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The thesis summarizes and subsequently describes and evaluates contemporary knowledge, development and structure of early medieval settlement in the northwestern part of the Czech Republic. Emphasis is placed on the spatial relation of settlements and burial grounds to local selected features of the natural environment, which is evaluated on the basis of graphical representation and statistical processing in individual periods of czech early Middle Ages. The spatial context and the distribution of the settlement in the landscape are also evaluated. Spatial settlement properties are processed into catalogs and are handled in GIS and statistical tools. The resulting model is rather of a general nature because it is the first comprehensive treatment of the early medieval settlement in this part of Bohemia and is thus discussed from a methodological point of view.

The aim of this thesis is to analyze the early medieval pottery found at the hillfort Na Jánu acropolis. The pottery assemblage originates from trenchs S2/2000, S3/2003, S4/2003, S5/2003, S4/2001, S5/2001 end S16/2013. I analyzed functional, technological and decorative features of the pottery and, based on these results, created relative chronology of the entire sample.

The historians writing in the Carolingian Empire, with a few important exceptions, frequently ascribed events in recent history to God. Where they have been noticed at all, these statements of God’s agency have usually been explained as political propaganda, to demonstrate God’s favour towards the reigning dynasty. Alternatively, they have been explained by the legacy of late antique Christian historians, from which this language supposedly derived. This thesis aims to demonstrate that this language was a distinctive and innovative feature of the emerging tradition of Carolingian history writing and is best explained in religious terms. It argues that Carolingian historians reflected the emphasis on God’s agency found throughout contemporary culture and that they deliberately reshaped the Christian language bequeathed by their Roman, Anglo-Saxon, and Frankish predecessors. It offers a text-by-text analysis of how God’s agency functioned within each major Carolingian history, to further show the versatility of this language over the period. Taken together, these texts suggest that Carolingian historians wanted to teach their audiences about God’s agency and its implications for their own beliefs, identities, and behaviour. As a result, these histories and their depictions of God’s agency can be seen as a distinctive contribution to Carolingian religious renewal. This thesis thus aims to contribute to our understanding of the relationship between religion, history, and culture in early medieval Europe.

Cette thèse porte sur la signification du paon et du phénix dans des contextes cultuels et funéraires, autour du Bassin méditerranéen entre le IVe et le XIIe siècle. L’étude est basée sur un corpus de 490 documents dans lesquels apparaissent un ou plusieurs paons, mis en parallèle avec 68 témoignages figurés du phénix. Ces oiseaux ont été mis en image de différentes manières et selon différents contextes, aussi bien sur des pièces de monnaie, des fresques catacombales, des sarcophages, des décors mosaïqués (pavements, coupoles, absides, …), des manuscrits ou bien encore sur des clôtures de chœur. L’observation des documents révèle que des liens ont été tissés entre les deux oiseaux associés tous deux à l’idée de renaissance bien avant le IVe siècle. En effet, la notion de renaissance est transversale dans l’étude de la figuration du paon et du phénix entre Antiquité et Moyen Âge, et entre paganisme et christianisme. Les premières références à ces deux oiseaux, connues dans les textes et l’iconographie antiques, ont été analysées afin de réfléchir sur l’imaginaire construit autour du paon et du phénix, liés aux rythmes cycliques, à la mort et à la résurrection. La fonction du paon comme psychopompe et plus largement comme intermédiaire entre terre et ciel et entre l’humain et le divin, s’affirme progressivement. Entre le IIIe et le IVe siècle, le paon et le phénix entrent dans le répertoire visuel funéraire des premiers chrétiens et commencent à être mis en relation avec la conception du baptême comme une renaissance. Entre le IVe et le VIe siècle, ils sont introduits dans l’espace ecclésial et resserrent leurs liens avec le Christ et le baptisé. Les deux oiseaux offrent au fidèle un espoir de salut en témoignant du triomphe du Christ sur la mort et en annonçant la résurrection des Élus. Entre le VIIe et le IXe siècle, la figuration du paon est notamment étudiée sur des clôtures de chœur et d’autres éléments de décors sculptés, en lien avec le rituel eucharistique, avec l’idée de passage entre charnel et spirituel. Le corpus réuni met en évidence le rôle du paon comme gardien du seuil, d’un point de vue matériel et spirituel. La présence récurrente du paon et du phénix entre le VIe et le IXe siècle dans des espaces ecclésiaux romains est également mise en perspective vis-à-vis des réalisations papales et selon des enjeux liés à la mémoire des saints et de l’Église. L’étude s’ouvre au XIIe siècle avec le décor monumental de Saint-Clément à Rome comme un témoignage charnière dans la signification du paon. / This dissertation deals with the meaning of the peacock and the phoenix within contexts of worship and funerary contexts in the Mediterranean area, between the IVth and the XIIth centuries. The study is based on an iconographic documentation meeting 490 items of the peacock and 68 items of the phoenix. These birds were imaged in various ways as well as coins, paintings of catacombs, sarcophagi, mosaics (pavements, domes, apses, …), manuscripts, and even chancel screens. The analysis of the documentation indicates that links were weaved between both birds associated with the idea of revival long before the IVth century. The idea of revival, indeed, is a cross-cutting concept in the study of the iconography of the peacock and the phoenix between Antiquity and Middle Ages, between paganism and christianity. The first references to the these birds in the antique texts and the iconography are studied in order to reflect on the imagination about the peacock and the phoenix, both associated with cyclic rhythms, death and resurrection. The peacock was seen as a psychopomp, more generally like an intermediary between earth and sky, as well as between the human and the divine. Between the IIIth and the IVth centuries, the peacock and the phoenix were inserted into the funerary iconography of the first Christians and begin to be linked with the conception of the baptism as a revival. Between the IVth and the VIth centuries, they were inserted into the ecclesial space and they tightened their links with the Christ and the baptized. The peacock and the phoenix offer to the believer a hope of being healed. They show the triumph of the Risen Christ and announce the resurrection of the dead at the end of days. Between the VIIth and the IXth centuries, the iconography of the peacock is studied in particular on chancel screens and on the other sculptures linked with the eucharistic rite and with the idea of a connection between caro and spiritus. The documentation highlights the role of the peacock as the guard of the threshold, from a material and spiritual point of view. The recurring presence of these birds between the VIth and the IXth centuries in Roman ecclesial spaces was also put in perspective towards the papal realizations and according to stakes strongly bound to the memory of the saints and the Church. The study opens to the XIIth century with San Clement’s monumental decoration in Rome as a pivotal testimony in the evolution of the meaning of the peacock.

Filozofická fakulta Univerzity Karlovy v Praze Ústav Dálného východu Diplomová práce Jakub Otčenášek Kou Qianzhi (365-448) a reforma taoismu za dynastie Severní Wei Kou Qianzhi (365-448) and the Daoist Reform during the Northern Wei Dynasty Vedoucí práce: Olga Lomová 2011 Konzultant: Jakub Hrubý Poděkování Chtěl bych poděkovat Olze Lomové za vstřícnost, ochotu a cenné rady při vedení mé práce. Můj velký dík patří také mým francouzským pedagogům z École Pratique des Hautes Études (EPHE) v Paříži - Sylvii Hureau za pomoc s rešerší v buddhistických textech, Alainu Arraultovi za další rady a především Johnu Lagerweyovi, který mi pomohl proniknout do jazyka studovaného textu. Pobyt na EPHE mi byl umožněn studijním programem Erasmus. Svým rodičům děkuji za podporu při studiích. Prohlášení Prohlašuji, že jsem diplomovou práci vypracoval samostatně, že jsem řádně citoval všechny použité prameny a literaturu a že práce nebyla využita v rámci jiného vysokoškolského studia či k získání jiného nebo stejného titulu. V Praze dne 5. září 2011 Abstrakt Diplomová práce Kou Qianzhi (365-448) a reforma taoismu za dynastie Severní Wei analyzuje dílo Laojun yinsong jiejing 老君音誦誡經, připisované Kou Qianzhiovi 寇謙之, který v letech 424 až 448 působil na dvoře čínské dynastie Severní Wei jako hlava taoistické tradice nebeských...

This thesis deals with the beginnings of the Prague Castle. The principal attention is mainly turned to a closer recognation of course of settlement in the original west forecastle, which means today's forecastles I, II and IV. In connection with this problem the principal goal of this thesis consists in processing of the research that Jan Frolík accomplished within the forecastle I and the forecastle IV in the building of today's so called Northern Wing in 1987. There were six trenches with features and habitation layers of the Early Middle Ages explored. These discovered archaeological sections were divided into horizons in chronological sequence on the basis of stratigraphy (reciprocal superposition of features), or in the case of habitation layers on the basis of ceramics. Subsequent analysis of ceramic material enabled to date them more precisely. Also processing and evaluation of the remaining archaeological artifacts, primarily bone artifacts and animal bones, is a part of this thesis. At the end of the thesis the results of the research are counted among the context of the evolution of so called west forecastle, alternatively of the general evolution of the history of Prague Castle.

This work is devoted to the contacts between North-Western Rus' and Scandinavia in the early Middle Ages. The work pays attention to disclosure of the nature of the Scandinavians stay in the territory of Rus'. This is done through the description and evaluation of the archaeological finds in the most important economic centers along the trade routes of the Middle Ages. Information on research in the territory of Russia and found objects is taken from the modern Russian scientific publications. In the work the modern vision of the presence of Scandinavian immigrants is disclosed. The result is the recognition of northerners as permanent inhabitants in several economic centers along with the Finno- Ugric and Slavic population. Keywords Scandinavia, North-West of Russia, archaeological finds, trade and craft centers, early Middle Ages

This thesis aims to assess the social structure of budeč hillfort settlement during the second half of the 9th century to the 10th century in terms of biological anthropology. The first part deals with the processing of skeletal remains from a mass grave "Na Týnici" from the perspective of traumatology. The second part is devoted to anthropologically not assesed burial place around the church of St. Peter, which is the oldest example of the church necropolis in Bohemia. Thesis presents an anthropological analysis of human skeletal remains and their statistical comparison with cemeteries on Budeč hillfort and its hinterland (Zákolany, Na Týnici and Brandýsek) and other early medieval cemeteries in Bohemia and Moravia.

The subject of this thesis is the relationship between hagiography and cult in the early medieval west taken through the example of the Passiones of St. Kilian of Würzburg († 689) in the period from circa 700 to circa 1000 AD. Through examining a cult which developed east of the Rhine, this thesis will assess these developments taking place in a region without a strong Christian-Roman history. Thuringia produced new saints and cults in this period, yet they all operated within the overarching framework of the well-established religious phenomenon of saints' cults. In its approach, this thesis builds upon the insights of Ian Wood, James Palmer and others, in which saints' Lives are viewed as ‘textual arguments' which could operate beyond cultic contexts. This is combined with the cultural context approaches advocated in geographically specific studies by the likes of Julia Smith, Thomas Head and Raymond Van Dam. By paying particular attention to the impact of updating saints' Lives this thesis provides an in depth comparison of the relatively overlooked two earliest passiones of St. Kilian and their place in the history of the Würzburg community. It therefore addresses the nature and function of hagiography and its relationship with the institutional memory and identity of that community. The spread of cult through texts and relics is compared with the distribution of the hagiography in order to form a picture of the relationship between these different facets of cult. The question of the way in which these passiones engaged with their wider political and religious contexts is also addressed in order to demonstrate the functions of hagiography outwith an immediate cultic context.