All Souls' Day is a festival of the Roman Catholic Church on November the 2nd, offering prayers to the faithful dead. It was instituted in 998 in the monastery of Clugny. Research All Souls' Day
Originally an anathema was a gift hung up in a temple (the word comes from the Greek anatithemi, to lay up), and dedicated to some god, a votive offering; but it gradually came to be used for expulsion, curse. The Roman Catholic Church pronounces the sentence of anathema against heretics, schismatics, and all who wilfully pursue a course of conduct condemned by the church. The subject of the anathema is declared an outcast from the church, all the faithful are forbidden to associate with him, and utter destruction is denounced against him, both body and soul. Research Anathema
Auriculas Confession, in the strictest sense, is the disclosure of sins to the priest at the confessional, with a view to obtain absolution for them. The person confessing is allowed to conceal no sin of consequence which he remembers to have committed, and the father confessor is bound to perpetual secrecy. The practice of a public acknowledgment of great sins was altered by Pope Leo the Great, in 450, into a secret one before the priest, and the fourth general Lateran council in 1215 ordained that every one of the faithful, of both sexes, come to years of discretion, should privately confess all their sins at least once a year to their own pastor, an ordination still binding on members of the Roman Catholic Church. Confession is a part of the sacrament of penance. Some Anglican clergymen uphold it. Research Auriculas Confession
Baha'ism is a religion founded in Iran by Baha'ullah with about five million adherents throughout the world. Following the suppression of the millenarian Babi movement Babism in Iran and the execution of its leader, the Bab, in 1850, Baha'ullah declared himself in 1863 to be the new prophet heralded by the Bab. Baha'ullah acknowledged the revelations of earlier prophets such as Jesus and Muhammad, but held that the single identity of God must be re-taught by new prophecy to each generation.
Baha'is believe in the spiritual progression of the world to unity and their ideal is an international community with one language. Baha'i temples are open to the faithful of all creeds. A Universal House of Justice administers the religion, with its centres in Haifa and Akko (Acre) in Israel. There is no clergy or ritual; spiritual practice includes daily private prayer and an annual period of fasting, which ends with the festival of Now Ruz, the Persian New Year at the spring equinox. Baha'is stress the equality of women and the importance of monogamous family life.
Although Baha'is regard the Koran and Muhammad with reverence, to Muslims the Baha'is are heretics who have displaced the Koran from its position as the final and most important revelation; this has led to persecution in Iran since the religion's inception, with renewed force since the Islamic revolution of 1979. Furthermore, the location of the Baha'is world centre in Israel has led to an association of Baha'is with that country and made the Baha'is a target of anti-Semitic sentiment. Research Baha'ism
In sculpture, a bust is the representation of that portion of the human figure which comprises the head and the upper part of the body. During the literary period of Greece the portrait busts of the learned formed an important branch of art, and in this way we come to possess faithful likenesses of Socrates, Plato, Demosthenes, etc, in which the artists show great power of expressing the character of those represented. The number of busts belonging to the time of the Roman Empire is very considerable, but those of the Roman poets and men of letters have not been preserved in nearly so large numbers as those of the Greeks. The first bust that can be depended upon as giving a correct likeness is that of Scipio Africanus the elder. Research Bust
Byzantine art is the symbolic system which was developed by the early Greek or Byzantine artists out of the Christian symbolism. Byzantine Art arose in South-eastern Europe after Constantine the Great had made Byzantium the capital of the Roman Empire in 330 AD and ornamented that city, which was called after him, with all the treasures of Grecian art.
One of the chief influences in Byzantine art was Christianity, and to a certain extent Byzantine art may be recognized as the endeavour to give expression to the new elements which Christianity had brought into the life of men. The tendency towards Oriental luxuriance and splendour of ornament now quite supplanted the simplicity of ancient taste. Richness of material and decoration was the aim of the artist rather than purity of conception. Yet the classical ideals of art, and in particular the traditions of technical processes and methods carried to Byzantium by the artists of the Western Empire, held their ground long enough, and produced work pure and powerful enough, to kindle the new artistic life which began in Italy with Cimabue and Giotto.
With regard to sculpture the statues no longer displayed the freedom and dignity of ancient art. The true proportion of parts, the correctness of the outlines, and in general
the severe beauty of the naked figure, or of simple drapery in Greek art, were neglected for extravagant costume and ornamentation and petty details. Yet in the best period of Byzantine art, from the 6th to the 11th century, there is considerable spiritual dignity in the general conception of the figures. But sculpture was of second-rate importance at Byzantium, the taste of those times inclining more to mosaic work with the costliness and brilliant colours of its stones.
The first germ of a Christian style of art was developed in the Byzantine pictures. The artists, who appear to have seldom employed the living model, and had nothing real and material before them, but were obliged to find, in their own imaginations, conceptions of the external appearance of sacred persons, such as the mother of Christ or the apostles, could give but feeble renderings of their ideas. As they cared but little for a faithful imitation of nature, but were
satisfied with repeating what was once acknowledged as successful, it is not strange that certain forms, approved by the taste of the time, should be made, by convention, and without regard to truth and beauty, general models of the human figure, and be transmitted as such to succeeding times. In this way the artists in the later periods did not even aim at accuracy of representation, but were contented with stiff general outlines, lavishing their labour on ornamental parts.
Byzantine architecture may be said to have assumed its distinctive features in the church of St Sophia built by Justinian in the 6th century, and still existing as the chief mosque in Constantinople. It is more especially the style associated with the Greek Church as distinguished from the Roman.
The leading forms of the Byzantine style are the round arch, the circle, and in particular the dome. The last is the most conspicuous and characteristic object in Byzantine buildings, and the free and full employment of it was arrived at when by the use of pendentives the architects were enabled to place it on a square apartment instead of a circular or polygonal. In this style of building incrustation, the incrustation of brick with more precious materials, was largely in use. It depended much on colour and surface ornament for its effect, and with this intent mosaics wrought on grounds of gold or of positive colour are profusely introduced, while coloured marbles. and stones of various kinds are greatly made use of. The capitals are of peculiar and original design, the most characteristic being square and tapering downwards, and they are very varied in their decorations.
Byzantine architecture may be divided into an older and a newer (or Neo-Byzantine) style. The most distinctive feature of the latter ia that the dome is raised on a perpendicular circular or polygonal piece of masonry (technically the drum) containing windows for lighting the interior, while in the older style the light was admitted by openings in the dome itself. The Cathedral of Athens is an example of the Neo-Byzantine style.
Chivalry is a term which indicates strictly the organization of knighthood as it existed in the middle agea, and in a general sense the spirit and aims which distinguished the knights of those times. The chief characteristics of the chivalric ages were a warlike spirit, a lofty devotion to the female sex, a love of adventure, and an undefinable thirst for glory. The Crusades gave for a time a religious turn to the spirit of chivalry, and various religious orders of knighthoodarose, such as the Knights of St John, the Templars, the Teutonic Knights, etc.
The education of a knight in the days of chivalry was as follows: In his twelfth year he was sent to the court of some baron or noble knight, where he spent his time chiefly in attending on the ladies, and acquiring skill in the use of arms, in riding, etc. When advancing age and experience in the use of arms had qualified the page for war, he became an esquire, or squire. This word is from the Latinscutum, a shield, it being among other offices the squire's business to carry the shield of the knight whom he served. The third and highest rank of chivalry was that of knighthood, which was not conferred before the twenty-first year, except in the case of distinguished birth or great achievements. The individual prepared himself by confessing, fasting, etc; religious rites were performed; and then, after promising to be faithful, to protect ladies and orphans, never to lie nor utter slander, to live in harmony with his equals, etc, he received the accolade, a slight blow on the neck with the flat of the sword from the person who dubbed him a knight. This was often done on the eve of battle, to stimulate the new knight to deeds of valour; or after the combat, to reward signal bravery.
The rules of chivalry only applied to the nobility. While knights on the battle field and in combat enjoyed rules of engagement and a degree of mutual respect - with the notable exception of the Battle of Agincourt where the captured French knights were murdered at the order of king Henry V - peasants, or the ordinary common folk, were slaughtered and raped by knights as though they were not human at all, and certainly not treated in a chivalrous fashion. Research Chivalry
An encyclical is a circular letter on ecclesiastic affairs written in Latin and addressed by the Pope to all the clergy and faithful of the Roman Catholic Church. The first was issued by Benedict XIV in 1740, but encyclicals only became common in the 19th century. Research Encyclical
The Thirty-Nine Articles of the Church of England are a statement of the particular points of doctrine, thirty-nine in number, maintained by the English Church. They were first promulgated by a convocation held in London in 1562-63, and confirmed by royal authority and were founded on and superseding an older code issued in the reign of Edward VI. The five first articles contain a profession of faith in the Trinity; the incarnation of Jesus Christ, his descent to hell, and his resurrection; the divinity of the Holy Ghost. The three following relate to the canon of the Scripture. The eighth article declares a belief in the Apostles', Nicene, and Athanasian creeds. The ninth and following articles contain the doctrine of original sin, of justification by faith alone, of predestination, etc. The nineteenth, twentieth, and twenty-first declare the church to be the assembly of the faithful; that it can decide nothing except by the Scriptures. The twenty-second rejects the doctrine of purgatory, indulgences, the adoration of images, and the invocation of saints. The twenty-third decides that only those lawfully called shall preach or administer the sacraments. The twenty-fourth requires the liturgy to be in English. The twenty-fifth and twenty-sixth declare the sacraments effectual signs of grace (though administered by evil men), by which God excites and confirms our faith. They are two: baptism and the Lord's supper. Baptism, according to the twenty-seventh article, is a sign of regeneration, the seal of our adoption, by which faith is confirmed and grace increased. In the Lord's supper, according to article twenty-eighth, the bread is the communion of the body of Christ, the wine the communion of his blood, but only through faith (article twenty-ninth); and the communion must be administered in both kinds (article thirty). The twenty-eighth article condemns the doctrine of transubstantiation, and the elevation and adoration of the host; the thirty-first rejects the
crifice of the mass as blasphemous; the thirty-second permits the marriage of the clergy; the thirty-third maintains the efficacy of excommunication. The remaining articles relate to the supremacy of the king, the condemnation of Anabaptists, etc. They were ratified anew in 1604 and 1628. All candidates for ordination must subscribe these articles. This formulary is now accepted by the Episcopalian Churches of Scotland, Ireland, and America. Research Thirty-Nine Articles
Tom Brown's Schooldays is a story by Thomas)Hughes, first published in 1857. It is a story of life at Rugby school under Arnold, and is one of the most successful of all school stories, and proves valuable for its faithful picture of English public school life at the period. In 1861 a sequel, Tom Brown at Oxford, was published but proved less popular. Research Tom Brown's Schooldays
The Probert Encyclopaedia was designed, edited and programed by
Matt and Leela Probert
Abbreviations
Research All Souls' Day
