Rock of Cashel (by Patrick Theiner)
“The Rock of Cashel (Irish: Carraig Phádraig), also known as Cashel of the Kings and St. Patrick’s Rock, is a historic site in Ireland’s province of Munster, located at Cashel, South Tipperary.
The Rock of Cashel was the traditional seat of the kings of Munster for several hundred years prior to the Norman invasion. Few remnants of the early structures survive; the majority of buildings on the current site date from the 12th and 13th centuries. Cashel is reputed to be the site of the conversion of the King of Munster by St. Patrick in the 5th century. The picturesque complex has a character of its own and is one of the most remarkable collections of Celtic art and medieval architecture to be found anywhere in Europe. According to local mythology, the Rock of Cashel originated in the Devil’s Bit, a mountain 20 miles(30 km) north of Cashel when St. Patrick banished Satan from a cave, resulting in the Rock’s landing in Cashel.”
Sarmatian gold diadem with garnet, glass, almandine, pearls, and turquoise; from the Khokhlach burial mound (1st century AD, Hermitage Museum)
The diadem consists of three hinged parts, the whole surface inlaid with garnet and glass. In the center is an amethyst bust of a woman wearing a tunic and crowned with a gold wreath inlaid with almandine. The upper edge of the diadem is decorated with a figurative frieze representing a ritual scene of sacred animals processing towards the Tree of Life. The lower edge is decorated with pendants bearing rosettes rimmed with gold beads, pearls and small plaques.
This diadem is a typical example of the eclectic art which combed both Classical features and elements of Sarmatian art. It was intended for ritual use and was associated with the cult of fertility.
Obit of the Day: End the Beguines*
When Marcella Pattyn died on April 14, 2013 she took 800 years of history with her. Ms. Pattyn was a Beguine. A creation of the Middle Ages, beguines were lay women who formed communities that allowed them independence, both socially and economically.
During the Medieval period women of the upper class were given two choices for their adult lives: marriage or religious life. They were to either be under the rule of their husband or the rule of God, serving as a nun. (Women of the lower classes could sometimes live alone and run a business but usually only as widows.)
In the 12th century in Flanders (a region that now is part of Belgium and The Netherlands) lay communities sprang up in cities where widows of the Crusades would congregate but without the rules of a convent or giving up their freedom. They could travel freely on their own. They could marry at any time. Some even lived in homes with servants.
At their peak Beguines were found across northern Europe and could have thousands of members. They would provide services for the poor and needy as well as sell handmade textiles.
To no one’s surprise, the group was quickly considered a threat. Independent women who were without strict supervision? It must be heresy. And in 1311 Pope Clement V banned the movement. (Less than a century earlier in 1233 Pope Gregory IX had given papal backing to the Beguines.)
In order to maintain their existence some of the Beguine orders partnered with monastic orders in order to continue their work with some level of “supervision.” (Random note: There were male communities similar to the Beguines called the Beghards who were also considered heretics but less for their service than for their theology which bordered on anarchism.)
Although the orders persisted for centuries in France, Germany, The Netherlands, and Belgium their numbers dwindled. Belgium at one time had 94 Beguine communities. In 1856 they were down to 20.
In 1941 when Marcella Pattyn, a partially blind 21-year-old, was sent to the beguinage in Ghent there were two. Unable to join convents because of her disability, a wealthy aunt sponsored her entrance into the Beguines. This last small group of Beguines moved to the town of Courtrai and in 1960 there were nine left.
By 2008 Marcella Pattyn was the last of her order. The town of Courtrai celebrated her with chocolates and champagne and had a bronze statue made in her likeness to stand outside the beguinage.
Ms. Pattyn died at the age of 92, taking with her a glimpse into medieval life.
Sources: The Economist, The Telegraph, The Catholic Encyclopedia, The Economist (on the Beguines), and a 1992 paper by Elizabeth Knuth
(Image of Marcella Pattyn and her statue is courtesy of FOCUS-WTV in Belgium.)
* The title of the post is a play on the Cole Porter song, “Begin the Beguine,” written in 1935. The two words are unrelated. There is no known etymology for the order, although the community in Lieges, Belgium was founded by Lambert de Begue. By the time of the Porter song the term “beguine” was commonly used to mean a “close couples’ dance” in the Caribbean. - Wikipedia
more like Continental Europe—they didn’t really exist in England
Baltic Viking Penannular Brooch, circa 10th century
(Source: herbal-forest-witch)
Kildonan Castle was built in the 13th century by the MacDonalds, the Lords of the Isles. The castle stands on the cliffs, overlooking the island of Pladda and the entrance to the Firth of Clyde. It was built to defend against enemies attacking through the Firth.
It was used as a hunting lodge by the Kings of Scotland, including Robert III, when the island belonged to the crown. The castle became the property of the Earls of Arran in 1544.
The castle is in the small village of Kildonan on the southern coast of the Isle of Arran in Scotland.
by P 1
Helmsdale Castle and Shakespear’s “Hamlet”
The castle had its beginnings in the 1460s. It was repaired and enlarged around 1600, but it was in 1567 that the famous tragedy that is said to have inspired the plot of Shakespeare’s “Hamlet” happened
Isobel Sinclair, in a diabolical attempt to divert the line of succession to her own son, arranged to poison her visitors, the 11th Earl of Sutherland, his wife and their son, while they were having dinner at the castle. But the plan backfired and the Earl’s son did not drink the poisoned wine, while Isobel’s own son did, as well as the Earl and Countess.
The original castle was square in shape and had been the hunting seat of the Sutherland family. Helmsdale is a village on the east coast of Sutherland, in the Highland council area of Scotland.
“Icelandic magical staves”
This Waterford Kite Brooch is one of Ireland’s finest pieces of late eleventh to early twelfth century. It is one of fourteen kite-shaped brooches found to date in Ireland.
The kite brooch is made of a hollow cast silver box and decorated with sumptuous gold filigree, impressed gold foil and amethyst-coloured cabochon (polished without being cut into facets) glass studs and niello (a black compound used in gold and silver work).
stained glass in medieval times
In Egypt the early gnostic christians associate John the Baptist with the Chaldean Oannes who periodically appeared in the Persian Gulf as Odacon the Merman, his object to bring a new revelation to a new age.
Sword & scabbard, ca. 60 B.C. Celtic. Iron blade, copper alloy hilt, and scabbard.
A paper on Florentine chivalric violence given at KZOO.
http://www.medievalists.net/2013/05/13/chivalry-and-public-disorder-in-thirteenth-century-florence/
An Ostrogothic belt buckle from the 6th century. This would have been worn by a woman of high status who was probably dressing in more of a Mediterranean fashion. The large central garnet is surrounded by cloisonné garnets and green glass in a mosaic pattern. I think we should bring cloisonné back in style.
