Category Archives: Byzantium

The Byzantine World of Videssos

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Are you looking for an alternate reality or a parallel universe to step into while traveling for Thanksgiving or dealing with difficult family over the holidays? I cannot recommend the Videssos Cycle by Harry turtledove TOO highly! It is excellent!

In The Misplaced Legion, the first of the books, the Roman tribune Marcus Scaurus held the spell-scribed sword of a Druid priest, and the Celtic chieftain Viridovix held a similar sword, bespelled by a rival Druid sorcerer. At the moment they touched, the two found themselves under a strange night sky where no stars were familiar and where Gaul and Rome were unknown. They were in an outpost of the embattled Empire of Videssos–in a world where magic and dark sorcery would test their skill and courage as no Roman legion had ever been tested before.

Readers who know something of Byzantine history will quickly discover that the world of Videssos is closely modeled on the Byzantine Empire familiar to those of us who inhabit THIS reality. Harry Turtledove, himself a Byzantine historian as well as an award winning sci-fi and fantasy author, uses his knowledge of Byzantium to full advantage. Well known friends and enemies, dogmatic disputes, intricate social hierarchies are all recognizable in Videssos. But you do NOT need to know anything of Byzantium to appreciate the wonders and glory of the world Turtledove has created within the covers of these books.

The Videssos Cycle by Harry Turtledove is a four book series which is now available in two volumes, each volume containing two of the original books. Therefore, the covers are different now as well.

See my post about another Turtledove classic, Thessalonica, here.

The Harvest of Death

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The Dormition of the Mother of God, commonly called the “Assumption” by Western Christians, celebrates the falling-asleep of the Mother of God on August 15 and her translation into glory at the right hand of her Son. This deathbed scene is often depicted in Orthodox icons and medieval Western paintings with Mary dying as the apostles surround her deathbed and Jesus gathers her soul into His arms like a new-born child (similar to the way He is depicted in swaddling bands at Christmas). It has been said in at least a few sermons that, “If Christmas is God’s birthday into humanity, then Dormition is humanity’s birthday into divinity."

The Dormition of the Mother of God, commonly called the “Assumption” by Western Christians, celebrates the falling-asleep of the Mother of God on August 15 and her translation into glory at the right hand of her Son. This deathbed scene is often depicted in Orthodox icons and medieval Western paintings with Mary dying as the apostles surround her deathbed and Jesus gathers her soul into His arms like a new-born child (similar to the way He is depicted in swaddling bands at Christmas). It has been said in at least a few sermons that, “If Christmas is God’s birthday into humanity, then Dormition is humanity’s birthday into divinity.”

One of the classic prayers for the dead in both Latin-speaking and Greek-speaking Christianity is a psalm about the harvest. Psalm 64/65 begins:

“You are to be praised, O God, in Zion:
to you shall vows be performed in Jerusalem.
To you that hear prayer shall all flesh come…
Our sins are stronger than we are,
but you will blot them out.”

The psalm goes on to describe God’s power to erect mountains and calm the roaring of the sea, to call the sun to rise and set, and then concludes:

“You prepare the grain,
for so you provide for the earth.
You drench the furrows and smooth out the ridges;
with heavy rain you soften the ground and bless its increase.
You crown the year with your goodness,
and your paths overflow with plenty.
May the fields of the wilderness be rich for grazing,
and the hills be clothed with joy.
May the meadows cover themselves with flocks,
and the valleys cloak themselves with grain;
let them shout for joy and sing.”

The psalm celebrates both death and harvest as two sides of one mystery, the resurrection of both human corpses and the seeds that are cast into the earth to die and rise again — and be harvested, thus continuing the cycle.

As part of the mid-August celebration of the Dormition (“falling asleep”) of the Mother of God, flowers and fragrant herbs are brought into the church to be blessed. This aspect of Dormition celebrates the harvest going on in the fields outside the churches and the “harvest” of each human life on their deathbed. This harvest and gathering into glory of each human life to await the End Times or Last Judgment gives the practical duties of farmyard duties a very apocalyptic or eschatological flavor. (Apocalypse and eschatology relate to “End Times” and “Last Things.”) This human harvest is celebrated again at the end of the farmyard harvest season with Halloween and the Day of the Dead in November.

The flowers and herbs blessed on August 15 are thought to disperse devils by their fragrant scent and to keep devils from trapping the soul of a dying person if they are placed around the deathbed.

Veronica and the Shroud

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Veronica holding her veil, by Hans Memling (c. 1470)

Veronica holding her veil, by Hans Memling (c. 1470)

According to legend, a woman named Veronica (who is commemorated on July 12) was among the crowds lining the streets of Jerusalem as Jesus carried the cross on his way to be crucified on Golgotha. Feeling pity for him, she stepped forward and wiped the sweat and blood from his face with her veil. Later that evening, she is said to have discovered the image of Christ’s face imprinted on her veil.

Many people think this story is a variation on the story of the Shroud of Turin, said to be the shroud in which Jesus was buried. It was also said to have been imprinted with the image of Jesus’ body in the moment just before his Resurrection. Because of the way the Shroud was traditionally folded when put on display, only the face was visible. This resulted in an image much like the one reputed to have been imprinted on Veronica’s veil. Many also point out that the woman’s name, “Veronica,” is in fact Latin for “true image” or “true/authentic icon” and is more a statement about the cloth than about her historical identity.

The story of the Icon-Made-Without-Hands is also about a Byzantine cloth on which Jesus himself imprinted his face to send to the king of Edessa so that the ailing king might be healed. Again, this “true icon” is said by many to be another version of the same story and that all 3 versions are probably based on the historical kernel that there was indeed a cloth image of Jesus that was venerated by the Church during its early centuries as an authentic, miraculous reproduction of Christ that was thought to work miracles.

This textile image plays an important role in two books that I highly recommend:

The Fifth Gospel by Ian Caldwell is a thriller set in the Vatican in which a long-lost gospel text, a contentious relic [i.e. the Shroud of Turin], and a dying pope’s final wish converge to send two brothers—both Vatican priests—on an intellectual quest to untangle Christianity’s greatest historical mystery.

Death Masks by Jim Butcher is one of his EXCELLENT Harry Dresden series in which Harry, Chicago’s only practising professional wizard, is caught in a duel with the Red Court of Vampires’ champion, who must kill Harry to end the war between vampires and wizards …Professional hit men using Harry for target practice …The missing Shroud of Turin …A handless and headless corpse the Chicago police need identified …

Both are excellent summertime reading — especially in connection with July 12, the feast of Veronica and her veil!