Month: March 2026

Khizhniakova, S. O.
«Medical history» as motif in historical narrative (using the example of the Chronicle of John of Nikiu), in: Proslogion: Studies in Medieval and Early Modern Social-History and Culture, 2025. Vol 8(2). P. 33–45.

Stanislava Olegovna Khizhniakova, research assistant, Saint Petersburg State University (199034, Russia, Saint Petersburg, Mendeleevskaya liniya, 5); student, Higher School of Economics (105064, Russia, Moscow, 21/4 Staraia Basmannaia st.)

h.stasya@gmail.com

Language: Russian

This article examines the description of «case history» in a medieval text based on John of Nikiu’s «Chronicle». This paper, written in the late 7th century CE, tells about universal history, starting from the creation of the world. Therefore, mythical and biblical plots are intertwined with historical events. Since illness is an integral part of human existence, the text of John of Nikiu’s «Chronicle» inevitably contains references to diseases, which are described with various specialties and interpreted differently by the author. This article emphasizes the existence of different approaches to describing disease and its treatment. Three main approaches to recording the «case history» are distinguished: «natural», meaning that no explanation for the disease is provided; «supernatural», meaning that the illness or recovery is caused by divine intervention; «pseudoscientific», meaning that the author of the Chronicle cites medical prerequisites for the disease or lists symptoms. This division is substantiated by the results of an analysis of plots mentioning different illnesses. Moreover, attention is paid to comparing plots from John of Nikiu’s «Chronicle» with corresponding passages from John Malalas’s «Chronography», which is John of Nikiu’s primary source. The comparison shows that the medical information in these texts is weakly connected. The greatest discrepancies between the texts appear in fragments describing events of the 4th century, while one fragment from the early chapters of the Chronicle represents an unique insertion. This data leads to creation of a hypothesis about John of Nikiu’s alternative source.

Keywords: John of Nikiu, John Malalas, Early Byzantine Historiography, History of Medicine, Alltagsgeschichte, Case History, Terminology

URL: http://proslogion.ru/82-khizhniakova

10.24412/2500-0926-2025-82-33-45

Μorozov, M. A.
Typikon for the Monastery of Christ Pantocrator, in: Proslogion: Studies in Medieval and Early Modern Social-History and Culture, 2025. Vol. 8(2). P. 97–153.

Maxim Аnatoljevich Мorozov, Doctor of History, Senior Librarian of the Gogol’s Scientific Library, Saint Petersburg State University (199034, Russia, St. Peterburg, Universitetskaya nab., 7/9)

m.morosov@spbu.ru

Language: Russian

A translation with comments of the Typikon for the monastery complex of Christ Pantocrator, founded by the Byzantine Emperor John II Comnenus and his wife Irene of Hungary, is presented. The Pantocrator foundation belonged to the tradition of imperial ktitorika foundations. This is indicated by the multifunctional nature of the institution, which had a nursing home, a hospital and a house of contempt. But at the same time, the monastery of Christ Pantocrator was a monument to the personal piety of Emperor John II Comnenus and the solidarity of the ruling family. It should be especially noted that it was built as a family tomb. Its role was played by the burial chapel of Archangel Michael.

Keywords: John II Comnenus, Irene (Piroshka) of Hungary, ktitor typicon, imperial religious foundation, protectorate

URL: http://proslogion.ru/82-morozov

10.24412/2500-0926-2025-82-96-152

Alimov, D. E.
The Kingdom of Svetopelek in the Chronicle of the Priest of Dioclea: a Reflection of Reality, a Legitimizing Myth, or a Discursive Image?, Proslogion: Studies in Medieval and Early Modern Social History and Culture, 2025. Vol. 8(2). P. 64–96.

Denis Evgenievich Alimov, Doctor of History, Associate Professor, St. Petersburg State University (199034, Russia, St. Petersburg, Mendeleevskaya liniya, 5)

d.alimov@spbu.ru

Language: Russian

The article examines various historiographic approaches to interpreting the image of the «kingdom of Svetopelek» in the so-called «Chronicle of the Priest of Dioclea», a history work created in the Kingdom of Dioclea (Duklja) in the second half of the 12th century. While supporting the interpretation of the «Gothic-Slavic kingdom» ruled by King Svetopelek as a fictional state, the author points to difficulties connected with attempts to interpret this fictional image as an ideologically oriented construction or a legitimizing myth. Linking the features of the historical narrative of the «Chronicle of the Priest of Dioclea» with social and cultural processes that took place in Western Europe in the 12th century, the author points out the similarity of the «kingdom of Svetopelek» with other fictional states of the 12th and early 13th century historiography (Geoffrey of Monmouth’s empire” of King Arthur, Saxo Grammaticus’s Danish «empire», Wincenty Kadłubek’s «empire of the Lechites») and supports considering the «kingdom of Svetopelek» not so much as an ideological construction, but as a discursive image. According to the author, the emergence of this discursive image was connected with changes in historical imagination, which were conditioned by the process of supra-regional integration, while the inclusion of the figure of Svatopluk of Moravia in the Diocleian historical narrative can be explained by the Chronicle’s vision of the Slavs as a single ethnopolitical organism with its center in the territory of Duklja.

Keywords: Chronicle of the Priest of Dioclea, Duklja, king Svetopelek, historical imagination

URL: http://proslogion.ru/82-alimov

10.24412/2500-0926-2025-82-64-95

Soshnikova, K. V.
The Miracle of the Empress from Gautier de Coinci’s «Miracles de Nostre Dame» in the Medieval Manuscript Tradition, in: Proslogion: Studies in Medieval and Early Modern Social History and Culture, 2025. Vol. 8 (2). P. 46–63.

Kseniia Vladimirovna Soshnikova, Doctor of History, research fellow in the Manuscripts Department of the National Library of Russia (191069, Russia, St. Petersburg, Sadovaya st., 18)

soshnikova_ks@mail.ru

Language: Russian

This article examines a fragment of The Miracles of Notre Dame (Miracles de Nostre Dame), one of the first religious poems in French, written by the Benedictine monk and prior of Soissons, Gautier de Coinci, in the first third of the 13th century. The poem contains legends about the miracles of the Virgin Mary that took place in various French cities. These legends are included in the poem as separate texts with rubrics. The fragment under study, the Miracle of the Empress (Miracle de l’impératrice), is the longest text in Gautier de Coinci’s poem. Its plot influences a various medieval literature. The miracle describes the misadventures of the empress of Rome who is saved from harm by the Virgin Mary and enters a monastery. This complex text, filled with epithets and metaphors, was illustrated in manuscripts of the 13th–15th centuries. This article explores the iconography of this miracle in various manuscripts from the National Library of Russia (NLR) and international collections (the National Library of France, the Royal Library of Belgium). Particular attention is paid to a codex (Fr.F.v.XIV.9) preserved in the NLR’s Manuscript Department, which is one of the earliest and most fully illustrated versions of Gautier de Coinci’s the Miracles of Notre Dame. An examination of the miniature from this manuscript suggests the use of a special language of gestures and symbols by the artists, allowing the reader to become acquainted with the poem in detail without even having to carefully read the text. Analysis of this miniature reveals particular iconographic aspects of the Marian miracles and allows them to be considered in the context of medieval manuscript culture.

Keywords: French manuscript, French miniature, Gautier de Coinci, The Miracles of Notre Dame, The Miracle of the Empress of Rome, medieval poetry, medieval music

URL: http://proslogion.ru/82-soshnikova

10.24412/2500-0926-2025-82-46-63

Romanova, E. A.
The funeral of Nicholas I according to the commemorative edition of 1856, in: Proslogion: Studies in Medieval and Early Modern Social-History and Culture, 2025. Vol. 8(2). P. 15–32.

Ekaterina Alekseevna Romanova, head of department of bibliography and scientific information of the M. Gorky Scientific Library, Saint Petersburg State University (199034, Russia, Saint Peterburg, Universitetskaya nab., 7/9)

e.a.romanova@spbu.ru

Language: Russian

The article is devoted to the study of the funeral of Emperor Nicholas I through the prism of the commemorative edition of 1856 «Description of the funeral of the blessed memory of Emperor Nicholas I, with the addition of a historical sketch of the burials of the tsars and emperors of the All-Russian and some other European sovereigns». At the beginning of the article, a brief description of the funeral ceremonial of Russian emperors and the tradition of publishing funeral ceremonial albums is given, as well as a detailed description of this publication from the collection of the Gorky Scientific Library of St. Petersburg State University. The work examines the details of the funeral procession captured in this album, as well as the specific features of the funeral of Emperor Nicholas I, reflecting not only the mourning atmosphere, but also the cultural, historical and political contexts of the era.

Keywords: Nicholas I, russian history, funeral rituals, funeral ceremonies, rare books, book collection, the M. Gorky Scientific Library, commemorative edition

URL: http://proslogion.ru/82-romanova

10.24412/2500-0926-2025-82-15-32

Petrov R. S.
Georg von Ehingen: the way of chivalry in the evidence of the Age, in: Proslogion: Studies in Medieval and Early Modern Social History and Culture, 2025. Vol. 8(2). P. 7–14.

Ruslan Sergeevich Petrov, second-year Master’s student, St. Petersburg State University (199034, Russia, St. Petersburg, Mendeleevskaya liniya, 5).

st085169@student.spbu.ru

Language: Russian

The article presents an analysis of the autobiographical text by the Swabian knight Georg von Ehingen (1428–1508), «The Knightly Travels», treating it as a significant ego-document of the 15th century. The text is examined as a case study of the adaptation of personal experience to the cultural templates of knightly autobiography, which include standards of self-presentation, social norms, and narrative conventions. The study aims to reconstruct the concepts of honour, religious devotion, courtly service, and the pursuit of glory. Through an analysis of the key stages of the author’s life path, the article investigates how the autobiography integrates personal experience into the broader cultural context. The focus is on the reconstruction of the key elements of the knightly ethos via an analysis of the author’s rhetorical strategies: the combination of demonstrative valour and emphasised modesty; the scenes of instruction from his father in the ancestral castle of Kilberg, symbolising the transmission of family values; and the descriptions of the pilgrimage to the Holy Land, service on Rhodes, and participation in military campaigns on the Iberian Peninsula as a means of strengthening religious and social identity. The text allows us to trace how personal memory is integrated into collective expectations and genre stereotypes, demonstrating not only the stability but also the adaptability of knightly values, their capacity for transformation against the backdrop of the crises of the late Middle Ages. Thus, «The Knightly Travels» emerges as an important source for studying the transformation of knightly selfawareness, courtly culture, and social practices in the 15th century

Keywords: Georg von Ehingen, lower nobility, Holy Roman Empire, autobiography, honor, pilgrimage, court culture, chivalry, ego-documents

URL: http://proslogion.ru/

10.24412/2500-0926-2025-82-7-14

Prokopiev, A. Yu.
Introduction

Prokopiev Andrey Yur’evich, doctor of History, professor, Saint-Petersburg State University (199034, Rossiya, Sankt-Peterburg, Universitetskaya nab., 7/9)

а.prokopiev@spbu.ru

Language: Russian

URL: http://proslogion.ru/82-intro

10.24412/2500-0926-2025-82-5-6