600 Procopius of Caesarea
and demonstrations of obedience to the emperor. Other
occasions for processions were feasts of Christ, the Virgin
MARY, the saints; the anniversary of the dedication of
Constantinople on May 21; deliverance from siege; or
commemoration of a victory. There were, moreover,
some 68 annual processions filling out the calendar at
Constantinople.
Further reading:Terence Bailey, The Processions of
Sarum and the Western Church(Toronto: Pontifical Insti-
tute of Mediaeval Studies, 1971); Colin Dunlop, Proces-
sions: A Dissertation, Together with Practical Suggestions
(London: Oxford University Press, 1932); Michael
McCormick, Eternal Victory: Triumphal Rulership in Late
Antiquity, Byzantium, and the Early Medieval West(Cam-
bridge: Cambridge University Press, 1986); Edward Muir,
Ritual in Early Modern Europe(Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press, 1997).
Procopius of Caesarea(ca. 500–ca. 560/565) historian
Procopius was born in Caesarea in PALESTINE. After a
classical education and practicing as a lawyer or advocate
and rhetorician, he became secretary to the general BELIS-
ARIUSin 527. He took part in his wars against the Per-
sians, the VANDALS, and the OSTROGOTHS. Disillusioned
with Belisarius, he probably had returned to CON-
STANTINOPLEby 542; there besides witnessing the great
PLAGUE, he wrote a history of Belisarius’s wars and an
account of the public buildings, including HAGIASOPHIA,
constructed during the reign of JUSTINIAN. His notorious,
but remarkable Secret Historyfrom about 550 recorded
the scandals of the court of Justinian and his wife,
THEODORA, including, if not highlighting, their personal
failings. Some have claimed that he could not have
intended that it ever be circulated or published. He died
sometime after 560.
Further reading:Procopius, Procopius,trans. H. B.
Dewing, 7 vols. (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University
Press, 1953–1962); Averil Cameron, Procopius and the
Sixth Century(Berkeley: University of California Press,
1985); J. A. S. Evans, Procopius(New York: Twayne Pub-
lishers, 1972).
prohibited degrees SeeFAMILY AND KINSHIP; MARRIAGE.
prophecy Prophets were the inspired deliverers of
God’s message in Christianity, JUDAISM, and ISLAM.
Prophecy in the Hebrew Bible and the Christian Old
Testament was uttered by the prophets of Israel who
were chosen by God and were sent as a guiding spirit.
Among their roles were announcing the coming of a
Messiah by explaining signs and reminding kings of
their fidelity to an alliance between God and his chosen
people. Jesus was considered by some the culmination
of this prophetic tradition; with him revelation was
now complete. For Muslims, Moses and Jesus were
prophets of God but had an incomplete message fully
conveyed later by Muhammad, who was the last true
prophet of God.
For medieval Christianity prophecy and the status of
the prophet changed. It was no longer necessary to
decode obscure passages from the past, particularly those
linked to the time when the Messiah would return. The
belief evolved that prophetic abilities or at least interpre-
tation of the intentions of God was now reserved to the
pope, bishops, and clergy, who were charged with guiding
CHRISTENDOM. As the sole interpreters of Scripture, they
considered themselves to have the power and responsibil-
ity for distinguishing true and false prophets. All
prophecy outside Christendom including the message of
Muhammad, was considered inauthentic.
The writings of HILDEGARDof Bingen in the late 12th
century made warnings of dire punishments by several
popes and the emperor FREDERICKI Barbarossa because
of their political and religious conflicts. Medieval
prophecy about the ages of the world and its end was
made more complicated around 1200 by the work of
JOACHIMof Fiore.
The first half of the 14th century was distinguished
by numerous odd prophetic groups in Languedoc, such
as those around Peter John OLIVI; Arnold of Villanova
(ca. 1240–1311), a doctor for the king of Aragon; and the
Franciscan Angelo Clareno (ca. 1255–1337) in Italy. They
stressed the possible eschatological role for the laity. The
papacy reacted quickly and brutally to what was per-
ceived as a threat to its spiritual hegemony, often killing
inopportune prophets. Still other prophets linked the
crises of plague, military defeats, and all kinds of other
problems with the arrival of an ANTICHRIST. He was
already born and would soon cause the end of the world.
The prophets’ roles had changed to interpreting contem-
porary events and to identifying an Antichrist or a mes-
sianic king among the princes of his time. Prophecy had
become a political genre especially interested in the
worldly fate of Christendom, its kingdoms, or even down
to the level of the Italian cities. The ecclesiastical chaos
and the consequent discrediting of the clergy during the
GREAT SCHISM between 1378 and 1417 increased this
kind of activity. For the rest of the 15th century prophets
cast doubt on the magisterium or the teaching authority
of the papacy and of learned university professors and on
the role of the clergy as the exclusive intermediary
between God and humans.
See alsoBIRGITTA OFSWEDEN,SAINT;CATHERINE OF
SIENA, SAINT;ESCHATOLOGY; GERSON, JOHN; JOAN OFARC,
SAINT.
Further reading:Lesley A. Coote, Prophecy and Pub-
lic Affairs in Later Medieval England(Woodbridge: Boydell
Press, 2000); Yohanan Friedmann, Prophecy Continuous:
Aspects of Ahmadi Religious Thought and Its Medieval
Background (Berkeley: University of California Press,