When Political Rivalry Goes Too
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000 INICIALES English Maquetación 1
004 MEDIEVAL_english_Maquetación 1 21/02/14 11:43 Página 72 004 MEDIEVAL_english_Maquetación 1 21/02/14 11:43 Página 73 The Medieval World 004 MEDIEVAL_english_Maquetación 1 21/02/14 11:43 Página 74 Al-Andalus (8th-15th Century) Islam, a religious movement born on the Arabian Peninsula, spread to other geographical regions after the Hijra (622), when its founder, Muhammad, migrated from Mecca to Medina. In a short time Muhammad’s successors conquered a vast territory stretching from central Asia to the Atlantic. In the Mediterranean, they occupied North Africa and reached the Iberian Penin- sula in 711, sweeping up and over the Pyrenees to Poitiers, where their ad- vance was finally halted by the Franks in 732. Al-Andalus was how the Muslims referred to the Iberian territory under their control, whose borders shifted repeatedly in the following centuries until the end of Muslim rule on the peninsula in 1492. 74 In the early years (711-756), Al-Andalus was a province of the Umayyad Em- pire governed by an emir who answered to the caliph at Damascus. In 750 the Umayyads were overthrown by the Abbasids, but one Umayyad prince, ‘Abd al-Rahman, survived and conquered Córdoba (756), proclaiming himself emir and founder of the Umayyad dynasty of Al-Andalus. The capital of 'Abd al-Rahman II and various objects that still display the late Hispano-Roman and Visigothic traditions date from this period. In 929 ‘Abd al-Rahman III established the Umayyad Caliphate of Córdoba, a state in its own right with no ties of dependency on the Abbasid Caliphate of Baghdad, and founded the palatial city of Madinat al-Zahra, a symbol of Umay- yad power and splendour. -
The Heritage of AL-ANDALUS and the Formation of Spanish History and Identity
International Journal of History and Cultural Studies (IJHCS) Volume 3, Issue 1, 2017, PP 63-76 ISSN 2454-7646 (Print) & ISSN 2454-7654 (Online) DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.20431/2454-7654.0301008 www.arcjournals.org The Heritage of AL-ANDALUS and the Formation of Spanish History and Identity Imam Ghazali Said Indonesia Abstract: This research deals with the Islamic cultural heritage in al-Andalus and its significance for Spanish history and identity. It attempts to answer the question relating to the significance of Islamic legacies for the construction of Spanish history and identity. This research is a historical analysis of historical sources or data regarding the problem related to the place and contribution of al-Andalus’ or Islamic cultural legacies in its various dimensions. Source-materials of this research are particularly written primary and secondary sources. The interpretation of data employs the perspective of continuity and change, and continuity and discontinuity, in addition to Foucault’s power/knowledge relation. This research reveals thatal-Andalus was not merely a geographical entity, but essentially a complex of literary, philosophical and architectural construction. The lagacies of al-Andalus are seen as having a great significance for the reconstruction of Spanish history and the formation of Spanish identity, despite intense debates taking place among different scholar/historians. From Foucauldian perspective, the break between those who advocate and those who challenge the idea of convivencia in social, religious, cultural and literary spheres is to a large extent determined by power/knowledge relation. The Castrian and Albornozan different interpretations of the Spanish history and identity reflect their relations to power and their attitude to contemporary political situation that determine the production of historical knowledge. -
Constructing the Cámara Santa: Architecture, History, and Authority in Medieval Oviedo
Constructing the Cámara Santa: Architecture, History, and Authority in Medieval Oviedo by Flora Thomas Ward A thesis submitted in conformity with the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Department of Art University of Toronto © Copyright by Flora Thomas Ward 2014 Constructing the Cámara Santa: Architecture, History, and Authority in Medieval Oviedo Flora Thomas Ward Doctor of Philosophy Department of Art University of Toronto 2014 Abstract My dissertation examines the Cámara Santa of the Cathedral of Oviedo as both a medieval and modern monument, shaped by twelfth-century bishops and twentieth-century restorers. I consider the space as a multi-media ensemble, containing manuscripts, metalwork, and sculpture, arguing that we must view it as a composite—if fragmented—whole. My analysis focuses on the twelfth century, a crucial period during which the structure, decoration, and contents of the Cámara Santa were reworked. A key figure in this story is Bishop Pelayo of Oviedo (d. 1153), who sought to enhance the antiquity and authority of the see of Oviedo by means of the cult of its most important reliquary: the Arca Santa. I argue that this reliquary shapes the form and function of the twelfth-century Cámara Santa, considering the use of the space in the context of liturgy and pilgrimage. Finally, I consider the sculpture that lines the walls of the space, arguing that it animates and embodies the relics contained within the Arca Santa, interacting with the pilgrims and canons who used the space. Thus, this sculpture represents the culmination of the long twelfth-century transformation of the Cámara Santa into a space of pilgrimage focused around the Arca Santa and the memory of the early medieval patrons of the Cathedral of Oviedo, a memory which abides to this day. -
The Two Postwar Eras and the Conditions for Stability in Twentieth-Century Western Europe
The Two Postwar Eras and the Conditions for Stability in Twentieth-Century Western Europe The Harvard community has made this article openly available. Please share how this access benefits you. Your story matters Citation Maier, Charles S. 1981. The two postwar eras and the conditions for stability in twentieth-century Western Europe. American Historical Review 86(2): 327-352. Published Version doi:10.2307/1857441 Citable link http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:HUL.InstRepos:4727674 Terms of Use This article was downloaded from Harvard University’s DASH repository, and is made available under the terms and conditions applicable to Other Posted Material, as set forth at http:// nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:HUL.InstRepos:dash.current.terms-of- use#LAA AHR Forum The Two Postwar Eras and the Conditions for Stability in Twentleth-CenturyWestern Europe CHARLES S. MAIER BROADCASTING over the BBC in November 1945, A. J. P. Taylor assured his lis- teners, "Nobody in Europe believes in the American way of life-that is, in pri- vate enterprise; or rather those who believe in it are a defeated party and a party which seems to have no more future than the Jacobites in England after 1688. "I Taylor proved to be wrong, or at least premature, about the end of pri- vate enterprise. The question here is why, at least in Western Europe, there was less transformation than he envisaged. Posed in broader terms, how did Western Europe achieve political and social stability by the mid-twentieth century after two great, destructive wars and the intervening upheaval. Historians often treat stability as a passive coming to rest or a societal inertia that requires no explanation. -
Georgia: What Now?
GEORGIA: WHAT NOW? 3 December 2003 Europe Report N°151 Tbilisi/Brussels TABLE OF CONTENTS EXECUTIVE SUMMARY AND RECOMMENDATIONS................................................. i I. INTRODUCTION .......................................................................................................... 1 II. BACKGROUND ............................................................................................................. 2 A. HISTORY ...............................................................................................................................2 B. GEOPOLITICS ........................................................................................................................3 1. External Players .........................................................................................................4 2. Why Georgia Matters.................................................................................................5 III. WHAT LED TO THE REVOLUTION........................................................................ 6 A. ELECTIONS – FREE AND FAIR? ..............................................................................................8 B. ELECTION DAY AND AFTER ..................................................................................................9 IV. ENSURING STATE CONTINUITY .......................................................................... 12 A. STABILITY IN THE TRANSITION PERIOD ...............................................................................12 B. THE PRO-SHEVARDNADZE -
Song of El Cid
Eleventh Century Spain was fragmented into kingdoms and other domains on both the Christian and Muslim sides. These realms were continually at war among themselves. El Cid was a soldier- adventurer of this time whose legend endured through the centuries and became a symbol of the Christian Reconquest. This is his story as told by himself in the guise of a medieval troubadour – but with some present-day anachronisms creeping in. Song of El Cid I’m Rodrigo Díaz de Vivar; Prince Sancho was the one I served, my fame has spread to lands afar. my qualities were well observed, that’s why you’re sitting here with me so when he became the king in turn to listen to my soliloquy. I had but little left to learn about the matters of warfare, To Moors I’m known as El Sayyid and to him allegiance I did swear. (though I am no Almorávide). El Cid, the lord or leader who As his royal standard bearer, I is invincible in warfare too. was one on whom he could rely to wage the battles against his kin, To Christians I’m El Campeador, which it was paramount to win. now what that means you can be sure. I’m champion of the field of battle, For in the will of Ferdinand, reducing all my foes to chattel! he had divided all his land; to García - Galicia, to Elvira – Toro, Confuse me not with Charlton Heston, to Alfonso - León, to Urraca - Zamora. my story’s not just any Western. His culture centers round the gun, So Sancho was left with Castile alone but I have owned not even one. -
El Cid and the Circumfixion of Cinematic History: Stereotypology/ Phantomimesis/ Cryptomorphoses
9780230601253ts04.qxd 03/11/2010 08:03 AM Page 75 Chapter 2 The Passion of El Cid and the Circumfixion of Cinematic History: Stereotypology/ Phantomimesis/ Cryptomorphoses I started with the final scene. This lifeless knight who is strapped into the saddle of his horse ...it’s an inspirational scene. The film flowed from this source. —Anthony Mann, “Conversation with Anthony Man,” Framework 15/16/27 (Summer 1981), 191 In order, therefore, to find an analogy, we must take flight into the misty realm of religion. —Karl Marx, Capital, 165 It is precisely visions of the frenzy of destruction, in which all earthly things col- lapse into a heap of ruins, which reveal the limit set upon allegorical contempla- tion, rather than its ideal quality. The bleak confusion of Golgotha, which can be recognized as the schema underlying the engravings and descriptions of the [Baroque] period, is not just a symbol of the desolation of human existence. In it transitoriness is not signified or allegorically represented, so much as, in its own significance, displayed as allegory. As the allegory of resurrection. —Walter Benjamin, The Origin of German Tragic Drama, 232 The allegorical form appears purely mechanical, an abstraction whose original meaning is even more devoid of substance than its “phantom proxy” the allegor- ical representative; it is an immaterial shape that represents a sheer phantom devoid of shape and substance. —Paul de Man, Blindness and Insight, 191–92 Destiny Rides Again The medieval film epic El Cid is widely regarded as a liberal film about the Cold War, in favor of détente, and in support of civil rights and racial 9780230601253ts04.qxd 03/11/2010 08:03 AM Page 76 76 Medieval and Early Modern Film and Media equality in the United States.2 This reading of the film depends on binary oppositions between good and bad Arabs, and good and bad kings, with El Cid as a bourgeois male subject who puts common good above duty. -
Roman Algeria, the Sahara & the M'zab Valley 2022
Roman Algeria, the Sahara & the M’Zab Valley 2022 13 MAR – 2 APR 2022 Code: 22203 Tour Leaders Tony O’Connor Physical Ratings Explore Ottoman kasbahs, Roman Constantine, Timgad & Djemila, mud-brick trading towns of the Sahara, Moorish Tlemcen, & the secret world of the Berber M'Zab valley. Overview Join archaeologist Tony O'Connor on this fascinating tour which explores Roman Algeria, the Sahara & the M'Zab Valley. Explore the twisting streets, stairs, and alleys of the Ottoman Kasbah of Algiers and enjoy magnificent views across the city from the French colonial Cathedral of Notre-Dame d'Afrique. Wander perfectly preserved streets at the UNESCO World Heritage sites of Roman Djémila and Timgad, empty of visitors and complete with stunning mosaics, full-size temples, triumphal arches, market places, and theatres. At Sétif gaze upon one of the most exquisite mosaics in all of the Roman world – The Triumph of Dionysus. Engage with Numidian Kings at the extraordinary tombs of Medracen and the 'Tomb of the Christian' along with the ambitions of Cleopatra and Mark Antony at their daughter’s former capital of Caesarea/Cherchell. Explore the Roman 'City of Bridges', Constantine, encircled by the dramatic gorge of Wadi Rummel. Wander the atmospheric ruins of the Roman towns of Tipaza and Tiddis: Tipaza overlooks the Mediteranean, while Tiddis perches on a hillside, overlooking the fertile lands of Constantine. Walk the Algerian 'Grand Canyon' at El Ghoufi: a centre of Aures Berber culture, Algerian resistance to French colonial rule, inscriptions left behind by the engineers of Emperor Hadrian himself, and photogenic mud-brick villages clustering along vertiginous rocky ledges. -
Poetry and the Arab Spring
City University of New York (CUNY) CUNY Academic Works All Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects 2-2015 Poetry And The Arab Spring George A. Simon Graduate Center, City University of New York How does access to this work benefit ou?y Let us know! More information about this work at: https://academicworks.cuny.edu/gc_etds/624 Discover additional works at: https://academicworks.cuny.edu This work is made publicly available by the City University of New York (CUNY). Contact: [email protected] Poetry and the Arab Spring By George Simon A master’s thesis submitted to the Graduate Faculty in Middle Eastern Studies in partial fulfillment requirements for the degree of Master of Arts, The City University New York. 2015 i This manuscript has been read and accepted for the Graduate Faculty in Middle Eastern Studies in satisfaction of the requirement for the degree of Master of Arts. Approved by ______________________________________________ Date: ___________________ Prof. Christopher Stone Advisor ______________________________________________ Date: _____________________ Prof. Simon Davis Acting Director Master’s in Middle Eastern Studies THE CITY UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK ii Poetry and the Arab Spring By: George Simon Advisor; Prof. Christopher Stone Abstract: In 2010-11 the world saw the rise of the Arab Spring, a series of uprisings across the Arab world. These uprisings were attempts by the Arab peoples to over throw their governments and bring freedom and change to their societies in order to live in dignity and grace. These populist uprisings produced powerful poetry that of cuses on the corruption of Arab governments and the rampant economic social prob lems. -
Homer: an Arabic Portrait1
Edin Muftić Homer: An Arabic portrait1 Homer is rightfully seen as the first teacher of Hellenism, the poet who educated the Greek, who in turn educated Europe. But, as is well known, Europe doesn’t have a monopoly on Greek heritage. It was also present in the Islamic tradition, where it manifested itself differently. Apart from phi- losophy, mathematics, astronomy, medicine and pharmacology, Greek poetry, even if usually not translated, was also widely read among the Arab-Islamic intellectual elite. The author analyses the extent to which Homer’s works circulated, how well known were his poetics, and the influence his verses exerted during the heyday of Classical Arab-Islamic civilization. Keywords: Homer; translation movement; Al-Biruni; arabic poetry; Al-Farabi; Averroes INTRODUCTION The Greek and Arab epic tradition have much in common. Themes of tribal enmity, invasions and plunder, abduction of women, revenge, heroism, chivalry and love feature prom- inently in both traditions. While the Greeks have Hercules, Perseus, Theseus, Odysseus, Jason or Achilles, the Arabs have ʻAntar bin Šaddād (the “Arab Achilles”), Sayf bin ī Yazan, Az-Zīr Sālim and many others. When it comes to the actual performance of poetry, similarities be- Ḏ tween the two traditions are even greater. Homeric aoidos playing his lyre has a direct coun- terpart in Arab rawin playing his rababa. The Arab wandering poet often shares the fate of his Greek colleague (Imruʼ al-Qays, arafa and Al-Aʻšá, and Abū Nuwās and Al-Mutanabbī are the most famous examples). Greek tyrants who were famous for hosting poets like Ibycus, Anacre- Ṭ on, Simonides, Bacchylides or Pindar, while expelling others like Alcaeus, have a royal counter- part in An-Nuʻmān bin al-Mun ir, the ruler of Hira. -
The Self-Coronations of Iberian Kings: a Crooked Line
THE SELF-Coronations OF IBERIAN KINGS: A CROOKED LINE JAUME AURELL UNIVERSIDAD DE NAVARRA SpaIN Date of receipt: 10th of March, 2012 Final date of acceptance: 4th of March, 2014 ABSTRACT This article focuses on the practice of self-coronation among medieval Iberian Castilian kings and its religious, political, and ideological implications. The article takes Alfonso XI of Castile self-coronation (1332) as a central event, and establishes a conceptual genealogy, significance, and relevance of this self-coronation, taking Visigothic, Asturian, Leonese, and Castilian chronicles as a main source, and applying political theology as a methodology. The gesture of self-coronation has an evident transgressive connotation which deserves particular attention, and could throw some light upon the traditional debate on the supposed “un-sacred” kingship of Castilian kings1. KEY WORDS Coronation, Unction, Castile, Monarchy, Political Theology. CAPITALIA VERBA Coronatio, Unctio, Castella, Monarchia, Theologia politica. IMAGO TEMPORIS. MEDIUM AEVUM, VIII (2014) 151-175. ISSN 1888-3931 151 152 JAUME AURELL 1Historians have always been fascinated by the quest for origins. Alfonso XI of Castile and Peter IV of Aragon’s peculiar and transgressive gestures of self-coronation in the fourteenth century are very familiar to us, narrated in detail as they are in their respective chronicles2. Yet, their ritual transgression makes us wonder why they acted in this way, whether there were any precedents for this particular gesture, and to what extent they were aware of the different rates at which the anointing and coronation ceremonies were introduced into their own kingdoms, in their search for justification of the self-coronation3. -
Matthew Bailey Professor of Spanish & Department Chair Department of Romance Languages Washington and Lee University Lexington, VA 24450 540-458-8160 [email protected]
CURRICULUM VITAE Matthew Bailey Professor of Spanish & Department Chair Department of Romance Languages Washington and Lee University Lexington, VA 24450 540-458-8160 [email protected] EDUCATION 1989: PhD, Spanish, Tulane University: “Words and Meaning in the Poema del Cid and the Poema de Fernán González,” Director, Thomas Montgomery 1984: MA, Spanish, Tulane University: “Syntactic Patterns in the Mocedades de Rodrigo,” Director, Thomas Montgomery 1977: BA, Spanish, University of Maine, Orono (1 yr. Universidad de Sevilla) ACADEMIC APPOINTMENTS Professor, Washington and Lee University, 2008-present Associate Professor with Tenure, University of Texas, 1998-2008 Assistant Professor, University of Texas, 1994-1998 Assistant Professor, College of the Holy Cross, 1989-1994 Visiting Assistant Professor, Colby College, 1988-1989 Teaching Assistant, Tulane University, 1980-1988 Instructor of ESL and Spanish, Seville, Spain, 1977-1980 RESEARCH INTERESTS Literature and culture of medieval Iberia (Spain and Portugal), Epic narrative, Intersections of legend and history in medieval historiography RECENT COURSES The Portuguese Caminho de Santiago (includes walking the pilgrim route) Seville and the Foundations of Spanish Civilization (taught in Seville, Spain) The Medieval Epic: From Beowulf to Game of Thrones Gender, Desire and Social Repression in Early Spanish Literature. DISSERTATIONS SUPERVISED Fátima Alfonso-Pinto, “The Crónica de Cinco Reis de Portugal: The Influence of Castilian Historiography on the Epic Tradition of D. Afonso Henriques,” May 1999. Jane Zackin, “A Jew and his Milieu: Allegory, Discourse, and Jewish Thought in Sem Tov's Proverbios morales and Ma'aseh ha Rav,” October 2008. María Rebeca Castellanos, "Foundational Myths of Medieval Spain: The Rape of Count Julian's Daughter," November 2009.