The Bestiary, Gothic Art and Thought in the Later Medieval Period - Assignment Example

due: Mid-term Part I Cultural production refers to artifacts of a certain community’s culture, as a way of promoting their culture. 2. Bestiary is a collective term referring to animals which rage with tooth and claw, and the animals include lions, leopards, tigers, donkeys and monkeys among others. The animals have freedom to go wherever they want to go. 3. Allegory of poets refers to practical examples given by poets so as to help in understanding of a particular issue or point. 4. Allegory of the theologians is the explanation of certain aspects of life as described by theologies. They may include issues such as religion. 5. Romanesque refers to the times and incidences of the Roman Empire including aspects such as the religious practices of the time. 6. Rubric refers to a given order of instructions on how a particular text is supposed to appear in terms of words and writing styles. 7. Primary source refers to sources that offer first-hand information, and they include books, websites, and encyclopedias. 8. Lay refers to the act of putting down something, either tangible or intangible. 9. Unreliable narrator is a person whose credibility in a narration is doubted, may be as a result of giving narrations whose source and originality cannot be traced. 10. Gothic is an architecture developed by Germans and has been widely used in the Catholic Church. Part II Question 2: The Bestiary story of the Tiger, the hunter, and the glass balls can be interpreted by a medieval reading like a form of involuntary slavery of the tiger. The tiger’s high speed does not help it when it comes to fighting the hunter who steals its cub. Even though the hunter may not have the physical power of fighting the tiger in speed, he uses his mind to trick the tiger with a glass ball, which the tiger after seeing its image on the mirror believes it is the cub and even cuddles it, allowing the hunter to escape with the real cub (White 7). Question 4: The Gothic architecture involves the following features: a. Portals with subtle and twisted columns that seem to be strained by the weight. The portals have been criticized that they might give in to the heavy weight that they support though they have stood the test of time. b. Top of the portals touching the roof. c. Has more paper than stone and marble. d. It is mainly associated with the Catholic Church, representing a supernatural reality (Sauerländer 7-10). Question 5: The Donation of Constantine is the interpretation of the Holy Trinity. The holy trinity refers to three God in one, described as the father, the son and the Holy Spirit. It was important in the Middle Ages since it helped to explain the development of the Roman faith. It explains the shift from the period of worshipping idols to the realization of the modern faith. Sylvester, the universal pontiff, has helped in spreading the modern gospel. Sylvester changed the perception that the author had about the gods Peter and Paul, and told them that they were apostles (Halsall 1). Part III Question 4: The theme of this passage is love. It clearly brings out the various aspects of two people who love and treasure each other. The lady confesses that his only fear is losing him. The man who is the king treats the beautiful creature like a marvel of nature which he had never seen before. He orders that the creature should be fed well and given drink. Every other man admires the beautiful creature who is depicted by the king as a very special one. The theme of love is cemented by the statement that the couple would always visit places together, and none of them would allow to be separated from the other. The passage relates to the course in that it contributes to the effectiveness of use of figurative language, commonly used during the medieval period. The passage was written by Marie de France and translated by Judith P. Shoaf in 1996 (France, para 12). Question 5: The theme of the text is religion. It describes the faith and practices of the Roman Catholic Church. The narrator describes how he renounced his unholy acts and was cleansed by the blessed Sylvester who was the bishop of the city of Rome. The narrator gives the reader a clear picture of how the clergy led by the top priest carry out their roles in deepening faith among believers. The bishop executes the procedure of renouncing the pomp of the Satan and his works, including the worship of hand-made gods which were being used before by the people. The believer, as represented by the narrator, are made to confess their believe in God the Father Almighty. The process purifies the believers who become newly born in faith by being blessed and baptized with the holy water. The theme is well reinforced by the final seal of the holy cross put on the narrator, signifying faith. The author of the passage is Paul Halsall and it was written in January 1996. The source of the passage is Medieval Sourcebook from Fordham University (Halsall para 1-4). Question 6: The image brings out the theme of kingship. In the medieval period, most parts of the world were under kingdoms. The throne of king was highly respected by all the subjects. The image shows the main throne of the king with his guards around the highly coveted chair of the king. The theme serves to stress the role of leadership in the society. No one dared to disobey the king’s command, or else he was thrown into prison never to leave prison until he died. Kings on the other hand maintained justice and tried hard not to fail their subjects. The kings were also entrusted with protecting their people from external invasion. They would maintain strong and reliable troops to fight during times of attacks. The kingship was inherited from the father to the son since such families were believed to have the skills of leading the people. The image, for this reason, helps to further drive home the lectures on Anglo-saxon Chronicles. Question 7: The theme of this image is Christianity. It shows Jesus Christ surrounded by his disciples and followers in what seems like the onset of his crucifixion. Christians believe in the death of Jesus Christ who voluntarily sacrificed to die for the salvation of all who believed in him. The image portrays some people holding a cross while Jesus Christ himself is deep in prayers according to the upper part if the image. On the walls of the portrait is Mary, the mother of Jesus, completing the picture of the prophesied moments of Jesus Christ in the New Testament. The lower part of the image shows a king on the left-hand side. This is what appears to be the moments of King Pilate as he was just about to authorize the crucifixion of Jesus. Jesus Christ is at the center ready to take the judgment. The image, for this reason, gives the illustration of the times and moments of Jesus Christ on earth, something what the Christians all over the world believe in. The image is in line with readings on Christianity, one of the topics covered in class. Part IV Question 2: In the text of the book of beasts, the narrator skillfully gives the description of beasts while at the same time comparing some of their features with some quotes from the Holy Scriptures. For instance, the lion is drawn like the king of the jungle, whose sound all the other animals fear. Imagery is used to emphasize the mighty powers of God the Savior. The Savior is regarded as the Spiritual Lion of the Tribe of Judah, the Rod of Jesse, the Lord of Lords and the Son of God. Like the lion disguises his spoor behind him with his tail, so did the Lord by hiding his spoor of his love in the high places and came down into womb of the Virgin Mary saving the human race which had perished (White 7). The Lion remains with his eyes open as he sleeps. In the same way, Our Lord slept in the body when he was crucified but his Godhead remained awake. Like it is said in the Song of Songs, “I am asleep, and my heart is awake”. Lions do not get angry unless when provoked by men. The lions are also compared with men who are known to get angry when they are not wounded, and go to the extent of oppressing the innocent, even though, the law of Christ forbids them from doing so. The law of Christ requires them to let free even those who are found guilty (White 10). In the same text, a tiger is depicted as a very swift animal but retarded in the mind, and cannot match the God-given wits of a hunter. Despite its fierceness, the hunter can trick the tiger with a ball of glass and manages to escape with the cub (White 13). Works cited France, Marie (1996.). BISCLAVRET. Print. Halsall, Paul. "Medieval Sourcebook: The Donation of Constantine (c.750-800)." Internet History Sourcebooks Project. 1 Jan. 1996. Web. 7 Feb. 2015. . Sauerländer, Willibald-, and Colum Hourihane. Gothic Art & Thought in the Later Medieval Period: Essays in Honor of Willibald Sauerländer. , 2011. Print. White, Terence Hanbury. The bestiary: a book of beasts: being a translation from a Latin bestiary of the twelfth century. Vol. 26. Cliffs Notes, 1960. Read More