Desert Harvest 12.2

The view through the round window
by Professor Susan C. Karant-Nunn, Director

   I am often told that very few people "out there" are attracted by the European Middle Ages and the era of the Renaissance and Reformation, which of late is referred to as "early modern Europe." The Society for Creative Anachronism and Hollywood explicitly disagree. In Albuquerque this fall, I chanced to see several dozen people, some in full armor, staging and jousting tournament. The film industry produces movie after movie set in 800-1789 A.D.—ranging from "Ivanhoe" (1913, 1952, 1982) to "The Three Musketeers" (1921, 1935, 1939, 1948, 1974, 1993). It would not do this if a wide public did not respond by shelling out the price of admission.
   Last year, while I was in Germany, "Luther" was playing on both sides of the Atlantic. During a short return to Tucson in the spring, I went to see it with several graduate students. It was well attended. These films are not designed to provide knowledge about the age in which they are set. When the historians, colleagues of mine at Duke University, Concordia Theological Seminary, and Princeton Theological Seminary, who initially served as consultants to the makers of "Luther," realized that their advice would not be taken, they resigned. Luther remains young and thin, and Katharina von Bora, his wife, is ever the slender, sensuous young woman. The unrest in Wittenberg that broke out in December 1521 over the form of Communion and images in the churches blends indistinguishably with the Peasants' Revolt, which actually occurred three years later. Peter Ustinov's Elector Frederick the Wise behaves in a familiar way toward the Reformer; no self-respecting duke would have made himself so congenially, confidingly available to a lowly if esteemed subject.
   Five new graduate students have entered the Division this year, all of them highly intelligent young people who, as historians, desire to investigate aspects of the larger religious movement that we call the Reformation. Along with the rest of us, they should perhaps derive inspiration from these imaginative films—and then be assured that for all their originality, such fanciful pieces bear only slight resemblance to a historical past. Nevertheless, they will have learned as undergraduates that even as historians aspire to recover the past, they inevitably interpret it and thereby help to create it. They will search for the early modern foundations—and these are genuine—of today's values and dilemmas, but they will reveal themselves in their analysis.

Division announces new associated faculty
Medieval, early modern Judaic historian: David L. Graizbord
by Susan C. Karant-Nunn, Director, Professor of History

   The Division is delighted to welcome Professor David L. Graizbord as an associated faculty member, a strictly honorary status. Graizbord holds the Ph.D. in history from the University of Michigan. His fields of concentration included, beyond Jewish history, religion and culture in early modern Europe (the Reformation and the Counter-Reformation), and the Italian Renaissance.
   Graizbord has been Assistant Professor of Judaic Studies since his arrival at the University of Arizona in 2001. His research specialty is Jewish social and family history in the Iberian Peninsula during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. His book, Souls in Dispute: Converso Identities in Iberia and the Jewish Diaspora, 1580-1700, was published earlier this year by the University of Pennsylvania Press.
   This colleague is already very active within both the historical profession and the Tucson community. "The Judeo-Portuguese 'Nation' and Its 'Renegades': Problems of Survival and Individual Adaptation in Seventeenth-Century Bayonne" forms a chapter in Survival and Adaptation: The Portuguese Jewish Diaspora in Europe, Africa, and the New World, edited by Joseph Abraham Levi, was published in 2002. His essay, "Converso Children under the Inquisitorial Microscope: What May the Sources Tell Us about Their Lives?" has appeared in Childhood and Family Relations in the Middle Ages and the Early Modern Age, edited by UA Professor Albrecht Classen. In October he presented a paper entitled "Marginal Jews and 'New Jews' in the Western Sephardi Diaspora: A Few Exemplars from the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries" at the annual meetings of the Society for Reformation Research in Toronto. Through visits to the Division seminar, Graizbord has already established an acquaintance with our students and secured their respect with his astute, informed analytical comments. He has agreed in principle to offer a seminar for the Division in the future, on aspects of early modern European Judaism. Such a seminar would provide a valuable additional perspective to students who have concentrated mainly on Christian history in the late Middle Ages and the Reformation.

At the feet of visiting scholars
Professor Harvey J. Graff, Ohio State University
by Mary Kovel, doctoral student

   Prior to the start of my first semester as a Division student, I must admit that I devoured every available copy of the Desert Harvest with a certain amount of envy for those students already here. The reason was really quite simple: they were sitting face to face with great scholars whom I previously only dreamed of meeting. On October 19, I had the opportunity to meet and converse with Professor Harvey Graff when he accepted the invitation to visit our Thursday evening seminar. Our focus this semester is literacy in the early modern period.
   Professor Graff is one of the world's foremost experts on historical literacy and is presently Eminent Scholar in Literacy Studies and a professor of English and History at Ohio State University. In his discussion with us, he shared his journey through graduate school at the University of Toronto and how he came to study the topic of literacy. A brief discussion with his advisor on the topic of literacy within a small region of Canada developed into his life's work. His scope gradually broadened to include all of western society. Graff candidly admitted that on several occasions he attempted to extricate himself from the study of literacy due to its contentious nature. He has even been accused of opposing literacy! Fortunately, he chose to persevere and has contributed several challenging and enlightening books including The Literacy Myth, The Legacies of Literacy , and The Labyrinths of Literacy.
   Professor Graff explained that literacy is controversial because of the ambiguity of its definition. It may be defined as the ability to write one's name or to possess a certain fluency in a spoken language. In his own work, Dr. Graff defines literacy as a basic level of reading and writing. He believes the definition is fluid and changes through time and varies by culture. For this reason, it is important for each researcher to clarify what he considers literacy to mean.
   Myths about the influence of literacy upon society have arisen. Professor Graff suggests that modern western society propagates the myth that literacy's function is to spread information so that individuals, and particularly societies, will progress economically. He argues that history does not bear this out. For example, Sweden early possessed a very literate society but remained economically depressed for several centuries. While the people could read words, they could not necessarily comprehend the concepts within the written material. Graff's research on three commercial cities in Ontario yields the conclusion that despite a lack of reading and writing skills, these cities prospered as industrial centers.
   A second myth Professor Graff notes is the impression that literacy will improve society's morality, reduce crime and create a stable social order. Literacy transmitted through an educational system becomes an apparatus for spreading the social mores of a dominant group. For instance, Graff notes literacy helped socialize nineteenth-century immigrants in Ontario. However historical and sociological studies do not indicate that an educated, literate society is more stable than another.
   Professor Graff suggests that it is dangerous to generalize about the impact literacy has had on society in view of its fluidity across time and culture. Instead, he urges scholars to investigate the specific contributions that literacy has offered to individuals and societies and to delve deeper into our own modern, western perceptions.

At the feet of visiting scholars
Professor Paul H. Freedman, Yale University
by Julie Kang, doctoral student

"The Spice Trade and European Interest in Asia in the Fourteenth Century"

   Distinguished medieval historian Paul Freedman was invited as a guest lecturer to Professor Helen Nader's undergraduate Traditions and Cultures course on October 27. He is the Chester D. Tripp Professor of History and Department Chair at Yale University and is recognized for his work on peasant servitude in medieval Spain. More recently, his interests have shifted from European peasants to the upper class and their relationship with food through his research on spices and the spice trade.
He began his presentation by demystifying what undergraduates may think about medieval food, driving out the image of a feast at the restaurant chain Medieval Times. For example, the food was not simple or bland, and potatoes had not yet been introduced. He described the ornate medieval "cookbook" manuscripts and recipes. Fish was often dressed up with sugar or colored in three shades for effect. Professor Freedman pointed out that conspicuous consumption was the goal of the nobles' meals.
   The elaborate process of getting the spices to Europe made them not only dear, but exotic. Myths arose that to acquire "grains of paradise"—a spice no longer in use in our modern world—merchants risked their lives among the rivers of the Garden of Eden, which was purported to have been protected by snakes. Rarity made spices fashionable, but not only as foodstuff. People used spices for medicinal purposes and even as fragrances.
   I suspect that Professor Freedman's work has really derived from an appreciation of gourmet cooking. In my private meeting with him when I mentioned that I planned to visit Spain, he recommended some wonderful restaurants in Barcelona and Madrid. Some of these restaurants seem to emulate medieval foods, and I imagine Professor Freedman visiting them with much delight and interest. Perhaps he offered the chefs advice.

Heiko A. Oberman Research Library:
Paradise Valley Benefit Reception

On Sunday afternoon, November 7, Dr. and Mrs. George and Susan Stavros graciously opened their home in Paradise Valley for a reception to benefit the acquisition of the Heiko Oberman research library and the endowment of an accompanying chair. As part of the effort to secure the remarkable Oberman collection for the state of Arizona, the event was conceived and organized by members of the Phoenix honorary consular corps, Reginald Winssinger (Belgium), Sir Duane Anderson (Denmark), Dr. Bernard Otremba-Blanc (Germany), and Siebe van der Zee (The Netherlands), together with Dr. Bill Weldon and Mr. Scott Whyte. Guests spent the afternoon examining a selection of rare editions from the Oberman library, transported briefly to an earlier time and place by these irreplaceable artifacts, and listening to testimonies from a number of Arizona's leading citizens of Heiko Oberman's towering scholarship and the distinction of his library, which exceeds 10,000 volumes.

Program of Speakers

Siebe van der Zee, Honorary Consul of the Netherlands, welcomed guests to the November 7 fundraiser in Paradise Valley and stressed the importance of the transatlantic connection established through Heiko A. Oberman and his work. Though a Dutchman through and through, Oberman also lived and worked in Germany, Jerusalem, Cambridge, and Arizona in his career.

Professor Susan C. Karant-Nunn, Director of the Division, described sources like those in the Oberman Library as similar to a time-machine: "They bring you as close as possible to the past. The Oberman treasure must be acquired for the state of Arizona."

Marvin Cohen, attorney with Sacks Tierney and longtime supporter of the Division, read the remarks of the Honorable Stanley G. Feldman, Chair of the Division Advisory Board. Feldman wrote of Oberman as "a celebrated author who left us the definitive work on the life of Martin Luther as well as many other books. Above all, however, he was one of the very few who could bring to the world the story of civilization and make it interesting, easy to understand, and enjoyable to learn. Without such knowledge of our past, we must wonder how we will be able to avoid the decline into barbarism that has afflicted every other great civilization in history."

Professor Ed Donnerstein, Dean of the UA College of Social and Behavioral Sciences, shared through past experience how crucial it is to universities to have endowed chairs to lure the crème de la crème among potential faculty.

Professor John P. Schaefer, President Emeritus of The University of Arizona and devout bibliophile, invited guests to put their noses right down into the Oberman books to sample what 500 years smells like. His point was that the editions so readily available today are a far cry from the original sources.

Dr. Bernard Otremba-Blanc, Honorary Consul of Germany, brought tidings from Dr. Volkmar Kunze, the mayor of Wittenberg, the City of Luther, and the Luther Center there. The executive director of the center, Dr. Cornelia Dömer, made the following acknowledgment in her letter: "Professor Oberman is recognized on an international scale as one of the world's foremost experts on the Protestant Reformation and his library is internationally recognized as one of the largest and most unique compilations in existence. It is a worthy goal to preserve it as a whole and to make the library one of the Centers of Reformation Studies in the United States and globally."

Reventus to the Eternal City
by Kathryn Jasper, master's student, History Department

   No matter how many times I have seen Rome, I will never tire of the Eternal City. But the beauty and charm of Rome were not the reasons I returned to Italy this past summer. It was time once again for Father Reginald Foster's Aestiva Romae Latinitatis, a summer intensive Latin course taught by the most famous Latinist in the world. Father Foster holds the distinguished position as one of the Latinists to the Pope; specifically, one of the few individuals responsible for composing documents in Latin that are sent all over the world from the Vatican. In addition to his pontifical obligations, "Reginaldus," as he refers to himself, teaches his summer Latin course with no compensation other than the satisfaction of keeping the language alive through daily conversation, and disseminating his pedagogical doctrines. Although Father Foster stipulates that no student may repeat the course two years in a row, he was kind enough to make an exception and allow me to return this past summer in order to continue my training. As a student of medieval Europe, mastering the Latin language is crucial to my success as a scholar, and it is always a privilege to work towards this goal with Reginaldus. Furthermore, I was also in the birthplace of the language, Rome.
   Last summer I saw all the traditional Roman tourist attractions, so this summer I decided to see some relatively unfrequented sights. Each morning before class, I avoided the crowds at the Coliseum and the Roman Forum and opted to search for the smaller churches with hidden treasures such as San Clemente, a twelfth-century church built upon a fourth-century sanctuary. Beneath the fourth-century sanctuary there are archaeological remains of a Roman shrine to the god, Mithras, and, at the lowest level, a Roman sewer and an underground river. I was amazed that I was the only visitor to this underground maze of frescos and ruins. It was at this point that I realized there were amazing sites all over the city that were just waiting to be explored that lacked the tourist crowds. Even though I couldn't possibly see everything, I was certainly going to try.
   In addition, Father Foster was kind enough to take the class on several outings to fantastic places I would never have found on my own. One morning we traveled to Roccasecca, a town a little over an hour away by train and just south of Rome. This was the birthplace of Saint Thomas Aquinas, who was born in his family's castle on a hilltop overlooking the modern city. Ruins are all that remain of the castle, but it is nonetheless impressive. It was in this setting that we read Guglielmo di Tocco's description of the birth of Thomas Aquinas, in the very place it happened.
   Outings such as this were a regular part of the course. I was in perpetual awe at these places, not to mention the fact that we were often reading Latin texts in the very sites in which they were written. On the final day of the course, we had to leave the city very early in order to catch the only bus from Tivoli to the small town of Licenza. From there, we walked to the ruins of Horace's villa. Quintus Horatius Flaccus was one of Rome's greatest poets who wrote several poems about his Sabine villa and how country life compared to life in bustling Rome. Father Foster brought Horace's poems with us to the villa, where we read the beautiful words about his home and the nearby fons Bandusiae, the spring of Bandusia described in his Odes . At the foot of the actual spring itself, we read from Book Three of the Odes, number 13, which begins "O fons Bandusiae," and we consecrated the waters with the words of Horace. We then departed from this breathtaking place and returned to Rome.
   The course had come to an end and I knew I had acquired indispensable knowledge and experience. It is a unique course because Father Foster is unicus himself, one of a kind. He is a dedicated teacher who never hesitates to devote his time to his students. Furthermore, he has eliminated in my mind any doubt that Latin is a living language. I would like to express my thanks to Tim Gale, Marty Abbott, and Sally Davis of the Amy High Latin Scholarship, the generous grant that made this summer possible.

Crossing the divide: Research in Paris
by Joshua Rosenthal, doctoral student

   "We are here in a place steeped in history and emotion. Here, inadversity, the soul of the nation manifested itself. Here was the embodiment of our country's conscience." French President Jacques Chirac spoke these words this past July in the small alpine village Le Chambon-sur-Lignon. While most of France submitted on bended knee to the Nazis, the villagers of Chambon risked their lives by hiding thousands of Jews and spiriting them along hidden mountain trails to the safety of the Swiss soil.
   Two decades ago I stood in Chambon before an elderly woman pointing to a stone engraved with a dedication to her friends and family who were murdered because they had participated in this Underground Railroad. I was a young boy and had lived in the village for over a year attending public school without distinguishing myself in any of the academic fields, history included. But I stood in rapt attention during this history lesson as the woman explained that she and her family descended from Huguenots, or French Protestants, who five hundred years earlier, as religious refugees themselves, received aid from Catholic family members, taking the same trails as they feld massacres and persecution. I've been thinking a lot about that experience this past year, as I've been living in France, working on dissertation research. While my childhood history lesson taught me that modern villagers and sixteenth-century Catholics and Huguenots could work with friends and family to breech spiritual divides, modern scholars take a different approach to the sixteenth-century Wars of Religion. Historians have frequently described the Wars of Religion between Huguenots and Catholics as a pretext for clan warfare among the noble houses unified around the banners of their respective faiths. Scholars who take this line portray the great noble families as religiously united. However, my dissertation focuses upon one of the great French noble families that stood squarely divided along confessional lines. The family Morney boasts several Huguenot leaders as well as multiple Catholic bishops, while the extended Mornay network includes several notable Catholic and Huguenot families. Basically, I use these religious divisions as opportunities to explore the mechanisms that govern selection among, and adhesion to, the different religious parties.
   For example, when Philippe du Bec, the Archbishop of Rheims, attempted to give his ecclesiastical benefices to Philippe Duplessis-Mornay, his favorite nephew and namesake, Duplessis-Mornay resisted, turning the money down and enraging his uncle by joining the Huguenots. Decades later, after Duplessis had earned a position as chief Huguenot theologian and statesman, successfully securing religious liberties for his faith by negotiating the Edict of Nantes, a young nobleman cornered him in an alley and tried to beat him to death with a baton. Duplessis survived the attempted assassination, and the Mornay family, led by his uncle Philippe du Bec, sprung to his defense, locating the assailant and appealing to the king for justice on behalf of their injured kinsman. Although Duplessis and his uncle stood on opposite sides of the religious divide, they stood together to defend their familial honor.
   In order to reconstruct this detailed family history, I've been working in several archives in Paris and throughout France. This past May I received an extraordinary opportunity to present some of my research at a conference dedicated to our Philippe Duplessis-Mornay, hosted by the city of Saumur where Duplessis served as governor. My paper explored the relationship between Duplessis and his wife Charlotte Arbaleste. When a Reformed church excommunicated her because of her particular hairstyle, she vigorously resisted their authority. I used the occasion to explore how she exploited both prevailing theological norms and also her relationship with her husband, actively and forcefully orchestrating her defense.
   The Division's alumni, faculty, and friends must receive credit for my success this past year. Additionally, I was informed that I had won a Fulbright Fellowship. This allowed me to return to France to write my dissertation among the archival sources. When I return I'll once more be thinking about my lesson at the feet of the woman in Chambon. In the midst of the horrors of religious massacres in the sixteenth century, a select few refused to participate—they bravely crossed the religious and nationalistic divide. Whether they did so because of conscience, moral indignation, friendship, or familial allegiance, given today's geo-political situation we ought to remember them, as did the woman in Chambon, and praise them, as did President Chirac, in the hopes that their example might keep us from falling over the brink.

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