GLOSSARY OF TERMS OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION

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THE NAME OF THE ROSE

Characters:

1.      What are the names of the two main characters of the movie?

They are William of Baskerville and Adso of Melk

2.      What religious order do they belong to? Who founded the order and what the order’s key principles?

They belong to the Franciscan religious order, founded by Saint Francis of Assisi. They defend, mainly, the poverty of Christ.

3.      What other famous pair in the crime novel could you compare them with?

I think William of Baskerville and Adso have some similarities with Sherlock Holmes and Watson: William analyzes the clues of the crime, and Adso is his assistant, similar to the British Sherlock and Watson.

4.      Why do these two characters go this Abbey in northern Italy?

They go there to debate whether Christ lived in poverty or not.

5.      What are the secret instruments that Brother William carries? Why did he cover them when he received the Abbot’s visit in his cell?

He was taking out of his bag a star meter and a sand clock, and he covered them with a blanket when he heard the Abbot’s steps. He hide them because he could get into trouble because he wasn't really faithful and a strong believer. Instead, he wanted to see something else.

6.      Which of the two theological current, Patristics or Scholasticism would you identify Brother William with? Why?
      He is from the Shcolasticism, because he likes to compaginate the religious believes with the search of reason, as he always wants to find a logical answer to everything, like the murders.

7.      Which character in the film would oppose, from the theological-philosophical point of view of Bro. William?

George of Burgos. While Bro. William defends certain ideas such as laughter, George disregards and hate on them.

8.      The character of Bro. William is inspired of William of Ockham. Finde some information about this character and his philosophy

William of Ockham was a Franciscan and philosopher, born in Surrey (England) in the 13^th Century. He was “the most nominalist person ever”. His ideas (from the nominalism) oppose to the existence of the universal concepts neither in the reality nor in the people’s mind.

9.      What does the peasant girl symbolize? What vision existed for women and love in the Middle Ages according to the film?

According to the film, the girl symbolizes the temptation and the evil. It was thought that women were distraction and bad things.

10.  Who were the “Dulcinians” or “Dulcinites”?

The Dulcinans were people, considered despicable, that stole from the rich to give it to the poor. In the film, Remigio took the food from the abbey to give it back to the peasants.

Which characters in the film practiced the heresy?

Apart from Remigio considered heretic, Salvatore also practiced heresy

Abbey:

1.      What monastic order does the abbey belong to?

The monks from the abbey are Benedictins.

2.      Who founded this order and what was their motto?

Its founder is Benit from Nursy. The motto that can be seen in the scriptorium is "ora e labora", but the real benedictins motto is "do not put anything before God's love".

3.      What activities take place in the monastery?

God is prayed, livestock raised, books copied…

4.      Why do the peasants go to the abbey? What were the social groups in the Middle Ages and what was their role in society?

Peasants go to the Abbey to pay the tithe to the monks (10% of the harvest). In the Middle Ages, during feudalism, peasants were the main supply of food for the rest of the states.

5.      What architectural style appears in the movie? And what are its main characteristics?

In the movie, it appears Romanesque in the Abbey and other buildings. The Romanesque is spiritual and dark, as it depicts the fear and respect to god. The churches are small, dark, with few windows, round arches and canon vault.

6.      Does the Abbey that inspired the novel still exist? Where is it?

Yes, the Saint Michael of Chiesa abbey really exists. It is on the Pirichiarno Mountain in Italy, some kilometers away from Rome.

The story

1.      After the first deaths, what book of the Bible seems to answer to those inexplicable murders? Why?

It was the apocalypse book, because year 1000 was close and because all deaths looked like they were similar to the predictions and storyline that this book of the Bible says.

2.      What is the debate that occurs in the Abbey about?

The debate was about the poverty of Christ (if Christ lived in poverty or not)

3.      Why Pontifical Delegates were sent to participate in this debate?
     Because they were the rivals of the franciscans in the debate about the poverty of Christ. The Pontifical Delegates defend that the Church should keep it's wealth.

4.      What are the two opposing argument that mark the debate?

One of the arguments is that the Church should be poor and give its possessions to the most needed, as Christ did. The other argument claims that if the Church is poor, it will have nothing to fight the unfaithful.

5.      What does Bernardo Gui symbolize? Did he really exist?

Bernardo Gui symbolizes the Inquisition and the most conservative and assertive face of the Church. He really existed. He was a French Dominique and Inquisitor who wrote a book about inquisition and heresy.

6.      What was the Holy Inquisition?

It was a Christian religious organization that was in charge of controlling what is said about religion, to censure blasphemy and to fight heresy.

7.      What tricks are used by the Director to keep the plot’s intrigue and the viewer’s attention?

He tries to confuse the viewer, making him doubt which one of the ugly monks is the bad one. Also, constant killings and the small guiltiness of the monks are showed to keep the intrigue.

8.      What does ugliness symbolize in the movie?

It symbolizes everything evil and non-religious. The ugly monks have bad intentions behind and make the viewer see them as suspects of the crimes of the Abbey.

The books

1.      What classical authors is Bro. William “in love” with?

He says he is in love with the Greek philosopher Aristotle and with the Roman writers Ovidio and Virgilio.

2.      What do these authors have in common?

They are all from the Greco-Latin culture and literature

3.      What opposing arguments about laughter appear in the movie?

George of Burgos says that laughter is an evil thing that makes men look like monkeys. He also says that Christ never laughed.

4.      What forbidden book used humor and comedy as an instrument of truth?

It was Aristotle second poetic book, which was lost centuries ago and was dedicated to humor as an instrument of truth

5.      Why did Venerable Jorge poison the tips of that book’s pages?

Because he hated laughter, and that book was about comedy and humor. As a way to punish the sinners who read the book, he poisoned the tips of the pages of the book, so when the reader wets his fingers and touches it to move to the next page, he will make contact with the poison.

6.      Why did Umberto Eco title his novel as The Name of the Rose?

He named it like that to make a reference to a Bernard Gui’s poem. This poem says that in this imperfect world, the only things that never die are ideas. This can be seen in the movie about the concepts of laughter and the Inquisition.

Commentary

I found this film interesting at first, but then it began to bore me out. I know it is very instructive: it teaches history and makes the viewer think about the Inquisition and the ideas of the time. However, it was very long for me, and in most parts I didn’t really understand the plot and what was going on.