The Mechanism of Perception of an Antique Text by a Medieval Author (Based on Macrobius and P. Abelard’s Texts)

The texts of Peter Abelard (1079 1142), usually mentioned among the medieval authors who were influenced by Ambrosius Theodosius Macrobius’ “Commentary on the 'Dream of Scipio'” (5th c.), are analyzed. The passages from Peter Abelard’s works (“Dialogus inter philosophum”, “Epitome theologiae christianae”, “Introductio ad theologiam” etc.), which contain quotations, lexical and thematic similarities with Macrobius’ “Commentary on the ‘Dream of Scipio’ ” are under consideration, as well as the mentions of the title of this work or the name of Macrobius. Peter Abelard’s level of knowledge and degree of use of Macrobius’ text are revealed. The influence exerted by Macrobius on Peter Abelard is determined. Based on the results obtained, it is concluded that, in contrast to the opinion widespread in science, it hardly makes sense to talk about the tangible influence of Macrobius’ “Commentary on the 'Dream of Scipio'” on Peter Abelard. Rather, it should be assumed that the ideas perceived by the medieval scholar and reflected in his texts went back to Macrobius as well. Under the influence exerted by Macrobius’ “Commentary on the 'Dream of Scipio'” on Peter Abelard one should mean both his knowledge about Macrobius himself and his work and the varying degree of his use of this treatise.

Devatāsūtra in the Arabic Compendium of Chronicles of Rashīd al-Dīn

In the Compendium of Chronicles ( Jāmi‘ al-tawārīkh) of a famous medieval scholar, physician, and influential vizier at the Ilkhanid court Rashīd al-Dīn Hamadhānī (1249/50–1318) that was compiled on the basis of the works of the court historian Abū-l-Qāsim Qāshānī (died after 1323/4), one finds a History of India (Tārīkh al-Hind wa’lSind), which contains a lengthy section about the Buddha and Buddhism. Among the Arabic sources on Buddhism, this work is considered to be the most important. One of the chapters in this section is a version of the famous Buddhist sutra adapted for the Muslim reader, in which the Buddhist teachings and ethical principles are presented in the form of questions-riddles addressed by a heavenly being to the Buddha as well as his answers. The article provides a survey of various versions of this work that were in use in Buddhist cultures in the Middle Ages, as well as a comparison of the Muslim and Buddhist interpretations of this sutra presented in the Arabic version of the Compendium of Chronicles. The article is followed by a publication of the Arabic text of the sutra based on the only preserved manuscript from the London collection Khalili MSS 727, and its Russian translation.

Lawrence, T. E. (1888–1935)

Thomas Edward Lawrence was an Oxford-trained medieval scholar, guerrilla leader, rebel, ascetic and spy. Lawrence was an inveterate self-fashioner in addition to being compellingly mythologized by a coterie of literary friends and romanticized in Lowell Thomas’s (1892–1981) 1919 multi-media show ‘With Allenby in Palestine’. His mythical status was renewed with the popularity of David Lean’s (1908–1991) cinematic epic Lawrence of Arabia (1962). Lawrence’s involvement with Arab revolt against the Turks, his postwar support for the Arab movement and disillusionment with Britain’s exploitation of that movement, and his subsequent flight from rank and title provide the material for his agonistic autobiographical writing. After the war, he renounced his fame and position, assuming the names John Hume Ross and T. E. Shaw and becoming a dedicated serviceman, a ‘mechanical monk’ in the newly created Royal Air Force (Meyers 124). He was also a classic ‘Orientalist’ and ‘imperial agent’, according to Edward Said (240); a ‘mysterious farrago’ and a ‘fraud’, according to Richard Aldington (35); and remains ‘a prince of our disorder’, according to Irving Howe (qtd. in Mack xvi).

Handwritten 18th-century Source on the Rules of Reciting the Qur’an by the Tatar Author – “Fide ar-Rahman bi Tajweed al-Qur’an”

this article analyses an 18th-century Arabic-language manuscript source by. Tatar author, devoted to the rules of reciting the Qur’an (Tajweed) – «Fide ar-Rahman bi Tajweed al-Qur’an» – «Mercy’s мercy in the recitation of the Koran». A comparison of its content with the popular treatise on the Tajweed of the famous medieval scholar Muhammad al-Jazari.

The History of Physics: A Very Short Introduction

How does today’s physics—highly professionalized; inextricably linked to government and industry—link back to its origins as a liberal art in ancient Greece? The History of Physics: A Very Short Introduction tells the 2,500-year story, exploring the changing place and purpose of physics in different cultures; highlighting the implications for humankind’s self-understanding. It introduces Islamic astronomers and mathematicians calculating the Earth’s size; medieval scholar-theologians investigating light; Galileo, Copernicus, Kepler, and Newton, measuring, and trying to explain, the universe. It visits: the House of Wisdom in 9th-century Baghdad; Europe’s first universities; the courts of the Renaissance; the Scientific Revolution and 18th-century academies; and the increasingly specialized world of 20th‒21st-century science.

Michael Scot and the Four Rainbows

We apply a physical and historical analysis to a passage by the medieval scholar Michael Scot concerning multiple rainbows, a meteorological phenomenon whose existence has only been acknowledged in recent history. We survey various types of physical models to best decipher Scot’s description of four parallel rainbows as well as a linguistic analysis of Scot’s special etymology. The conclusions have implications on Scot’s whereabouts at the turn of the 13th century.

Herbert Edward John Cowdrey 1926–2009

John Cowdrey was Anglican chaplain and medieval scholar at St Edmund Hall, University of Oxford, and a Fellow of the British Academy. His work Pope Gregory VII, 1073–1085 was hailed as a masterpiece. Obituary by Jean Dunbabin.

Arnold Joseph Taylor 1911–2002

Arnold Taylor, or Joe as he was known to some, was a medieval scholar, archaeologist, and architectural historian, who spent his working career in the public service within the Ancient Monuments Inspectorate. An international expert on castles and, in particular, the authority on the North Wales castles of Edward I, he was not restricted in his interests in medieval buildings as a whole. Nor did Taylor study castles solely as monuments to medieval military architecture. He was fascinated by their construction, who designed and built them, where the materials and craftsmen came from, and how this side of the work was organised. As such, Taylor combined study of the standing remains with intensive documentary research. There were two other main strands to his professional life: his wider career in the Ancient Monuments Inspectorate, first in the Office of Works and ultimately in the Department of the Environment; and his service to the Society of Antiquaries of London.