tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21165575.post3824147648536189237..comments2024-03-10T20:46:19.274-04:00Comments on In the Middle: Exhibit on Medieval Jewish Artifacts at the Wallace CollectionCord J. Whitakerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06224143153295429986noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21165575.post-17293640544630556962008-12-19T06:02:00.000-05:002008-12-19T06:02:00.000-05:00Though I'm thinking that the vast majority of medi...Though I'm thinking that the vast majority of medieval marrieds, regardless of faith, did NOT wear rings. It looks like they were gendered: only women were potential bearers. Then, for those who could afford them, this jewelery looks mainly ceremonial. For most people (I am guessing) a ring fashioned of metal wouldn't have been the best expenditure of resources ... so I'm thinking, nice tchoke for those with the cash, but nothing like a materialization of marriage itself as these bands have become now.Jeffrey Cohenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17346504393740520542noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21165575.post-46568802284227516992008-12-19T05:55:00.000-05:002008-12-19T05:55:00.000-05:00An adequate report, I think. Shows some promise fo...An adequate report, I think. Shows some promise for future research success. <BR/><BR/>(thanks!)Jeffrey Cohenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17346504393740520542noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21165575.post-81175633996321296362008-12-18T22:55:00.000-05:002008-12-18T22:55:00.000-05:00Nicholas I's Responsa ad Consulta Bulgarorum (866)...Nicholas I's Responsa ad Consulta Bulgarorum (866), available in translation <A HREF="http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/46769714&referer=brief_results" REL="nofollow">here</A> bears witness as well to the early use of the ring in Xian marriage ceremonies (see p. 235).Karl Steelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03353370018006849747noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21165575.post-11573888878565527572008-12-18T22:38:00.000-05:002008-12-18T22:38:00.000-05:00like I know? This is your homework. Full report to...<I>like I know? This is your homework. Full report tomorrow, please.</I><BR/><BR/>Wait, whose project is this anyway?<BR/><BR/>Well, to get a good solid start, I'd begin with F. L. Critchlow, "On the Forms of Betrothal and Wedding Ceremonies in the Old-French "Romans D'Aventure" <I>Modern Philology</I> 2 (1905): 497-537, particularly 519-522. You can get this on JSTOR. See in particular 520 n4 for a brief and interesting summary of the use of the Roman <I>anulus pronubus</I> and the use of rings in other transactions, including business transactions.<BR/><BR/>Even after Rome falls, it's clear that wedding rings continued to be used. See Ernst H. Kantorowicz, "On the Golden Marriage Belt and the Marriage Rings of the Dumbarton Oaks Collection," <I>Dumbarton Oaks Papers</I> 14 (1960): 1-16, p. which mentions a 6th- or 7th- century carved wedding ring (with representations of Christ and Mary) at the British Museum.<BR/><BR/>Note that according to Jan Baptist Bedaux, "The Reality of Symbols: The Question of Disguised Symbolism in Jan van Eyck's "Arnolfini Portrait" <I>Simiolus: Netherlands Quarterly for the History of Art</I> 16 (1986): 5-28, n29, men started receiving rings themselves during the wedding ceremony only in the second half of the 19th century.<BR/><BR/>On the Jewish use of the wedding ring, even in the early Middle Ages, Kenneth R. Show, "Marriages are Made in Heaven: Marriage and the Individual in the Roman Jewish Ghetto," <I>Renaissance Quarterly</I> 48 (1995): 445-491 directs me to Benjamin Klar, ed. <I>The Scroll of Ahimaaz</I> (Repring, Jerusalem, 1974). For Jewish wedding ceremonies more generally, see Samuel E. Stern, <I>Sefer seder 'erusin ve-niśśu 'in le-rabboteinu h-ri'shonim</I> Bnei-Baraq, 1990.<BR/><BR/><A HREF="http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla%3Aen-US%3Aofficial&hs=LkB&q=%22give+a+man+a+fish%22&btnG=Search" REL="nofollow">Sheesh.</A>Karl Steelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03353370018006849747noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21165575.post-34690499837441114062008-12-18T16:54:00.000-05:002008-12-18T16:54:00.000-05:00Karl, re: wedding rings, like I know? This is your...Karl, re: wedding rings, like I know? This is your homework. Full report tomorrow, please.<BR/><BR/>One thing that has become clear to me from reading so much Yuval and (especially) Boyarin this year is that the question of "Who borrowed this element from whom?" is typically nearly impossible to answer. European Christian and Jewish communities were so intertwined in the later Middle Ages that influence allocation quickly becomes a chicken and egg game. Boyarin for example talks of "theme(s) common to the two Judaic dialects, inflected differently for each" (Border Lines 5).Jeffrey Cohenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17346504393740520542noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21165575.post-81105430253375305512008-12-18T12:50:00.000-05:002008-12-18T12:50:00.000-05:00The two hoards include the three earliest known ex...<I>The two hoards include the three earliest known examples of Jewish wedding rings, inscribed in Hebrew with the words ‘good fortune’ and in the form of miniature houses, symbolizing both the marital home and the Temple of Jerusalem.</I><BR/><BR/>Fascinating stuff. I wonder about the wedding rings, first of all. I've often been curious--but not so curious that I've bothered to check--to know when the wedding ring becomes part of wedding ceremonies (and when it became a permanently worn marker of marriage and when, also, this mark of 'belonging to someone' became understood as 'off the market'). There's an indication here that Jewish and Xian wedding ceremonies had something in common. Who borrowed this element from whom? Or did they both derive from a common source?<BR/><BR/>Also, the miniature building on the ring reminds me of the uncountable paintings of saints holding the cities for whom they serve as patron. Assuming I'm not way off base here, again, ho borrowed this element from whom? Or did they both derive from a common source?Karl Steelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03353370018006849747noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21165575.post-32343512222091707882008-12-18T12:38:00.000-05:002008-12-18T12:38:00.000-05:00Hi! There's a new Peterman's Eye Travel site and t...Hi! There's a new Peterman's Eye Travel site and today's post is on medieval city planning. Thought I'd share!<BR/><BR/>http://www.petermanseye.com/travel/travel/437-the-medieval-port<BR/><BR/>Cheers!Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10077498001565563455noreply@blogger.com