210 Damascus
held it until the early 15th century when it passed under
Venice again.
See alsoDIOCLETIAN;ILLYRICUM AND THEILLYRIANS.
Further reading:John V. A. Fine, The Early Medieval
Balkans: A Critical Survey from the Sixth to the Late Twelfth
Century(Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 1991);
John V. A. Fine, The Late Medieval Balkans: A Critical Sur-
vey from the Late Twelfth Century to the Ottoman Conquest
(Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 1994), Franjo
S ̆anjek, “Dalmatia” in EMA,1,4034; J. J. Wilkes, Dalmatia
(London: Routledge and K. Paul, 1969).
Damascus(Dimashk al Sham, ash-Sham, “the North-
ern”) Damascus was the capital of the UMAYYADSfrom
661 to 750 and was well situated between the Meso-
potamian and Syrian parts of the first Islamic caliphate.
The city, located in southwestern SYRIAon the eastern edge
of the Anti-Lebanon Mountains, was part of the BYZANTINE
Empire until 612, held by the Persians in 612–628, and
restored to Byzantine possession until the Arabs conquered
it in 635. It was the center of Muslim arts and learning
under the Umayyads and contained the greatest Muslim
building of the eighth century, the Great Mosque, built in
706 by the caliph AL-WALID. It was decorated with wall
mosaics probably produced by Byzantine artisans. The
Byzantine emperor John I Tzimiskes (r. 969–976) managed
to force the city to pay a tribute in 975 during a campaign
in Syria. In the 12th century the city was the stronghold of
NUR AL-DINand then of SALADIN, who died there.
The MONGOLSsacked and temporarily occupied the
city in 1260. The Mamluk sultanate retook the city after
defeating the Mongols at the battle of AYNJALUTthat
same year. It was sacked again by an army sent by TAMER-
LANEin 1401. The city had a reputation for internal dis-
order in the 14th and 15th centuries. Its population
might have reached 50,000 in the 1340s; it was severely
struck by plague in 1347 and never recovered such a
population until modern times. The Ottoman Turks took
over the city from the Mamluks in 1516.
See alsoAYYUBIDS;MADRASA;SELJUKTURKS OFRUM.
Further reading:Michael Chamberlain, Knowledge
and Social Practice in Medieval Damascus, 1190–1350
(Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1994); Philip
K. Hitti, “Damascus: The Imperial Capital” in Capital
Cities of Arab Islam (Minneapolis: University of Min-
nesota Press, 1973), 61–84; R. Stephen Humphreys, From
Saladin to the Mongols: The Ayyubids of Damascus,
1193–1260(Albany: State University of New York Press,
1977); Nicola A. Ziadeh, Damascus under the Mamlu ̄ks
(Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1964).
Damian, Peter (Peter Damiani) (ca. 1007–1072)
reformer, critic
Peter Damian was born of poor parents about 1007 at
RAVENNAand educated at Faenza and Parma. He took on
the eremitical life, probably after being ordained priest. In
about 1035, he moved to Fonte Avellana near Gubbio in
central Italy, whose prior he became in 1043. He encour-
aged more eremitical foundations in TUSCANYand central
ITA LY.
Damian has left 180 letters, about 50 sermons,
seven Saints’ Lives, and devotional poetry. His influence
can be seen particularly among canonists, such as GRA-
TIAN. He became especially influential in the 1040s in
the 11th-century GREGORIAN REFORM Adviser and
friend to Hildebrand, the future Pope GREGORY VII,
Damian denounced SIMONYand the sexual depravity of
the clergy. He did not promote a radical separation of
powers between the papacy and the empire, as Gregory
would later. Made against his will the cardinal bishop
of Ostia in late 1057 or early 1058, Damian led delicate
papal missions to MILAN,FLORENCE, Ravenna, CLUNY,
and the emperor. Later freed from the duties of a cardi-
nal, he lived the last years of his life with his fellow
hermits.MONASTIC REFORM
In terms of monastic reform he proposed a way of life
made up of asceticism and discipline, combining BENE-
DICTINE MONASTICISMwith the eremitism of John CAS-
SIAN. For him the life of the hermit was the highest
expression of the monastic ideal. Though made a doctor
of the church in 1828, Peter Damian produced little
important theological work. Peter Damian preached a
radical contempt for the world, especially with regard to
sexuality and marriage. He died in 1072.
Further reading:Peter Damien, Letters,3 vols., trans.
Owen J. Blum (Washington, D.C.: Catholic University of
America Press, 1989–1990); Jack Lord, Saint Peter Dami-
ani and His Canonical Sources: A Preliminary Study in the
Antecedents of the Gregorian Reform(Toronto: Pontifical
Institute of Medieval Studies, 1956); Irven Michael
Resnick, Divine Power and Possibility in St. Peter Damian’s
“De divina omnipotentia” (Leiden: E. J. Brill, 1992).dance and dance regulation Most of what we know
of dance through most of the Middle Ages can be found
essentially only in condemnations of it. Councils, episco-
pal statutes, and PENITENTIALSrepeated numerous con-
demnations. Dances were considered pagan and
temptations to sin. In the early Middle Ages, the first of
January gave rise to riotous festivities, as in antiquity. To
the ancient dances and masquerades on January were
added the German ones at the winter solstice. The sum-
mer solstice was also a time of dances. Some were done
to allegedly diabolical songs. Rites such as MARRIAGEor
BURIAL were customarily accompanied by dances. The
church warned the LAITYagainst such sinful practices and
condemned clerics who took part in marriage feasts and
such festivities.