Month: October 2026

Soshnikova, K. V.
Iconographical Features of the Flight of the Holy Family into Egypt in French Prayer Books: from the Middle Ages to the Renaissance, in: Proslogion: Studies in Medieval and Early Modern Social History and Culture. 2026. Vol. 9(1). P. 88–106.

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

The article examines the iconography of the Gospel story of the flight of the Holy Family into Egypt in French manuscript books of hours from the 14th to 16th centuries. This issue was common in easel painting, but it occupied a special place in books of hours, along with miniatures for specific sections of the prayers. The study examines the development of the iconography of this Gospel story using a wide variety of French prayer books, where it acquired quite interesting and distinctive forms. Particular attention is paid to the study of two miracles depicted in a number of prayer books, such as the fall of the idols and the story of the wheat field. Along with miniatures from the collections of Western European museums and libraries, sources from the Manuscript Department of the National Library of Russia are examined.

Keywords: French manuscript, French miniature, Books of Hours, Flight into Egypt

Постоянная ссылка: http://proslogion.ru/91-soshnikova/

20466843PDFOCR

Morozov, M. A. Conspiracies of the 90s of the 11th century in Byzantium and issues of communication between the authorities and the elite (the problem of consensus), in: Proslogion: Studies in Medieval and Early Modern Social History and Culture. 2026. Vol. 9(1). P. 32–62.

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

m.morosov@spbu.ru

Language: Russian

In 1081, a certain cohesion existed between the future Emperor Alexios I Comnenus and certain members of the Byzantine elite. However, the young Comnenus possessed better networks in the capital than in the army. Thus, he faced a task that other rulers who seized power in Constantinople in the 11th century had to face with varying degrees of success: forming agreements with the military and civilian elite, which had established various patronage and clientel networks both locally and in the capital. Appointments to military and administrative positions were determined by both the formation of political alliances and the availability of available leadership cadres. Alexios’s options for personnel selection were severely limited, especially in the first decades, and the logic of incorporating key representatives of the sociopolitical elite partially contradicted the logic of effective control over the military nobility and the hierarchy of ranks. The problem becomes especially clear when we consider the consequences of two major conspiracies in the 1090s: the so-called conspiracy of Nicephorus Diogenes around 1094 and the conspiracy of the Anemades brothers at the turn of the century. Potential threats from the empire’s ruling elite remained a pressing concern and could only be contained through interaction and communication between the ruling emperor and his subjects. A consensus among the ruling elite in support of the emperor was essential, even during the dynastic rule of the Comnenos.

Keywords: Comnenos, elite, dynasties, military nobility, hierarchy of ranks, Nicephorus Diogenes, Anemades

Постоянная ссылка: http://proslogion.ru/91-morozov/

20466841PDFOCR

Mekhamadiev, E. A.
The New Ark, the Deliverer of the World (ὁ κοσμορύστης) and God’s wrath: the Court Propaganda of Byzantine Emperor Heraclius I (610– 641 A. D.) during the First Half of the 630th A. D., in: Proslogion: Studies in Medieval and Early Modern Social History and Culture, 2026. Vol. 9(1). P. 11–31.

Mekhamadiev Evgenii Aleksandrovich, Doctor of History, Associated Professor of the Medieval History Department at St. Petersburg State University (199034, Russia, St. Petersburg, St. Petersburg State University, Universitetskaya emb., 7/9)

e.mehamadiev@spbu.ru

Language: Russian

The present paper deals with the role and functions of God’s wrath concept (ἡ θεομηνία) in two works of George of Pisidia — the court poet-panegyrist of Byzantine Emperor Heraclius I (610–641 A. D.). In the poem «Restoration of the Cross», written in 630, and in a speech in honor of St. Anastasius the Persian, composed after 630–631, George demonstrates absolutely different ways of employment and understanding of God’s wrath concept in explaining of military-political events. Both works of the Constantinopolitan rhetor in any way praise a return of the relics of the Holy Cross, on which, according to Biblical stories, Jesus Christ was crucified, in Jerusalem in March 630, but the factor of God’s wrath as the reason of militarypolitical events (the wars of Heraclius with the Persians, the capture of Jerusalem and the theft of the relics by them in 614) is explained by George from entirely different points of views. In the poem George conveys to the reader an idea that God’s wrath fell upon the Persians and one another religion-political enemy of the Byzantines (the Romans, the Romaioi) — the Jews, because both didn’t respect the relics of the Cross, i.e. in the poem about the Holy Cross God’s wrath is shown as a consequence rather than as a cause of the theft of the Cross — as George claims, God’s wrath punishes the enemies of the Romans for their impious acts towards the Christian faith and Church. And contrary, in the speech in honor of St. Anastasius George directly and openly accuses the Byzantines themselves for the theft of the Cross by the Persians — from this perspective the Constantinopolitan rhetor insists that the theft was happened because of God’s wrath upon the Romans for their numerous sins. As a result, the author of the present paper argues that the differences in the interpretation of the role and functions of God’s wrath across George’s two works reflected the genre peculiarities of these works itself — in the poem the panegyrist narrated about the events from the perspective of a religious war waged for the triumph of Christian faith, whereas in the speech about St. Anastasius he composed his story from the hagiographical point of view.

Keywords: the Holy Cross, God’s wrath, the Persians, Jerusalem, Emperor Heraclius, panegyrics, hagiography, George of Pisidia

Постоянная ссылка: http://proslogion.ru/91-mekhamadie/

20466840PDFOCR

Fyodorov, S. E.
The interdisciplinary synthesis in social sciences at the end of the 20th century, in: Proslogion: Studies in Medieval and Early Modern Social History and Culture. 2026. Vol. 9(1). P. 189–209.

Sergey Egorovich Fyodorov, PhD., Professor, Institute of History, St. Petersburg State University (199034, Russia, St. Petersburg, Mendeleevskaya liniya, 5)

s.fedorov@spbu.ru

Language: Russian

When in the last two decades of the XXth century new ideas on complexity had started to diffuse in social sciences, the economic thought became a typical area of interdisciplinary research in which the concepts of chaos, nonlinear movement, turbulence, and instability became best to apply. The article looks at how the approach of complexity has been implemented in the Santa Fe interdisciplinary project almost in its first ten years between two major workshops on the economy as an evolving complex system. At first it concentrates on general issues of complexity discussed by natural and social scientists in Santa Fe Institute accepting all of them as certain bias for the epistemological breach. Then it turns to the several topics, which problematized the Santa Fe thought in particular and made it unique among the scholars who have adopted the new concepts proposed by complexity science. It also argues that the term of so called «restricted complexity» applied by some epistemologists to characterize a limited score of research topics in Santa Fe is far from being adequate. Although all developments were not equally successful, they did turn out to have enormous resonance in terms of extensive theoretical and practical pertinence and broad areas of application in social sciences even then the complexity approach was challenged by widely spread revision inspired by Niklas Luhmann legacy. Based on a body of work of Brian Arthur and John Holland and their colleagues from Stanford and Massachusetts where complexity has been understood in ways of system behavior, the article presents a complex adaptive system not as the opposite but as a source and confederate of certain order.

Keywords: complexity, complex adaptive system, Santa Fe Institute, social sciences, interdisciplinary synthesis

Постоянная ссылка: http://proslogion.ru/91-fyodorov/

20466848PDFOCR