultierte, wenn er sich in ausweglos scheinenden Situationen befand. Kaiser Alexios i. hatte eine militärische Aktion gegen den Normannen Bohemund gestartet (1. November 1107) und lagerte in Geranion, eines imperialen Rast- und Lagerplatzes westlich der Hauptstadt Konstantinopel.49 Doch dürfte der Kaiser verunsichert gewesen sein ob seiner Entscheidung – die Ikone der Mutter Gottes hatte nicht das übliche Wunder gezeigt50 – und er kehrte nach vier Tagen zurück in die Hauptstadt, um die Blachernenkirche zu besuchen.51 Sie betraten heimlich (λεληθότως) die Kirche nur in Begleitung einiger Vertrauter und die liturgische Handlung begann. Dieses Mal funktionierte das Wunder im Sinne des Kaisers: Das Antlitz der Mutter Gottes wurde sichtbar.52 Daraufhin kehrte der Kaiser in guter Stimmung in das Heerlager zurück (μετὰ χρηστῶν τῶν ἐλπίδων). Wiederum wird hier die Ikone als ein entscheidungsunterstützendes Werkzeug verwendet. Der Entscheider weiß, dass das Zeichen (relativ sicher) zu erwarten ist. Die Frage bleibt, warum der Kaiser die Konsultation heimlich durchführte? Wollte er seine Unsicherheit verbergen? Fürchtete er Gerüchte

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Anna Komnene, Alexias 13.1–3. Zum Ort Andreas Külzer, Ostthrakien (Eurōpē), (Wien: Verlag der österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, 2008), 383, Dominik Heher, Mobiles Kaisertum. das Zelt als Ort der Herrschaft und Repräsentation in Byzanz (10.–12. Jahrhundert) (Berlin: lit-Verlag, 2020), 35–36. Siehe oben Michael Psellos, der diese „Abweichung“ einräumt und damit das göttliche Einwirken unterstreicht. Die zeitlichen Angaben machen ein wenig Kopfzerbrechen, da nicht klar ist, was die „vier Tage“ bedeuten. Der 1. November war ein Freitag. Bei Anna steht, dass sich der Kaiser vier Tage in Geranion aufhielt, dann gegen Sonnenaufgang in die Stadt Konstantinopel zurückkehrte und sich mit seiner Gemahlin in die Blachernenkirche begab. Musste es ein Freitag sein, um das Blachernenwunder zu erleben? Oder vertraute man auf das göttliche Wirken auch an einem anderen Tag (wie bei Psellos, siehe Fußnote 45)? Ist der Terminus λεληθότως entscheidend? An einem Freitag wäre eine größere Menge an Gläubigen präsent gewesen, heimlich die Kirche zu betreten wäre möglich gewesen, doch darauffolgende Handlung wäre nicht unentdeckt geblieben. Vgl. Michael Grünbart, „Göttlicher Wink und Stimme von oben. Ressourcen des Entscheidens am byzantinischen Kaiserhof,“ in Religion und Entscheiden: Historische und kulturwissenschaftliche Perspektiven, hrsg. Wolfram Drews, Ulrich Pfister und Martina WagnerEgelhaaf (Würzburg: Ergon, 2018), 293–313.

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um seine Entscheidensprobleme in der Öffentlichkeit, die seine Autorität beschädigen konnten? Der Kaiser war ja schon ins Feld gezogen und war sich des Risikos eines negativen Bescheides (von oben, d.h. der Mutter Gottes) bewusst. Die Wahl des Ortes stellt sich als ideal dar, da in einem sakral definierten Ambiente und vor einer qualifizierten Öffentlichkeit das Verfahren ohne Zweifel und gültig durchgeführt wird. Der Kaiser kehrte hochmotiviert zu seinen Truppen zurück, das Wunderzeichen hatte also einen positiven Effekt und entfaltete eine gute psychologische Wirkung.

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Die Befragung des Übernatürlichen ii: Entscheiden als eine Inszenierung

Auch das letzte exemplum stammt aus dem militärischen Kontext und zeigt enge Verwandtschaft zur Kleromantie.53 Sogenannte Ticketorakel existierten seit der Antike: Dabei wurde eine Frage aufgeschrieben und an eine Gottheit gerichtet, welche sich dazu äußerte.54 Oft wurden der Frage auch gleich eine positive und negative Antwort beigegeben; diese Anlage zeigt, das eine der beiden Möglichkeiten ausgewählt wurde (von einem Experten oder später einem Priester, welcher die gezogene Nachricht liest). Als Beschreibstoff konnten Metalltäfelchen, aber auch Zettel aus Papyrus, Pergament oder einem anderen Material verwendet werden. Das Verfahren lässt sich glücklicherweise archäologisch nachweisen: Ein Papyrusfund belegt diese Praxis eindrucksvoll.55

53

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Michael Grünbart, „Entscheiden und Militär in Byzanz,“ in Militärisches Entscheiden. Voraussetzungen, Prozesse und Repräsentation einer sozialen Praxis von der Antike bis zur Gegenwart, hrsg. Martin Clauss und Christoph Nübel (Frankfurt am Main: Campus, 2020), 261–281. Vgl. zuletzt Jessica Piccinini, „Beyond Prophecy, The Oracular Tablets of Dodona as Memories of Consultation,“ in Incidenza dell’Antico 11 (2013): 63–76; Robert Parker, „The Lot Oracle at Dodona,“ in Zeitschrift für Papyrologie und Epigraphik 194 (2015), 111–114 und Angelos Chaniotis, „Mit den Göttern reden. Die Orakel-Täfelchen von Dodona,“ in Jahrbuch der Heidelberger Akademie der Wissenschaften (2017): 23–34; Chaniotis weist darauf hin, dass die Fragen zumeist mit ja oder nein zu beantworten waren (durch Anwendung eines Losverfahrens) und dass die Fragen nicht die Zukunft, sondern unmittelbaren Handlungsbedarf betreffen. Systematisch untersuchte Naether, Die Sortes Astrampsychi, die praxeologische Komponente des Orakelwesens (zu Dodona bes. 47–49). Herbert C. Youtie, „Questions to a Christian Oracle,“ in Zeitschrift für Papyrologie und Epigraphik 18 (1975): 253–257 (es geht darum, ob der Fragende ein Bankgeschäft machen soll oder nicht).

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Diese Methode lebte auch in späteren Jahrhunderten weiter, wie eine Episode aus dem militärischen Wirken von Alexios i. zeigt.56 Der Kaiser war sich unsicher und wollte nicht auf seine eigenen Überlegungen vertrauen, ob er gegen die Kumanen in den Krieg ziehen solle oder nicht. Er delegierte die Entscheidung der Angelegenheit an Gott, um zu einem Ergebnis zu kommen. Folgender Weg wurde dabei gewählt: Kleriker und Soldaten wurden in die Hagia Sophia von Konstantinopel zu einer abendlichen Liturgie beordert. Der Kaiser und der Patriarch Nikolaos nahmen daran teil. Der Kaiser schrieb auf zwei Zetteln die Frage, ob er losschlagen solle oder nicht. Die Schriftträger wurden versiegelt und der Patriarch legte sie auf den Altar. Nach einer Nachtwache mit Hymnengesängen begab sich der Patriarch wieder zum Altar, zog einen Zettel, öffnete ihn vor allen Anwesenden und las ihn vor. Der Kaiser akzeptierte die Entscheidung (für die militärische Expedition) wie von einem göttlichen Orakel (ὥσπερ ἐκ θείας ὀμφῆς)57, setzte sich voll dafür ein und berief Truppen von überall her ein. Hier wird die seit alters her bekannte Methode angewandt, wobei die Selbstverständlichkeit ihrer Anwendung bemerkenswert ist.58 In einem als heilig definierten Raum stellte sich der Kaiser unter den Schutz der Gottheit und mutete sich ein “öffentliches” Entscheidungsverfahren zu. Das kollektive Erleben des Entscheidungsprozesses wird durch liturgische Handlungen untermalt (das gemeinsame Beten und Singen sind als zusätzlicher Kontrollmechanismus zu verstehen). Dem Patriarchen kommt das Los des Ziehens zu. Die Verlesung der Antwort coram publico bestärkt die Gültigkeit – die Akzeptanz seitens des Herrschers untermauert seine Autorität. Wichtig ist hierbei auch, dass man sich gemeinschaftlich unterstützend dem Entscheidungsprozess unterwarf; auch die anwesenden Militärs sind beteiligt und vermögen den Start der Aktion motiviert auszuführen. Anders als bei der Konsultation des Blachernenwunders durch Alexios i. ist das Risiko dieses inszenierten Verfahrend hier gering: Der Kaiser war noch nicht ins Feld gezogen, sondern knüpfte seine Entscheidung an den Ausgang des Ticketorakels.

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Anna Komn, Alexias 10.2.5; vgl. Michael Grünbart, „Nutzbringende Ressourcen bei kaiserlichem Entscheiden in Byzanz,“ in Kulturen des Entscheidens. Narrative – Praktiken – Ressourcen, hrsg. Ulrich Pfister, Kulturen des Entscheidens 1 (Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 2019), 269–286. Der Terminus ὀμφή ist seit alters her mit der Stimme bzw. Eingebung von oben verbunden. Alexios i. gründete seine Entscheidung ein zweites Mal auf dieses Verfahren (bei Philomelion in Kleinasien, s. Anna Komn., Alexias 15.4.4).

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Schluss

Was haben all die oben angeführten Beispiele mit dem Losen zu tun? Kann man von losähnlichen Verfahren sprechen? Um die Entscheidung eindeutig zu machen, sollen abschließend die Hauptpunkte zusammengeführt werden: 1. All den hier vorgestellten praktizierten Verfahren ist ihre Intentionalität nicht abzusprechen. Alle Entscheider befanden sich in einer ausweglosen Situation, in der es eines letzten entscheidenden Schrittes bedurfte, um die eine oder die andere Option auszuwählen (oder besser auswählen zu lassen) und diese dann wahrzunehmen. Bei den vorgestellten Fällen handelt es sich überwiegend um militärische Entscheidungen.59 2. Die Verfahren sind problemlösungsorientiert und bieten Handlungsanweisungen; sie erlauben in einem Fall zudem einen Spielraum zur Revision einer Entscheidung („Hände“). Wenn man es abstrakter formuliert, dann wurde der letzte Schritt des Entscheidungsprozesses auf zwei Möglichkeiten eingeengt, nachdem andere Optionen vorher ausgeschieden worden waren. Es geht also um ja oder nein, Sein oder Nicht-Sein, Sieg oder Niederlage. Gerade diese binäre Anlage von Lösungswegen wurde in der letzten Zeit auch für die antiken Orakelstätten diskutiert. 3. Das Ergebnis war in allen Fällen eindeutig und konnte nicht angefochten werden, da man sich auf die Spielregeln geeinigt hatte (das Heben oder Nichtheben des Ikonenvorganges bietet kaum Möglichkeiten der Anfechtung, außer man glaubt an eine Manipulation des Verfahrens). Die Schriftlichkeit des Befragungs-Prozesses untermauert die Gültigkeit. 4. Bei Losverfahren spielt die Zeitlichkeit insofern eine Rolle, als ein Ergebnis zeitnah und rasch erwünscht ist. Die Verfahren sind unmittelbar handlungsbezogen und weniger auf eine (unbestimmte) Zukunft gerichtet. 5. Die Rahmung des Verfahrens gilt es ebenso zu beachten: Es fällt auf, dass ein kontrollierbarer und bemessener Raum als Ort des Entscheidungsprozesses gewählt wird: Der Schweinestall, der Kirchenraum und die Wegstrecke zwischen zwei Lokalitäten in Konstantinopel. Anders als beim Schweineorakel (6. Jahrhundert) wird in den späteren Fällen das Göttliche mit ins Spiel gebracht, bei den Ticketorakeln ist dies geradezu eine sine qua non, ebenso beim Blachernenwunder. 6. Die Materialität und Sichtbarmachung des Entscheidungsprozesses stellen weitere Elemente der Authentifizierung bzw. Autorisierung dar. Theodahad

59

Michael Grünbart, „Entscheiden und Militär in Byzanz.“ Es bleibt zu untersuchen, ob diese Häufung zufälliger Natur ist.

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benötigte für seine Entscheidungsfindung eine (geschlossene) Versuchsanordnung, die dann geöffnet und interpretiert wurde. Fragen wurden auf Zettel niedergeschrieben und versiegelt, die Materie bewegte sich und verfärbte sich. Entscheidungsprozesse boten zudem das Potential zur Inszenierung: Der Delinquent, dem noch eine allerletzte Chance gegeben wurde, durfte auf das rechtzeitige Eintreffen des durch die Straßen Konstantinopels laufenden Boten hoffen. Die niedergelegten Zettel erlaubten die Ziehung und die effektvolle Präsentation. 7. Als letzter Punkt ist anzuführen, dass der Entscheider in seiner Not den Entscheidungsprozess (an Experten) auslagern oder (an das Göttliche) delegieren kann. Durch diese Externalisierung gewinnt er einerseits Zeit, andererseits wälzt er Entscheidensverantwortung ab bzw. stellt er sich unter den göttlichen Willen und kann daraus (entscheidendes) Kapital für seine Selbstdarstellung schlagen. Diese Externalisierung hängt mit einer Risikobereitschaft des Entscheiders zusammen: In welchen Situationen ist er bereit, diesen Schritt zu gehen? Bei zu häufigem Einsatz mag dies seine Autorität untergraben. Auf den Punkt gebracht: Die klare Beendigung eines Entscheidungsprozesses ist alternativlos; die angeführten Fälle mit ihren binären Mustern und Lösungsansätzen tragen eindeutig zur Geschichte des Losens und Entscheidens bei.

Acknowledgements Die hier dargelegten Überlegungen entstanden während meines Aufenthaltes am ikgf „Faith, Freedom and and Prognostication. Strategies for Coping with the Future in East Asia and Europe” Erlangen im Winter 2020/2021. Ich danke Klaus Herbers für die Möglichkeit, abermals in Erlangen forschen zu können, sowie Hans Christian Lehner, dem Mitorganisator der Tagung, für mannigfaltige Unterstützung. Dieser Beitrag ist ein „Nebenprodukt“ zu meiner Beschäftigung mit „Vorzeichen und Politik am byzantinischen Kaiserhof“. Während des virtual workshop „The Multidimensioanl Character of Lots/Sortition – A Transcultural and Diachronic Approach“ (Münster, 11. Mai 2021) konnten einige Punkte vertiefend erörtert werden.

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Bilbliographie Literaturverzeichnis Anna Komnene. Alexias, herausgegeben von Diether R. Reinsch und Athanasios Kambylis. Berlin und New York: De Gruyter, 2001. Michael Psellus. Orationes hagiographicae, herausgegeben von Elizabeth A. Fisher. Stuttgart und Leipzig: Teubner, 1994. Michael Psellos. Leben der byzantinischen Kaiser (975–1076). Chronographia, übersetzt von Diether Roderich Reinsch. Berlin, München und Boston: De Gruyter, 2015.

Sekundärliteratur Anagnostakis, Ilias. „Procopius’s Dream before the Campaign against Libya: a Reading of Wars 3.12.1–5.“ In Dreaming in Byzantium and Beyond, herausgegeben von Christina Angelidi und George Calofonos, 79–94. Aldershot: Ashgate Publishing, 2014. Bar-Levav, Avriel. „Prognostication in Medieval Jewish Culture.“ In Prognostication in the Medieval World. A Handbook, herausgegeben von Matthias Heiduk, Klaus Herbers und Hans Christian Lehner, 175–188. Berlin und Boston: De Gruyter, 2020. Barber, Charles. „Movement and Miracle in Michael Psellos’s Account of the Miracle at the Blachernae.“ In Envisioning Experience in Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages: Dynamic Patterns in Texts and Images, herausgegeben von Giselle de Nie und Thomas F.X. Noble, 9–22. Aldershot: Ashgate Publishing, 2012. Berger, Albrecht. Untersuchungen zu den Patria Konstantinupoleos. Bonn: Habelt, 1988. Buchstein, Hubertus. Demokratie und Lotterie. Das Los als politisches Entscheidungsinstrument von der Antike bis zur EU. Frankfurt am Main und New York: Campus, 2009. Buchstein, Hubertus. „Zufallsentscheidungen historisch betrachtet. Eine (kleine) Geschichte des Einsatzes von Losverfahren für Regierungshandeln.“ In Zeitschrift für Führung und Organisation 88 (2019): 162–168. Cameron, Averil und Judith Herrin. Constantinople in the Eighth Century. The Parastaseis syntomoi chronikai. Introduction, translation and commentary. Leiden: Brill, 1984. Chaniotis, Angelos. „Mit den Göttern reden. Die Orakel-Täfelchen von Dodona.“ In Jahrbuch der Heidelberger Akademie der Wissenschaften (2017): 23–34. Cheynet, Jean-Claude. Pouvoir et Contestations à Byzance (963–1210). Paris: Publications de la Sorbonne, 1990. Childers, Jeff. Divining Gospels. Oracles of Interpretation in A Syriac Manuscript of John. Berlin und Boston: De Gruyter, 2020. Ciggaar, Krinjie N. „Une description de Constantinople dans le « Tarragonensis » 55.“ In Revue des Études Byzantines 53 (1995): 117–140. Engels, David. „Der Hahn des Honorius und das Hündchen der Aemilia. Zum Fortleben heidnischer Vorzeichenmotivik bei Prokop.“ In Antike und Abendland 55 (2009): 118– 129.

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Entman, Robert. „Framing: Towards a Clarification of a Fractured Paradigm.“ In Journal of Communication 43 (1993): 51–58. Filimon, Florin. „The Prediction Method by Means of the Holy Gospel and the Psalter: a Late Byzantine Case of a Reassigned Geomantic Text.“ In Savoirs prédictifs et techniques divinatoires de l’Antiquité tardive à Byzance, herausgegeben von Paul Magdalino und Andrei Timotin, 235–301. Seyssel: La pomme d’or, 2019. Fisher, Elisabeth. „Michael Psellos on the ‘Usual’ Miracle at Blachernae, the Law, and Neoplatonism.“ In Byzantine Religious Culture: Studies in Honor of Alice-Mary Talbot, herausgegeben von Dennis Sullivan, Elizabeth Fisher und Stratis Papaioannou, 187–204. Leiden: E.J. Brill, 2011. Fögen, Marie Theres. Die Enteignung der Wahrsager. Studien zum kaiserlichen Wissensmonopol in der Spätantike. Frankfurt am Main: Suhrkamp, 1993. Graf, Fritz. „Rolling the Dice for an Answer.“ In Mantikê. Studies in Ancient Divination, herausgegeben von Sarah Iles Johnston und Peter T. Struck, 51–97. Leiden: Brill, 2005. Grünbart, Michael. „Losen als Verfahren des Entscheidens im griechischen Mittelalter.“ In Frühmittelalterliche Studien 52 (2018): 217–252. Grünbart, Michael. „Nutzbringende Ressourcen bei kaiserlichem Entscheiden in Byzanz.“ In Kulturen des Entscheidens. Narrative – Praktiken – Ressourcen, herausgegeben von Ulrich Pfister, Kulturen des Entscheidens 1, 269–286. Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 2018. Grünbart, Michael. „Göttlicher Wink und Stimme von oben. Ressourcen des Entscheidens am byzantinischen Kaiserhof.“ In Religion und Entscheiden: Historische und kulturwissenschaftliche Perspektiven, herausgegeben von Wolfram Drews, Ulrich Pfister und Martina Wagner-Egelhaaf, 293–313. Würzburg: Ergon, 2018. Grünbart, Michael. „Entscheiden und Militär in Byzanz.“ In Militärisches Entscheiden. Voraussetzungen, Prozesse und Repräsentation einer sozialen Praxis von der Antike bis zur Gegenwart, herausgegeben von Martin Clauss und Christoph Nübel, 261–281. Frankfurt am Main: Campus, 2020. Grünbart, Michael, hrsg. Unterstützung bei herrscherlichem Entscheiden. Experten und ihr Wissen in transkultureller und komparativer Perspektive. Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 2020. Heher, Dominik. Mobiles Kaisertum. das Zelt als Ort der Herrschaft und Repräsentation in Byzanz (10.–12. Jahrhundert). Berlin: lit-Verlag, 2020. Heiles, Marco. Das Losbuch. Manuskriptologie einer Textsorte des 14. bis 16. Jahrhunderts. Köln: Böhlau-Verlag, 2018. Herrin, Judith. „Blinding in Byzantium.“ In Polypleuos nous. Miscellanea für Peter Schreiner zu seinem 60. Geburtstag, herausgegeben von Cordula Scholz und Georgios Makris, 56–68. Berlin und New York: De Gruyter, 2000. Hunger, Herbert. Schreiben und Lesen in Byzanz. Die byzantinische Buchkultur. München: C.H. Beck, 1989.

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Janin, Raymond. Constantinople byzantine: Développement urbain et répertoire topographique. Paris: Institute Français d’Études Byzantines, 21964. Johnston, Sarah Iles. „Lost in the Shuffle: Roman Sortition and Its Discontents.“ In Archiv für Religionsgeschichte 5 (2003): 146–156. Klingshirn, William E. „Defining the Sortes Sanctorum. Gibbon, Du Cange, and Early Christian Lot Divination.“ In Journal of Early Christian Studies 10 (2002): 77–130. Klingshirn, William E. „Christian Divination in Late Roman Gaul: The Sortes Sangallenses.“ In Mantikê. Studies in Ancient Divination, herausgegeben von Sarah Iles Johnston und Peter T. Struck, 99–128. Leiden: Brill, 2005. Kovács, Tamás. „Procopius’s Sibyl – The Fall of Vitigis and the Ostrogoths.“ In GraecoLatina Brunensia 24 (2019): 114–124. Luijendijk, AnneMarie. Forbidden Oracles? The Gospel of the Lots of Mary. Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2014. Luijendijk, AnneMarie und William E. Klingshirn, hrsg. My Lots are Thy Hands: Sortilege and its Practitioners in Late Antiquity. Leiden und Boston: Brill, 2018. Magnelli, Enrico. „Crooked oracles or naive inquirers ?: Theodore Prodromus, Rhodanthe and Dosicles 9, 184–240.“ In Stimmen der Götter: Orakel und ihre Rezeption von der Spätantike bis in die Frühe Neuzeit, herausgegeben von Lucia M. Tissi, Helmut Seng und Chiara O. Tommas, 239–252. Heidelberg: Winter, 2019. Müller-Wiener, Wolfgang. Bildlexikon zur Topographie Istanbuls: Byzantion, Konstantinupolis, Istanbul bis zum Beginn des 17. Jahrhunderts. Tübingen: Wasmuth, 1977. Naether, Franziska. Die Sortes Astrampsychi: Problemlösungsstrategien durch Orakel im römischen Ägypten. Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2010. Naether, Franziska. „Sortilege between Divine Ordeals and ‘Secular’ Justice. Aspects of Jurisdiction in (Ritual) Texts from Ptolemaic and Roman Egypt.“ In My Lots are in Thy Hands, herausgegeben von AnneMarie Luijendijk und William E. Klingshirn, 232–247. Leiden und Boston: Brill, 2019. Parker, Robert. „The Lot Oracle at Dodona.“ In Zeitschrift für Papyrologie und Epigraphik 194 (2015): 111–114. Pfister, Ulrich. „Einleitung.“ In Kulturen des Entscheidens. Narrative – Praktiken – Ressourcen, herausgegeben von Ulrich Pfister, 11–23. Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 2019. Piccinini, Jessica. „Beyond Prophecy, The Oracular Tablets of Dodona as Memories of Consultation.“ In Incidenza dell’Antico 11 (2013): 63–76. Piepenbrink, Karen. „Losverfahren, Demokratie und politische Egalität: Das Losprinzip im klassischen Athen und seine Rezeption im aktuellen Demokratiediskurs.“ In Antike und Altertum 59 (2013): 17–31. Renhart, Erich. Ein spätantikes Los-Buch. Die Handschrift 2058/2 der Universitätsbibliothek Graz – ein armenisches Palimpsest. Graz: Uni-Press, 2015. Signes Codoñer, Juan. „Der Historiker und der Walfisch: Tiersymbolik und Millenar-

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11 Al-Ashraf ˁUmar’s Tabṣira: Chapter xxxiv. Rainbows, Shooting Stars, and Haloes as Signs of the Future Petra G. Schmidl

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Rainbows, Shooting Stars, and Haloes as Signs of the Future

In chapter xxxiv of his Kitāb al-Tabṣira fī ˁilm al-nujūm (“Book of Enlightenment in the science of the stars”), al-Ashraf ˁUmar (d. 1296), who was destined to become the third of the Rasūlid sultans and ruler over the Yemen, introduces three prognostic practices. The first relates to the use of seeing a rainbow, the second (shooting) stars,1 and the third lunar and solar haloes, not only to forecast weather, but also to predict future events of a more general scope. Since the Tabṣira defies, hitherto, a clear assignment to a scholarly genre of pre-modern astronomy or astrology, such as the zījes, astronomical-astrological handbooks with tables, or the mudkhal texts, introductions to astrology,2 the question arises where in the pre-modern Arabic sources similar prognostic practices can be found and what these examples may reveal about the premodern scholarly astronomical and astrological traditions in Islamicate societies. Leaving aside those texts that aim to explain these celestial and atmospheric phenomena, not only do the Arabic sources address them either as one-off occurrences and related to a specific event, but also organize these signs according either to their date, place, or appearance in hierarchic, instructive,

1 See “2. Chapter xxxiv of al-Ashraf ˁUmar’s Tabṣira” with n. 47. 2 For the zījes Edward S. Kennedy, A Survey of Islamic Astronomical Tables, Transactions of the American Philosophical Society, New Series 46:2 (Philadelphia: The American Philosophical Society, 1956, reprint ca. 1989); David A. King and Julio Samsó, “Astronomical Handbooks and Tables from the Islamic World (750–1900): An Interim Report,” in Suhayl 2 (2001): 9–105; Margaret Gaida, “Zījes,” in Prognostication in the Medieval World: A Handbook, vol. 2, eds. Matthias Heiduk, Klaus Herbers, and Hans-Christian Lehner (Berlin: de Gruyter, 2021); for the mudkhal texts Charles Burnett, “Astrology,” in The Encyclopaedia of Islam, Three (EI3) (Leiden: Brill, 2007-to date); Margaret Gaida, “Introductions to Astrology,” in Prognostication in the Medieval World: A Handbook, vol. 2, eds. Matthias Heiduk, Klaus Herbers, and Hans-Christian Lehner (Berlin: de Gruyter, 2021); also see n. 26.

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procedural, and iterative texts as in the Tabṣira’s chapter xxxiv.3 In the latter case, the simplest manifestation usually gives the sign in the protasis, while the prognostication follows in the apodosis, and then runs through all possibilities; e.g., the twelve months of the year.4 Such prognostic texts call to mind, according not only to their contents but also by their form, to texts preserved from Ancient Mesopotamia dealing with celestial omens, as found most prominently in the Enūma Anu Enlil (“When Anu [and] Enlil”),5 a series of more than 70 tablets organized during the seventh century b.c., but dating back further, to the second millennium, with precursors that may be traced in the third.6 With regard to chapter xxxiv of the Tabṣira, of particular interest are Tablets 8–10, concentrating on prognostications by lunar,7 and Tablets 23 (24)-29 (30) by solar haloes,8 while Tablets 36–49 3 The term “procedure text” is commonly applied to a group of Ancient Mesopotamian sources, e.g., Jim Ritter, “Babylon -1800,” in Elemente einer Geschichte der Wissenschaften, ed. Michel Serres (Frankfurt am Main: Suhrkamp, 2nd ed. 2002), 38–71, here 61; also see Mathieu Ossendrijver, Babylonian Mathematical Astronomy: Procedure Texts, Sources and Studies in the History of Mathematics and Physical Sciences (New York: Springer, 2012), 16 with appendix A. 4 Again, for the Ancient Mesopotamian sources, it is shown that not only mantic texts, but also mathematical, medical, and legal texts follow a similar structure; e.g., Ritter, Babylon—1800, 52–61; Jim Ritter, “Reading Strassbourg 369: a thrice-told tale,” in History of Science, History of Text, ed. Karine Chemla (Berlin, Göttingen, Heidelberg: Springer, 2004), 177–200, here 187–193. 5 Also see Kristine Chalyan-Daffner, “ ‘Natural’ Disasters in the Arabic Astro-meteorological Malḥama Handbooks,” in Historical Disaster Experiences: Towards a Comparative and Transcultural History of Disasters Across Asia and Europe, ed. Gerrit J. Schenk, Transcultural Research—Heidelberg Studies on Asia and Europe in a Global Context (Cham: Springer International Publishing, 2017), 207–223, here 116–117. 6 For a concise introduction to the Enūma Anu Enlil and a summary of its contents, see Hermann Hunger and David Pingree, Astral Sciences in Mesopotamia, Handbuch der Orientalistik, Erste Abteilung: Der Nahe und Mittlere Osten 44 (Leiden, Boston, and Cologne: Brill, 1999), 12–14; also see Erlend Gehlken, ed., Weather omens of Enūma Anu Enlil: Thunderstorms, Wind and Rain (Tablets 44–49), Cuneiform Monographs 43 (Leiden: Brill, 2012), http://​ site.ebrary.com/lib/uniregensburg/Doc?id=10590529 (last accessed 2021-05-29), 1–6; David Pingree, “Legacies in Astronomy and Celestial Omens,” in The legacy of Mesopotamia, ed. Stephanie Dalley (Oxford: University Press, 1998), 125–137, here 125. 7 Lorenzo Verderame, “The halo of the Moon,” in Divination in the Ancient Near East. A Workshop on Divination Conducted During the 54th Rencontre assyriologique internationale, Würzburg, 2008, ed. Jeanette Fincke (Winona Lake, Indiana: Eisenbrauns, 2014), 94–95; also see Hunger & Pingree, Astral Sciences, 14; Mathieu Ossendrijver, “Weather Prediction in Babylonia,” in Journal of Ancient Near Eastern History (EPub ahead of print), no. 0 (2021), doi.org/10.1515/janeh-2020-0009, 1–36, here 26 with n. 70; for examples, also see Reginald Campbell Thompson, The Reports of the Magicians and Astrologers of Nineveh and Babylon in the British Museum: The Original Texts, Printed in cuneiform Characters, 2 vols., Luzac’s Semitic Text and Translation Series 6 & 7 (London: Luzac and Co., 1900), no. 90–117. 8 Wilfred Hugo van Soldt, Solar omens of Enuma Anu Enlil. Tablets 23 (24)—29 (30), Uitgaven

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include mainly atmospheric signs.9 Here, haloes of the moon re-appear, though only second in line and in combination with other phenomena,10 while Tablet 47 includes, besides others, prognostications only by means of rainbows.11 Traces of omen texts from Ancient Mesopotamia have been found in the Ancient Greek, Egyptian, Indian, and Chinese worlds.12 Their similarities to prognostic texts preserved in later pre-modern sources are striking; e.g., to the brontologia of the medieval eastern and western Christian world,13 but also to the malḥama genre associated with Daniel,14 and preserved in Aramaic,

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van het Nederlands Historisch-archaeologisch Instituut te Istanbul 73 (Leiden: Nederlands Instituut voor het Nabije Oosten, 1995); also Ossendrijver, “Weather Prediction,” 27 with n. 71; for examples, also Thompson, Reports, no. 173 or no. 179. Gehlken, Weather Omens, 4; cf. also Hunger & Pingree, Astral Sciences, 18: “The boundary between Sun omens and weather omens cannot be drawn exactly in the present state of our knowledge. After the omens from solar eclipses, the sequence and contents of Enūma Anu Enlil are particularly fragmentary and uncertain.” E.g., on combining lunar haloes and thunder, see Gehlken, Weather Omens, 106–107. Gehlken, Weather Omens, 139–148. Pingree, “Legacies,” 131–133; also see Carl Bezold and Franz Boll, “Reflexe astrologischer Keilinschriften bei griechischen Schriftstellern,” in Sitzungsberichte der Heidelberger Akademie der Wissenschaften, Philosophisch-historische Klasse 7 (Heidelberg: Winter, 1911), in particular part v; Gehlken, Weather Omens, 3; Chalyan-Daffner, “Natural Disasters in Malḥama Handbooks,” 218–219; also see Kristine Chalyan-Daffner, Natural Disasters in Mamlūk Egypt (1250—1517): Perceptions, Interpretations and Human Responses (Dissertation Heidelberg: Ruperto Carola Heidelberg University / Cluster of Excellence Asia and Europe in a Global Context, 2013), http://archiv.ub.uni‑heidelberg.de/volltextserver/id/​ eprint/17711 (last accessed 2021-05-29), in particular 136–143. E.g., for the Greek sources shortly Jean Lempire, “Calendrical Calculations: Traditions and Practices in the Medieval Eastern Christian World,” in Prognostication in the Medieval World: A Handbook, vol. 1, eds. Matthias Heiduk, Klaus Herbers, and Hans-Christian Lehner (Berlin: de Gruyter, 2021), 626–627; Michael Grünbart, “The Importance of Thunder: Brontologia in the Medieval Eastern Christian World,” in Prognostication in the Medieval World: A Handbook, vol. 2., eds. Matthias Heiduk, Klaus Herbers, and Hans-Christian Lehner (Berlin: de Gruyter, 2021), 811; for the Latin sources Hilbert Chiu and David Juste, “The De tonitruis Attributed to Bede: An Early Medieval Treatise on Divination by Thunder Translated from Irish,” in Traditio 68 (2013): 97–124, doi.org/10.1017/S036215290000163X; Bram van den Berg, Early Medieval Brontologies: Thunder Prognostication in Medieval Thought, From the Ninth to the Eleventh Century (Master thesis Universiteit Utrecht: Utrecht 2020); László Sándor Chardonnens, Anglo-Saxon prognostics, 900–1100: Study and texts, Brill's Studies in Intellectual History 153 (Leiden, Boston: Brill 2007), 247–69. For Daniel and its identification see Tottoli, Daniel in ei3; also see Petra G. Schmidl, “Introductory Surveys: Medieval Traditions of Prognostication in the Islamic World,” in Prognostication in the Medieval World: A Handbook, vol. 1, eds. Matthias Heiduk, Klaus Herbers, and Hans-Christian Lehner (Berlin: de Gruyter, 2021), 202; see further “3. Rainbows, shooting stars, and haloes in malḥama texts.”

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Hebrew, Syriac, Arabic, Persian, and Greek sources.15 Other examples with similar contents include: the Mandaic Sfar Malwašia (“Book of the Zodiac”), probably originating during Sassanid times (3rd–7th c.) and preserved only in late manuscripts (19th–20th c.),16 whose Ancient Mesopotamian origins were recently investigated in more detail;17 and the Syriac treatise called the “Book of Medicines,” allegedly copied in the 12th century,18 although also preserved only in late manuscripts,19 whose similarities with the Ancient Mesopotamian

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Lorenzo diTommaso, The Book of Daniel and the Apocryphal Daniel literature, Studia in veteris testamenti pseudepighraphia 20 (Leiden, Boston: Brill, 2005), 472–482; also see Pingree, “Legacies,” 133–134; Lucia Raggetti, “Thunders, Haloes, and Earthquakes: What Daniel Brought from Babylon into Arabic Divination,” in Mesopotamian Medicine and Magic: Studies in Honor of Markham J. Geller, eds. Strahil V. Panayotov and Luděk Vacín, Ancient Magic and Divination 14 (Boston: Brill, 2018), 422, n. 4 states that “Tawfiq Fahd […] suggested a Babylonian origin for this part of Arabic divination,” apparantly interpreting his statement: “Un tel art devait être connu des anciens Sémites chez qui le culte astral jouissait d’ une grande faveur et les divinités planétaires et fulgurantes, c’est-à-dire Sîn (la Lune), Šamaš (le Soleil), lštar (planètes et étoiles) et Hadad (l’atmosphère), dominaient leurs divers panthéons.” (Toufic Fahd, La divination arabe [Leiden: Brill, 1966], 407); cf. also Guiseppe Furlani, “Di una raccolta di trattati astrologici in lingua siriaca” in Rivista degli Studi 7 (1918): 885–889, here 8; Guiseppe Furlani, “Eine Sammlung astrologischer Abhandlungen in arabischer Sprache,” in Zeitschrift für Assyrologie 33 (1921): 157–164, here 164: “Es gibt noch eine lateinische, eine italienische und eine altenglische Rezension dieser ohne Zweifel aus Babylonien hervorgegangenen, der Weltliteratur angehörigen, astrologischen Schrift. Die Kataloge […] führen noch einige andere dem Propheten Daniel zugeschriebene astrologische Werke an[…].; for Daniel and the malḥama genre, see “3. Rainbows, shooting stars, and haloes in malḥama texts.” Francesca Rochberg, “Chapter Eleven: The Babylonian Origins of the Mandaean Book of the Zodiac” in In the Path of the Moon: Babylonian Celestial Divination and its Legacy, ed. Francesca Rochberg, Studies in Ancient Magic and Divination 6 (Leiden: Brill, 2010), 223– 235, here, 223; Ethel S. Drower, The Book of the Zodiac: Sfar Malwašia (London: Royal Asiatic Society, 1949), 1–2. Rochberg, Babylonian Origins; also see Pingree, “Legacies,” 131; cf. Drower, Book of the Zodiac, 2: “In some passages, references to the ‘King of kings’ and mention of certain placenames indicate a Sasanian epoch, and much of the folklore and magic is a heritage from Babylon.” Ernest A. Wallis Budge, Syrian Anatomy, Pathology, and Therapeutics or ‘The Book of Medicines’: The Syriac text, edited from a rare manuscript, with an English translation etc., 2 vols. (London et al.: Humphrey Milford Oxford University Press, 1913), vol. 1, xl. Stefanie Rudolf, Syrische Astrologie und das Syrische Medizinbuch, Science, Technology, and Medicine in Ancient Cultures 7 (Berlin, Boston: de Gruyter 2018), doi.org/10.1515/97831 10565737, 116–125; also see Siam Bhayro and Stefanie Rudolf, “Budge’s Syriac Book of Medicines after One Hundred Years: Problems and Prospects,” in Mesopotamian Medicine and Magic: Studies in Honor of Markham J. Geller, eds. Strahil V. Panayotov and Luděk Vacín, Ancient Magic and Divination 14 (Boston: Brill, 2018), 124–126.

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sources is also discussed.20 All of these examples share much commonality with the omen texts.21 The same holds true for chapter xxxiv of the Tabṣira.22

2

Chapter xxxiv of al-Ashraf ˁUmar’s Tabṣira

Written in 13th century Yemen by al-Ashraf ˁUmar and preserved in two manuscripts, the Tabṣira covers a variety of topics.23 Chapters i–xiii deal with astrological basics, albeit with variations,24 commonly included in the introductory literature to astrology, whose basis forms the Tetrabiblos by Ptolemy (2nd c.), which was translated into Arabic for the first time during the 8th

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Carl Brockelmann, “Syrian Anatomy, Pathology and Therapeutics or ‘The Book of Medicines’. The Syriac Text, Vol. 1: Introduction, Syriac Text. Vol. ii: English Translation and Index by Ernest A. Wallis Budge,” in Zeitschrift der Deutschen Morgenländischen Gesellschaft 68, no. 1 (1914): 185–203, 200; also see Rudolf, Syrische Astrologie, 112; Bhayro & Rudolf, Budge’s Syriac Book of Medicine, 122. Drower, Book of the Zodiac, in particular 127–128, 139–140, 143–146, 163–165, 177–178 and 180–183 with prognostications by means of haloes, shooting stars, and rainbows; also see Rochberg, Babylonian Origins, 231–232; Rudolf, Syrische Astrologie, 202–203 and 285–287 and Budge, Book of Medicines, vol. 1, 441–443 and 550–553, vol. 2, 520–522 and 652–655 with prognostications by means of shooting stars, the latter followed by one paragraph probably referring to the lunar halo. See “2. Chapter xxxiv of al-Ashraf ˁUmar’s Tabṣira.” For the author and his oeuvre, see the material provided on tabsira.hypotheses.org (last accessed 2021-04-19); also see Schmidl, Ashraf in Thomas, Hockey et al., eds., Biographical Encyclopedia of Astronomers (bea) (New York: Springer, 2007); David A. King, Mathematical Astronomy in Medieval Yemen. A Biobibliographical Survey, American Research Center in Egypt (may) (Malibu: Udena Publications, 1983), 27–29; Daniel Martin Varisco, Medieval Agriculture and Islamic Science: The Almanac of a Yemeni Sultan. (Seattle and London: University of Washington Press, 1994), 12–18; Petra G. Schmidl, Rulers as Authors in 13th Century Yemen: al Ashraf ˁUmar’s Oeuvre, to appear in the proceedings of the conference “Rulers as Authors: Knowledge, Authority and Legitimacy” held at Hamburg, Centre for the Study of Manuscript Cultures (csmc) in December 2017 and organized by Sonja Brentjes, Maribel Fierro, and Tilman Seidensticker; for the contents, also see Petra G. Schmidl, “al-Ashraf ˁUmar’s Tabṣira: The Table of Contents: Supporting Sovereign Decision-making in 13th century Yemen?” in Unterstützung bei herrscherlichem Entscheiden: Experten und ihr Wissen in transkultureller und komparativer Perspektive, ed. Michael Grünbart, Kulturen des Entscheidens 5 (Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 2020), Arabic text and English translation accessible on f-origin.hypotheses.org/wp-content/blogs.dir/8360/files /2020/05/Tabsira-3b-6a-Table-of-Contents-2004.pdf (last accessed 2021-04-19). E.g., Petra G. Schmidl, “al-Ashraf ˁUmar’s Tabṣira: Chapter vii,” f-origin.hypotheses.org/wp -content/blogs.dir/8360/files/2020/06/Tabsira-15b-16b-Kap.-VII-2005.pdf (last accessed 2021-04-19).

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century.25 To this scholarly genre belong the Mudkhal al-kabīr ilā ˁilm aḥkām al-nujūm (“The great introduction to astrology”) by Abū Maˁshar (787–886) and his Mukhtaṣar al-Mudkhal (“The abbreviation of the Introduction [to astrology]”), the Kitāb al-Mudkhal ilā ṣināˁat aḥkām al-nujūm (“Book on the introduction to the craft of astrology”) by al-Qabīṣī (fl. 2nd h. of 10th c.), the Kitāb al-Tafhīm li-awāˀil fī ṣināˁat al-tanjīm (“The book of instruction in the elements of the art of astrology”) by Abū Rayḥān al-Bīrūnī (b. 973) or the Mujmal aluṣūl fī aḥkām al-nujūm (“The compendium of the principles of astrology”) by Kūshyār b. Labbān (fl. 1000).26 The Tabṣira, however, does not constitute such a treatise, or only partially, as other chapters present different information,27

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26

27

Emanuele Rovati, “Ptolemy, Kitāb Arbaˁ maqālāt fī l-aḥkām (tr. al-Biṭrīq/ˁUmar ibn alFarrukhān).” (update: 03.11.2020), Ptolemaeus Arabus et Latinus: Works, ptolemaeus.badw .de/work/265 (last accessed 2021-05-19); José Bellver, “Ptolemy, al-Maqālāt al-arbaˁ (tr. Ibrāhīm ibn al-Ṣalt/Ḥunayn ibn Isḥāq)” (update: 10.12.2020), Ptolemaeus Arabus et Latinus: Works, ptolemaeus.badw.de/wo rk/192 (last accessed 2021-05-19); also see Manfred Ullmann, Die Natur- und Geheimwissenschaften im Islam, Handbuch der Orientalistik, Erste Abteilung: Ergänzungsband vi, 2. Abschnitt (ngw) (Leiden: Brill, 1972), 282–283 and 316; Fuat Sezgin, Geschichte des arabischen Schrifttums, vol. 7 (gas vii) (Leiden: Brill, 1979), 42–43. Charles Burnett and Keiji Yamamoto, The Great Introduction to Astrology by Abū Maˁšar, with an edition of the Greek version by David Pingree, Islamic Philosophy, Theology and Science 106 (Leiden: Brill, 2019); Charles Burnett, Keiji Yamamoto, and Michio Yano, Abū Maˁshar: The Abbreviation of the Introduction to Astrology, together with the Medieval Latin Translation of Adelard of Bath, edited and translated, Islamic Philosophy, Theology and Science 15 (Leiden: Brill, 1994); Charles Burnett, Keiji Yamamoto, and Michio Yano, al-Qabīṣī (Alcabitius): The Introduction to Astrology, Edition of the Arabic and Latin Texts and an English Translation, Warburg Studies and Texts 2 (London: The Warburg Institute / Turin: Nino Aragno Editore, 2004); Michio Yano, Kūshyār Ibn Labbān’s Introduction to Astrology (Tokyo: Institute for the Study of Languages and Cultures of Asia and Africa (ilcaa), 1997); Robert Ramsey Wright, The Book of Instruction in the Art of Astrology of al-Bīrūnī (London: Luzac and Co., 1934, reprint in the series Islamic Mathematics and Astronomy 29, Frankfurt: Institut für Geschichte der arabisch-islamischen Wissenschaften, 1998); al-Bīrūnī, Kitāb al-Tafhīm li-awāˀ il ṣināˁat al-tanjīm, ed. and trans. by Keiji Yamamoto (unpublished); also see n. 2 and “4.1. Introductions to Astrology.” Schmidl, “al-Ashraf ˁUmar’s Tabṣira: Table of contents,” 221 and 224–232.

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e.g., geographical data,28 tables for timekeeping,29 an almanac,30 or mathematical basics.31 Besides these scattered topics, another focus of the Tabṣira is prognostic practices, such as an onomantic scheme, announced in the heading although omitted in the manuscripts,32 palmomantic tables that allow the interpretation of spontaneous convulsions of the body parts,33 or a doubleargument table with terrestrial omens.34 To this group also belongs chapter xxxiv, that announces in its heading three prognostic practices “(by) seeing a rainbow, the falling of (shooting) stars from (the direction of) the twelve zodiacal signs and the encircling halo of the sun (and the moon) during the days of

28

29

30 31

32

33 34

For the qibla scheme Petra G. Schmidl, “al-Ashraf ˁUmar’s Tabṣira: Chapter xxxvii.1. Qibla Schemes as Text-image Arrangements with an Example from 13th Century Yemen,” in Writing as Intermediary. Text-image Relations in Early Modern Islamic cultures, eds. Lorenz Korn and Berenike Metzler, Bamberger Orientstudien 14 (Bamberg: Bamberg University Press, to appear), Arabic text and English translation accessible on f-origin.hypotheses.org /wp-content/blogs.dir/8360/files/2021/03/Tabsira-116a-117a-Kap.-XXXVII.1-2102.pdf (last accessed 2021-04-19); also see Petra G. Schmidl, Volkstümliche Astronomie im islamischen Mittelalter: Zur Bestimmung der Gebetszeiten und der Qibla bei al-Aṣbaḥī, Ibn Raḥīq und al-Fārisī, Islamic Philosophy, Theology and Science 68 (Leiden: Brill, 2007), 666–667 and 676; for the geographical table, see Petra G. Schmidl, “al-Ashraf ˁUmar’s Tabṣira: Chapter xlvii,” f-origin.hypotheses.org/wp-content/blogs.dir/8360/files/2020/10/Tabsira153b-154a-Kap.-XLVII-2009.pdf (last accessed 2021-04-28); also see Petra G. Schmidl, “Two Early Arabic Sources on the Magnetic Compass (Revised Translation of a Master Thesis, Johann Wolfgang Goethe-Universität Frankfurt 1994),” in Journal of Arabic and Islamic Studies 1 (1997), 81–132, here 108. Petra G. Schmidl, “al-Ashraf ˁUmar’s Tabṣira: Chapter xxvii.1: Numbers in the Service of Religion in an Example from 13th century Yemen,” in Zahlen- und Buchstabensysteme im Dienste religiöser Bildung, eds. Laura V. Schimmelpfennig and Reinhard G. Kratz, Studies in Education and Religion in Ancient and Pre-Modern History in the Mediterranean and Its Environs 5 (Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2019). Varisco, Almanac, 41–60 (Arabic text) and 23–40 (English translation). Petra G. Schmidl, “al-Ashraf ˁUmar’s Tabṣira: Chapter xlix,” f-origin.hypotheses.org/wpcontent/blogs.dir/8360/files/2021/02/Tabsira-160b-162b-Kap.-XLIX-2101.pdf (last accessed 2021-04-19) and Petra G. Schmidl, “al-Ashraf ˁUmar’s Tabṣira: Chapter l,” f-origin.hypotheses.org/wp-content/blogs.dir/8360/files/2021/01/Tabsira-163a-165b-Kap.-L-2010.pdf (last accessed 2021 04–19). E.g., Schmidl, “al-Ashraf ˁUmar’s Tabṣira: Table of contents,” 221, n. a. Concerning the difference between the schemes and diagrams, this article follows the rule of thumb that schemes organize the text graphically and that this graphical arrangement can be transferred into running text without losing information. Diagrams, on the contrary, provide, through their graphical arrangement, surplus information. In the initial part of chapter xli. In the final part of chapter xl; shortly Schmidl, “al-Ashraf ˁUmar’s Tabṣira: Table of contents,” 222–223.

al-ashraf ˁumar’s tabṣira: chapter xxxiv

259

the (Eastern) Roman months,”35 thus what modern classifications sometimes denote as aeromantic and meteromantic practices.36 All three parts share in common the fact that they, from a theoretical perspective, might be conceived as the interpretation of signs with the aim of learning more about the future and making accessible knowledge that is commonly inaccessible to humans.37 Be they considered causal or indicating,38 immanent in the emergence of rainbows, (shooting) stars, and haloes, “is an uninfluenceable, random element.”39 Due to their structure, each practice leads a reader or user from an observation to a prediction and presents twelve times the sign in the protasis followed by the prediction in the apodosis,40 albeit by using different conjunctions and constructions. The first practice, the seeing of a rainbow, is organized according to time; namely to the (Eastern) Roman, or Syrian, calendar (see Table 11.1).41 Beginning with Tishrīn al-awwal, al-Ashraf ˁUmar presents twelve paragraphs of parallel structure, one for each month. Their names are rubricated and serve as a heading not only to organize the text, but also to constitute a condition, if one will, a second sign, besides the seeing of the rainbow, provided in the following protasis. In the entries for Tishrīn al-awwal and Āb, even a third condition shines through. In both cases, a direction is included in which the rainbow is seen; in the first case, “from east to west” and in the second “in the (direction of) the qibla.” These passages might hint that, in a former version, all of the entries might have been specified by directions.42 The apodosis then includes the predictions dealing in a rather general way with weather, health, the eco-

35 36

37 38

39 40 41

42

See the Arabic text and English translation of chapter xxxiv in the appendix. For these practices in the pre-modern sources of Islamicate societies, see Fahd, Divination, 407–412; also see Schmidl, “Prognostication,” 213–214; shortly Emilie Savage-Smith, ed., Magic and Divination in Early Islam, The Formation of the Classical Islamic World 42 (Aldershot: Ashgate Variorum, 2004), xxxii. E.g., Schmidl, “Prognostication,” 196–198. Cf., e.g., Hans Daiber, “Erkenntnistheoretische Grundlagen der Wetterprognose bei den Arabern: Das Beispiel von Kindī, dem ‚Philosophen der Araber‘ (9. Jh. n. Chr.),” in Die mantischen Künste und die Epistemologie prognostischer Wissenschaften im Mittelalter, ed. Alexander Fidora, Beiheft des Archivs für Kulturgeschichte 74 (Vienna and Cologne: Böhlau, 2013), 152: „[…] als Wirkursache ( fiˁl) oder als bloße Zeichen (aˁlām) […]. […] Die Gestirne sind nicht nur Vorzeichen, sie sind auch Wirkursachen.“ E.g., Schmidl, “Prognostication,” 196. Also see “1. Rainbows, Shooting Stars, and Haloes as Signs of the Future.” For details on the Syrian calendar, e.g., Schmidl, Volkstümliche Astronomie, 397; de Blois, Taˀrīkh, 1. Dates and Eras in the Islamic World in The Encyclopaedia of Islam, New Edition, 12 volumes and indices (ei2) (Leiden: Brill, 1960–2009), 261a. See “3. Rainbows, shooting stars, and haloes in malḥama texts” with n. 78.

260

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table 11.1

1 2 3 4 5 6

The (Eastern) Roman, or Syrian, months together with their length in days

Tishrīn al-awwal Tishrīn al-thānī / Tishrīn al-ākhir Kānūn al-awwal Kānūn al-thānī / Kānūn al-ākhir Shubāṭ / Subāṭ Ādhār

31 30 31 31 28 or 29 31

7 8 9 10 11 12

Nīsān / Naysān Ayyār Ḥazīrān / Ḥuzayrān Tammūz / Tamūz Āb Aylūl

30 31 30 31 31 30

nomy, agriculture, warfare, society, and politics. Unlike the other two mantic practices included in chapter xxxiv, the conjunction in (“if”) introduces the conditional clause; the information is presented as a running text rather than as a text-image arrangement. The second practice arranges the prognostication by means of (shooting) stars in two circular, six-petal, flower-like schemes. Each petal is associated with one of the zodiacal signs, whose names are, parallel to the month names in the other practices, rubricated, with an if-then-clause of parallel structure. Its protases read “if the (shooting) star falls from (the direction of) this zodiacal sign,” this time using the conjunction idhā (“if”), while the apodoses provide predictions that concentrate on politics, warfare, health, and weather, although only with a black outlook.43 Unlike prognostications by means of a rain43

Cf. Kūshyār b. Labbān (Yano), Mujmal ii.10, 120–121: ‫ذوات الأذناب والبوقات والجواء طبائعها‬ ‫“—يقوم مقام طبيعة المر ّيخ وعطارد من الحروب والأحراق والزلازل والعراض التي تعرض عنها‬The natures of comets and heavy showers in the atmosphere take the place of the natures of Mars and Mercury concerning wars, fires, earthquakes, and accidents which are caused by them.” (related to Ptolemy, Tetrabiblos, ed. and trans. F.E. Robbins, The Loeb Classical Library 435 (Cambridge, Mass., and London: Harvard University Press, 1971), ii.9, 192–195); for the scope of predictions related to comets in the Latin tradition, also see Jean-Patrice Boudet, “Les comètes dans le Centiloquium et le De cometis du pseudo-Ptolémée / The Comets in the Centiloquium and in the De cometis of Pseudo-Ptolemaeus,” in The impact of Arabic sciences in Europe and Asia 1 (Firenze: sismel—Edizioni del Galluzzo, 2016), 195 with n. 1; Stefan Kirschner, “An anonymous medieval commentary on Aristotle’s Meteorology stating the supralunar location of the comets,” in Sic itur ad astra: Studien zur Geschichte der Mathematik und Naturwissenschaften – Festschrift für den Arabisten Paul Kunitzsch zum 70. Geburtstag, eds. Richard P. Lorch and Menso Folkerts (Wiesbaden: Otto Harrassowitz, 2000), 342; examples of positive predictions, at least in the Syriac and Latin traditions, also exist (Rudolf, Syrische Astrologie, 202–203, fol. 212r and again 287, fol. 261v– 261r: “Wenn [der Schweifstern—pgs] vom oberen Himmel [kommend] auf die Erde herunterfällt, wird Frieden und Wohlergehen herrschen, und man wird Gott lobpreisen. Wenn er von Osten kommt und Feuer gleicht und nicht zerbirst, so werden die Tiere viele Nachkommen haben, Blumen werden blühen und verwüstete Städte wieder aufgebaut.”;

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261

bow, the places where these events will happen are also specified; e.g., Egypt, Babylon, or (Eastern) Rome.44 Two features hidden in the twelve-times repeated conditional clause deserve a closer look. For one thing, the Arabic text only speaks of inqiḍāḍ al-kawkab (lit. “the falling of the star”) without further specifying the term kawkab (“star,” but also “planet”) to describe what is seen in the sky. The verbal noun that may be traced back to the verb inqaḍḍa (“to fall”) points to meaning either a “comet” or a “meteor,”45 in modern English also called a “shooting star” or “falling star,” particularly when calling to mind the appearance of these celestial phenomena that are observable in the night sky. The similarities between their observation might even have led to an indistinct terminology in the sources, be this ambiguity intentional on the part of the authors or translators or not.46 Notwithstanding, there are common Arabic terms for comets, (kawkab) dhū dhanab or kawkab al-dhanab (“a star with a tail”), and meteors (shihāb, pl. shuhub, and nayzak, pl. nayāzik),47 that are, however, not applied here.

44

45

46 47

parallel Budge, Book of Medicines, 521 [442], fol. 212a and again 654 [552], fol. 260b–261a; Boudet, Comètes, 211 [French translation] and 212 [Latin text] in the appendix of Plato of Tivoli’s version of the Centiloquium). Cf. Kūshyār b. Labbān (Yano), Mujmal, ii.10, 120–121: ‫ل على المواضع التي يحدث فيها‬ ّ ‫و يستد‬ ‫“—الأحداث بمواضعها من البروج‬One is informed of the regions in which these happenings occur by their places among the signs […].”; also discussed in Ptolemy (Robbins), Tetrabiblos, ii.9, 192–195. Also see George A. Saliba, “Cometary Theory and Prognostication in the Islamic World and their Relationship to Renaissance Europe,” in Occult Sciences in Premodern Islamic Culture, eds. Eva Orthmann and Nader El-Bizri, Beiruter Texte und Studien 138 (Beirut: Orient-Institut, 2018), 107–108 and 122 referring to Ibn Hibintā’s Kitāb al-Mughnī (see “4.2. Ibn Hibintā’s Kitāb al-Mughnī”) and ˁAlī b. Abī l-Rijāl’s Kitāb al-Bāriˁ (see “4.3. Ibn Abī l-Rijāl’s Kitāb al-Bāriˁ”). Idea kindly provided by Carine van Rhijn, Utrecht, in April 2021. Kunitzsch, Nudjūm in ei2; cf. Ibn Hibintā, The Complete Book on Astrology: al-Mughnī fī aḥkām al-nujūm, eds. Fuat Sezgin et al. (Frankfurt am Main: Institut für Geschichte der arabisch-islamischen Wissenschaften, 1987), 129 who identifies in a chapter heading the stars that fall (inqiḍāḍ al-kawākib) with meteors (al-shuhub): ‫في انقضاض الـكواكب وهي‬ ‫“—التي تسمّي الشهب‬on the fall of (shooting) stars that are called meteors” (translation by pgs); cf. also Kūshyār b. Labbān (Yano), Mujmal, ii.3, 80–81 who differentiates between comets (kawākib dhawāt al-adhnāb), meteors (al-shuhub), and the falling of a star (inqiḍāḍ al-kawākib) translated here as “storms of stars”: ‫ل على أحداث تعرض في الهو ّاء مثل كواكب‬ ّ ‫د‬ ‫“—ذوات الأذناب وظهور الشهب وانقضاض الـكواكب‬then it indicates happenings which appear in the sky, like comets and the appearance of meteors and storms of stars”; cf. also Ibn Abī Rijāl’s chapter: ‫“—في انقضاض الـكواكب‬On the falling of (shooting) stars” that became in the Latin translation De uisione cometae—“On the seeing of comets” (see “4.3. Ibn Abī l-Rijāl’s Kitāb al-Bāriˁ” with n. 135).

262

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For another thing, the Arabic texts continue after inqiḍāḍ al-kawkab (lit. “the falling of the star”) by min hadhihi al-burj (lit. “from [but also: part of] this zodiacal sign”).48 Apparently, this prognostic practice relates rather the place than the time of the seeing,49 in particular with regard to the two principle meanings of the preposition min (“from” and “part of”),50 but also to the very nature of these celestial phenomena, particularly comets, that are usually visible for a longer period.51 This assumption is further supported by the depiction of six small circles with an attached lengthy cone in the centre of each scheme and below each zodiacal sign. They might be designed to visualize the head and tail of a (shooting) star, appearing in the according constellation. It is, however, also possible that the conditional clause aims at a date, when the (shooting) star is seen, that is set by the sun’s apparently movement through the zodiacal signs during the course of a solar year. This interpretation is not even contradicted by the depiction in the centre of the scheme, as one might expect at first glance. While chapter viii deals with the characteristics, responsibilities, associations, and correspondences of the planets, the Tabṣira also presents a table that comprises the names of the planets in Arabic, Persian, and Greek, their last-letter-abbreviations,52 and their symbols.53 Here, the sun

48 49

50

51 52

53

The following considerations widely benefitted from discussions with Barbora Kokánová, Prague, during and after the workshop in February 2021. For an example of a prognostic practice organized either according to place or time in one treatise cf. Alexander Fodor, “Malḥamat Dāniyāl,” in The Muslim East: Studies in Honour of Julius Germanus, ed. Gyula Káldy-Nagy (Budapest: Lorand Eötvös University, 1974), 78–84 (facsimile) and 127–129 (English translation): ‫“—في خسوف القمر في الأبراج‬on the eclipse of the moon in the signs of the zodiac” and ‫“—في خسوف القمر في الشهور‬on the eclipse of the moon in the months”; also see the prognostic practices “4.2. Ibn Hibintā’s Kitāb al-Mughnī” and “5.2. The Kitāb al-Gharāˀib.” Wolfdietrich Fischer, Grammatik des klassischen Arabisch, proofread 2nd edition, Porta Linguarum Orientalium, Neue Serie 11 (Wiesbaden: Otto Harrassowitz, 1987), 140–142, § 299. Idea kindly provided by Thony Christie, Erlangen, in March 2021. For a short explanation, e.g., Petra G. Schmidl, “Using Astrolabes For Astrological Purposes: The Earliest Evidence Revisited,” in Heaven and Earth United: Instruments in Astrological Contexts, eds. Silke Ackermann, Richard Dunn, and Giorgio Strano, Scientific Instruments and Collections Volume 6 (Leiden and Boston: Brill, 2018), 14 with table 1.3; Schmidl, “alAshraf ˁUmar’s Tabṣira: Chapter xlix.” Petra G. Schmidl, “Magic and Medicine in a 13th c. Treatise on the Science of the Stars,” in Herbal Medicine in Yemen. Traditional Knowledge and Practice, and Their Value for Today’s World, eds. Ingrid Hehmeyer and Hanne Schönig. Islamic History and Civilization 96 (Leiden: Brill, 2012), 49–52.

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263

is depicted as a small circle with a lengthy cone attached, so that it might also be that the symbol visualizes the sun’s appearance in the according zodiacal sign.54 The third practice included in chapter xxxiv interprets the appearance of lunar and solar haloes in one of the Syrian months (see Table 11.1). It presents its information in two circular schemes, again resembling a six-petaled flower, one for the first and the other for the second part of the year. They look slightly different to the previous two schemes including prognostications by means of (shooting) stars (see figure 11.1 and figure 11.2), although again each petal is associated with the name of a month, again rubricated, with the seeing of a halo and the predictions. There is, however, strong evidence that, originally, two bipartite schemes existed, the first displaying the predictions regarding the halo of the sun for the twelve Syrian months, and the second accordingly for the moon. A clear indicator that supports this assumption provides a different grammatical construction that relates sign and prediction in both schemes. While the first presents its information in protases and apodoses, “if (idhā) the halo encircles (the sun), in (this month), it indicates,” the second draws on a verbal noun to integrate the information into a single main clause “seeing a halo (around the moon) in (this month) indicates” for, in this kind of text, be they provided as running texts or in a text-image arrangement, iterative entries for the different parameters are given in parallel constructions,55 as the two other schemes of this chapter clearly demonstrate. Other examples found in the Tabṣira that follow this pattern include, e.g., the lunar elections in chapter xxv,56 the qibla scheme in chapter xxxvii,57 and the text on timekeeping by the lunar mansions in chapter xxx.58 The wording and, even more, the structural changes within

54

55 56

57 58

Evina Steinová, Notam superponere studui. The use of annotation symbols in the early Middle Ages, Bibliologia 52 (Turnhout: Brepols, 2019), 213 describes exactly this symbol as an annotation mark called Heliakon: “The ἡλιακόν (gr. ‘solar, sun-like’) was an annotation symbol introduced in the sixth century commentary to the Orationes of Gregory of Nazianzus to mark ‘more theological parts’.” Reference kindly provided by Jeremy Thompson, Erlangen, in March 2020. See “1. Rainbows, Shooting Stars, and Haloes as Signs of the Future” with n. 3 and n. 4. Daniel Martin Varisco, “The Magical Significance of the Lunar Stations in the 13th Century Yemeni Kitāb al-Tabṣira fī ˁilm al-nujūm of al-Malik al-Ashraf,” in Quaderni di Studi Arabi 13 (1995): 19–40, here 28–33 (English translation). See n. 28. Petra G. Schmidl, “al-Ashraf ˁUmar’s Tabṣira: Chapter xxx,” f-origin.hypotheses.org/wpcontent/blogs.dir/8360/files/2021/04/Tabsira-92a-94b-Kap.-XXX-2104.pdf (last accessed 2021-04-21).

264

figure 11.1

schmidl

The first scheme with the first half of the prognostications by means of (shooting) stars in the Oxford copy of al-Ashraf ˁUmar’s Kitāb al-Tabṣira fī ˁilm al-nujūm (Oxford, Bodleian Library, Huntington 233 [Uri 05], fol. 112b; photo: courtesy of the Bodleian Library, Oxford).

al-ashraf ˁumar’s tabṣira: chapter xxxiv

figure 11.2

265

The second scheme with the second half of the prognostications by means of (shooting) stars in the Oxford copy of al-Ashraf ˁUmar’s Kitāb al-Tabṣira fī ˁilm al-nujūm (Oxford, Bodleian Library, Huntington 233 [Uri 05], fol. 113a; photo: courtesy of the Bodleian Library, Oxford).

266

figure 11.3

schmidl

The scheme with the first half of the prognostications by means of solar halos in the Oxford copy of al-Ashraf ˁUmar’s Kitāb al-Tabṣira fī ˁilm al-nujūm (Oxford, Bodleian Library, Huntington 233 [Uri 05], fol. 113b; photo: courtesy of the Bodleian Library, Oxford).

al-ashraf ˁumar’s tabṣira: chapter xxxiv

figure 11.4

267

The scheme with the second half of the prognostications by means of lunar halos in the Oxford copy of al-Ashraf ˁUmar’s Kitāb al-Tabṣira fī ˁilm al-nujūm (Oxford, Bodleian Library, Huntington 233 [Uri 05], fol. 114a; photo: courtesy of the Bodleian Library, Oxford).

268

schmidl

this kind of text, is unusual.59 Commonly, and besides the changing variables, i.e. mainly statements of time or place, but also of appearance, the construction is repeated—besides scribal errors and those due to copying; e.g., the omission or transposition of words. Further, this assumption might explain why, in the heading to chapter xxxiv, the halo of the moon appears (H,114a,1), while the halo of the sun is mentioned in the heading to the scheme itself (H,114a,11) and in the table of contents (H,5a,20).60 In the schemes per se, the sun is once mentioned in the first scheme (H,113b, fourth petal), while in all other cases only “halo” appears. Therefore, it is plausible that only the first part of the first scheme, that deals with prognostications by means of the solar halo, related to the initial six months of the Syrian calendar, and the second part of the second scheme, that includes prognostication by means of the lunar halo and was linked to the final six months, are included in the manuscript.61 At first glance, they appear to complement each other to form a single bipartite scheme, connected by one headline. If one examines the numbering of the quires in the Oxford manuscript, one might, however, assume that, in the template of the Oxford manuscript, this omission continues. The Paris manuscript does not help with reconstructing the omitted schemes. It only comprises the prognostications by means of a rainbow (P,131a– 132a,4) and by (shooting) stars (P,166’a,1–166’b,7).62 While the former belongs to the Tabṣira, the latter is probably an addendum taken from the Kitāb al-Bāriˁ fī aḥkām al-nujūm (“The outstanding book on astrology”) by ˁAlī b. Abī l-Rijāl alShaybānī (d. after 1037/38).63 It follows toward the end of the Paris copy, after a geographical table that definitely stems from a different tradition than the one in the Tabṣira’s chapter xlvii in the Oxford copy.64

59

60 61

62 63 64

A possible counterexample in Ibn Hibintā (Sezgin et al.), Kitāb al-mughnī, 133 deserves further research. It does not only use synonyms, ً ‫“—ظهر كوكب نهارا‬seeing a star at day” as well as ‫“—روى كوكب نهارأ‬seeing a star at day,” but also provides, starting with Scorpio, a different structure, ‫ض كوكب والشمس في الميزان‬ ّ ‫“—وإن انق‬if a star falls and the sun is in Libra” to ‫“—إن كان ذلك وهي في العقرب‬if this is (the case) and (the sun) is in Scorpio” finally to ‫“—وفي الجدي‬in Capricorn,” the latter however, might be due to the copying process and explained by omissions (also see “4.2. Ibn Hibintā’s Kitāb al-Mughnī” with n. 116). Also see Schmidl, “al-Ashraf ˁUmar’s Tabṣira: Table of contents,” 227 (Arabic text) and 231 (English translation). For an example of prognostic practice by lunar and solar haloes in one treatise, see Fodor, “Malḥamat Dāniyāl,” 37–40 (facsimile) and 111–112 (English translation); also see “3. Rainbows, Shooting Stars, and Haloes in malḥama texts” with n. 79 and n. 80. One folio, between P,166 and P,167, does not bear a number, so it is addressed here by P,166’. Also see “4.3. Ibn Abī l-Rijāl’s Kitāb al-Bāriˁ” with n. 130. Schmidl, “al-Ashraf ˁUmar’s Tabsira: Chapter xlvii.”

al-ashraf ˁumar’s tabṣira: chapter xxxiv

3

269

Rainbows, Shooting Stars, and Haloes in malḥama texts

Similar prognostic practices to those al-Ashraf ˁUmar includes in chapter xxxiv of his Tabṣira are found in a group of texts that modern research denotes as “Laienastrologie” (layman’s astrology), “populärastrologische Dinge” (popular astrological things) or “astrometeorology.”65 Sometimes, a subgroup, the malḥama treatises associated with Daniel,66 acts as pars pro toto.67 A classification that does justice to the contents of these treatises should, however, rather focus on their main purpose, namely prognostication,68 or their main tool, namely signs (or: portents, indications; dalīl, pl. dalāˀil, or: ˁalām, pl. ˁalāmāt, and also: āya, pl. āyāt).69 These terms sometimes appear in the title of these treatises,70 but more frequently at the beginning of the prognostic practices themselves. In chapter xxxiv of the Tabṣira, e.g., if a celestial or atmospheric phenomenon occurs and will be seen, heard, or otherwise recognized, it indicates (dalla ˁalā) what will happen.71 Although the popularity of the malḥama texts is indubitable,72 attested only by the sheer number of manuscripts preserved,73 and despite the more recent productive research,74 the prognostic practices included in them still await systematic investigation and comparison. The role of Wahb b. Munabbih (d. ca. 732), a Yemeni scholar and prolific author, noted for his knowledge of biblical traditions,75 who is mentioned in some of the malḥama treatises,

65 66 67 68 69 70

71 72 73

74

75

Ullmann, ngw, 288, 291 and 302; Sezgin, gas vii, passim; Chalyan-Daffner, “Natural Disasters in Malḥama Handbooks,” 208 with n. 2. See n. 14. E.g., Chalyan-Daffner, “Natural Disasters in Malḥama Handbooks,” 145–147. diTomasso, Book of Daniel, 279–298. E.g., Schmidl, “Prognostication,” 196. E.g., the Mukhtaṣar fī dalāˀil ˁalamāt al-āthār al-ˁulwiyya (“The abbreviation of the signs [and] portents in meteorology [lit.: “of the celestial effect”]”) or the Kitāb al-ˁalamāt wa-ldalāˀil (“The book of the signs and portents”; cf. Furlani, Sammlung, 164 and 167 referring to the second and fifth parts of manuscript London, British Library, Or. 5907). See the Arabic text and English translation of chapter xxxiv in the appendix. Chalyan-Daffner, “Natural Disasters in Malḥama Handbooks,” 212–216; also see ChalyanDaffner, “Natural Disasters,” 73–94. diTomasso, Book of Daniel, 474–478; Chalyan-Daffner, “Natural Disasters in Malḥama Handbooks,” 212 with n. 34.; Chalyan-Daffner, “Predictions,” 145–147; Sezgin, gas vii, 312– 318; Ullmann, ngw, 293 with n. 4. diTomasso, Book of Daniel; Chalyan-Daffner, “Natural Disasters in Malḥama Handbooks”; Chalyan-Daffner, “Predictions”; Raggetti, “Thunders”; also see Chalyan-Daffner, “Natural Disasters,” 53–145. E.g., Khoury, Wahb b. Munabbih in ei2.

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also merits further research.76 Accordingly, a closer examination of two of the published examples might suffice to demonstrate that chapter xxxiv of the Tabṣira is borrowing from similar traditions, but does not present in its entirety a treatise of the malḥama genre. First, an anonymous treatise entitled Malḥamat Dāniyāl (“Malḥama Daniel” [or sometimes: “Daniel Prognostikon” or “Daniel apocalypsis”]), found in a booklet printed in the 1970s, whose origin and date might be traced back to the tripoint 10th–11th century Turkey, Syria, and Iraq,77 contains several prognostic schemes, three of which employ the same phenomena as the Tabṣira in chapter xxxiv: 1. The seeing of a rainbow in one of the Syrian months, but further specified if it occurs in the east or west.78 2. The seeing of a solar halo (al-dāˀirat ḥawla l-shams, lit. “the circle around the sun”), again organized according to the Syrian months.79 3. The seeing of a lunar halo (al-dāˀirat ḥawla l-qamar, lit. “the circle around the moon”), arranged in the same way.80 All three texts differ from the Tabṣira not only in terms of the predictions they provide in the respective apodoses but also in their starting point. While alAshraf ˁUmar’s schemes all begin with Tishrīn i,81 the first month in the Syrian calendar, that counts its months according to the Seleucid era with the epoch on 1st October 312b.c., and equivalent to October, that by means of the rainbow starts in the Malḥamat Daniyal with Kanūn i, equivalent to December, the two by means of the haloes with Nīsān, equivalent to April,82 both not generally attested as the beginning of the Syrian year in the zījes.83 On the one hand, one might speculate if these divergent beginnings are related to the seasons

76 77 78

79 80 81 82 83

Chalyan-Daffner, “Natural Disasters in Malḥama Handbooks,” 209, n. 8; also see ChalyanDaffner, “Natural Disasters,” 81–82 with n. 60 and n. 61. Fodor, “Malhamat Daniyal,” 86–91; more conservative is Georges Vajda, “Quelques observations sur la Malḥamat Daniyal,” in Arabica 23, no. 1 (1976): 84–87, here 85. Fodor, “Malhamat Daniyal,” 46–49 (facsimile) and 114–115 (English translation); for a parallel in another malḥama manuscript preserved in Paris, Bibliothèque nationale, Ar. 4716 Vajda, “Quelques observations,” 86; also see Furlani, Sammlung, 162 referring to London, British Museum, Or. 5907. Fodor, “Malhamat Daniyal,” 37–38 (facsimile) and 111 (English translation); for parallels Vajda, “Quelques observations,” 86. Fodor, “Malhamat Daniyal,” 39–40 (facsimile) and 111–112 (English translation); for parallels Vajda, “Quelques observations,” 86. See the Arabic text and English translation of chapter xxxiv in the appendix. de Blois, Taˀrīkh i.1 In the Sense of “Date, Dating etc.” in ei2, 259a. van Dalen, Taˀrīkh i.2 Era Chronology in Astronomical Handbooks in ei2, 267b.

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of the year and the solstices and equinoxes that they define.84 In particular, Nīsān rings a bell, because it is the first month in the lunisolar calendar of the Ancient Mesopotamian tradition, that begins with the sighting of the lunar crescent around the spring equinox.85 Another, completely different and less plausible, explanation is worthy of mention and takes into consideration that such schemes are presented in the manuscripts either as running text or as a text-image-arrangement.86 A slightly careless re-transfer from a circular graphical scheme into a text, that devotes little consideration to the starting point, appears at least plausible. Explicitly prognostic texts drawing on (shooting) stars are missing from the Malḥama Daniyal. Only a chapter captioned, Fī ẓuhūr ayāt al-falak (“On the signs of the sphere”) and organized according to the Syrian calendar, mentions seeing a star.87 Another example of the malḥama texts forms an anonymous compilation, preserved in Paris, and probably copied in the 17th century.88 Besides some astronomical and astrological basics, it includes prognostic practices by means

84 85

86

87

88

An idea kindly, and with reservations, suggested by Benno van Dalen, Munich, in April 2021. Chalyan-Daffner, “Natural Disasters in Malḥama Handbooks,” 222; also see Chalyan-Daffner, “Natural Disasters,” 114 and passim; for the Ancient Mesopotamian calendars, see Helmut Freydank and Jörg Rüpke, “Calendar,” in Brill’s New Pauly. Antiquity Volumes, eds. Hubert Cancik and Helmuth Schneider. English Edition by Christine F. Salazar. Classical Tradition Volumes, ed. Manfred Landfester. English Edition by Francis G. Gentry, http://​ dx‑1doi‑1org‑100019dqv0221.han.ub.fau.de/10.1163/1574‑9347_bnp_e605690 (last accessed on 2021-05-01). Also see de Blois, Taˀrīkh i.1 In the Sense of “Date, Dating etc.” in ei2, 261a; another bell rings the phonetic consonance of the name of the weather god in Ancient Mesopotamia, Adad, the eponym for a group of tablets in the Enuma Anu Enlil (e.g., Gehlken, Weather Omens, 26 and passim) and the prognostications by means of hadāt (“thuds, roars”) attested in a malḥama treatise (Furlani, Sammlung, 165, referring to manuscript London, British Museum, Or. 5907). E.g., the prognostications by means of a rainbow in chapter xxxiv of the Tabṣira that are presented as running text (see the Arabic text and English translation in the appendix) and the respective information in an anonymous Yemeni ephemeris for the year 1326/27 (see “5.1. Anonymous Treatise with an Almanac and Ephemeris for Sanˁāˀ and the Year 1326/27”). Fodor, “Malhamat Daniyal,” 64–71 (facsimile) and 121–124 (English translation); Vajda, “Quelques observations,” 87 parallels this chapter with one in manuscript Paris, Bibliothèque Nationale, Ar. 4716 captioned Fī inqidāḍ al-kawkab wa-ẓuhūr āyāt samawiyya (“On the falling of the [shooting] star and the seeing of celestial signs”). Manuscript Paris, Bibliothèque nationale, ar. 2633; for additional information, see Georges Vajda, Notices de manuscrits manuscrits Arabe 2400 à 2759, gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/btv1b8 4701114/f1.item# (last accessed 2021-04-29), no. 2633; for a table of contents Raggetti, “Thunders”, 426–428.

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of thunder, lightning, earthquakes, and haloes, that differs in three aspects from what is found in chapter xxxiv of the Tabṣira.89 First, the protases summarize the lunar and solar haloes. Second, the respective apodoses predict different events. Third, the if-then-sentences are arranged according to the Egyptian, or Coptic, calendar, that counts its months according to different eras, with varying epochs.90 The prognostic texts begin with Barmūdha, its eighth month. Based on information presented elsewhere in the manuscript,91 one might deduce that this is equivalent to the beginning with Nīsān in the Syrian calendar, similar to the two schemes by means of the halo in the Malḥama Daniyal and different to the Tabṣira’ chapter xxxiv. It further supports the explanation that these divergent beginnings might be related to the seasons.92 The other prognostic practices within this compilation make use of the Syrian calendar, and again begin with Nīsān, but also also with Ādhār, equivalent to March, and Aylūl, equivalent to September. This, however, does not contradict a possible relation to the seasons. The spring month might be changed due to problems related to calendrical conversations and displacements,93 while the fall month might point to the autumnal equinox. None of the other chapters in the Tabṣira, however, share further commonalities with the malḥama literature. Rather, the opposite is true. Some of the treatises assigned to this group of texts in modern research include additional material that does not provide prognostic practices with their typical procedural and iterative structure but include topics also discussed in the Tabṣira.94

89 90 91 92 93 94

Raggetti, “Thunders,” 431–434. de Blois, Taˀrīkh i.1 In the Sense of “Date, Dating etc.” in ei2, 261b; van Dalen, Taˀrīkh i.2 Era Chronology in Astronomical Handbooks in ei2, 267b. Cf. Raggetti, “Thunders,” in particular 429: ‫“—في شهر نيسان اوله الخامس من برمودة‬in the month of Nīsān, which begins on the fifth day of Baramūdah.” See “3. Rainbows, shooting stars, and haloes in malḥama texts” with n. 85. For a possible problem see van Dalen, Taˀrīkh i.2 Era Chronology in Astronomical Handbooks in ei2, 267b. E.g., the Kitāb al-Aḥkām fī ḥawādith al-ayyām ˁan Arisṭāṭālīs (“Book of Astrology on daily incidents according to Aristotle”); table of contents in Wilhelm Ahlwardt, Die Handschriften-Verzeichnisse der Königlichen Bibliothek zu Berlin, 17. vol.: Verzeichniss der arabischen Handschriften, vol. 5. (Berlin: A. Asher & Co, 1893), Katalog v, 272, no. 5873; also see Sezgin, gas vii, 309–310; cf. Ullmann, ngw, 288 in his unmistakeable style: “Auf Aristoteles soll auch ein K. al-Aḥkām fī ḥawādith al-ayyām zurückgehen, in dem ziemlich wahllos über Mondstationen, Jahreszeiten, Katarchen, Divination aus Donner und sonstigen meteorologischen Erscheinungen, über Finsternisse, Kometen und dgl. gehandelt wird.”

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273

Rainbows, Shooting Stars, and Haloes in Introductions to Astrology and Further Astrological Treatises

On the contrary, two major clusters of the Tabṣira include, on the one hand, material usually found in anwāˀ texts, calendars, and almanacs95 and, on the other, information commonly provided in the mudkhal literature,96 so that one might consider it at least partially belonging to this scholarly genre. 4.1 Introductions to Astrology However, prognostic texts, as found in chapter xxxiv, do not, or only rarely, appear in introductions to astrology, which is unsurprising since the prevalent pre-modern Weltbild considers in general rainbows, (shooting) stars, and haloes, but also other celestial and atmospheric phenomena such as thunder and lightning, in general to be sublunar signs, an assignment that can be traced back to Aristotle’s Meteorologicon.97 al-Bīrūnī, a versatile, productive scholar who was active in the eastern part of the Islamicate realm during the late 10th/early 11th centuries,98 describes, in his introductory text to astrology, the Tafhīm, their place of occurrence and elementary nature. First, he introduces earth and water: ‫الأرض مضرسة والمياه في أخاديدها مجتمعة فهما بالجملةكرة واحدة مقدارها ما ذكرنا‬ al-Bīrūnī [Yano], Tafhīm, § 210 [209], 45–46

95

96 97

98

For the anwāˀ literature in general, see Varisco, Anwāˀ in ei3; Pellat, Anwāˀ in ei2; Sezgin, gas vii, 339–370; for calendars and almanacs, see Daniel Martin Varisco, “Calendrical Calculations: Traditions and Practices in the Medieval Islamic World,” in Prognostication in the Medieval World: A Handbook, vol. 1, eds. Matthias Heiduk, Klaus Herbers, and HansChristian Lehner (Berlin: de Gruyter, 2021); Varisco, Taqwīm. 2. Agricultural almanacs in ei2; also see Schmidl, Volkstümliche Astronomie, 86–91. See “1. Rainbows, Shooting Stars, and Haloes as Signs of the Future” with n. 2. Aristoteles, Meteorologie, Über die Welt, trans. Hans Strohm, 3rd edition, Aristoteles Werke in deutscher Übersetzung 12 (Berlin: Akademie-Verlag, 1984), for rainbows and haloes iii.2–5, 76–87, for comets i.1, 9 and i.6–7, 17–22, for thunder and lightning ii.9, 71–73; for comets also see Saliba, Cometary Theory, 108–111; Kunitzsch, al-Nudjūm in ei2; shortly Kirschner, Comets, 334–335; for a general introduction, see, e.g., Brigitte Hoppe, “Sublunar/Translunar,” in Historisches Wörterbuch der Philosophie online, ed. Joachim Ritter et al. (Basel: Schwabe Verlag, 2017); for a concise summary of the aspects of the pre-modern Weltbild, see, e.g., Ragep, Astronomy in ei3; for Abū Maˁshar’s divergent assignment of the comets, see Ralph Neuhäuser et al., “Tycho Brahe, Abū Maˁshar, and the Comet beyond Venus (ninth century a.d.),” in Journal for the History of Astronomy 47, no. 2 (2016): 136– 158, doi.org/10.1177/0003702816645734, particularly 141–143. On al-Bīrūnī see Yano, al-Bīrūnī in ei3; Yano, al-Bīrūnī in bea, Kennedy, al-Bīrūnī in

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The earth (with the mountains projecting from it) like teeth (is solid), and the water (surrounds it), occupying the hollows, but these two (elements) form the one globe, whose dimension have been (above) stated. al-Bīrūnī [Wright], Tafhīm, § 209, 119–120; words not having a counterpart in the Arabic text parenthesised by pgs

Then, he continues with air and fire: ‫وهو تكسير مكان الهو ّاء والنار معا ً وفي أسفله يحدث من بخار الماء الرطب ما يحدث من‬ ‫ي قزح‬ ّ ‫الر ياح والسحاب والأمطار والثلوج والبرد ثم ّ الرعود والهّدات والبروق والصواعق وقس‬ ‫والهالات وأشباه ذلك وفي إعلاه يحدث من بخار الأرض الدخاني اليابس ما يحدث من‬ ‫ضة وأمثال ذلك‬ ّ ‫الـكواكب ذوات الذوائب والمذن ّبة والشهب المنق‬ al-Bīrūnī [Yano], Tafhīm, § 210 [209], 45–46

This is the dimension of air and fire together, (but it is impossible to determine the amount of these elements separately). Abovea (the air) inb the moist vapoursc occur thed various phenomenad of wind, cloud, snowe and rainef, also thunderg, lightning, thunderbolts, rainbows, haloes and the like. Above it (likewise) inh the dry smoky vapoursi are the stars with tailsj and locksj, shootingk starsk &c. al-Bīrūnī [Wright], Tafhīm, § 209, 119–120; words not having a counterpart in the Arabic text parenthesised by pgs; a: Arab. below. b: Arab. of. c: Arab. adds of water. d–d: Lit. what occurs. e-e: Lit. rain and snow. f: Arab. adds hail. g: Arab. adds thuds. h: Arab. of. i: Arab. adds of earth. j-j: Lit. locks and tails. k: Lit. falling meteors (alshuhub al-munqaḍḍa)

Of the introductory treatises, only Kūshyār b. Labbān, a contemporary of alBīrūnī, who wrote not only on astrology, but also on astronomy, astronomical instruments, and mathematics,99 includes in his Mujmal a chapter on the atmospheric signs,100 which is unsurprising given its close dependence on Ptolemy’s Tetrabiblos.101 Under the title Fī dalālāt ˁalamāt al-jaww (“On the

99 100 101

Charles Coulston Gillispie, ed., Dictionary of Scientific Biography, 18 vols. (dsb) (New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1970–1990), and the literature there cited. Berggren, Kūshyār b. Labbān in ei3; Bagheri, Ibn Labbān, Kūshyār in bea; Saidan, Kūshyār b. Labbān in dsb and the literature there cited. Kūshyār b. Labbān (Yano), Mujmal, ii.10, 120–123. E.g., Kūshyār b. Labbān (Yano), Mujmal, vi.

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indications of the conditions of the sky”), he describes what is indicated by comets, (shooting) stars, and rainbows: ‫ل على هبوب الر ياح من تلك جهة‬ ّ ‫انقضاض الـكواكب وجزئها إن كانت من جهة واحدة د‬ ‫ل على ر ياح غير منتظمة‬ ّ ‫وأن كانت من جهات د‬ If the shooting of stars and their degree is from one direction it indicates winds from this direction. If it is from (several) directions it indicates winds without order. Kūshyār b. Labbān (Yano), Mujmal, ii.10, 120–123

‫قوز قزح إذا ظهرت في وقت صحو دل ّت على هواء شات وإذا ظهرت في وقت هواء شات على‬ ‫صحو‬ When a rainbow appears whena there are no cloudsa, it indicates air (and rains) in the winter. If it appears in the time of the winter air, it indicates cloudlessness. (Kūshyār b. Labbān (Yano), Mujmal, ii.10, 122–123; words not having a counterpart in the Arabic text parenthesised by pgs; a-a: Lit. in the time of cloudlessness)

A rudimentary stage of the prognostic practices presented in chapter xxxiv shines through. The predictions, however, are restricted to weather forecasting,102 again due to the pre-modern Weltbild that rainbows, haloes, but also comets, and the like consist of the four elements and are, therefore, unsuitable for making predictions other than weather forecasting.103

102

103

Cf. Boudet, Comètes, 201 referring to Aḥmad b. Yūsuf’s commentary of the pseudo-Ptolemaic collection, known in Arabic as Kitāb al-Thamara and in Latin as Centiloquium, also distinguishes between blowing from one or from several directions, but does not limit itself to weather forecasting: “Sentence 100. Ptolémée dit: Les étoiles filantes [al-nayāzik] indiquent l’ assèchement des vapeurs. Quand elles vont dans une seule direction, elles indiquent des vents qui soufflent dans cette direction et si elles se propagent dans toutes les directions, elles indiquent une diminution des eaux, la turbulence de l’air, des armées qui se répandent sur la région et qui réclament la royauté, et une dissidence dans la loi [religieuse] sur laquelle repose la société.” E.g., Hübner, Natural Sciences, vi. Comets in New Pauly: “Thus, according to Aristotle, their effects are, first and foremost, meteorological […].”

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4.2 Ibn Hibintā’s Kitāb al-Mughnī The common assignment of the comets and meteors to the sublunar sphere and their elementary nature does not prevent, however, certain authors of astrological treatises from dealing with them in the same way as the Tabṣira does. Ibn Hibintā (fl. ca. 950) provides an example, of whom only his Kitāb alMughnī is known, preserved in two manuscripts in Damascus and Munich.104 Written in 10th century Baghdād, it is not an introductory work but an astronomical and astrological compendium that deals with its topics in greater depth and includes many quotes from earlier treatises;105 e.g., a fragment of the Kitāb fī l-qiranāt wa-l-adyān wa-al-milal (“Book on conjunctions, on religions and peoples”) by Māshāˀ Allāh (d. ca. 815).106 Besides this difference in contents, Ibn Hibintā’s localisation of the comets within the supralunar sphere and his persuasion of their suitability and reliability with regard to making predictions might have convinced him to include, in the second part of his treatise, three chapters dealing with prognostication by means of celestial and atmospheric phenomena,107 the first captioned Fī inqiḍāḍ al-kawākib wa-hiya allatī tusammā al-shuhub (“On the falling of [shooting] stars and those that are called meteors”).108 It begins with a quote from Ptolemy’s Tetrabiblos,109 also found, although abbreviated, in Kūshyār’s Mujmal,110 and two lengthy passages of four prognostic practices, the former three attributed to Dorotheos of Sidon (1st c.)111, the latter to Hermes Trismegistus:112 1. The falling of a (shooting) star, if it occurs in one of the cardinal directions and with regard to further astronomical and astrological parameters.113 104 105 106

107

108 109 110 111 112 113

For a table of contents of the Damascene manuscript, see Sezgin, gas vii, 332. Pingree, Ibn Hibintā in dsb. Facsimile, English translation, and commentary in Edward S. Kennedy and David Pingree, The Astrological History of Māshāʾallāh (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1971). Ibn Hibintā (Sezgin et al.), Kitāb al-Mughnī, 129; also see Saliba, Cometary Theory, 115; according to Sezgin, gas vii, 317–318 Ḥunayn b. Isḥāq (d. 873) also considers, in his Risāla fī dhawāt al-dhawāˀib (“Treatise on comets [lit. (stars) with locks]”), whose contents shows further parallels with Ibn Hibintā’s Kitāb al-Mughnī, that comets are not atmospheric phenomena, but stars; for Ḥunayn b. Isḥāq and his Risāla fī dhawāt al-dhawāˀib, also see Ullmann, ngw, 316. Ibn Hibintā (Sezgin et al.), Kitāb al-Mughnī, 129 (ms Munich, fol. 65a, ms Damascus, fol. 174b); also see Saliba, Cometary Theory, 115. Ibn Hibintā (Sezgin et al.), Kitāb al-Mughnī, 129 referring to Ptolemy (Robbins), Tetrabiblos, ii,13, 216–219; also see Saliba, Cometary Theory, 115 with n. 22. See “4.1. Introductions to Astrology.” Pingree, Dorotheos of Sidon in dsb, supplement. van Bladel, Hermes and Hermetica in ei3 and the literature mentioned therein. Ibn Hibintā (Sezgin et al.), Kitāb al-Mughnī, 130–131.

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An iterative structure is not discernible, but it shows characteristics of a procedural text. 2. The falling of a (shooting) star, if it appears on the last night of the month and further specified by the weekday.114 3. The falling of a (shooting) star, while Saturn is in one of the zodiacal signs, sometimes supplemented by a direction. It ends with Leo and might, therefore, be incomplete.115 4. The falling of a (shooting) star, at dawn while the sun is in one of the zodiacal signs.116 For Aries, however, Saturn is mentioned, which is probably a copying error. Because Leo is omitted, Sagittarius transposed, and from Virgo onward the (shooting) star is seen by day rather than at dawn, one might speculate that, originally, two schemes were here re-combined into one.117 The final part records historical events.118 The second of these chapters is labelled Fī al-kawākib dhawāt al-adhnāb (“On the comets [lit. stars with tails]”).119 It starts with several theoretical considerations concerning the nature and location of comets in general, followed by a quote from Ptolemy’s Tetrabiblos and a list of specific comets, apparently also attributed to him.120 Next, three prognostic practices are introduced, two attributed to Hermes and one to Kanaka (fl. ca. 800 [?]):121

114 115 116 117 118 119 120

121

Ibn Hibintā (Sezgin et al.), Kitāb al-Mughnī, 131–132. Ibn Hibintā (Sezgin et al.), Kitāb al-Mughnī, 132; also see Saliba, Cometary Theory, 115 with n. 26. Ibn Hibintā (Sezgin et al.), Kitāb al-Mughnī, 132–133; also see Saliba, Cometary Theory, 115 with n. 27. See “2. Chapter xxxiv of al-Ashraf ˁUmar’s Tabṣira.” Ibn Hibintā (Sezgin et al.), Kitāb al-Mughnī, 133–134; also see Saliba, Cometary Theory, 115–116 with n. 32. Ibn Hibintā (Sezgin et al.), Kitāb al-Mughnī, 134 (ms Munich, fol. 67b, ms Damascus, fol. 176b). Ibn Hibintā (Sezgin et al.), Kitāb al-Mughnī, 134–135 referring to Ptolemy (Robbins), Tetrabiblos, ii.9, 192–195; also see Saliba, Cometary Theory, 117; for such a list clearly attributed to Ptolemy in a 11th century Arabic text see Emilie Savage-Smith and Yossef Rapoport, An Eleventh-Century Egyptian Guide to the Universe. The Book of Curiosities, Edited and Translated, Islamic Philosophy, Theology and Science 87 (Leiden and Boston: Brill, 2014), 253–246 (Arabic text) and 376–379 (English translation); for a similar list in the appendix of Plato of Tivoli’s version of the Centiloquium Boudet, Comètes, 210–211 with n. 68, 113–115 and 118–120 with further Greek, Latin, and Arabic sources; for the Ancient Greek traditions, see, e.g., Hübner, Natural Sciences, vi. Comets in New Pauly and the literature mentioned therein. Pingree, Kanaka in dsb; also see Sezgin, gas vii, 195–196; Ullmann, ngw, 299–300.

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1. 2.

If a comet (lit. a star) is seen in each of the twelve zodiacal signs.122 If it occurs in zodiacal signs belonging to a group, e.g., to those with a human or animal shape, to the four triplicities, or to other astrological organizational units.123 Although it shows characteristics of a procedural text, an iterative structure is less discernible. 3. If a comet (lit. a star) appears in one of the zodiacal signs in either the east or west.124 At the end, after two short passages related to Kanaka and Māshāˀ Allāh,125 another list of specific comets is introduced that appears to be attributed to Ptolemy.126 The third of Ibn Hibintā’s chapters mentions its source in the heading; namely, Mā dhakarahu Hīrmis fī mā yadillu ˁalayhi al-shams idhā iˁtadda bi-hā ẓulma aw ḥamra aw ḥawlahā hāla aw ḥawla al-qamar (“What Hermes mentioned about what the Sun indicates if darkness or redness equips it or if around [the sun there] is a halo or around the moon”).127 It consists of two parts. The first is a lengthy text, attributed to Hermes and subdivided into 12 parts. For each sign, it lists the following phenomena:128 1. the darkening and reddening of the sun, 2. the appearance of solar and lunar haloes (mainly dāra, rarely hāla), the latter further specified by the four cardinal directions, 3. earthquakes specified by the time of their occurrence, day or night, sometimes supplemented by information on the position of the sun, and also Saturn, in the respective sign. The text seems rather defective, and complete information is not provided for each sign. Some only appear in certain cases, e.g., further colors of the sun or eclipses. Omissions and transpositions that took place during the copying process might explain some of the lacunae. One might even speculate that their iterative character makes these texts particularly prone to errors. This chapter concludes with another lengthy quote from Ptolemy’s Tetrabiblos followed by

122

123 124 125 126 127 128

Ibn Hibintā (Sezgin et al.), Kitāb al-Mughnī, 135–137; also see Saliba, Cometary Theory, 121 with n. 42; such prognostic practices were sometimes also attributed to Ptolemy, e.g., in manuscript Princton, Garrett 373Y, 243–245 or Dublin, Chester Beatty, Ar. 4484, fol. 92b– 95a (information kindly provided by Emanuele Rovati, Munich, in June 2021). Ibn Hibintā (Sezgin et al.), Kitāb al-Mughnī, 137. Ibn Hibintā (Sezgin et al.), Kitāb al-Mughnī, 138–140. Ibn Hibintā (Sezgin et al.), Kitāb al-Mughnī, 140. Ibn Hibintā (Sezgin et al.), Kitāb al-Mughnī, 140–142; also see Saliba, Cometary Theory, 117; also see n. 120. Ibn Hibintā (Sezgin et al.), Kitāb al-Mughnī, 144 (ms Munich, fol. 72b, omitted in ms Damascus). Ibn Hibintā (Sezgin et al.), Kitāb al-Mughnī, 144–151.

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five lines attributed to another, probably Greek author, who is not yet identified and whose name Ibn Hibintā writes as ‫عرٮطليوس‬.129 In comparison to al-Ashraf ˁUmar’s chapter xxxiv, Ibn Hibintā includes in these three chapters of his Kitāb al-Mughnī more prognostic texts, although no predictions by means of a rainbow are found. Instead, several schemes for the same phenomenon from different sources are taken into account and further signs considered; e.g., earthquakes. Background information and theoretical considerations, as in the Kitāb al-Mughnī are missing in the Tabṣira as well as any references to its sources. Although the black triad of death, destruction, and disease, also dominates in Ibn Hibintā’s prognostic schemes, none of them is very closely related or even the Tabṣira’s direct source. They apparently, however, all belong to a group of texts, that might be traced back to common ancestors. 4.3 Ibn Abī l-Rijāl’s Kitāb al-Bāriˁ Another example of an astrological treatises that includes prognostic practices similar to those included in chapter xxxiv of al-Ashraf ˁUmar’s Tabṣira is provided by Abī l-Rijāl’s Kitāb al-Bāriˁ.130 It was written in 11th century Maghrib, where its author served at the Zīrid court, discharging administrative tasks, tutoring and offering his astrological expertise. His treatise, preserved in several manuscripts,131 deals with four branches of astrology: namely, interrogations (masāˀil), nativities (mawālīd), elections (ikhtiyārāt), and general astrology.132 Again, the inclusion of predictions by means of (shooting) stars appears to require some justification. At the beginning of chapter viii,41 with the title Fī inqiḍāḍ al-kawākib (“On the falling of [shooting] stars”), Ibn Abī l-Rijāl explains: ً ‫الحقت هذا الفصل في كتابي هذا عند ما صح ّ لتجر بة … وإلّا فكنبت مم ّن لا يلتفت إليه أّولا‬ ‫ولا يقول به‬

129 130 131

132

Ibn Hibintā (Sezgin et al.), Kitāb al-Mughnī, 150–152 referring to Ptolemy (Robbins), Tetrabiblos, ii,13, 212–219. Samsó, Ibn Abī l-Rijāl in ei3; Pingree, Ibn Abī l-Rijāl in ei2. For this article, the copies in Berlin and Paris were available; for further manuscripts, see Islamic Scientific Manuscripts Initiative (ismi), ismi.mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de/text/84913 (last accessed 2021-04-28). Samsó, Ibn Abī l-Rijāl in ei3; Pingree, Ibn Abī l-Rijāl in ei2, 688a–b.

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I have added this chapter to this book of mine, only when it was confirmed by experience […]. Otherwise I was one of those who never paid much heed to it at first, nor gave it any credence. Saliba, Cometary Theory, 122

Apparently, Ibn Abī l-Rijāl also wrote al-Urjūza fī dalīl al-raˁd (“Poem on the indications of thunder”),133 another prognostic practice based on celestial and atmospheric phenomena, that might further explain his interest in this topic. While Ibn Abī l-Rijāl’s chapter, at least in the Berlin and Paris copy, follows in form the prognostic schemes included by Ibn Hibintā and al-Ashraf ˁUmar, its contents differ from the former in terms of their scope, although they are relatively close to the latter in the Oxford manuscript of the Tabṣira and identical to those included in the Paris copy. While the former might point to a common ancestor of the Kitāb al-Bāriˁ and the Tabṣira, the latter might be, instead, a later addition that did not belong to the treatise initially for, in the Paris version, the chapter on (shooting) stars follows a geographical table that belongs to a different tradition than that included in the Oxford version.134 If one assumes a parallel development in the Arabic sources as took place concerning the Latin witnesses, it appears even more plausible that the chapters on prognostications by means of (shooting) stars in the Oxford and Paris copies derive from different sources for, in the Latin version of Ibn Abī l-Rijāl’s Kitāb al-Bāriˁ, which was printed several times from the late 15th century onward, the chapter on (shooting) stars became the title “De uisione cometa” and took on a life of its own.135 One should, however, bear in mind the increasing participation in and changing manifestations of divinatory practices, the broad interest in celestial phenomena, including comets, in early modern Europe,136 and also that 133 134 135

136

Samsó, Ibn Abī l-Rijāl in ei3; also see Sezgin, gas vii, 188. See “2. Chapter xxxiv of al-Ashraf ˁUmar’s Tabṣira” with n. 64. Saliba, Cometary Theory, 122–127; for the dependencies of the Arabic, Old Castilian and Latin versions Viktor Stegemann, Beiträge zu Geschichte der Astrologie i: Der griechische Astrologe Dorotheos von Sidon und der arabische Astrologe Abu ‘l-Ḥasan ˁAli ibn abi ‘r-Riǧāl, genannt Albohazen, Quellen und Studien zur Geschichte und Kultur des Altertums und des Mittelalters, Reihe D: Untersuchungen und Mitteilungen 2 (Heidelberg: Selbstverlag, 1935), 6–13; also see Samsó, Ibn Abī l-Rijāl in ei3; Pingree, Ibn Abī l-Rijāl in ei2, 688a; for the Old Castilian version created by Yehudā b. Moshē for King Alfonso x (d. 1284), see ˁAlī b. Abī al-Rijāl, El libro conplido en los iudizios de las estellas: Traducción hecha en la corte de Alfonso el Sabio, Introducion and Edition Gerold Hilty (Madrid: Reál Acad. Española, 1954). Ulrike Ludwig, “Introductory Surveys: Prognostication in Early Modern Times,” in Prognostication in the Medieval World: A Handbook, vol. 1, eds. Matthias Heiduk, Klaus Herbers, and Hans-Christian Lehner (Berlin: de Gruyter, 2021), 245–246; also see Andreas Bähr,

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Pseudo-Ptolemy’s De cometis is, in the Latin traditions, preserved either as an appendix to his Centiloquium or as a separate text, while hitherto no Arabic version is known.137 Ibn Hibintā’s Kitāb al-Mughnī as well as Ibn Abī l-Rijāl’s Kitāb al-Bāriˁ show that prognostic practices by means of celestial and atmospheric phenomena, and particularly those entailing the interpretation of (shooting) stars, feature in certain astrological treatises, although more rarely in those belonging to the introductory genre, and more commonly in those of a more elaborate niveau. It seems, however, that their inclusion requires rationalization and justification. Neither result, however, applies to the Tabṣira. It neither goes beyond basic astrological knowledge nor does al-Ashraf ˁUmar explain why he includes these three practices in his treatise, not to mention the fact that his treatise deals with more than purely astrological topics.138

5

Rainbows, Shooting Stars, and Haloes in Kindred Texts

On the contrary, the contents of chapter xxxiv emphasize the hybrid character of al-Ashraf ˁUmar’s Tabṣira that belongs less to a pre-modern scholarly branch of astronomical or astrological knowledge but appears to aim in general rather to provide orientation and in looking things up, an impression that three treatises also give that shall finally be briefly introduced.139

137

138 139

“Bilder am Himmel / Pictures in the Sky,” in Zeichen der Zukunft: Wahrsagen in Ostasien und Europa, eds. Marie-Therese Feist, Michael Lackner, and Ulrike Ludwig (Nuremberg: Verlag des Germanischen Nationalmuseums, 2021), particularly fig. 42; also see, shortly, Stegemann, Astrologie, 39. Cf. Boudet, Comètes, 196: “Autant qu’ on le sache, aucun manuscrit arabe de ce court traité sur les comètes n’a encore été découvert, ni séparément ni en compagnie de la version du Kitāb al-Ṯamara commentée par le savant égyptien du xe siècle Aḥmad ibn Yāsuf (le pseudo-Hali des versions latines), […].”; also see, for the Arabic tradition, Rovati, PseudoPtolemy’s Kitāb al-Thamara; Benno van Dalen, “Abū Jaˁfar Aḥmad ibn Yūsuf ibn Ibrāhīm ibn al-Dāya, Tafsīr Kitāb al-Thamara,” (update: 15.10.2018), Ptolemaeus Arabus et Latinus: Works, ptolemaeus.badw.de/work/191 (last accessed 2021-05-31); for the Latin tradition, see David Juste, “Pseudo-Ptolemy, Centiloquium (tr. Plato of Tivoli),” (update: 11.04.2021), Ptolemaeus Arabus et Latinus: Works, ptolemaeus.badw.de/work/41 (last accessed 202105-31); David Juste, “Pseudo-Ptolemy, De cometis,” (update: 28.01.2021), Ptolemaeus Arabus et Latinus: Works, ptolemaeus.badw.de/work/43 (last accessed 2021-05-31). See “2. Chapter xxxiv of al-Ashraf ˁUmar’s Tabṣira” with n. 23. See n. 23 for the contents of the Tabṣira; two other anonymous treatises likewise deserve further research; one closely related to the Rasūlid court, but only partially similar in content, this time for Taˁizz and the year 1405/06, and also preserved in Cairo, but without prognostications by means of rainbows, shooting stars, or haloes (David A. King, A Catalogue

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5.1

Anonymous Treatise with an Almanac and Ephemeris for Sanˁāˀ and the Year 1326/27 The first example, an anonymous treatise, was written only a few decades after the Tabṣira and is also closely related to the Rasūlid court.140 Its title page mentions al-Ashraf ˁUmar’s brother and successor, Muˀayyad Dāˀūd (d. 1322), to whom it might be dedicated.141 It is preserved in the final part of a manuscript now in Cairo,142 whose beginning contains a copy of the Kitāb Maˁārij al-fikar al-wahīj fī ḥall mushkilāt al-zīj (“Book of considerations ascending to the sun’s glare on solving difficulties in zījes”), written by Muḥammad b. Abī Bakr alFārisī.143 This “discussion of the standard topics of planetary and spherical astronomy dealt with in the introductions of zījes” the author compiled for the treasury of al-Muẓaffar Yūsuf (d. 1295), al-Ashraf ˁUmar’s father and predecessor.144

140 141

142 143

144

of the Scientific Manuscripts in the Egyptian National Library (in Arabic), 2 vols. (Cairo: General Egyptian Book Organization, 1981/1986), i, 606, no. 274 and ii, 148, no. 2/3/2,2; also see King, may, 39; David A. King, A Survey of the Scientific Manuscripts in the Egyptian National Library (Winona Lake, Indiana: Eisenbrauns, 1986), 132, no. E11); the other containing, according to the description in Ahlwardt, Katalog v, 302, no. 5906, besides other topics, a prognostic double-argument table for when a rainbow is seen in either the east or west for each of the zodiacal signs and a qibla scheme, and therefore appears to borrow from the malḥama tradition, although not to belong to it. Schmidl, “al Ashraf ˁUmar’s Tabṣira: Table of Contents,” 217–218; for the dating of the almanac chapter xxxii, see Varisco, Almanac, 18–19. Johannes Thomann, “The Earliest Complete Arabic Ephemeris (1326–1327ce),” lecture given at the 1. Uluslararası Prof. Dr. Fuat Sezgin İslâm Bilim Tarihi Sempozyumu Bildiriler Kitabı / The 1st international Prof. Dr. Fuat Sezgin Symposium on History of Science in Islam, Istanbul (Ḥazīrān 2019); Johannes Thomann, “Reverse Engineering Applied to Ephemerides: Analysis and Edition of the Arabic Ephemeris of 1326/7ce (ms Cairo, Dār al-Kutub, mīqāt 817),” in Editing and Analysing Numerical Tables. Towards a Digital Information System for the History of Astral Sciences, eds. Benno van Dalen, Mathieu Husson, and Clemency Montelle, Ptolemaeus Arabus et Latinus, Studies 2 (Turnhout: Brepols, to appear), Appendix A; also see King, may, 33. King, Cairo Catalogue, i, 145, no. 817,2 and ii, 148, no. 2/3/2,1; also see King, Cairo Survey, 132, no. E11. King, Cairo Catalogue, i, 145, no. 817,1 and ii, no. 2/1/14; also see King, may, 24; King, Cairo Survey, 132, no. E7; Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu and Boris A. Rosenfeld, Mathematicians, Astronomers and other Scholars of Islamic Civilisation and Their Works (7th–19th c.), Series of Studies and Sources on History of Science 11 (Istanbul: Research Centre for Islamic History, Art and Culture (ircica), 2003), 219, no. 608, A4 translate the title as “Ascension of flaming thought on resolution of difficulties of a zīj,” while Schmidl, Volkstümliche Astronomie, 21– 22 offers “Abhandlung der zu Sonnenglanz aufsteigenden Gedanken über die Lösung von Schwierigkeiten in Zīj-Werken”; on Muḥammad b. Abī Bakr al-Fārisī see Schmidl, Fārisī in bea; Schmidl, Volkstümliche Astronomie, 18–23. King, may, 24.

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In modern research the anonymous treatise is referred to as an almanac and ephemeris for Sanˁāˀ and the year 1326/27,145 although its contents might best be described as a mixed bag of astronomical, astrological, and related practices that frame a middle part that provides solar, lunar, and planetary positions, the length of the day and the midday altitude of the sun for each day of the year 1326/27 in different calendars.146 Beside the ephemeris, several of its topics are also dealt with in the Tabṣira; e.g., the omen and palmomantic tables, the lunar elections, the seating arrangements, the onomantic, the qibla, and the prognostic scheme by means of the rainbow.147 The treatise borrows parts from the malḥama literature, although neither belongs to it nor is it an introductory text to astrology. There is good reason to argue that the part with the ephemeris did not belong to the anonymous treatise originally; e.g., the discrepancy of al-Muˀayyad Dāˀūd’s death in 1322, but the data calculated for 1326/27,148 an argumentation that is further supported by evidence that the manuscript was rebound; e.g., one of the omen tables precedes the title page instead of being opposite to the omen table that follows. Similar to the Tabṣira, this anonymous treatise includes a prognostic scheme by means of the rainbow, but also inserts in the same text further predictions by means of thunder and lightning. Further practices by means of (shooting) stars and haloes are omitted, but this may be irrelvant, since they might have been lost during the re-binding process. The details, however, differ. First of all, the Tabṣira provides a running text, while the anonymous treatise arranges its material under a circular scheme. It comprises an inner circle, that includes a depiction of a vaguely perceptible rainbow surrounded by another circle subdivided into twelve circular segments of equal size. They contain the ifthen-clauses, together with the signs and related prognostications. To this inner circle are attached twelve triangles that resemble the points of a star, and include the names of the twelve Syrian months. Apart from these general differences, the protases in the anonymous treatise and the Tabṣira are extremely similar, while the information provided in the apodoses only agrees in small part.

145 146 147 148

King, may, 24; also see King, Cairo Survey, 132, no. E11. For a detailed analysis of the ephemeris, see Thomann, “Reverse Engineering,” in particular appendix B. Also see Thomann, “Ephemeris 1326/27, 1. Introduction.” Thomann, “Ephemeris 1326/27, 1. Introduction.”

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5.2 The Kitāb al-Gharāˀib The other two examples are not very closely related to the Tabṣira in terms of place, time, or contents. Both, however, include similar prognostic practices and apparently aim to provide orientation, the Kitāb al-Gharāˀib al-funūn wamulaḥ al-ˁuyūn (“The Book of curiosities of the sciences and marvels for the eyes”) in the sky and on earth,149 the Kitāb Qabs al-anwār wa-bahjat al-asrār (“Book for acquiring illumination and delighting in secrets”) regarding contingencies and future events.150 The former, an anonymous 11th century Egyptian treatise, is subdivided into two books.151 While the second provides geographical data, the first includes, across ten chapters, cosmological, astronomical, astrological, and related information concerning the spheres, the zodiacal signs, the lunar mansions, the planets, and the stars. Its sixth chapter deals with comets (dhū al-dhawāba, lit. “[stars] with locks”) and introduces a prognostic scheme, followed by a list of specific comets together with their depictions.152 Similar to the Tabṣira’s chapter xxxiv, it is organized according to the zodiacal signs. The protases, however, do not speak of “if the (shooting) star falls,” but “if the tailed star appears.”153 In the apodoses, there follow predictions that include many more details. Another difference concerns the presentation of the knowledge; the Kitāb al-Gharāˀib presents its information in plain text, although the whole treatise also includes graphical text-image arrangements, such as diagrams, tables, and maps. The tenth chapter provides two additional prognostic schemes, one by means of the winds blowing in the first days of the Coptic year, and the other by means of the weekday on which the first day of the Coptic year falls,154 also known from the malḥama traditions and evoking one of Ibn

149 150 151

152 153 154

See n. 151. See n. 156. Introduction, facsimile of the Oxford manuscript, Arabic text, annotated English translation, and glossary of star-names in Rapoport & Savage-Smith, Book of Curiosities; cf. also Daniel Martin Varisco, “Reading Rasūlid Maps. An Early 14th-Century Geographical Resource,” in Der Islam 98 (2021): 100–152, here 121: “It is tempting to consider if the Fatimid text, the Book of Curiosities, had ever been taken to Ṣulayḥid Yemen, since there were relations between the Sulayhids and the Fatimids. However, there is little resemblance in the iconography between the maps in Irtifāˁ (a tax register compiled for Muˀayyad Dāˀūd [d. 1321], the brother and successor of al-Ashraf ˁUmar—pgs), and those in The Book of Curiosities.” Rapoport & Savage-Smith, Book of Curiosities, 66–77 (Arabic text) and 374a–379b (English translation). See in the appendix and Rapoport & Savage-Smith, Book of Curiosities, 374a. Rapoport & Savage-Smith, Book of Curiosities, 125–132 (Arabic text) and 411b–414b (English translation).

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Hibintā’s prognostic practices.155 In particular, the contents of the final chapter of Book One that the anonymous author of the Kitāb al-Gharāˀib deemed suitable for such a kind of scholarly, rather basic literature and reference book, emphasizes the specific characteristics of this treatise. 5.3 The Qabs al-anwār The second example, the Kitāb Qabs al-anwār wa-bahjat al-asrār (“Book for acquiring illumination and delighting in secrets”) is, probably falsely, attributed to Muḥyī al-Dīn b. al-ˁArabī (d. 1241), the great Ṣūfī scholar and author.156 It is preserved in a single manuscript that was copied in April/May 1533 and housed in Leiden since the early 17th century, that includes “a true divinatory encyclopedia highly artistically executed in different types of jadāwil”;157 i.e., tables, schemes, and diagrams. Accordingly, the Kitāb al-Qabs and the Tabṣira share many topics; e.g., astrological basics, elections, palmomancy, onomancy, seating arrangements, and omens.158 While the former includes more prognostic texts overall, e.g., further onomantic practices, and of different kinds, e.g., physiognomic tables,159 as well as a good deal of medical information, e.g., on drugs, the latter also presents information on topics other than prognostic practices, e.g., an almanac, tables for determining prayer times, and information on timekeeping at night by means of the lunar mansions.160 Concerning the topics discussed in chapter xxxiv, the Kitāb al-Qabs also includes a prognostic practice by means of a rainbow, organized according to the Syrian months, that begin with Ādhār (fol. 35b). It is arranged in a circular scheme, whose upper 155

156

157

158 159 160

See “4.2. Ibn Hibintā’s Kitāb al-Mughnī” with n. 114 with a prognostic scheme by means of (shooting) stars appearing on the last night of the month and specified by the weekday; for a prognostic scheme by means of the weekdays of the beginning of the month Muḥarram, the first month in the Islamic calendar, e.g., Fodor, “Malhamat Daniyal,” 88–91 (facsimile) and 131–132 (English translation). Catalogus codicum arabicorum Bibliothecae Academiae Lugduno-Batavae, Auct. P. de Jong et M.J. de Goeje, vol. 3 & 4 (no. 906–1607 & no. 1608–2222) (Leiden: Brill, 1865–1866), 172– 174 with a table of contents; Ullmann, ngw, 340–341; Ateș, Ibn al-ˁArabī in ei2; my research on the Kitāb al-Qabs widely profited from the exchange with Sarah Nur Yildiz, Berlin, at the Käte Hamburger Kolleg/International Consortium for Research in the Humanities “Fate, Freedom and Prognostication” (ikgf) at the University Erlangen-Nuremberg in November 2019. Jan Just Witkam, Inventory of the Oriental Manuscripts of the Library of the University of Leiden: Volume 1: Manuscripts Or. 1–1000 (Leiden: Ter Lugt Press, 2006–2007), www. islamicmanuscripts.info/inventories/leiden/or01000.pdf (last accessed 2021-05-31), 16. Ullmann, ngw, 340–341; see “2. Chapter xxxiv of al-Ashraf ˁUmar’s Tabṣira” with n. 32–34. Antonella Ghersetti, “Una tabella di fisiognomica nel Qabs al-anwār wa bahǧat al-asrār attribuito a Ibn ˁArabī,” in Quaderni di Studi Arabi 12 (1994): 15–47. See “2. Chapter xxxiv of al-Ashraf ˁUmar’s Tabṣira” with n. 27–31.

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half shows a four-color rainbow and whose lower half has twelve spokes, each including the information for one month. In the centre, an inscription in a small disk refers to “prophets and wise men” (al-anbiyā wa-l-ḥukamāˀ), exemplifying Daniel and Hermes. Besides the different beginning and additional attribution, the predictions also differ in the Kitāb al-Qabs and the Tabṣira’s chapter xxxiv. On the next page follows a circular scheme that resembles a marguerite with twelve petals and provides prognostications by means of comets (al-kawākib dhī l-dhawāba, lit.: “stars with locks”; fol. 36a). They are organized according to the twelve zodiacal signs and further specified, being observed in either the east or west. Besides this specification, an inscription that runs around the scheme explains that the sun must be in each sign. Further, it refers to the wise men of, among others, India, (Eastern) Rome, Persia, and Babylon. Neither set of information, together with the specified directions, are provided in the Tabṣira’s chapter xxxiv; and the predictions also differ. On the pages preceding these two schemes, a double argument table relates the Syrian months and several celestial and atmospheric phenomena, e.g., thunder, lightning, and, again, comets (kawkab al-dhawāba; lit. “star with locks”; fol. 34b–35a). Despite the commonalities in their contents and with regard to the obviously missing link to the Rasūlid court and its uncertain time of compilation, the Qabs alanwar is of limited significance in view of the sources and scholarly context of the Tabṣira. It merely demonstrates the spread of these prognostic materials in other places and during other periods.

6

Rainbows, Shooting Stars, and Haloes with regard to the Context of the Pre-modern Scholarly Traditions

All of these examples demonstrate a broad interest in these prognostic practices by means of celestial and atmospheric phenomena in the pre-modern sources of the Islamicate societies in providing predictions of a more general scope and not being limited to weather forecasting. They further illustrate that al-Ashraf ˁUmar is familiar with the malḥama traditions that also present prognostications by means of rainbows, (shooting) stars, and haloes, although his direct source remains to be established. Apparently, these prognostic practices do not belong to the introductory treatises to astrology with which the Tabṣira also shares several commonalities, particularly the chapters at the beginning, that demonstrate al-Ashraf ˁUmar’s familiarity with this astrological tradition. Chapter xxxiv, therefore, emphasizes the Tabṣira’s hybrid character, that defies hitherto a clear assignment to a scholarly genre. It appears rather to aim in general at providing an orientation and in

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looking things up. Only one of the introductions, Kūshyār b. Labbāns Mujmal, deals briefly with these signs to forecast weather, although these practices are not completely foreign to astrology. Ibn Hibintā mentions prognostications by means of the colour and appearance of the sun, meteors, comets, halos, and earthquakes in his anthological Kitāb al-Mughnī, while Ibn Abī l-Rijāl includes prognostications by means of (shooting) stars in his Kitāb al-Bāriˁ, apparently rather a personal than a traditional decision. Both apparently feel constrained to justify their inclusion of these topics.161 It appears that prognostic practices by means of these celestial and atmospheric signs increasingly left the realm of the scholarly astrological literature as, in parallel, Aristotelian cosmology, with its subdivision into a sub- and a supralunar sphere, became increasingly prevalent in the pre-modern scholarly astronomical and astrological traditions, while they persisted in the malḥama treatises. One might even speculate, if this finding provides further evidence, that these prognostic practices reflect traces of omen texts from Ancient Mesopotamia, particularly since their cosmology apparently does not contrast an upper with a lower world.162

161

162

Cf. Ibn Hibintā, (Sezgin et al.), Kitāb al-Mughnī, 133: ‫ض فيها‬ ّ ‫وقد جر بنا وامتحنا في غير سنة انق‬ … ‫ هذه الـكواكب … فأعقب حوادث كما راء منها‬translated in Saliba, Cometary Theory, 116: “We have tested and examined, in more than one year, that the times when stars fell […] those times were usually followed by major consternations that took place, as was the case […].”; for Ibn Abī l-Rijāl see the quote “4.3. Ibn Abī l-Rijāl’s Kitāb al-Bāriˁ.” Cf. Rochberg, Elements, 145: “Greco-Roman astrology set up an opposition between celestial and terrestrial realms, in accordance with its underlying Aristotelian cosmology. The Babylonians, however, seem not to have had a dualistic cosmic scheme. Evidence from some of the major literary works points to a tendency to divide the cosmos into levels of heavens and earths, forming a generally symmetrical picture in which particular deities are assigned to particular levels or realms.”

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Acknowledgements The author would particularly like to thank all colleagues who helped to realize and improve this paper by both sharing their ideas and research and also providing comments and materials that were otherwise inaccessible during the Covid-19 measures in Germany in Spring 2021, in particular Bram van Berg, and Carine van Rhijn, (Amsterdam and Utrecht), Thony Christie, Matthias Heiduk, Klaus Herbers, Hans-Christian Lehner, Georges Tamer and the participants of his research colloquium, and Jeremy Thompson (Erlangen), Benno van Dalen and Emanuele Rovati (Munich), Barbora Kokánová (Prague), Sarah Nur Yildiz (Berlin), Convin Splettsen and Gesine Yildiz (Frankfurt), John M. Steele (Providence), Johannes Thomann (Zurich), Daniel Varisco (Long Island), and, last but not least, Martin M. Schmidl. The responsibility for the content falls entirely upon the author. This article belongs to a series by this author all dealing with different aspects of the Tabṣira and its author al-Ashraf ˁUmar. They provide the basis for an edition, English translation, and study of the whole text. Preprints of single chapters will be published online via tabsira.hypotheses.org and finally compiled into a single volume.163

163

Addendum ad p. 263 et n. 54: The small circle with an attached lengthy cone symbolizing the sun also appears in Greek horoscopes (e.g., Alexander Jones, ed., Astronomical Papyri from Oxyrhynchus [P. Oxy. 4133–4300a], 2 vols., Memoirs of the American Philosophical Society 233 [Philadelphia: The American Philosophical Society, 1999], 61–63; Otto Neugebauer and H. B. Van Hoesen, Greek Horoscopes, Memoirs of the American Philosophical Society 48 [Philadelphia: The American Philosophical Society, 1959, reprint 1987], 1).

al-ashraf ˁumar’s tabṣira: chapter xxxiv

289

Appendix: al-Ashraf ˁUmar’s Tabṣira: Chapter xxxiv (H,112a,12–114a,2). Prognostications by Means of Rainbows, Shooting Stars, and Solar and Lunar Haloes preliminary remarks: The following presents the Arabic text and facing English translations of chapter xxxiv of al-Ashraf ˁUmar’s Kitāb al-Tabṣira fī ˁilm al-nujūm (fol. 112a,12–114a,2 [including a scheme] in manuscript Oxford, Bodleian Library, Huntington 233, the first part fol. 131a,13–132a,4 in manuscript Paris, Bibliothèque Nationale, arabe 2601.2, the second part fol. 166’a,1– 166’b,7).164 In the Arabic text, hamza, madda, shadda, and diacritical points have been silently added. The punctuation marks follow the manuscript and present in case of a blank space a dot, by one centred or three dots arranged as triangle, · and ∴, respectively, as in the manuscript. Spelling mistakes of numerals are not corrected. Due to its fragmentary character, its overall condition, its age and its reliability, P is not taken into consideration for the critical apparatus, only consulted, when readings are difficult. In the Arabic text, words are put in square brackets [ ] whose reading can be deduced. In the English translation, parentheses ( ) have been inserted to assist the flow of the text. Square brackets [ ] denote additional explanations, while angle brackets ⟨ ⟩ indicate translations of text whose reading can be deduced. Folios of H are provided in angular brackets ⟨ ⟩, paragraphs numbered in square brackets [ ]. Their unusual starting point “[0]” is due to the effort in keeping, at least in the first part, the months in line with their standard numbers. Emphases by bold type in the Arabic text follow the manuscript and are rendered by italic script in the English translation.

164

One folio, between P,166 and P,167, does not bear a number, so it is addressed here by P,166’.

‫‪290‬‬

‫‪schmidl‬‬

‫‪Arabic Text and English Translation‬‬ ‫]‪[0‬‬

‫البـاب الرابع والثلاثون في القول على ظهور قوس قزح وانقضاض‪ 165‬الـكواكب من البروج‬ ‫الاثنى عشر وإحاطة الهالة بالقمر في أي ّام شهور الروم‪∴ 166‬‬

‫]‪[1‬‬

‫ن السنة تكون مقبلة و ينتشر جيوش‬ ‫ل على أ ّ‬ ‫تشر ين الأول‪ .‬إن ظهر في هذه الشهر قوس قزح د ّ‬ ‫من المشرق إلى المغرب‪.‬‬

‫]‪[2‬‬

‫ل على الأمن والسلامة واعتدال المطر‪.‬‬ ‫تشر ين الثاني‪ .‬إن ظهر فيه قوس قزح د ّ‬

‫]‪[3‬‬

‫ل ] على [ دخول الضيف‪ 167‬على الأكابر وخصب‬ ‫كانون الأّول‪ .‬إن ظهر فيه قوس قزح د ّ‬ ‫الزرع و يعود )؟( الملك )؟( إلى موضعه‪.‬‬

‫]‪[4‬‬

‫ل على كثرة الأمطار سبعة أي ّام ووقع الثلوج الشديدة‪.‬‬ ‫كانون الثاني‪ .‬إن ظهر فيه قوس قزح د ّ‬

‫]‪[5‬‬

‫ل على كثرة إمراض اليرقان واصفرار الوجوه وكثرة‬ ‫شباط‪ .‬إن ظهر فيه قوس قزح د ّ‬ ‫الأراجيف بالناس‪.‬‬

‫]‪[6‬‬

‫ل على كثرة الو باء بالنساء و يحصرون العرب بعضهم بعضا‪ً.‬‬ ‫آذار‪ .‬إن ظهر فيه قوس قزح د ّ‬

‫]‪[7‬‬

‫ل على نقص في الحيوانات وز يادات )؟( بالمياه ومرض‬ ‫نيسان‪ .‬إن ظهر ] فيه [ قوس قزح د ّ‬ ‫في الناس‪.‬‬

‫]‪[8‬‬

‫ل على غلاء في بلاد الروم وو باء عظيم‪.‬‬ ‫إ يار‪ .‬إن ظهر فيه قوس قزح د ّ‬

‫]‪[9‬‬

‫ب‬ ‫ل على نقص الحيوان وغلاء في السعر و يقع الموت بالدوا ّ‬ ‫حز يران‪ .‬إن ظهر فيه قوس قزح د ّ‬ ‫والله أعلم‪.‬‬

‫ل على ارتفاع شأن الصعاليك وحدوث الفتن والقتال‪.‬‬ ‫]‪ [10‬تم ّوز‪ .‬إن ظهر فيه قوس قزح د ّ‬ ‫]‪[11‬‬

‫ل على وقائع وحروب في القبلة و يتقّدم الشتاء و يرخص الأغنام‪.‬‬ ‫آب‪ .‬إن ظهر فيه قوس قزح د ّ‬

‫ل‬ ‫ل على الفساد والجور وكثر المطر في تشر ين الثاني وقيل يد ّ‬ ‫]‪ [12‬أيلول‪ .‬إن ظهر فيه قوس قزح د ّ‬ ‫على القتال والله أعلم‪.‬‬

‫‪.‬انقضاض ‪] H,5a writes‬على ظهور قوس قزح وانقضاض‬ ‫‪.‬بالشمس ‪] H,5a writes‬بالقمر في أي ّام شهور الروم ‪166‬‬ ‫‪.‬الضيق ‪167 H writes‬‬ ‫‪165‬‬

al-ashraf ˁumar’s tabṣira: chapter xxxiv

291

The thirty-fourth chapter on the statement(s) about (occurrences indicated by) seeing a rainbow, the falling of (shooting) stars from (the direction of ) the twelve zodiacal signs, and the encircling halo of the sun (and the moon) during the days of the Byzantine months. [1] Tishrīn al-awwal. If a rainbow is seen in this month, it indicates a year that will be abundant (in crop), troops will spread (if seen [?]) from east to west. [2] Tishrīn al-thānī. If a rainbow is seen in (this month), it indicates safety and security, and moderate rainfall. [3] Kānūn al-awwal. If a rainbow is seen in (this month), it indicates the reception of ⟨a guest⟩ by nobles, plenty of crops, and (that) the king (?) will return (?) to his place. [4] Kānūn al-thānī. If a rainbow is seen in (this month), it indicates for seven days persistent rainfall and heavy snowfall. [5] Shubāṭ. If a rainbow is seen in (this month), it indicates jaundice and yellowing of faces, and frequent rumours among people. [6] Ādhār. If a rainbow is seen in (this month), it indicates frequent epidemics among women and (that) the Arabs will besiege each other. [7] Nīsān. If a rainbow is seen ⟨in this month⟩, it indicates decrease among beasts, increase of the waters, and illness among people. [8] Ayyār. If a rainbow is seen in (this month), it indicates rise (of prices) in the land of the Byzantines and a severe epidemic. [9] Ḥazīrān. If a rainbow is seen in (this month), it indicates decrease in beasts and rise in prices, death will happen among animals—and God knows best. [10] Tammūz. If a rainbow is seen in (this month), it indicates increase in (people) like beggars, and the occurrence of riots and fighting. [11] Āb. If a rainbow is seen in (this month), it indicates battles and wars (and if seen [?]) in the (direction of) the qibla,168 that winter will come early, and that sheep will reduce. [12] Aylūl. If a rainbow is seen in (this month), it indicates decay and oppression, and frequent rain in (the month) Tishrīn al-thānī; it is (also) said that it indicates fighting—and God knows best. [0]

168

Cf. Fodor, “Malḥamat Dāniyāl,” 46 and 114: ‫“—وإن رأيتها من المغرب أو من القبلة‬if you see (the rainbow—pgs) from the West or from the Qiblah.”

292

schmidl

171‫ عشر أو ما يواز يه من‬170‫القول على انقضاض الـكواكب ] من البروج [ الاثنى‬169 ⟨ 112b ⟩ [13] .‫ جهته يمنة أو يسرة‬172‫ل برج من سائر البروج من‬ ّ ‫ك‬ [In H, a circular, flower-like scheme with six petals is inserted (see figure 11.1). It comprises of an inner circle that includes below the name of each zodiacal sign a small, black circle that forms the basis of a lengthened, equilateral triangle in red, that might be interpreted as a simplified depiction of either a (shooting) star or the sun.173 To this inner circle are attached six slightly inclined halfcircles that bear in their inner radius the names of the zodiacal signs and in their broad rim the if-then-clauses with the seeing of the star and the related prognostication.] ‫ل على أن ّه يكون بأرض‬ ّ ‫ والله أعلم أو ما يواز يه د‬174‫ض الـكوكب من هذه البرج‬ ّ ‫ إذا انق‬.‫[ الحمل‬14] .‫الروم و بابل موت وقتال شديد‬ ‫ل والله أعلم على فساد مدائن الروم‬ ّ ‫ض الـكوكب من هذا البرج أو ما يواز يه د‬ ّ ‫ إذا انق‬.‫[ الثور‬15] .‫وحدوث الطاعون ببـابل‬ ‫ل والله أعلم على أن يكون في الروم‬ ّ ‫ض الـكوكب من هذا البرج أو ما يواز يه د‬ ّ ‫ إذا انق‬.‫[ الجوزاء‬16] .(‫ل )؟‬ ٍ ‫شرّ و يموت كثير حا‬ ‫ل والله أعلم على أن ّه يكون بالأهواز‬ ّ ‫ض الـكوكب من هذا البرج أو ما يواز يه د‬ ّ ‫ إذا انق‬.‫[ السرطان‬17] .‫قتال وموت الناس فيها‬ ‫ل والله أعلم على خروج عدو بأرض‬ ّ ‫ض الـكوكب من هذا البرج أو ما يواز يه د‬ ّ ‫ إذا انق‬.‫[ الأسد‬18] .‫بابل و يستكلب الأسود‬ ‫ل والله أعلم على حدوث الفتن في مصر‬ ّ ‫ض الـكوكب من هذا البرج أو يواز يه د‬ ّ ‫ إذا انق‬.‫[ السنبلة‬19] .‫وقيام أعدا ملوكها‬

169 170 171 172 173 174

In one set of photos available for this study, made in November 2017, a small slip is situated on this page showing a line of text and 24 geomantic figures. H continues above the scheme on fol. 113a. H continues below the scheme on fol. 112b. H continues below the scheme on fol. 113a. See the information on this depiction in the study. H adds superfluously ‫ل‬ ّ ‫د‬.

al-ashraf ˁumar’s tabṣira: chapter xxxiv [13]

293

⟨112b⟩ Statement about the (occurrences indicated by) falling of the (shooting) stars ( from the direction of ) the twelve zodiacal signs,175 or what corresponds to each zodiacal sign of all zodiacal signs towards its right or left direction.

[The following information is included in a circular, flower-like scheme (see figure 11.1).] [14]

[15]

[16]

[17]

[18]

[19]

175 176

Aries. If the (shooting) star falls from (the direction of) this zodiacal sign—and God knows best—or what corresponds to it, it indicates that in the land of the Byzantines (al-Rūm) and (in) Babylon (Bābil) (there) will be death and intense fighting. Taurus. If the (shooting) star falls from (the direction of) this zodiacal sign or what corresponds to it, it indicates—and God knows best—decay of the Byzantines’ (al-Rūm) cities and the occurrence of the plague in Babylon (Bābil). Gemini. If the (shooting) star falls from (the direction of) this zodiacal sign or what corresponds to it, it indicates—and God knows best—that in (the land of the) Byzantines will be harm and many will die overall (?).176 Cancer. If the (shooting) star falls from (the direction of) this zodiacal sign or what corresponds to it, it indicates—and God knows best—that there will be fighting in al-Ahwāz and death of people there. Leo. If the (shooting) star falls from (the direction of) this zodiacal sign or what corresponds to it, it indicates—and God knows best—foray of enemies in the land of Babylon (Bābil) and that the blacks will rampage. Virgo. If the (shooting) star falls from (the direction of) this zodiacal sign or what corresponds to it, it indicates—and God knows best—the occurrence of riots in Egypt and uprising of the enemies of their kings.

For the translation “falling of the (shooting) stars” see “2. Chapter xxxiv of al-Ashraf ˁUmar’s Tabṣira.” A similar wording in the prognostication for Aquarius: ⟨‫“—وموت كثير حال ⟩؟‬much death overall (?).”

‫‪schmidl‬‬

‫‪294‬‬

‫‪⟨113a⟩ [The information concerning the zodiacal signs form Libra to Pisces are‬‬ ‫]‪provided in a scheme similar to that on the previous page (see figure 11.2).‬‬ ‫ن الملك يلقا من‬ ‫ل والله أعلم على أ ّ‬ ‫ض الـكوكب من هذا البروج أو ما يواز يه د ّ‬ ‫]‪ [20‬الميزان‪ .‬إذا انق ّ‬ ‫الأرض بغيا ً)؟( وشّدة وتلحقه السلامة‪.‬‬ ‫ل والله أعلم على خراب بعض البلدان‬ ‫ض الـكوكب من هذا البروج أو يواز يه د ّ‬ ‫]‪ [21‬العقرب‪ .‬إذا انق ّ‬ ‫وفسادها و يغو ّر الماء بالأنهار‪.‬‬ ‫ل والله أعلم على حدوث الطاعون‬ ‫ض الـكوكب من هذا البروج أو يواز يه د ّ‬ ‫]‪ [22‬القوس‪ .‬إذا انق ّ‬ ‫بأرض بابل والأوجاع الحارّة والله أعلم‪.‬‬ ‫ل والله أعلم على حدوث الشّدة والبلاء‬ ‫ض الـكوكب من هذا البروج أو يواز يه د ّ‬ ‫]‪ [23‬الجدي‪ .‬إذا انق ّ‬ ‫في الأهواز وكثرة الفناء‪.‬‬ ‫ل والله أعلم على قلةّ الأمطار وموت كثير‬ ‫ض كوكب من هذا البروج أو يواز يه د ّ‬ ‫]‪ [24‬الدلو‪ .‬إذا انق ّ‬ ‫حال )؟( و يلحق السلامة‪.‬‬ ‫ل والله أعلم على حدوث ما تقّدم‬ ‫ض كوكب من هذا البروج أو ما يواز يه د ّ‬ ‫]‪ [25‬الحوت‪ .‬إذا انق ّ‬ ‫في الدلو من قلةّ الأمطار‪.‬‬

al-ashraf ˁumar’s tabṣira: chapter xxxiv

295

⟨113a⟩ [The following information is provided in a circular, flower-like scheme (see figure 11.2).] [20]

[21]

[22]

[23]

[24]

[25]

177 178 179

Libra. If the (shooting) star falls from (the direction of) this zodiacal sign or what corresponds to it, it indicates—and God knows best—that the king will meet of (his) country (?) (who will) wish (that) (?), violence, and (that then) safety will overcome him.177 Scorpio. If the (shooting) star falls from (the direction of) this zodiacal sign or what corresponds to it, it indicates—and God knows best—desolation in some lands and their decay and (that) the water of the rivers will ooze away. Sagittarius. If the (shooting) star falls from (the direction of) this zodiacal sign or what corresponds to it, it indicates—and God knows best—the occurrence of the plague in the land of Bābil and febrile pain—and God knows best. Capricorn. If the (shooting) star falls from (the direction of) this zodiacal sign or what corresponds to it, it indicates—and God knows best—the occurrence of violence and (of) tribulation in al-Ahwāz, and frequent destruction. Aquarius. If a (shooting) star falls from (the direction of) this zodiacal sign or what corresponds to it, it indicates—and God knows best—lack of rain, frequent death overall (?),178 and (that then) safety will overcome (the people).179 Pisces. If a (shooting) star falls from (the direction of) this zodiacal sign or what corresponds to it, it indicates—and God knows best—the occurrence of what precedes in Aquarius concerning the lack of rain.

Cf. a similar wording in the prognostication for Aquarius: ⟨‫“—و يلحق السلامة ⟩؟‬and (that then) safety (?) will overcome him (?).” Cf. a similar wording in the prognostication for Gemini: ⟨‫ل ⟩؟‬ ٍ ‫“—و يموت كثير حا‬and many will die overall (?).” Cf. a similar wording in the prognostication for Libra: ⟨‫“—وتلحقه السلامة ⟩؟‬and (that then) safety will overcome him (?).”

296

schmidl

‫ الرومية وما لها من‬180‫⟨ القول على إحاطة الهالة بالشمس في الشهر الاثنى عشر‬113b⟩ [26] 182‫ والتأثيرات والله أعلم‬181‫الحوادث‬ [In H, a circular, flower-like scheme with six petals is inserted. Its centre form three concentric circle of different size and distance to each other. They are surrounded by six nearly complete and overlapping circles that result in a flowerlike design. Each include in the right overlap the name of one of the first six Syrian months and in its spandril the if-then-clauses with the seeing of the halo and the related prognostication (see figure 11.3).] ‫ل على كثرة الأمطار والعداوة بين الناس مع الفتن و يستعون‬ ّ ‫ إذا حاطت الهالة د‬.‫[ تشر ين الأّول‬27] ً.‫على بعضهم بعضا‬ ‫ل على كثرة الموت في الناس وغزر الأمطار مع شّدة نقع‬ ّ ‫ إذا حاطت الهالة فيه د‬.‫[ تشر ين الثاني‬28] .‫)؟( في البلاد والله أعلم‬ ‫ل على كثرة الرمد وأوجاع العين المؤذية وحدوث الزكام‬ ّ ‫ إذا حاطت الهالة فيه د‬.‫[ كانون الأّول‬29] .‫الشديد والله أعلم‬ ‫ل على غزر الأمطار وكثرة الجور وعلى القتال‬ ّ ‫ إذا حاطت الهالة بالشمس فيه د‬.‫[ كانون الثاني‬30] .‫والفتن بين الناس‬ ‫ل على كثرة الأمراض والموت في الناس وخراب‬ ّ ‫ إذا حاطت الهالة بالشمس فيه د‬.‫[ شهر شباط‬31] .‫البلدان و يلحق أهلها ببئر‬ ‫ل على كثرة الرئاء وهلاك خارجي شر يف )؟( بطلب الملك‬ ّ ‫ إذا حاطت الهالة فيه د‬.‫[ شهر آذار‬32] 183.‫والله تعالى أعلم‬

180 181 182 183

H continues above the scheme on H,114a. H continues below the scheme on H,113b. H continues below the scheme on H,114a. Most probably two schemes are missing here, the second part of the year with the prognostications indicated by a halo of the Sun and the first part of the year with the prognostications indicated by the halo of the moon (for a detailed argumentation see “2. Chapter xxxiv of al-Ashraf ˁUmar’s Tabṣira”).

al-ashraf ˁumar’s tabṣira: chapter xxxiv [26]

297

⟨113b⟩ The statement concerning the encircling halo of the sun in the twelve Byzantine months and what belongs to them of the incidents and the effects—and God knows best.

[The information is provided in a circular, flower-like scheme (see figure 11.3).] [27]

[28]

[29]

[30] [31]

[32]

Tishrīn al-awwal. If the halo encircles (the sun in this month), it indicates frequent rain, enmity among the people (accompanied) by rioting and (that) it will seek help against each other (?). Tishrīn al-thānī. If the halo encircles (the sun) in (this month), it indicates frequent death among the people, plenty of rain with intense quagmire in the lands—and God knows best. Kānūn al-awwal. If the halo encircles (the sun) in (this month), it indicates frequent conjunctivitis, injured painful eyes, and the occurrence of a heavy cold—and God knows best. Kānūn al-thānī. If the halo encircles the sun in (this month), it indicates plenty of rain, frequent iniquity, fighting and riots among the people. The month Shubāṭ. If the halo encircles the sun in (this month), it indicates frequent deceases, death among the people, desolation of the lands, and (that) their inhabitants will reach a source. The month Ādhār. If the halo encircles (the sun) in (this month), it indicates frequent hypocrisy (?) and injury to a foreign noble (?) at the king’s discretion—and God the Exalted knows best.

‫‪schmidl‬‬

‫‪298‬‬

‫‪[The information is provided in a scheme similar to that on the previous page‬‬ ‫]‪(see figure 11.4).‬‬ ‫ل على حدوث أمراض وأوجاع شديدة وقوة الـحر ّ‬ ‫]‪ ⟨114a⟩ [33‬نيسان‪ .‬ظهور الهالة فيه يد ّ‬ ‫والسموم‪.‬‬ ‫ل على كثرة اللصوص والسراق والحرامية وذهاب أمـوال الناس‪.‬‬ ‫]‪ [34‬شهر أي ّار‪ .‬ظهور الهالة فيه يد ّ‬ ‫ل على حدوث الأوجاع الحارّةكالجدري والحصبة أنواع الطاعون‪.‬‬ ‫]‪ [35‬حز يران‪ .‬ظهور الهالة فيه يد ّ‬ ‫ل على خراب في البلدان وشّدة و يكون خصب )؟( وخير وأنبغ )؟(‪.‬‬ ‫]‪ [36‬تم ّوز‪ .‬ظهور الهالة فيه يد ّ‬ ‫ل على كثرة الفتن بين الملوك والأراجيف بين الناس والله أعلم‪.‬‬ ‫]‪ [37‬شهر آب‪ .‬ظهور الهالة فيه يد ّ‬ ‫ل على حدوث الجور وكثرة المظالم وغضب )؟( الملوك والله أعلم‪.‬‬ ‫]‪ [38‬أيلول‪ .‬ظهور الهالة فيه يد ّ‬

al-ashraf ˁumar’s tabṣira: chapter xxxiv

[33]

[34]

[35]

[36]

[37]

[38]

299

Nīsān. Seeing a halo (around the moon) in (this month) indicates the occurrence of deceases, intense pain, severe heat, and the simoom (wind). The month Ayār. Seeing a halo (around the moon) in (this month) indicates frequent thieves, pickpockets, and robbers, as well as monetary loss for the people. Ḥāzīrān. Seeing a halo (around the moon) in (this month) indicates the occurrence of febrile pain such as smallpox and measles, as well as kinds of pestilence. Tammūz. Seeing a halo (around the moon) in (this month) indicates desolation in the lands, violence, and (that) it will be fertile (?), good, (even) outstanding (?). The month Āb. Seeing a halo (around the moon) in (this month) indicates the occurrence of frequent riots among kings, violence, and rumours among the people—and God knows best. Aylūl. Seeing a halo (around the moon) in (this month) indicates the occurrence of iniquity, frequent misdeeds, and the wrath (?) of kings— and God knows best.

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Index Abbo of Fleury 89 Abī l-Rijāl 267, 278–280, 285, 286 Abū Maˁshar (Albumasar) 256 Abū Rayḥān al-Bīrūnī 256 Adomnán 33 Aelred of Riveaulx 105 Agnes Blannbekin 222, 223 Agnes of Bohemia 43 Alberich of Troisfontaines 20 Albert the Great (Albertus Magnus) 67, 151, 152 Albrecht i, King 160 Albrecht, Brother of Frederic iii 59 Alcuin 34 Aldebert 36 Aldobrandesa of Siena 38 Aleth, Mother of Saint Bernard 48 Alexios i, Byzantine Emperor 238, 240, 243, 245 Alfonso x, King 213 Al-Kindi 185 Allinus 83 Alypyus, Saint 33 Amedo of Savoy, Duke 61 Andrea Corsini 40 Andrea of Strumi 38 Anna Komnene 238, 239, 243n Antichrist 160 Apollonius of Tyana 30 Ariald 38 Aristotle 78, 151, 152, 183, 272 Artemidorus 61, 63 al-Ashraf ˁUmar 252–287 Athanasius 32 Audoenus (Saint Ouen) 33, 39 Audradus (Audradus Modicus) 19, 20, 23 Augustine of Hippo 64, 79, 180 Bagatta, Giovanni Bonifacio 31 Baldwin i, King 38 Barontus 14, 15 Bartholomaeus of Parma 200–202 Bede the Venerable 102, 150 Bego 19 Bembo, Bernardo 63 Bergues 64

Bernard of Clairvaux 40, 50 Bernard, Saint 48, 65n Bernhard, rebel 18 Bernold 21 Boniface 36 Borst, Arno 97 Callixtus iii, Pope 59 Carion, Johann 162 Cassius Dio 136 Catherine of Genoa 38 Charlemagne, Holy Roman Emperor 17, 19 Charles ii (the Bald), Holy Roman Emperor 20, 21 Charles iii (the Fat), Holy Roman Emperor 22 Charles iv, Holy Roman Emperor 143 Charles v, Holy Roman Emperor 162 Charles i (the Good), count 84, 85 Charles Martel 20 Childebert i, King 135 Childebert ii, King 134 Childeric i, King 137n Chilperic i, King 134, 137, 138, 141 Chlothar, King 135 Chobham, Thomas of 64 Cicero (Marcus Tullius Cicero) 30, 78, 178, 186 Colomba (Columban) 33–37, 50 Conrad iv, King 109 Constantine the African 210 Daniel, Prophet 254, 255n Daniel the Stylite, Saint 33 Dante Alighieri 11, 41 Delehaye, Hippolyte 30 Dido of Potiers, Bishop 15 Dietrich of Moers, Archbishop of Cologne 56 Dominic of Guzmann, Saint 40, 48, 50 Dominicus Gundissalinus (Don Domingo Gundizalbo) 210, 211 Donatus 30, 41 Dorotheos of Sidon 275 Dunstan, Abbot of Glastonbury 41 Edo of Reims 22

312 Eleanor of Portugal 59 Éloi, Saint 33, 39 Emerio, Saint 42n Ephrem, Saint 32 Erasmus of Rotterdam 181 Ermengarde (Irmingard) of Tours, Empress 19, 29 Ethelwold (Æthelwold), Saint 39–41 Eucherius of Orleans 20 Eugenius 55 Eutychius of Constantinople 33 Felix v (Amedeo viii), Pope 61, 65 Ficino, Marsilio 63 Flodoard of Reims 22 Franz of Prague 157 Fredegunde, Queen 138 Frederick i of Habsburg, Duke 160 Frederick ii, Holy Roman Emperor 109, 112, 113, 115, 116 Frederick iii, Holy Roman Emperor 56, 57, 59, 63, 68, 70, 161 Freud, Sigmund 31 Friedrich of Drosendorf 155, 156 Fulcodii, Guido (Clemens iv., Papst) 190, 193, 195 Fulcran of Lodève 42 Gabriel, Archangel 39 Galbert of Bruges 84, 85 Gaucher of Aureil 43 George Grissaphan 221, 222 Gerard 89 Géraud 42 Ginzburg, Carlo 176 Godfrey of Bouillon 38 Gregory i (the Great), Pope 12, 13, 17, 21, 24, 25, 32, 138, 180 Gregor x, Pope 199 Gregory of Nyssa 32 Gregory of Tours 14, 129, 133–141, 150 Grünpeck, Joseph 161 Gudea 64n Guibert of Nogent 61, 89 Guillaume Arnau 191 Guillaume de Saint-Thierry 47 Gunther, Archbishop of Cologne 20 Gunthramn, King 134 Gutolf of Heiligenkreuz 158 Hadrian ii, Pope 20

index Hans Vintler 217 Hariulf 22 Hartlieb, Johannes 214–216 Heito 15 Henry i, King 101–103 Henry ii, King 109 Henry of Nördlingen 223 Henry Raspe 109, 112, 114, 116 Heredotus 30, 48 Hermes Trismegistus 275–277, 284 Hincmar of Reims 20, 21 Homer 206, 234 Honorius Augustodunensis 140n, 151 Horace 78 Hugh of Semur 44, 45 Iacobus de Tonengo 197, 198, 199 Ibn Hibintā 275, 277, 278, 280, 285 Ida, Countess of Boulogne 38 Iohannes Skylitzes 240 Isidore of Seville 79, 80, 140n, 150, 155, 187, 209 Jacob of Paradies 216–218 Jean de Morigny 214 Johann of Viktring 155 Johannes Hymmonides 21 Johannes Nider 225 John i, Pope 13, 14 John of Salisbury 61, 67, 68, 184, 219 John of Toledo 160 John of Worcester 103n Jonas of Bobbio 33, 35, 36, 49 Jordano of Saxony 46 Julian, Bishop of Cuenca 47 Justinian i (the Great), Byzantine Emperor 236 Kanaka 276, 277 Bernard, King 19 Konrad of Megenberg 129, 151, 155 Kūshyār b. Labbān 256, 275, 285 Lanzoni, Francesco 31, 32, 42n Leo iv, Pope 19 Leon Mandalos, general 242 Lichtenberger, Johannes 161 Liedwy of Schiedam 224 Lioba, Saint 36

313

index Loisy, Alfred 32 Lothair i, Holy Roman Emperor 22 Lothair ii, King 20 Louis the Pious, Holy Roman Emperor 19 Louis ii Holy Roman Emperor 22 Louis iv, Holy Roman Emperor 224 Louis the German, King 20, 21, 22 Lucan 207, 209

56, 57, 58, 59, 63, 65, 66, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71 Pliny the Elder 78, 140 Plutarch 30, 36, 38 Pontius de Parnaco 190, 191 Procopius of Caesarea 235, 236, 238 Ptolemy (Claudius Ptolemy) 275, 277 al-Qabīṣī (Alcabitius) 256

Macrobius 61, 66 Máedóc of Fens (Saint Aída) 34 Marcus Aurelius, Roman Emperor 136 Margareta Ebner 223, 224 Māshāˀ Allāh 275 Matilda of Anjou 100 Matthew Paris 96, 104–117 Maury, Affred 31, 32 Maximilian i, Holy Roman Emperor 161 Melanchthon, Philipp 61 Michael Anemas 239 Michael Psellos 240–243 Michael Scot 184 Muˀayyad Dāˀūd 281, 282 Muḥammad b. Abī Bakr al-Fārisī 281 Muḥyī al-Dīn b. al-ˁArabī 284 Muẓaffar Yūsuf 281

Raduin, Monk 22 Radulph of Coggeshall 102 Ragimbertus, Abbot 36 Raniero degli Avogadro 198, 199 Raymond du Falga 193 Raymond of Marseilles 180 Raymundus de Pennafort 194 Raymundus de Puteo 191, 193 Regiomontanus 161 Ribadeneyra 47 Robert of Molesme 29 Roger of Wendover 105 Romanos i Lekapenos, Byzantine Emperor 240 Rudolf of Fulda 49

Neumann, Wilhelm 97n Nicholas Eymerich 212 Nicholas iv, Pope 201 Nicholas v (Tommaso Parentucelli), Pope 55, 56, 59, 60, 61, 63, 65, 66, 70 Nicloe Oresme 180 Nigidius Figulus 179 Niphus, Augustinus 162 Nonius Marcellus 79 Nourry, Émile (Pierre Saintyves) 31, 32

Sallust 69 Sibyl of Cumae 207 Sigebert of Gembleoux 84, 85 Sigibert, King 134, 136, 141 Silberberger, Ursula 145 Silvester ii (Gerbert of Aurillac), Pope 87 Solinus 78 Stoeffler, Johannes 161, 162 Suitbert 37 Sulpicius Severus 32 Symmachus 13, 14

Odon of Cluny 41, 42 Odysseus, legendary adventurer 206 Orthloh of Sankt Emmeran 37 Owain, knight 220 Peter of Milleau 43n Petrarch 181 Petrus Alfonsi 210 Petrus Raymundi 191, 192, 193, 195 Philostratus 30 Pius ii (Enea Silvio Piccolomini), Pope 55,

Taurin of Evreux, Saint 42 Theodahat, King 236–238 Theoderic the Great (Theodoricus), King 13, 14, 81 Théodore of Sykeon, Saint 33 Theudebert i, King 135 Theuderic i, King 136 Theudgaud (Thietgaud), Archbishop of Trier 20, 21 Thierry of Leernes 50

314 Thietmar of Merseburg 80–83, 90 Thomas of Cantimpré 152 Thomas of Villach 145 Thomas Aquinas (Thomas von Aquin) 197– 202 Unrest, Jakob 144, 149 Urban iv, Pope 193, 195 Uzalger von Alet 191, 192 Valerius Maximus 179, 186 Vernant, Jean-Pierre 176 Virgil (Vergil), 30, 207, 209, 234

index Vulfoleod of Bourges 15 Wahb b. Munabbih 268 Wahlafrid Strabo 15, 17, 18 Waldo, Abbot 17 Wetti 15, 17, 18 William Ætheling 100 William of Malmesbury 22, 41, 102, 108 William of St. Thierry 46, 47 William of Stranton 221 William the Conquerer 48 Willibrord 34, 37 Wulfstan 39–41