Temple of The Grail (50 page)

Abbot – The superior Monk of
the monastery

Ambulatory – The covered
passage behind the altar. Linking, in this case, the north transept and its chapel
with the south transept.

Apocrypha
–
Meaning to hide away – it is used to
describe a group of important religious writings from antiquity that were not
universally regarded as belonging to the authentic canon of scripture. They
were found in the Septuagint, the Greek translation of the Hebrew scriptures.
The Jews rejected the Septuagint and Saint Jerome, who translated the Bible
into Latin, also came to reject writings found only in Greek and so left them
out of his translation and called them the Apocrypha. Later there was
controversy over the Apocrypha, with many believing that the books were
important and genuine, while a minority believed them to be inspired by Gnostic
thought. I have shown in my characters knowledge of the Apocrypha for it was
well known among men of learning. However, at the same time, the characters are
hesitant to quote from it, especially in a setting where there is suspicion of
heresy.

Apostasy – Abandoning of the
faith in a public way.

Aramaic
–
A
north-western Semitic language related to Hebrew but somewhat different. By the
first century CE, Aramaic was in general use in Palestine and targums or
interpretations of the Hebrew Bible in Aramaic are known to have existed. The
books of Jeremiah, Ezra and Daniel were in Aramaic. Also there have been Aramaic
texts found at Qumran in this language, these include parts of Enoch and a
Targum of Job. Aramaic is known to have replaced Hebrew as the language of the
people, and therefore it was the language of Jesus. I was therefore able to
make two postulations, firstly, that a full version of the Bible written in
this language existed at that time, alongside the Hebrew version, and secondly,
that a translation of the Old Testament from Aramaic to Latin might be a
desirable achievement for a learned monk wanting to distinguish himself.

Aristotle – Greek philosopher,
pupil of Plato (
c
. 384–322 BC).

Benedictines – Monks who follow
the rule of St Benedict of Nursia (
c
. 480–553 AD). They were
renowned for their learning, their copying and their libraries and in time
individual monasteries grew in wealth, playing a prominent role in secular
life. The order was criticised by the younger, stricter orders, for its
decadent use of ornate sculpture, gold and colourful adornment. Even so,
Benedictines were chosen more often than monks from other orders for
distinguished positions in the hierarchy of the church. They wore dark habits
and were known as the Black Monks.

Bier right – A pagan tradition, the ‘Ordeal’, was sometimes adopted
by judges to confirm the judgement of God. This particular ordeal had as its
foundation the premise that at the approach of the murderer the corpse of the
slain would bleed or give some other sign.

Cabbala – study of a secret
esoteric philosophy preserved among the Jewish people dealing with the profound
mysteries of God. It is the hidden thoughts of Israel upon doctrines of Jewish
religion that in many cases are also Christian doctrines.

Canonical Hours
–
Time
in the Middle Ages was measured by the ecclesiastical method of division into
matins, lauds, prime, terce, nones, vespers and compline. Depending on the time
of year and therefore the hours of sunrise and sunset, matins, the night vigil
corresponded to the hours between 12 and 2 a.m., lauds was directly after it at
sunrise, prime at 6 a.m., terce at 9 a.m., sext at noon, nones at 3 p.m.,
vespers before the evening meal and compline at sunset, before bed.

Cathars – Adherents of the heretical Cathar sect sometimes called
Albigenses, after the city of Albi in Languedoc where their persecution began.
This sect drew its inspiration from Manichean belief. The Manicheans were
followers of the Persian Mani and believed in the duality of existence, i.e.
good and evil, light and darkness. All material things were said to be
intrinsically evil and created by an evil God. All flesh, all matter, was
ultimately to be renounced and transcended in favour of the spirit where true
divinity resided. Those who achieved this life of strict austerity were called
‘Perfects’ or ‘Pure ones’. Others could become pure prior to death by taking
the
consolamentum
– a sacrament. Cathars incorporated elements of
Gnostic dualism, which flourished in Alexandria. Gnosis – meaning
knowledge – was acquired first-hand without the need of an intermediary
priesthood. It is not surprising that the church violently opposed this form of
‘heresy’. Pope Innocent III ordered the persecution of the Cathars in 1208 and
it became known as the Albigensian Crusade. Christian knights from all parts
came to Languedoc and were ordered to kill men, women and children
indiscriminately – for God would recognise his own in heaven. Many
Templar houses became the only refuge for Cathar families. The siege of the
Cathar fortress of Montsegur led to the well-known ‘Massacre at Montsegur’.

Cell – The room wherein a monk
slept and meditated.

Chapter House – In a monastery
it is a hall where monks meet to read the chapters of their rule, to discuss
transgressions and punishments or the day-to-day business of the monastery.

Cistercians – A monastic order,
founded at Citeaux by the abbot of Molesme, though it was St Bernard who made
the order popular and seems to stand out in the minds of his contemporaries.
The Cistercians followed a stricter version of the Benedictine rule and shunned
all excess. Their churches were decorated simply and their habits were
grey-white. They were known as white monks.

Consolamentum – A Cathar
sacrament given to a
Credente,
or Cathar believer. It signified the
descent of the Holy Ghost, and marked him as a
Perfect –
a perfect
human being, who had to live an austere life henceforth. Those
Credente
who
could not live the life of a
Perfect,
chose to receive the
consolamentum
for the first time on their deathbed. Taken in this way, it was similar to the
Catholic ‘extreme unction’.

Copts – Christian descendants
of the ancient Egyptians who retained the patriarchal chair of Alexandria. The
Coptic church was founded by St Mark, a pupil of St Paul. The Coptic language
is derived from ancient native spoken Egyptian, however it is written by the use
of the Greek alphabet, adding seven vowel symbols from demotic to represent
sounds not known in Greek. The almost entirely religious Coptic literature
contains translations from Greek of the original writings of the Greek fathers
and founders of Eastern monasticism. The Copts are known to have translated
texts condemned by the church in the early centuries. Texts throwing light on
early Gnosticism and Manicheism have been found. Examples include, the
Pistis
Sophia
, the
Bruce Codex
, as well as apocryphal and apocalyptic
texts. The Gospel of Thomas, the Secret Gospel of Matthew, and other secret
gospels may have been preserved away from the scrutiny of the church in this
language, hidden below the ground in Coptic monasteries.

Dominicans – An order of preaching
friars founded by Dominic Guzman in 1215, based on the rule of St Augustine of
Hippo. Dominic was noted for his vigorous fight against the Cathar heresy and a
large majority of inquisitors came from this order of friars. They were
sometimes called
Domini Canes
(Hounds of the Lord). Known as the black
friars, they wore a habit of black over white.

Franciscans – The Friars Minor
were founded by St Francis of Assisi in 1209. They believed in austere poverty
and were known for their preaching among the poor. Later the inquisition drew
many of its inquisitors from this order. The splinter groups called the
‘Spirituals’ and the ‘Fraticelli’ suffered persecution by the church. They wore
brown-grey habits of coarse wool and were known as grey monks.

Frederick II – Holy Roman
Emperor, son of Frederick I Barbarossa, and grandson of Frederick II of
Hohenstaufen, Duke of Swabia. Frederick struggled with the papacy for power and
was excommunicated. He died in the year 1254.

Ghibellines – A political party
in Italy who fought against papal authority. They were sometimes allied with
heretical groups and known to support Frederick II in his wars with the pope.

Gilgamesh – Sumerian hero and
king.

Gnostic – The word gnostic
derives from the Greek word
gnosis
, which means knowledge or revelation.
Gnostic beliefs were based upon the dualism of good and evil. This influenced
Manicheism and Catharism.

Guedes – Craft or trade guilds.

Holy Inquisition – The name
given to the ecclesiastical jurisdiction of the Roman Catholic Church
responsible for dealing with the prosecution of heresy. Torture was authorised
in 1252 by Pope Innocent IV, however an inquisitor could not draw blood; the
maxim was to effect the greatest pain with a minimum of mess. Death by fire was
a standard punishment usually conducted by a secular power. Other punishments
included pilgrimage and the wearing of crosses stitched onto clothing, according
to the severity of a crime.

Holy See – Denotes papal
authority and jurisdiction.

Hospitaller
–
In a
monastery he is the monk who provides for travellers and pilgrims.

Infirmarian – A physician.

Inquisitor – Church official
given the responsibility of conducting an inquisition. Generally inquisitors
came from either the Dominican or the Franciscan orders. Usually there were two
at every inquisition.

Jean de Joinville – Born
between 1224 and 1225, was a friend of King Louis and fought with him on
crusade. He was commissioned by Philip le Bel to write a biography of his
grandfather – the ‘Life of St Louis’ in his old age.

Knights Templar – The Poor
Knights of the Temple of Solomon, also known as the Christian Militia, was an
order founded to protect pilgrims on their way to the holy places in 1119.
Monks of this order followed a strict rule, laid down by St Bernard, of chastity,
poverty and obedience. The first order to engage in warfare, they became a well
organised military force. They formed the advance guard to every attack and the
rear guard of every retreat during the time of the Crusades. In time they
became ‘bankers’, holding the titles and moneys of the wealthy nobility for
safe keeping and lending money to those who aspired to join the Crusades and
needed horses and arms. The order became prosperous and by the thirteenth
century had numerous commanderies and smaller preceptories spread throughout
Europe, and in the Holy Land. They answered only to the pope and paid no tax,
and so it is not surprising that other monastic orders envied them, as did
kings and nobles who owed them money. They wore white linen habits that bore a
red cross.

Lay brother – One who, though
not in holy orders, is bound by its vows, usually engaged in manual work.

Louis IX – King of France
(1214–1270), later canonised.

Maimonides – Jewish
philosopher, physician and master of rabbinic literature (1135–1204).

Montsegur – Refer to Cathars.

Monstrance – A chalice that
contains the host (consecrated bread of the eucharist) given as a sacrament
during mass.

Nave – The central part of a church or cathedral extending from the
main entrance to the choir.

Obidientiaries – Senior monks
in a monastery.

Outremer – Refers to overseas
or those states established in the conquered territories of the Holy Land.

Palimpsest – A parchment on
which the original writing has been removed and something else has been written.
A practice adopted due to the shortage of material.

Perfect – Refer to
Consolamentum

Plato – Greek Philosopher (
c
.
427–347 BC).

Preceptor – Among the Knights
Templar a preceptory was a lesser house governed by a preceptor. The larger houses
were called commanderies.

Psaltery – A book from which
the psalms are read during liturgy.

Rere dorter – Latrines.

Sacristan – The monk in charge
of the altar, sacred vessels and vestments for the celebration of the
eucharist.

Saint Jerome – One of the great
fathers of the Catholic church and known mainly for his translation of the
Greek Bible to Latin (
c
. 340–420 AD).

Saladin – Ruler of Egypt and
Syria.

Saracen – A loose term used to
describe people of Eastern origin, i.e. Ayyubids; Fatimids; Mameluks; Muslims;
Seljuk Turks.

Seven Churches – The book of
Revelation written by St John was addressed to seven churches in the Roman
province of Asia. They represented the entire church. Ephesus was founded by
Paul (a centre of the Eastern church), Smyrna, Pergamum (this religious centre
had a famous shrine to Zeus and a Temple of Augustus, hence Ezekiel’s mention
of the floor of the church being as cold as the crypts at Augustus, alluding to
the worship of emperors), Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia and Laodicea.

Socius – The ‘unofficial’ term
used to describe the less senior of two inquisitors.

Thomas Aquinas – Dominican
scholastic philosopher and theologian, who interpreted Aristotle’s works and
used them to explain Christian theology.