silk and silk roads 667Averroism.” However, with the criticism he received
from Aquinas and from Bishop Stephen Tempier’s (r.
1268–79) first condemnation of 1270, Siger modified his
ideas to resemble those of Aquinas. He continued to
advocate the use of reason to compare and judge ideas,
whatever their implications for Christian FAITH. While
recognizing the superior certainty of revelation, he
claimed for philosophy the right to proceed indepen-
dently of both theologians and Aristotle. This view of the
relationship between reason and faith aroused vehement
opposition from many Parisian theologians.
By 1276 he seemed to have abandoned teaching but
was cited by the inquisitor of France as a possible heretic.
He was directly implicated in the second great condem-
nation promulgated on March 7, 1277, by Tempier. The
rest of his life was obscure. He was perhaps imprisoned.
Around February 1281, he was murdered at Orvieto by
an insane secretary who was supposed to be caring for
him. He was viewed with admiration by some of his con-
temporaries, such as Dante ALIGHERI, for promoting the
autonomy of philosophical knowledge.
Further reading:Saint Thomas Aquinas, Siger of Bra-
bant, and Saint Bonaventure, On the Eternity of the World
= De aeternitate mundi,trans. Cyril Vollert, Lottie H.
Kendzierski, and Paul M. Byrne, 2d ed. (Milwaukee: Mar-
quette University Press, 1984); Étienne Gilson, Dante and
Philosophy,trans. David Moore (1949; New York: Harper
& Row, 1963); Armand Maurer, Medieval Philosophy,rev.
ed. (Toronto: Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies,
1982).
sigillography SeeSEALS AND SIGILLOGRAPHY.
Sigismund of Luxembourg(1368–1437)Holy Roman
Emperor
He was the second son of the emperor CHARLESIV and
younger brother of Wenceslas (1361–1419). He was
elected king of HUNGARYin 1387 after his marriage to
Mary of Hungary; king of BOHEMIAin 1420, when his
brother, the incompetent Wenceslas the Drunkard, king
of the Romans, resigned in 1410; he was consecrated
emperor at ROMEon May 31, 1433. He could not main-
tain his position as prospective ruler of POLANDagainst
the JAGIELLONIANS. He led the disastrous CRUSADE of
NICOPOLISin 1396 and barely escaped capture in the
battle.
Once elected king of the Romans and then expected
to succeed as Holy Roman Emperor, he was faced with
serious problems and expectations, realizing that the
empire needed reform, as did the church, with an end to
the GREATSCHISM(1378–1417). There was also the prob-
lem of the HERESYof John HUSin BOHEMIA. Sigismund,
however, lacked the political and economic resources to
intervene in any of these areas. He gamely called a council
at CONSTANCE(1414–18), in which he helped to end the
schism caused by three popes’ claiming the office. This
was also the council that deceived, with Sigismund’s help;
condemned; and burned John Hus on July 6, 1415, enrag-
ing his followers, the Hussites, in Bohemia. The resulting
long and vicious war lasted for decades. Sigismund’s
reforms of the empire accomplished little in gaining con-
trol over the prince-electors, who wanted to perpetuate
the usual weakness of the office. The council of BASEL
failed to accomplish much reform near the end of his
reign. Sigismund was perceived by many as having
attempted much and accomplished little. He died in 1437.
See alsoHOLYROMANEMPIRE; MORAVIA.
Further reading:Aziz Suryal Atiya, The Crusade of
Nicopolis(London: Methuen, 1934); Frederick G. Hey-
mann, George of Bohemia, King of Heretics(Princeton,
N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1965).silk and silk roads Far Eastern silk, used for the
liturgy and in princely courts, was highly sought after in
Europe from antiquity. It entered the Mediterranean from
China, which gave its name to one of the routes that
joined that country to the Near East, SYRIA, and IRAN
through Ecbatana, Ctesiphon, Dura Europos, and ANTI-
OCHor TYRE. In Persia, a transit thoroughfare for silk,
silkworms were cultivated after the route was established.
This was an industry kept secret until two Greek monks
smuggled the procedures of sericulture clandestinely to
the BYZANTINEEMPIRE. From the sixth century, Byzantine
silk production prospered in Syria at Antioch, BEIRUT,
and Tyre, and later at CONSTANTINOPLEitself after the loss
of the Eastern provinces. It was also practiced in GREECE
from the 11th century in the Peloponnese, including
Corinth, Thebes, Patras, and the island of Andros.
The Byzantines enforced an imperial monopoly on
the most precious silks, in particular those dyed with
murex or imperial purple. The emperor used silk gifts in
diplomatic transactions. In the West in the 11th century a
silk industry developed in Byzantine or southern ITA LY.
Under the NORMANSit spread to SICILY, around Messina,
PALERMO, and Cefalù. Silkworm rearing houses reached
northern Italy as a result of the demands and needs of
great and rich cities such as FLORENCE, VENICE, MILAN,
and GENOA. In the 12th century, LUCCAbecame a great
center of silk cloth weaving. In 1466 King LOUISXI intro-
duced the raising of silkworms into FRANCEbut the pro-
ject had little success. In SPAINsilkworm culture was
imported into AL-ANDALUSby Syrian refugees in the
eighth century.
Silk had long been used for liturgical vestments such
as chasubles, veils, or altar frontals and at courts for pres-
tigious garments. From the 13th century silk became a
much more common material for the tailored clothes of
both the court and business elites.
Further reading:Michel Balard, “Silk,” EMA2.1,355;
Irene M. Frank and David M. Brownstone, The Silk-Road: