Peoples of the Apocalypse: Eschatological Beliefs and Political Scenarios

377 Pages·2016·3.608 MB·English

by  Wolfram Brandes, Felicitas Schmieder, Rebekka Voß

Peoples of the Apocalypse
Millennium-Studien
zu Kultur und Geschichte
des ersten Jahrtausends n. Chr.
Millennium Studies
in the culture and history
of the first millennium C.E.
Herausgegeben von / Edited by
Wolfram Brandes, Alexander Demandt,
Helmut Krasser, Hartmut Leppin,
Peter von Möllendorff, Karla Pollmann
Volume 63
Peoples of the
Apocalypse
Eschatological Beliefs and Political Scenarios
Edited by
Wolfram Brandes, Felicitas Schmieder
and Rebekka Voß
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ISBN 978-3-11-046949-3
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ISSN 1862-1139
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Contents
Wolfram Brandes, Felicitas Schmieder, Rebekka Voß
Introduction 1
I Kriegerische Völker / Warsome Peoples
Veronika Wieser
Roms wilde Völker: Grenzüberschreitungen und Untergangsstimm(ung)en im
letzten Jahrhundert des römischen Imperiums 23
Katharina Enderle
Der Perserkrieg unter Anastasios (502–506 n.Chr.) als Endzeitereignis 51
Lutz Greisiger
Opening the Gates of the North in 627: War, Anti-Byzantine Sentiment and
Apocalyptic Expectancy in the Near East Prior to the Arab Invasion 63
II Unbekannte Völker / Unknown Peoples
Gregor Werner
Travelling towards the peoples of the Endtime: Cde Bridia as religious re-
interpretation of Carpini 83
Petra Waffner
Die Völker der Endzeit im französischen Livre de Sidrac (13. Jh.) 97
Felicitas Schmieder
Gogs und Magogs ‚natürliche Milde‘? Die Mongolen als Endzeitvölker im Wandel
von Wissen und Wünschen 111
III Jüdische Völker der Endzeit /
Jewish Peoples of the Apocalypse
Alexandra Cuffel
Jewish Tribes and Women in the Genesis and Battle of the Dajjāl: Nuʿayim ibn
Ḥammād al-Khuzāʿī al-Marwzī’s Kitāb al-Fitan 129
VI Contents
Zaroui Pogossian
Jews in Armenian Apocalyptic Traditions of the 12th century: a Fictional
Community or New Encounters? 147
Moti Benmelech
Back to the Future: The Ten Tribes and Messianic Hopes in Jewish Society during
the Early Modern Age 193
IV Muslimische Perspektiven / Muslim Perspectives
Anna Akasoy
Al-Andalus and the Andalusisin the Islamic Apocalyptic Tradition 213
David Cook
The Image of the Turk in Classical and Modern Muslim Apocalyptic
Literature 225
V Protestantische Lesarten / Protestant Variants
Pavlína Cermanová
Gog and Magog: Using Concepts of Apocalyptic Enemies in the Hussite
era 239
Frances Courtney Kneupper
The Wirsberger Brothers: Contesting Spiritual Authority through
Prophecy 257
Anselm Schubert
Nova Israhelis republica. Das Täuferreich von Münster 1534/35 als wahres
Israel 271
Andreas Pečar
Englands Heil und die Gottesfeinde Gog und Magog. Die bedrohte politische
Identität Englands als ‚protestant nation‘ (1588–1640) 285
VI Nicht-apokalyptische Völker der Endzeit / Non‐Apocalyptic
Peoples of the Apocalypse
James T. Palmer
Apocalyptic Outsiders and their Uses in the Early Medieval West 307
Contents VII
Anke Holdenried
Christian Moral Decline: A New Context for the Sibylla Tiburtina (Ms Escorial
&.I.3) 321
Delia Kottmann
The Apocalyptic Cycle of the Romanesque Murals in the Narthex of Saint-Savin-
sur-Gartempe (Vienne): Do They Illustrate Political Ideas of the Gregorian
Reform? 337
Index 353

Wolfram Brandes, Felicitas Schmieder, Rebekka Voß
Introduction
Thethreemajormonotheisticworldreligions,Judaism,ChristianityandIslam,incor-
porate the idea that God created the world and, at the end of time,will destroy it.
ThentheMessiah,thereturningChristortheMahdiwillsavetherighteouswhilesin-
nerswill,togetherwiththeirevil,becondemnedtoeternalperdition.Inthepre-mod-
ern epochs studied here (the fourth-to-seventeenth centuries of the Common Era),
these framing predictions were commonly known, accepted as natural conditions
ofhumanexistenceand,consequently,weretakenveryseriously.Giventheirshared
claimasrevealedreligions,theypossessfairlydetaileddivineindicationsaboutthe
End,theiradherentswere,therefore,everinspiredtoreadholytextsinsearchofnew
interpretationsofdivinevisions.Asaresultofsuchquests,prophetsurgedpeopleto
changetheircourse,oftenwithamoralmessage,andinstructedthemtofulfillmore
or less specific actions in preparation for the world’s imminent End.
Thus,thesemonotheisticreligions,includingtheirinternalvariants(e.g.Sephar-
dicandAshkenazicJudaism;Latin,ByzantineandArmenianChristianity;Shiiteand
SunniteIslam),establisheditsownend-timescenario,eachwithawell-knownorder
ofbasiceventsandembellishedinnumerousregionalorlocalstorylines.Thesesce-
narios did not emerge independently within a given religious culture; rather, their
developmentresultedfromvividexchangesandreactionsamongthem.Whetherdi-
rectly or by reputation, members of these religious communities knew each other,
despisedorfearedoneanother,andenvisionedtheircounterpartsaseschatological
enemiesor,lesscommonly,aseschatologicalallies.Knowledgeofanotherreligion’s
teachingsoftenpromptedanopposingpositionintheformofacounter-eschatology,
apre-moderntypeofentangledhistorythathasreceivedlittlescholarlyattentionto
date.
Thisvolumeemergesfromthethirdinaseriesofconferencesthathaveeachad-
dressed one shared element in Christian, Jewish and Muslim texts on events that
wouldanticipatetheendtimeandthecloseofhistory.Ateachgathering,whilecon-
sideringsources that span late Antiquity tothe early modern period,the participat-
ingscholarsexamineddistinctiveaspectsrepresentedbyeachreligion’sapproachas
wellasinterlacedconcepts.Thefirstoftheseconferencescomparedtangiblenotions
of the end time in the three monotheistic religions;¹ the next examined the central
antagonist depicted in each religion’s end-time predictions,who would oppose its
savior, namely: the Antichrist in Christianity, Armilos in Judaism and the Dajjāl in
Islam.²
 Endzeiten.EschatologieindenmonotheistischenWeltreligionen,ed.WolframBrandes/Felicitas
Schmieder,Berlin(Millennium-Studien).
 Antichrist. Konstruktionen von Feindbildern, ed.Wolfram Brandes / Felicitas Schmieder, Berlin
.