Miracles, prodiges et merveilles au Moyen Âge
XXVe congrès (Orléans, 1994)
Paris, Publications de la Sorbonne, 1994.
Disponible en ligne à l’adresse suivante : https://www.persee.fr/issue/shmes_1261-9078_1995_act_25_1.
La croyance au miracle, l’étonnement devant la mirabilia sont tenus ici pour des éléments constitutifs de la mentalité médiévale et ont des implications politiques et religieuses. Chacune des contributions présentées ici s’interroge sur le sens de miraculum, mirabilia et progidium, dont les significations changent au fil des siècles et selon les civilisations que l’on considère.
Table des matières
Michel Balard, Avant-propos
Alain Dierkens, Réflexions sur le miracle au haut Moyen Âge
Marie-France Auzépy, L’évolution de l’attitude face au miracle à Byzance (VIIe-IXe siècle)
Denis Aigle, Sainteté et miracles en Islam médiéval : l’exemple de deux saints fondateurs iraniens
Christophe Picard, Récits merveilleux et réalité d’une navigation en Océan Atlantique chez les auteurs musulmans
Charles Vulliez, Le miracle et son approche dans les recueils de miracula orléanais du IXe au XIIe siècle
Laurence Moulinier, Les merveilles de la nature vues par Hildegarde de Bingen (XIIe siècle)
Anita Guerreau-Jalabert, Fées et chevalerie. Observations sur le sens social d’un thème dit merveilleux
Annie Duchesne, Miracles et merveilles chez Gervais de Tilbury
Alain Boureau, Miracle, volonté et imagination : la mutation scolastique (1270-1320)
Sylvie Barnay, La mariophanie au regard de Jean de Morigny : magie ou miracle de la vision mariale ?
Gérard Veyssière, Miracles et merveilles en Provence aux XIIIe et XIVe siècles à travers des textes hagiographiques
Hélène Millet, Le grand schisme d’Occident selon Eustache Deschamps : un monstre prodigieux
Philippe Contamine, Signe, miracle, merveille. Réactions contemporaines au phénomène Jeanne d’Arc
Jean-Claude Schmitt, Cendrillon crucifiée. À propos du Volto santo de Lucques
Christiane Raynaud, Miracles, prodiges et merveilles dans Les Chroniques de Hainaut
Odile Kammerer, Un prodige en Alsace à la fin du XVe siècle : la météorite d’Ensisheim
André Vauchez, Conclusion
Miracles, Wonders and Marvels in the Middle Ages:
25th Congress (Orléans, 1994)
The extensive development of the History of Mentalities has taught us, in the last few decades, that the collections of miracles and the tales of the marvelous had a meaning. Not the meaning attributed to them by Voltaire, who made fun of a “fanatical” time, when, he believed people saw natural forces behind everything. Rather, it is the meaning sifted out by the patient labor of historical analysis without which the profession of historian would be inconceivable. Belief in miracles, amazement at the mirabilia is considered here as constitutive events of the Medieval mentality and are seen to have political and religious implications that we need to understand.
But we need to agree on what words mean. Each of our contributors has sought to examen the meanings of the terms miraculum mirabilia and prodigium. We see their meanings change with the passage of the centuries and with the civilization under scrutiny. In Byzantium they were part and parcel of a restored Orthodoxy that followed the period of Iconoclasm. On the other hand, the tomb of the wali, the just man who loves the God of Islam, although it propagates his virtues, is not the object of a cult in the proper sense of the word. In the West, distinctions are quite relative; nevertheless, it is clear that any sort of miracle or marvelous event has a significance that is both historical and social. Whether in Alsace, in Hainaut, in Provence or in Lucca, Orléanais or the Empire, the marvelous comes under a grid of interpretation, acquires a providential meaning and becomes the tool of a political vision.
Michel Balard, Opening Remarks
Alain Dierkens, Reflections on the Miracle in the Early Middle Ages
Marie-France Auzépy, Evolution of Attitudes towards Miracles in Byzantium (7th-9th Centuries)
Denis Aigle, Sainthood and Miracles in Medieval Islam: The Example of Two Iranian Founding Saints.
Christophe Picard, Marvelous Tales and Reality of Navigation on the Atlantic Ocean in the Works of Muslim Authors
Charles Vulliez, Miracles and their Understanding in the Collections of miracula in Orléans from the 9th to the 12th Century
Laurence Moulinier, The Magic of Nature as seen by Hildegard of Bingen (12th Century)
Anita Guerreau-Jalabert: Fairies and Chivalry. Observations on the Social Meaning of a “Magical” Theme
Annie Duschene, Miracles and the Marvelous in the Works of Gervase of Tilbury
Alain Boureau, Miracle, Will and Imagination: The Scholastic Mutation (1270-1320)
Sylvie Barnay, The Marian Apparition Seen by John of Morigny: Magic or Miraculous Vision of Mary?
Gérard Veyssière, Miracles and Marvelous Events in Provence in the 13th and 14th Centuries in the Hagiographic Texts
Hélène Millet, The Great Schism of the West according to Eustache Deschamps: A Prodigious Monster
Philippe Contamine, Sign, Miracle, Marvel. Contemporary Reactions to the Joan of Arc Phenomenon
Jean-Claude Schmitt, Cinderella Crucified. The Volto Santo of Lucca
Christiane Raynaud, Miracles, Wonders and Marvels in the Chronicles of Hainaut
Odile Kammerer, A Wonder in Alsace at the End of the 15th Century: The Meteorite of Ensisheim
André Vauchez, Concluding Remarks
