175-420: A castrato (Italian; pl. : castrati ) is a male singer who underwent castration before puberty in order to retain singing voice equivalent to that of a soprano , mezzo-soprano , or contralto . The voice can also occur in one who, due to an endocrinological condition, never reaches sexual maturity . Castration before puberty (or in its early stages) prevents the larynx from being transformed by
350-449: A male loses use of the testicles : the male gonad . Surgical castration is bilateral orchiectomy (excision of both testicles), while chemical castration uses pharmaceutical drugs to deactivate the testes. Castration causes sterilization (permanently preventing the castrated person or animal from reproducing ); it also greatly reduces the production of hormones , such as testosterone and estrogen . Surgical castration in animals
525-401: A matroneum (women's section). The exterior was decorated with elaborate carvings of rich Theodosian-era designs, fragments of which have survived, while the floor just inside the portico was embellished with polychrome mosaics. The surviving carved gable end from the centre of the western façade is decorated with a cross-roundel. Fragments of a frieze of reliefs with 12 lambs representing
700-508: A 12th-century English adventurer and invader of the Scottish coast, was blinded and castrated after losing a power struggle. In medieval England, men found guilty of high treason were hanged, drawn and quartered , which often included emasculation (removal of the genitalia). Wim Deetman was criticized by the Dutch parliament for excluding evidence of castration in his report on sexual abuse by
875-696: A Christian source, the Crusaders massacred some clerics who had surrendered to them. Much of the interior was damaged and would not be repaired until its return to Orthodox control in 1261. The sack of Hagia Sophia, and Constantinople in general, remained a sore point in Catholic–Eastern Orthodox relations . During the Latin occupation of Constantinople (1204–1261), the church became a Latin Catholic cathedral. Baldwin I of Constantinople ( r. 1204–1205 )
1050-698: A Pipe! What Modulation! What Extasy to the Ear! But, Heavens! What Clumsiness! What Stupidity! What Offence to the Eye! Reader, if of the City, thou mayest probably have seen in the Fields of Islington or Mile-End or, If thou art in the environs of St James', thou must have observed in the Park with what Ease and Agility a cow, heavy with calf, has rose up at the command of the Milk-woman's foot: thus from
1225-485: A Western context, eunuch singers are known to have existed from the early Byzantine Empire . In Constantinople around 400 AD, the empress Aelia Eudoxia had a eunuch choir-master, Brison, who may have established the use of castrati in Byzantine choirs, though whether Brison himself was a singer and whether he had colleagues who were eunuch singers is not certain. By the 9th century, eunuch singers were well-known (most in
1400-621: A brief time as a Latin Catholic church between the Fourth Crusade and 1261. After the fall of Constantinople in 1453, it served as a mosque until 1935, when it became a museum. In 2020, the site once again became a mosque. The current structure was built by the Byzantine emperor Justinian I as the Christian cathedral of Constantinople for the Byzantine Empire between 532 and 537, and
1575-614: A deacon of Hagia Sophia and an administrative official in for the patriarchate from Antioch in Pisidia . Both George and Theodore, likely members of Sergius's literary circle, attribute the defeat of the Avars to the intervention of the Theotokos , a belief that strengthened in following centuries. In 726, the emperor Leo the Isaurian issued a series of edicts against the veneration of images, ordering
1750-512: A dog bite them off. During the Yuan dynasty , eunuchs became a desirable commodity for tributes , and dog bites were replaced by more sophisticated surgical techniques. The Vietnamese adopted the eunuch system and castration techniques from China. Records show that the Vietnamese performed castration in a painful procedure by removing the entire genitalia with both penis and testicles being cut off with
1925-558: A eunuch attendant at the Vietnamese imperial palace in Thang Long . After years of service, he was promoted at the death of the Vietnamese ruler in 1497 to a military position in northern Vietnam. A soldier told him of an escape route back to China and Wu Rui escaped to Longzhou . The local chief planned to sell him back to the Vietnamese, but Wu was rescued by the Pingxiang magistrate and then
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#17328594481652100-427: A flexibility and power no woman or ordinary male singer could match. Many castrati came from poor homes and were castrated by their parents in the hope that their child might be successful and lift them from poverty (this was the case with Senesino ). There are, though, records of some young boys asking to be operated on to preserve their voices (e.g. Caffarelli , who was from a wealthy family: his grandmother gave him
2275-428: A great amount of scurrilous and unkind abuse, and as their fame increased, so did the hatred of them. They were often castigated as malign creatures who lured men into homosexuality. There were homosexual castrati, as Casanova 's accounts of 18th-century Italy bear witness. He mentions meeting an abbé whom he took for a girl in disguise, only later discovering that "she" was a famous castrato. In Rome in 1762 he attended
2450-457: A great fire in 859, and again in an earthquake on 8 January 869 that caused the collapse of one of the half-domes. Emperor Basil I ordered repair of the tympanas, arches, and vaults. In his book De caerimoniis aulae Byzantinae ("Book of Ceremonies"), the emperor Constantine VII ( r. 913–959 ) wrote a detailed account of the ceremonies held in the Hagia Sophia by the emperor and
2625-487: A history going back to the ancient Near East. Stereotypically, eunuchs served as harem guards, but they were also valued as high-level political appointees since they could not start a dynasty which would threaten the ruler. Castrati first appeared in Italy in the mid-16th century, though at first the terms describing them were not always clear. The phrase soprano maschio (male soprano), which could also mean falsettist, occurs in
2800-641: A medieval artifact, near the probable location and is still visible today. The original tomb was destroyed by the Ottomans during the conversion of the church into a mosque. Upon the capture of Constantinople in 1261 by the Empire of Nicaea and the emperor Michael VIII Palaeologus , ( r. 1261–1282 ), the church was in a dilapidated state. In 1317, emperor Andronicus II Palaeologus ( r. 1282–1328 ) ordered four new buttresses ( Medieval Greek : Πυραμίδας , romanized : Pyramídas ) to be built in
2975-596: A mental illness, chemical castration has been used on gay men, as in the case of Alan Turing . In modern times, the Czech Republic practices surgical castration of convicted sex offenders. According to the reports compiled by Council of Europe, a human-rights forum, the central European country physically castrated at least 94 prisoners in the 10 years up to April 2008. The Czech Republic defends this procedure as voluntary and effective. According to Dr. Martin Hollý, director of
3150-627: A moderately skillful falsettist and professional double bass player. A male can retain his child voice if it never changes during puberty. The retained voice can be the treble voice shared by both sexes in childhood and is the same as a boy soprano voice. But as evidence shows, many castrati, such as Senesino and Caffarelli, were actually altos (mezzo-soprano) – not sopranos. So-called "natural" or "endocrinological castrati" are born with hormonal anomalies, such as Klinefelter's syndrome and Kallmann's syndrome , or have undergone unusual physical or medical events during their early lives that reproduce
3325-604: A mosque. The first church on the site was known as the Magna Ecclesia ( Μεγάλη Ἐκκλησία , Megálē Ekklēsíā , 'Great Church') because of its size compared to the sizes of the contemporary churches in the city. According to the Chronicon Paschale , the church was consecrated on 15 February 360, during the reign of the emperor Constantius II ( r. 337–361 ) by the Arian bishop Eudoxius of Antioch . It
3500-616: A much higher range than most countertenors . Examples are Aris Christofellis , Jörg Waschinski, and Ghio Nannini. However, it is believed the castrati possessed more of a tenorial chest register (the aria "Navigante che non spera" in Leonardo Vinci 's opera Il Medo , written for Farinelli , requires notes down to C 3 , 131 Hz). Similar low-voiced singing can be heard from the jazz vocalist Jimmy Scott, whose range matches approximately that used by female blues singers. High-pitched singer Jordan Smith has demonstrated having more of
3675-436: A performance at which the prima donna was a castrato, "the favourite pathic " of Cardinal Borghese , who dined every evening with his protector. From his behaviour on stage "it was obvious that he hoped to inspire the love of those who liked him as a man, and probably would not have done so as a woman". By the late 18th century, changes in operatic taste and social attitudes spelled the end for castrati. They lingered on past
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#17328594481653850-467: A planned increase in bread prices, after a stoppage of the Cura Annonae rations resulting from the loss of the grain supply from Egypt. The Persians under Shahrbaraz and the Avars together laid the siege of Constantinople in 626; according to the Chronicon Paschale , on 2 August 626, Theodore Syncellus , a deacon and presbyter of Hagia Sophia, was among those who negotiated unsuccessfully with
4025-565: A prerequisite for their release from prison. The castration may be voluntary or mandated. The assumption is that it prevents future crimes. Reports are available from American and European countries for over 80 years (chemical for circa 30). The effectiveness and ethics of this treatment are heavily debated. A temporary "chemical castration" has been studied and developed as a preventive measure and punishment for several repeated sex crimes , such as rape or other sexually related violence . Where homosexuality has been criminalised or treated as
4200-649: A professor at Newcastle University 's Institute of Neuroscience who also runs a chemical castration program backed by the UK's Ministry of Justice , was initially opposed to physical castration. After visiting the Czech Republic, however, he agreed that some form of castration might be of benefit to some sex offenders. Hagia Sophia Hagia Sophia ( Turkish : Ayasofya ; Ancient Greek : Ἁγία Σοφία , romanized : Hagía Sophía ; Latin : Sancta Sapientia ; lit. ' Holy Wisdom ' ), officially
4375-659: A prophecy. What was the reason that compelled all to flee to the Great Church? They had been listening, for many years, to some pseudo-soothsayers, who had declared that the city was destined to be handed over to the Turks, who would enter in large numbers and would massacre the Romans as far as the Column of Constantine the Great. After this an angel would descend, holding his sword. He would hand over
4550-422: A punishment for disobedience. In the medieval kingdom of Georgia , the 12th-century pretender Demna was castrated by his uncle George III of Georgia to ensure the supremacy of George's branch of the family. Another victim of castration was the 12th-century medieval French philosopher, scholar, teacher, and (later) monk Pierre Abélard . He was castrated by relatives of his lover, Héloïse . Bishop Wimund ,
4725-418: A sharp knife or metal blade. The procedure was agonizing since the entire penis was cut off. The young man's thighs and abdomen would be tied, and others would pin him down on a table. The genitals would be washed with pepper water and then cut off. A tube would be then inserted into the urethra to allow urination during healing. Many Vietnamese eunuchs were products of self-castration in order to gain access to
4900-473: A stand-in for criticizing the government. Commoners were banned from undergoing castration in Vietnam; only adult men of high social rank could be castrated. Most eunuchs were born as such with a congenital abnormality. The Vietnamese government mandated that boys born with defective genitalia were to be reported to officials, in exchange for the town being freed from mandatory labor requirements. The boy would have
5075-462: A tenorial chest register. Actor Chris Colfer has stated in interviews that when his voice began to change at puberty, he sang in a high voice "constantly" in an effort to retain his range. Actor and singer Alex Newell has soprano range. Voice actor Walter Tetley may or may not have been a castrato ; Bill Scott , a co-worker of Tetley's during their later work in television, once half-jokingly quipped that Tetley's mother "had him fixed" to protect
5250-464: A timber roof, curtains, columns, and an entrance that faced west. It likely had a narthex and is described as being shaped like a Roman circus . This may mean that it had a U-shaped plan like the basilicas of San Marcellino e Pietro and Sant'Agnese fuori le mura in Rome . However, it may also have been a more conventional three-, four-, or five-aisled basilica, perhaps resembling the original Church of
5425-729: A tribute was paid to the Avars . The Avars attacked the extramural areas of Constantinople in 623, causing the Byzantines to move the "garment" relic (Ancient Greek: ἐσθής , romanized: esthḗs ) of Mary, mother of Jesus to Hagia Sophia from its usual shrine of the Church of the Theotokos at Blachernae just outside the Theodosian Walls . On 14 May 626, the Scholae Palatinae , an elite body of soldiers, protested in Hagia Sophia against
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5600-465: Is a rare term but probably does equate to castrato . The Cardinal's nephew, Alfonso II d'Este, Duke of Ferrara , was another early enthusiast, inquiring about castrati in 1556. There were certainly castrati in the Sistine Chapel choir in 1558, although not described as such: on 27 April of that year, Hernando Bustamante, a Spaniard from Palencia , was admitted (the first castrati so termed who joined
5775-467: Is constructed with bricks stamped with brick-stamps dating from the 5th century, but the lower part is of constructed with bricks typical of the 4th century. This wall was probably part of the propylaeum at the west front of both the Constantinian and Theodosian Great Churches. The building was accompanied by a baptistery and a skeuophylakion . A hypogeum , perhaps with an martyrium above it,
5950-477: Is desirable to employ the high voices of sopranos and contraltos, these parts must be taken by boys, according to the most ancient usage of the Church." The last Sistine castrato to survive was Alessandro Moreschi , the only castrato to have made solo recordings. While an interesting historical record, these discs of his give us only a glimpse of the castrato voice, although he had been renowned as "The Angel of Rome" at
6125-416: Is often called neutering . Castration of animals is intended to favor a desired development of the animal or of its habits, as an anaphrodisiac or to prevent overpopulation . The parallel of castration for female animals is spaying . Castration may also refer medically to oophorectomy in female humans and animals. The term castration may also be sometimes used to refer to emasculation where both
6300-603: Is possible that both they and John the Lydian considered Hagia Sophia a great temple for the supreme Neoplatonist deity who manifestated through light and the sun. John the Lydian describes the church as the " temenos of the Great God" (Greek: τὸ τοῦ μεγάλου θεοῦ Τέμενος , romanized: tò toû megálou theoû Témenos ). Originally the exterior of the church was covered with marble veneer , as indicated by remaining pieces of marble and surviving attachments for lost panels on
6475-574: Is said to have "changed the history of architecture". The present Justinianic building was the third church of the same name to occupy the site, as the prior one had been destroyed in the Nika riots . As the episcopal see of the ecumenical patriarch of Constantinople , it remained the world's largest cathedral for nearly a thousand years, until the Seville Cathedral was completed in 1520. Beginning with subsequent Byzantine architecture, Hagia Sophia became
6650-512: Is used to slow down the cancer. Surgical removal of one or both testicles known as orchidectomy is the most common treatment for testicular cancer. Castration has also been used in the United States for sex offenders as a way of avoiding incarceration. It can greatly reduce sex drive or interest in those with sexual drives, obsessions, or behaviors, or any combination of those that may be considered deviant. Involuntary castration appears in
6825-507: The khagan of the Avars. A homily , attributed by existing manuscripts to Theodore Syncellus and possibly delivered on the anniversary of the event, describes the translation of the Virgin's garment and its ceremonial re-translation to Blachernae by the patriarch Sergius I after the threat had passed. Another eyewitness account of the Avar–Persian siege was written by George of Pisidia ,
7000-468: The 12 apostles also remain; unlike Justinian's 6th-century church, the Theodosian Hagia Sophia had both colourful floor mosaics and external decorative sculpture. At the western end, surviving stone fragments of the structure show there was vaulting , at least at the western end. The Theodosian building had a monumental propylaeum hall with a portico that may account for this vaulting, which
7175-479: The Chronicle of John Malalas , during a subsequent earthquake on 7 May 558, the eastern semi-dome collapsed, destroying the ambon , altar, and ciborium . The collapse was due mainly to the excessive bearing load and to the enormous shear load of the dome, which was too flat. These caused the deformation of the piers which sustained the dome. Justinian ordered an immediate restoration. He entrusted it to Isidorus
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7350-561: The Column of Theodosius closer to Hagia Sophia; in others, it occurs at the Column of Constantine , which is closer still. Hagia Sophia is mentioned in a hagiography of uncertain date detailing the life of the Eastern Orthodox saint Andrew the Fool . The text is self-attributed to Nicephorus, a priest of Hagia Sophia, and contains a description of the end time in the form of a dialogue, in which
7525-511: The Danishmendids at the siege of Kastamon in 1133. After proceeding through the streets on foot carrying a cross with a silver quadriga bearing the icon of the Virgin Mary, the emperor participated in a ceremony at the cathedral before entering the imperial palace. In 1168, another triumph was held by the emperor Manuel I Comnenus , again preceding with a gilded silver quadriga bearing
7700-507: The Direttore Perpetuo , the fine soprano castrato Domenico Mustafà . In 1902 a ruling was extracted from Pope Leo that no further castrati should be admitted. The official end to the castrati came on St. Cecilia's Day, 22 November 1903, when the new pope, Pius X, issued his motu proprio , Tra le Sollecitudini ("Amongst the Cares"), which contained this instruction: "Whenever ... it
7875-650: The Due Dialoghi della Musica (Two dialogues upon music) of Luigi Dentice , an Oratorian priest, published in Rome in 1553. On 9 November 1555 Cardinal Ippolito II d'Este (famed as the builder of the Villa d'Este at Tivoli), wrote to Guglielmo Gonzaga, Duke of Mantua (1538–1587), that he has heard that the Duke was interested in his cantoretti (little singers) and offered to send him two, so that he could choose one for his own service. This
8050-585: The Fourth Chinese domination of Vietnam , the Ming Chinese under the Yongle Emperor castrated many young Vietnamese boys, choosing them for their handsomeness and ability, and brought them to Nanjing to serve as eunuchs. Among them were the architect-engineer Nguyễn An and Nguyen Lang (阮浪). Vietnamese were among the many eunuchs of different origins found at Yongle's court. Among the eunuchs in charge of
8225-653: The Hagia Sophia Grand Mosque (Turkish: Ayasofya-i Kebir Cami-i Şerifi ; Greek : Μεγάλο Τζαμί της Αγίας Σοφίας ), is a mosque and former church serving as a major cultural and historical site in Istanbul , Turkey . The last of three church buildings to be successively erected on the site by the Eastern Roman Empire , it was completed in AD 537. The site was an Eastern rite church from AD 360 to 1453, except for
8400-754: The Hagia Sophia in Thessaloniki , Panagia Ekatontapiliani , the Şehzade Mosque , the Süleymaniye Mosque , the Rüstem Pasha Mosque and the Kılıç Ali Pasha Complex . The patriarchate moved to the Church of the Holy Apostles , which became the city's cathedral. The complex remained a mosque until 1931, when it was closed to the public for four years. It was re-opened in 1935 as a museum under
8575-700: The Han dynasty were also used as slave labor. In the Han dynasty (206 BC–220 AD), castration continued to be used as a punishment for various offences. Chinese historian Sima Qian was castrated by order of the Han Emperor of China for dissent. In another incident multiple people, including a chief scribe and his underlings, were subjected to castration. During the early part of the Ming dynasty (1368–1644 AD), China demanded eunuchs to be sent as tribute from Korea . Some of them oversaw
8750-783: The Hippodrome of Constantinople , and the second Hagia Sophia was burnt to the ground on 13–14 January 532. The court historian Procopius wrote: And by way of shewing that it was not against the Emperor alone that they [the rioters] had taken up arms, but no less against God himself, unholy wretches that they were, they had the hardihood to fire the Church of the Christians, which the people of Byzantium call "Sophia", an epithet which they have most appropriately invented for God, by which they call His temple; and God permitted them to accomplish this impiety, foreseeing into what an object of beauty this shrine
8925-484: The Kapellmeister (music director) was the famous Orlando di Lasso . In 1589, by the bull Cum pro nostro pastorali munere , Pope Sixtus V re-organised the choir of St Peter's, Rome specifically to include castrati. Thus the castrati came to supplant both boys (whose voices broke after only a few years) and falsettists (whose voices were weaker and less reliable) from the top line in such choirs. Women were banned by
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#17328594481659100-518: The Mausoleum of Helena ), it is possible it originally had a funerary function, though by 405 its use had changed. A later account credited a woman called Anna with donating the land on which the church was built in return for the right to be buried there. Excavations on the western side of the site of the first church under the propylaeum wall reveal that the first church was built atop a road about 8 m (26 ft) wide. According to early accounts,
9275-590: The Rus'–Byzantine War of 941 and the death of the Grand Prince of Kiev , Igor I ( r. 912–945 ), his widow Olga of Kiev – regent for her infant son Sviatoslav I ( r. 945–972 ) – visited the emperor Constantine VII and was received as queen of the Rus' in Constantinople. She was probably baptized in Hagia Sophia's baptistery, taking the name of the reigning augusta , Helena Lecapena , and receiving
9450-645: The Shang dynasty ( c. 1700 –1050 BC), when the Shang kings castrated prisoners of war. During the reign of Mu of the Zhou dynasty (10th c. BC) the Minister of Crime, Marquis Lu, reformed the law in 950 BC to make it easier for people to be sentenced to castration instead of death. As long as the practice existed in China, not only were the testicles removed but castration included
9625-462: The Sultan Ahmed Mosque . Upon its conversion, the bells , altar , iconostasis , ambo , and baptistery were removed, while iconography , such as the mosaic depictions of Jesus, Mary , Christian saints and angels were removed or plastered over. Islamic architectural additions included four minarets , a minbar and a mihrab . The Byzantine architecture of the Hagia Sophia served as inspiration for many other religious buildings including
9800-422: The normal physiological events of puberty. As a result, the vocal range of prepubescence (shared by both sexes) is largely retained, and the voice develops into adulthood in a unique way. Prepubescent castration for this purpose diminished greatly in the late 18th century. Methods of castration used to terminate the onset of puberty varied. Methods involved using opium to medically induce a coma, then submerging
9975-399: The secular Republic of Turkey, and the building was Turkey's most visited tourist attraction as of 2019 . In July 2020, the Council of State annulled the 1934 decision to establish the museum, and the Hagia Sophia was reclassified as a mosque. The 1934 decree was ruled to be unlawful under both Ottoman and Turkish law as Hagia Sophia's waqf , endowed by Sultan Mehmed, had designated
10150-419: The synthronon . He adds that mules and donkeys were brought into the cathedral's sanctuary to carry away the gilded silver plating of the bema, the ambo, and the doors and other furnishings, and that one of them slipped on the marble floor and was accidentally disembowelled, further contaminating the place. According to Ali ibn al-Athir , whose treatment of the Sack of Constantinople was probably dependent on
10325-416: The "Great Church", likely on 15 April 428. According to the anonymous Letter to Cosmas , the virgin empress, a promoter of the cult of the Virgin Mary who habitually partook in the Eucharist at the sanctuary of Nestorius's predecessors, claimed right of entry because of her equivalent position to the Theotokos – the Virgin Mary – "having given birth to God". Their theological differences were part of
10500-465: The 4th-century skeuophylakion survived the fire. According to Dark and Kostenec, the fire may only have affected the main basilica, leaving the surrounding ancillary buildings intact. A second church on the site was ordered by Theodosius II ( r. 402–450 ), who inaugurated it on 10 October 415. The Notitia Urbis Constantinopolitanae , a fifth-century list of monuments, names Hagia Sophia as Magna Ecclesia , 'Great Church', while
10675-407: The 4th-century church was not yet known as Hagia Sophia. Though its name as the 'Great Church' implies that it was larger than other Constantinopolitan churches, the only other major churches of the 4th century were the Church of St Mocius , which lay outside the Constantinian walls and was perhaps attached to a cemetery, and the Church of the Holy Apostles . The church itself is known to have had
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#173285944816510850-408: The 5th century Theodosian basilica could have been built surrounded by a complex constructed primarily during the fourth century. During the reign of Theodosius II, the emperor's elder sister, the Augusta Pulcheria ( r. 414–453 ) was challenged by the patriarch Nestorius ( r. 10 April 428 – 22 June 431 ). The patriarch denied the Augusta access to the sanctuary of
11025-425: The Capital Battalions of Beijing was Xing An, a Vietnamese. In the Lê dynasty the Vietnamese Emperor Lê Thánh Tông was aggressive in his relations with foreign countries including China. A large amount of trade between Guangdong and Vietnam happened during his reign. Early accounts recorded that the Vietnamese captured Chinese whose ships had blown off course and detained them. Young Chinese men were selected by
11200-577: The Chinese boys in a biography on Wang Ji'en. Some legends say that the Mongol Genghis Khan was castrated by a Tangut princess using a knife, who wanted revenge against his treatment of the Tanguts and to stop him from raping her. During the Qing dynasty (1644–1911 AD), the sons and grandsons of the rebel Yaqub Beg in China were all sentenced to castration. Surviving members of Yaqub Beg's family included his four sons, four grandchildren (two grandsons and two granddaughters), and four wives. They either died in prison in Lanzhou , Gansu, or were killed by
11375-447: The Chinese. His sons Yima Kuli, K'ati Kuli, Maiti Kuli, and grandson Aisan Ahung were the only survivors in 1879. They were all underage children, and put on trial, sentenced to an agonizing death if they were complicit in their father's rebellious "sedition", or if they were innocent of their fathers crimes, were to be sentenced to castration and serving as eunuch slaves to Chinese troops, when they reached 11 years old, and handed over to
11550-409: The Church of the Wisdom, at the top of the window, a large flame of fire issuing forth. It encircled the entire neck of the church for a long time. The flame gathered into one; its flame altered, and there was an indescribable light. At once it took to the sky. ... The light itself has gone up to heaven; the gates of heaven were opened; the light was received; and again they were closed." This phenomenon
11725-417: The Eastern Orthodox Church upon the restoration of the Byzantine Empire in 1261. Enrico Dandolo , the doge of Venice who led the Fourth Crusade and the 1204 Sack of Constantinople , was buried in the church. After the fall of Constantinople to the Ottoman Empire in 1453, it was converted to a mosque by Mehmed the Conqueror and became the principal mosque of Istanbul until the 1616 construction of
11900-488: The Greek historian Doukas , the Hagia Sophia was tainted by these Catholic associations, and the anti-union Orthodox faithful avoided the cathedral, considering it to be a haunt of demons and a "Hellenic" temple of Roman paganism . Doukas also notes that after the Laetentur Caeli was proclaimed, the Byzantines dispersed discontentedly to nearby venues where they drank toasts to the Hodegetria icon, which had, according to late Byzantine tradition, interceded to save them in
12075-404: The Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem or the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem . The building was likely preceded by an atrium , as in the later churches on the site. According to Ken Dark and Jan Kostenec, a further remnant of the 4th century basilica may exist in a wall of alternating brick and stone banded masonry immediately to the west of the Justinianic church. The top part of the wall
12250-420: The Imperial Household to be executed or castrated. Although some sources assert that the sentence of castration was carried out, official sources from the US State Department and activists involved in the incident state that Yaqub Beg's son and grandsons had their sentence commuted to life imprisonment with a fund provided for their support. The eunuchs of Korea, called Naesi (내시, 內侍), were officials to
12425-543: The Justinianic Hagia Sophia revealed the western remains of its Theodosian predecessor, as well as some fragments of the Constantinian church. German archaeologist Alfons Maria Schneider began conducting archaeological excavations during the mid-1930s, publishing his final report in 1941. Excavations in the area that had once been the 6th-century atrium of the Justinianic church revealed the monumental western entrance and atrium, along with columns and sculptural fragments from both 4th- and 5th-century churches. Further digging
12600-716: The Khitan founded the Liao dynasty they developed a harem system with concubines and wives and adopted eunuchs as part of it. All of the eunuchs captured were ethnic Chinese from the Central Plains that came from two sources. The Khitan captured Chinese people who were already eunuchs at the Jin court when they invaded the Later Jin . Another source was during their war with the Chinese Song dynasty :
12775-524: The Khitan would raid China, capture Han Chinese boys as prisoners of war and emasculate them to become eunuchs. The emasculation of captured Chinese boys guaranteed a continuous supply of eunuchs to serve in the Liao dynasty harem. The Empress Dowager Xiao Chuo (Chengtian) played a large role in the raids to capture and emasculate the boys. Chengtian took power at age 30 in 982 as a regent for her son. Some reports suggest that she personally led her own army against
12950-838: The Korean concubines in the harem of the Chinese Emperor. When the Chinese overthrew Mongol rule, many Mongol captives were castrated and turned into eunuchs. When the Ming army finally captured Yunnan from Mongols in 1382, thousands of prisoners were killed and, according to the custom in times of war, their young sons—including Zheng He —were castrated. During the Miao Rebellions (Ming dynasty) , Chinese commanders castrated thousands of Miao boys when their tribes revolted, and then distributed them as eunuch slaves as gifts to various officials. At
13125-627: The Lê dynasty of Annam (Vietnam) as they were returning to Malacca from China. The Vietnamese enslaved and castrated the young from among the captured. A 1472 entry in the Ming Shilu reported that when some Chinese from Nanhai county escaped back to China after their ship had been blown off course into Vietnam, where they had been forced to serve as soldiers in Vietnam's military. The escapees also reported that they found out up to 100 Chinese men remained captives in Vietnam after they were caught and castrated by
13300-646: The Pauline dictum mulieres in ecclesiis taceant ("let women keep silent in the churches"; see I Corinthians, ch. 14, v. 34). The Italian castrati were often rumored to have unusually long lives, but a 1993 study found that their lifespans were average. Although the castrato (or musico) predates opera, there is some evidence that castrati had parts in the earliest operas. In the first performance of Monteverdi 's Orfeo (1607), for example, they played subsidiary roles, including Speranza and (possibly) that of Euridice. Although female roles were performed by castrati in some of
13475-525: The Psychiatric Hospital Bohnice in Prague, none of the nearly 100 sex offenders who had been physically castrated had committed further offences. One serial offender stated that being castrated was the "best decision" he ever made: "On the one hand you have to protect the potential victims and on the other hand I wanted to be protected from myself, I wanted to live like a normal person." Don Grubin,
13650-553: The Roman Catholic Church, where ten children were allegedly "punished" by castration in the 1950s for reporting sexual abuse by Roman Catholic priests. The Deetman Commission had rejected it as the person who reported the incident admitted it was speculative. In Spain, a law against castration was used to deny sex-reassignment surgery to transgender people until the Penal Code was reformed in 1983. According to legend, during
13825-571: The Roman Empire reports castration of defeated Byzantine Greeks at the hands of the Frankish marquis Theobald of Camerino and Spoleto in the course of 10th-century wars in Italy. Gibbon also alludes to a 12th-century incident set out in William Fitzstephen 's Vita Sancti Thomae ( Life of St. Thomas ) in which Geoffrey of Anjou castrated the members of the cathedral chapter of Sens as
14000-672: The Sistine choir were Pietro Paolo Folignato and Girolamo Rossini, admitted in 1599). Surprisingly, considering the later French distaste for castrati, they certainly existed in France at this time also, being known of in Paris, Orléans , Picardy and Normandy , though they were not abundant: the King of France himself had difficulty in obtaining them. By 1574, there were castrati in the Ducal court chapel at Munich , where
14175-524: The Song Chinese in 986. Her army defeated them in battle, fighting the retreating Chinese army. She then ordered the castration of around 100 ethnic Chinese boys she had captured in China, supplementing the Khitan's supply of eunuchs to serve at her court, among them was Wang Ji'en . The boys were all under ten years old and were selected for their good looks. The History of Liao 遼史 described and praised Empress Chengtian's capture and mass castration of
14350-462: The Vietnamese after their ship was blown off course while traveling from Hainan to Guangdong 's Qin subprefecture ( Qinzhou ), after which they ended up near the coast of Vietnam, during the Chenghua Emperor 's rule (1447–1487). Twelve of them were enslaved to work as agricultural laborers, while the youngest, Wu Rui (吳瑞) was selected for castration since he was the only young man and he became
14525-493: The Vietnamese after their ships were blown off course into Vietnam. The Chinese Ministry of Revenue responded by ordering Chinese civilians and soldiers to stop going abroad to foreign countries. China's relations with Vietnam during this period were marked by the punishment of prisoners by castration. A 1499 entry in the Ming Shilu recorded that 13 Chinese men from Wenchang including a young man named Wu Rui were captured by
14700-502: The Vietnamese for castration to become eunuch slaves to the Vietnamese. It has been speculated by modern historians that the Chinese who were captured and castrated by the Vietnamese were involved in trade between China and Vietnam instead of actually being blown off course by the wind and they were punished as part of a crackdown on foreign trade by Vietnam. Several Malay envoys from the Malacca sultanate were attacked and captured in 1469 by
14875-621: The Younger, nephew of Isidore of Miletus, who used lighter materials. The entire vault had to be taken down and rebuilt 20 Byzantine feet (6.25 m or 20.5 ft) higher than before, giving the building its current interior height of 55.6 m (182 ft). Moreover, Isidorus changed the dome type, erecting a ribbed dome with pendentives whose diameter was between 32.7 and 33.5 m. Under Justinian's orders, eight Corinthian columns were disassembled from Baalbek , Lebanon and shipped to Constantinople around 560. This reconstruction, which gave
15050-508: The advance of the Turks. The identity of the emperor was often confused with that of other famous saint-emperors like Theodosius I and Heraclius . The orb was frequently referred to as an apple in foreigners' accounts of the city, and it was interpreted in Greek folklore as a symbol of the Turks' mythological homeland in Central Asia, the "Lone Apple Tree". The orb fell to the ground in 1316 and
15225-722: The age of eight to twelve had their penises and scrota completely amputated. Reportedly, about two out of three boys died, but those who survived drew high prices. The employment or enslavement of eunuchs (castrated men) was practiced in classical and Roman antiquity and continued into the Middle Ages. In the 10th century, slave traders in Verdun in France and in Becâne ( Pechina ), Spain, castrated captives who were then enslaved as harem attendants in Al-Andalus . Edward Gibbon 's Decline and Fall of
15400-414: The all-holy dedicatory offerings". After a successful sally by Renier and his knights, Maria requested a truce, the imperial assault ceased, and an amnesty was negotiated by the megas doux Andronikos Kontostephanos and the megas hetaireiarches John Doukas . Greek historian Niketas Choniates compared the preservation of the cathedral to the efforts made by the 1st-century emperor Titus to avoid
15575-450: The army to destroy all icons – ushering in the period of Byzantine iconoclasm . At that time, all religious pictures and statues were removed from the Hagia Sophia. Following a brief hiatus during the reign of Empress Irene (797–802), the iconoclasts returned. Emperor Theophilus ( r. 829–842 ) had two-winged bronze doors with his monograms installed at the southern entrance of the church. The basilica suffered damage, first in
15750-536: The beginning of his career, some would say he was past his prime when the recordings were made in 1902 and 1904 and he never attempted to sing opera. Domenico Salvatori , a castrato who was contemporary with Moreschi, made some ensemble recordings with him but has no surviving solo recordings. The recording technology of the day was not of modern high quality. Salvatori died in 1909; Moreschi retired officially in March 1913, and died in 1922. The Catholic Church's involvement in
15925-455: The boy into an ice or milk bath where the procedure of either twisting the testicles until they atrophied, or complete removal via surgical cutting was performed (however the complete removal of the testicles was not a popularly used technique). The procedure was usually done to boys around the age of 8–10; recovery time from the procedure took around two weeks. The means by which future singers were prepared could lead to premature death. To prevent
16100-499: The building we now see, it seems to me that they would have prayed that they might see their church destroyed forthwith, in order that the building might be converted into its present form. Upon seeing the finished building, the Emperor reportedly said: "Solomon, I have surpassed thee " ( Medieval Greek : Νενίκηκά σε Σολομών ). Justinian and Patriarch Menas inaugurated the new basilica on 27 December 537, 5 years and 10 months after construction started, with much pomp. Hagia Sophia
16275-484: The building with 4,000 Roman pounds of gold, but he was dismissed from office in October 532. John the Lydian wrote that Phocas had acquired the funds by moral means, but Evagrius Scholasticus later wrote that the money had been obtained unjustly. According to Anthony Kaldellis , both of Hagia Sophia's architects named by Procopius were associated with the school of the pagan philosopher Ammonius of Alexandria . It
16450-457: The building's western face. The white marble cladding of much of the church, together with gilding of some parts, would have given Hagia Sophia a shimmering appearance quite different from the brick- and plaster-work of the modern period, and would have significantly increased its visibility from the sea. The cathedral's interior surfaces were sheathed with polychrome marbles, green and white with purple porphyry , and gold mosaics. The exterior
16625-559: The building. Construction of the church began in 532 during the short tenure of Phocas as praetorian prefect . Although Phocas had been arrested in 529 as a suspected practitioner of paganism , he replaced John the Cappadocian after the Nika Riots saw the destruction of the Theodosian church. According to John the Lydian , Phocas was responsible for funding the initial construction of
16800-456: The castrato phenomenon has long been controversial, and there have recently been calls for it to issue an official apology for its role. As early as 1748, Pope Benedict XIV tried to ban castrati from churches, but such was their popularity at the time that he realised that doing so might result in a drastic decline in church attendance. The rumours of another castrato sequestered in the Vatican for
16975-410: The child from experiencing the intense pain of castration, many were inadvertently administered lethal doses of opium or some other narcotic, or were killed by overlong compression of the carotid artery in the neck (intended to render them unconscious during the castration procedure). The geographical locations of where these procedures took place is not known specifically. During the 18th century,
17150-453: The child star's voice-acting career. Tetley never did personally divulge the exact reason for his condition, which left him with the voice of a preteen boy for his entire adult life. Botanist George Washington Carver was noted for his high voice, believed to be the result of pertussis and croup infections in his childhood that stunted his growth. Castration Castration is any action, surgical , chemical , or otherwise, by which
17325-512: The choir of Hagia Sophia ) and remained so until the sack of Constantinople by the Western forces of the Fourth Crusade in 1204. Their fate from then until their reappearance in Italy more than three hundred years later is not clear. It seems likely that the Spanish tradition of soprano falsettists may have hidden castrati. Much of Spain was under Muslim rulers during the Middle Ages, and castration had
17500-504: The church its present 6th-century form, was completed in 562. The poet Paul the Silentiary composed an ekphrasis , or long visual poem, for the re-dedication of the basilica presided over by Patriarch Eutychius on 24 December 562. Paul the Silentiary's poem is conventionally known under the Latin title Descriptio Sanctae Sophiae , and he was also author of another ekphrasis on the ambon of
17675-565: The church was dedicated to the Holy Wisdom . It was where the excommunication of Patriarch Michael I Cerularius was officially delivered by Humbert of Silva Candida , the envoy of Pope Leo IX in 1054, an act considered the start of the East–West Schism . In 1204, it was converted during the Fourth Crusade into a Catholic cathedral under the Latin Empire , before being returned to
17850-698: The church, the Descripto Ambonis . According to the history of the patriarch Nicephorus I and the chronicler Theophanes the Confessor , various liturgical vessels of the cathedral were melted down on the order of the emperor Heraclius ( r. 610–641 ) after the capture of Alexandria and Roman Egypt by the Sasanian Empire during the Byzantine–Sasanian War of 602–628 . Theophanes states that these were made into gold and silver coins, and
18025-528: The city's capture. Despite the ill-repute and empty state of Hagia Sophia after December 1452, Doukas writes that after the Theodosian Walls were breached, the Byzantines took refuge there as the Turks advanced through the city: "All the women and men, monks, and nuns ran to the Great Church. They, both men and women, were holding in their arms their infants. What a spectacle! That street was crowded, full of human beings." He attributes their change of heart to
18200-554: The complex with locals and mercenaries, and despite the strong opposition of the patriarch, made the "house of prayer into a den of thieves or a well-fortified and precipitous stronghold, impregnable to assault", while "all the dwellings adjacent to Hagia Sophia and adjoining the Augusteion were demolished by [Maria's] men". A battle ensued in the Augustaion and around the Milion , during which
18375-565: The construction process. This new church was contemporaneously recognized as a major work of architecture. Outside the church was an elaborate array of monuments around the bronze-plated Column of Justinian , topped by an equestrian statue of the emperor which dominated the Augustaeum , the open square outside the church which connected it with the Great Palace complex through the Chalke Gate . At
18550-448: The controversy over the title theotokos that resulted in the Council of Ephesus and the stimulation of Monophysitism and Nestorianism , a doctrine, which like Nestorius, rejects the use of the title. Pulcheria along with Pope Celestine I and Patriarch Cyril of Alexandria had Nestorius overthrown, condemned at the ecumenical council, and exiled. The area of the western entrance to
18725-404: The culmination of their dispute with the empress Maria of Antioch , regent for her son, the emperor Alexius II Comnenus . Maria Comnena and Renier occupied the cathedral with the support of the patriarch, refusing the imperial administration's demands for a peaceful departure. According to Niketas Choniates, they "transformed the sacred courtyard into a military camp", garrisoned the entrances to
18900-504: The defenders fought from the "gallery of the Catechumeneia (also called the Makron)" facing the Augusteion, from which they eventually retreated and took up positions in the exonarthex of Hagia Sophia itself. At this point, "the patriarch was anxious lest the enemy troops enter the temple, with unholy feet trample the holy floor, and with hands defiled and dripping with blood still warm plunder
19075-603: The destruction of a city founded on seven hills in the Book of Revelation was frequently understood to be about Constantinople, and the Apocalypse of Pseudo-Methodius had predicted an " Ishmaelite " conquest of the Roman Empire. In this text, the Muslim armies reach the Forum Bovis before being turned back by divine intervention; in later apocalyptic texts, the climactic turn takes place at
19250-757: The destruction of the Second Temple during the siege of Jerusalem in the First Jewish–Roman War . Choniates reports that in 1182, a white hawk wearing jesses was seen to fly from the east to Hagia Sophia, flying three times from the "building of the Thōmaitēs " (a basilica erected on the southeastern side of the Augustaion) to the Palace of the Kathisma in the Great Palace , where new emperors were acclaimed . This
19425-603: The destruction of the Theodosian Hagia Sophia and comparing the new church with the old, Procopius lauded the Justinianic building, writing in De aedificiis : ... the Emperor Justinian built not long afterwards a church so finely shaped, that if anyone had enquired of the Christians before the burning if it would be their wish that the church should be destroyed and one like this should take its place, shewing them some sort of model of
19600-402: The dome; a burial cloth of Christ shown on Fridays, and on the apse a new depiction of the Virgin Mary holding Jesus, between the apostles Peter and Paul. On the great side arches were painted the prophets and the teachers of the church. According to the 13th-century Greek historian Niketas Choniates , the emperor John II Comnenus celebrated a revived Roman triumph after his victory over
19775-445: The eastern and northern parts of the church, financing them with the inheritance of his late wife, Irene of Montferrat ( d. 1314). New cracks developed in the dome after the earthquake of October 1344, and several parts of the building collapsed on 19 May 1346. Repairs by architects Astras and Peralta began in 1354. On 12 December 1452, Isidore of Kiev proclaimed in Hagia Sophia the long-anticipated ecclesiastical union between
19950-672: The edge of the Augustaeum was the Milion and the Regia, the first stretch of Constantinople's main thoroughfare, the Mese . Also facing the Augustaeum were the enormous Constantinian thermae , the Baths of Zeuxippus , and the Justinianic civic basilica under which was the vast cistern known as the Basilica Cistern . On the opposite side of Hagia Sophia was the former cathedral, Hagia Irene. Referring to
20125-439: The edifice was built by Constantius' father, Constantine the Great ( r. 306–337 ). Hesychius of Miletus wrote that Constantine built Hagia Sophia with a wooden roof and removed 427 (mostly pagan) statues from the site. The 12th-century chronicler Joannes Zonaras reconciles the two opinions, writing that Constantius had repaired the edifice consecrated by Eusebius of Nicomedia , after it had collapsed. Since Eusebius
20300-506: The end of the ancien régime , which their style of opera parallels, and two of their number, Pacchierotti and Crescentini , performed before Napoleon. The last great operatic castrato was Giovanni Battista Velluti (1781–1861), who performed the last operatic castrato role ever written: Armando in Il crociato in Egitto by Meyerbeer (Venice, 1824). Soon after this they were replaced definitively as
20475-539: The end of the Ming dynasty, there were about 70,000 eunuchs (宦官 huànguān , or 太監 tàijiàn ) employed by the emperor, with some serving inside the Forbidden City . The last imperial eunuch in China was Sun Yaoting who died in 1996. The Khitan people adopted the practice of using eunuchs from the Chinese and the eunuchs used were non-Khitan prisoners of war. The Khitan were a nomadic Mongolic people and originally did not have eunuchs as part of their culture. When
20650-419: The equivalent adult female voice. Their vocal range was higher than that of the uncastrated adult male. Listening to the only surviving recordings of a castrato (see below), one can hear that the lower part of the voice sounds like a "super-high" tenor, with a more falsetto -like upper register above that. Castrati were rarely referred to as such: in the 18th century, the euphemism musico ( pl. : musici )
20825-417: The first Hagia Sophia was built on the site of an ancient pagan temple, although there are no artefacts to confirm this. The Patriarch of Constantinople John Chrysostom came into a conflict with Empress Aelia Eudoxia , wife of the emperor Arcadius ( r. 383–408 ), and was sent into exile on 20 June 404. During the subsequent riots, this first church was largely burnt down. Palladius noted that
21000-492: The first men of the operatic stage by a new breed of heroic tenor, as first incarnated by the Frenchman Gilbert-Louis Duprez , the earliest so-called "king of the high Cs". His successors have included such singers as Enrico Tamberlik , Jean de Reszke , Francesco Tamagno , Enrico Caruso , Giovanni Martinelli , Beniamino Gigli , Jussi Björling , Franco Corelli and Luciano Pavarotti , among others. After
21175-470: The first operatic superstars, earning enormous fees and hysterical public adulation. The strictly hierarchical organisation of opera seria favoured their high voices as symbols of heroic virtue, though they were frequently mocked for their strange appearance and bad acting. In his 1755 Reflections upon theatrical expression in tragedy , Roger Pickering wrote: Farinelli drew every Body to the Haymarket. What
21350-680: The former sieges of Constantinople by the Avar Khaganate and the Umayyad Caliphate . According to Nestor Iskander's Tale on the Taking of Tsargrad , the Hagia Sophia was the focus of an alarming omen interpreted as the Holy Spirit abandoning Constantinople on 21 May 1453, in the final days of the Siege of Constantinople. The sky lit up, illuminating the city, and "many people gathered and saw on
21525-467: The former cathedral Hagia Irene is referred to as Ecclesia Antiqua , 'Old Church'. At the time of Socrates of Constantinople around 440, "both churches [were] enclosed by a single wall and served by the same clergy". Thus, the complex would have encompassed a large area including the future site of the Hospital of Samson . If the fire of 404 destroyed only the 4th-century main basilica church, then
21700-644: The history of warfare, sometimes used by one side to torture or demoralize their enemies. Over the 13 centuries of the Arab slave trade in Africa, unknown numbers of Africans were enslaved and shipped to the Middle East. "The Caliphate in Baghdad at the beginning of the 10th Century had 7,000 black eunuchs and 4,000 white eunuchs in his palace." The Arab slave trade typically dealt in the sale of castrated male slaves. Black boys at
21875-512: The icon of the Virgin from the now-demolished East Gate (or Gate of St Barbara, later the Turkish : Top Kapısı , lit. 'Cannon Gate') in the Propontis Wall , to Hagia Sophia for a thanks-giving service, and then to the imperial palace. In 1181, the daughter of the emperor Manuel I, Maria Comnena , and her husband, the caesar Renier of Montferrat , fled to Hagia Sophia at
22050-551: The income from two vineyards to pay for his studies). Caffarelli was also typical of many castrati in being famous for tantrums on and off-stage, and for amorous adventures with noble ladies. Some, as described by Casanova, preferred gentlemen (noble or otherwise). According to John Rosselli , the total number of castrati alive at any given time during the height of their existence cannot be ascertained. He estimates that "several hundred" of them existed at any given time between 1630 and 1750. Approximately 100 existed in Rome in 1694, but
22225-415: The interlocutor, upon being told by the saint that Constantinople will be sunk in a flood and that "the waters as they gush forth will irresistibly deluge her and cover her and surrender her to the terrifying and immense sea of the abyss", says "some people say that the Great Church of God will not be submerged with the city but will be suspended in the air by an invisible power". The reply is given that "When
22400-459: The king and other royalty in traditional Korean society. The first recorded appearance of a Korean eunuch was in Goryeosa ("History of Goryeo"), a compilation about the Goryeo period. In 1392, with the founding of the Joseon dynasty , the Naesi system was revised, and the department was renamed the "Department of Naesi " (내시부, 內侍府). The Naesi system included two ranks, those of Sangseon (상선, 尙膳, "Chief of Naesi "), who held
22575-413: The kingdom, together with the sword, to some insignificant, poor, and humble man who would happen to be standing by the Column. He would say to him: "Take this sword and avenge the Lord's people." Then the Turks would be turned back, would be massacred by the pursuing Romans, and would be ejected from the city and from all places in the west and the east and would be driven as far as the borders of Persia, to
22750-441: The late 5th-century Column of Leo . A large lintel of the skeuophylakion 's western entrance – bricked up during the Ottoman era – was discovered inside the rotunda when it was archaeologically cleared to its foundations in 1979, during which time the brickwork was also repointed . The skeuophylakion was again restored in 2014 by the Vakıflar . A fire started during the tumult of the Nika Revolt , which had begun nearby in
22925-416: The military supremacy of the Islamic caliphate over the Christian empire. In Niccolò Barbaro 's account of the fall of the city in 1453, the Justinianic monument was interpreted in the last days of the siege as representing the city's founder Constantine the Great, indicating "this is the way my conqueror will come". According to Laonicus Chalcocondyles , Hagia Sophia was a refuge for the population during
23100-594: The mossy bank sprang the DIVINE FARINELLI. The training of the boys was rigorous. The regimen of one singing school in Rome (c. 1700) consisted of one hour of singing difficult and awkward pieces, one hour practising trills, one hour practising ornamented passaggi, one hour of singing exercises in their teacher's presence and in front of a mirror so as to avoid unnecessary movement of the body or facial grimaces, and one hour of literary study; all this, moreover, before lunch. After, half an hour would be devoted to musical theory, another to writing counterpoint, an hour copying down
23275-452: The music historian Charles Burney was sent from pillar to post in search of places where the operation was carried out: I enquired throughout Italy at what place boys were chiefly qualified for singing by castration, but could get no certain intelligence. I was told at Milan that it was at Venice ; at Venice that it was at Bologna ; but at Bologna the fact was denied, and I was referred to Florence ; from Florence to Rome, and from Rome I
23450-432: The official title of senior second rank, and Naegwan (내관, 內官, "Common official naesi "), both of which held rank as officers. 140 naesi in total served the palace in Joseon dynasty period. They also took the exam on Confucianism every month. The naesi system was repealed in 1894 following Gabo reform . According to legend, castration consisted of daubing a boy's genitals with human feces and having
23625-419: The option of serving as a eunuch official or serving the palace women when he became ten years old. This law was put in place in 1838 during the Nguyễn dynasty. The only males allowed inside the Forbidden City at Huế were the Emperor and his eunuchs. The presence of eunuchs in Vietnam was used by the French colonizers to degrade the Vietnamese. In 1778, Thomas Jefferson wrote a bill in Virginia reducing
23800-514: The palaces and power. In other cases, they might be paid to become eunuchs. They served in many capacities, from supervising public works, to investigating crimes, to reading public proclamations. Lý Thường Kiệt was a prominent eunuch general during the Lý dynasty (1009–1225). The Trần dynasty sent Vietnamese boy eunuchs as tribute to Ming dynasty China several times, in 1383, 1384 and 1385 Nguyen Dao, Nguyen Toan, Tru Ca, and Ngo Tin were among several Vietnamese eunuchs sent to China. During
23975-445: The papal states, this was increasingly rare; by 1680, they had supplanted normal male voices in lead roles, and retained their position as primo uomo for about a hundred years; an Italian opera not featuring at least one renowned castrato in a lead part would be doomed to fail. Because of the popularity of Italian opera throughout 18th-century Europe (except France), singers such as Ferri, Farinelli , Senesino and Pacchierotti became
24150-400: The paradigmatic Orthodox church form , and its architectural style was emulated by Ottoman mosques a thousand years later. It has been described as "holding a unique position in the Christian world " and as an architectural and cultural icon of Byzantine and Eastern Orthodox civilization. The religious and spiritual centre of the Eastern Orthodox Church for nearly one thousand years,
24325-410: The patriarch. Early in the 10th century, the pagan ruler of the Kievan Rus' sent emissaries to his neighbors to learn about Judaism, Islam, and Roman and Orthodox Christianity. After visiting Hagia Sophia his emissaries reported back: "We were led into a place where they serve their God, and we did not know where we were, in heaven or on earth." In the 940s or 950s, probably around 954 or 955, after
24500-402: The personal delectation of the Pontiff until as recently as 1959 have been proven false. The singer in question was a pupil of Moreschi's, Domenico Mancini, such a successful imitator of his teacher's voice that even Lorenzo Perosi , Direttore Perpetuo of the Sistine Choir from 1898 to 1956 and a strenuous opponent of the practice of castrato singers, thought he was a castrato. Mancini was in fact
24675-421: The possibility that was a decline from earlier in the century cannot be ruled out. Only a small percentage of boys castrated to preserve their voices had successful careers on the operatic stage; the better "also-rans" sang in cathedral or church choirs, but because of their marked appearance and the ban on their marrying, there was little room for them in society outside a musical context. The castrati came in for
24850-438: The punishment for rape, polygamy, or sodomy from death to castration. Over the years, several U.S. states have passed laws regarding chemical castration for sex offenders but not one state has mandatory castration. In 2016, Alabama lawmaker Steve Hurst proposed a bill requiring certain sex offenses to require the perpetrator be castrated prior to their release from state custody. A 1969 study found that men institutionalized at
25025-458: The reign of the legendary Emperor Shun and Yu in China, in 2281 BC, castration was passed into law as a punishment, remaining so until the reign of Gaozu of Tang (618–626 AD). However, it was still practiced after his reign. According to historians, it was incorporated into Chinese law during the Zhou dynasty. It was one of the five physical punishments that could be legally inflicted on criminals in China. Records of castrations in China date to
25200-404: The repairs. He erected again and reinforced the fallen dome arch, and rebuilt the west side of the dome with 15 dome ribs. The extent of the damage required six years of repair and reconstruction; the church was re-opened on 13 May 994. At the end of the reconstruction, the church's decorations were renovated, including the addition of four immense paintings of cherubs; a new depiction of Christ on
25375-446: The same facility in Kansas lived an extra 14 years, on average, if they were castrated. In 1983, Judge C. Victor Pyle sentenced three men convicted of rape to choose between 30 years in prison or castration. The South Carolina Supreme Court ruled that the castration option would be cruel, however, and the men were sentenced to prison. Chemical or surgical castration is practiced in many countries for people convicted of sex crimes as
25550-407: The same from dictation, and another hour of literary study. During the remainder of the day, the young castrati had to find time to practice their harpsichord playing, and to compose vocal music, either sacred or secular depending on their inclination. This demanding schedule meant that, if sufficiently talented, they were able to make a debut in their mid-teens with a perfect technique and a voice of
25725-422: The second church in Kiev, Saint Sophia's , was founded in anno mundi 6460 in the Byzantine calendar , or c. 952 . The name of this future cathedral of Kiev probably commemorates Olga's baptism at Hagia Sophia. After the great earthquake of 25 October 989, which collapsed the western dome arch, Emperor Basil II asked for the Armenian architect Trdat , creator of the Cathedral of Ani , to direct
25900-410: The severing of one's entire genitalia. Both organs were cut off with a knife at the same time. Men were castrated and made into state slaves during the Qin dynasty (221–206 BC) to perform forced labor for projects such as the Terracotta Army . The Qin government confiscated the property and enslaved the families of rapists who received castration as a punishment. Men punished with castration during
26075-501: The site a mosque; proponents of the decision argued the Hagia Sophia was the personal property of the sultan. The decision to designate Hagia Sophia as a mosque was highly controversial. It resulted in divided opinions and drew condemnation from the Turkish opposition, UNESCO , the World Council of Churches and the International Association of Byzantine Studies , as well as numerous international leaders, while several Muslim leaders in Turkey and other countries welcomed its conversion into
26250-412: The steps outside the atrium of the Constantinian Old St Peter's Basilica in Rome. Near the staircase, there was a cistern, perhaps to supply a fountain in the atrium or for worshippers to wash with before entering. The 4th-century skeuophylakion was replaced in the 5th century by the present-day structure, a rotunda constructed of banded masonry in the lower two levels and of plain brick masonry in
26425-413: The subsequent Sack of Constantinople in 1204, the church was further ransacked and desecrated by the Crusaders, as described by Choniates, though he did not witness the events in person. According to his account, composed at the court of the rump Empire of Nicaea , Hagia Sophia was stripped of its remaining metal ornaments, its altar was smashed into pieces, and a "woman laden with sins" sang and danced on
26600-497: The testicles and the penis are removed together. In some cultures, and in some translations, no distinction is made between the two. Castration may have arisen in the Neolithic period in response to animal husbandry, rising populations and population specialisation. Either surgical removal of both testicles or chemical castration may be carried out in the case of prostate cancer . Testosterone -depletion treatment (either surgical removal of both testicles or chemical castration)
26775-406: The third. Originally this rotunda, probably employed as a treasury for liturgical objects, had a second-floor internal gallery accessed by an external spiral staircase and two levels of niches for storage. A further row of windows with marble window frames on the third level remain bricked up. The gallery was supported on monumental consoles with carved acanthus designs, similar to those used on
26950-472: The titles zōstē patrikía and the styles of archontissa and hegemon of the Rus'. Her baptism was an important step towards the Christianization of the Kievan Rus' , though the emperor's treatment of her visit in De caerimoniis does not mention baptism. Olga is deemed a saint and equal-to-the-apostles ( Ancient Greek : ἰσαπόστολος , romanized : isapóstolos ) in the Eastern Orthodox Church. According to an early 14th-century source,
27125-464: The unification of Italy in 1861, "eviration" was officially made illegal, as the new Italian state had adopted the previous penal code of the Kingdom of Sardinia , which expressly forbade the practice. In 1878, Pope Leo XIII prohibited the hiring of new castrati by the church: only in the Sistine Chapel and in other papal basilicas in Rome did a few castrati linger. A group photo of the Sistine Choir taken in 1898 shows that by then only six remained, plus
27300-481: The vocal effects of castration without being castrated. Jimmy Scott , Radu Marian and Javier Medina are examples of this type of high male voice via endocrinological conditions. Michael Maniaci is somewhat different, in that he has no hormonal or other anomalies, but claims that his voice did not "break" in the usual manner, leaving him still able to sing in the soprano register. Other uncastrated male adults sing soprano, generally using some form of falsetto but in
27475-401: The western Catholic and eastern Orthodox Churches as decided at the Council of Florence and decreed by the papal bull Laetentur Caeli , though it would be short-lived. The union was unpopular among the Byzantines, who had already expelled the Patriarch of Constantinople, Gregory III , for his pro-union stance. A new patriarch was not installed until after the Ottoman conquest. According to
27650-405: The whole city sinks into the sea, how can the Great Church remain? Who will need her? Do you think God dwells in temples made with hands?" The Column of Constantine , however, is prophesied to endure. From the time of Procopius in the reign of Justinian, the equestrian imperial statue on the Column of Justinian in the Augustaion beside Hagia Sophia, which gestured towards Asia with right hand,
27825-450: Was abandoned for fear of harming the structural integrity of the Justinianic building, but parts of the excavation trenches remain uncovered, laying bare the foundations of the Theodosian building. The basilica was built by architect Rufinus. The church's main entrance, which may have had gilded doors, faced west, and there was an additional entrance to the east. There was a central pulpit and likely an upper gallery, possibly employed as
28000-432: Was built next to the area where the Great Palace was being developed. According to the 5th-century ecclesiastical historian Socrates of Constantinople , the emperor Constantius had c. 346 "constructed the Great Church alongside that called Irene which because it was too small, the emperor's father [Constantine] had enlarged and beautified". A tradition which is not older than the 7th or 8th century reports that
28175-585: Was clad in stucco that was tinted yellow and red during the 19th-century restorations by the Fossati architects. The construction is described by Procopius in On Buildings ( Greek : Περὶ κτισμάτων , romanized : Peri ktismatōn , Latin: De aedificiis ). Columns and other marble elements were imported from throughout the Mediterranean, although the columns were once thought to be spoils from cities such as Rome and Ephesus. Even though they were made specifically for Hagia Sophia, they vary in size. More than ten thousand people were employed during
28350-405: Was crowned emperor on 16 May 1204 in Hagia Sophia in a ceremony which closely followed Byzantine practices. Enrico Dandolo , the Doge of Venice who commanded the sack and invasion of the city by the Latin Crusaders in 1204, is buried inside the church, probably in the upper eastern gallery . In the 19th century, an Italian restoration team placed a cenotaph marker, frequently mistaken as being
28525-433: Was designed by the Greek geometers Isidore of Miletus and Anthemius of Tralles . It was formally called the Church of God's Holy Wisdom (Greek: Ναὸς τῆς Ἁγίας τοῦ Θεοῦ Σοφίας , romanized: Naòs tês Hagías toû Theoû Sophías ) and upon completion became the world's largest interior space and among the first to employ a fully pendentive dome. It is considered the epitome of Byzantine architecture and
28700-452: Was destined to be transformed. So the whole church at that time lay a charred mass of ruins. On 23 February 532, only a few weeks after the destruction of the second basilica, Emperor Justinian I inaugurated the construction of a third and entirely different basilica, larger and more majestic than its predecessors. Justinian appointed two architects, mathematician Anthemius of Tralles and geometer and engineer Isidore of Miletus , to design
28875-471: Was discovered before 1946, and the remnants of a brick wall with traces of marble revetment were identified in 2004. The hypogeum was a tomb which may have been part of the 4th-century church or may have been from the pre-Constantinian city of Byzantium . The skeuophylakion is said by Palladius to have had a circular floor plan, and since some U-shaped basilicas in Rome were funerary churches with attached circular mausolea (the Mausoleum of Constantina and
29050-428: Was much more generally used, although it usually carried derogatory implications; another synonym was evirato , literally meaning "emasculated". Eunuch is a more general term since, historically, many eunuchs were castrated after puberty and thus the castration had no effect on their voices. Castration as a means of subjugation, enslavement or other punishment has a very long history, dating back to ancient Sumer . In
29225-482: Was perhaps St Elmo's fire induced by gunpowder smoke and unusual weather. The author relates that the fall of the city to "Mohammadenism" was foretold in an omen seen by Constantine the Great – an eagle fighting with a snake – which also signified that "in the end Christianity will overpower Mohammedanism, will receive the Seven Hills , and will be enthroned in it". The eventual fall of Constantinople had long been predicted in apocalyptic literature . A reference to
29400-413: Was replaced by 1325, but while it was still in place around 1412, by the time Johann Schiltberger saw the statue in 1427, the "empire-apple" ( German : Reichsapfel ) had fallen to the earth. An attempt to raise it again in 1435 failed, and this amplified the prophecies of the city's fall. For the Turks, the "red apple" ( Turkish : kızıl elma ) came to symbolize Constantinople itself and subsequently
29575-676: Was sent to Naples ... it is said that there are shops in Naples with this inscription: 'QUI SI CASTRANO RAGAZZI' ("Here boys are castrated"); but I was utterly unable to see or hear of any such shops during my residence in that city. As a castrato's body grew, his lack of testosterone meant that his epiphyses (bone-joints) did not harden in the normal manner. Thus, the limbs of the castrati often grew unusually long, as did their ribs . This, combined with intensive training, gave them unrivaled lung power and breath capacity. Operating through small, child-sized vocal cords , their voices were also extraordinarily flexible, and quite different from
29750-451: Was sent to Beijing to work as a eunuch in the palace. The Đại Việt sử ký toàn thư records that in 1467 in An Bang province of Dai Viet (now Quảng Ninh Province ) a Chinese ship blew off course onto the shore. The Chinese were detained and not allowed to return to China as ordered by Le Thanh Tong. This incident may be the same one where Wu Rui was captured. In the Nguyễn dynasty the poet Hồ Xuân Hương mocked eunuchs in her poem as
29925-407: Was supposed to presage the end of the reign of Andronicus I Comnenus ( r. 1183–1185 ). Choniates further writes that in 1203, during the Fourth Crusade , the emperors Isaac II Angelus and Alexius IV Angelus stripped Hagia Sophia of all gold ornaments and silver oil-lamps in order to pay off the Crusaders who had ousted Alexius III Angelus and helped Isaac return to the throne. Upon
30100-405: Was the bishop of Constantinople from 339 to 341, and Constantine died in 337, it seems that the first church was erected by Constantius. The nearby Hagia Irene ("Holy Peace") church was completed earlier and served as cathedral until the Great Church was completed. Besides Hagia Irene, there is no record of major churches in the city-centre before the late 4th century. Rowland Mainstone argued
30275-429: Was the seat of the Patriarchate of Constantinople and a principal setting for Byzantine imperial ceremonies, such as coronations . The basilica offered sanctuary from persecution to criminals, although there was disagreement about whether Justinian had intended for murderers to be eligible for asylum. Earthquakes in August 553 and on 14 December 557 caused cracks in the main dome and eastern semi-dome . According to
30450-449: Was thought by the original excavators in the 1930s to be part of the western entrance of the church itself. The propylaeum opened onto an atrium which lay in front of the basilica church itself. Preceding the propylaeum was a steep monumental staircase following the contours of the ground as it sloped away westwards in the direction of the Strategion , the Basilica, and the harbours of the Golden Horn . This arrangement would have resembled
30625-420: Was understood to represent the emperor holding back the threat to the Romans from the Sasanian Empire in the Roman–Persian Wars , while the orb or globus cruciger held in the statue's left was an expression of the global power of the Roman emperor. Subsequently, in the Arab–Byzantine wars , the threat held back by the statue became the Umayyad Caliphate , and later, the statue was thought to be fending off
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