Showing posts with label Rome. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Rome. Show all posts

January 17 - The Pope Moves Back to Rome!

 Posted on January 17, 2022


This is an update of my post published on January 17, 2011:




After being in  France for 70 years, the papacy was moved by Pope Gregory XI back to Rome, Italy, on this day in 1377. Rome had been the historic seat of Catholic leadership, but a Frenchman who was made pope in 1305  refused to move to Rome. He and six other popes ruled from the charming walled city of Avignon.


The Papal Palace in Avignon, France


Shortly after Gregory XI moved to Rome, he died. Italians insisted on having an Italian pope, but French Catholics chose a French pope--so for about 30 years, there were two popes of the Roman Catholic Church. This was one split of the church that was called "the Great Schism." (There was another split that was called "the Great Schism," and other great schisms that were called other names as well.)


These days, we call the "popes" that ruled from Avignon from 1378 to 1417 the "anti-popes."


The Great Schism was apparently mended by several councils and several elections of other new popes.


Learn about Avignon

Here is a nice travelogue with photos. 

Here is a short video about the town.


(also here and here)

(Third Monday in January)










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September 13 - That's Ancient History!

Posted on September 13, 2020

It's a bit tough to be sure of dates from history. Records weren't always kept, or accurate; and records are sometimes destroyed. Also, calendar systems used to vary all over the world, and the modern Gregorian calendar was adopted by various places at different times, so we have to translate not just between languages, but between different calendar systems. 



Of course, the problem with accuracy in dating gets worse as we go farther and farther back - so dates on ancient monuments and scrolls are pretty iffy. Still, we are pretty certain of the day-and-year dates of a surprising number of ancient events.

Which brings us to two events that happened on this date during ancient times:

On this date in 509 BCE, the Temple of Jupiter Optimus Maximus was dedicated. The temple was located on Rome's Capitoline Hill.

We don't know exactly what the temple looked like.
This model is based on an educated guess.
This is a model of what the Capitoline Hill in Rome
looked like in ancient times.
Nowadays, people climb stairs (above)
up the hill to the plaza (below).


On this date in 379 CE, Yax Nuun Ahiin I was crowned the 15th Ajaw of Tikal. This occurred in the Mayan city that is now located in Guatemala, south of Mexico.


Evidence tells archeologists that Tikal included many
 buildings (above); people can visit the ruins today (below).


I got to thinking about these two events. They occurred pretty far apart, globe-wise - Italy and Guatemala are an ocean away from one another. But they occurred really far apart, time-wise, too. 870 years stretch between the two dates, so even though we tend to think of "ancient times" as one big lump, those "times" lasted a reaaaalllllyyy long time!

After all, there's only been 244 years between this:


...and this:


I got to wondering...what defines "ancient history"?

Apparently, it dates from the beginning of writing - and therefore recorded history - to around 500 CE. The latter date is close to the time of the Fall of Ancient Rome (476 CE) and the beginning of the Dark Ages or Middle Ages. The Dark Ages are called "dark" because a lot of knowledge was lost.

The span of ancient history, therefore, is about 5,000 years. The oldest "coherent" texts from the oldest known writing, Sumerian cuneiform, dates from around 2600 BCE. So ancient history covers all continents inhabited by humans from 3,000 BCE to 500 CE. 



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June 29 - St. Peter and St. Paul Day in Rome

Posted on June 29, 2018


The Catholic Church has a lot of saints - like, more than ten thousand! - but surely two of the "biggest," most important saints are Peter and Paul. And today is their joint feast day.

Feast days are often solemn occasions, and at the Vatican, the museums will be closed to tourists. Since St. Peter and St. Paul are considered the founders of the Christian church in Rome, banks and government buildings will be closed in the entire city. I gather that a few other communities in Italy also celebrate this feast day - but not Italy as a whole.

The more colorful and joyful aspect of the holiday is the street "paintings" that are created all through the night before - pictures "painted" with flowers! The flower artists who make these pieces of art are called infiorata.




There is also a rowing regatta - a race on the Tiber River - and a parade of historical boats. And the big finale is the Girandola (Pinwheel), which is a fireworks display originally designed by Michelangelo!





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