The aim of the study is to consider the role and place of the Ethiopian Orthodox Christian Church in preserving the ancient traditions and culture of the peoples of Ethiopia. The history of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church is closely related to that of the Alexandrian Orthodox Church, but for a significant part of its history it fought for autocephaly, which was achieved only under Emperor Haile Selassie I. The most important function of the Church in Ethiopia was education and spread of literacy, the preservation and transfer of knowledge in the field of religion and public administration. The objective of the study is to analyze how this function was implemented during the first half of the XX century. The research is based on the documents of the Archive of Foreign Policy of the Russian Federation and of the Ethiopian Microfilm Laboratory EMML.

The religious movement of the Beguines in Languedoc in the first quarter of the XIV century is a unique phenomenon of the development of the ideology of spirituals — ideology that arose within Franciscanism. Using his example, it is possible to clearly trace how the ideology of educated intellectuals, who developed it and discussed it within their own order, passed to groups of representatives of the urban population. The new adherents of the teaching developed it within the framework of their idea of how a “classical” religious movement should be built — their own saints, martyrs, martyrologies and holy relics appeared. In Western historiography, in the presence of a large amount of collected material, the activities of individuals who have left written evidence of the development of the doctrine of the Holy Spirit are actively studied, however, there is no connection between how these ideas were practically introduced into the minds of people far from intellectual disputes and their development within urban population groups.

The article deals with Apocalypse cycle of cloisonné enamels created in the early 2000-s by Russian and Greek artist Nilolaos Masteropoulos. The article analyses the concept of this creation, conceived as an actual art work made by medieval tool — ancient technique of cloisonné enamel, reconstructed and reconceived by the artist. The choice of the old technique which disappeared in byzantine tradition in 13th century is united with the subject which was not typical for byzantine art at all and appeared only in the early 15th century in the wall painting of Annunciation Cathedral of Moscow Kremlin, ordered by Russian prince and painted by Byzantine artist Theophanes the Greek. This union, demonstrating the artist’s deep knowledge in the art history and scientific literature, does not turn this Apocalypse into intellectual rebus or kind of historical reconstruction. Reviving ancient techniques and using ancient symbols, Nikolaos Masteropulos created an actual art work, intended for beholding by his contemporaries.

Pseudo-Dionysius And Christian Visual Culture