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Speculum literature

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The medieval genre of speculum literature , popular from the twelfth through the sixteenth centuries, was inspired by the urge to encompass encyclopedic knowledge within a single work. However, some of these works have a restricted scope and function as instructional manuals. In this sense, the encyclopedia and the speculum are similar but they are not the same genre.

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38-456: Specula often offered mirrors of history, doctrine, or morals. Vincent of Beauvais ' Speculum Maius which included the Mirror of Nature , Mirror of History , and Mirror of Doctrine is not often described as a core representative of the genre. One historian has surmised that this is because Vincent's work was intended to be an objective work which is at odds with speculum literature, since it "is

76-597: A beginning of the terraced gardens there. The Head of the religion after him, Shoghi Effendi , began building other structures and the Universal House of Justice continued the work until the Bahá'í World Centre was brought to its current state as the spiritual and administrative centre of the religion. Its gardens are highly popular places to visit and Mohsen Makhmalbaf 's 2012 film The Gardener featured them. [REDACTED]  This article incorporates text from

114-578: A passage about Musa ( Moses ) proclaiming to the Children of Israel : "O my people! Enter the Holy Land which Allah has destined for you ˹to enter˺. And do not turn back or else you will become losers." The Quran also refers to the land as being 'Blessed'. Jerusalem (referred to as Al-Quds , Arabic : الـقُـدس , 'The Holy') has particular significance in Islam. The Quran refers to Muhammad 's experiencing

152-679: A subjective genre". More usual members are found in this list: Ormulum , written by a certain Orm in Central England, bears an indirect reference to speculum and may be translated as "Orm's Mirror". It is universal in contents in that it contains the appropriate homiletic materials throughout the Church calendar. The English word mirror appears in William Caxton 's Myrrour of the Worlde (1490), one of

190-463: A wide land-range including Syria and Lebanon , especially the cities of Tyre and Sidon ; Az-Zujaj describes it as " Damascus , Palestine, and a bit of Jordan "; Muadh ibn Jabal as "the area between al-Arish and the Euphrates "; and Ibn Abbas as "the land of Jericho ". This overall region is referred to as " Ash-Shām " ( Arabic : الـشَّـام ). The holiest places for Baháʼí pilgrimage are

228-631: Is a devotional work that explores the seven stages of the soul's mystical "annihilation" through meditation and prayer. The Speculum Romanae Magnificentiae ("Mirror of the Magnificence of Rome") was a Renaissance " coffee table book " of prints of the sights of Rome, especially the antiquities, produced by the French print seller and publisher Antonio Lafreri (1512–1577). He had been publishing and distributing such prints, and selling them at his shop in Rome, since

266-560: Is also the approximate year that he wrote Tractatus Consolatorius , which was occasioned by the death of the king's son Louis that year. Between the years 1260 and 1264 Vincent sent the first completed book of the Opus to Louis IX and Thibaut V. In 1264 he died. What is known of Vincent and his historical importance largely depends on his compendium Speculum Maius or the Great Mirror . He worked on it for approximately 29 years (1235–1264) in

304-525: Is an area roughly located between the Mediterranean Sea and the eastern bank of the Jordan River , traditionally synonymous both with the biblical Land of Israel and with the region of Palestine . Today, the term "Holy Land" usually refers to a territory roughly corresponding to the modern states of Israel and Palestine . Jews , Christians , Muslims , and Baháʼís regard it as holy . Part of

342-716: Is further used twice in the deuterocanonical books (Wisdom 12:3, 2 Maccabees 1:7). The holiness of the Land of Israel is generally implied by the Tanakh's claim that the Land was given to the Israelites by God, that is, it is the " Promised Land ", an integral part of God's covenant . In the Torah , many mitzvot commanded to the Israelites can only be performed in the Land of Israel, which serves to differentiate it from other lands. For example, in

380-557: Is guaranteed entrance to the World to Come ". A story says that when R. Eleazar b. Shammua' and R. Johanan HaSandlar left Israel to study from R. Judah ben Bathyra , they only managed to reach Sidon when "the thought of the sanctity of Palestine overcame their resolution, and they shed tears, rent their garments, and turned back". Due to the Jewish population being concentrated in Israel, emigration

418-487: Is like being buried under the altar." The saying "His land will absolve His people" implies that burial in Israel will cause one to be absolved of all one's sins. For Christians , the Holy Land is considered holy because of its association with the birth , ministry, crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus , whom Christians regard as the incarnation of God and the Messiah . Christian books, including many editions of

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456-712: The Isra and Mi'raj as "Glory be to the One Who took His servant ˹Muḥammad˺ by night from the Sacred Mosque to the Farthest Mosque whose surroundings We have blessed, so that We may show him some of Our signs". Ahadith infer that the "Farthest Masjid" is in Al-Quds; for example, as narrated by Abu Hurairah : "On the night journey of the Apostle of Allah, two cups, one containing wine and

494-777: The Kaaba in the Hijazi city of Mecca , following a revelation to Muhammad by the Archangel Jibril . The current construction of the Al-Aqsa mosque , which lies on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, is dated to the early Umayyad period of rule in Palestine . Architectural historian K. A. C. Creswell , referring to a testimony by Arculf , a Gallic monk, during his pilgrimage to Palestine in 679–82, notes

532-550: The Shrine of Bahá'u'lláh and the Shrine of the Báb , which are UNESCO World Heritage Sites in the coastal cities of Acre and Haifa , respectively. The Baháʼí Faith 's founder, Bahá'u'lláh , was exiled to Acre Prison from 1868 and spent his life in its surroundings until his death in 1892. In his writings he set the slope of Mount Carmel to host the Shrine of the Báb which his appointed successor 'Abdu'l-Bahá erected in 1909 as

570-626: The holy places played a role in the Eastern Question which led to the Crimean War in the 1850s. Many sites in the Holy Land have long been pilgrimage destinations for adherents of the Abrahamic religions , including Jews, Christians, Muslims, and Baháʼís . Pilgrims visit the Holy Land to touch and see physical manifestations of their faith , to confirm their beliefs in the holy context with collective excitation, and to connect personally to

608-699: The 1540s. In the 1570s he hit on the idea of producing a title page for the albums of prints he also sold. Each copy of the Speculum may have had different contents, as the customer in Rome could make his own selection in the shop and have them bound up. In modern times, the journal Speculum , published by the Medieval Academy of America , covers every aspect of the medieval world. Vincent of Beauvais Vincent of Beauvais ( Latin : Vincentius Bellovacensis or Burgundus ; French : Vincent de Beauvais ; c.  1184/1194  – c. 1264)

646-522: The Bible, often have maps of the Holy Land (considered to be Galilee, Samaria, and Judea). For instance, the Itinerarium Sacrae Scripturae ( lit.   ' Travel book through Holy Scripture ' ) of Heinrich Bünting (1545–1606), a German Protestant pastor, featured such a map. His book was very popular, and it provided "the most complete available summary of biblical geography and described

684-531: The Education of Noble Girls ( De Eruditione Filiorum Nobilium ). In this work he styles himself as "Vincentius Belvacensis, de ordine praedicatorum, qualiscumque lector in monasterio de Regali Monte". Though Vincent may have been summoned to Royaumont before 1240, there is no evidence that he lived there before the return of Louis IX and his wife from the Holy Land . It is possible that he left Royaumont in 1260, which

722-618: The Holy Land. Researchers consider that the concept of a land made holy by being the "earthly dwelling of the God of Israel " was present in Judaism at the latest by the time of Zechariah (6th century BCE). Jews commonly refer to the Land of Israel as "The Holy Land" ( Hebrew : אֶרֶץ הַקוֹדֵשׁ Eretz HaKodesh ). The Tanakh explicitly refers to it as "holy land" in Zechariah 2:16. The term "holy land"

760-460: The Land of Israel, "no land shall be sold permanently" (Leviticus 25:23). Shmita is only observed with respect to the Land of Israel, and the observance of many holy days is different, as an extra day is observed in the Jewish diaspora . According to Eliezer Schweid : The uniqueness of the Land of Israel is...'geo-theological' and not merely climatic. This is the land which faces the entrance of

798-578: The Land of Israel, appears in the Hebrew Bible 154 times. The Talmud mentions the religious duty of populating Israel. So significant in Judaism is the act of purchasing land in Israel, the Talmud allows for the lifting of certain religious restrictions of Sabbath observance to further its acquisition and settlement. Rabbi Johanan said that "Whoever walks four cubits in Eretz Yisrael [the Land of Israel]

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836-558: The Quran and Islamic traditions, Al-Aqsa Mosque is the place from which Muhammad went on a night journey ( al-isra ) during which he rode on Buraq , who took him from Mecca to al-Aqsa. Muhammad tethered Buraq to the Western Wall and prayed at al-Aqsa Mosque and after he finished his prayers, the angel Jibril ( Gabriel ) traveled with him to heaven, where he met several other prophets and led them in prayer. The historical significance of

874-461: The al-Aqsa Mosque in Islam is further emphasized by the fact that Muslims turned towards al-Aqsa when they prayed for a period of 16 or 17 months after migration to Medina in 624; it thus became the qibla ('direction') that Muslims faced for prayer. The exact region referred to as being 'blessed' in the Quran, in verses like 17:1 , 21:71 and 34:18 , has been interpreted differently by various scholars. Abdullah Yusuf Ali likens it to

912-430: The first draft. The king read the books that Vincent compiled and supplied the funds for procuring copies of such authors as he required. Queen Margaret of Provence and her son-in-law, Theobald V of Champagne and Navarre , are also named among those who urged him to the composition of his "little works", especially De morali principis institutione . In the late 1240s, Vincent was working on his Opus which included On

950-582: The first illustrated books printed in English (a translation of L'image du Monde , an overview of the sciences); in the oft-republished A Mirror for Magistrates (1559); and in The Miroir or Glasse of the Synneful Soul , a manuscript translation from the French by the young Queen Elizabeth I of England . The fourteenth-century mystic Marguerite Porete 's Mirouer des simples âmes , The Mirror of Simple Souls

988-546: The geography of the Holy Land by tracing the travels of major figures from the Old and New testaments." As a geographic term, the description "Holy Land" loosely encompasses modern-day Israel , the Palestinian territories , Lebanon , western Jordan and south-western Syria . In the Quran , the term Al-Ard Al-Muqaddasah ( Arabic : الأرض المقدسة , English: 'Holy Land' ) is used in

1026-638: The house of the Dominicans at Paris between 1215 and 1220, and later at the Dominican monastery founded by Louis IX of France at Beauvais in Picardy . It is more certain, however, that he held the post of "reader" at the monastery of Royaumont on the Oise , not far from Paris, also founded by Louis IX, between 1228 and 1235. Around the late 1230s, Vincent had begun working on the Great Mirror and in 1244 he had completed

1064-785: The microcosmic relations of Medieval knowledge. In this case, the book mirrors "both the contents and organization of the cosmos". Vincent himself stated that he chose "Speculum" for its name because his work contains "whatever is worthy of contemplation ( speculatio ), that is, admiration or imitation". It is by this name that the compendium is connected to the medieval genre of speculum literature . There are manuscript copies and modern editions of De eruditione filiorum nobilium , De morali principis institutione , Liber consolatorius ad Ludovicum regem de morte filii . There are only manuscript copies of Liber de sancta Trinitate , Memoriale temporum , Tractatus de poenitentia , and Tractatus in salutatione beatae Virginis Mariae ab angelo facta . Beyond

1102-457: The other containing milk, were presented to him at Al-Quds (Jerusalem). He looked at them and took the cup of milk. Angel Gabriel said, 'Praise be to Allah, who guided you to Al-Fitrah (the right path); if you had taken (the cup of) wine, your Ummah would have gone astray'." Jerusalem was Islam's first Qiblah (direction of prayer) in Muhammad's lifetime, however, this was later changed to

1140-607: The possibility that the second caliph of the Rashidun Caliphate , Umar ibn al-Khattab , erected a primitive quadrangular building for a capacity of 3,000 worshipers somewhere on the Haram ash-Sharif. However, Arculf visited Palestine during the reign of Mu'awiyah I , and it is possible that Mu'awiyah ordered the construction, not Umar. This latter claim is explicitly supported by the early Muslim scholar al-Muthahhar bin Tahir. According to

1178-464: The pursuit of presenting a compendium of all of the knowledge available at the time. He collected the materials for the work from Île-de-France libraries, and there is evidence to suggest even further than that. He found support for the creation of the Great Mirror from the Dominican order to which he belonged as well as King Louis IX of France. The metaphor of the title has been argued to "reflect"

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1216-596: The significance of the land stems from the religious significance of Jerusalem (the holiest city to Judaism , and the location of the First and Second Temples ), as well as its historical significance as the setting for most of the Bible , the historical locale of Jesus' ministry , the location of the first Qibla before Kaaba in Mecca and the site of the Isra and Mi'raj event in Islam , and

1254-520: The site of the Temple , is considered especially significant. Sacred burials are still undertaken for diaspora Jews who wish to lie buried in the holy soil of Israel. According to Jewish tradition, Jerusalem is Mount Moriah , the location of the binding of Isaac . The Hebrew Bible mentions the name " Jerusalem " 669 times, often because many mitzvot can only be performed within its environs. The name " Zion ", which usually refers to Jerusalem, but sometimes

1292-630: The site of the most revered pilgrimage sites in the Baháʼí Faith . The holiness of the land as a destination of Christian pilgrimage contributed to launching the Crusades , as European Christians sought to win back the Holy Land from Muslims, who had conquered it from the Christian Eastern Roman Empire in AD 630. In the 19th century, the Holy Land became the subject of diplomatic wrangling as

1330-512: The spiritual world, that sphere of existence that lies beyond the physical world known to us through our senses. This is the key to the land's unique status with regard to prophecy and prayer, and also with regard to the commandments. From the perspective of the 1906 Jewish Encyclopedia , the holiness of Israel had been concentrated since the sixteenth century, especially for burial, in the " Four Holy Cities ": Jerusalem , Hebron , Safed and Tiberias – as Judaism 's holiest cities. Jerusalem, as

1368-514: The thirteen works that can be confidently accredited to Vincent, there is the possibility of a lost work named Tractatus de vitio detractionis ( Treastise on the Sin of Omission ) and the apocryphal fourth part to the Great Mirror , Speculum morale . Along with Conradus of Altzheim , Henricus Suso , Ludolphus of Saxony , the authorship of Speculum Humanae Salvationis has been sometimes attributed to Vincent. Holy Land The Holy Land

1406-629: Was a Dominican friar at the Cistercian monastery of Royaumont Abbey , France . He is known mostly for his Speculum Maius ( Great mirror ), a major work of compilation that was widely read in the Middle Ages . Often retroactively described as an encyclopedia or as a florilegium , his text exists as a core example of brief compendiums produced in medieval Europe. The exact dates of his birth and death are unknown, and not much detail has surfaced concerning his career. Conjectures place him first in

1444-512: Was generally prevented, which resulted in a limiting of the amount of space available for Jewish learning. However, after suffering persecutions in Israel for centuries after the destruction of the Temple, Rabbis who had found it very difficult to retain their position moved to Babylon , which offered them better protection. Many Jews wanted Israel to be the place where they died, in order to be buried there. The sage Rabbi Anan said "To be buried in Israel

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