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horizon-verizon · 2 years ago

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Interesting note: "Only three women reigned in their own right between 476 and 1100, all in Byzantium, where there was much less emphasis on the military role. Irene (797–802), initially acted as regent for her son, Constantine VI (780–797), but usurped the crown, reigning for 5 years before her deposition.

In 1028 Zoe succeeded her father, Constantine VIII. She did not rule in isolation, but successively elevated three husbands and an adopted son to be her co-emperors.

5 From 1042 she was forced to recognise her sister, Theodora, as co-empress, and Theodora reigned briefly alone in 1055–1056"

"In medieval times a woman could not bear arms; therefore a woman could not take on a role which, even symbolically, required her to carry arms. In medieval times a woman who took on an overt military role was an aberration;"

"Stephen’s biographer, Donald Matthew, places the designation of Matilda in its immediate historical context.

Designating Matilda was a short-term measure designed to secure her a powerful husband who could defend England against the William Clito.

Huneycutt, considering contemporary writings in detail, concludes that Matilda’s supporters saw her primarily as the conduit through which hereditary right passed from Henry to his grandson, and that she deprived herself of considerable support by seeking the throne for herself.

Matthew suggests that her failure in 1141 was in no small measure due to her insisting ‘on her right to exercise power in person’ and inability because of her sex to act as a military commander, along with her unfortunate character traits of arrogance and disregard of advice."

Lyon, A. (2006). The place of women in European royal succession in the middle ages.

Those Women You Mention

Irene of Athens

This is all under the context of women not being seen as fit for rule--by the Pope, by councillors (men), by her son, etc->

About 6 weeks after her husband the emperor, Leo IV, death Irene was also faced a conspiracy to raise Caesar Nikephoros, (her husband's half-brother) to the throne. Irene had Bardas (a former strategos, Gregory (the logothete of the dromos), and a count of the excubitors) scourged, tonsured, and banished and replaced all of them with those she trusted or were who were loyal to her. Then she made Nikephoros and his other priests so they would be forever disqualified them from ruling. Immediately afterward, Irene returned the crown her husband had removed in a procession(Lynda Garland--1999--"Irene [769–802], Byzantine Empresses: Women and Power in Byzantium, AD 527–1204). While her son was ruler, it was clear that she and she served as his regent, it's also clear that she acted more like his co-ruler than a regent. And when he tried to move away from her and establish himself (Brittanica):

As Constantine approached maturity, he grew resentful of his mother’s controlling influence in the empire. An attempt to seize power was crushed by the Empress, who demanded that the military oath of fidelity should recognize her as senior ruler. Anger at the demand prompted the themes (administrative divisions) of Asia Minor to open resistance in 790. Constantine VI was proclaimed sole ruler and his mother banished from court. In January 792, however, Irene was allowed to return to court and even to resume her position as co-ruler. By skillful intrigues with the bishops and courtiers she organized a conspiracy against Constantine, who was arrested and blinded at his mother’s orders (797).

She's also attributed to ending the First Iconoclasm.

*EDIT* Finally, she eventually became an "empress regnant" (a ruling empress with her own autonomous powers), or just "emporer", for 5 or so years after she had her son-emporer blinded. Until some conspirators ousted her into exile. *END OF EDIT*

Zoë Porphyrogenita

She herself was never the only empress regnant/Emporer and co-ruled with different people at a time. One of them was her former lover, Constantine (IX) Monomachos, who ruled from 1042 to 1055 at her own invitation/actions, and they married, but he also brought his mistress Maria Skleraina.

This woman, he eventually married after Zoë's death and was given the honorific of Sebastē "to render the Roman imperial title of Augustus", but before then, Constantine's clear favoritism for Maria lead to an uprising by Constantinople's citizens in 1044 that almost lead to his own harm while he lead a religious procession (John Julius Norwich--1993)--Byzantium: The Apogee).

She and her other co-ruling relative had to appear in front of the crowds so reassure them that they were safe from an assassination plot, so I think we can say they (or just her) were pretty popular.

Matilda (famous activity 1100-1150s)

All sorts of succession traditions existed simultaneously in Europe and in England. In France, it was traditional for the king to crown his successor while he was still alive, but in England a noble usually do was to identify a pool of legitimate heirs and left them to leaving them to challenge each other and dispute the inheritance after his death. (Fiona Tolhurst--2013--Geoffrey of Monmouth and the Translation of Female Kingship). And in some parts of France, male primogeniture was becoming more popular.

Matilda was the daughter of Henry I of England. Matilda's younger and only full brother, William Adelin, died in the White Ship disaster. After her Holy Roman Emporer husband's death-- Henry V-- her father Henry I called her back to the Normandy court to marry Geoffrey of Anjou to an alliance so he could defend his southern borders. Despite his own second marriage to Adeliza of Louvain, Henry I had no further legitimate children and before he died, he made Matilda his heir, making the court swear an oath of loyalty to her and her successors. This decision wasn't favored in court, and later those Anglo-Norman barons would rise up against her and her husband.

Matilda's cousin Stephen of Blois (the same Stephen you talk about) took the throne (he was not and never considered heir) with some barons' and the English Church's support. This civil war is called the Anarchy, which also had several lords chose to support neither side. Stephen had to accrue

With her half-brother and uncle's armies, she captured Stephen and her coronation at Westminster failed when opposing London crowds interrupted it. So she was never made a Queen Regnant of England and instead was referred to as the "Lady of the English". Robert of Gloucester (the brother) was captured in 1141, and Matilda agreed to exchange him for Stephen. Her husband eventually won his war of conquest for Normandy, and she became a sort of resting Queen regent or at least administrative advisor for her son, Henry II, King of England.

Within this context, Matilda and her rise to power itself is obviously the inspiration for Rhaenyra, and all those women you mention, their stories clearly just emphasize how the misogyny removed clearly women regardless of their capability, support from the masses/nobles, or closer blood ties to eh previous ruler or official claims to the previous ruler. And when you bring up Donald Matthew and Stephen, isn't it very clear how Stephen--Matilda/Gregory/Henry II's political opponent--had to buttress himself by using the already sexist precedents against Matilda? So, of course, he'd use her sex and the historical sexism against her, just as Alicent and the greens did. And again, apparently, many lords refused to support him or Matilda.

Finally, she had plenty of support (husband, uncle, brother's forces, and those Anglo-Norman lords who did support her), but was ousted by crowds, but why were these crowds against her? Of course partially because of what you mention "a woman could not take on a role which, even symbolically, required her to carry arms. In medieval times a woman who took on an overt military role was an aberration", AND because some of the captured Stephen and his wife Queen Matilda's supporters were around and inside London (Marjorie Chibnall--1991--The Empress Matilda: Queen Consort, Queen Mother and Lady of the English). Their belief she wouldn't be able to handle it (b/c she was a woman) or protect the city, etc. lead to the hostility against her coronation.

So it's pretty narrow-minded and sexist for Donald Matthew to adopt the feudalist patriarchal interpretation of general women-rule and say "her failure in 1141 was in no small measure due to her insisting ‘on her right to exercise power in person’ and inability because of her sex to act as a military commander, along with her unfortunate character traits of arrogance and disregard of advice.", when like Rhaenyra, she is really just pressing for a claim that some precedents and her own father's word assured her. Plus, once again, several precedents and succession traditions existed in the EU and England simultaneously that preceded and existed with the burgeoning male primogeniture.

And before one tries to say "France and England are different!", well this asker just gave me women from two very different time periods and countries to bring up a particular point about MEDIEVAL societies and their views about female rulers.

Women I Would Like to Mention

Urraca de León (reigned 1109 – 1126)

The first ever autonomously reigning woman in European history.

Despite being called "the Reckless", apparently she was very pragmatic and was contemporaneously considered "prudent, modest, and with the good sense" in the Historia Compostelana (an anonymously-written historical document account by a writer in the circle of Diego Gelmírez, a bishop).

According to Bernard F. Reilly, writes in his 1982 The Kingdom of León-Castilla under Queen Urraca, 1109–1126 (wiki):

the Historia Compostelana also attributes her "failings" to her gender, "the weakness and changeability of women, feminine perversity, and calls her a Jezebel" for her liaisons with her leading magnates, with at least one relationship producing an illegitimate son. These observations were hardly neutral or dispassionate, according to Reilly, who wrote: "[T]here is no question that the queen is in control, perhaps all too much in control, of events.""

Urraca claimed the title "Empress of All Spain" after she became Queen of León, Castile, and Galicia. Her father was Alfonso VI of León and Castile and her mother was Constance of Burgundy, Alfonso's second wife. Zaida of Seville (Bernard F. Reilly--1995--The Contest of Christian and Muslim Spain) became his third, and together they had Sancho Alfónsez, their illegitimate but still-named-heir son since Zaida had was still Alfonso's concubine then and not his legal wife. Urraca and her first husband and "Count of Galicia", Raymond of Burgundy's, influence and power diminished further when Alfonso granted the Portugal "county" to his illegitimate daughter Theresa and her husband Henry of Burgundy.

Sancho died while Alfonso was still alive in the Battle of Uclés of 1108. Urraca had always been Alfonso's only legitimate child and had a better claim than her illegitimate sister (at least in this comparatively topsy-turvy world). Before he died, through several documents, Alfonso showed that he only wanted his son, despite his illegitimacy, to rule after him, but many clerics of the Church opposed the rise of an illegitimate man over legitimate children (Ángel G. Gordo Molina & Melo Carrasco, Diego Melo Carrasco--2018--La reina Urraca I (1109–1126): La práctica del concepto de imperium legionese en la primera mitad del siglo XII). The same sources have her coronated successfully as Alfonso's heir/Queen regnant in a gathering of "almost all nobles and counts of Spain" shortly before her father died. Despite her father considering her son by Raymund, Alfonso Raimúndez, hsi heir upon her remarriage, as Raymund had since died (Maria del Carmen Pallares & Portela, Ermelindo Portela--2006--La Reina Urraca). the same source also tells us that she took a Castilian noble, Gómez González, as her lover not long during her husband's later life/after her husband's death and before her coronation.

Earliest documents a day after her father's funeral, referred to her as "queen of whole Spain" and various powerful Leonese, Castilian, and Galician aristocrats and 12 bishops witnessed said documents, which show that the realm's elite acknowledged her as a lawful monarch. (Molina & Melo Carrasco). However, she was also forced to marry her cousin Alfonso I of Aragon and Navarre--different sources disagree on who exactly forced her-- and went under his "tutelage". One contemporary source reports that it was the Leonese nobles who saw her as unable to defend the realm against the Almoravids and were generally still unconvinced that a woman could rule to their own satisfaction and interests (Pallares & Portela). The usually accepted and alternative account written by Rodrigo Jiménez de Rada says that her father started the negotiated her second marriage to prevent Urraca from marrying Gómez González. In the marriage document, Urraca stipulated that Alfonso should respect her "like a good husband his good wife" and he could not request an annulment using either their familial relationship or excommunication. The same document confirmed the right of Urraca's son by her first marriage to inherit León in case the couple died without kids (Pallares & Portela).

But Alfonso I was a reputed misogynist who hated her son and publicly shamed her and hit her in public. In a letter of grant to the Abbey of Santo Domingo de Siloss, we find the earliest evidence of her desire to get rid of her husband's authority and tutelage, while styling herself "queen of whole Spain and daughter of Emperor Alfonso". And several nobles of other regions protested her marriage with her cousin/abusive husband anyway, so she and her first son came out as the most desirable persons to rule by the time she officially left her husband in 1110, and in Galicia, there were several rebellions and two main factions formed: one headed by Archbishop Diego Gelmírez of Santiago de Compostela (who defending Alfonso Raimúndez as Urraca's successor) and the other led by Count Pedro Fróilaz de Traba (the tutor of the young prince and wanting Galicia's independence) (Michael E. Gerli --2013--Medieval Iberia: An Encyclopedia).

Finally, there were open wars between the Leonese-Castilians (same side) and the Aragonese. Gómez González was killed and replaced in both roles of political supporter and lover by another noble, Pedro González de Lara, who fathered at least two more illegitimate children by her. In 1112, there was a truce was brokered between Urraca and Alfonso with their marriage annulled by virtue of their kinship, but Alfonso kept trying to accrue power from her and held control over Castile, where a lot of her support. Similar to Rhaenyra's situation and as Reilly states (wiki):

"the measure of success for Urraca’s rule was her ability to restore and protect the base of her claim/inheritance and transmit that inheritance in full to her own heir (Jacaerys to Rhaenyra) AND the circumstance of her gender added a distinctive role-reversal, since he assured her own right to rule by being her first legitimate male child.

And like Cleopatra, the last Ptolemaic ruler of Egypt, Urraca also had to contend with the her sister Theresa and her husband's machinations for the throne and their own son.

Margaret I (of Denmark, Norway, and Sweden from 1387 to 1412)

She was queen consort of Norway from 1363 to 1380 and of Sweden from 1363 to 1364 through her marriage to Haakon VI of Norway (who controlled both). After her father, Valdemar IV of Denmark, died in 1375, she arranged an election for her infant son Olaf as king of Denmark. Meanwhile her older sister Ingeborg's husband the Duke Henry III of Mecklenburg pressed for their son Albert. She thus became the queen regent de facto, but when he died in 1387 when he turned 17 she became so semi-de jure, and had already accrued respect and favor from many for several different diplomatic and otherwise actions.

She was called "King Breechless", one of several nicknames her rival Albert of Mecklenburg invented (Margareta Skantze's Drottning Margaretas historia) but was also known by her subjects as "Lady King", which became widely used in recognition of her capabilities. Knut Gjerset calls her "the first great ruling queen in European history."

For brevity's sake, the wiki:

Sweden, where mutinous nobles, led by Birger [...] were already in arms against their unpopular King Albert [the one that called her "breechless", or "pantless"]. Several of the powerful nobles wrote to Margaret that if she would help rid Sweden of Albert, she would become their regent. She quickly gathered an army and invaded Sweden. At a conference held at Dalaborg Castle in March 1388, the Swedes were compelled to accept all of Margaret's conditions, elected her "Sovereign Lady and Ruler", and committed themselves to accept any king she chose to appoint. Albert [...] returned from Mecklenburg with an army of mercenaries. On 24 February 1389, the decisive battle took place at either Aasle or Falan near Falköping. General Henrik Parow, the Mecklenburger commander of Margaret's forces, was killed in battle, but he managed to win it for her. Margaret was now the omnipotent mistress of three kingdoms.

Albert--the one who nicknamed her "pantless"--had also been previously elected by Swedish nobles following the 1364 deposition of Margaret's husband King Haakon from the Swedish throne and elected him as king of Sweden by virtue of him being the great-nephew of Magnus IV through his mother. He became very unpopular, though.

So she became de facto queen regnant of all three Scandanavian regions while also adopting In 1389 she proclaimed her great-nephew, Eric of Pomerania the king of Norway, having adopted him and his sister Catherine before he came of age. Margaret again assumed the regency during his minority. And simultaneously, many Swedish lords expressed a willingness to to independent rule even without a male heir (Richard White--2010--These Stones Bear Witness).

Wu Zetian (reigned 690 to 705)

Though not European, similarly took complete control as a sort of "Empress Regnant" in a patriarchal imperial society. She first was Empress consort to Emperor Gaozong, then ruled de facto through other people: Emperors Zhongzong and Ruizong before establishing her own Wu Zhou dynasty, which was and still regarded as a true and legitimate dynasty. even while her husband was alive and she was still one of his concubines, she displayed more decisiveness and advised him. Despite the coup that pushed her out, she is attributed to one of the best and most peaceful reigns of Chinese imperial history. Really, there is so much about her, and this post is getting too long, so I leave it to others to research her.

Conclusions

We get many examples of women ruling in contest with them being considered unfit or fit according to mainly other men/rival sisters and female relatives' own interests and thus several instances of them attempting to discredit them. Even forcing them into marriages. And form the women's POV, much of the legitimacy of their rule came from their ties to men: father, son, husband even (the two Catherine and the Elizabeth of Russia). While these women obviously displayed political acumen, they either also had to "prove" to have that before ruling with not-as-much impediment OR they were forced into positions of power and marriages for their fathers' benefit.

So you get a complex of what makes a woman "right" to rule in Europe and really any feudalist/imperial/absolutist territory because the issue has always centered around her being a woman and being one at the right place at the right time more than her just getting power autonomously because she is as much an heir as a male.

It's important to consider the tone AND interests of the historical writers--both contemporary and modern--and to have several to compare.

#ask #medieval history #medieval women #asoiaf asks to me #chinese imeprial history #fiction vs reality

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haveyoureadthistransbook · 1 year ago

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It Came From The Closet: Queer Reflections on Horror (anthology)

The Salt Grows Heavy by Cassandra Khaw

Open Throat by Henry Hoke

The Empress of Salt and Fortune/When the Tiger Came Down the Mountain/Into the Riverlands/Mammoths at the Gates by Nghi Vo (series of short stories)

How Far the Light Reaches: A Life in Ten Sea Creatures by Sabrina Imbler

The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin

When the Angels Left the Old Country by Sacha Lamb

The Hidden Case of Ewan Forbes by Zoë Playdon

README.txt by Chelsea Manning

Armed in Her Fashion/The Chatelaine by Kate Heartfield (armed in her fashion was published in 2018 and rereleased this year w/ edits under the new title)

Nevada by Imogen Binnie

The Story of the Hundred Promises by Neil Cochrane

also have u considered a 'partially' option? there's some books i haven't finished fr one reason or another and it's hard to decide whether to say i liked it or not when i haven't finished it. thank u :)

Hi, thank you so much for all these submissions, they were added to the list.

I‘ve added a No but I‘d like to option, which I think could work for that as well? Would that work for you?

#not a poll #ask #actuallyspeed

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nyxthenight · 4 months ago

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Creeping Darkness

Zoë Astrophel formerly of Fairy Tail was a mystery to most know by the epithet of the Demon Empress, it was believed that she and her children went into hiding following the death of her wife Thea Astrophel. Though this is not entirely the case.

Unknown to most as one who possesses demonic blood, Zoë’s powerful ability known only as Copy allows her to copy not just the physical traits of others but combine these traits to become somebody completely new as well as to copy any magic that she possesses an in depth understanding of. Leaving most to call her a monster. Yet behind her smile lies depths of darkness most could not even begin to fathom.

Another major character in my Fairy Tail story Astronomical readable on AO3, under the profile name NyxTheNightly. Though she’s not a character which appears often yet, she’s extremely important to the story, and is one of the strongest in the guild. Her ability also isn’t as broken as it sounds as she can only copy one magic at a time and using them one after the other takes a heavy toll on her body though she’s still stupid powerful that is in part the point because she’s the same age as Guildarts and supposed to be on about the same level.

Really struggled to get the damn mouth right on this one. But I’m glad with how the rest turned out.

I do not own Fairy Tail or it’s associated characters only my own original characters.

#fairy tail #fairy tail fanfiction #fairy tail oc #fanfiction #oc art #nyx draws

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brookstonalmanac · 11 months ago

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Events 12.11 (before 1950)

220 – Emperor Xian of Han is forced to abdicate the throne by Cao Cao's son Cao Pi, ending the Han dynasty. 361 – Julian enters Constantinople as sole Roman Emperor. 861 – Assassination of the Abbasid caliph al-Mutawakkil by the Turkish guard, who raise al-Muntasir to the throne, start of the "Anarchy at Samarra". 969 – Byzantine Emperor Nikephoros II Phokas is assassinated by his wife Theophano and her lover, the later Emperor John I Tzimiskes. 1041 – Michael V, adoptive son of Empress Zoë of Byzantium, is proclaimed emperor of the Eastern Roman Empire. 1282 – Battle of Orewin Bridge: Llywelyn ap Gruffudd, the last native Prince of Wales, is killed at Cilmeri near Builth Wells in mid-Wales. 1602 – A surprise attack by forces under the command of Charles Emmanuel I, Duke of Savoy, and his brother-in-law, Philip III of Spain, is repelled by the citizens of Geneva. (Commemorated annually by the Fête de l'Escalade.) 1640 – The Root and Branch petition, signed by 15,000 Londoners calling for the abolition of the episcopacy, is presented to the Long Parliament. 1675 – Antonio de Vea expedition enters San Rafael Lake in western Patagonia. 1688 – Glorious Revolution: James II of England, while trying to flee to France, throws the Great Seal of the Realm into the River Thames. 1792 – French Revolution: King Louis XVI of France is put on trial for treason by the National Convention. 1815 – The U.S. Senate creates a select committee on finance and a uniform national currency, predecessor of the United States Senate Committee on Finance. 1816 – Indiana becomes the 19th U.S. state. 1868 – Paraguayan War: Brazilian troops defeat the Paraguayan Army at the Battle of Avay. 1899 – Second Boer War: In the Battle of Magersfontein the Boers commanded by general Piet Cronjé inflict a defeat on the forces of the British Empire commanded by Lord Methuen trying to relieve the Siege of Kimberley. 1901 – Guglielmo Marconi transmits the first transatlantic radio signal from Poldhu, Cornwall, England to Saint John's, Newfoundland. 1905 – A workers' uprising occurs in Kyiv, Ukraine (then part of the Russian Empire), and establishes the Shuliavka Republic. 1907 – The New Zealand Parliament Buildings are almost completely destroyed by fire. 1913 – More than two years after it was stolen from the Louvre, Leonardo da Vinci's painting Mona Lisa is recovered in Florence, Italy. The thief, Vincenzo Peruggia, is immediately arrested. 1917 – World War I: British General Edmund Allenby enters Jerusalem on foot and declares martial law. 1920 – Irish War of Independence: In retaliation for a recent IRA ambush, British forces burn and loot numerous buildings in Cork city. Many civilians report being beaten, shot at, robbed and verbally abused by British forces. 1925 – Roman Catholic papal encyclical Quas primas introduces the Feast of Christ the King. 1927 – Guangzhou Uprising: Communist Red Guards launch an uprising in Guangzhou, China, taking over most of the city and announcing the formation of a Guangzhou Soviet. 1934 – Bill Wilson, co-founder of Alcoholics Anonymous, takes his last drink and enters treatment for the final time. 1936 – Abdication Crisis: Edward VIII's abdication as King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions beyond the Seas, and Emperor of India, becomes effective. 1941 – World War II: Germany and Italy declare war on the United States, following the Americans' declaration of war on the Empire of Japan in the wake of the attack on Pearl Harbor. The United States, in turn, declares war on them. 1941 – World War II: The Imperial Japanese Navy suffers its first loss of surface vessels during the Battle of Wake Island. 1946 – The United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF) is established. 1948 – Arab–Israeli War: The United Nations passes General Assembly Resolution 194, creating a Conciliation Commission to mediate the conflict.

#Events

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quantumhealingava · 2 years ago

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'But I can’t say it was all tragic, because it wasn’t. My friends and I continued to believe what we were doing was a great act of empowerment and emancipation. My mum often told me this was a misguided act of feminism; that emulating the most yobbish behaviour of men was not a mark of equality (‘She was so detrimental to the cause, that Zoë Ball,’ she once commented). But I still think there were moments when those years of partying were a defiant, celebratory, powerful act; a refusal to use my body in a way that was expected of me.

♡︎ The Empress story - the story of the feminine, true freedom (Uranus energy).'

#literature #quotes #analysis #tarot

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officialgritty · 4 years ago

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ITS NOT A SANDWICH WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT OH MY GOD

it is a sandwich

#square up zoë #I’ll get the eshays on ya #empress jaime #z does that replies

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artworks4 · 4 years ago

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𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑴𝒐𝒔𝒂𝒊𝒄𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝑯𝒂𝒈𝒊𝒂 𝑺𝒐𝒑𝒉𝒊𝒂, 𝑪𝒐𝒏𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒐𝒑𝒍𝒆 𝑷𝒂𝒓𝒕 𝑶𝒏𝒆.

The Hagia Sophia ~Holy Wisdom (of God) ~ is a religious building that has crowned the skyline of Istanbul - Turkey for almost 1,500 years. It is famous for its rich history and is considered an architectural masterpiece of architecture from the Eastern Roman Empire, known as Byzantine.

The Hagia Sophia was built during the 6th century. It is one of the few buildings that have served three different religions during its existence. It has been an Orthodox Christian church, a Catholic cathedral, and a mosque. Currently, it functions as a museum…

On 10 July 2020, the decision of the Turkish Council of Ministers to transform the Hagia Sophia into a museum was cancelled by the Council of State. And, despite secular and global criticism, Erdoğan signed a decree annulling the Hagia Sophia's museum status, reverting it to a mosque…

Hagia Sophia is an Unesco World Heritage site.

~𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒇𝒂𝒎𝒐𝒖𝒔 𝒎𝒐𝒔𝒂𝒊𝒄𝒔 ~

Hagia Sophia Imperial Gate mosaic

The mosaic above the Imperial Door was created during the 10th century, and it portraits the Emperor and several religious figures over a golden background. It shows Emperor Leo VI with a halo around his head kneeling next to Christ, who is sitting on a throne, blessing with his right hand. The text on the left hand of Christ reads in Greek ''Peace be with you. I am the light of the world'' (John 14:27; 8:12). There are two medallions, one on each side, showing the Virgin Mary and the Archangel Gabriel.

The Empress Zoe mosaics (11th-century) in Hagia Sophia.

The Empress Zoe mosaic on the eastern wall of the southern gallery date from the 11th century. Christ Pantocrator, clad in the dark blue robe (as is the custom in Byzantine art), is seated in the middle against a golden background, giving His blessing with the right hand and holding the Bible in His left hand. On either side of His head are the nomina sacra IC and XC, meaning Iēsous Christos. He is flanked by Constantine IX Monomachus and Empress Zoe, both in ceremonial costumes. He is offering a purse, as a symbol of donation, he made to the church, while she is holding a scroll, symbol of the donations she made. The inscription over the head of the emperor says: "Constantine, pious emperor in Christ the God, king of the Romans, Monomachus". The inscription over the head of the empress reads as follows: "Zoë, the very pious Augusta". The previous heads have been scraped off and replaced by the three present ones. Perhaps the earlier mosaic showed her first husband Romanus III Argyrus or her second husband Michael IV. Another theory is that this mosaic was made for an earlier emperor and empress, with their heads changed into the present ones.

The Virgin and Child (Theotokos) mosaic, in the apse of Hagia Sophia.

The famous Virgin and Child mosaic in the apse was inaugurated in 867, the first to be installed after a prolonged period of iconoclasm (726-843) in the Eastern Church.

Southwestern entrance mosaic

The southwestern entrance mosaic, situated in the tympanum of the southwestern entrance, dates from the reign of Basil II. It was rediscovered during the restorations of 1849 by the Fossatis. The Virgin sits on a throne without a back, her feet resting on a pedestal, embellished with precious stones. The Christ Child sits on her lap, giving his blessing and holding a scroll in his left hand. On her left side stands emperor Constantine in ceremonial attire, presenting a model of the city to Mary. The inscription next to him says: "Great emperor Constantine of the Saints". On her right side stands emperor Justinian I, offering a model of the Hagia Sophia. The medallions on both sides of the Virgin's head carry the nomina sacra MP and ΘΥ, abbreviations of "Mētēr" and "Theou", meaning "Mother of God".

Comnenus mosaics, Hagia Sophia.

The Comnenus mosaic, also located on the eastern wall of the southern gallery, dates from 1122.

On the right side of Virgin Mary stands emperor John II Comnenus, represented in a garb embellished with precious stones. He holds a purse, symbol of an imperial donation to the church. Empress Irene stands on the left side of the Virgin, wearing ceremonial garments and offering a document. Their eldest son Alexius Comnenus is represented on an adjacent pilaster. He is shown as a beardless youth, probably representing his appearance at his coronation aged seventeen. In this panel, one can already see a difference with the Empress Zoe mosaic that is one century older. There is a more realistic expression in the portraits instead of an idealized representation. The Empress, Saint Irene (born Piroska), daughter of Ladislaus I of Hungary is shown with plaited blond hair, rosy cheeks, and grey eyes, revealing her Hungarian descent. The emperor is depicted in a dignified manner.

Portrait of Saint John Chrysostom of Antioch (Hagios Ioannis Chrysostomos).

Deësis mosaic (Judgment day)

The Deësis mosaic (Δέησις, "Entreaty") probably dates from 1261. It was commissioned to mark the end of 57 years of Roman Catholic use and the return to the Eastern Orthodox faith. It is the third panel situated in the imperial enclosure of the upper galleries. It is widely considered the finest in Hagia Sophia, because of the softness of the features, the human expressions and the tones of the mosaic. The style is close to that of the Italian painters of the late 13th or early 14th century, such as Duccio. In this panel the Virgin Mary and John the Baptist (Ioannes Prodromos), both shown in three-quarters profile, are imploring the intercession of Christ Pantocrator for humanity on Judgment Day. The bottom part of this mosaic is badly deteriorated. This mosaic is considered as the beginning of a renaissance in Byzantine pictorial art.

#hagiasofia #saint sophia #hagia sophia mosaics #world heritage site #christian art #christian church #byzantium #byzantine art

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arcticdementor · 3 years ago

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A republic ensures the transfer of power through constitutional rules. How does an executive-ruled state transfer power? What is its constitution?

The Roman ritual practice of damnatio memoriae was intended to wipe the name of the offender from the scrolls of history — not to mention his face (imago)! — and not just emperors. Aelius Sejanus had his name scraped off Tiberian coins also bearing his name. This powerfully prefigures Woke cancel ceremony, which has become as ingrained a rite in Anglo-America as in ancient Rome.

As late antiquity began to blend into Byzantine, imperial succession became somewhat more stable — at least in terms of rite and ceremony. The civil wars of the 3rd-5th centuries threatened to destroy the entire empire. What was left of the empire — its much richer eastern half — moved in a different direction. The original imperial protocol: Rooting any violent transfer of imperial power in extravagant public theater — ritually delegitimating the overthrown emperor by damnatio memoriae — was effectively replaced by a relatively non-violent protocol for constitutional succession. The problem of damnatio memoriae, however dramatic as political theater — and however intimidating to rival factions — was that it had the unavoidable side effect of making the violent overthrow of any emperor the constitutional norm.

Hence, ritual blinding came into high fashion. Slicing off the nose was also tried on Justinian II. While blinding kept an emperor from leading his army, being rhinometos (the slit-nosed) in no way limited executive action. A golden nasal prosthesis, after all, works wonders

Much later, during the reign of the Empress Zoë (1025-1050) — who had one husband killed and another blinded — Byzantine imperial politics went Julio-Claudian for a time.

…

Woke America today is made of much sterner stuff. As with the early Principate, we topple and disfigure statues with joyous abandon and wipe our historical palimpsests clean every day. We live in a realm of perpetual and daily damnatio memoriae.

Like the imperial constitution, too, damnatio imperiae is essential to the constitutional transfer of power. The emerging protocol of succession requires the erasure of the former emperor's presence, à la exile for life from social media. Also, disgraced potentates like Andrew Cuomo are ritually monasticized like a "retired" Byzantine. Mr. Trump’s damnatio memoriae is his banishing from public media — to hyperboria, at the ends of the earth.

America's "Roman road" offers a couple messages. First, our boisterous integration of damnatio memoriae into politics suggests that a new constitutional frame for the transfer of power has been established. This both amplifies and intensifies our quadrennial power struggle by forcibly injecting ritual public shaming and punishment into the event. Stigmatizing and punishing losers as "unlawful" (damnatio — condemned) pushes politics closer to the existential edge.

Second, the politics of damnation is working its way into the legal system. When it is fully incorporated into application of "the law" — as Blue is attempting to do with a January 6th Commission, plus Federal court packing — this will mean criminal judgment at the heart of what was once ordinary politicking.

Overthrown emperors will all face more than excommunication: they will increasingly face prison or perhaps just a distant monastery.

#michael vlahos #anewcivilwar.com

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canirove · 4 months ago

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Vikings: Valhalla (2022 - 2024) | s03e04 | 6/54

#vikings: valhalla #vikings valhalla #empress Zoë #Sofya Lebedeva #vikingsedit #vikingsvalhallaedit #perioddramaedit #costumeedit #costume drama #period dramas #weloveperioddrama #perioddramasource #gifhistorical #periodedits #userperioddrama #diversehistorical #onlyperioddramas #vikval #pdgifs

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sawdustandgin · 4 years ago

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A Year of Happiness, Joy and Sarcasm: My 2020 in Review

Absolutely nothing needs to be said about the year of our lord 2020 that hasn’t already been shouted from every social media platform like a shrieking alarm alerting us that the ship is sinking. We know. We’re all wet.

I will not remember 2020 as mask-clad because I didn’t take any photos while wearing one.

Every December, I reflect on the year through a short essay, allowing myself many opportunities to gush about the music that I didn’t include on my best-of lists but that I still loved dearly. (Though I guess I skipped last year. I found an abandoned draft the other day…) And consistently, I have regarded each year as one of transition.

I don’t have clear career aspirations outside of wanting to engage with music as deeply and personally as I can; my only concrete life plan is to profile small towns across the country through the lens of its local music scene. So, with this nebulous image of a future endeavor, I have had a tumultuous time with money since losing my job two years ago. I realized fairly quickly, after only a few months of foundering at it, that I was unable to freelance my way to a liveable income. And in all honesty, this was for the best—nothing hurts worse than realizing the activity you are most passionate about has become a chore. I stopped worrying about pitching editors and trying to rub elbows, and I got to work applying for jobs. I, incredibly luckily, secured one after a few more months. The adjustment to being unemployed was a leap for me and my deep desire for a routine, but the adjustment to being employed and trying to maintain a balance between day job and side gig was even harder.

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Then I loosened up a bit. Toward the end of last year, I tried to make a vow to be more consistent with the blog, but instead, I prioritized sleep. At the time, I didn’t realize that it was an either/or scenario and probably would have made a greater effort to avoid my television if I had. But ultimately, I had to accept that my relationship with music journalism was on my terms. And regardless of how [in]frequently I ‘discovered’ new artists (for myself), I wasn’t ‘missing out’ on anything.

And let’s be real, I wasn’t overly eager to listen to new stuff starting around April. I put so much energy into not losing myself in quarantine that I tuckered myself out before shit really hit the ceiling. When I began thinking toward my year-end lists in November, I began to worry that this would be my most deflated best-of season in recent memory.

That’s ok, Zoë, no one really cares about top ten lists, I can hear you thinking, colored by a fascination with my determination. But as a double cancer and pisces moon, I like to cling to the art that moves my soul (read: ~nostalgia~). And so I take great joy in spending all of December and most of January repeatedly listening to my favorite music until I conjure a partially arbitrary ranking system and create playlists galore. It really is the best time of the year.

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Of course, there are always a few titles that need no additional spins, whether due to automatic disqualification or simply because I listened so much that I know it intimately. The automatic disqualifications this year were particularly striking.

A few easy omissions were Chromatica, Positions, and Fetch the Bolt Cutters. Lady Gaga delivered her skip-less album around the time when it became clear that the pandemic was not even somewhat close to containment; my roommate and I cooked to Chromatica every night, singing along to every word. With each new record, Ariana Grande becomes a more graceful songwriter, and it also helps that Positions is a plain ol', boot-knockin’ good time. And the raw power Fiona Apple wields in Fetch the Bolt Cutters would be frightening were she not the perfect vessel to deliver it to us.

Then there is the category of albums that simply didn’t need my (albeit dim) spotlight: Set My Heart on Fire Immediately, græ, and KicK i are each masterpieces in their own right. They each move purposefully through diverse landscapes, each song a new adventure not bound by genre or expectation. Interestingly, Perfume Genius and Moses Sumney were never mainstays in my music rotation, while my love for Arca is unquestioned.

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That leads us to Re-Animator, I’m Your Empress Of and The Mosaic of Transformation, all of which I actively feel bad for disqualifying. I’m too much of a fan of Everything Everything to impartially write about their new album, though it was one of my most frequently played. I have been writing best-of lists for six years now and I would prefer to write about a constantly expanding, diverse group of artists. That means I can’t keep doting on Empress Of, despite her status as one of our best contemporary artists. Me and Us were truly just prelude to her 2020 record, whose title is a formal introduction. Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith is also the most talented analog synth musician that I personally have ever engaged with, and her latest album is everything I could have wanted.

It took some self-control (aka strict time management) to not write a few thousand words about The Ascension. Let’s recall my massive thesis on Carrie & Lowell… Yes, I am a former Catholic who thrives in the ambiguous invocation of Scripture, especially from a songwriter who quite literally shaped my taste in music. Luckily, I’m not nearly as pent up with anger and existential dread as in 2015 when I was, for the first time, processing the physical and emotional distance from my family. This elongated emotional breakdown was spurred by drama between my parents, but was also due to an irrational fear I held about my own mother’s death. Listening to Sufjan Stevens forgive his mother on her figurative deathbed has stayed with me.

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The anxiety I felt about 2020 was almost entirely external, so the gorge formed from the current of The Ascension was not nearly as deep a canyon in my heart as C&L, though it is still an affecting 80-minute journey. Stevens’ production, when coupled with his lyricism, is a breakthrough, though I do hear murmurs of folktronica from earlier in the decade. (I’m begging everyone to listen to Under Our Beds by Consilience.) And for perhaps the first time, there were songs that I occasionally skip. If I still had to commute to work, I bet they would have grown on me. In fact, this would have been a perfect driving album—one that wouldn’t cause me to weep while on the interstate. (oh Carrie. oh Lowell.)

Then there was VOL.II by my dear friend Lauren Ruth Ward. She gave me an opportunity to write a unique interview with her about the record to be printed on the inside of the gatefold, making it a permanent fixture on this most exciting of sophomore albums. I could not justify writing anything more about it, if only to preserve the sanctity of that interview, which I gave more effort and attention than any other piece of writing I had done. It was a wonderful and inspiring experience that I hope to replicate. The most heartbreaking part of the pandemic’s onset, from a social perspective, was not being able to visit Lauren after the record was released.

With all that said, 2020 was about so much more than the music I listened to. All the digital replacements for physical intimacy during lockdown made me realize that my legacy (aka all my music writing) is fragile, locked into the impermanence of the internet. So I took it upon myself to build a physical archive; in the fall, I finalized a zine template, and the first eight issues are in the can. (So far, I have 19 zines planned. Email me if you are interested in having one!)

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I’ve also been living without a front tooth since mid-March. On one hand, it’s been convenient to wear a mask to hide the hole in my mouth, but on the other hand, all I want to do is bite into an apple. (For almost two years before I even knew I had to have my tooth removed, I had been forced to slice apples before being able to eat them. The abject humiliation.) The journey with my dentists and oral surgeon has been excruciating, to say the least. Who knew three people in the same medical practice could have such mightily different styles of care? [Author’s note: I got my crown after writing this essay! :grinning-emoji:]

In sum, it was my image of myself that I was able to see a bit clearer this year. Each year I think that I’ve figured something else out about myself, which had always led me to believe that I am a most-complex, divine being. But I think a more accurate interpretation is that, put simply, I am not static. My thoughts and emotions adapt to life and life doesn’t seem to stop throwing me around like sneakers in a tumbling dryer. My pronouns are now they/them and while I don’t have many specifics as to why, I just know that this feels right.

I hope your year was at least acceptable; 2021 promises a host of new challenges, but I think we can take ‘em.