Saint Martin of Tours
sponsored by the MEDICIin FLORENCEand ruled until
- Reaching an agreement with the PAPACYenabled
him to concentrate on restoring order. Under him the city
flourished and the university, which he reorganized,
regained its former fame. His successor, John II (d. 1508),
controlled the commune between 1463 and 1506 as first
citizen.
Further reading:Cecilia Mary Ady, The Bentivoglio of
Bologna: A Study in Despotism (1937; reprint, Oxford:
Oxford University Press, 1969).
Beowulf The old English epic poem known as Beowulf
has no title in the single manuscript, written about 1000,
that preserved it. At 3,182 lines, it was the longest poem
in any early Germanic language. By any reckoning it was
one of the great literary monuments of the Middle Ages,
telling the tale of a hero who in his youth slayed two
monsters, and in old age was killed while trying to slay a
dragon. Beowulfwas a poem reflecting on themes such as
the temporality transience of human life and civilization,
the bonds that hold society together and the pressures
that break them, fate, courage, pride, duty, heroism,
vengeance, and death. Some scholars have seen the poem
as a product of the eighth century, others as a product of
the 10th or even the early 11th. There are many puzzling
aspects of its composition and audience.
See alsoANGLO-SAXONS.
Further reading: Howell D. Checkering, ed. and
trans., Beowulf: A Dual-Language Edition(Garden City:
Anchor, 1977); Peter S. Baker, ed., Beowulf: Basic Read-
ings (New York: Garland, 1995); Robert W. Hanning,
“Beowulf and Anglo-Saxon Poetry,” in European Writers:
The Middle Ages and the Renaissance,Vol. 1, Prudentius to
Medieval Drama,ed. William T. H. Jackson and George
Stade (New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1983), 51–89;
Dorothy Whitelock, The Audience of Beowulf(Oxford:
Clarendon Press, 1951).
Berbers The collective term Berberwas originally used
by the Muslim ARABSwho conquered North Africa in the
seventh century to refer to the non-Roman natives of the
region. They were affiliated with a wide variety of distinct
tribal groups. The term was borrowed from the LATIN
barbari,meaning people who did not speak Greek or
Latin. Modern scholars use the term to refer to tribal
groups who were linked linguistically and sometimes cul-
turally, but not necessarily ethnically.
Libyan and southern peoples on the frontier fringes
had been recorded in the fifth century as manning the
forts of Roman frontier defenses. Noted by AUGUSTINEin
southern Tripolitania or those described in southern
Algeria as Barbari transtagnentes,they migrated season-
ally across borders. Others in the mountainous areas such
as the Aures and Kabyliae lived on fortified estates.
Recent archaeology shows that Romanization had pene-
trated. Many served as Roman officers and were Chris-
tian. They carried on Roman culture well into the Islamic
period.
Berbers figured prominently throughout the history
of Islamic peoples during the Middle Ages. They often
provided the breeding ground for Islamic revivals in
North Africa, providing a new religious enthusiasm and
soldiers for dynasties embarking on expansion or recon-
quest, especially into the Iberian Penninsula.
See also ALMOHADS;ALMORAVIDS;AL-ANDALUS; AL-
MAGHRIB;MOROCCO;TUNIS.
Further reading:Michael Brett and Elizabeth Fen-
tress, The Berbers (Oxford: Blackwell, 1996); Maya
Shatzmiller, The Berbers and the Islamic State: The Marinid
Experience in Pre-Protectorate Morocco(Princeton, N.J.:
Markus Wiener, 2000); Charles Pellet et al., “Berbers,”
Encyclopedia of Islam,1.1173–1187.Berengar of Tours (Berengarius)(ca. 1000–1088)priest,
theologian, teacher at Tours
Born about 1000 of a wealthy family, Berengar was edu-
cated in grammar and dialectic at CHARTRESunder FUL-
BERT. In 1032, he was probably a canon at Saint-Martin at
Tours and a grammar teacher at the cathedral school
there. He soon became its director. In about 1040 he was
appointed to the posts of archdeacon and episcopal trea-
surer at Angers.EUCHARISTIC CONTROVERSY
He began to teach Holy Scripture at Tours around 1048,
and became interested in the controversial and con-
demned EUCHARISTICdoctrine attributed to JOHNSCOT-
TUSERIUGENA. Just before a Roman synod of 1050, he
sent a note to LANFRANC, the famous master of studies at
the abbey of Bec, criticizing him for considering Eriu-
gena’s opinion as heretical. The note was taken to ROME.
Berengar had questioned the idea of transubstantiation,
in which the bread and wine of the Mass were actually
changed into the body and blood of Christ. The Ortho-
dox view was that their substances were changed. Beren-
gar thought this association was only symbolic.
The synod presided over by Pope Leo IX (r.
1049–54) condemned this idea as heretical and excom-
municated Berengar despite his absence. Summoned to
synod at Vercelli the same year, Berengar lost several dis-
putes over the question. He tried to convince the king of
France, Henry I (r. 1031–60), but the king handed him
over to one of his household, who held him captive in
order to extort a ransom. Leo IX likened his doctrine to
that of Scottus and branded him a heretic.
Berengar launched attacks on the church of Rome
and the pope to prove the eucharistic bread remained
bread after the consecration. Freed late in 1050, he was
condemned again at several synods. He continued to
argue ideas about the real presence of Christ in the