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Nibelungenlied
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The Nibelungenlied, translated as The Song of the Nibelungs, is an epic poem in Middle High German. The story tells of dragon-slayer Siegfried at the court of the Burgundians, how he was murdered, and of his wife Kriemhild's revenge.
The Nibelungenlied is based on pre-Christian Germanic heroic motifs (the "Nibelungensaga"), which include oral traditions and reports based on historic events and individuals of the 5th and 6th centuries. Old Norse parallels of the legend survive in the Völsunga saga, the Prose Edda, the Poetic Edda, the Legend of Norna-Gest, and the Þiðrekssaga.
In 2009, the three main manuscripts of the Nibelungenlied were inscribed in UNESCO's Memory of the World Register in recognition of their historical significance.[1]
First page from Manuscript C (ca. 1230)
Contents
[hide]
1 Manuscript sources
2 Authorship
3 Synopsis
3.1 Siegfried and Kriemhild
3.2 Kriemhild's revenge
4 Historical background
5 Legacy
6 Adaptations
7 Editions
8 Translations and adaptations
8.1 English
8.2 Modern German
9 See also
10 References and notes
11 Further reading
12 External links
12.1 English translations
Manuscript sources[edit]
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Sigurd and Brunhild – Illustration by Harry George Theaker for Children's Stories from the Northern Legends by M. Dorothy Belgrave and Hilda Hart, 1920
The poem in its various written forms was lost by the end of the 16th century, but manuscripts from as early as the 13th century were re-discovered during the 18th century.[2] There are thirty-five known manuscripts of the Nibelungenlied and its variant versions. Eleven of these manuscripts are essentially complete.[3] The oldest version seems to be the one preserved in manuscript "B". Twenty-four manuscripts are in various fragmentary states of completion, including one version in Dutch (manuscript 'T'). The text contains approximately 2,400 stanzas in 39 Aventiuren. The title under which the poem has been known since its discovery is derived from the final line of one of the three main versions, "hie hât daz mære ein ende: daz ist der Nibelunge liet" ("here the story takes an end: this is the lay of the Nibelungs"). Liet here means lay, tale or epic rather than simply song, as it would in Modern German.
The manuscripts' sources deviate considerably from one another. Philologists and literary scholars usually designate three main genealogical groups for the entire range of available manuscripts, with two primary versions comprising the oldest known copies: *AB and *C. This categorization derives from the signatures on the *A, *B, and *C manuscripts as well as the wording of the last verse in each source: "daz ist der Nibelunge liet" or "daz ist der Nibelunge nôt". Nineteenth century philologist Karl Lachmann developed this categorisation of the manuscript sources in Der Nibelunge Noth und die Klage nach der ältesten Überlieferung mit Bezeichnung des Unechten und mit den Abweichungen der gemeinen Lesart (Berlin: Reimer, 1826).
Authorship[edit]
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The search for the author of the Nibelungenlied in German studies has a long and intense history.[citation needed] Among the names suggested were Konrad von Fußesbrunnen, Bligger von Steinach and Walther von der Vogelweide; however, none of these hypotheses has wide acceptance, and mainstream scholarship today accepts[weasel words] that the author's name cannot be established.[citation needed]
However, the nature of the author more generally, can be and has been addressed. Prevailing scholarly theories[weasel words] strongly suggest[according to whom?] that the written Nibelungenlied is the work of a poet from the area of the Danube between Passau and Vienna, dating from about 1180 to 1210, possibly at the court of Wolfger von Erla, the Bishop of Passau (presiding, 1191–1204).[citation needed] Most scholars[weasel words] consider it likely that the author was a man of literary and ecclesiastical education at the bishop's court, and that the poem's recipients were the clerics and noblemen at the same court.[citation needed]
The "Nibelung's lament" (Diu Klage), a sort of appendix to the poem proper, mentions a "Meister Konrad" who was charged by a bishop "Pilgrim" of Passau with the copying of the text.[citation needed] This is taken as a reference to Saint Pilgrim, bishop of Passau from 971–991.[citation needed][relevant? – discuss]
Synopsis[edit]
Though the preface to the poem promises both joyous and dark tales ahead, the Nibelungenlied is by and large a very tragic work, and these four opening verses are believed to have been a late addition to the text, composed after the body of the poem had been completed.[citation needed]
Middle High German original
Modern German
Shumway translation
Uns ist in alten mæren wunders vil geseit
von helden lobebæren, von grôzer arebeit,
von freuden, hôchgezîten, von weinen und von klagen,
von küener recken strîten muget ir nu wunder hœren sagen
Uns wird in alten Erzählungen viel Wunderbares berichtet,
von rühmenswerten Helden, großer Kampfesmühe,
von Freuden, Festen, von Weinen und von Klagen;
von den Kämpfen kühner Helden könnt ihr nun Wunderbares erzählen hören.
Full many a wonder is told us in stories old,
of heroes worthy of praise, of hardships dire,
of joy and feasting, of weeping and of wailing;
of the fighting of bold warriors, now ye may hear wonders told.
The original version instead began with the introduction of Kriemhild, the protagonist of the work.
The epic is divided into two parts, the first dealing with the story of Siegfried and Kriemhild, the wooing of Brünhild and the death of Siegfried at the hands of Hagen, and Hagen's hiding of the Nibelung treasure in the Rhine (Chapters 1–19). The second part deals with Kriemhild's marriage to Etzel, her plans for revenge, the journey of the Burgundians to the court of Etzel, and their last stand in Etzel's hall (Chapters 20–39).
Siegfried and Kriemhild[edit]
Siegfried and Kriemhild
Gunther's wedding night (Johann Heinrich Füssli 1807)
The first chapter introduces the court of Burgundy. Kriemhild (the virgin sister of King Gunther, and his brothers Gernot and Giselher) has a dream of a falcon that is killed by two eagles. Her mother interprets this to mean that Kriemhild's future husband will die a violent death, and Kriemhild consequently resolves to remain unmarried.
The second chapter tells of the background of Siegfried, crown prince of Xanten. His youth is narrated with little room for the adventures later attributed to him. In the third chapter, Siegfried arrives in Worms with the hopes of wooing Kriemhild. Upon his arrival, Hagen von Tronje, one of King Gunther's vassals, tells Gunther about Siegfried's youthful exploits that involved winning a treasure and lands from a pair of brothers, Nibelung and Schilbung, whom Siegfried had killed when he was unable to divide the treasure between them and, almost incidentally, the killing of a dragon. Siegfried leaves his treasure in the charge of a dwarf named Alberich.
After killing the dragon, Siegfried then bathed in its blood, which rendered him invulnerable. Unfortunately for Siegfried, a leaf fell onto his back from a linden tree, and the small patch of skin that the leaf covered did not come into contact with the dragon's blood, leaving Siegfried vulnerable in that single spot. In spite of Hagen's threatening stories about his youth, the Burgundians welcome him, but do not allow him to meet the princess. Disappointed, he nonetheless remains in Worms and helps Gunther defeat the invading Saxons.
In Chapter 5, Siegfried finally meets Kriemhild. Gunther requests Siegfried to sail with him to the fictional city of Isenstein in Iceland to win the hand of Iceland's Queen, Brünhild. Siegfried agrees, though only if Gunther allows him to marry Gunther's sister, Kriemhild, whom Siegfried pines for. Gunther, Siegfried and a group of Burgundians set sail for Iceland with Siegfried pretending to be Gunther's vassal. Upon their arrival, Brünhild challenges Gunther to a trial of strength with her hand in marriage as a reward. If they lose, however, they will be sentenced to death. She challenges Gunther to three athletic contests, throwing a javelin, tossing a boulder, and a leap. After seeing the boulder and javelin, it becomes apparent to the group that Brünhild is immensely strong and they fear for their lives.
Genealogy
Siegfried quietly returns to the boat on which his group had sailed and retrieves his special cloak, which renders him invisible and gives him the strength of 12 men (Chapters 6–8). Siegfried, with his immense strength, invisibly leads Gunther through the trials. Unknowingly deceived, the impressed Brünhild thinks King Gunther, not Siegfried, defeated her and agrees to marry Gunther. Gunther becomes afraid that Brünhild may yet be planning to kill them, so Siegfried goes to Nibelungenland and single-handedly conquers the kingdom. Siegfried makes them his vassals and returns with a thousand of them, himself going ahead as messenger. The group of Burgundians, Gunther and Gunther's new wife-to-be Brünhild return to Worms, where a grand reception awaits them and they marry to much fanfare. Siegfried and Kriemhild are also then married with Gunther's blessings.
"Siegfried's Departure" (Julius Schnorr von Carolsfeld, ca. 1843)
"Siegfried's Death" (Julius Schnorr von Carolsfeld, 1847)
Hagen orders servants to sink the hoard in the Rhine (Peter von Cornelius, 1859)
However, on their wedding night, Brünhild suspects something is amiss with her situation, particularly suspecting Siegfried as a potential cause. Gunther attempts to sleep with her and, with her great strength, she easily ties him up and leaves him that way all night. After he tells Siegfried of this, Siegfried again offers his help, proposing that he slip into their chamber at night with his invisibility cloak and silently beat Brünhild into submission. Gunther agrees but says that Siegfried must not sleep with Brünhild. Siegfried slips into the room according to plan and after a difficult and violent struggle, an invisible Siegfried defeats Brünhild. Siegfried then takes her ring and belt, which are symbols of defloration. Here it is implied that Siegfried sleeps with Brünhild, despite Gunther's request. Afterwards, Brünhild no longer possesses her once-great strength and says she will no longer refuse Gunther. Siegfried gives the ring and belt to his own newly wed, Kriemhild, in Chapter 10.
Years later, Brünhild, still feeling as if she had been lied to, goads Gunther into inviting Siegfried and Kriemhild to their kingdom. Brünhild does this because she is still under the impression that Gunther married off his sister to a low-ranking vassal (while Gunther and Siegfried are in reality of equal rank) yet the normal procedures are not being followed between the two ranks combined with her lingering feelings of suspicion. Both Siegfried and Kriemhild come to Worms and all is friendly between the two until, before entering Worms Cathedral, Kriemhild and Brünhild argue over who should have precedence according to their husbands' perceived ranks.
Having been earlier deceived about the relationship between Siegfried and Gunther, Brünhild thinks it is obvious that she should go first, through custom of her perceived social rank. Kriemhild, unaware of the deception involved in Brünhild's wooing, insists that they are of equal rank and the dispute escalates. Severely angered, Kriemhild shows Brünhild first the ring and then the belt that Siegfried took from Brünhild on her wedding night, and then calls her Siegfried's kebse (mistress or concubine). Brünhild feels greatly distressed and humiliated, and bursts into tears.
The argument between the queens is both a risk for the marriage of Gunther and Brünhild and a potential cause for a lethal rivalry between Gunther and Siegfried, which both Gunther and Siegfried attempt to avoid. Gunther acquits Siegfried of the charges. Despite this, Hagen von Tronje decides to kill Siegfried to protect the honor and reign of his king. Although it is Hagen who does the deed, Gunther – who at first objects to the plot – along with his brothers knows of the plan and quietly assents. Hagen contrives a false military threat to Gunther, and Siegfried, considering Gunther a great friend, volunteers to help Gunther once again.
Under the pretext of this threat of war, Hagen persuades Kriemhild, who still trusts Hagen, to mark Siegfried's single vulnerable point on his clothing with a cross under the premise of protecting him. Now knowing Siegfried's weakness, the fake campaign is called off and Hagen then uses the cross as a target on a hunting trip, killing Siegfried with a javelin as he is drinking from a brook (Chapter 16). Kriemhild becomes aware of Hagen's deed when, in Hagen's presence, the corpse of Siegfried bleeds at the site of the wound (an old Norse legend held that the corpse of a murdered person would bleed in the presence of the murderer, known as cruentation).[4] This perfidious murder is particularly dishonorable in medieval thought, as throwing a javelin is the manner in which one might slaughter a wild beast, not a knight. We see this in other literature of the period, such as with Parsifal's unwittingly dishonorable crime of combatting and slaying knights with a javelin (transformed into a swan in Wagner's opera).[5] Further dishonoring Siegfried, Hagen steals the hoard from Kriemhild and throws it into the Rhine (Rheingold), to prevent Kriemhild from using it to establish an army of her own.[6]
Kriemhild's revenge[edit]
Kriemhild swears to take revenge for the murder of her husband and the theft of her treasure. Many years later, King Etzel of the Huns (Attila the Hun) proposes to Kriemhild, she journeys to the land of the Huns, and they are married. For the baptism of their son, she invites her brothers, the Burgundians, to a feast at Etzel's castle in Hungary. Hagen does not want to go, suspecting that it is a trick by Kriemhild in order to take revenge and kill them all, but is taunted until he does. As the Burgundians cross the Danube, this fate is confirmed by Nixes, who predict that all but one monk will die. Hagen tries to drown the monk in order to render the prophecy futile, but he survives.
Kriemhild showing Gunther's head to Hagen (Johann Heinrich Füssli, ca. 1805)
The Burgundians arrive at Etzel's castle and are welcomed by Kriemhild "with lying smiles and graces." But the lord Dietrich of Bern, an ally of Etzel's, advises the Burgundians to keep their weapons with them at all times, which is normally not allowed. The tragedy unfolds as Kriemhild comes before Hagen, reproaching him for her husband Siegfried's death, and demands that he return her Nibelungenschatz. Not only did Hagen humilate her right from arrival by openly carrying Balmung, Siegfried's sword stolen right away from his corpse. He also answers her boldly, admits he killed Siegfried and that he sank the Nibelungen treasure into the Rhine. The culprit, however, blames all these acts on Kriemhild's own behavior.
King Etzel then welcomes his wife's brothers warmly. But outside a tense feast in the great hall, a fight breaks out between Huns and Burgundians, and soon there is general mayhem. When word of the fight arrives at the feast, Hagen decapitates the young son of Kriemhild and Etzel before their eyes. The Burgundians take control of the hall, which is besieged by Etzel's warriors. Kriemhild offers her brothers their lives if they hand over Hagen, but they refuse. The battle lasts all day, until the queen orders the hall to be burned with the Burgundians inside.
All of the Burgundians are killed except for Hagen and Gunther, who are bound and held prisoner by Dietrich of Bern. Kriemhild has the men brought before her and orders her brother Gunther to be killed. Even after seeing Gunther's head, Hagen refuses to tell the queen what he has done with the Nibelungen treasure. Furious, Kriemhild herself cuts off Hagen's head. Old Hildebrand, the mentor of Dietrich of Bern, is infuriated by the shameful deaths of the Burgundian guests. He hews Kriemhild to pieces with his sword. In a fifteenth-century manuscript, he is said to strike Kriemhild a single clean blow to the waist; she feels no pain, however, and declares that his sword is useless. Hildebrand then drops a ring and commands Kriemhild to pick it up. As she bends down, her body falls into pieces. Dietrich and Etzel and all the people of the court lament the deaths of so many heroes.
Historical background[edit]
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The historical core of the saga is the defeat of the Burgundians by Flavius Aëtius with the aid of Hunnic mercenaries near Worms ca. AD 436. Other possible influences are the feud between the 6th century Merovingian queens Brunhilda and Fredegunde, as well as the marriage of Attila with the Burgundian princess Ildikó in AD 453, which took place the day before his death.
From the evidence of Waltharius, Nibelung is a name for the Franks, although there are other uses of the name in other medieval texts. The first part of the Nibelungenlied deals with Gunther's wooing of Brünhild and the murder of Siegfried, which takes place in Worms. The second part describes the journey of the Nibelungs east across the Danube to Etzelburg, the residence of Attila the Hun (Etzel), and the location of the final catastrophe. The Nibelungenlied arranges these traditional materials in a composition aiming at a High Medieval audience casting the inherited Germanic theme in a critical view of contemporary chivalry. Consequently, Siegfried changes from a dragon killer to a courtly man who will express his love to Kriemhild explicitly only after he has won the friendship of the Burgundian king Gunther and his brothers, Gernot and Giselher. Some situations, which exaggerate the conflict between the Germanic migrations and the chivalrous ethics (such as Gunther's embarrassing wedding night with Brünhild) may be interpreted as irony. The notoriously bloody end that leaves no hope for reconciliation is far removed from the happy ending of typical courtly epics, but is probably part of the original story. The bloody conclusion is also part of the overall critical dimension of the work.
Some scholars, particularly Delbrück, consider the historical figure of Arminius (Hermann), who defeated the Roman imperial legions (clad in scale armour) at the Battle of Teutoburg Forest in 9 AD, a possible archetype for the dragon-slayer Siegfried.[7]
Legacy[edit]
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An early critic[who?] labeled it a German Iliad, arguing that, like the Greek epic, it goes back to the remotest times and unites the monumental fragments of half-forgotten myths and historical personages into a poem that is essentially national in character.
Imagery from the Nibelungenlied was used in many poems, essays, posters and speeches at every stage in the development of German nationalism, from the Befreiungskriege (Wars of Liberation) to the regime of National Socialism (Nazism), to less jingoistic interpretations and references today.
For example, the faithfulness among the Burgundian king and his vassals, ranked higher than family bonds or life, is called Nibelungentreue. This expression was used in Germany, prior to World War I to describe the alliance between the German Empire and Austria-Hungary, as well as trying to inspire the army when referring to the Battle of Stalingrad.
The word Nibelungen is applied to the followers of Siegfried and finally to the Burgundians which are portrayed in the poem.
Today it is very difficult to separate the influence of the Nibelungenlied itself from that of other works of art and propaganda dealing with the Siegfried myths. Often, images which clearly refer to part of this story differ in some way. For example, one famous poster from the 1930s links Siegfried's death with the Dolchstosslegende (the idea that German soldiers were stabbed in the back by the peace treaties of 1918) and shows a Siegfried-like figure stabbed with a dagger, not a spear.
Adaptations[edit]
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The Nibelungenlied, Thidreks saga and the Völsunga saga served as source materials for Richard Wagner's Der Ring des Nibelungen (English: The Ring of the Nibelung), a series of four music dramas popularly known as the Ring Cycle.
In 1924, Austrian director Fritz Lang made a duology of silent fantasy films of the epic: Die Nibelungen: Siegfried and Die Nibelungen: Kriemhilds Rache. Lang and Thea von Harbou wrote the screenplay for the first film; von Harbou has the sole screenwriting credit on the second. Margarete Schön portrayed Kriemhild, Paul Richter portrayed Siegfried, and Hanna Ralph portrayed Brunhild. A two-part remake was made in 1966.
The premise of the Nibelungenlied was made into a miniseries called Ring of the Nibelungs (also called Sword of Xanten) in 2004. It adapts the title of the operatic series by Wagner and, like Der Ring des Nibelungen, is in many ways closer to the Norse legends of Sigurd and Brynhild than to the Nibelungenlied itself. Like many adaptations, it deals only with the first half of the epic, ignoring Kriemhild's revenge. On the SciFi Channel, it is broadcast with title Dark Kingdom: The Dragon King (2006).
Editions[edit]
(in chronological order)
Karl Bartsch, Der Nibelunge Nôt : mit den Abweichungen von der Nibelunge Liet, den Lesarten sämmtlicher Handschriften und einem Wörterbuche, Leipzig: F.A. Brockhaus, 1870–1880
Michael S. Batts. Das Nibelungenlied, critical edition, Tübingen: M. Niemeyer 1971. ISBN 3-484-10149-0
Helmut de Boor. Das Nibelungenlied, 22nd revised and expanded edition, ed. Roswitha Wisniewski, Wiesbaden 1988, ISBN 3-7653-0373-9. This edition is based ultimately on that of Bartsch.
Ursula Schulze, Das Nibelungenlied, Düsseldorf / Zürich: Artemis & Winkler 2005. ISBN 3-538-06990-5. Based on manuscript C.
Hermann Reichert, Das Nibelungenlied, Berlin: de Gruyter 2005. VII, ISBN 3-11-018423-0. Edition of manuscript B, normalized text; introduction in German.
Hermann Reichert, Nibelungenlied-Lehrwerk. Sprachlicher Kommentar, mittelhochdeutsche Grammatik, Wörterbuch. Passend zum Text der St. Galler Fassung („B“). Wien: Praesens Verlag 2007. ISBN 978-3-7069-0445-2. Linguistic help for beginners (in German).
Walter Kofler (Ed.), Nibelungenlied und Klage. Redaktion I, Stuttgart: Hirzel 2011. ISBN 978-3-7776-2145-6. Manuscript I.
Walter Kofler (Ed.), Nibelungenlied. Redaktion D, Stuttgart: Hirzel 2012. ISBN 978-3-7776-2297-2. Manuscript D.
Joachim Heinzle (Ed.), Das Nibelungenlied und die Klage. Nach der Handschrift 857 der Stiftsbibliothek St. Gallen. Mittelhochdeutscher Text, Übersetzung und Kommentar (Bibliothek des Mittelalters 12), Berlin 2013. Text, translation and commentary, based on manuscript B.
Translations and adaptations[edit]
English[edit]
Alice Horton, Translator. The Lay of the Nibelungs: Metrically Translated from the Old German Text, G. Bell and Sons, London, 1898. https://archive.org/stream/nibelungslay00hortrich Line by line translation of the "B manuscript". (Deemed the most accurate of the "older translations" in Encyclopedia of literary translation into English: M-Z, Volume 2, edited by Olive Classe, 2000, Taylor & Francis, pp. 999–1000.)
Margaret Armour, Translator. Franz Schoenberner, Introduction. Edy Legrand, Illustrator. The Nibelungenlied, Heritage Press, New York, 1961
A.T. Hatto, The Nibelungenlied, Penguin Classics 1964. English translation and extensive critical and historical appendices.
Robert Lichtenstein. The Nibelungenlied, Translated and introduced by Robert Lichtenstein. (Studies in German Language and Literature Number: 9). Edwin Mellen Press, 1992. ISBN 0-7734-9470-7. ISBN 978-0-7734-9470-1.
Burton Raffel, Das Nibelungenlied, new translation. Foreword by Michael Dirda. Introduction by Edward R. Haymes. Yale University Press 2006. ISBN 978-0-300-11320-4. ISBN 0-300-11320-X
Michael Manning (Illustrator), Erwin Tschofen (Author), Michael Manning's The Nibelungen, sum legio publishing, 2010. ISBN 978-3-9502635-8-9.
Cyril Edwards,The Nibelungenlied. The Lay of the Nibelungs, translated with an introduction and notes. Oxford University Press 2010. ISBN 978-0-19-923854-5.
Modern German[edit]
Das Nibelungenlied. Zweisprachig, parallel text, edited and translated by Helmut de Boor. Sammlung Dieterich, 4th edition, Leipzig 1992, ISBN 3-7350-0104-1.
Das Nibelungenlied. Mhd./Nhd., parallel text based on the edition of Karl Bartsch andHelmut de Boor, translated with commentary by Siegfried Grosse. Reclam Universal-Bibliothek. Band 644. Reclam, Stuttgart 1997, ISBN 3-15-000644-9.
Albrecht Behmel. Das Nibelungenlied, translation, Ibidem Verlag, 2nd edition, Stuttgart 2001, ISBN 978-3-89821-145-1
See also[edit]
Alberich
German mythology
Nibelungs
Sigurd
Völsunga saga
References and notes[edit]
Jump up ^ "Song of the Nibelungs, a heroic poem from mediaeval Europe". UNESCO Memory of the World Programme. 2009-07-31. Retrieved 2009-12-15.
Jump up ^ Savage, Bryn. "Creating Germany's National Myth". yale.edu. Yale University. Retrieved July 16, 2017.
Jump up ^ the Donaueschingen manuscript C can be considered as the longest version, although some pages are missing [1]
Jump up ^ Engelhaupt, Erika (October 9, 2017). "How 'Talking' Corpses Were Once Used to Solve Murders". National Geographic. Retrieved October 14, 2017. No one knows exactly how the belief in cruentation got its start, but one of the earliest mentions on record is in the sixth century, in the epic Germanic poem Nibelungenlied. In the poem, the dragon-slayer Siegfried is murdered, and his body is laid out on a bier. When his killer Hagen approaches, the dragon-slayer’s wounds begin to flow.
Jump up ^ This interpretation however is contradicted both by internal evidence in later parts of the Nibelungenlied, which describe knights casting spears at each other, and independently by evidence from mediaeval sources such as Talhoffer's illustrated "Fechtbuch" which clearly shows the casting of javelins s an element of knightly combat on foot, e.g. tafeln 70 & 71 of the 1467 edition.
Jump up ^ An alternative interpretation of Hagen's act is that he is just prudentially forestalling Kriemhild's anticipated revenge, which is of a piece with his overall stance of care to preserve the Burgundian dynasty.
Jump up ^ Delbrück, Hans. History of the Art of War, vol II. The Barbarian Invasions. Translated by Walter J. Renfroe. Bison Book, 1990. Pp. 120f. ISBN 0803292007.
Further reading[edit]
Müller, Jan-Dirk. Rules for the Endgame. The World of the Nibelungenlied. Translated by William T. Whobrey. Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press. Pp. xv, 562.
External links[edit]
Wikiquote has quotations related to: Nibelungenlied
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Nibelungenlied.
Wikisource has original text related to this article:
Nibelungenlied
Wikisource has the text of the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica article Nibelungenlied.
Complete list of manuscripts (Handschriftencensus)
Facsimile of manuscript C
Karl Bartsch edition (Leipzig, 1870–80)
On-going audio recording in Middle High German
English translations[edit]
Translation by Daniel B. Shumway
Translation by Daniel B. Shumway
Translation by Daniel B. Shumway
The Nibelungenlied: Translated into Rhymed English Verse in the Metre of the Original by George Henry Needler
The Lay of the Nibelungs – A line by line translation of the "B manuscript" by Alice Horton
The Nibelungenlied public domain audiobook at LibriVox
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Nibelungenlied
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LCCN: n79109760
GND: 4042046-2
SUDOC: 028238125
BNF: cb133193082 (data)
NDL: 00628853
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Legacy of the Roman Empire
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search
Official Romance language
Co-official Romance language
Unofficial Romance language
Unofficial regional Romance language
Global distribution of Romance languages:
Blue – French; Green – Spanish; Orange – Portuguese; Yellow – Italian; Red – Romanian
The legacy of the Roman Empire includes the set of cultural values, religious beliefs, technological advancements, engineering and language. This legacy was passed on after the demise of the empire itself and continued to shape other civilizations, a process which continues to this day. The city of Rome was the civitas (reflected in the etymology of the word "civilization") and consequently the actual western civilization on which subsequent cultures built.
The Latin language of ancient Rome, epitomized by Classical Latin used in Latin literature, evolved during the Middle Ages and has been utilized ever since by the Roman Catholic Church for Ecclesiastical Latin. Vulgar Latin, the common tongue used for regular social interactions, evolved simultaneously into the Romance languages that exist today (e.g. Italian, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Romanian, etc.). Although the Western Roman Empire fell in the 5th century AD, the Eastern Roman Empire continued until its conquest by the Ottoman Empire in the 15th century AD and cemented the Greek language in many parts of the Eastern Mediterranean even after the Early Muslim conquests of the 7th century AD. Although there has been a small modern revival of the Hellenistic religion with Hellenism, ancient Roman paganism was largely displaced by Christianity after the 4th century AD and the Christian conversion of Roman emperor Constantine I (r. 306-337 AD). The Christian faith of the late Roman Empire continued to evolve during the Middle Ages and is still a major facet of the modern Western world.
Ancient Roman architecture, largely indebted to ancient Greek architecture of the Hellenistic period, has made a consistent impact on the architecture of the Western world, particularly during the Italian Renaissance of the 15th century. Roman law and republican politics (from the age of the Roman Republic) have left an enduring legacy, influencing the city-state republics of the Medieval period as well as the early United States and other modern democratic republics. The Julian calendar of ancient Rome formed the basis of the Gregorian calendar in the West, while Roman inventions and engineering, such as the construction of concrete domes, continued to influence various peoples after the fall of Rome.
Contents
[hide]
1 Language
1.1 Script
1.2 Latin literature
2 Calendar and measurement
2.1 Hours of the day
2.2 Numerals and units
3 Religion
4 Science and philosophy
5 Roman law and politics
6 Inventions
7 Colonies and roads
8 Architecture
9 Imperial idea
10 See also
11 References
12 Sources
13 External links
Language[edit]
Main article: Romance languages
Latin was the lingua franca of the early Roman Empire and later the Western Roman Empire, while particularly in the East indigenous languages such as Greek and to a lesser degree Egyptian and Aramaic language continued to be in use. Despite the decline of the Western Roman Empire, the Latin language continued to flourish in the very different social and economic environment of the Middle Ages, not least because it became the official language of the Roman Catholic Church. Koine Greek, which served as a lingua franca in the Eastern Empire, is still used today as a sacred language in some Eastern Orthodox churches.
In Western and Central Europe and parts of Africa, Latin retained its elevated status as the main vehicle of communication for the learned classes throughout the Middle Ages; this is especially seen during the Renaissance and Baroque periods. Books which had a revolutionary impact on science, such as Nicolaus Copernicus' De revolutionibus orbium coelestium (1543), were composed in Latin. This language was not supplanted for scientific purposes until the 18th century, and for formal descriptions in zoology, as well as botany - it survived to the later 20th century.[1] The modern international Binomial nomenclature holds to this day: the scientific name of each species is classified by a Latin or Latinized name.
Today the Romance languages, which comprise all languages that descended from Latin, are spoken by more than 800 million native speakers worldwide, mainly in the Americas, Europe, and Africa. Romance languages are either official, co-official, or significantly used in 72 countries around the world.[2][3][4][5][6][7]
Additionally, Latin had a great influence on both the grammar and the lexicon of West Germanic languages. Romance words make respectively 59%, 20% and 14% of English, German and Dutch vocabularies.[8][9][10] Those figures can rise dramatically when only non-compound and non-derived words are included. Accordingly, Romance words make roughly 35% of the vocabulary of Dutch.[10]
Script[edit]
Main article: Latin alphabet
Global distribution of the Latin script.
All three official scripts of the modern European Union—Latin, Greek and Cyrillic—descend from writing systems used in the Roman Empire. Today, the Latin script, the Latin alphabet spread by the Roman Empire to most of Europe, and derived from the Phoenician alphabet through an ancient form of the Greek alphabet adopted and modified by Etruscan, is the most widespread and commonly used script in the world. Spread by various colonies, trade routes, and political powers, the script has continued to grow in influence. The Greek alphabet, which had been popularized throughout the eastern Mediterranean region during the Hellenistic period, remained the primary script of the Eastern Empire through the Byzantine Empire until its demise in the 15th century.
Latin literature[edit]
15th-century printed books by language.[11] The high prestige of Latin still dominated the European discourse a millennium after the demise of the Western Roman Empire.
The Carolingian Renaissance of the 8th century rescued many works in Latin from oblivion: manuscripts transcribed at that time are our only sources for works that later fell into obscurity once more, only to be recovered during the Renaissance: Tacitus, Lucretius, Propertius and Catullus are examples.[12] Other Latin writers were always read: Virgil was reinterpreted as a prophet of Christianity by the 4th century, and gained the reputation of a sorcerer in the 12th century.
Cicero, in a limited number of his works, remained a model of good style, mined for quotations. Ovid was read with a Christian allegorical interpretation. Seneca was reimagined as the correspondent of Saint Paul. Lucan, Persius, Juvenal, Horace, Terence, and Statius survived in the continuing canon and historians Valerius Maximus and Livy continued to be read for the moral lessons history was expected to impart.
Through the Roman Empire, Greek literature also continued to make an impact in Europe long after the Empire's fall, especially after the recovery of Greek texts from the East during the high Middle Ages and the resurgence of Greek literacy during the Renaissance. Plutarch's Lives of the Noble Greeks and Romans, for instance, originally written in Greek, was widely read by educated Westerners from the Renaissance up to the 20th century. Shakespeare's play Julius Caesar takes most of its material from Plutarch's biographies of Caesar, Cato, and Brutus, whose exploits were frequently discussed and debated by the literati of the time.
Calendar and measurement[edit]
Main articles: Gregorian calendar and Names of the days of the week
The modern Western calendar is a refinement of the Julian calendar, which was introduced by Julius Caesar. The calendar of the Roman Empire began with the months Ianuarius (January), Februarius (February), and Martius (March). The common tradition to begin the year on 1 January was a convention established in ancient Rome. Throughout the medieval period, the year began on 25 March, the Catholic Solemnity of the Annunciation.
The modern seven-day week follows the Greco-Roman system of planetary hours, in which one of the seven heavenly bodies of the Solar System that were known in ancient times—Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, the Sun, Venus, Mercury and the Moon—is given "rulership" over each day. The Romance languages (with the exception of Portuguese, that assigns an ordinal number to five days of the week, from Monday to Friday, beginning with segunda-feira, and ending with sexta-feira) preserve the original Latin names of each day of the week, except for Sunday, which came to be called dies dominicus (Lord's Day) under Christianity.
This system for the days of the week spread to Celtic and Germanic peoples, as well as the Albanians, before the collapse of the empire, after which the names of comparable gods were substituted for the Roman deities in some languages. In Germanic languages, for instance, Thor stood in for Jupiter (Jove), yielding "Thursday" from the Latin dies Iovis, while in Albanian, native deities En and Prende were assigned to Thursday and Friday respectively.
Day
Sunday
Sōl (Sun)
Monday
Luna (Moon)
Tuesday
Mars (Mars)
Wednesday
Mercurius (Mercury)
Thursday
Iuppiter (Jupiter)
Friday
Venus (Venus)
Saturday
Saturnus (Saturn)
Latin
dies Sōlis dies Lūnae dies Martis dies Mercuriī dies Iovis dies Veneris dies Saturnī
Italian
domenica lunedì martedì mercoledì giovedì venerdì sabato
French
dimanche lundi mardi mercredi jeudi vendredi samedi
Spanish
domingo lunes martes miércoles jueves viernes sábado
Catalan
diumenge dilluns dimarts dimecres dijous divendres dissabte
Romanian
duminică luni marți miercuri joi vineri sâmbătă
Albanian
te dielën
(diell = "sun") të hënën
(hënë = "moon") të martën të mërkurën të enjten të premte të shtunën
Irish
An Domhnach
Dé Domhnaigh An Luan
Dé Luain An Mháirt
Dé Máirt An Chéadaoin
Dé Céadaoin An Déardaoin
Déardaoin An Aoine
Dé hAoine An Satharn
Dé Sathairn
Welsh
dydd Sul dydd Llun dydd Mawrth dydd Mercher dydd Iau dydd Gwener dydd Sadwrn
Breton
Disul Dilun Dimeurzh Dimerc’her Diriaou Digwener Disadorn
Old English
Sunnandæg Mōnandæg Tīwesdæg Wōdnesdæg Þunresdæg Frīgedæg Sæternesdæg
German
Sonntag Montag Dienstag, Ziestag (Swiss German) Mittwoch (older Wutenstag) Donnerstag Freitag Sonnabend, Samstag
Dutch
zondag maandag dinsdag woensdag donderdag vrijdag zaterdag
Icelandic
sunnudagur mánudagur þriðjudagur miðvikudagur fimmtudagur föstudagur laugardagur
Norwegian Nynorsk
sundag/søndag måndag tysdag onsdag torsdag fredag laurdag
Danish
søndag mandag tirsdag onsdag torsdag fredag lørdag
Swedish
söndag måndag tisdag onsdag torsdag fredag lördag
Hours of the day[edit]
Main articles: 12-hour clock and Roman timekeeping
The 12-hour clock is a time convention popularized by the Romans in which the 24 hours of the day are divided into two periods. The Romans divided the day into 12 equal hours, A.M. (ante-meridiem, meaning before midday) and P.M. (post-meridiem, meaning past midday). The Romans also started the practice used worldwide today of a new day beginning at midnight.
Numerals and units[edit]
Main articles: Roman numerals and Ancient Roman units of measurement
A typical clock face with Roman numerals in Bad Salzdetfurth, Germany. The notion of a twelve-hour day dates to the Roman Empire.
Roman numerals continued as the primary way of writing numbers in Europe until the 14th century, when they were largely replaced in common usage by Hindu-Arabic numerals. The Roman numeral system continues to be widely used, however, in certain formal and minor contexts, such as on clock faces, coins, in the year of construction on cornerstone inscriptions, and in generational suffixes (such as Louis XIV or William Howard Taft IV).
The Romans solidified the modern concept of the hour as one-24th part of a day and night. The English measurement system also retains features of the Ancient Roman foot (11.65 modern inches), which was used in England prior to the Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain. The inch itself derives from the Roman uncia, meaning one-twelfth part.
Religion[edit]
Christianity by percentage of population in each country.
Main articles: Catholic Church and Eastern Orthodox Church
While classical Roman and Hellenistic religion were ultimately superseded by Christianity, many key theological ideas and questions that are characteristic of Western religions originated with pre-Christian theology. The first cause argument for the existence of God, for instance, originates with Plato. Design arguments, which were introduced by Socrates and Aristotle and remain widely discussed to this day, formed an influential component of Stoic theology well into the late Roman period. The problem of evil was widely discussed among ancient philosophers, including the Roman writers such as Cicero and Seneca, and many of the answers they provided were later absorbed into Christian theodicy. In Christian moral theology, moreover, the field of natural law ethics draws heavily on the tradition established by Aristotle, the Stoics, and especially by Cicero's popular Latin work, De Legibus. Cicero's conception of natural law "found its way to later centuries notably through the writings of Saint Isidore of Seville and the Decretum of Gratian"[13] and influenced the discussion of the topic up through the era of the American Revolution.
Christianity itself also spread through the Roman Empire; since emperor Theodosius I (AD 379-395), the official state church of the Roman Empire was Christianity. Subsequently, former Roman territories became Christian states which exported their religion to other parts of the world, through colonization and missionaries.
Christianity also served as a conduit for preserving and transmitting Greco-Roman literary culture. Classical educational tradition in the liberal arts was preserved after the fall of the empire by the medieval Christian university. Education in the Middle Ages relied heavily on Greco-Roman books such as Euclid's Elements and the influential quadrivium textbooks written in Latin by the Roman statesman Boethius (AD 480–524).
Major works of Greek and Latin literature, moreover, were both read and written by Christians during the imperial era. Many of the most influential works of the early Christian tradition were written by Roman and Hellenized theologians who engaged heavily with the literary culture of the empire (see church fathers). St. Augustine's (AD 354-430) City of God, for instance, draws extensively on Virgil, Cicero, Varro, Homer, Plato, and elements of Roman values and identity to criticize paganism and advocate for Christianity amidst a crumbling empire. The engagement of early Christians as both readers and writers of important Roman and Greek literature helped to ensure that the literary culture of Rome would persist after the fall of the empire. For thousands of years to follow, religious scholars in the Latin West from Bede to Thomas Aquinas and later renaissance figures such as Dante, Montaigne and Shakespeare would continue to read, reference and imitate both Christian and pagan literature from the Roman Empire. In the east, the empire's prolific tradition of Greek literature continued uninterrupted after the fall of the west, in part due to the works of the Greek fathers, who were widely read by Christians in medieval Byzantium and continue to influence religious thought to this day (see Byzantine literature).
Science and philosophy[edit]
Main articles: Roman philosophy and Ancient Greek philosophy
Ptolemy's refined geocentric theory of epicycles was backed up by rigorous mathematics and detailed astronomical observations. It was not overturned until the Copernican Revolution, over a thousand years later.
The Bible as codex. The codex, the book format today in universal use, was invented by the Romans and spread by Roman Christians.[14]
While much of the most influential Greek science and philosophy was developed before the rise of the Empire, major innovations occurred under Roman rule that have had a lasting impact on the intellectual world. The traditions of Greek, Egyptian and Babylonian scholarship continued to flourish at great centers of learning such as Athens, Alexandria, and Pergamon.
Epicurean philosophy reached a literary apex in the long poem by Lucretius, who advocated an atomic theory of matter and revered the older teachings of the Greek Democritus. The works of the philosophers Seneca the Younger, Epictetus and the Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius were widely read during the revival of Stoic thought in the Renaissance, which synthesized Stoicism and Christianity. Fighter pilot James Stockdale famously credited the philosophy of Epictetus as being a major source of strength when he was shot down and held as prisoner during the Vietnam War. Plato's philosophy continued to be widely studied under the Empire, growing into the sophisticated neoplatonic system through the influence of Plotinus. Platonic philosophy was largely reconciled with Christianity by the Roman theologian Augustine of Hippo, who, while a staunch opponent of Roman paganism, viewed the Platonists as having more in common with Christians than the other pagan schools.[15] To this day, Plato's Republic is considered the foundational work of Western philosophy, and is read by students around the globe.
The widespread Lorem ipsum text, which is widely used as a meaningless placeholder in modern typography and graphic design, is derived from the Latin text of Cicero's philosophical treatise De finibus.
Pagan philosophy was gradually supplanted by Christianity in the later years of the Empire, culminating in the closure of the Academy of Athens by Justinian I. Many Greek-speaking philosophers moved to the east, outside the borders of the Empire. Neoplatonism and Aristotelianism gained a stronghold in Persia, where they were a heavy influence on early Islamic philosophy. Thinkers of the Islamic Golden Age such as Ibn Sina (Avicenna) and Ibn Rushd (Averroës) engaged deeply with Greek philosophy, and played a major role in saving works of Aristotle that had been lost to the Latin West. The influence of Greek philosophy on Islam was dramatically reduced In the 11th century when the views of Avicenna and Avveroes were strongly criticized by Al-Ghazali. His Incoherence of the Philosophers is among the most influential books in Islamic history. In Western Europe, meanwhile, the recovery of Greek texts during the Scholastic period had a profound influence on Latin science and theology from the Middle Ages into the Renaissance.
In science, the theories of the Greco-Roman physician Galen dominated Western medical thought and practice for more than 1,300 years. Ptolemy produced the most thorough and sophisticated astronomical theory of antiquity, documented in the Almagest. The Ptolemaic model of the solar system would remain the dominant approach to astronomy across Europe and the Middle East for more than a thousand years.
At Alexandria, the engineer and experimentalist Hero of Alexandria founded the study of mechanics and pneumatics. In modern geometry, Heron's formula bears his name. Roman Alexandria also saw the seeds of modern algebra arise in the works of Diophantus. Greek algebra continued to be studied in the east well after the fall of the Western Empire, where it matured into modern algebra in the hands of al-Khwārizmī (see the history of algebra). The study of Diophantine Equations and Diophantine Approximations are still important areas of mathematical research today.
All of the planets in our Solar System, excluding Earth, are named after Roman deities.
Roman law and politics[edit]
Main articles: Corpus Juris Civilis, Civil law (legal system), and Republic
Roman Law in blue tones.
Republics
Presidential republics with a full presidential system.
Presidential republics with a semi-presidential system.
Parliamentary republics with an executive president chosen by the parliament
Parliamentary republics with a ceremonial president, where the prime minister is the executive.
One-party state considered Republics
Although the law of the Roman Empire is not used today, modern law in many jurisdictions is based on principles of law used and developed during the Roman Empire. Some of the same Latin terminology is still used today. The general structure of jurisprudence used today, in many jurisdictions, is the same (trial with a judge, plaintiff, and defendant) as that established during the Roman Empire.
The modern concept of republican government is directly modeled on the Roman Republic. The republican institutions of Rome survived in many of the Italian city-states of the Middle Ages and the Renaissance. The United States Congress is inspired by the Roman senate and legislative assemblies, while the president holds a position similar to that of a Roman consul. Many European political thinkers of the Enlightenment were avid consumers of Latin literature. Montesquieu, Edmund Burke, and John Adams were all strongly influenced by Cicero, for instance. Adams recommended Cicero as a model for politicians to imitate, and once remarked that "the sweetness and grandeur of his sounds, and the harmony of his numbers give pleasure enough to reward the reading if one understood none of his meaning."[16]
Inventions[edit]
Main articles: Roman technology and Eastern Roman technology
Gnocchi, a kind of traditional Italian pasta, was introduced to various parts of Europe by the Roman legions during the expansion of the empire.
Many Roman inventions were improved versions of other people's inventions and ranged from military organization, weapon improvements, armour, siege technology, naval innovation, architecture, medical instruments, irrigation, civil planning, construction, agriculture and many more areas of civic, governmental, military and engineering development.
That said, the Romans also developed a huge array of new technologies and innovations. Many came from common themes but were vastly superior to what had come before, whilst others were totally new inventions developed by and for the needs of Empire and the Roman way of life.
Some of the more famous examples are the Roman aqueducts (some of which are still in use today), Roman roads, water powered milling machines, thermal heating systems (as employed in Roman baths, and also used in palaces and wealthy homes) sewage and pipe systems and the invention and widespread use of concrete.
Metallurgy and glass work (including the first widespread use of glass windows) and a wealth of architectural innovations including high rise buildings, dome construction, bridgeworks and floor construction (seen in the functionality of the Colosseum's arena and the underlying rooms/areas beneath it) are other examples of Roman innovation and genius.
Military inventiveness was widespread and ranged from tactical/strategic innovations, new methodologies in training, discipline and field medicine as well as inventions in all aspects of weaponry, from armor and shielding to siege engines and missile technology.
This combination of new methodologies, technical innovation, and creative invention in the military gave Rome the edge against its adversaries for half a millennium, and with it, the ability to create an empire that even today, more than 2000 years later, continues to leave its legacy in many areas of modern life.
Colonies and roads[edit]
Main article: List of cities founded by the Romans
Rome left a legacy of founding many cities as Colonia. There were more than 500 Roman colonies spread through the Empire, most of them populated by veterans of the Roman legions. Some Roman colonies rose to become influential commercial and trade centers, transportation hubs and capitals of international empires, like Constantinople, London, Paris and Vienna.
This list below is incomplete and is not intended to be exhaustive.
Roman name
Modern name
Country
Augusta Praetoria Aosta Italy
Bononia Bologna Italy
Florentia Florence Italy
Modica Monza Italy
Placentia Piacenza Italy
Ariminum Rimini Italy
Roma Rome Italy
Salernum Salerno Italy
Augusta Taurinorum Turin Italy
Calatia Caserta Italy
Cremona Cremona Italy
Forum Livii Forlì Italy
Ecclesia Iglesias Italy
Ticinum Pavia Italy
Atuatuca Tungrorum Tongeren Belgium
Gerulata Bratislava Slovakia
Isa Augusta Caerleon UK
Naissus Niš Serbia
Sirmium Sremska Mitrovica Serbia
Viminacium Kostolac Serbia
Apulum Alba Iulia Romania
Tomis Constanța Romania
Napoca Cluj-Napoca Romania
Vindobona Vienna Austria
Iuvavum Salzburg Austria
Lentia Linz Austria
Aurelianorum Orléans France
Claudia Augusta Lugdunum Lyon France
Lutetia Parisiorum Paris France
Divodurum Metz France
Samarobriva Amiens France
Vesontio Besançon France
Augusta Vindelicorum Augsburg Germany
Mattium Marburg Germany
Castra Batavorum Passau Germany
Aquae Mattiacae Wiesbaden Germany
Bonna Bonn Germany
Sorviodurum Straubing Germany
Tricensimae Xanten Germany
Colonia Agrippina Cologne Germany
Bonames (present city district) Frankfurt am Main Germany
Mogontiacum Mainz Germany
Augusta Treverorum Trier Germany
Ratae Corieltauvorum Leicester UK
Londinium London UK
Mancunium Manchester UK
Aquae Sulis Bath UK
Durovernon Canterbury UK
Dubris Dover UK
Isca Dumnoniorum Exeter UK
Lindum Lincoln UK
Verulamium St Albans UK
Glevum Gloucester UK
Durolipons Cambridge UK
Venta Belgarum Winchester UK
Ebocarum York UK
Noviomagus Reginorum Chichester UK
Pons Aelius Newcastle upon Tyne UK
Aquincum Budapest Hungary
Caesarea Caesarea Israel
Emona Ljubljana Slovenia
Matilo Leiden Netherlands
Batavorum Lugdunum Katwijk Netherlands
Mosa Trajectum Maastricht Netherlands
Ulpia Noviomagus Batavorum Nijmegen Netherlands
Trajectum ad Rhenum Utrecht Netherlands
Cesaraugusta Zaragoza Spain
Corduba Cordoba Spain
Augusta Emerita Mérida Spain
Legio León Spain
Hispalis Seville Spain
Valentia Valencia Spain
Portus Victoriae Iuliobrigensium Santander Spain
Lousonna Lausanne Switzerland
Turicum Zurich Switzerland
Municipium Aeminium Coimbra Portugal
Constantinopolis Istanbul Turkey
All those colonies were connected by another important legacy of the Roman Empire: the Roman roads. Indeed, the empire comprised more than 400,000 kilometres (250,000 mi) of roads, of which over 80,500 kilometres (50,000 mi) were stone-paved.[17] The courses (and sometimes the surfaces) of many Roman roads survived for millennia. Many are overlaid by modern roads, like the Via Emilia in northern Italy.
Architecture[edit]
Main article: Ancient Roman architecture
The Cathedral of Vilnius (1783), by Laurynas Gucevičius.
In the mid-18th century, Roman architecture inspired neoclassical architecture. Neoclassicalism was an international movement. Though neoclassical architecture employs the same classical vocabulary as late Baroque architecture, it tends to emphasize its planar qualities, rather than sculptural volumes. Projections and recessions and their effects of light and shade are flatter; sculptural bas-reliefs are flatter and tend to be enframed in friezes, tablets or panels. Its clearly articulated individual features are isolated rather than interpenetrating, autonomous and complete in themselves.
International neoclassical architecture was exemplified in Karl Friedrich Schinkel's buildings, especially the Old Museum in Berlin, Sir John Soane's Bank of England in London and the newly built White House and Capitol in Washington, DC in the United States. The Scots architect Charles Cameron created palatial Italianate interiors for the German-born Catherine II the Great in St. Petersburg.
Italy clung to Rococo until the Napoleonic regimes brought the new archaeological classicism, which was embraced as a political statement by young, progressive, urban Italians with republican leanings.
Imperial idea[edit]
See also: Translatio imperii
Coat of arms of the last imperial dynasty of the Eastern Roman Empire.
From a legal point of view the Roman Empire, founded by Augustus in 27 BC and divided into two "parts" after the death of Theodosius I in 395, had survived only in the eastern part which, with the deposition of the last western emperor Romulus Augustulus, in 476, had also obtained the imperial regalia of the western part reuniting from a formal point of view the Roman Empire.
The Roman line continued uninterrupted to rule the Eastern Roman Empire, whose main characteristics were Roman concept of state, medieval Greek culture and language, and Orthodox Christian faith. The Byzantines themselves never ceased to refer to themselves as "Romans" (Rhomaioi) and to their state as the "Roman Empire", the "Empire of the Romans" (in Greek Βασιλεία των Ῥωμαίων, Basileía ton Rhōmaíōn) or "Romania" (Ῥωμανία, Rhōmanía). Likewise, they were called "Rûm" (Rome) by their eastern enemies to the point that competing neighbours even acquired its name, such as the Sultanate of Rûm.
Flask for Priming Power with the Justice of Trajan (mid-16th century), depicting a woman's plea for justice from Trajan, with an imperial pennant of the Habsburgs suggesting that as Holy Roman Emperors they are the political descendants of the ancient Roman emperors (Walters Art Museum)
The designation of the Empire as "Byzantine" is a retrospective idea: it began only in 1557, a century after the fall of Constantinople, when German historian Hieronymus Wolf published his work Corpus Historiæ Byzantinæ, a collection of Byzantine sources. The term did not come in general use in the Western world before the 19th century[citation needed], when modern Greece was born. The end of the continuous tradition of the Roman Empire is open to debate: the final point was the capture of Constantinople in 1453 AD, while some place it at the sack of Constantinople by the crusaders in 1204.
After the fall of Constantinople, Thomas Palaiologos, brother of the last Eastern Roman Emperor, Constantine XI, was elected emperor and tried to organize the remaining forces. His rule came to an end after the fall of the last major Byzantine city, Corinth. He then moved to Italy and continued to be recognized as Eastern emperor by the Christian powers.
His son Andreas Palaiologos continued claims on the Byzantine throne until he sold the title to Ferdinand of Aragon and Isabella of Castile before his death in 1502.[18] However, there is no evidence that any Spanish monarch used the Byzantine imperial titles, which would have symbolically converted the king of Spain into a legitimate Emperor of Rome.
In Western Europe, the Roman concept of state was continued for almost a millennium by the Holy Roman Empire whose emperors, mostly of German tongue, viewed themselves as the legitimate successors to the ancient imperial tradition (King of the Romans) and Rome as the capital of its Empire. The German title of "Kaiser" is derived from the Latin word for "Caesar". The word Caesar is pronounced /kae:sar/ in Classical Latin.
The coronation of Charlemagne as "Roman" emperor by Pope Leo III in the year 800 was a deprived act of legitimate juridical profile: only the Roman emperor of the East (called "Byzantine" later by the Enlightenment in the eighteenth century) would be crowned a peer of him in the western part, which is why Constantinople was always suspicious of that act.
The emperors of the Holy Roman Empire sought in many ways to make themselves accepted by the Byzantines as their peers: with diplomatic relations, political marriages or threats. Sometimes, however, they did not obtain the expected results, because from Constantinople they were always called "King of the Germans", never "Emperor." The Holy Roman Empire was dissolved in 1806 owing to pressure by Napoleon I.
In Eastern Europe, the Russian czars (Czar derived from Caesar) adopted the idea of Moscow in Russia being a Third Rome (with Constantinople being the second). Sentiments[citation needed] of being the heir of the fallen Eastern Roman Empire began during the reign of Ivan III, Grand Duke of Moscow who had married Sophia Paleologue, the niece of Constantine XI (it is important to note that she was not the heiress of the Byzantine throne, her brother Andreas, who in fact was). Being the most powerful Orthodox Christian state, the Tsars were thought[by whom?] of in Russia as succeeding the Eastern Roman Empire as the rightful rulers of the Orthodox Christian world. There were also competing Bulgarian, Wallachian[19][20] and Ottoman claims for legal succession of the Roman Empire, Mehmet II "the Conqueror" claiming the title Kayser-i Rûm, meaning Caesar of Rome.
In the early 20th century, the Italian fascists under their "Duce" Benito Mussolini dreamed of a new Roman Empire as an Italian one, encompassing the Mediterranean basin.
In the mid 20th century, Alexandre Kojève wanted to re-establish the Roman Empire, but this time its real goal would be a multinational soccer team.[21]
See also[edit]
Western Roman Empire
Byzantine Empire
Legacy of Byzantium
Third Rome
Eastern Romance substratum
Origin of the Romanians
General:
Classical antiquity
Classical tradition
History of the Roman Empire
References[edit]
Jump up ^ See History of Latin.
Jump up ^ "Language Acquisition in the Romance Speaking World: Peru - Departamento de Educación". Departamento.pucp.edu.pe. Retrieved 2016-05-14.
Jump up ^ "Manual of Language Acquisition - Google Libros". Books.google.es. 2014-08-25. Retrieved 2016-05-14.
Jump up ^ "Multilingualism, Education and Change - Jean Jacques Weber - Google Libros". Books.google.es. Retrieved 2016-05-14.
Jump up ^ "Language in the Media: Representations, Identities, Ideologies - Google Libros". Books.google.es. 2007-09-19. Retrieved 2016-05-14.
Jump up ^ "I nomi dei fiumi, dei monti, dei siti: strutture linguistiche preistoriche - Claudio Beretta - Google Libros". Books.google.es. Retrieved 2016-05-14.
Jump up ^ USA (2015-09-28). "Radiation oncology in Latin speaking countries: A link between Europe and Latin America". Rep Pract Oncol Radiother. 19: 227–9. doi:10.1016/j.rpor.2013.06.004. PMC 4104016  . PMID 25061515.
Jump up ^ Finkenstaedt, Thomas; Dieter Wolff (1973). Ordered Profusion; studies in dictionaries and the English lexicon. C. Winter. ISBN 3-533-02253-6.
Jump up ^ Uwe Pörksen, German Academy for Language and Literature’s Jahrbuch [Yearbook] 2007 (Wallstein Verlag, Göttingen 2008, pp. 121-130)
^ Jump up to: a b Loanwords in the World's Languages: A Comparative Handbook (PDF). Walter de Gruyter. 2009. p. 370.
Jump up ^ "Incunabula Short Title Catalogue". British Library. Retrieved 2 March 2011.
Jump up ^ Roberto Weiss, The Renaissance Discovery of Classical Antiquity (Oxford: Blackwell) 1969:1.
Jump up ^ Corwin, Edward S. (1955). The "Higher Law" Background of American Constitutional Law. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press. pp. 17–18.
Jump up ^ Roberts & Skeat 1983, pp. 38−67; 75
Jump up ^ Agustine, De Civitate Dei, book viii.
Jump up ^ Carl J. Richard, Why We're All Romans: The Roman Contribution to the Western World, Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 2010, p. 122.
Jump up ^ Gabriel, Richard A. The Great Armies of Antiquity. Westport, Conn: Praeger, 2002. Page 9.
Jump up ^ Norwich, John Julius, Byzantium — The Decline and Fall, p. 446.
Jump up ^ Clark, Victoria (2000). "Chapter 5: Romania". Why Angels Fall. New York: St. Martin's Press: Macmillan. p. 213. ISBN 978-0-312-23396-9.
Jump up ^ Runciman, Steven (1985). "Chapter 10: The Phanariots". The Great Church in Captivity. Cambridge [Cambridgeshire]; New York: Cambridge University Press. p. 365. ISBN 978-0-521-31310-0.
Jump up ^ Allan Bloom, “Response to Fukuyama,” National Interest, 16, (1989): p 20.
Sources[edit]
Roberts, Colin H.; Skeat, T. C. (1983), The Birth of the Codex, London: Oxford University Press, ISBN 0-19-726024-1
External links[edit]
Byzantine & Christian Museum / From the ancient world to Byzantium
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