[...]fully constructed to elicit awe, delight, d="trms"nttrm="already,spread">read
='strcls'>*rulers (secular ='lgc'>+ ecclesiastical) ='lgc'>--competed='lgc'>='lgc'>--> display of power and splender in="trms"nttrm="cluster,club">cluding tricks and automata ='lgc'>--calculated='lgc'>='lgc'>--> to amaze and tantalize='lgc'>:
="lsts lst1">•(13th century) خانه وحشت 🏰 evidence of a count of Artois who built an elaborate funhouse with distorting mirrors, rooms that simulated thunderstorms, hidden pipes for wetting unsuspecting visitors and covering them with flour
="lsts lst1">•puppet shows in ="trms">pastry (sotelties)
="lsts lst1">•food was often planned as an illusion or trick for the eye (='lgc'>-='lgc'>='lgc'>--> ='gtrw'>go to in="trms">stagram cake baked in the shape of ordinary objects)
="lsts lst1">•changes in church architecture in liturgy (آئین نماز) ='lgc'>+ fabrication of ="trms">monstrances ='lgc'>='lgc'>--> define the moment in the Mass when ='strcls'>*the consecrated host (the devine installed in food or flesh or ="trms">matter) was elevated as a sudden revelation of the unexpected and paradoxical='strcls'>*
="lsts lst2">◦collection of relics and their ='strcls'>**elaborate containers='strcls'>** (reliquaries محفظه عتیقه) ='lgc'>[='lgc'>='lgc'>--> similarity and ="trms">historical connection to wunderkammer of early medieval princes='lgc'>]
="lsts lst1">•
='lgc'>='lgc'>--> theologians and many of the ordinary faithful continued ='strcls'>*to value the super="trms">natural power mediated through bone chips or dust='strcls'>* more than the intricate workmanship or sheer novelty of the container ='lgc'>='lgc'>--> ='strcls'>*object='lgc'> = a means of access to an other tham as a singularity fascinating in itself='strcls'>*
='lgc'>='lgc'>--> ='strcls'>*relic cabinets ='lgc'>~= cabinets of novelties='strcls'>*
='lgc'>}='lgc'>--underlying='lgc'>='lgc'>--> ='strcls'>***impulse to collect='strcls'>***

mirabile visu!
='strcls'>****(12th century) abbot Suger of St. Denis describes the crowd (more desperate to touch, possess, appropriate) that is frantic over access to a power not only ='strcls'>*beyond='strcls'>* but also in its ="trms">nature ='strcls'>*other than='strcls'>* what contains it
(God lodged in decayed body, manifested and hidden behind the crystal and gold)

="trms">narrative accounts not only described objects and events that were ="trms">staged or constructed to produce ="trms">wonder ='lgc'>+ they also ='strcls'>*teemed with complex ="trms">wonder-reactions='strcls'>*
='lgc'>='lgc'>--> hagiographer (="ppl">Attar's) detailed in emotional ="trms">sensual ="trms">language the extravagant asceticism and para-mystical manifestations holy women experienced ='lgc'>+ the amazement such manifestations engendered in others ='lgc'>{beauty was not merely referred to as ="trms">wonderful, ='strcls'>*it was also described in ="trms">loving and lyrical ="trms">language='strcls'>* as signaling a deeper pattern or purpose='lgc'>}

(old ="ppl">Augustinian idea that) the ="trms">world itself is a miracle ='lgc'>='lgc'>--> (homi="trms"nttrm="listen,alist,ilist,llist,olist,ylist,ulist">list Aelfric) wundra (marvels) of God
="lsts lst1">•it requires no sorcery that the moon waxes and wanes, that the sea agrees with it, that the earth greens in ="trms">response to its power 🌙
="lsts lst1">•(recounting the migration of salmon upstream to spawn) they leap from bottom to top with a leap that is marvellous, and except that is is proper to the ="trms">nature of fish, marvellous


="large lg2" stl="font-size:110%"> سندباد ="nms">Sinbad
='lgc'>[fantastical='lgc'>] ="trms">travelers’ tales (recounted) the ='strcls'>*fearsome='strcls'>* and the ='strcls'>*ugly='strcls'>* ='lgc'>--as='lgc'>='lgc'>--> ='strcls'>*="trms">wonderful='strcls'>*
to Marco Polo almost every ="trms">animal he met was a marvel (the horrible cro="trms">codile, beautiful giraffe) ='lgc'>[described with an earnest and urgent facticity ='lgc'>='lgc'>--> ="nms">ajayeb's tone='lgc'>]

in later middle ages (and in toda popular media) ='strcls'>*strangeness appealed='strcls'>* ='lgc'>='lgc'>--> ="trms">stories abounded='lgc'>:
="lsts lst1">•of ="trms">fabulous palces
="lsts lst1">•of stones with marvellous powers
="lsts lst1">•of ="trms">monsters
="lsts lst1">•of mermaids
="lsts lst1">•of fairies
="lsts lst1">•of bizarre races with eyes in their chests or enormous umbrella feet

="lsts lst1">•Marco Polo's awkward and impoverished prose
="lsts lst1">•Mandeville's credulous tale-telling
="lsts lst1">•="nms">Sinbad='lgc'>: ='lgc'>[a powerful sense that='lgc'>] what is ="trms">wonderful='lgc'>: (is not chickens and peacocks, even cyclopses and cannibals per se, but) ='strcls'>**a ="trms">world that encompasses such ="trms">staggering diversity='strcls'>** ='lgc'>--="ppl">Bynum='lgc'>='lgc'>--> ='strcls'>******the impulse to chronicle (such things) ='lgc'>~= a critique of the impulse to possess them='strcls'>******

“If you ='lgc'>[="frds scrmbld"nttrm="Alex,Alert,Aleph,Alessi">Alexander the Great='lgc'>] had a body that matched your greedy mind and heart that know no bounds in their desires, or if your body equaled your great cupidity, the great ="trms">world itself would not suffice to contain you ... Your ="trms"nttrm="righ,rigo,riga,rigi,trig,rign">right hand would hold the East, the left the West. Not content with this, in all your prayers you would be ="trms">consumed with desire to investigate and find out where that amazing light hid itself, and would dare to climb into the sun’s chariot and ... control its wandering beams. So, too, you desire much that you cannot possess. Having subdued the ="trms">world and conquered the human race, delighting in blood, you will wage war against trees, ="trms">wild ="trms">beasts, rocks and mountain snows. ='strcls'>*You will not allow the strange creatures that ="trms"nttrm="failure,blur,plur,lurk,tallur,slur">lurk in the caves to be untouched. Even senseless elements will be compelled to experience your rages.='strcls'>*
='lgc'>='lgc'>--> ='strcls'>***Chatillon's powerful prose understands that marveling at diversity can be the prelude to appropriation='strcls'>***
='strcls'>*marveling at diversity ='lgc'>='lgc'>~=> appropriation='strcls'>*


='strcls'>*impulse to collect/chronicle/="trms"nttrm="listen,alist,ilist,llist,olist,ylist,ulist">list ='lgc'>--(critique='lgc'>[="trms">sublimated='qstn'>?='lgc'>])='lgc'>='lgc'>-->='lgc'>~='qstn'>?=>(='lgc'><='lgc'>--)(='lgc'>~/=!!) impulse to posses='strcls'>*

="large lg1" stl="font-size:123%">
beautiful ='lgc'>+ horrible ='lgc'>+ ="trms">skillfully made ='lgc'>==induce='lgc'>='lgc'>==> ="trms">wonder
bizzar ='lgc'>+ rare (='lgc'>~= that which challenges or suddenly illuminates our expectations) ='lgc'>+ ='strcls'>*range of ="trms">differences='strcls'>* found in the ="trms">world ='lgc'>='lgc'>==> ="trms">wonder

admirabiles mixturae='lgc'>: events or ="trms">phenomena in which ="trms">ontological and moral boundaries are crossed, confused, erased

='lgc'>[='strcls'>*='lgc'>]singularity='lgc'>: absence of cause ='lgc'>[='lgc'>='lgc'>--> is enough to induce ="trms">wonder='lgc'>]


human body appearing as meat to be masticated is an aweful condescension (in ="trms">worldly terms='lgc'>: an assuming of an inappropriate ="trms">nature) for God


Peter the Venerable (12th century collection of miracle ="trms">stories)
reverents (those who returned from the dead)
...a monk who has been poisoned appears in a dream while the murder is under investigation='lgc'>: “When I saw him ='lgc'>[the murdered monk='lgc'>], I got up full of joy and began to embrace and kiss him with much ="trms">affection. Although a deep stupor ='lgc'>[sopor='lgc'>] took the place of my outward senses,... I was not unaware that I was sleeping ... And what is more ="trms">wonderful ='lgc'>[mirum='lgc'>], it occurred to me immediately ... that the dead could not remain long with the living ... So I decided to ="trms">question him quickly, for the vision seemed not a phantasm but true ='lgc'>[non fantastica sed verax='lgc'>] ... ='lgc'>[The monk attests his faith and affirms that he has been murdered; then he disappears.='lgc'>] I ="trms">wondered greatly ... then rested my head again ... and immediately he reappeared ... I rushed toward him and ... began to kiss him as before ... I heard the same answers as above concerning his state, his vision of God, the certitude of the ="frds scrmbld"nttrm="Christianson">Christian faith, and his death ... ='lgc'>[Then='lgc'>] I woke up and found my eyes wet and my cheeks warmed by fresh tears.
='lgc'>=/= Hamlet's experience with his father's ghost (='lgc'>='lgc'>--> has no ="trms">epistemological ="trms">wonder)

Peter of Tarentaise
confronted with a deformed man, ="trms">questioned him closely and sent him away unhealed but with a new sense of self-worth

='strcls'>**moral reaction described in heightened emotion-="trms">language='strcls'>**
(we see) ='strcls'>*the ="trms">response enacted inside the ="trms">story='strcls'>*

Julian of Norwich
her most ="trms">wonder-filled ="trms">language
because of the incarnation we are a marvelous mixture (medle se mervelous) of sin and grace

the unheards-of... عجایبِ (="nms">ajayeb-e)
describing unheard-of prodigy (of green ="trms">children born from the earth)


👉
William of Newburgh
what he cannot grasp (attingere or rimari) ='lgc'>[there must be a “reason"='lgc'>] ='lgc'>='lgc'>==> forced to marvel at (mirari) ='lgc'>--means='lgc'>='lgc'>--> a significance or moral use (utilitas)
="lsts lst1">•mysterious dog discovered in a stone
="lsts lst1">•a crucifix in the sky
="lsts lst1">•
='lgc'>}='lgc'>='lgc'>--> rarity ='lgc'>+ (they have a) secret reason
='lgc'>}='lgc'>--="ppl">Bynum='lgc'>='lgc'>--> ='strcls'>*="trms">wonder-reaction='lgc'> = significance-reaction='strcls'>* ='lgc'>~= ='strcls'>****things are signs or portents (not because of their ="trms">natures or their causes but ='lgc'>[from their ="trms">ontology='lgc'>]) because they indicate or point ='lgc'>[from their utility='lgc'>]='strcls'>****
='at'>#telegram ="trms">bestiary
='at'>#index finger

="trms">monster ='lgc'><='lgc'>-- ="trms">monstrare='lgc'>: to know

(for theologians, chroniclers, preachers) ="trms">wonderful='lgc'> = strange ='lgc'>+ rare ='lgc'>+ inexplicable (never merely strange or simply inexplicable)
='lgc'>='lgc'>--> it was ='strcls'>***a strange that ="trms">mattered, that pointed beyond itself to meaning='strcls'>*** (='lgc'>='lgc'>--> ='at'>#="trms">wonders of pits)


(='mywrk'>my work for WIELS, ="trms">Wonders of the Moon – A Thousand Years of Sleepwalking 2020)
="lsts lst1">•='strcls'>*not='strcls'>* all medieval statements about ="trms">wonder were synonymous or compatible
="lsts lst1">•how people acted and reacted necessarily were ='strcls'>*not='strcls'>* in very close ="trms">synchrony with the de="trms">finition they gave or the ابتذال platitudes they propounded


="trms">wonder in medieval texts
='lgc'>=/= increasingly rare exception to an enlightenment sense of unbreachable laws of ="trms">nature
='lgc'>=/= startle reflex of early ="trms">modern psychology
='lgc'>=/= appropriation practiced by early ="trms">modern rulers, e[...]