Dublin 225Ages: Western European Stage Conditions, c. 800–1576
(Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1978).
dreams SeeVISIONS.
Druzes (Druses, Duruz, Muwah nidun, monotheists)
The Druzes comprised a group that originated from the
ISMAILIsect of the SHIITESand first appeared in EGYPTand
SYRIAin the 11th century. The first person associated
with the Druze faith was al-Darazi (d. 1019), a mission-
ary of the Ismaili FATIMIDcaliphAL-HAKIM BI-AMRALLAH
(996–1021). Responding to frustration in waiting for the
coming of the Ismaili Mahdi, al-Darazi in 1017 publicly
called for al-Hakim’s recognition as the Ismaili Universal
Intellect, an IMAMabove even the Prophet. This was met
with riots, and in 1019 al-Darazi was killed, accused of
fostering sexual excess and wine drinking. Another mis-
sionary, Hamza ibn Ali, took over the movement and
developed it into an organized Hakim cult, thus becom-
ing the real founder of the Druze faith and producing
their canonical work, Letters of Wisdom.
Eventually the Druze community became secretive
about its beliefs, permitting neither conversion nor apos-
tasy. Only the sages, the Uggal, have complete knowledge
of the faith. The Druzes developed their own aristocracy
and cultivated a culture of belligerence, harshness, hospi-
tality, and discipline. In the presence of non-Druzes, they
adhered to strict secrecy about their faith. They were
allowed to deny their faith publicly if their life were
endangered (the taqiyah).The Druzes have followed a set
of seven commandments instead of the five pillars of
Islam, emphasizing especially the pilgrimage to Mecca
and the profession of faith. The sect still exists in Lebanon
and Syria.
Further reading:Robert Brenton Betts, The Druze
(New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press, 1988); Philip
Khuri Hitti, The Origins of the Druze People and Religion,
with Extracts from Their Sacred Writings (New York:
Columbia University Press, 1928).
dualism This religious doctrine posited that there were
two independent and antagonistic principles in creation:
that of all good and that of all evil. There were always
problems in monotheism about how an all-good god was
involved with the creation of an evil principle or force (a
demiurge) or how such a deity could allow such evil to
run rampant in the world. In Greek and Latin medieval
Christianity, there were heterodox communities that were
perceived to profess some form of dualism. In the East,
the BOGOMILSremained vaguely dualists, and in the West,
the CATHARS’ dualism was perceived as fundamental for
the majority of its adherents in the 13th century.
These medieval dualisms were more likely the prod-
ucts of the tenets and ideals of Christianity and probably
owed little to ancient Oriental dualisms. Christianity
tended to define this world as an arena in which the
agents of the Church or GODvied with the agents of evil
or demons. This idea was based on the dualism contained
or that could be discerned in the New Testament of the
Christian BIBLE: God is good and the world is evil. Ortho-
dox Christians in both the East and the West were aware
of the ancient dualist traditions and applied them to many
species of heretics whether they actually held them or not.
For many in the legal administration of the church, dual-
ism was a convenient way to classify heretical ideas.
See alsoALBIGENSIANS ANDALBIGENSIAN MOVEMENT;
AUGUSTINE OFHIPPO,SAINT;DEVIL; HERESY AND HERESIES;
MANICHAEISM ANDMANI.
Further reading:Janet and Bernard Hamilton, eds.,
Christian Dualist Heresies in the Byzantine World, c.
650–c. 1405(Manchester: Manchester University Press,
1998); Yuri Stoyanov, The Hidden Tradition in Europe: The
Secret History of Medieval Christian Heresy (London:
Arkana, 1994).Dublin (Dubh-linn, Dyffin [Norse, “the Black Pool”])
Dublin, called in Old Irish Áth Cliath, or “ford of the wat-
tles,” now Baffle Atha Cliath, is the capital of the Republic
of Ireland today. Probably a small settlement in the early
medieval period, it later became prominent because it was
the site of the most important Viking and Danish settle-
ments in IRELAND. It was established in 841 near the dubh-
linnor black pool from which it eventually got its modern
name. The first Viking fortified town was at Island Bridge
(Kilmainham), about two miles upriver from the mouth of
the Liffey river. This site had to be abandoned in 902,
after a sound defeat by the locals. A second more secure
and defensible settlement at the present site of Woodquay
was established in 919, after a Norse victory over a high
king of Ireland, who was killed in the battle.
Around 1000, the flimsy ford was replaced by a more
permanent wooden bridge. By 1100 stone fortifications
had been erected to defend what had become a prosperous
town. The wealth of its Irish and Danish inhabitants had
been accumulated by success in raids and war, widespread
commercial activity, and lucrative hiring out of their fleet
of ships. This rich Dublin became the main objective for
any claimant to the kingship of Ireland and thus soon
attracted the attention of the Anglo-Normans, who took
the town in 1170. It soon passed under the direct control
of the English king, HENRYII, in 1171–72. It remained the
English administrative, but not altogether peaceful, capital
of Ireland for the rest of the Middle Ages.
Further reading:Seán Duffy, ed., Medieval Dublin,I,
Proceedings of the Friends of Medieval Dublin Symposium
1999 (Dublin: Four Courts Press, 2000); Alfred P. Smyth,
Scandinavian York and Dublin: The History and Archaeol-
ogy of Two Related Viking Kingdoms (Dublin: Tem-
plekieran Press, 1975).