J E Tearney-Pearce
University of Cambridge, St John's College, Graduate Student
- School of Advanced Study, University of London, The Warburg Institute, AlumnusThe University of Auckland, History, Alumnus, and 2 moreadd
- History, Religion, Medieval Islam, Maritime History, Medieval Christianity, Late Antiquity, and 19 moreMaritime Law, History of Religion, Interfaith Dialogue, Jewish-Christian-Muslim relations in the Middle Ages, Pilgrimage and travel to the Holy Land, Mediterranean Studies, Medieval Spain, Medieval History, Medieval Studies, Crusades, History of Crusades, Muslim-Christian Relation, Islam in Europe, Christian-Muslim Dialogue, Muslim-Christian Relations, Inter-civilization contact and conflict, Inter-faith Contact and Theology, Raymond Martini, and Mercantiedit
- My doctoral project (St John's College and Faculty of History, University of Cambridge) investigates worship, belief,... moreMy doctoral project (St John's College and Faculty of History, University of Cambridge) investigates worship, belief, and ritual practices on ships and related to sea voyages in the medieval Mediterranean. I am interested in the history of the sea and oceans, and people's interactions with them, particularly from cultural, religious and ecological perspectives.
My research in general examines intra- and inter-confessional and cultural attitudes and encounters in various types of texts as well as in artistic, spatial, and material cultural evidence from the pre-modern Mediterranean. It has a consistent focus on cultural brokers and on the ‘boundaries’ between religions and their adherents, most especially in places where those boundaries are liminal or non-existent and when peoples’ beliefs and practices are fluid.
I am also the Assistant Editor of al-Masaq, the journal of the Society for the Medieval Mediterranean.edit
What is a minority? How did members of minority groups in the medieval Mediterranean world interact with contemporaries belonging to other minorities, and with members of the ascendant majority groups? In what ways did those contacts... more
What is a minority? How did members of minority groups in the medieval Mediterranean world interact with contemporaries belonging to other minorities, and with members of the ascendant majority groups? In what ways did those contacts affect their social positions and identities? The essays collected in this volume approach these questions from a variety of angles, examining polemic, social norms, economic exchange, linguistic transformations, and power dynamics.
The papers compiled here se essays recast the concept of minority — as a mutable condition rather than a fixed group designation — and explore previously-neglected collective and individual interactions between and among minorities around the medieval Mediterranean basin. Minorities are often defined as such because they were in some way excluded from access to resources or denied participation as a consequence of a group affiliation or facet of their identity. Yet, at times their distinctiveness also lay in less in their exclusion than in particular ways of relating to spheres of power, whether political or moral, and to in certain dissenting conceptions of the world. Through these contributions we seek to shed light on both the continuities that such interactions displayed across intervals of space and time, and the changes that they underwent in particular locales and historical moments.
The papers compiled here se essays recast the concept of minority — as a mutable condition rather than a fixed group designation — and explore previously-neglected collective and individual interactions between and among minorities around the medieval Mediterranean basin. Minorities are often defined as such because they were in some way excluded from access to resources or denied participation as a consequence of a group affiliation or facet of their identity. Yet, at times their distinctiveness also lay in less in their exclusion than in particular ways of relating to spheres of power, whether political or moral, and to in certain dissenting conceptions of the world. Through these contributions we seek to shed light on both the continuities that such interactions displayed across intervals of space and time, and the changes that they underwent in particular locales and historical moments.
Research Interests:
(at the Society for the Medieval Mediterranean conference, 8–11 July 2019, Institut d’Estudis Catalans, Barcelona) At the turn of the fifth century, John Chrysostom, the Archbishop of Constantinople, instructed his parishioners to... more
(at the Society for the Medieval Mediterranean conference, 8–11 July 2019, Institut d’Estudis Catalans, Barcelona)
At the turn of the fifth century, John Chrysostom, the Archbishop of Constantinople, instructed his
parishioners to observe the feast day of Saint Phocas by attending the maritime procession of this patron
saint of sailors and ‘turn the sea into a church’.
Instances of taking saints to sea continued to occur in the Mediterranean in later centuries and remain
common to this day. Relatedly, metaphorical literary and pictorial imagery of and allusions to the
Church as a ship survive in significant quantities from earliest Christian literature, and this was a well-
worn and much used metaphor in the high middle ages too. But, evidence for altars, devotional objects,
and practices aboard suggest that actual medieval Mediterranean mariners also considered it important
to adorn and fashion real ships – and, in slightly different ways, the sea – with objects, imagery, and
practices connected to devotion. Does this suggest that those who went to sea in the medieval
Mediterranean sought to make ships into churches? And, for them, could the sea really be a church?
Although the Church was regularly imagined as a ship, it has been argued that a real ship at sea was
'outside' the Church or 'extra-diocesan'. That this was universally true is disputable, and, even so,
practical religious behaviours enacted to secure divine favour were still conducted there. Misbehaviour
and impiety aboard could invite divine punishment of the worst kind for someone at sea: the permanent
loss of physical bodies to the watery depths. Also, in these communal spaces, individual transgression
could potentially result in danger for all, and this is sometimes evident in how seafarers understood their
connection to and shared responsibility with their shipmates.
At the turn of the fifth century, John Chrysostom, the Archbishop of Constantinople, instructed his
parishioners to observe the feast day of Saint Phocas by attending the maritime procession of this patron
saint of sailors and ‘turn the sea into a church’.
Instances of taking saints to sea continued to occur in the Mediterranean in later centuries and remain
common to this day. Relatedly, metaphorical literary and pictorial imagery of and allusions to the
Church as a ship survive in significant quantities from earliest Christian literature, and this was a well-
worn and much used metaphor in the high middle ages too. But, evidence for altars, devotional objects,
and practices aboard suggest that actual medieval Mediterranean mariners also considered it important
to adorn and fashion real ships – and, in slightly different ways, the sea – with objects, imagery, and
practices connected to devotion. Does this suggest that those who went to sea in the medieval
Mediterranean sought to make ships into churches? And, for them, could the sea really be a church?
Although the Church was regularly imagined as a ship, it has been argued that a real ship at sea was
'outside' the Church or 'extra-diocesan'. That this was universally true is disputable, and, even so,
practical religious behaviours enacted to secure divine favour were still conducted there. Misbehaviour
and impiety aboard could invite divine punishment of the worst kind for someone at sea: the permanent
loss of physical bodies to the watery depths. Also, in these communal spaces, individual transgression
could potentially result in danger for all, and this is sometimes evident in how seafarers understood their
connection to and shared responsibility with their shipmates.
(at the conference, O Mar no Imaginário Religioso: Cultos, Espaços, Representações, 26–28 November 2018, IEM-NOVA FCSH, Lisbon) In peril from a tempest whilst returning to France from Acre in 1254, Margaret of Provence vowed that, should... more
(at the conference, O Mar no Imaginário Religioso: Cultos, Espaços, Representações, 26–28 November 2018, IEM-NOVA FCSH, Lisbon)
In peril from a tempest whilst returning to France from Acre in 1254, Margaret of Provence vowed that, should those aboard – including her husband Louis IX and their children – survive the storm, she would commission a model silver boat for the shrine of St Nicholas at Varangeville. After Nicholas apparently interceded and the storm was quelled, Jean de Joinville confirmed that the Queen fulfilled this promise, testifying that he saw the ex-voto model
himself.
It has long been acknowledged that crusade-related activities around the Mediterranean necessitated the movement of significant numbers of people across the waters, as well as the growth and increasing importance of ports and harbours to facilitate this greater volume of
traffic. Yet, much less attention has been paid to how this influenced and evidences the maritime devotional practices of those at and connected to the sea, or cults of saints, like Nicholas, intimately linked to maritime activity.
If we might consider it possible to speak of 'Mediterranean religion' and/or 'maritime religion' the thirteenth-century crusading context certainly should be deemed to have played a significant role in their development. Activities related to, surrounding, and inherent in crusading affected
worship and devotional practices ranging from the movement of relics and the related establishment and growth of maritime saints' cults on Mediterranean coasts, to the nature of ex-votos offered, the character of worship and ritual at sea during ordinary circumstances, and
evidence for unusual practices and responses to extraordinary occurrences.
This paper will take as its focus the cult and cult site of the Madonna of Trapani in the context of thirteenth-century crusade-related activities at sea and in and around ports, harbours and coasts in the Mediterranean, as a means to consider more broadly the realities of superstition,
devotion, worship, and ritual at and around the sea.
In peril from a tempest whilst returning to France from Acre in 1254, Margaret of Provence vowed that, should those aboard – including her husband Louis IX and their children – survive the storm, she would commission a model silver boat for the shrine of St Nicholas at Varangeville. After Nicholas apparently interceded and the storm was quelled, Jean de Joinville confirmed that the Queen fulfilled this promise, testifying that he saw the ex-voto model
himself.
It has long been acknowledged that crusade-related activities around the Mediterranean necessitated the movement of significant numbers of people across the waters, as well as the growth and increasing importance of ports and harbours to facilitate this greater volume of
traffic. Yet, much less attention has been paid to how this influenced and evidences the maritime devotional practices of those at and connected to the sea, or cults of saints, like Nicholas, intimately linked to maritime activity.
If we might consider it possible to speak of 'Mediterranean religion' and/or 'maritime religion' the thirteenth-century crusading context certainly should be deemed to have played a significant role in their development. Activities related to, surrounding, and inherent in crusading affected
worship and devotional practices ranging from the movement of relics and the related establishment and growth of maritime saints' cults on Mediterranean coasts, to the nature of ex-votos offered, the character of worship and ritual at sea during ordinary circumstances, and
evidence for unusual practices and responses to extraordinary occurrences.
This paper will take as its focus the cult and cult site of the Madonna of Trapani in the context of thirteenth-century crusade-related activities at sea and in and around ports, harbours and coasts in the Mediterranean, as a means to consider more broadly the realities of superstition,
devotion, worship, and ritual at and around the sea.
(at the Institute of Historical Research (London) ‘Crusades and the Latin East’ seminar, 19 November 2018)
Research Interests:
(at The Latin East in the 13th Century: Institutions, Settlements and Material Culture, University of Haifa, Mount Carmel, January 31–February 2, 2018) In peril from a tempest whilst returning to France from Acre in 1254, Margaret of... more
(at The Latin East in the 13th Century: Institutions, Settlements and Material Culture, University of Haifa, Mount Carmel, January 31–February 2, 2018)
In peril from a tempest whilst returning to France from Acre in 1254, Margaret of Provence vowed that, should those aboard – including her husband Louis IX and their children –survive the storm, she would commission a model silver boat for the shrine of St Nicholas at Varangeville. After Nicholas apparently interceded and the storm was quelled, Jean de Joinville confirmed that the Queen fulfilled this promise, testifying that he saw the ex-voto model himself.
It has long been acknowledged that crusade-related activities around the Mediterranean necessitated the movement of significant numbers of people across the waters, as well as the growth and increasing importance of ports and harbours in the West to facilitate this greater volume of traffic. Yet, much less attention has been paid to how this influenced and evidences the maritime devotional practices of those at and connected to the sea, or cults of saints, like Nicholas, intimately linked to maritime activity.
If we might consider it possible to speak of 'Mediterranean religion' and/or 'maritime religion' the thirteenth-century crusading context certainly should be deemed to have played a significant role in their development. Activities related to, surrounding, and inherent in crusading affected religious practices ranging from the movement of relics westward and the related establishment and growth of maritime saints' cults on Mediterranean coasts, to the nature of ex-votos offered, the character of worship and ritual at sea during ordinary circumstances, and evidence for unusual practices and responses to extraordinary occurrences.
This paper will take as its focus thirteenth-century crusade-related activities at sea and in and around ports, harbours and coasts, particularly as they pertain to the cults and cult sites of some lesser-discussed saints and icons. Obviously, this context was more volatile and is more fascinating because the seas were littered with soldier/pilgrims apparently inspired by piety and salvation to fight for the geographical soul on earth of their religion. This was exacerbated further by their means of transport and the maritime context in general being unfamiliar and potentially fear-inducing for many. That said, this paper will not focus solely on the maritime worship and ritual of crusaders themselves but, rather, will examine the nature of the links between the divine and the maritime, and the manifestation of religion at and around the sea in the thirteenth-century Mediterranean.
In peril from a tempest whilst returning to France from Acre in 1254, Margaret of Provence vowed that, should those aboard – including her husband Louis IX and their children –survive the storm, she would commission a model silver boat for the shrine of St Nicholas at Varangeville. After Nicholas apparently interceded and the storm was quelled, Jean de Joinville confirmed that the Queen fulfilled this promise, testifying that he saw the ex-voto model himself.
It has long been acknowledged that crusade-related activities around the Mediterranean necessitated the movement of significant numbers of people across the waters, as well as the growth and increasing importance of ports and harbours in the West to facilitate this greater volume of traffic. Yet, much less attention has been paid to how this influenced and evidences the maritime devotional practices of those at and connected to the sea, or cults of saints, like Nicholas, intimately linked to maritime activity.
If we might consider it possible to speak of 'Mediterranean religion' and/or 'maritime religion' the thirteenth-century crusading context certainly should be deemed to have played a significant role in their development. Activities related to, surrounding, and inherent in crusading affected religious practices ranging from the movement of relics westward and the related establishment and growth of maritime saints' cults on Mediterranean coasts, to the nature of ex-votos offered, the character of worship and ritual at sea during ordinary circumstances, and evidence for unusual practices and responses to extraordinary occurrences.
This paper will take as its focus thirteenth-century crusade-related activities at sea and in and around ports, harbours and coasts, particularly as they pertain to the cults and cult sites of some lesser-discussed saints and icons. Obviously, this context was more volatile and is more fascinating because the seas were littered with soldier/pilgrims apparently inspired by piety and salvation to fight for the geographical soul on earth of their religion. This was exacerbated further by their means of transport and the maritime context in general being unfamiliar and potentially fear-inducing for many. That said, this paper will not focus solely on the maritime worship and ritual of crusaders themselves but, rather, will examine the nature of the links between the divine and the maritime, and the manifestation of religion at and around the sea in the thirteenth-century Mediterranean.
Research Interests:
(Presented at IMC, Leeds, July 2017) Divine female figures were objects of fascination and agents of aid and disaster for men at sea for millennia, with sculptures of Sirens – personifying the allure and dangers of the sea – littering... more
(Presented at IMC, Leeds, July 2017)
Divine female figures were objects of fascination and agents of aid and disaster for men at sea for millennia, with sculptures of Sirens – personifying the allure and dangers of the sea – littering ancient Mediterranean port towns. Athena patronised Odysseus’ voyage, and the Argo was constructed under her supervision, with Aphrodite as the Argonauts’ ‘best ally’, and Orpheus serenading the crew with the ‘sweet song of highborn Artemis, saver of ships’. Also in antiquity, images of women were carved onto ships as emblems for protection, with reliefs of Victoria adorning Roman vessels.
Reverence for female maritime protectresses and saviours continued into later centuries and different belief systems. In the medieval Mediterranean, this manifested in a collection of female saints – with various Marian cults foremost –, to whom sea-travellers appealed for aid, and thanked after safely returning to land. Other such saints were typically: patrons of Mediterranean port cities; those whose vitaecontained significant maritime events; or those whose relics experienced particularly notable maritime experiences during translation – Santa Lucia is but one among many. The tradition of images of divine women aboard also continued into the medieval era, including shrines to and icons of the Virgin. With a focus on such female saints, this paper will examine hagiography, travel narratives and, more importantly, the dedication and evidence of worship and rituals at Mediterranean coastal sites identified with these figures, in order to explore this phenomenon of female protectresses. Even if a corollary to the Christendom-wide increase in medieval worship of the saints, the fact that these maritime cults developed connections between male sailors and divine women comparable to those in much earlier societies is striking and worthy of exploration. Also conspicuous is that the cosmopolitanism of ships’ crews meant that sometimes adherents of various beliefs performed prayers at these sites, most especially at those dedicated to the Virgin.
Divine female figures were objects of fascination and agents of aid and disaster for men at sea for millennia, with sculptures of Sirens – personifying the allure and dangers of the sea – littering ancient Mediterranean port towns. Athena patronised Odysseus’ voyage, and the Argo was constructed under her supervision, with Aphrodite as the Argonauts’ ‘best ally’, and Orpheus serenading the crew with the ‘sweet song of highborn Artemis, saver of ships’. Also in antiquity, images of women were carved onto ships as emblems for protection, with reliefs of Victoria adorning Roman vessels.
Reverence for female maritime protectresses and saviours continued into later centuries and different belief systems. In the medieval Mediterranean, this manifested in a collection of female saints – with various Marian cults foremost –, to whom sea-travellers appealed for aid, and thanked after safely returning to land. Other such saints were typically: patrons of Mediterranean port cities; those whose vitaecontained significant maritime events; or those whose relics experienced particularly notable maritime experiences during translation – Santa Lucia is but one among many. The tradition of images of divine women aboard also continued into the medieval era, including shrines to and icons of the Virgin. With a focus on such female saints, this paper will examine hagiography, travel narratives and, more importantly, the dedication and evidence of worship and rituals at Mediterranean coastal sites identified with these figures, in order to explore this phenomenon of female protectresses. Even if a corollary to the Christendom-wide increase in medieval worship of the saints, the fact that these maritime cults developed connections between male sailors and divine women comparable to those in much earlier societies is striking and worthy of exploration. Also conspicuous is that the cosmopolitanism of ships’ crews meant that sometimes adherents of various beliefs performed prayers at these sites, most especially at those dedicated to the Virgin.