hist107 quiz 2

Merovingian Dynasty

481-751 First Germanic dynasty to rule Francia. (first chronologically)

Hijrah

622 Muhammad's "flight" from Mecca to Medina; marks the year 1 of the Islamic calendar. (second chronologically)

Battle of Badr

624 The first Islamic military victory (third chronologically)

Umayyad caliphate

661-750 First caliphal dynasty; Sunni Muslims, the Umayyads make Damascus their capital city. (fourth chronologically)

Synod of Whitby

664 The meeting at which the English king Oswy chooses the Roman form of Christianity, tying England to the Continent ever more securely. (fifth chronologically)

Islamic armies take Spain

711-715 Led by Musa, governor of Ifriqiya, the Islamic conquest of Spain marks Islam's arrival in Europe (sixth chronologically)

Iconoclasm at Byzantium

726-787, 815-843 Bans the depiction of holy beings, calling into question the nature of artistic representation. (seventh chronologically)

Map 2.2

Byzantine, c. 700. Most of the Empire is in Anatolia. It also holds bits of southwestern Greece, Thessalonica, an hourglass-shaped territory from Ravenna to Rome, and Sicily and the toe of Italy. The strategia are labeled. The Bulgarian Khanate extends from the coast of the Black Sea inland. The Avar Khanate is northwest of the Bulgarians. This was due to the invasion of Islamic armies, which conquered the lower half the Roman “scarf” and took over Persia as well.

Map 2.3

Islamic world to 750. By 632, the Hejaz was mainly Islamic. By 661, Islam had spread throughout Arabia, westward into Egypt and Libya as far as Tripoli, northward to Armenia and Khurasan, and eastward throughout Mesopotamia and Persia. By 750, the expansion included the North African coastal regions of Ifriqiya and the Maghreb, across the straits into Spain as far north as Narbonne, and farther east to Transoxiana and the area around the Indus River.

Map 2.4

Western Europe c. 750. The major players now are (roughly west to east) Islamic Spain (the Iberian Peninsula), Francia, England, the Lombard kingdom of Italy, and the remnants of the Byzantine Empire in Italy.

Plate 2.1

Cross at Hagia Sophia (orig. mosaic 6th cent.; redone 768/769). Was originally covered with mosaics, including medallions with images of saints. During the iconoclastic period, the images were cut out and replaced by crosses. Iconoclasm was ultimately a failure.

Plate 2.2

Page from an Early Qur’an (568–645). The fragment shown in this plate (and other similar finds) suggests an earlier date and variant compilations of the Qur’an.

Plate 2.3

Damascus Great Mosque Mosaic (706–715). Byzantine artisans were hired to work along with local craftsmen to cover the mosque at Damascus with mosaics. The Great Mosque mosaic offers a depiction of Paradise: a garden, represented by tall, fruiting trees, and fine bejeweled palaces. Rejected the depiction of human figures.If the mosque mosaic rejected the depiction of human figures, so too would Byzantine art in a very few years, when iconoclasm took hold there.

Plate 2.4

Sutton Hoo Helmet (early 7th cent.). A sloping neck guard and two hinged cheek pieces protected the wearer’s face, while the iron crest over the crown deflected blows. Descending both front and back, the crest is actually a two-headed snake, its eyes flashing with garnets. The form of the helmet, much like those made in Sweden at the same time, attests to England’s close relations with Scandinavia. The most striking aspect of this piece is the “face” formed by the nose piece, eyebrows, and mustache which – viewed another way – also forms a bird, its garnet-outlined wings doubling as the brows.

Fig 2.2 Yeavering (UK) 7th century ⭐

Western Europe is relatively impoverished and underdeveloped when compared to other parts of the medieval world. Europe is largely regional, with agriculture and land as main source of wealth. Trade is occurring, but mainly regional (not international). Also a large gift economy, gifts are used to show power and status. Europe was never expected to be major world player by 1500

Plate 2.5 ⭐

The Eagle, Symbol of the Evangelist Mark, Book of Durrow (2nd half of 7th cent.). The Eagle was usually associated with John, but here it is the symbol of Mark, as in other early Gospel traditions. The idea of prefacing a text with a portrait of the author dates back to late antiquity at least, and the practice continued in many early medieval Gospel books, usually accompanied by the evangelist’s symbol, which derived from animals described in the vision of Ezekiel 1:4–11 and the Book of Revelation 4:6–8. Christianity spread and became intertwined in multiple cultures

Justinian Mosaic ⭐

Mosaic at San Vitale cathedral in Ravenna, created around mid 6th century. Justinian, the central and largest figure in his panel, has a halo and wears a crown. He holds a large golden paten – the bowl that contains the bread of the Eucharist – and offers it in the direction of both Christ above him and the altar, which would have been below. The entire complex – reading it from the viewer’s right to left – depicts a circle of gift-giving and mutual generosity. Statement of Byzantine power, and also religious propaganda. Ravenna was retaken in Justinian’s wars of reconquest, mosaics serve as propaganda? idk

Theodora Mosaic ⭐

Mosaic at San Vitale cathedral in Ravenna. Theodora she makes an offering, holding out to Christ (above her) and to the altar (below) a gold chalice, the vessel for the wine of the Eucharist. The entire complex – reading it from the viewer’s right to left – depicts a circle of gift-giving and mutual generosity. Statement of Byzantine power, and also religious propaganda.