Catalan surnames, Y-DNA and the Sayabiga?

An interesting  new study may have some bearing on the theories discussed on this blog on the Sayabiga connection of the Agotes and Cagots of Spain, France and other areas of Western Europe.

The study Y-chromosome diversity in Catalan surname samples: insights into surname origin and frequency examines 50 Catalan surnames chosen based mainly on their current frequency in the region.  While most of the Y-DNA haplogroups discovered from the sample of 1375 men were of expected European origin with a significant number of North African/Middle Eastern examples, two haplogroups are of interest regarding the Agote/Cagot theory.

Three individuals, all from the Girona region, shared the C* haplogroup while a single person from Castells has the K* haplogroup.   All the C* individuals had the surname Llach, which translates to "lake."  The sole K* has the surname Ferrer meaning "smith."

The markers used in the test can be found at http://0-www.nature.com.es.library.du.ac.bd/ejhg/journal/vaop/ncurrent/extref/ejhg201514x11.pdf.  From this table, we can see that the study tested for the M8 (C1a1) and M219 (C2) markers, so the absense of these markers translates to a solid identification of C*. 

From the corresponding Universitat Pompeu Fabra website, we can find an analysis of each of the surnames studies. Here is the entry for "Llach":

 Llach. Cognom poc abundant, típic de la Garrotxa, el Pla de l’Estany, el Gironès i Perpinyà. Se’n troba un exemple entre els immigrants francesos al fogatge de 1637.
Hem pogut obtenir resultats de tots els 26 voluntaris d’aquest cognom, que pertanyen a 8 llinatges diferents (llinatge en el sentit de grup homes descendents d’un avantpassat comú). Es tracta d’una diversitat genètica moderadament  elevada per a un cognom relativament freqüent. Veiem que els Llach de les comarques gironines pertanyen a quatre llinatges diferents (precisament, els anomenats de l’1 al 4), i també són de llinatges particulars els Llach pirinencs (el llinatge 6), del Berguedà (7) i de Castelló (8). Cal remarcar que el fundador del llinatge 1 pertanyia a l’haplogrup C*, que es troba en freqüències elevades a l’Àsia Oriental, i que a Europa difícilment es dóna més enllà d’Europa Oriental. Entre els més de 400 fundadors de llinatges que hem analitzat fins ara, aquest és l’únic C* que hem trobat.

 Here is a translation from the Anthrogenica forum (emphasis added):

Llach. An uncommon surname, typical of la Garrotxa, Pla de l’Estany, Gerona and Perpignan. We find an example among French immigrants in 1637 hearth tax.

We were able to get results from all 26 volunteers for this surname, which belong to eight different lineages (lineage group in the sense of people descended from a common ancestor). This is a moderately high genetic diversity for a relatively common name. We see that the Llachs of the Gironne [?] region belong to four different lineages ... and the individual lineages are Llach Pyrenees ( lineage 6 ) of Berguedá (7) and Castellón ( 8). Importantly, the founder of the lineage 1 belonged to haplogroup C * , which is found in high frequencies in East Asia, and in Europe there is hardly beyond Eastern Europe. Among the more than 400 founding lineages that we have analyzed so far, this is the only one we've found C * .

Children believed to be descendents of the Cagots at La fontaine Saint-Blaise à Bagnères

C* strongly linked with ISEA

In fact, we know from previous studies by Karafet et al. and Delfin et al. that C*, known as C-
RPS4Y* and CRPS4Y respectively, are strongly associated with the Insular Southeast Asian (ISEA) region. 

Karafet et al. shows only 17 out of 581 Mainland Southeast Asian samples with C*, while Western Indonesia has 40 out of 960 in Western Indonesia, 145 out of 957 in Eastern Indonesia and 2 out of 182 in Oceania.  Variance is significantly higher in Eastern Indonesia suggesting that as the place of origin in this study. 

In Delfin et al., 8.9% of Negrito peoples in the Philippines have C*, while the percentage among non-Negrito indigenous and Muslim peoples in the same country is 7.1%.

 K* also connects with ISEA

The single K* individual tested negative for L or the MNOPS groups showing a strong association with the K*, a type that also is found mostly in Insular Southeast Asia and particularly with the Philippines.  Delfin et al. also tests for the subgroups L and MNOPS and finds that 32.2% of Negrito Filipinos and  8.1% of Muslim and indigenous non-Negrito Filipinos are K*. 

Conclusion

The Catalan surname study may suggest that a small percentage of Y-DNA haplogroups are of ISEA origin in one of the main areas associated in this blog with the Sayabiga.  Additionally, it was closely linked with the Agotes and the adjoining region of France was connected with the Cagots.

Indeed, Girona (Gerona) was the location of a particular late study on the Cagots at the turn of the 20th century.

Of course, as the Sayabiga did not appear to be endogamous like the Gitano/Roma, we may expect that some paternal lineages may have already been "switched out" during stays in other areas associated with the Sayabiga including Basra in Iraq.  For comparison, no H1 or H1a lineages, common among the Gitano, were found in this study.

Interestingly, no examples of the O haplogroups that are so common nowadays were found in this research.  Possibly, these groups were not as predominant in certain regions as they are today, however, it is difficult to say with such a small data set. 

Unfortunately, the surnames Borja, Borgia, Borge, etc. were not included in the study as the results would have been interesting to see.  Indeed, this opens up quite a bit of territory for future research to confirm whether these findings do indeed confirm a Sayabiga link.

The Christian Buddha

Returning over the next few blog posts to the theme of the migration of Tantric elements from South and Southeast Asia across the Muslim world into Europe, probably the most noteworthy literary evidence of this transmission of ideas comes in the story of Barlaam and Josaphat.

The Sayabiga, I have suggested in this blog, played an important role in the transmission of Tantric ideas, as they migrated along the trade routes seemingly always accompanied for some reason by another group known as the Zutt (Jats). The Sayabiga originally came from Zabag (Suvarnadvipa) and the king of that country had a great interest in reaching out to far-off kingdoms.  During the Pala dynasty, we hear of Serlingpa, a prince of Suvarnadvipa, bringing a number of Tantric texts including the abridged Kalacakra Tantra from Shamhbala, which can thus be equated with Suvarnadvipa. Even earlier, this same regional king, who was known by Muslims as the Mihraj, had sent correspondence to the Umayyad caliphs Mu'awiyah and Umar ibn abd al-Aziz.

Along the trade routes, the merchants and seafarers of Zabag had absorbed Tantric Buddhist and Muslim, mostly Shiite, influences.  In Europe, I have suggested that Sayabiga settled in the areas of the rice fields of Valencia with their tidal rice and fishing culture based on the tropical Japonica rice strain. Some of these Sayabiga may have dispersed along the pilgrimage routes to Santiago de Compostela in connection with the people known as Agotes and Cagots.


The Legend of Barlaam and Josaphat

Two important texts were transmitted into Europe from the East during the Romanesque period.  These were the books known as the Legend of Barlaam and Josaphat and the European versions of the Arabic Kalilah wa Dimnah, based on the Sanskrit Panchatantra.

The Barlaam legend contains the story of the cattari-pubba-nimattani, the "four signs" of the Buddha.  In the story, the Indian prince Josaphat is confined within the wall of the king's palace to keep the prince safe from the evils of the world.  The prince though becomes the subject of a prophecy that declares he will either become a great world conqueror or shall take up the life of an ascetic.  He manages to convince his father to allow him to make excursions to the park outside the walls of the palace escorted by his friends.  There he encounters for the first time in order an old man, a sick man, a corpse, and lastly, an ascetic.  Eventually Josaphat decides to join the ascetic, Barlaam, and renounces the throne to become a hermit himself.  Now, these important elements of the story provide a near replica of the tale of Gautama Buddha.

A sculpture at the Parma Cathedral by Benedetto Antelami (c. 1150 – c. 1230) shows St. Josaphat, i.e., the Christianized Buddha, standing in the Tree of Life after being transported there by angels. (Source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/15762541@N06/2230621003/

According to the text itself, the Barlaam story was written down by one John the Monk of St. Sabas Monastery near Bethlehem.  John reportedly received the legend from "pious men" from India who apparently translated the tale.  However, all Europeans versions of the Barlaam legend that exist today are thought to trace back to a Greek translation of a 10th century Georgian version by Euthymius the Iberian.

The Georgian version in turn is derived from the Ismaili Shi'ite text Kitab Bilawhar wa Budhasaf in Arabic, which dates to about the 8th century. An Old French version by Gui de Cambrai appears around 1215 in Western Europe.  Around 1250, Hebrew and Old Spanish versions of Kalilah wa Dimnah also appear on the European scene, so we can say rather confidently that the transmission of the two texts was linked at least to some extent.

The ultimate source of both the Buddha and Panchatantra stories appears to be Buddhist.  Such a contention is natural enough with the story of the four signs, but the Panchatantra leads us further to make a connection with the Tantric Buddhism of Tibet.

In the Kalilah wa Dimnah cycle we find the story of the interpretation of the king's dreams that has a decided anti-brahmin bias.  The story is completely missing from the Hindu Panchatantra, but is found in the Tibetan Kanjur. 


Flow of knowledge from the East

We know that during Abbasid times the caliphs, probably attempting to imitate Sassanian rulers, welcomed scholars from all directions and particularly from "India" to their courts. In 772, for example, a scholar from Indian brought an astronomical work called the Sindhind to the court of al-Mansur.

However, many of the "Tantric" cultural elements appear to have been transmitted more by groups of wandering ascetics, probably connected with the Zutt and Sayabiga, who it has been suggested eventually helped spawn the Sufi Dervish sects.  The early ascetics appear to have had a Shi'ite bias and we can see that particularly in the mystical orientation of the Ismaili branch of the Shi'a religion.

Zutt and Sayabiga, described alternately as guards, mercenaries, pirates, farmers, and buffalo herders, were already present in the Sassanian empire before the Arab invasions.  Many of these people were forcibly moved to the swamps around Basra to help in creating an agricultural system there.  So, it is worth noting the position of Basra as an early center of Islamic mysticism with its blending of Persian and Indic influences.  Both Sayabiga and the Zutt were later moved to northern Syria, which like Basra also became strongly associated with Ismaili and Sufi mysticism.

At some point also, the "Gypsy" Sayabiga and Zutt appear to have located themselves in Egypt.  A few names provide some evidence of these groups in the history of the region.  For example, from 815 to 820, the governor of Egypt was Yusuf al-Zutti, whose nisba "surname" indicates he was from a Zutt tribe. Salim Bayya' al-Zutti was a Shi'ite faqih and a companion of the Imams Musa ibn Ja'far and 'Ali ibn Musa.

Likewise, the captain of the guard of Caliph Ali was Ma'kal Ibn Kifi al-Zabaji, whose nisba could indicate ancestry from Zabag.  A number of Muslim authors testify that the Sayabiga were widely employed as guards, for example, at the treasury of Basra.   The early Sufi mystic Salim al-Barusi may trace his descent from Barus or Balus in Sumatra, the home of the famous Fansuri camphor, while another Sufi sage Abu Yazid al-Waqwaqi has a nisba that could indicate his heritage from the islands of Waqwaq south of Zabag.

The evidence of a Tibetan Buddhist background to the texts of Kalilah wa-Dimnah and Barlaam and Josaphat would fit in well with the Sayabiga presence as Zabag had established links with Tibet through the Kalacakra doctrine.  Serlingpa was stated by various sources to have brought texts in the historical period (10th-11th centuries) from Shambhala, and other sources claim or suggest that he was himself the author of important texts and commentaries.  Thus, Shambhala was not simply an imaginal location as suggested by some, but a real place identical with Suvarnadvipa (Zabag).

Indeed, the Sufi and Ismaili sacred geographies, also often interpreted as purely imaginal, are geographically located in the same general region as Shambhala-Suvarnadvipa.  In the Sea of China, was sacred Mt. Qaf and the talking Waqwaq Tree (Wakwak).  Many locations like the mystical fortress island Kangdez were even given latitude and longitude coordinates in Islamic geographical tables.

The appearance of the Hebrew and Spanish versions of the Panchatantra tales seem to point toward a southern entrance of these Tibetan Buddhist stories.  Although the earliest Western European variant of Barlaam and Josaphat appears in France, Spain was also an important center for Barlaam tales.  Spain and neighboring southern France experienced a flowering of mysticism during this period.

In the areas inhabited by the Agote-Cagot people, this influence was strongest where it appears together with "Tantric" material of a sexual nature found in both church art and in the literature of the troubadours.  In Languedoc, the Cathars adopted Barlaam and Josaphat as an important book, and according to D.M. Lang they even used the text to defend their rejection of material pleasures, property ownership, and the practice of asceticism among the Perfecti order. Some have even claimed that the Provencal version of Barlaam was a crypto-Cathar document.

In neighboring Provence, the Jewish Kabbalah arises around the same time as Catharism. Like the latter, it shares attitudes towards reincarnation, the transmigration of souls back and forth between humans and animals, and other spiritual beliefs with the Cathars. That the Kabbalah mystics were strongly influenced by Sufism and Ismaili Shi'ism is a standard view in the scholarly world.


Impact of the Legend of Barlaam and Josaphat


Even though this story became popular in Europe only in the 13th century, the tale became so widespread that both the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches eventually accepted both Barlaam and Josaphat as saints.  Philip Almond describes the story's almost unparalleled popularity:

It enjoyed a popularity attained perhaps by no other legend. It spread into nearly all the countries of Christendom and is extant in over sixty versions...and even at the beginning of the eighteenth century, returned to the East in a Philippine dialect. It was also included in Vincent of Beauvais's thirteenth century Speculum historiale, and in the Legenda Aurea of Jacobus de Voragine in the same century. It was probably from Caxton's English translation of the latter work, The Golden Legend, that Shakespeare borrowed the fable of the caskets for use in The Merchant of Venice. 

Even as late as the 19th-20th centuries, the book had influenced Leo Tolstoy to renounce materialism in the middle of his life. It may not be a coincidence that the flourishing of monastic orders like the Augustinians, Carmelites, Cistercians, Dominicans, and Franciscans, which helped propagate Romanesque architecture,  occurred after the original translations of the work into Greek and Latin.


Regards,
Paul Kekai Manansala
Sacramento

References

Almond, Philip C.  "The Buddha of Christendom: A review of the legend of Barlaam & Josaphat," Religious Studies, 23, 1987: 391-406.

Ashtiany, Julia. ʻAbbasid Belles-Lettres. The Cambridge history of Arabic literature. Cambridge [England]: Cambridge University Press, 1990, 140-1.

Bīdpāī, and I. G. N. Keith-Falconer. Kalilah and Dimnah. Cambridge: University press, 1885.

Lach, Donald Frederick. Asia in the Making of Europe. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1965, 100-111.

Surmelian, Leon Z. Daredevils of Sassoun; The Armenian National Epic. Denver: A. Swallow, 1964, 254.

Tolstoy, L. A Confession and What I Believe, London, 1921, 23-4.

More Romanesque motifs: Tree of Jesse and the Tree of Life

The Tree of Jesse is another Romanesque-Gothic motif worth examining for evidence for the eastern influence that I have suggested was largely brought by Sayabiga settlers -- a segment of which may have become or fused with the people known as Agotes.

In 1929, Ananda K. Coomaraswamy had suggested that the theme of the reclining, sleeping Visnu giving birth to the creator god Brahma through a lotus sprouting from his navel, a form of Visnu also known as Padmanabha or  Anantasayana, was the probable source of the Tree of Jesse motif.  I would add that not only was the Padmanabha a source but also the Tree of Life theme from Southeast Asia, and the related motifs found on totem poles and textiles from the same region.



Visnu reclining and sleeping on a bed of serpents (Anantasesa) in the Milky Ocean gives rise to the creator deity Brahma via a lotus that sprouts from his navel.  The relief above is from Ellora Cave 15 and dates to the late 8th century.  (Source: elloracaves.org)



The oldest complete Tree of Jesse depiction from the Chartres Cathedral in France dating to 1145.  Based on Isaiah's prophecy: "there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots" (Isaiah 11:1), the window shows Jesse at the bottom with the tree rising out of his "navel."  (Source: Sacred Destinations)




The full Tree of Jesse from Chartres showing the lineage of Jesus from Jesse. (Source: Tree of Jesse, Wikipedia) 



Padmanabha image from Hampi, India. (Source: http://www.travelpod.com/travel-photo/lraleigh/youarehere./1175963580/img_2579.jpg/tpod.html)


The prototype of the Visnu-Padmanabha motif is found in the Atharvaveda, generally dated to at least the 6th century BCE, which mentions a Great Yaksa, or tree spirit, that sleeps on the cosmic ocean.  Periodically, a lotus springs from the Yaksa's navel giving birth to the creator Prajapati.  When the worship of Visnu began to come to the fore, that deity took the place of the Yaksa in Vaisnava lore.

Visnu-Padmanabha in more or less full form first appears at the 6th century CE Deogarh Temple in central India although in this case the lotus emerges from in back of Visnu from the ocean rather than from his navel.  The example above from Ellora is an early example of the motif with the lotus and Brahma arising from Visnu's navel.  In many cases, the Tree of Jesse springs from in back of the patriarch rather than from his navel, probably for reasons of artistic preference since the tree trunk must taper to a very small diameter when coming from the navel, and looks like it is coming from the belly when the trunk is depicted in a more realistic proportion.

In some cases, the Tree of Jesse is also shown specifically coming from the navel as in the early13th century Bavarian ivory panel shown below.



Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Tree_of_Jesse_Louvre_OA10428.jpg


An example of the Visnu-Padmanabha theme that overlaps with the Romanesque period is the giant bronze statue from Angkor in Cambodia dated to the 11th century.  The surviving fragment of this statue is eight feet long and according to some estimates the entire artifact would exceed 20 feet in length making it the largest bronze statue of the ancient or medieval period still extant, if only partially so. 

While the motif of humans or deities arising from vegetation that springs from the navel of a sleeping, reclining male progenitor seems certainly to come from an Indic source, the specific "family tree" motif seems to have Southeast Asian connections.

Firstly, the form of the "tree" is not the classic "family tree" of modern genealogies.  The tree has a vertical orientation similar to pedigree poles and pedigree lineages displayed in Southeast Asian textiles.  In the case of the Tree of Jesse, the older ancestors are at the bottom starting with Jesse and the lineage is shown in order as one goes higher all the way up to Mary, the mother of Jesus, who appears just below her son.

In a similar sense, the totemic pedigree pole generally shows ancestors in order in a vertical fashion.  And in Southeast textiles, ancestor figures, either anthropomorphic or symbolic, are often shown connected, interlocked or overlapping in a vertical fashion based on order of descent.




Maori totem pole, Mt. Victoria, New Zealand (Source: http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/dNAo2GzCDCTMiixEzAVvOA)




Maori totem pole (Source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/robdickson/370674999/)


Totem pole from Borneo (Source: http://www.taicollection.com/files/index.htm)



Ikat hinggi from Sumba, Indonesia. (Source: http://www.trocadero.com/stores/cranegallery/items/946080/item946080.html)




Mandaya ikat from Mindanao, Philippines with anthropomorphic figures. (Source: http://www.trocadero.com/bundok48/items/930832/en1.html)



Moai or stone statues from Easter Island are found in ceremonial plots known as ahu, which is also the name of the descent group associated with each group of moai.  The statues, the earliest dating back to about 1000-1100 CE, are believed to be those of prominent ancestors and they face towards the lineage's community.  The arrangement in neat rows could possibly show order of descent as in the totem pole, although for practical reasons the moai could not be arranged vertically. (Source: http://www.world-mysteries.com/easter_island.htm)

If one looks closely at the Tree of Jesse images above (click on source links for full size options) from Chartres Cathedral, the figures are not clearly seated (although they could be leaning on the tree trunk) and have their arms outstretched holding the branches of the tree.  One could interpret this as a variation of the squatting figure motif mentioned in the post "More on "Tantric" influence on Romanesque art," with the hands raised up. As mentioned in that article, the squatting figure motif often has ancestral significations.  A similar type of positioning is seen at York Minster dating to 1150, and from Canterbury Cathedral from the late 12th to early 13th century, although in the latter case the figures are seated on throne-like chairs.


Tree of Life motif in Southeast Asian pedigree representations

The burial poles of indigenous peoples of Borneo like the Iban and Kenyah and known by names like pantar and sanggaran are decorated with mythical motifs like the hornbill, the serpent or dragon, spears, swords, and jars.  In the local belief system, these burial poles are seen as symbols of the Tree of Life.



Totem burial pole at the Sarawak Museum. These poles are seen as representing the Tree of Life. (Source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/32734523@N08/3060638554)

The vegetative motifs and the birds and serpents often displayed on Maori totem poles indicate that a similar belief system may have also operated at one time with these memorial carvings.

In a similar system, representations of ancestors and totems on Southeast Asian textiles are often shown together with representations of the Tree of Life.



A ba baby carrier from Borneo showing a squatting guardian figure clutching a stylized Tree of Life. (Source: http://www.lelong.com.my/Auc/List/2010-04DeStd58768938_AUCTION_-Traditional-BABY-CARRIER-beads-craft-art-antiques-Dayak.htm)


Tree of Life in Southeast Asia and Oceania

Waruno Mahdi and Stephen Oppenheimer have studied the importance of the Tree of Life theme in the regions of Southeast Asia and Oceania.  Mahdi compared beliefs in this region to those in South Asia, while Oppenheimer studied the Tree of Life myths worldwide.

According to Mahdi, the Tree of Life in Southeast Asia, Oceania and South Asia was predominantly associated with Ficus species due to the characteristic of having aerial roots.



Aerial roots at Ta Promh, Cambodia (Source: http://www.myseveralworlds.com/2007/11/09/the-banyans-of-ta-prohm/)


Aerial roots (Source: http://outdoors.webshots.com/photo/1131080103044331310ksDLmg)

Aerial roots extending from the branches to the ground were seen as representing the connection between sky and earth, between the upper and lower worlds in many Austronesian cultures and also in other regional mythologies.  The important of the aerial roots relates not only to the mythology, ritual and folklore, but also apparently to shamanic practices, for example, the Tree of Life motif appears on textiles used in regional shamanic ritual.

However, it was not simply symbols of the Tree of Life that were used. More commonly actual Banyan or Benjamin type trees were placed on temples or ceremonial platforms, or such structures to include meetings houses were located adjacent to particularly significant trees.  Also, ritual ceremony and dance grounds were often marked off by perimeters that corresponded to the shadow cast by a great Ficus with aerial branches. In some cases, the ritual center was carved out of the tree itself.



The Hindu-Buddhist Kalpataru Tree at the Borobudur stupa in Java. Geese and possibly half-geese kinnaras-kinnaris are shown under the tree. (Source: http://viewmorepics.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=viewImage&friendID=225953707&albumID=495816&imageID=3808997)



Stylized Orang Ulu Tree of Life from Sarawak with aerial roots spiraling to ground.  (Source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/87453322@N00/3877832454/)




Tree of Life at the Wat Xieng Thong Temple built in 1560,  Luang Prabang, Laos. (Source: Luang Prabang)



Some Romanesque trumeaus and the Tree of Life

Both Mahdi and Oppenheimer note in their studies the close linkage between the Tree of Life and the bird and serpent/dragon motif.  The bird and serpent can be seen as types of opposites that represent both conflict and also the creative aspect of union. The Tree of Life itself covers many aspects of duality including the opposition of sky and earth, male and female, and death and resurrection, along with related themes involving warring brothers, jealousy, greed, and fertility.

The trumeau, or tympanum column, below is from Sainte-Marie, Souillac, France dating to 1120-35.


Source: http://www.wga.hu/html/zgothic/1romanes/po-12c11/12f_1100.html

For the full size image of the trumeau, click here.

You can see that from three corners of the capital there appear to be what could be interpreted as aerial roots curving down all the way to the base of the trumeau. The claws of the topmost bird figure can be seen clutching one of these roots or branches.

While the scenes involving various creatures gnawing at each other have been interpreted as "hellish," there are obvious Biblical references included on the column such as the Sacrifice of Isaac.

The Sacrifice of Isaac might be appropriate here for it is viewed a symbol of the death and resurrection of Christ, which in turn is a model of the dying and rising tree i.e., the Tree of Life. The gnawing beasts -- griffins, dragons, reptiles, lions -- might represent the conflict associated with the journey from birth to death.  Scenes of violence, hunting, biting, etc. are also often also displayed in Southeast Asian depictions of the Tree of Life.

In trumeaus from Moissac that are believed related to the Souillac one, the bodies of human figures (St. Paul and Prophet Jeremiah) are shown elongated with especially the legs looking like the aerial roots or branches as shown in the Souillac trumeau.



Note the long, root-like legs.  Source: http://employees.oneonta.edu/farberas/arth/Images/arth212images/Romanesque/Moissac/trumeau.jpg




Source: http://employees.oneonta.edu/farberas/arth/Images/ARTH212images/Romanesque/Moissac/trumeau_paul.jpg


One can also view the scrolling branches and the scrolls held by the prophets to side of each ancestor in the Chartres Jesse Tree above as representing aerial roots.  The scrolls held by the prophets flanking Jesse seem to fall down from above their heads and reach all the way to the ground.

Tightly-interlocked animals and humans on the Souillac and Moissac trumeaus might also be seen as similar to a mass of intertwined aerial roots.  The practice of closely interlocking or compressing animals in totemic designs can be found in both Southeast Asia and the Pacific as seen in some of the examples below.





Maori totem pole with highly stylized representations of birds (beaks) and other creatures. (Source: http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/wQbwaprEGJRy7xRciJK0Gw)





Maori totem pole (Source: http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/xzN3UmPwlz4vCFNG350lAQ)

From Oppenheimer, illustration 32, depicting spirit brothers Lawena and Dawena with one of the cockatoos holding a severed head in its beak, from incised bamboo, Kambot, Papua New Guinea.

From Oppenheimer, illustration 16, Wain and followers showing images tightly compressed in space with many of the creatures biting at the genital areas of others, from incised bamboo, Kambot, Papua New Guinea.



Totem pole from Borneo with stylized hornbill and other creatures. (Source: http://mykambatikworld.blogspot.com/2009/07/blog-post.html)


A modern Maori totem pole designed for tourists.  Here the stylized animals are transformed in to realistic Western-style representations. (Source: http://www.fly-to-neverland.com/nz/nz7.html)


Sets of motifs

The suggested cognates in motifs between the Visnu-Padmanabha theme from India and the Tree of Jesse are:

• Male ancestor or primordial deity is shown reclining with vegetation rising out of navel.
• The said figure is usually shown as sleeping with eyes closed.
• The head is often resting on or propped up by hand.
• The said figure is usually reclining on right side with head on right hand.
• The vegetation can sprout either out of the navel or from the rear of the said figure, in the case of the Tree of Jesse sometimes from his side.
• Humans or deities are sitting, standing or squatting on the vegetation rising out of the navel.

Tree of Jesse (Capuchin's Bible, c. 1180) showing the patriarch reclining on his right side with eyes closed and head resting on right hand, compare with images of Visnu above.  (Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:JesseTree.JPG)



 Tree of Jesse (Scherenberg Psalter, c.1260), with head propped on right hand and eyes closed. (Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Cod_St_Peter_perg_139_Scherenberg-Psalter_7v_.jpg)


The Southeast Asian Tree of Life motifs found in common with the Tree of Jesse motif are:

• Vertical arrangement of ancestors in order of descent.
• Ancestors are placed in or around tree.
• Ancestors may be framed in branches/aerial roots of tree, and may be grasping these branches/aerial roots.
• Ancestors may be shown in variation of squatting figure motif -- front-facing with arms outstretched to the side and hands raised.
• The ancestor figures are often connected -- by the trunk of the tree, a root/vine, a line, etc. 
• The Souillac and Moissac trumeaus appear to have representations or stylized representations of aerial roots and the depiction of animals on the columns is similar to that seen on totem poles and other indigenous art in Southeast Asia and the Pacific.

Dating of the motifs in Southeast Asia and the Pacific can be difficult.  For example, squatting figures may be found arranged in either vertical or horizontal lines, and may be connected together, but we cannot say for sure that this represents an ancestral lineage.

Also, in modern times, something as simple as a triangle can represent the Tree of Life to one set of textile weavers, the Cosmic Mountain to another, and both motifs to yet another group of weavers.  However, we do not know for sure that such simple symbols had the same meaning long ago.

However, the combination of South Asian and Southeast Asian motifs fits in nicely with the idea of Sayabiga transmission during the Romanesque period.  The kingdom of Zabag (Sabag) was highly influenced by Tantric Buddhism and other cultural streams from India, and of course, they would have been very familiar with Southeast Asian symbolism.


Regards,
Paul Kekai Manansala
Sacramento

References

Coomaraswamy, Ananda K. "The Tree of Jesse and Indian Parallels or Sources," The Art Bulletin, Vol. 11, No. 2 (Jun., 1929), pp. 216-220.

Mahdi, Waruno. "Linguisitc and philogical data towards a chronology of Austronesian activity in India and Sri Lanka," IN: Roger Blench, Matthew Spriggs. Archaeology and Language IV: Language Change and Cultural Transformation, Routledge (UK), 1999.

Stephen Oppenheimer. Eden in the East: The Drowned Continent of Southeast Asia, Phoenix, 1999.

Mandalas, Wheel Windows and Rose Windows

Following up on my posts on the evidence of "Tantric" eastern influences in Romanesque Europe, one very interesting element that pops up in Romanesque churches is the wheel window.

The wheel window generally adorns the west fronts of these churches staring in about the 12th century.  The subsequent rose window is widely believed to have been derived from the wheel window.  Most scholars see the wheel window as a development of the earlier Roman oculi, a circular opening in structures for ventilation and lighting.

However, most do admit that the designs of the wheel and rose window may indicate foreign influences. For example, some have suggested that the designs may have come from the six-petaled rosettes of the Khirbat al-Mafjar in Jordan.

A stronger argument exists, I think, linking the wheel window with the dharma cakra (wheel of law), and the initial rose window designs with the mandala.  These cultural elements could have been brought over, again, by the Sayabiga and related peoples.

Firstly, many of the earliest wheel windows have eight "spokes" as in these examples from 12th century Norman England:


Patrixbourne


Barfreston 



Castle Hedingham


(Source for photos:  Mary Berg at the Kent Archaeology Page)


The dharma cakra appears very early in Indian art, for example, in the Asokan architecture, but the spoke number can vary.  By the late ancient period though, the eight-spoked dharma chakra becomes well-established and it is the classical type used in Tibetan Buddhism.  At churches with eight-spoked wheel windows, we often see that many motifs also occur in groups of eight.

Another noteworthy similarity found in many early wheel windows is the use of the column motif for the "spokes."  In the Barfreston and Patrixbourne examples above, these column-spokes form a likeness of a trefoil arch between each spoke.

A traditional widespread form of the dharma chakra displays trefoil-like "knobs" that appear to protrude from each "spoke" through the "rim" of the dharma wheel as in the examples below:


 A dharmacakra on the flag of Sikkim.  Note the trefoil-like knob at each quadrant. (Source: Wikipedia)


A dharma cakra manufactured in Xining, China with large trefoil designs, one for each spoke. (Source: Wikipedia)


Another similarity is that the "rim" in both the dharma chakra and the window wheel is wide and often very ornately decorated, for example, with vegetative motifs.

A very striking comparison can be made between the wheel window of Barfrestron and the dharma cakras found on the Sun Temple of Konark, eastern India, which dates to the 13th century.  In both cases, the rims are decorated with the respective bestiaries of each culture.

Bestiary on rim of Barfreston wheel window includes griffins, winged lions, harpies, crabs and other creatures both real and fabulous. (Source: http://www.green-man-of-cercles.org/articles/bestiary_arches.pdf)

Rim of dharma wheel at Sun Temple of Konarak has elephants, swans, deer, deities, mythical creatures and sensuous couples displayed in a circular vine motif.


Rose windows

The early rose windows were obviously similar to the wheel windows that came before.  For example, the following window from the cathedral at Chartres dating to the late 12th century is sometimes called a rose window and sometimes a wheel window.



Wheel window at Chartres Cathedral (Source:  http://www.sacred-destinations.com/france/chartres-cathedral-photos/)


Here there are twelve column-like spokes in the central figure creating arch-like "petals."  The design is very much like the mandalas of Tibet.

While Tibetan tradition states that mandalas were originally taught by the Buddha, the first mandalas to appear on murals date from about the 10th century.  By the 11th century, highly-sophisticated textile mandalas were made.  While the word "mandala" can refer to any circular type of design, but in Tibetan art it generally referred to a representation of the cosmos that was concentric in nature.

The concentric design of mandalas often resulted in fractal patterns. For example, many Buddhist mandalas  display the fractal plane known as the Sierpinski Carpet.  Even a simple design of concentric circles is fractal in a way -- the outer circle surrounds a circle that in turn surrounds a circle surrounding a circle.

More complex fractal patterns can include, for example, a circle of Buddhas encircled by smaller circles of Buddhas.



The Mandala of the Six Cakravartins dates at least to the 11th-12th century Vajravali text, although it is based on an earlier prototype.  The mandala above was created in the 19th century.  In this mandala, a Cakravartin, or World Emperor, is enclosed in a circle surrounded by eight deities in lotus petal-like containers. The lotus is encircled and placed in a square with cruciform "gates."  Five other Cakravartins in similar presentation surround the central figure. (Source:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Mandala_of_the_Six_Chakravartins.JPG)




A 14th century Vajravarahi Awakening Mandala shows a central eight-petaled lotus or rosette with deity figures surrounded by smaller six-petaled lotuses. (Source: http://www.asianart.com/mandalas/page14.html)


In the wheel window of Chartres Cathedral the central lotus or rose-like figure has twelve "petals" and has a rosette-like figure at its center with twelve apses.  The rose is surrounded by smaller circles with eight apses.

These figures with the apses may possibly be related to the description giving in Titurel during the 13th century of the Grail Temple:




Grail Temple plan after Ringbom (A. A. Barb, 1956: 34) following descriptions in Titurel. 


In the following sand painting of a Mandala Palace, the outermost lotus figure has 22 petals, which can be compared to the 22 apses of Titurel's Grail Temple.  The number 22 in Tibetan Buddhism can represent the 22 deities of the Kalacakra Deity's Palace, the 22 Bodhisattvas, etc.



Source: http://buddhistsymbols.info/wp-content/uploads/2008/07/mandala.jpg


  
Architectural changes during the Romanesque period

Changes in design and orientation are also supportive of the idea of eastern influences in line with those already described in this and previous posts.

For example, we see the rise of cruciform churches during this period.  The new architecture is generally seen as a fusion of the Visigothic cruciform church and Mozarabic design elements.  However, one interesting feature is the idea of the church representing Paradise -- something that is carried on into the Gothic period.

The churches now have gates or portals that can be viewed as entrances into a representation of either the divine or the terrestrial paradise.  One interpretation of the trees, vegetation and rivers represented in Romanesque and Gothic churches is that they are intended to represent the Garden of Eden. The palm tree, in particular, is represented as the Tree of Paradise.  In a similar sense, the terraced pyramid temple of Southeast Asia, which also had a cruciform building plan, represented the cosmic mountain, the axis mundi.

Additionally, during this period the churches began to be pointed in an eastward direction.  The high altar was placed at the "top" of the cross in the easternmost part of the church.  However, the churches were not oriented directly at the rising Sun during the equinoxes.  They usually diverged from a few degrees to 15 or more degrees from true East.  Previously Christian churches had no particular orientation and could be facing in any direction.

Now the great majority of temples in South and Southeast Asia traditionally had the same orientation -- toward the East but rarely toward true East.

Various explanations have been given for the orientation of Romanesque churches including the idea that they faced the Sun on first day of building or on the patron saint's day.  Some have also suggested that compasses were used for orientation and that they were thrown off by magnetic declination.

One possibility that could be tested is whether the churches or a subset of them were oriented toward a fixed geographical location like the mosque was oriented toward Mecca.  Giving the paradisaical themes of Romanesque churches, they may, for example, have been pointed toward the perceived location of the Garden of Eden in the East.  If this were the case, then we should see that the churches tend to face more southward as the church's location is more eastward in longitude and northward in latitude.

Regards,
Paul Kekai Manansala
Sacramento

References

Abrahamsen, Niels. Orientation of Romanesque Churches and Magnetic Declination in the 12th Century in Denmark. GeoSkrifter, 23. Aarhus: Geologisk Institut Aarhus Universitet, 1985.

Brunius, Teddy. "Old nordic churches and the points of compass" Konsthistorisk Tidskrift/Journal of Art History 66.4 (1997). 03 May. 2010.

Cowen, Painton.  The Rose Window, London and New York, 2005

Grabar, Oleg. Constructing the Study of Islamic Art 2 Islamic Visual Culture, 1100 - 1800. Aldershot [u.a.]: Ashgate Variorum, 2006, 387.

Graham, Robert Maxtone. The Sculptures at the Church of St Nicholas, Barfreston, http://www.green-man-of-cercles.org/articles/bestiary_arches.pdf, 2008.

Hoare, Peter G., Caroline S Sweet, "The orientation of early medieval churches in England," Journal of Historical Geography, Volume 26, Issue 2, April 2000. 

Hughes, Robert. Heaven and Hell in Western Art. London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1968.


Kubach, Hans Erich. Romanesque Architecture. History of world architecture. New York: Abrams, 1975.

More on "Tantric" influence on Romanesque art

Warning: While I post a risque photo or image now and then, this article plus the links will have more than a few "carnal" images.


The term "tantric" is often associated with erotic iconography and sacred sexual practices, although the latter idea is greatly exaggerated in most cases.

However, one can say that there was a definite surge in erotic art and a more open attitude toward sex during the Tantric period.  Not that India was any stranger to such ideas since the Kamasutra was written in this region, but it has been suggested that more conservative attitudes had prevailed especially after the Muslim invasions.

Tantric texts give evidence of more open attitudes toward sacred sexuality flowing into India from the East -- from Suvarnadvipa, Mahacina and Cina, i.e., from Insular and Mainland Southeast Asia and South China.

Earlier I suggested that Tantric influences had been brought by the Sayabiga and Zutt into Islam via "dervish" groups, and that these influences also reached into Europe and were found in the Grail literature.  During the height of the Tantric period, at the same general period when erotic temples like Khajuraho and Konark were being built in India, there arose a tradition of erotic sculpture in Romanesque art as well.





Source: http://goeurope.about.com/cs/sex/a/sexual_carvings.htm 

From the Romanesque section (~12th century) of the Santa María Church-Fortress in Ujué, Spain. Compare above to this graphic sculpture from the 15th century Candi Sukuh Temple in Java.


Erotic elements in Romanesque art appear concentrated most heavily in northern Spain and southwestern France -- locations closely associated with the Agote peoples discussed in the previous blog posting.   The style also became popular in Italy, England and Ireland.   Note that these sexual carvings were displayed both in the interior and on the exterior of churches.  Nothing comparable was found before, and starting in the Renaissance, the church began to suppress such artistic expression.  Types of sexual and amorous literature that arose at about the same time was publicly burnt in some places.  The evidence suggests then that the erotic displays in Romanesque churches were an intrusive development.

Anthony Weir and James Jerman in Images of Lust: sexual carvings on medieval churches suggest that the practice actually was diffused along the routes that led to Santiago de Compostela in Spain, where the great medieval pilgrimage took place to the supposed burial place of the Apostle St. James. 

Motifs we have studied, like the Avaritia and la femme aux serpents, are to be found along, or in the close vicinity of, the four main pilgrimage roads of France, but only the westernmost, from Compostela, along the northern provinces of Spain, into Aquitaine, Poitou, the Vendee, Brittany and Normandy (with a tributary northeast of Paris to Liesse), thence to the British Isles, has sexual exhibitionists in significant numbers.

The exhibitionist sculpture included scenes of copulating couples, a depiction in Indian art known as mithuna. In the tantric art of Tibetan Buddhism, deities are often shown in a divine and sexual embrace known as yab-yum.  In many cases, the couples in Romanesque churches are in non-missionary, Kamasutra-like positions as in the relief from Carennac, France below.





For some more clear examples of Romanesque mithuna, see this Beyond the Pale webpage or browse through the whole site.


Squatting figure motif

One important type of sexual exhibitionist motif displayed in Romanesque art is that of the squatting figure.  Here is an example from Poitiers in France, and further below from Moulton in Suffolk, England:

 




For more examples of this motif along with one for comparison from Candi Sukuh in Java, see the Poitiers page at the Beyond the Pale site.

Another type of squatting figure commonly found at Romanesque sites is that known as Sheela na gig and features a female figure boldly displaying her her vulva.



Sheela na gig from Rahara, Ireland (Source: beyond-the-pale.org.uk)


The squatting figure motif is a well-known and widespread element in the art of Southeast Asia and the Pacific.  Robyn J. Maxwell, in her work on Southeast Asian textiles, states:

The oldest realistic representation of the human body on textiles presents a full frontal view, standing or squatting.  Strength is conveyed in the stance, usually with feet apart and arms raised, although the bold 'hands-on-hips' pose is also an ancient representation.

The motif can be classified into three basic types:

• A high squat or standing figure with hands raised, usually above the head.  Variations include hands on or near the hips or the elbows extended outward with hands dropping down.  This figure gives an imposing look that may be protective against evil (apotropaic).
• A very low squat with groin at about the same level as hips. In many cases, this is a birthing posture.  Tiwari notes that this is the traditional posture for parturition from South Asia to the Pacific where the squatting figure motif is still widely used to this day.  The low, splayed squat is also found in male depictions, so it does not always represent child birth.  Arms may be raised or positioned near the hips or groin.  Here is an article on the Lajja Gauri statue that was popular in India during a period that overlapped with the Romanesque.
• A position of sitting on one's haunches as is common in many parts of Southeast Asia and the Pacific, or simply sitting with one's legs bent in front of the body as when squatting.  This is often called the hocker motif.  The elbows or hands are usually resting on the knees.  When depicted with genitals, this figure often represents an ancestor. Check out this article on the hocker motif in Micronesia.

Not only is the squatting figure widely used in this region today, but it is also very old.  Examples have been found among the Angono Petroglyphs in the Philippines and in the Harappan Culture of South Asia.  Both Ban Chiang artifacts from Thailand and Dongsonian pieces display the squatting figure motif.



Squatting figure motif from the Angono Petroglyphs in the Philippines dated by cultural association to 2000 - 4000 BCE.  The open end at the legs probably indicates a female figure. (Source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/40493841@N00/154225235/)


Meaning of motifs


Weir and Jerman suggested that the sexual exhibitionist art was meant as a lesson against sexual immorality.  They note the presence of other motifs symbolizing greed and that in some cases these motifs include depictions of punishment or hellish surroundings.

Other alternative explanations that have been offered including suggestions that the motifs were fertility symbols; apotropaic, or protective against evil; or that they were meant for humor and to break down social inhibitions.

The squatting figure motif in the region of South Asia, Southeast Asia and the Pacific has attested functions for warding off evil; promoting fertility; sorcery; good luck; success during hunting, fishing, maritime travel and similar expeditions; and ancestor worship.   A Harappan depiction shows a "goddess" in wide splayed squat sprouting a plant from her womb, and it has been suggested that this is the origin of the Lajja Gauri statues, which have a lotus instead in place of the head. T'boli textiles, according to Maxwell, may show the squatting figures giving birth to smaller figures of the same form again indicating a fertility or creation theme.


Romanesque changes in attitudes toward women

One thing to note during this period is the appearance in literature of new attitudes that uplifted the status of women.  For example, the theme of "courtly love" appears to arise out of Mozarabic poetic romances in Moorish Spain and the works of Ibn Hazm (11th century) and Ibn Arabi (1165-1240). 

The impulses come from the direction of Spain and it is hard to disconnect these changes from the sudden appearance of the very strange trend in sexual church art.  The timing overlaps with the rise of Tantrism in South and Southeast Asia where we see similar types of art, but maybe with different interpretation.

Check out this page for a good representation of sexual exhibitionist art from the Romanesque period.  And here for more on Tantric influences in the Grail Legends.

Regards,
Paul Kekai Manansala
Sacramento

References

Lommel, Andreas. Prehistoric and Primitive Man. London: Paul Hamlyn, 1966. 103.

Macdermott, Mercia. Explore Green Men. Loughborough: Heart of Albion Press, 2003.

Maxwell, Robyn. Textiles of Southeast Asia: Tradition, Trade and Transformation. Singapore: Periplus, 2003, 82, 83, 128.

O'Donoghue, Bernard. The Courtly Love Tradition. Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1982, 75-5.

Tiwari, Jagdish Narain. Goddess Cults in Ancient India: With Special Reference to the First Seven Centuries A.D. Delhi: Sundeep Prakashan, 1985, 210, 217.

Weir, Anthony, and James Jerman. Images of Lust: Sexual Carvings on Medieval Churches. London: Routledge, 1999, 144.

The Agotes: A remnant of the Sayabiga?

In a followup to the last post, it might be wondered whether the Sayabiga had left some traces of their existence in the same way that we can suggest that the Gitano are at least partly a remnant of the Zutt.

The best bet for such a population representing a vestige of the Sayabiga may be the Agotes of northern Spain, and related peoples in neighboring lands.  Although I have suggested the Sayabiga were mainly concentrated in coastal northeastern Spain, i.e., Valencia, they could have traveled more broadly into the Muslim-held areas, and even further if they converted to Christianity.

The Agotes belong to a set of peoples known as Cagots, Agotacs, Gafets and Gahets in France; and as Cacous in Lower Brittany.  In Spain, they are known in Asturias as Vaqueiros; as Maragatos in Leon; and as Agotes in Navarre. However these names are mostly of latter origin. In many areas, the Agotes at some point in history became out-castes, which may have helped in preserving them as a separate group.  In the 19th century though, bans were placed on practices that discriminated against the Agotes and they began mixing with the rest of the population.  Although they have mostly disappeared as a separate group there are still people today who can trace their descent back to the Agotes.


A group apart

The textual references of the Agotes and related peoples make it clear that they were seen to be different both culturally and also in terms of their appearance from the rest of their neighbors.  The references about their appearance are late and a bit confused, for example, here is a description of those who lived in the Ribas Valley of northwestern Gerona:

"They never exceed 51 1/2 inches in height, and have short, ill-formed legs, great bellies, small eyes, flat noses, and pale, unwholesome complexions."

Another source states:

"Their language is merely a corrupt form of that spoken around them; but a Teutonic origin seems to be indicated by their fair complexions and blue eyes. Their crania have a normal development; their cheek-bones are high; their noses prominent, with large nostrils; their lips straight; and they are marked by the absence of the auricular lobules."

And yet again:

"In personal appearance almost all may be distinguished by their grey eyes, short noses, thick lips, very short auricular lobes, and sad looks. It has been said that the Agotae are short lived, but instances are cited of centenarians amongst them. They follow chiefly the occupations of carpenters, blacksmiths, masons, turners, and above all of millers; indeed, in certain localities, to be a miller is considered the equivalent of an Agotae."

In some cases they are said to be dark, but other sources describe them as fair.  Dudley Costello, writing in the mid-19th century gives an explanation for the discrepancy:

The most interesting of these tribes are undoubtedly the Cagots of the Pyrenees, so persecuted by the authorities in Bearn in 1596. These have often been confused with diseased idiotic subjects like the cretins of the Alps, from whom they differ in many respects. E.g. the cretin is sually afflicted by goitre, and possesses an extremely small semi-idiotic brain: but the Cagot is apparently a normal example, and the intelligence of many male, and beauty of many female Cagots, have become proverbial. They are specially characterised by a peculiarly formed ear, sessile with, yet brusquely exserted from the head, small bright blue eyes, very large skulls, often of considerable breadth, short necks and frequently bowlegs. Two sorts exist, one with white skin and flaxen hair, the second deeply bronzed, with crisp woolly hair, grey eyes, and high cheekbones.

The Agotes and related peoples were carpenters and masons and tradition states they were responsible for building many Romanesque churches and other buildings including the Jaca Cathedral, Santa Cruz de la Seros and San Pedro de Siresa.  The sculpture of the Romanesque period contains a broad array of physical types that probably includes some sculpture created by Agotes representing their own physiognomy.  Of course, Spain was a highly multicultural and multiethnic region at this time, so one would have to pay close attention to detail in this area.  Also, the Sayabiga do appear to have been as endogamous as the Gitano.  At some point, if the Agote peoples do represent remnants of the Sayabiga, they became out-castes and intermarriage became rare (but not unheard of).


Puerta del Perdón. Tímpano. San Isidoro de León. España from Wikipedia.  
Click here for full size image.  See more images below.


Culturally, the Agote type people once lived in huts, some with thatched roofs, that were often secluded deep in the forest.  Those that practiced transhumant herding or woodcutting often had multiple huts in which they lived in at different times of the year.  They had settled mainly in mountainous areas and the adjoining valleys.  Most were employed as carpenters, woodcutters, masons, and builders


History of the Agote peoples

The precise date at which the Agote and related folk appear is hard to pin down exactly.  They have been variously given Visigothic, Morisco, Viking, Albigenses, Cathar, "Tartar," Jewish/Marrano and other origin.

When they became out-castes, the Agote were forced to wear a dried goose foot painted red on their shoulder; or else a piece of red or yellow cloth cut in the shape of a goose's or duck's foot.  According to some texts, the Agote had webbed feet like a goose.

In relation to this legend, the Basques have myths of the Laminak, a race of fairies with goose feet.  In Toulouse where the Cagots dwell, there is the legend of La reine pédauque "The Goose Foot Queen," and the region is even known as Pays d'Oc "Land of Goose," and the language is Languedoc "Goose Language."

Supposedly, this goose-footed queen was Bertha, the mother of Charlemange who was also known as Berthe aux grand pieds because of her large, broad feet (she is also known as Bertha Broadfoot) that caused her to waddle like a goose.

The goose feet apparently had some ethnic connotations as the Agote peoples themselves were said to have goose-like feet and were also called Canards or "Ducks."  Eventually, the goose foot became a type of esoteric symbol and emblem of the Agotes.  Many of the churches attributed to Agote builders are marked with a goose foot symbol, a crucifix shaped like a goose's foot, or a statue of Bertha Broadfoot on the facade with a crown, a distaff in hand, and goose or swan's feet.


Camino de Santiago

During the Romanesque period, a great pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela in Galicia became widely popular, as this was said to be the location where the Apostle James was buried.  While there had been other pilgrimage routes like the Via Francigena leading to Rome previously nothing really compared to the "Way of St. James."

The Camino de Santiago running through northern Spain from the Pyrenees to Galicia has been linked by many researchers with the Agote peoples.  Firstly the route runs through the areas closely associated with Agotes and many of the important churches and buildings are marked with the goose foot symbol or have crucifixes in the goose foot shape.  Many esoteric scholars also associate the common scallop shell symbol found along this route with the goose foot.

A photo of a goose's foot beside a photo of a goose foot symbol at Cementerio de Santa María de Adina, Iria Flavia (Source: http://laberintoromanico.blogspot.com/2008/02/el-juego-de-la-oca-la-pata-coja.html)

A crucifix in the shape of the stylized goose foot at the Templo del Crucifijo, Puente la Reina in Navarre along the Way of St. James dating to the 13th-14th century.









Scallop shell symbols are found on fountains, wall and other structures all along the Camino de Santiago.


Various theories are connected with these symbols.  The camino is located along an old Roman trail that was supposed to follow the Milky Way to the sea.  Thus, some esoteric scholars connect the scallop shell and goose foot to constellations.  Others see the scallop as a fertility symbol linked with the goddess Venus, and the shell does have a womb-like shape.

Louis Charpentier in 1973 noted the large number of place names that included the word for "goose" along the Camino, and it has been suggested that the Juego de la Oca or Goose Game originates from the Camino de Santiago pilgrimage.  In this game, there are 63 squares leading in a spiral-like path to the 64th central square that contains the image of a goose.  There are also images in the other squares including geese, which are auspicious to land on, and less lucky squares containing images of obstacles, prisons and the like. 

The goose connection here may lie in the goose-footed Agotes who built or helped to build many of the important structures along the Camino de Santiago.



Camino de Santiago marked in red (Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Stjacquescompostelle1.png). Click here for full image.


Geese provide a link with the fairy folk that have been described in many places in this blog.   Bertha Broadfoot herself, who becomes the wife of Robert II of France in latter legend,  was known to tell tales to children while sitting by her spinning wheel, and some believe that "Mother Goose" of the fairy tales is derived from La Reine Pédauque "the Goose Foot Queen."

As geese and swans were interchangeable in medieval lore, we can also see a connection between the fairy Swan Knight, and the goose footed Agotes and Bertha Broadfoot.


Grail connection

In Jüngere Titurel, following Wolfram von Eschenbach's linkage of the Grail family with the Angevins, the author takes the story back to late ancient times.  They come from Cappadocia, which is not far from Antioch where both the Zutt and the Sayabiga were transported in the early 8th century.

According to the story, the pagan prince Sennabor helps the Roman emperor against other pagans and is converted to Christianity.  In return, the emperor grants one of Sennabor's three sons, Parille, some French provinces, while Azubar is granted Anjou, and the third son, Sabbilar, receives Cornwall.   The link in with Wolfram is clear here along with a justification of the Angevin's Gallic claim to England.

In order to bring the Grail family into medieval times, Parille's grandson Titurel, the first Grail King, is said to live past 400 years in age.  Titurel was located in a region between Navarre and Aragon, although the area that was called Salvaterra can be seen as a form of Jerusalem and the Holy Land. Titurel marries a daugher of Frimutelle, a king of a Spanish province.  Thus, the Grail family is placed in basically the same area as that associated with the Agote, and which formed a part of the Camino de Santiago.  The doctrine of the Grail is said to have radiated from there to Aragon and then in order to Navarre, Catalonia and eventually beyond Spain.   Wolfram also makes the Spanish connection placing Parzival's mother Herzeloyde, a member of the Grail family, in the country but without giving a precise location.


Eastern influences in Romanesque art


Millard B. Rogers in 1960, and Mercia MacDermot in 2003 have published convincing studies showing Indic influences in Romanesque art.  These findings are summarized at this webpage: http://www.beyond-the-pale.org.uk/column.htm.  Millard concentrated on the art found on the Camino de Santiago.

Most important are the close similarities of the column-swallowers and the foliage-spewer motifs in Romanesque art to the kirtimukha motif in Indic art of South and Southeast Asia.  Indeed some of the reliefs along the Camino de Santiago look more similar to what one would find in medieval Borobudur or Bhubaneswar rather that of pre-Romanesque or even post-Romanesque Europe.

From the aforementioned site:

"What are we to make of this 15th century carving at Candi Sukuh in Java which, apart from the typical Hindu hair-style, could have come from a 12th century church in France ?"  http://www.beyond-the-pale.org.uk/column.htm

In the following photo of a tympanum from Santiago de Compostela Cathedral, we see what could be images of winged monkeys.  These might be derived from Hanuman and his army of flying monkeys, and Hanuman himself was sometimes depicted in text and art as having wings.


Winged monkeys, Santiago de Compostela, the legendary burial place of Apostle St. James.  Click here for full size image. (Source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/thecolchesterkid/2925988533/)

Elephants, apparently Asian as evidenced by their head shape, small ears, and squarish bodies, and by the rigging. Sant Joan de les Abadesses, 12th century in northern Catalonia. (Source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/21086430@N00/2451054893/)


Conclusion

If Parzival and Jüngere can be viewed be viewed as semi-legendary "histories" relating to events of the 12th and 13th centuries, as suggested earlier in this blog, then the "Grail family" -- the fairy folk -- would have come from the Near East to Spain. In my view, these travelers would have come along with the other Sayabiga maybe as early as the early 8th century.

While most of this population settled in coastal areas like Valencia, where evidence of their presence can be seen in the tidal rice and related cultural elements that still persist, some would have ventured to other areas of the Moorish kingdoms. Here, the higher elevations, cooler climate and other ecological and social factors would have forced them to abandon rice cultivation and adopt a more local diet.  During the Reconquista, populations in the mountainous northern parts may have adopted Christianity early including the "Grail family" but still keeping contacts with their cousins along the coast, and ultimately in the Indies. For this reason, the Grail and the characters of the Grail epics are repeatedly connected with distant lands to the East and with "Prester John."

The Sayabiga carried elements of Indic and "Tantric" culture with them that can be seen in Romanesque art forms.

An interesting test of this suggestion would be to examine whether the Agotes and related peoples possibly extending to the Bigaudens of Brittany left any linguistic influences on the local languages. Genetic tests might also be able to reveal something, although these people eventually did intermix extensively.

Here are some more examples of Spanish Romanesque art that may include some self representation of the Agote masons themselves, i.e., Sayabiga or more likely mixed Sayabiga physical traits.


Organistrum de Iglesia de Ahedo del Butrón (Burgos) España s. XII (Source: Wikipedia)




Puerta, Santiago de Compostela (Source: Wikipedia)  Click here for full image.




Betanzos (Source: Wikipedia).  Click here for full image.

Sacrifice of Isaac, Cathedral of Jaca (Source: http://www.wga.hu/frames-e.html?/html/zgothic/1romanes/cap-11c/25s_1000.html).

Monasterio de San Pedro de Villanueva, Cangas de Onís, Asturias, Spain. Portada Sur (Source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/c0ntraband/3958198252/in/photostream). Click here for full image.

Regards,
Paul Kekai Manansala
Sacramento

References

Costello, Dudley. "The accursed races of France and Spain,"  Quarterly Magazine of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows; Manchester Unity Friendly Society, 1860, 92.

Facaros, Dana, and Michael Pauls. Northern Spain. London: Cadogan Guides, 2008, 38.

Gould, George M., and Walter L. Pyle. Anomalies and Curiosities of Medicine. Teddington, Middlesex: Echo Library, 2007.

MacDermott, Mercia. Explore Green Men, Heart of Albion Press, 2006

Merke, F. History and Iconography of Endemic Goitre and Cretinism. Lancaster: MTP Press, 1984, 199.

Muñoz, Patricia, R. El Camino de la Oca, http://patadeoca.blogspot.com/.

Rogers, Millard B. "An Archeological Pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela," Science 22 April 1960: Vol. 131. no. 3408, pp. 1176 - 1182.











Piñuela, M. Garcia, Los Agotes, http://www.portalfarma.com/pfarma/taxonomia/general/gp000012.nsf/voDocumentos/95B978F353404068C1256A49002C4F9C/$File/mitologia.pdf.

 Prosser, Randall P. American Phonetic Journal. Cincinnati: R.P. Prosser, 1855, 162.