encyclopedia of the middle ages - james clarke and co ltd

Encyclopedia of the Middle Ages

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PREFACE

In the world of scholarship and learning, one of the most startling and far-reaching phenomena of the past half-century hasbeen the explosion of published work on medieval studies. The causes of the explosion are not easily identifiable, but theycertainly include an ever more pervasive interest on both sides of the Atlantic in almost all aspects of the European Middle Ages.It is clear that one of the factors which has propelled the growth is the need felt by academic institutions (and, regrettably,governments) to measure individual scholarly performance, and the concomitant expectation that a young scholar will publishone book (or more) to achieve tenure, a second book to secure further promotion, and a substantial number of books and articlesto attain to the highest academic posts. The impact of this explosion on the field of medieval studies – as probably on all scholarlydisciplines – has been overwhelming. With countless books and articles on all aspects of medieval studies appearing each year,the possibility of exercising control over the scholarship published annually in even a small patch of the larger field of medievalstudies becomes increasingly difficult, if not impossible; and, one might add, the more interdisciplinary the field, the greater thedifficulty. Given these circumstances, it is not surprising that the past few decades have seen the creation of various sorts ofbibliographies and encyclopedias designed to provide streamlined guidance to the essential scholarship on a given medievaltopic. There is the massive and excellent (though unillustrated) Lexikon des Mittetalters (ed. G. Avella-Widhalm et al., 9 vols. in17, Munich and Zurich, 1977-99), and those limited to English may perhaps consult the twelve-volume Dictionary of the MiddleAges (ed. J.R. Strayer, New York, 1982-9). But because of their size and cost, these encyclopedias may be accessible in majorlibraries, but are scarcely affordable by individual scholars (a nine-volume edition of the Lexikon des Mittelalters, without indexvolumes, has recently been advertised at c. £1,800, almost $3,000). There is also a number of one-volume dictionaries andencyclopedias, which vary in quality, but in their nature are limited in scope and coverage.

There is thus a need for an encyclopedia of the Middle Ages on a scale smaller than the Dictionary of the Middle Ages and theLexikon des Mittetalters, which, unlike them, would be affordable by individual scholars, and would provide the illustrationwhich they regrettably lack. These considerations led a consortium of British, French and Italian publishers to approach AndréVauchez, a scholar particularly well known in his native France and in Italy, but increasingly also in the English-speaking world,to edit the present work. Vauchez assembled a team of some 30 (largely French-speaking) scholars, with the aim of producing acomparatively inexpensive, illustrated, two-volume dictionary of the Middle Ages. The aim was from the first to create anencyclopedia using the best scholarship available in Europe and North America.

The resulting work is now published – in slightly different versions – in English, French and Italian. It containing some 3,200articles of variable length by some 600 scholars, some 600 black and white illustrations and 30 colour plates.

The French edition is published by Editions du Cerf in Paris in two volumes as the Dictionnaire encyclopédique du moyenâge. Despite the excellence of most of the entries, many of them – in spite of the editor’s aim of supplying each entry with relevantbibliography – lack bibliography altogether. From a non-French point of view, however, the most serious defect of the Frenchversion is its Franco-centric orientation. For example, medieval English subjects are given cursory, often inadequate, treatment,if they are treated at all (the French edition contained no article on Robin Hood or Beowulf).

The Italian edition, the Dizionario enciclopedico del medioevo, was overseen by Claudio Leonardi of the University ofFlorence, is published in three large volumes by Città Nuova. Leonardi and his collaborators were able to broaden the coverageby adding a number of useful articles.

The present English edition, translated by Adrian Walford from the French and Italian editions, while preserving the overallscope and lavish illustration of the French and Italian editions, contains an additional fifty or so entries, partly to enhance theEnglish presence in the volume (articles on Beowulf, the Battle of Hastings and the so-called Peasants’ Revolt of 1381 have beenadded, for example). In addition, however, the present English edition goes beyond the French and Italian editions, namely in thematter of bibliography. A concerted effort has been made to provide every article with relevant and up-to-date bibliography, andwe hope that this feature will be found useful by users of this English Encyclopedia of the Middle Ages.

In any event, the scope of the present Encyclopedia is vast, covering the fields of archaeology, art, architecture, economics,education, geography, history, institutions, languages, literature, philosophy, religion, theology, law, science and politics, andspanning a period from the seventh century to the fifteenth. We are unaware of a comparable work of reference on the MiddleAges which offers so much detailed information at a price which individual medievalists will be able to afford.

It is hoped that it will be of value to scholars by providing them with information on fields outside their own expertise and inshowing them the main sources for further research. Librarians, whether in academic institutions or in public libraries, will find ita useful one-stop guide. Students will be able to obtain a speedy overview of topics that they need. Publication of the Encyclopediaof the Middle Ages provides a happy means of inaugurating the new millennium for medievalists of all persuasions.

BARRIE. DOBSONMICHAEL LAPIDGE

May 2000


personal reflections, the fruit of methodical observation.However, these treatises were to find few echoes over the followingcenturies.

More than anatomy or physiology, medieval image-makers andpreachers were interested, for the edification of the faithful, in thesymbols of which many animals were the bearers. The richmedieval bestiary was inspired particularly by an anonymousoriental work, dating probably from the 2nd c., the *Physiologus.Nearly fifty animals, among them the *dragon, the *unicorn andthe gryphon, appear in it, each with a strong symbolic charge. Cre-ated by God for man’s benefit, i.e. for his service or chastisement,animals could not be entirely bad. That is why the majority ofthem were credited with characters either positive or negative,according to time and place, but sometimes both at once. Moreover,their attributes could be transferred to man when he called himselfby a name or a nickname borrowed from the animal world, apractice widespread in Germanic personal names in the earlyMiddle Ages.

This same anthropocentric and utilitarian approach justifiedman’s exploitation of animals. Besides a workforce, what heexpected from the animal world was *food, *clothing and remedies.

*Hunting occupies an important place in medieval literature aswell as in statutory texts; however, archaeozoologists observe thatgame entered only sparingly into the medieval meat diet, at alllevels of society. So we may suppose that even in the Middle Agesthe risk of confrontation, through the hunt, between man and wildanimals was as much the affirmation of a social situation as thesatisfaction of a material need.

La chasse au Moyen Âge. Colloque Nice, 1979, Paris, 1980. – R. Delort,Les Animaux ont une histoire, Paris, 1984. – Beasts and Birds of the MiddleAges, W.B. Clarke (ed.), M.T.McMunn (ed.), Philadelphia, 1989. – L.Moulinier, “L’ordre du monde animal selon Hildegarde de Bingen (XIIe

siècle)”, L’Homme, l’animal domestique et l’environment, Nantes, 1992,Nantes, 1993. – C. Hicks, Animals in Early Medieval Art, Edinburgh, 1993.– Animals in the Middle Ages, N.C. Flores (ed.), New York, 1996.

Robert Durand

ANJOU, ANGERS. The region of Anjou (the old pagusAndecavensis), with no geological or structural unity, cut in twoby the Loire basin which traverses it from side to side, is hard todiscern before the year 1000. Only in the 11th c. did the conquestsof the *counts of Anjou join the region of the Mauges, south ofthe Layon, to the county and the *diocese; at this date, the dioceseof Angers (more extensive than the present diocese based on thedépartement of Maine-et-Loire) had ceased to coincide with thecounty of Anjou, which included Sablé in the north, part ofTouraine, and Loudun in the south. Nevertheless, Anjou was arelatively coherent territory, a creation of history.

Insecurity profoundly marked the last years of Antiquity andthe early Middle Ages in Anjou. Subject to barbarian *invasions,taken by the Saxons, then by the *Franks, the town of Angers wasreduced to little importance at this time; restricted from the late3rd c. to an enclosure covering hardly nine hectares (as against 60in the early Empire), the town was described by its bishop Thalasius(† 462) as a civitatula. From the death of *Clovis to the approachof the *millennium, the history of Anjou was an uninterruptedsuccession of struggles and dramas; throughout the 6th c.,Merovingian partitions integrated Anjou into ephemeral kingdoms,victims of their rulers’ fratricidal rivalries; absorbed by *Neustriafrom 613, Anjou shared its agitated destinies. The sole eventsknown from the *Merovingian period are the efforts at*evangelization undertaken by the *bishops.

The Christianization of Anjou is generally put in the 4th c.,with the presence of the first bishop, Defensor, the election of St*Martin (372) and the appearance of Christian signs on tombs inthe necropolis south-east of Angers. The evangelization of thecountryside was undertaken by obscure local apostles, soon raisedto the altars (Doucelin, Maxenceul, Vétérin); among them StMaurille, destroyer of idols in the region of Chalonnes, acquiredsuch renown that the Angevins chose him as bishop († 453). Amidstthe Merovingian anarchy, Christianization continued its progressthanks to the activities of bishops, several of whom were recognisedas saints (Aubin, Lézin, Maimbeuf). Benedictine *monasticismwas implanted at Angers (Saint-Étienne in c.530, soon called Saint-Aubin, and Saint-Serge) and in the territory (*Saint-Maur-de-Glanfeuil before 560, and Mont-Glonne). But the collapse of the*Carolingian State after the death of *Louis the Pious inaugurateda long period characterised by a conjunction of perils; for threequarters of a century from 852, the Bretons occupied the land westof the Maine and the Mayenne; from the second third of the 9th c.,the Northmen, installed on an island in the Loire, periodicallyravaged Anjou and occupied Angers (854, 872-873, 886). The

Depiction of animals. Miniature from the San Pedro (Roda)Bible from the monastery of Roda (Catalonia). 10th-11th c.Paris, BNF (Ms lat. 6, fol. 65 v°).

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defence of the realm then attached Anjou to the ancestors ofthe *Capetians, since the province was part of the militarycommand of the regions between the Seine and the Loire entrustedto Robert the Strong, who was killed fighting the Normans atBrissarthe (866), and then to his son Eudes, who became king in888. Faced with the collapse of monarchical *authority, the localdynasty of the Ingelgerians (named after its legendary founderIngelger or Enjeuger) succeeded in making Anjou an autonomousand hereditary *territorial principality from the late 9th c., thoughthese counts were no usurpers and never ceased to recognise thetheoretical supremacy of the *kings at Paris.

From the reign of Count Fulk III Nerra (987-1040) to that of*Henry II Plantagenet (1151-1189), Anjou enjoyed a remarkableexpansion that is generally considered its golden age. Angevininfluence extended up the Loire and the three rivers (Mayenne,Sarthe and Loir). Thus was formed a Greater Anjou, advancing asfar as Vendômois and Touraine (1044), incorporating Maine (1109)and *Normandy (1144); meanwhile Count Fulk V, distinguishinghimself in the East on *crusade, became the first ruler of theAngevin dynasty of *Jerusalem (1131-1185). In 1152, CountHenry’s marriage to Aliénor or *Eleanor (newly divorced fromKing *Louis VII of France) brought him *Aquitaine, and two yearslater he became king of *England. A veritable empire was born,extending from *Scotland to the *Pyrenees, at the centre of whichwas Anjou, where the count’s power was from now on representedby a *seneschal. An unprecedented economic expansion charac-terised this period. Demographic pressure necessitated the rapidconquest of new lands; thanks to land *clearances, accompaniedby the foundation of numerous new *bourgs, *famines becameless frequent and *agriculture was able to go beyond the stage ofsubsistence, as witness the spectacular extension of viticulture;the multiplication of *fairs, *markets and tolls responded to therenewal of trade. This movement accelerated the growth of Angers:the occupation of the right bank of the Maine was the essentialstep in the extension of the town from the 11th c., with thefoundation of the monasteries of Saint-Nicolas (c.1010) and Notre-Dame-de-la-Charité (1028), kernels of the quarter of the Doutre.

The 11th and 12th cc. were also marked by transformations ofsociety (still to be studied) and by a religious renewal illustratedparticularly by the revival of Benedictine monasticism with thefoundation of a multitude of *priories and the return to evangelical*poverty; hermits, soon transformed into itinerant preachers,aroused the enthusiasm of the crowds before forming their disciplesinto new communities (Nyoiseau, or La Roë and *Fontevraud, bothfounded by *Robert of Arbrissel). As for the *secular clergy,bishops like Renaud of Martigné and especially Ulger (1125-1148)were able to free them from the grip of the *laity and attachthemselves to that of the count. At this date, for the first time ever,Anjou’s personality was expressed in an architectural style of itsown, Angevin Gothic (or Plantagenet style), inaugurated c.1150in the nave of Angers *cathedral, which then spread across thewhole of the West in the second half of the 12th century. Also inthe 11th and 12th cc., the first Angevins eminent in letters andthought (*Marbod, Baldric of Bourgeuil, Ulger) appeared at theepiscopal *school and in the *abbeys.

Part of an empire of European dimensions, Anjou found itselfcaught up in the conflict between Capetians and *Plantagenets.From 1205, the capture of Chinon made *Philip Augustus masterof Anjou but, though the Capetian conquest was rapid, thetransition from Angevin Anjou to a French Anjou fully integrated

into the monarchichal unit took place gradually. The young *LouisIX built the powerful *castle that still exists at Angers and a newtown wall to incorporate the whole built-up area, on both banks ofthe Maine. The peace and security thus restored were reinforcedby the treaty of Paris (1258-1259) by whose terms *Henry III ofEngland renounced all claim on the province. But from 1246, Anjouand Maine had been given in appanage to the king’s youngestbrother, *Charles; he founded the *Angevin house of Naples anda Mediterranean empire extending as far as Eastern Europe andthe Near East, once more associating Anjou with a new and prodi-gious adventure. Reunited with the royal domain when Count Philipof Valois ascended the throne as *Philip VI (1328), Anjou wasraised to a duchy in 1360 and given to Louis, second son of KingJohn II the Good; the ducal house was maintained until 1480. Inconformity with the status of appanages, the counts and then dukeshad their own administration and their own personnel, but thispersistence of Angevin autonomy should not deceive us; theAngevin princes contributed to favouring monarchical unificationby copying their institutions from the royal model; being oftenabsent, they let Parisian influence develop in all their domains.

The prosperity of the 13th c. was succeeded, in Anjou aselsewhere, by the period of demographic and moral crisis of the14th and 15th centuries. Although Angers never fell into enemyhands, Anjou, both “barrier and bulwark”, issued from the*Hundred Years’ War exhausted, devastated and ruined by financialexactions from all sides. The time of “Good King” *René, last

Nave and choir of the cathedral of St Maurice, Angers. 13th c.

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effective duke of Anjou (1434-1480), marked by the luxury ofhis *court, one of the most ostentatious of the time, was that of afinal illusion that even allowed the Angevins to regard BishopJohn-Michael (1439-1447) as a saint. But Anjou’s loyalty to the*monarchy and the necessities of war had increased royal influence;in 1475, King *Louis XI gave Angers its municipal charter and,on the death of his uncle René, he united to the royal domain theduchy over which he already had power. He was merely legiti-mizing a fait accompli.

F. Uzureau, “Angers” and “Angers (diocèse)”, DHGE, 3, 1924, 85-114. –Histoire des Pays de Loire, F. Lebrun (dir.), Toulouse, 1972. – Atlashistorique français, 2: Anjou, R. Favreau (dir.), Paris, 1973 (2 vol.). –Histoire d’Angers, F. Lebrun (dir.), Toulouse, 1975. – Le Diocèse d’Angers,F. Lebrun (dir.), 1981 (HDF, 13).

Jean-Michel Matz

ANNALS. Accounts of events classified by year, annals arose outof Paschal tables, lists of annual dates on which the feast of *Easterwas indicated. A monk, consulting these tables to know the dateof Easter in the current year, would note in the margin some eventsthat had seemed significant. These marginal notations weredeveloped, then written down on their own account, without thePaschal table but keeping the number of the year. Thus in the 8thc. appeared what are called minor annals since the facts reportedare linked to a precise place.

With the accession of the *Carolingians, court clerks tried tojustify the coup d’État of 751 in the form of more developed annals,a sort of official palace history: these are the Royal FrankishAnnals. In general however their yearly structure lent itself to themost elementary account, disengaged from any ideological purpose.These annals, called major annals by contrast to the former, are

Meeting of Sts Joachim and Anne at the Golden Gate. Fresco by Giotto in the Scrovegni chapel, Padua. 1303-1309.


specifically Carolingian. They appeared with this dynasty anddisappeared more or less along with it, those written by *Flodoardfrom 919 to 966 being the last. Meanwhile, the annals reflectedthe destiny of the *Empire. The Royal Annals were unique. Theywere continued in West Francia by the Annals of Saint-Bertin whichcover the period 830-882 and in East Francia by the Annals ofFulda, at first up to 887, then continued up to 901. Also classifiedamong major annals are the Annals of Xanten, going up to 873,and the Annals of Saint-Vaast, covering the period 873-899.

For scholars of the Middle Ages, annals are not *history. Historyimplies wide perspectives, a desire to explain and demonstrate.Annals are merely materials for history, materials precious to usfor their chronological precision, but often hardly worked into aform and always considered by the lettered as a minor literary genre.

B. W. Scholz, Carolingian Chronicles, Ann Arbor (MI), 1972. – The Annalsof St-Bertin, J. L. Nelson (ed.), Manchester, 1991. – The Annals of Fulda,T. Reuter (ed.), Manchester, 1992.

R.L. Poole, Chronicles and Annals, Oxford, 1926. – M. McCormick, LesAnnales du haut Moyen Âge, TSMÂO, 14, 1975. – H. White, The contentand the form, Baltimore (MD), 1987.

Michel Sot

ANNATES. Taxes levying the revenue of the first year of a minor*benefice, annates were reserved for the Apostolic *Camerafollowing a new collation. Invoking his financial needs, *ClementV reserved for himself for three years from 1 Feb 1306 the annaliaof vacant benefices in England, Scotland and Ireland. *John XXIIextended the principle to the whole of Christendom and definitivelyfixed the method of levying annates (Si gratanter advertitis andSuscepti regiminis, 1317). Annates were suppressed by the councilof *Basel (21st session, 9 June 1448).

J.-P. Kirsch, Die päpstlichen Annaten in Deutschland während des XIV.Jahrhunderts, Paderborn, 1903. – G. Mollat, DDC, 1, 1935, 533-538.

Agostino Paravicini Bagliani

ANNE AND JOACHIM. No canonical text mentions the nameof Anne: a tradition dating back to the first centuries makes herthe wife of Joachim and mother of the Virgin *Mary (Protogospelof James, Gospel of Pseudo-Matthew).

The cult of St Anne was late and ephemeral in the West. Itdeveloped in the late Middle Ages in connection with theformulation of the Immaculate *Conception of the Virgin. A statueon the trumeau of the central door of the north transept of *Chartrescathedral shows us St Anne carrying the Virgin and Child. Themain representations of herself and Joachim refer to the episodeof their miraculous meeting at the Golden Gate of Jerusalem: e.g.,in the 13th c., with Joachim arriving on horseback at the GoldenGate, on the lintel of St Anne’s door at Notre-Dame in *Paris. StAnne is also present in scenes of the life of Mary, such as theEducation of the Virgin.

Interpreting Cultural Symbols: Saint Anne in late Medieval Society, K.Ashley (ed.), P. Sheingorn (ed.), Athens (GA), 1990.

Frédérique Trouslard

ANNIVERSARIES. Early in the 3rd c. the Christians seem tohave got into the habit of commemorating the *dead on theanniversary of their decease, at first designated by the expression“natales dies defunctorum”. Tertullian († 220) mentions eucharisticcelebrations for the dead, each year, “pro nataliciis”. Shortlyafterwards, Cyprian († 258) mentions the establishment of

calendars intended for the liturgical commemoration of the*martyrs. In the 4th and 5th cc., it was customary to pronouncepanegyrics in memory of certain dignitaries, on the anniversary oftheir death: “in anniversario”, according to a sermon of Augustine(† 430).

In the *Carolingian period, the “anniversary” of the dead wasa well-established form of commemoration, consisting of aliturgical service (*office or *mass) fixed on the anniversary ofthe decease and celebrated in perpetuity. We distinguish fromanniversaries proper the first of these (later called mass “of theyear’s end”), which marked the end of the cycle of celebrationsbegun after the decease: in the 11th and 12th cc., many acta of*confraternities provided for celebrations for deceased monks and*clerics on the third, seventh and thirtieth days after their deathand on the occasion of its first anniversary; after that, the deadwere commemorated only by the reading of their name, each year,on the anniversary of their death.

Many *bishops and *abbots, but also laypeople, at firstemperors and *kings, later mere lords, asked that after their deaththeir “anniversary” be celebrated in perpetuity. More frequentservices were sometimes demanded: each month, each week. Incertain cases, it was specified that the anniversary was to comprisea “mass” and “vigils” (sung on the evening of the previous day).A sum was often provided for the *lighting and for a meal offeredto the ecclesiastical community that performed the liturgicalservices. Demand growing, those responsible for the celebrationswrote down the date of anniversary services and the revenuesassigned to them in *obituaries and “anniversary books”. In thelate Middle Ages, the cost of celebrating “anniversaries” wasrelatively moderate, which allowed the middle classes, well-offmerchants and artisans, to have recourse to them.

J. Chiffoleau, La Comptabilité de l’au-delà. Les hommes, la mort et lareligion dans la région d’Avignon à la fin du Moyen Âge, Rome, 1981,334-339. – P. A. Février, “La Mort chrétienne”, Segni e riti nella Chiesaaltomedievale occidentale, 2, Spoleto, 1987, 928-934. – J. L. Lemaître,Mourir à Saint-Martial. La commémoration des morts et les obituaires àSaint-Martial de Limoges du XIe au XIIIe siècle, Paris, 1989, 393-401. – V.Bainbridge, Gilds in the medieval countryside: social and religious changein Cambridgeshire, c.1350-1558, Woodbridge, 1996.

Michel Lauwers

ANNUNCIATION (iconography). The archangel *Gabriel’sannunciation to *Mary coincided with the Incarnation of *Christand formed the first act of the work of *Redemption. The textualsources of its representation are Lk 1, 26-28, and the *apocrypha(Protogospel of James, Gospel of the Nativity of the Virgin) vulgar-ized in the West by *Vincent of Beauvais (Speculum historiale,3rd part of the Speculum majus, c.1257-1258) and *Jacobus deVoragine (Legenda sanctorum, alias Lombardica hystoria, c.1261-1266).

The scene shown is that of the archangel transmitting the divinemessage to the Elect (in 15th-c. Flemish painting, the reverse,painted in “grisaille”, of *altarpieces like that of Jan *van Eyck’sMystic Lamb in the church of Saint-Bavon at *Ghent, c.1432).Ordinarily, the composition comprised a small number of persons,two or three, with or without the *Holy Spirit. The two main actorsbelong to two different universes, heavenly for one, earthly for theother: hence, in space, there is a conflict of horizontal and verticallines. Stemming from this dual plain are the different roles, activefor the archangel, passive for Mary, at least until the 13th c.;whence, also, the two scales of representation, the archangel

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prominent (wings spread), Mary tucked away in a corner(chamber, oratory). The scene takes place in a mixed place, bothopen and enclosed, outdoors and indoors. When the characters areindoors, especially in the 14th c., the scene is always divided intotwo parts by a column (Simone *Martini, Annunciation, Florence,Uffizi, 1333) or by another artifice (attribute, like a vase containinga lily). In the 15th c., Mary is usually positioned inside a room oran oratory, while the archangel is outside, on a landscape background.

From the late 12th c., still more from the 13th, iconographychanged under the effect of the progress of the Marian cult: thearchangel kneels before Mary who is no longer altogether God’shumble servant, but the ruler accepting homage. From beingpolarized, the composition becomes convergent: Mary tends tooccupy the centre and appears as the main character towards whomthe rays emanating from the Father are all directed (in the 15th c.especially). The moment chosen is that when, surprised by thearchangel, Mary is reading *Isaiah’s prophecy; so she isincreasingly shown holding a book, reading it or turning away fromit, in a room that takes on the aspect of a veritable study. Thus, in*Books of Hours, she is shown arms extended, palms open, turningaway from a book before her (Moulins, BM, ms. 89, fol. 16); or asilent transmission of divine *grace may be suggested, Mary beingdepicted reading, or in any other position indicating her inner piety(Paris, bibliothèque de l’Arsenal, ms. 434, fol. 53). In the late 14thand in the 15th c., these types of representation are the reflectionof a society in which oral recitation of *prayers was graduallygiving way to silent prayer.

D. M. Robb, “The Iconography of the Annunciation in the Fourteenth andFifteenth Centuries”, ArtB, 18, 1936, 480-526. – J. Spencer, “Spatial Imageryof the Annunciation in Fifteenth-Century Florence”, ArtB, 37, 1955, 273-280.

Daniel Russo

ANSELM OF CANTERBURY (1033-1109). Theologian,philosopher and archbishop of Canterbury, born at Aosta (Italy) in1033. As a young man, he set off towards the north to seek outfamous teachers. At *Bec, an innovative school had been set upby another educated and able Italian, *Lanfranc, who lectured onworks of classical logic and rhetoric and taught the study of the

*Bible. Anselm stayed at Bec and, when Lanfranc left for Caen,took charge of the teaching. In 1078 he was elected abbot of Bec.

Anselm described his first book, the Monologion, as ameditation on the divine being. His method of teaching had beento invite his monks to begin from what they knew of the good andto climb in their thought to higher and higher goods until theybegan to glimpse, not God himself, who is ultimately beyondhuman comprehension, but a clearer idea of what he must be like.That led him on to consider other aspects of the divine nature andthen to examine the mystery of the *Trinity. Anselm’s chief modelat this early stage of his authorship remained the works ofAugustine, and the Monologion shows repeated borrowing fromAugustine On the Trinity.

Anselm initially believed that any reasonable person, presentedwith a clear explanation of the truths of faith, would be able toaccept them. Indeed he says as much in his next book, theProslogion. In the Monologion he had constructed “a chain of manyarguments”, and that had appeared to him untidy. So he began tosearch for “a single argument” which would prove not only that*God exists but all the other things Christians believe about him.This was the ontological proof for the existence of God. Anselmpoints out that everyone is able to formulate in his mind the notionof that than which nothing greater can be thought. But it is also,and equally, possible for everyone to distinguish between the“thought” of such a thing, taken simply to be an idea, and thethought of such a thing as a reality. For that than which nothinggreater can be thought to exist in reality is obviously greater thanfor it to exist only as an idea. Anselm’s controversial conclusionwas that that than which nothing greater can be thought musttherefore exist in reality. Though Anselm almost certainly had nodirect knowledge of Plato, he was working with an idea of “reality”that was fundamentally *Platonist. To a Platonist the movementfrom idea to reality takes place at a level where the idea is itselfmore real than any particular exemplification.

Meanwhile, he was continuing with the steady teaching of hismonks. An important task was grounding them in the skills theyneeded for the study of the Bible. Anselm taught a method thatwould enable the student to understand any text he was reading.Unlike the traditional commentator’s patient progression throughthe text passage by passage, it made no use at all of extracts frompatristic *auctoritates. It was thus a quite different method of*exegesis from that which was to evolve in the 12th c. into theGlossa ordinaria. He composed four little treatises in this area.The first, De grammatico, is solely concerned with a technicalquestion on which classical textbooks of *grammar and *logicdiffered: whether the word “literate” (grammaticus) is a *substanceor a quality. The books On Truth, On Freedom of Choice and Onthe Fall of Satan, analyse one or two passages of Scripture. In thelast treatise the key passage is Jn 8, 44, which describes Satan asnot “standing fast in the truth”. Anselm develops the themes oftruth and “rightness” (rectitudo) progressively through the threelittle treatises. With the completion of this group of treatises,Anselm’s period of quiet happiness as a theologian and philosopherbegan to come to an end. He wrote On the Incarnation of the Wordbecause the controversialist Roscelin of Compiègne had accusedhim of teaching heresy about the Trinity. Anselm’s book is notmerely, or even primarily, on the issue Roscelin had raised, but onthe question how it was possible for the Son to be incarnate if theFather and the *Holy Spirit were not also incarnate.

In 1093, Anselm was translated from Bec to the archbishopric

The Annunciation. Altarpiece by Simone Martini (c.1284-1344),1333. Florence, Uffizi.

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The Encyclopedia of the Middle Ages offers the reader information ofexcellent quality on all the issues that may be of interest. It is the workthat every enthusiast about the Middle Ages dreams of owning.

Medioevo

Entries are clear and concise yet leave room for each author’s personalinterpretation. This work is the result of a courageous and difficult enterprise,the first synthesis of all the knowledge currently available on the MiddleAges.

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The Encyclopedia of the Middle Ages restores a period which has for along time been misunderstood to its proper place in history.

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The most competent specialists contributed to this massive Encyclopediaof the Middle Ages. All fields and all appropriate disciplines are covered.This is a treasure scattered in a thousand niches, providing easy access toits jewels.

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A commendable work, unlimited in coverage of regions and disciplines.Le Monde

A comprehensive, but accessible, work of reference for everyone with an interest in the subject, the�� offers a wealth of information not easily available from any other single source, providingdetailed and concise articles on all aspects of the Middle Ages.

Six years in the making, this massive work is the result of the efforts of over 600 scholars, whose contributions havebeen co-ordinated by a team of 30 experts, under the editorial supervision of �� . The English languageeditors are ��and ��.

The�� is a tool based on the advances in scholarship of the last thirty years. Thework couples a magisterial sweep of the period from the seventh to the fifteenth century with a fresh approach to thesubject. Commonplaces about the Middle Ages – blaming its obscurantism or idealising its spirituality, for instance– are finally dismissed. Political and economic features are given proper attention no less than religion, the historyof ideas, and cultural developments. Progress in technology and superb artistic achievements allow us to regard thisage as much more than a mere ‘period of transition’. Lively in style and pleasant to read, the�� is the first work that comprehensively clarifies how much we still owe to that manifold culture.

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An indispensible work of reference, providing a reliable guide not onlyfor the beginner, but also for the expert. . . . An altogether remarkablework of scholarship deployed in a form that makes a huge mass ofmatter accessible and digestible. For years to come, the Encyclopediaof the Early Church will be a primary resource to turn to, whether inacademic or in public libraries.

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The Encyclopedia of the Early Church is a work of great importanceand value. Within its period (up to the mid-8th century) the work coversa very wide range of subjects, each followed by a bibliography. . . .Turning the pages of the Encyclopedia, it is evident that the majority ofthe entries are concerned with people: the coverage is very compre-hensive. . . . Geographical regions receive extensive treatment. . . .Perhaps the most original and valuable articles, however, are those ontheological terms and concepts, on aspects of the Fathers’ writings, andon the various religious and philosophical systems and cultural tendenciescurrent in the patristic period. . . . A full list of interesting articles to befound in the Encyclopedia will come as a welcome surprise to someonebrowsing through the book; almost every page turned at random providesa seductive temptation to linger! . . . For a book of this kind and scopethe price is very reasonable: it deserves to be made available to all seriousgeneral readers and students of the period, and specialists will find itinvaluable for their own bookshelves.

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A full-scale encyclopedia covering the life, theology and growth ofChristianity from New Testament times through to the mid-eighth century.. . . A book worth waiting for. . . . The articles are succinct, authoritative,balanced and representative of a broad cross-section of traditions. Thebibliographies . . . and the splendid system of cross-referencing meanthat additional lines of study can be pursued. . . . Encyclopedias are booksto refer to for specific articles, but these compendious volumes encouragecasual dipping as well. Either approach results in the garnering of wise,carefully controlled and interesting information.

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The Encyclopedia of the Early Church is the unrivalled source of reliable information about Early Christianity andlate antiquity, from the earliest days of Christianity, with particular coverage of the the patristic period, to the periodof John Damascene in the East and Bede in the West.

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of *Canterbury as Lanfranc’s successor. He did not want to bearchbishop. The king, *William Rufus, forced him into office andtried to invest him himself with the *ring and the *staff. Anselmhad already given his loyalty to *Urban II and he strongly believedthat to change it would have been a breach of “right order” (rectusordo). The quarrel took him into exile and led to furtherdisagreements with the next king, *Henry I. In exile again, Anselmcame to realise that William’s attempt to invest him with the ringand staff was in breach of the principle being debated during the*Investiture Contest, that the secular authority could play nosacramental part in the making of a *bishop.

This was the period of Anselm’s mature writing. In the CurDeus Homo he set out to show that even if Christ were taken outof the equation altogether it would be necessary to bring him backso as to give a coherent account of the manner in which the humanrace was able to be restored to the position and purpose for whichGod created it. Important here is his continuing assumption thatthere is a rightness to things, a rectitudo, a divine harmony, whichis divinely ordained and cannot ultimately be frustrated, for Godis omnipotent and always wills what is right. This gives an emphasis(characteristic of the period but particularly marked in Anselm) tothe notion of fittingness (convenientia; decentia). Anselm pointsout near the beginning of the Cur Deus Homo that three things,“will”, “power” and “necessity”, are closely associated in thesolutions he proposes; here too is a familiar theme of his thoughtbrought to maturity in the Cur Deus Homo.

He begins by asking what problem was created by the fall ofAdam and Eve. God could not simply forgive them, Anselm argues,because his own “honour” was diminished by what they had done.Something therefore had to be done to make things right again, torestore right order (rectus ordo). Could God himself haveintervened? The objection to that is that he was not the debtor. Topay oneself a debt someone else owes is not to discharge theobligation of the other person. This patterning of “owe” and“ought” is important as an indicator that Anselm was still thinkingin his earlier terms of things “having to be as they ought to be” inorder for them to be “true”. Could God have used an *angel? Butthe angel would, again, not have been the debtor. Could God haveused a human being? There the difficulty was that all human beings,who were certainly debtors, were now tainted with original sinand were simply not able to do what was required. Logically, theonly possibility was for a being who was both God and man to dowhat was needed, for only he both owed the debt and was able todischarge it. And so we come back to the incarnate Christ, whowas indeed the only solution.

Anselm’s last years – and the works of his maturity were writtenin his sixties and seventies – were taken up with two or three mainthemes. In 1098, while he was in exile at the papal court seekingthe *pope’s backing for his stand against the king of *England, hewas called on by Pope Urban II to frame a rebuttal of the argumentsof the Greeks attending the council of Bari. This was an importantissue. In 1054 a *schism had begun, dividing the Eastern andWestern Churches. The division was mainly political and turnedin some measure upon Greek indignation about the claims of thebishop of Rome to primacy over the four *patriarchs of the East.There were, however, old theological disagreements, the mostimportant of which was the debate about the inclusion of the*filioque clause in the *creed. The original version of the creedhad said that the Holy Spirit proceeded from the Father. TheWestern version said that he proceeds from the Father and the Son.

The Greeks objected to this both because it was an addition to thecreed, and because it was not correct. In their view, it created two“origins” or “principles” in the Trinity, Father and Son, and theFather should stand alone in that position. This was a notion heavilydependent on the Pythagorean and *Neoplatonist idea that unityis metaphysically better than plurality, particularly strong in thetheology of the old Eastern half of the Empire, where the directstudy of texts in Greek had continued to be relatively easy.

Anselm’s On the Procession of the Holy Spirit was completedfour years later. He knew nothing of the history of the dispute,either in the eleventh century or earlier. He approached the problemstraightforwardly as one of reason. His argument turns onsymmetry. Only if the Spirit proceeds from the Father and the Sondo we have a situation in which each *Person of the Trinity has anattribute peculiar to himself and each has an attribute which heshares with the other two. Only the Son has a Father; only theFather has a Son; only the Spirit does not have a Spirit proceedingfrom himself. But both the Father and the Spirit do not have aFather; both the Spirit and the Son do not have Son; and both theFather and the Son have a Spirit proceeding from themselves.

In these last years of his life Anselm also went back to thesubject of free will, now linking it systematically with the questionof the relationship between human *freedom of choice and divineforeknowledge and *predestination and the action of *grace. Onhis death bed, Anselm was still hoping to complete a book on theorigin of the *soul for, as he said, if he did not do so, he was notsure that anyone living would be able to.

Anselm’s influence in his own time and in the periodimmediately after his death was perhaps greater, ironically, in thearea of *spirituality than that of speculative *theology. There aremany manuscripts of his Prayers and Meditations and a vastpenumbra of spurious imitative spiritual writings attributed to himwith confidence during the Middle Ages. His theological andspeculative writing had the disadvantage for the next generationthat its close argument made it not easy to use in short extracts orquotations. But his achievement there is not readily measured bycounting the manuscripts. In the long term the importance of hisideas was recognized and philosophers and theologians in thecenturies since have wrestled with his arguments not for theirantiquarian interest but for their intrinsic value and importance.

The Works of St Anselm, F. S. Schmitt (ed.), R. W. Southern (ed.), 6 vols.,Rome-Edinburgh, 1938-1968. – Memorials of St Anselm, R. W. Southern(ed.), F. S. Schmitt (ed.), Oxford, 1969. – Eadmer, The Life of St Anselm,R. W. Southern (ed.), Oxford, 1972. – The Letters of St Anselm ofCanterbury, W. Fröhlich (tr.), Kalamazoo (MI), 1990-1994 (3 vol.). –Anselm of Canterbury: the Major Works, G. R. Evans (ed.), B. Davies(ed.), Oxford, 1998. – A Concordance to the Works of St Anselm, G. R.Evans (ed.), Millwood (NY), 1984.

A. Koyré, L’Idée de Dieu dans la philosophie de saint Anselme, Paris,1923. – Spicilegium Beccense I, Ier congrès anselmien, Paris, 1959. – J.Vuillemin, Le Dieu d’Anselme et les apparences de la raison, Paris, 1971.– G. R. Evans, Anselm and talking about God, Oxford, 1978. – SpicilegiumBeccense I, 4e congrès anselmien, Paris, 1984. – G. R. Evans, Anselm, London,1989. – R. W. Southern, St. Anselm and his Biographer, Cambridge, 1963.– R. W. Southern, St Anselm: a Portrait in a Landscape, Cambridge, 1997.

Gillian R. Evans

ANSKAR OR ANSGAR (801-865). A Benedictine monk of*Corbie who became *scholasticus of *Corvey, then first bishopof *Hamburg (831), Anskar is considered the apostle of*Scandinavia.

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After having been almoner to a converted Danish prince (HaraldKlak) between 826 and 828, in 829 Anskar received the task oforganising the Christian community of Birka, the great emporiumof central *Sweden, where he built the first church in Scandinavia(830-831). *Louis the Pious gave him the new *bishopric ofHamburg, along with the revenues of the monastic cella of Torhout(Flanders). Gregory IV charged him with a legation to the Scan-dinavians and *Slavs of the North. After 840 Torhout was takenfrom him, and in 845 the *Vikings ravaged Hamburg. Anskar fellback on *Bremen whose vacant episcopal see he occupied. Helater founded a church at Slesvig and another at Ribe (*Denmark)and, during a second misssion to Sweden, re-established a *parishat Birka in c.852. In 864, he received the *pallium for thearchbishopric of Hamburg-Bremen, with authority over the wholeof the Scandinavian lands.

After his death, which occurred at Bremen, his work wascontinued by his successor Rembert († 888), but Sweden’s firstChristian establishments declined rapidly. In fact, Anskar’s

*mission affected only a minority of merchants: this was the realreason for the failure of his precocious attempt to evangelizeScandinavia. The Vita Anskarii, written by Rembert between 865and 873, provides precious information on 9th-c. Sweden. Anskarhimself composed some works including the Virtutes et miraculabeati Willehadi. But the medieval Swedish liturgy ignored themissionary saint until the late 14th c., when Nicolaus Hermansson,bishop of *Linköping, dedicated an officium to him. In the 15th c.,Anskar was honoured in Sweden as founder of the national Church,with his *anniversary feast on 4 February.

L. Musset, “La Pénétration chrétienne dans l’Europe du Nord”, SSAM, 14,Spoleto, 1967. – The Christianisation of Scandinavia, B. Sawyer (ed.), P.Sawyer (ed.), I. Wood (ed.), Alingsås, 1987. – A. Dierkens, “Saint An-schaire, l’abbaye de Torhout et les missions carolingiennes en Scandinavie”,Études offertes à Pierre Riché, 1990, 301-313.

Jean-Marie Maillefer

ANTELAMI, BENEDETTO (c.1150-c.1235). We have noreliable information on Antelami’s life. His surname was commonamong the stonecutters of the Lombard Pre-Alps. His first signedand dated sculpture is a high-relief Deposition from the Cross in*Parma cathedral (1178). Still Byzantine in the symmetry thatguides the composition and the nielloed cornice that frames thescene, the work is innovative in the distinct modelling of the figureswrapped in finely folded drapery which recall contemporaryProvençal sculpture, and especially in the emotion and gravity ofexpression of the figures that mark the artist’s work.

His real masterpiece is the cycle conceived for the *baptisteryat Parma, begun in 1196, of which Antelami may also have beenthe *architect. Completed with the help of collaborators, it isdivided into sculptures placed both outside and inside the building,and develops a complex iconographical programme relating man’sdestiny to the Christian mysteries. The theological emphasis onconcordances between the Old and New *Testaments, convergingtowards the Annunciation of the Birth of Christ and theGlorification of the Virgin, does not prevent ample concession tofantastic and imaginary repertories taken from the bestiaries. Inthe external lunettes of the three portals are depicted the *LastJudgment, an allegory of Life taken from the well-known Orientallegend of Barlaam and Josaphat, and the Adoration of the *Magi(the other work signed by the artist).

In the period between the Deposition (1178) and the start ofthe Parma baptistery sculptures (1196) comes a series of workswhose attribution is still disputed, like the most recent part of thedecoration of the façade of the cathedral of Borgo San Donnino(Fidenza), where the intervention of collaborators is certain. Inthis interval, the master’s work seems more evident in the vigorousreliefs of the marble *cathedra in the apse of Parma cathedral andin the slightly later reliefs made for the two portals in the façadeof Sant’Andrea at Vercelli (c.1227) as well as in the high relief withthe equestrian figure of Orlando da Tresseno (1233), on the outsideof the Broletto at *Milan. Many disciples and imitators of Antelamiperpetuated the art of his school beyond the mid 13th century.Dependent on this current are the sculptures of the lunette depictingthe Adoration of the Magi in San Mercuriale at Forlì, the cyclesof the months in *Ferrara cathedral and in the church of SantaMaria della Pieve at Arezzo and the reliefs with the Dream ofSt Mark on the main portal of St Mark’s basilica in *Veniceand the lives of St *Martin and St Regulus in the atrium of*Lucca cathedral.

The month of June. Bas-relief in the baptistery of Parma, byBenedetto Antelami. Early 13th c.

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G. de Francovich, Benedetto Antelami, architetto e scultore e l’arte delsuo tempo, Milan-Florence, 1952. – G. Duby, G. Romano, C. Frugoni, Bat-tistero di Parma, Milan, 1992. – C. B. Verzar, “Antelami, Benedetto”, DoA,2, 132-133.

Monica Chiellini Nari

ANTEPENDIUM. The pallium (*pall) or antependium was thegreat *veil of *silk or rare stuff that, in late Antiquity and the firstcenturies of the Middle Ages, surrounded the *altar. It was alsoplaced on the *tomb of saints, as a sign of veneration and respect.The pallium could also be a covering of precious metal, workedand ornamented with precious stones: the basilica of S. Ambrogioat *Milan preserves one from the 9th c. in solid *gold. Theantependium became the precious fabric that “hung in front of”the altar and that often changed with degrees of solemnity.

J. Braun, Die christliche Altar, Munich, 1932.Guy-Marie Oury

ANTHONY OF PADUA (1195-1231). Anthony was born atLisbon in 1195, perhaps on 15 August. Son of the knight Martinodi Afonso and his wife Maria, both descended from the city’snobility, he was baptized under the name Fernando. He receivedhis first education at the cathedral school before 1210, after whichhe entered the community of Augustinian Canons of St Vincent,at the gates of Lisbon, and was later sent to the mother house of*Coimbra in 1212. The rich *library of the monastery of SantaCruz gave the young *canon the biblical and patristic training of

the future preacher. 1220 was both the year of his *ordination atSanta Cruz and of his *conversion to the Franciscan ideal, arousedby the sight of the *relics of the five friars killed at Marrakesh, 16Jan 1220. It was indeed the dream of *martyrdom that led Fernandoto the *Franciscan Order and in particular to the Franciscan brothersof the hermitage of St Anthony at Olivais, near Coimbra. On hisentry into the Franciscan Order, Fernando took the name Anthonyin homage to St Anthony Abbot. At the end of 1220 he left for*Morocco, where he spent the winter but had to leave in March1221 due to the poor state of his health. On the return journey, astorm forced him to land in Sicily. From there he went to *Assisiwhere, from 30 May to 8 June, he took part in the order’s general*chapter. Remaining in the shade and practically unknown, heaccompanied the provincial minister Gratian to *Romagna andasked permission to live in the hermitage of Montepaolo near Forlì,where he remained until September 1222. It was on 24 Sept, whilehe was taking part in priestly ordinations at Forlì, that his confrereshad the revelation of his great biblical and patristic knowledge aswell as his oratorical talents. At the end of the month, he obtainedthe post of preacher and was sent to Rimini where, according totradition, in 1223 he was able to convert a great number of *hereticsincluding the heresiarch Bonomillo. But the idea of Anthony’santi-heretical commitment has been much modified by recenthistoriography, which tends rather to see him concerned withteaching and training future preachers, an activity to which he beganto dedicate himself, with *Francis’s consent, between the end of1223 and the first months of 1224. His first school was Santa Maria

The Twelve Apostles. Altar-frontal from the diocese of Seo de Urgel. Catalan school, 12th c. Barcelona, Catalonia Museum of Art.

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della Pugliola at *Bologna, also frequented by members of the*secular clergy and students of the university. Between autumn1224 and the end of 1227, Anthony taught and preached in France:at Arles, Montpellier, Toulouse, Limoges (where he was *guardianof the *convent), Brive, Bourges, Le Puy (as guardian of theMinors). In 1227 he was in Italy again, for the general chapter ofAssisi of 30 May. It was perhaps in that year, at the initiative ofthe new minister general John Parenti, that he was elected provin-cial minister of northern Italy. The following years (1228-1230)saw him in Milan and Vercelli (1229-1231), in *Padua and in themarch of Treviso. He taught, preached and worked at perfectinghis Sermones dominicales and composing his Sermones festivi,but also dedicated himself to *contemplation at the hermitage ofCamposampiero. After the first daily lenten *preaching in Feb-March 1231 at Padua, Anthony died on 13 June 1231. On 30 May1232 he was canonized by *Gregory IX in Spoleto cathedral.

Anthony’s hagiographical tradition, as it developed in the 13thc., can be divided into four stages: the first (1232-1238) representsthe early phase of the cult and comprises the Vita prima (also calledAssidua), the Officio ritmico and the Vita secunda (Juliana), theselatter composed by Julian of Speyer. The second stage coincideswith the generalate of Fra Crescenzio da Iesi (1244-1247) and thebeginnings of a Franciscan *hagiography: from this period datesthe redaction of the Dialogus de gestis sanctorum fratrumMinorum. The third phase is that of the “Anthonian relaunch”,marked especially by the recognition of the body, 8 April 1263,and by the general chapter held at Padua near the saint’s tomb in1276 during the generalate of Fra Girolamo d’Ascoli. It was theminister general himself who gave the impetus to a new Vita, whoseredaction was entrusted to John Peckham (Franciscan ex-provincialof England) and which today seems identifiable with theBenignitas. To the fourth stage, at the end of the century and thebeginning of the next, belong the Raymundina and the Rigaldina,fruits of the order’s new commitment (sanctioned especially bythe general chapters of 1292 and 1295) to recovering the gesta ofsainted friars. Finally, late but important fruits of the hagiographicaltradition are the Liber miraculorum (c.1369-1374), the Epitomeof *Bartholomew of Pisa, the Vita sancti Antonii (15th-c., butrevised and published by Lorenzo Surio in 1572) and the SanctiAntonii vita of the prehumanist Paduan notary Sicco Polentone(15th c.). On 16 Jan 1946, Pope Pius XII proclaimed Anthony a*Doctor of the Church.

Antonii Patavini Sermones dominicales et festivi, B. Costa (ed.), L. Frasson(ed.), G. Luisetto (ed.) and P. Marangon (ed.), Padua, 1979 (3 vol.). – Vitaprima o “Assidua”, V. Gamboso (ed.), Padua, 1981 (“Fonti agiograficheantoniane”, 1). – Giuliano da Spira, Officio ritmico e Vita secunda (c.1235-1240), V. Gamboso (ed.), Padua, 1985 (“Fonti agiografiche antoniane”, 2).– Vita del “Dialogus” e “Benignitas” (1246-1280), V. Gamboso (ed.), Padua,1986 (“Fonti agiografiche antoniane”, 3). – Anthony of Padua, Seek Firsthis Kingdom, L. Poloniato (ed.), Padua, 1988. – Vite “Raymundina” e “Rigal-dina” (1293-1300), Padua, 1992 (“Fonti agiografiche antoniane”, 4).

S. Antonio 1231-1981. Il suo tempo, il suo culto e la sua città, Padua,1981. – A. D. de Sousa Costa, S. Antonio canonico regolare di S. Agostinoe la sua vocazione francescana. Rilievi storico-storiografici, Braga, 1982(“Estudos e textos da idade média e rinascimento”, 3). – Le fonti e lateologia dei sermoni antoniani. Atti del congresso internazionale distudio sui “Sermones” di s. Antonio di Padova (Padova, 5-10 ottobre1981), A. Poppi (ed.), Padua, 1982. – V. Gamboso, Antonio di Padova.Vita e spiritualità, Padua, 1995. – “Vite” e vita di Antonio di Padova.Convegno internazionale di studio (Padova, 29 maggio - 1 giugno 1995),1996, 1-2, 7-379 (“Il Santo”, series 2). – Pensamento e testemunho.Congresso internacional. 8° centenario do nascimento de santo Antonio,

Braga, 1996 (2 vol.). – In nome di Antonio: La “Miscellanea” del Codicedel Tesoro (XIII in.) della Biblioteca Antoniana di Padova. Studio ed edizionecritica, L. Frasson † (ed.), L. Gaffuri (ed.), C. Passarin (ed.), Padua, 1996.

Laura Gaffuri

ANTHROPOLOGY, HISTORICAL. The expression “historicalanthropology” appeared in France around 1970, under the influenceof the history called “of the Annales”. Thus in 1974 the reviewAnnales published a special number entitled For anAnthropological History, and in 1978 it devoted a number to theHistorical Anthropology of Andean Societies. However, thediscovery by historians of the works of ethnologists on “traditionalsocieties” is much earlier. Marc Bloch and Lucien Febvre had notbeen unaware of it, but this attention increased when, after theSecond World War, an important theoretical revival of ethnologyoccurred, particularly under the influence of Claude Lévi-Strauss.This favoured a rereading of pioneers like Marcel Mauss. Anglo-Saxon anthropology, or social anthropology, was equally important(E. Evans-Pritchard), as was the ethnology of traditional Frenchsocieties (Arnold Van Gennep, Louis Dumont). More than just adiscipline – the definition of it given in 1986 by André Burguière:“A history of attitudes and habits”, is too restricted –, historicalanthropology is the desire to combine the acquired knowledge,the research fields and the methods of anthropology with thehistorical approach.

This encounter is fertile in the study of *kinship systems, whichfor ethnologists is the key to their discipline: the fundamental roleof the system of kinship relations in medieval society has alreadybeen brought out (G. Duby, D. Barthélemy, P. Guichard, A.Guerreau-Jalabert, S. D. White). Likewise, the contribution ofanthropology is essential in the history of the *body: physical andbiological history, but also the study of “body techniques” (MarcelMauss, 1936), which fit into social systems of meaning andcommunication, as into the relationship of medieval people withtheir own bodies and those of others. Likewise, for theanthropologist, identifying systems of representation is an essentialwork. A history of these systems has been instituted under thelabel “history of mentalities”. To the analysis of a “folk” culture,experienced in the rural world as in the aristocracy (J. Le Goff, J.-C. Schmitt), has been added research on complex symbolic wholes,like *heraldry or colours (M. Pastoureau). Political history (inwhich *politics and the sacred overlap) would in turn, in thefootsteps of Marc Bloch (Les Rois thaumaturges, 1924), alsobenefit from the contributions of anthropology.

A. Burguière, “Anthropologie historique”, Dictionnaire des sciences histor-iques, Paris, 1986, 52-60. – J.-C. Schmitt, La Raison des gestes dansl’Occident médiéval, Paris, 1990. – J. Berlioz, A. Guerreau-Jalabert, J. LeGoff, “Anthropologie et histoire”, L’Histoire médiévale en France. Bilanet perspectives, Paris, 1991, 269-304.

Jacques Berlioz

ANTHROPOMORPHISM. In his De laudibus sanctae crucis(c.840), *Rabanus Maurus distinguishes the *sign (signum:abstract, like that of the bare *cross) from the *image (imago: e.g.that of the emperor or that of *Christ). From the 10th c., in therepresentation of God as in that of Christ’s cross (imago crucifixi),the (representative) image gradually prevailed to the detriment ofthe simple sign: hence the anthropomorphic images of *God theFather and the *Trinity. Without ever having the theoreticalcoherence of a formal *heresy, this humanization of God was afundamental tendency of the Western religious mentality, though

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currents of negative theology or *apophatic *mysticism continuedto be well represented in the Middle Ages. This tendency triumphedespecially from the 12th to the 15th c. in religious art and *theatre,and coloured the various ways of addressing God and speaking toHim. *Jews and Muslims criticized the Christians for it, but theyjustified it by appealing to the Incarnation.

F. Boespflug, Dieu dans l’art, Paris, 1984.François Boespflug

ANTICHRIST

Exegesis. Antichrist is the incarnation of the leader of the forcesof *evil against the forces of *Christ during the tribulations of theend of *time. Medieval *exegesis followed the tradition of earlyChristianity in the description of this eschatological figure; thebiblical texts are its main sources. The rare mentions of Antichristby name (1 Jn 2, 18. 22; 4, 3; 2 Jn 7), indirect mentions of him (2Th 2, 3-11) or the prophetic words of Christ (Mt 24, 5. 24; Mk 13,6. 22; Lk 21, 8) all imply the key traits of the figure of Antichrist:he will appear before long, before Christ’s Second Coming; denierof Christ, seducer of the Church and of Christians, he will sethimself up against God and have himself worshipped in his place;after the persecution inflicted on the Christians, he will be de-stroyed by Christ or his agent. The other major biblical sourcesare the *Apocalypse and *Daniel (especially Rev 13 and Dan 11).Finally, exegesis identified in the *Bible certain types (AntiochusEpiphanes, Simon Magus) and symbols of Antichrist (especiallyin the Apocalypse): the most often cited being the beast with sevenheads from the sea (Rev 13, 1).

Among non-biblical sources of the tradition were the*apocrypha, the *Sibylline oracles (Tiburtine sibyl, 4th c.) andPseudo-Methodius’s Description of the Last Times (late 7th c.).Conservative exegesis, following Augustine and Jerome, placedthe coming of Antichrist just before Christ’s Second Coming andthe *Last Judgment: *Isidore of Seville (c.570-636) and theVenerable *Bede (c.673-735) expected him at the end of the sixthage, the age of the Church. Around 954, *Adso of Montier-en-Dersynthesized the tradition in a veritable biography (Libellus deAntichristo), taken up and enriched throughout the Middle Ages:Antichrist appears there as a *tyrant and pseudo-Christ parodyingChrist. The Glossa ordinaria, an orthodox exposition of biblicaltradition (12th c.), insists on the imminence of the end and theviolence of Antichrist.

*Joachim of Fiore († 1202) diverged from tradition: he admittedseveral comings of Antichrist, the main one (“great Antichrist”)preceding a spiritual era. His conception was radically utilized inthe numerous political and religious polemics hatched betweenthe 13th and 15th cc.: *Frederick II and then 14th-c. popes like*Boniface VIII were successively identified as Antichrist by theirenemies. The theme of Antichrist spread at the same time in all typesof literature, generally conforming to the conservative exegesis:*sermons, historical works, *theatre (Ludus de Antichristo, c.1155-1160), allegorical poems (Tournoiement Antécrist, c.1234-1237);vitae of Antichrist multiplied in the 15th century. The iconographyof Antichrist, inspired by the Apocalypse, represents him inaccordance with the conservative exegesis.

M. Reeves, The Influence of Prophecy in the later Middle Ages, Oxford,1969. – R. K. Emmerson, Antichrist in the Middle Ages: a Study of MedievalApocalypticism, Art and Literature, Seattle (WA), 1981. – R. E. Lerner,“Antichrists and Antichrist in Joachim of Fiore”, Spec., 60, 1985, 553-570.

Marc Boilloux

Spirituality. Antichrist is a character in the eschatological dramawhose scenario was established from the beginning of Christianityon the margins of official theology. He is called “Antechrist” sincehe must appear before (ante) Christ’s return at the end of *time, or“Antichrist” because he is an antithesis of *Christ. He appears byname in St John’s two epistles (1 Jn 2, 18-22; 4, 3; 2 Jn 7) and,under various names, in *apocalyptic literature. The bestdescription of his person and activity is in a treatise of *Adso ofMontier-en-Der entitled Of the Birth and Times of the Antichrist,written in 953-954. His biography is presented as the antithesis ofChrist’s. Born at Babylon, he will be brought up at Bethsaida andChorazin by magicians and sorcerers. He will reign in *Jerusalemwhence he will launch the final persecution against the Christiansand the elect. These will have been prepared for his coming by thereturn to earth of Enoch and *Elijah. Kept in reserve for this taskby God, they will instruct and train the Christians for spiritualcombat for three and a half years. The Antichrist, son of the Devil,will finally unleash the persecution and will martyr the elect withEnoch and Elijah. His reign will last three and a half years toconclude the last week of the world. Then Christ himself, or thearchangel *Michael, will kill the Antichrist before inauguratingthe *Last Judgment after forty days of penitence.

The outlines of this eschatological scheme had already beendrawn by Hippolytus of Rome early in the 3rd c., and would remainat the forefront of the Christian mentality well beyond the end ofthe Middle Ages. Numerous treatises and libelli would perpetually

Antichrist makes the roots of a tree flower. Miniature from anAnglo-Norman Apocalypse. New York, Pierpont Morgan Library(Ms 524, fol. 7).

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