- Chattanooga, Tennessee, United States
Irven Resnick
University of Tennessee Chattanooga, Philosophy & Religion, Faculty Member
- I am a medievalist with a focus upon medieval Jewish-Christian encounters, as well as upon Albertus Magnus and the sciencesedit
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I examine Albert’s conception of bodily complexion to consider not only the manner in which it manifests itself in individuals, but also the manner in which it comes to define whole peoples or communities to produce a rudimentary... more
I examine Albert’s conception of bodily complexion to consider not only the manner in which it manifests itself in individuals, but also the manner in which it comes to define whole peoples or communities to produce a rudimentary ethno-anthropology. For Albert there are both internal and external factors that produce complexion. The internal causes may be grouped together under physiology. The external factors include, however, not only astrological causes or influences (stemming from the position or movements of celestial bodies) but also environmental factors here below, including temperature, humidity, elevation, air quality, and many more.
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A widely shared sense among later medieval Christians that Jews represented a growing threat led to efforts to clearly mark or distinguish Jews. These efforts often demanded special garments or distinguishing marks on Jews’ clothes, or... more
A widely shared sense among later medieval Christians that Jews represented a growing threat led to efforts to clearly mark or distinguish Jews. These efforts often demanded special garments or distinguishing marks on Jews’ clothes, or sought natural signs visible in the Jews’ body that would identify them. When these measures failed, some fifteenth-century Spanish Christians placed their hopes on mechanical devices or
automata that could clearly identify Jews, conversos, or crypto-Jews in order to effect a separation between Christian and Jewish communities. This article examines Alonso Tostado’s description of a “talking head” or automaton, inspired by one previously fashioned by Albertus Magnus, which identified any Jew who attempted to enter the town of Tábara. It traces this tradition through early modern Spanish and French literature to
demonstrate the special concern to safeguard Christian “purity of blood” in Spain but absent in French sources.
automata that could clearly identify Jews, conversos, or crypto-Jews in order to effect a separation between Christian and Jewish communities. This article examines Alonso Tostado’s description of a “talking head” or automaton, inspired by one previously fashioned by Albertus Magnus, which identified any Jew who attempted to enter the town of Tábara. It traces this tradition through early modern Spanish and French literature to
demonstrate the special concern to safeguard Christian “purity of blood” in Spain but absent in French sources.
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Examines medieval traditions of Hebrew as a language both sacred, and diabolical
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Despite its rarity, hermaphroditism is often discussed in medieval texts in theoretical and practical contexts by canonists, theologians, and natural philosophers. For the canonist or theologian, hermaphroditism raised questions... more
Despite its rarity, hermaphroditism is often discussed in medieval texts in theoretical and practical contexts by canonists, theologians, and natural philosophers. For the canonist or theologian, hermaphroditism raised questions concerning baptism, marriage, entry to clerical orders, and legal status. For the natural philosopher, the hermaphrodite seemed to violate the strict dichotomy of male and female. Here I examine Albert the Great's natural-philosophical treatment of hermaphroditism. Albert rejects the view that hermaphrodites constitute a "third sex" and instead invokes Aristotle's authority to show that hermaphrodites are a "monstrous" flaw in nature. He carefully investigates the manner in which nature produces hermaphrodites in the womb and introduces a discussion of the generative capacity of hermaphrodites themselves. He concludes that they are incapable of reproducing in and of themselves (i.e., they are incapable of auto-fecundation) although they seem able to generate in another individual through coition.
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In his Bonum universale de apibus (On Bees), the Dominican Thomas of Cantimpré recorded several instances in which the corpse of a murder victim spontaneously effused blood in the presence of the murderer. In one of these stories, Thomas... more
In his Bonum universale de apibus (On Bees), the Dominican Thomas of Cantimpré recorded several instances in which the corpse of a murder victim spontaneously effused blood in the presence of the murderer. In one of these stories, Thomas provided an account of a ritual murder (ca. 1260). In this article, I examine the relationship between this phenomenon of "cruentation" and the anti-Jewish exemplum. I also identify some of the distinctive features of the tale, including the claim that the Jews typically harvest the blood of their Christian victims in order to address certain defects in their own nature. Finally, I examine the unusual identification of the Christian victim as female in relation to another ritual murder account at Valreás in 1247.
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Page 1. IMResnick Divine Power & Possibility in St. Peter Damian's DeDivina Omnipotentia EJ.BRILL Page 2. Page 3. Page 4. ... Page 5. DIVINE POWER AND POSSIBILITY IN ST. PETER DAMIAN'S DE DIVINA OMNIPOTENTIA... more
Page 1. IMResnick Divine Power & Possibility in St. Peter Damian's DeDivina Omnipotentia EJ.BRILL Page 2. Page 3. Page 4. ... Page 5. DIVINE POWER AND POSSIBILITY IN ST. PETER DAMIAN'S DE DIVINA OMNIPOTENTIA "Thi s One KTN6-2SC-9BHW Page 6. ...
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Implementation of the canons of the Fourth Lateran Council dramatically expanded the practice of auricular confession among laypeople. Although the Council's canons also insist upon the seal of confession in order to keep the content... more
Implementation of the canons of the Fourth Lateran Council dramatically expanded the practice of auricular confession among laypeople. Although the Council's canons also insist upon the seal of confession in order to keep the content of confessions secret, thirteenth-century authorities differ over the boundaries of the seal. As a result, the “secrets” of confession are often revealed in at least general terms in order to provide preachers with entertaining exempla for moral or doctrinal instruction. What is revealed from confession not only provides a window onto medieval private lives, but it also provided confessors with information about human activities—especially sexual practices—that might otherwise be unavailable to them. With such information, learned confessors not only encouraged moral reform but also defended claims of Aristotelian biology on human nature and sexuality.
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It is largely for his attack upon the Talmud that Peter the Venerable’s Adversus Iudeorum inveteratam duritiem stands out. Peter is the first medieval Latin author to name the Talmud as such. Having identified the Talmud as a principal... more
It is largely for his attack upon the Talmud that Peter the Venerable’s Adversus Iudeorum inveteratam duritiem stands out. Peter is the first medieval Latin author to name the Talmud as such. Having identified the Talmud as a principal source of Jewish error, Peter condemns its influence upon Jews. In their Talmud, Peter the Venerable insists, Jews even declare that God condemns Christians to Hell “because they do not believe in the Talmud.” Peter views the Talmud not only as a source of error for Jews, however, but also for Muslims. Muḥammad wove the Qurʾān in part, Peter insists, out of the filthy cloth of the Jews’ Talmud. Since he claims that Satan is the ultimate source for Talmudic “lies,” he attributes both the Talmud and the Qurʾān to diabolical agency. This paper examines Peter’s view of the Talmud, then, and its deleterious influence upon both Jews and Muslims.
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ABSTRACT
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... Father-in-Law" (~7-56); Sarah Klein-Braslavy, "King Solomon and Metaphysical Esotericism According ... the Gu/de suffers by utterly isolating Maimonides the philosopher from Maimonides the halakhist. ... to Study 'The... more
... Father-in-Law" (~7-56); Sarah Klein-Braslavy, "King Solomon and Metaphysical Esotericism According ... the Gu/de suffers by utterly isolating Maimonides the philosopher from Maimonides the halakhist. ... to Study 'The Guide of the Perplexed',"' to the very method Strauss employed ...
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It seems somewhat paradoxical that at the very time in the eleventh century when laity and clergy were most critical of the corrupt and decadent life led in many monasteries throughout Europe, one should find among reformers the most... more
It seems somewhat paradoxical that at the very time in the eleventh century when laity and clergy were most critical of the corrupt and decadent life led in many monasteries throughout Europe, one should find among reformers the most exaggerated claims for the benefits of monastic life. Peter Damian (1007–1072), one of the most ardent and indefatigable monastic reformers, provides ample evidence of this paradox.
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Page 1. BOOK REVIEWS Paul Heger. The Three Biblical Altar Laws. Beihefte zur Zeitschrift für die alttes-tamentliche Wissenschaft, 279. Berlin: Walter de Gruyter, 1999. xi, 463 pp. In this monumental book, Paul Heger attempts ...
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Scholastic discussions concerning conjoined twins turned to issues unarticulated by early medie val authors and brought into sharp focus the biological causes of these anomalous births based on Aristote lian natural philosophy. For... more
Scholastic discussions concerning conjoined twins turned to issues unarticulated by early medie val authors and brought into sharp focus the biological causes of these anomalous births based on Aristote lian natural philosophy. For Albert the Great, irregular or excessive movement during intercourse and a ruptured membrane in the womb may bring about either a complete division of the sperm, resulting in sepa rated twins, or a partial division, resulting in conjoined fetuses. Following Albert, philosophers and theolo gians reflected upon theories of personhood when they concluded that conjoined twins with two heads may be two persons with two rational souls, and therefore should be baptized separately or even may contract separate marriages. This determination demanded consideration of empirical signs of personhood and fo cused attention on a Galenic-Aristotelian debate between " physicians " and " philosophers " to assert the heart's priority over the head as the body's principal organ and as the essential " seat " for the rational soul.