2021-07-01 11:58:00
It is customary to relate the image of the representative character holding two birds, two griffins or two other animals about the sky like the ascension of Alexander, known in this way as the popular strategy – narrated in the ancient work of the “romance of the”. Alexander “-, used by the hero to be able to get up and look at the edge of the world. Likewise, some have considered it a sin of pride and arrogance and, by others, as a search for knowledge, a love for wisdom instead of possessions or power.
There is nothing to say when the representative of the protagonist, sitting in the basket, He has two spears with bait between two griffins ready to fly. The reference to the details bears witness to this. But when a character grabs the necks of two birds with his hands, is he still Alejandro?
It would be well to remember the ancient and lost tradition of the medieval orders of chivalry that responded to epic usages and customs according to which, when some knights undertook to perform a heroic deed, they met to swear on a famous bird. to be noble, as to be a hero, a bird, a swan or a pheasant.
Among the various texts and anecdotes that mention this curious ancient tradition, we find it perfectly described in the romance of its creator, Alexander himself:In the Roman of Alexander”, a poem in Old French written in 1312 by Jacques de Longuyon and whose main value lies in its structure and theme. Possibly inspired by more archaic poetry, it describes the hero’s original journey in pursuit of adventure and knowledge.
In this story, there is a scene that says that, after the events of the war, many Greek diplomats and Alexander’s prisoners such as Porus, king of India, participated in a feast in which the centerpiece of the meal was a torch in front of him, it was necessary to do so. take the obligatory oath. This event is known as Desires from Pavon and, he reminds us that, according to the Marquis of Santillana, there was a Castilian Poem, unknown today, titled “The vote of the paón.”
Something similar happened in the “swan election”, an ancient ceremony of chivalry held at the enrollment of 267 Knights in Westminster Abbey on May 22, 1306. The ceremony first began with King Edward I knighting his son, Rain before Edward II, who then knighted the remaining 266.
At the banquet following the treaty, the king took two swans decorated with gold and swore before God and the swans to avenge the murder of his general and the desecration of Greyfriars church in Dumfries by Robert I of Scotland and that he fought against the unbelievers in the holy land.
The scene was filmed in the movie Outlaw King in 2018, replacing Prince Edward with his father’s hand and swearing on swans.
The most famous is the “Blood Pheasant”, made in 1454 at the court of Philip of Burgundy. Here the pavón (peacock) has been replaced with a pheasant, and it serves to announce the promise to go to the crusades and fulfill the same promise from the called heroes. The cause was powerful, nothing less than the salvation of Constantinople, which had fallen the previous year into the hands of the Turks.
There was an oath of respect before God and the master of the feast at a great feast, an extravagant sum of money that would have been set aside for the journey itself. No less than fifty knives, the flower of the nobles, repeated the blood, but the mission became futile.
At the marriage ceremony of the fourth wife of Peter Ayeye of Aragon, Sibyl of Fortiá, a turkey was presented to the diners that carried on its chest the oath of loyalty to his new wife and queen: “To you, mighty lady, I present myself, for your great honor. And the great courts of England and of France did the best according to good will. And I beseech you, you men and women, nobles and nobles, noble women and heathen virgins, who have an addition to the vote want to follow each other, and their vote is more than writing. And then we will see if they are fulfilled.” RIQUER, Martín de, and COMAS A., History of Catalan Literature, no. 1, Barcelona1982, p. 540-541.
However, in later stages, chivalry became a simple court duty. The Order of the Garter, founded in 1348 by Edward III of England, or the Order of the Golden Fleece of Philip of Burgundy, in 1430, made brotherhoods, not of the crusaders but of the courts, without reason other than to contribute to the glory. of the Almighty. The most important activity is the sport of jousting and tournaments. They don’t take their blood in churches, but in banquet halls and no longer on crosses, but on some symbolic birds.
The pagan origin of this oath using birds as ritual assistants is clear, so it is not surprising that in 541, at the Fourth Synod of Orleans, the church banned this practice under penalty of excommunication.
However, as we have seen, the process continues with corresponding variations in the various orders of chivalry.
If at that time the interests of the Church and of the King were so united that the war was always the same, there were always – as now – different factional conflicts from which different orders, factions, brotherhood, crusaders, traitors, etc. with its various characteristics.
Even though all the voices of birds will not obey the same thing, they can have the same meaning.
So maybe Turkey is on the ballot,
pheasant, swan or goose,
Not everyone has to be Alejandro.
We explain below, in case anyone wants to relate and draw conclusions, where each of the photographed giants came from:
1-Santa María de Chalamerabuilt by the Templars, was the scene of political and religious debates and was finally handed over to the order of the hospital of chivalry of San Juan.
2-Santiago de Aguero It has been linked from its beginning with the group of stonemasons and the military that served the King Monk Ramiro of Aragon, probably the least that happened within its walls was the foundation of the order of Santiago, brotherhood chosen among those of noble origin. , limits the number of brothers to 33 – in honor of Christ’s life and death.
3-San Andrés de Ávila It is also, they say, built in a short period of time by a group of stonemasons and, judging by the shape of its capitals, of scientific and religious knowledge.
4-Abbey of San Quirce de los Auusines, Founded by Count Fernán González, it was the site of his military victory over the Saracens. (Would it be the one represented in the capital?)
5- Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela, a temple that needs no introduction, all kinds of guilds, orders, brotherhoods have passed through it… But the most important thing is that this capital is located in the original church of the Cathedral, which allows us to draw interesting decisions.
6-The word of Ochándurri, related to the knight and rich man from Pamplona Sancho Fortunez, closely connected to King Gracía de Nájera, I had some doubts when I saw that the capital was also made in the window and the door, that its base It is not connected to some of those mentioned in the article.
7- Abbey of Sant Martí del Cangó, founded by Count of Cerdanya Guifré II with the help of his uncle, Abbot Oliba, who ended up being Abbot of the abbey in 1008.
Health and Romanesque
July 2021
#SWEAR #FRONT #TURKIES #ALEXANDRO