Professional Priesthood List
A viewset for viewing and editing Professional Priesthoods.
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{ "count": 464, "next": "https://seshat-db.com/api/sc/professional-priesthoods/?format=api&page=9", "previous": "https://seshat-db.com/api/sc/professional-priesthoods/?format=api&page=7", "results": [ { "id": 351, "polity": { "id": 662, "name": "ni_whydah_k", "long_name": "Whydah", "start_year": 1671, "end_year": 1727 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "IFR", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Professional_priesthood", "professional_priesthood": "present", "comment": null, "description": " “Understanding of the distribution of political power in Whydah also requires consideration of the sphere of religion, which both legitimated and circumscribed the actions of the ruling elite. The most important national cult in Whydah was that of the god Dangbe (incarnated in the royal python), which was celebrated by annual public processions to the principal Dangbe shrine. Dangbe was primarily concerned with regulation of the weather and of agricultural fertility, but was also invoked for political purposes, \"on all occasions relating to their government.\" Some European accounts imply that the worship of Dangbe was controlled by the king, the head of the cult being an official of the royal palace. It appears, however, that the Dangbe priesthood had rather more autonomy vis-a-vis the king than this suggests, since other evidence shows that King Agbangla in the 1690s expressed resentment at the scale of offerings which he was obliged to make to the cult and sought to reduce the expense which they involved. There was also a publicly celebrated cult of the deceased kings of the royal dynasty, with annual processions to offer sacrifices at their tombs. These did not, however, attain the elaboration of the comparable \"Annual Customs\" of the kingdom of Dahomey later, where these rather than the worship of any of the gods constituted the principal national religious ceremony. The \"Annual Customs\" in Whydah are mentioned only in a single contemporary account, and were clearly of much less political significance than the cult of the snake god Dangbe.” §REF§Law, Robin. “‘The Common People Were Divided’: Monarchy, Aristocracy and Political Factionalism in the Kingdom of Whydah, 1671-1727.” The International Journal of African Historical Studies, vol. 23, no. 2, 1990, pp. 201–29: 209. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/8JKAH2V5/collection§REF§" }, { "id": 352, "polity": { "id": 665, "name": "ni_aro", "long_name": "Aro", "start_year": 1690, "end_year": 1902 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "IFR", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Professional_priesthood", "professional_priesthood": "present", "comment": null, "description": " Religious and social roles overlapped, but if we take priest-doctor to be a priesthood role, professional priests were present. “While specific data on Amikwo dibia are lacking, it was customary for Igbo priest-doctors to segregate into ranked spheres of responsibility, with herbal knowledge at the lower echelons of the profession and more serious physical and psychosomatic healing powers confined to well-trained specialists who might also be endowed with divinatory powers. Amikwo's dibia may have corresponded with the latter category (Green 1947: 53ff; Uchendu 1965: 81-2; Dike 1975: 10” §REF§Neaher, N. C. (1979). Awka Who Travel: Itinerant Metalsmiths of Southern Nigeria. Africa: Journal of the International African Institute, 49(4), 352–366; 354 https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/W8VVXIMI/collection§REF§ " }, { "id": 353, "polity": { "id": 666, "name": "ni_sokoto_cal", "long_name": "Sokoto Caliphate", "start_year": 1804, "end_year": 1904 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "IFR", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Professional_priesthood", "professional_priesthood": "present", "comment": null, "description": " There were religious roles in the administration of the caliphate, which must therefore have had other aspects than the purely religious. However, the state was founded through a jihad and on Islamic principles, so it seems likely from looking at other caliphates to infer the presence of professional priests. “The Caliphate was to be led by the Caliph as the amir al-muminin (Commander of the Faithful), assisted by his wazirai (advisers), alkalai (judges), a muhtasib (the officer charged upholding morals), the sa'i (in charge of the markets), the wali al-shurta (police chief), limamai, and military commanders.” §REF§Chafe, Kabiru Sulaiman. “Challenges to the Hegemony of the Sokoto Caliphate: A Preliminary Examination.” Paideuma, vol. 40, 1994, pp. 99–109: 101. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/ZANHCUFH/collection§REF§ " }, { "id": 354, "polity": { "id": 667, "name": "ni_igala_k", "long_name": "Igala", "start_year": 1600, "end_year": 1900 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "IFR", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Professional_priesthood", "professional_priesthood": "present", "comment": null, "description": " “Of particular interest however is the fact, of which no explanation was forthcoming, that a modified form of the early morning rite is carried out by the Atebo (Chief Priest), who appeals to the ancestral spirits on behalf of the Ata-regnant. This official, to whom further reference will be made, is a person of great importance, and his office has acquired some of the element of divinity attaching to that of the Ata himself. Ape, the first to be accorded this title, was a priest in the household of Ayagba when the latter founded the Idah dynasty, and the office, which like most others is hereditary, passes in turn between the three branches of the family. Some indication of the status of the Atebo may be gained from the fact that he alone is excused obeisance to the Ata and addresses him standing up; it may however be less a question of status than of the fact that in his office and person he is representative of the religious aspect of the kingship, and contact with the earth by obeisance would mean a dissipation of dynamism. It is observed also that he is never without a cows-tail fly whisk in his hand which he \" points \" at the Ata when addressing him and, further, it is said that the Ata will allow the Atebo to scold him without remonstrance.” §REF§Clifford, Miles, and Richmond Palmer. “A Nigerian Chiefdom.” The Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland, vol. 66, 1936, pp. 393–435: 418. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/TF7MM698/collection§REF§ “Successive chapters deal with sacred precincts, family and household religion, and village religion. The distinction between family and village religious systems is crucial to the latter part of the study, as the Igala were able to capitalize on it to enforce their control. The former deals predominantly with the arua or ancestor spirits, while the latter deals with the alusi, which are non- human spirit beings. The third part of the book (\"Control and Adaptation\") concerns the use of religious values and institutions in social control under the Igala colonial system and the resulting religious and social changes in Igbo life. From the Igala point of view, of course, social control was the crucial question. This they astutely achieved by replacing traditional Igbo shrine priests concerned with the alusi cults with Igala priests called attama. In this way, they seized control of the super- natural forces that had to do with any issues transcending one family or clan, for instance matters involving different clans in a village or village group. Since the Igala priests controlled the alusi, these became increasingly unpredictable and dangerous to the Igbo, and the Igbo were at the mercy of the Igala priests in all their relations with the alusi. From the Igbo perspective, the goal was to maintain identity and to maximize Igbo power. The strategy they used was complex. In the religious sphere, they emphasized (apparently more than in pre-conquest days) the cult of the arua, the ancestor spirits, who were by definition Igbo and whose worship enhanced the status of the Igbo headmen and elders. Parallel efforts to emphasize the worship of the High God and of the Earth Goddess, and to bring to prominence various Igbo and other non-Igala medicine shrines are judged by Shelton to have failed. In the social sphere, in the presence of a good deal of intermarriage, Igbo attempted to maintain their numerical strength by emphasizing, in the case of the children of Igala fathers and Igbo mothers, allegiance to the mother's clan. This was, it will be evident, consistent with Igala tradition but in conflict with Igbo tradition. The Igala, who were interested in preserving the attama inheritance in pure Igala clans, pragmatically accepted the identification as Igbo of many mixed children.” §REF§Taber, Charles R. “Review of The Igbo-Igala Borderland: Religion and Social Control in Indigenous African Colonialism.” American Anthropologist, vol. 75, no. 6, 1973, 1876–77: 1876. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/M65F6WG9/collection§REF§" }, { "id": 355, "polity": { "id": 669, "name": "ni_hausa_k", "long_name": "Hausa bakwai", "start_year": 900, "end_year": 1808 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "IFR", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Professional_priesthood", "professional_priesthood": "present", "comment": null, "description": " Given the intimate connection between Islam and daily life in the Hausa states, one would assume that the usual religious roles in Islam were filled in the Hausa kingdoms. No source reviewed specifically mentions this in detail, though." }, { "id": 356, "polity": { "id": 671, "name": "ni_dahomey_k", "long_name": "Foys", "start_year": 1715, "end_year": 1894 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "IFR", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Professional_priesthood", "professional_priesthood": "present", "comment": null, "description": " Priests were clearly important, but I can’t find confirmation that they were full-time roles. “The most important shrines were attended by priests, who dwelled near by. One of the highest-ranking priests, the Agasun-no, called Dahomey's Archbishop of Canterbury by Burton, had his \"country palace\" along the royal road.” §REF§Alpern, S. B. (1999). Dahomey’s Royal Road. History in Africa, 26, 11–24: 19. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/J4ZASAV6/collection§REF§ “Subsequent secular travelers grumbled at delays along the road due to the emergence of priests from shrines to say prayers and solicit alms, or simply to the presence of barriers marking religious sites.” §REF§Alpern, S. B. (1999). Dahomey’s Royal Road. History in Africa, 26, 11–24: 22. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/J4ZASAV6/collection§REF§ “In Dahomey, however, national cults were closely supervised by the king. The priests of these cults - which were of great importance and influence in the country - were his loyal subordinates. Royal agents supervised their activities constantly. The king was also high-priest in a state religion. With the political elaboration of the kingdom the cults associated with the royal dynasty quickly assumed primacy over others. Unlike the chiefs of some West African societies, the king was never enstooled by an indigenous ‘chief of the earth’, a representative of the original inhabitants, but by the priest of the royal ancestor cult. Besides this, no religious ritual, however domestic or private in nature, could be performed before the annual celebration in honour of the royal ancestors.” §REF§ Lombard, J. (1976). The Kingdom of Dahomey. In West African Kingdoms in the Nineteenth Century (Repr, pp. 70–92). Published for the International African Institute by Oxford University Press: 79–80. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/T6WTVSHZ/collection§REF§" }, { "id": 357, "polity": { "id": 673, "name": "ni_wukari_fed", "long_name": "Wukari Federation", "start_year": 1820, "end_year": 1899 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "IFR", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Professional_priesthood", "professional_priesthood": "present", "comment": null, "description": " Priests are explicitly referred to, but as their roles formed part of the state’s administration, it could be argued that their roles included secular duties. “Ministers were unable to make their offices hereditary; the only strictly hereditary offices in the Jukun constitution were cere- monial and priestly ones with minimal secular powers. Although some of the ministers were territorial chiefs economically independent of the king, their administrative ' fiefs ' were attached to their offices, so they were unable to claim lasting ties of personal allegiance from outlying parts of the state.” §REF§ Young, M. W. (1966). The Divine Kingship of the Jukun: A Re-Evaluation of Some Theories. Africa: Journal of the International African Institute, 36(2), 135–153: 141. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/NTI9GQMF/collection§REF§ Roles within the extended household had religious aspects, implying no professional priests needed for family rituals: “Tsokwa Angyu6 contends that every Jukun household was a religious organization. For instance, before Alayi obatined the important public office of Abôzikê, he personally controlled the following family cults: (1) Akwa, (2) Atsî, (3) Agbadu, (4) Kenjo, (5) Aku Maga, (6) Ajê Ma, (7) Ando Bacho, and (8) Ata Jinako or Yoado-the cult of former slaves of the household. On his election to his title, he decided to distribute these cults among the other members of the household, for no important office-holder among the Jukun continues to serve personally as priest of his family cults, though it is incumbent on him to provide the sacrificial foods.” §REF§Zhema, S. (2017). A History of the Social and Political Organization of the Jukun of Wukari Division, c.1596–1960 [Benue State University]: 89–90. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/U667CC36/collection§REF§ “Their civilisation was no doubt of a superior order, but their religion probably more nearly resembles the worship of personified principles with nationalised gods and an organised priesthood, as with the Yoruba.” §REF§Ruxton, F. H. (1908). Notes on the Tribes of the Muri Province. Journal of the Royal African Society, 7(28), 374–386: 380. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/2AXUQGFB/collection§REF§ “Secondly, since the priests of the majority of the cults are hereditary and thus far independent of the king, his authority over them is validated by his spiritual ascendancy over the deities their cults attempt at control.” §REF§ Young, M. W. (1966). The Divine Kingship of the Jukun: A Re-Evaluation of Some Theories. Africa: Journal of the International African Institute, 36(2), 135–153: 146. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/NTI9GQMF/collection§REF§" }, { "id": 358, "polity": { "id": 612, "name": "ni_nok_1", "long_name": "Middle and Late Nok", "start_year": -1500, "end_year": -901 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "IFR", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Professional_priesthood", "professional_priesthood": "absent", "comment": null, "description": " Inferred from the following quote. \"In sum, we have not found unambiguous evidence of social complexity and the often suggested highly advanced social system of the Nok Culture. [...] As demonstrated by the uniformity of their material culture and their presumed belief system, most prominently reflected by the terracotta sculptures, external contacts within their culture must have existed. However, such a larger social network apparently was not organised and maintained in a way as to infer social inequality, social hierarchies or other signs of internal demarcation traceable by available archaeological data. None of the numerous excavations brought to light architectural remains of specified buildings or the spatial organisation of housing areas that might have been occupied by high-ranking members of the community. Further, among the admittedly few features interpreted as graves there is no evidence of any heterogeneity pointing to a difference between burials of elite members or commoners. Nowhere, an accumulation of valuable objects neither of iron nor any other materials signifying inequality in terms of property or prosperity was found.\" §REF§(Breunig and Ruppe 2016: 252) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/ES4TRU7R.§REF§ " }, { "id": 359, "polity": { "id": 613, "name": "bf_west_burkina_faso_yellow_5", "long_name": "West Burkina Faso Yellow I", "start_year": 100, "end_year": 500 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "IFR", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Professional_priesthood", "professional_priesthood": "absent", "comment": null, "description": " The following reconstruction of small communities consisting of extended families based in autonomous homesteads suggests minimal social diffrentiation. ”For the first 400 years of the settlement's history, Kirikongo was a single economically generalized social group (Figure 6). The occupants were self-sufficient farmers who cultivated grains and herded livestock, smelted and forged iron, opportunistically hunted, lived in puddled earthen structures with pounded clay floors, and fished in the seasonal drainages. [...] Since Kirikongo did not grow (at least not significantly) for over 400 years, it is likely that extra-community fissioning continually occurred to contribute to regional population growth, and it is also likely that Kirikongo itself was the result of budding from a previous homestead. However, with the small scale of settlement, the inhabitants of individual homesteads must have interacted with a wider community for social and demographic reasons. [...] It may be that generalized single-kin homesteads like Kirikongo were the societal model for a post-LSA expansion of farming peoples along the Nakambe (White Volta) and Mouhoun (Black Volta) River basins. A homestead settlement pattern would fit well with the transitional nature of early sedentary life, where societies are shifting from generalized reciprocity to more restricted and formalized group membership, and single-kin communities like Kirikongo's house (Mound 4) would be roughly the size of a band.”§REF§(Dueppen 2012: 27, 32)§REF§ " }, { "id": 360, "polity": { "id": 615, "name": "ni_nok_2", "long_name": "Middle and Late Nok", "start_year": -900, "end_year": 0 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "IFR", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Professional_priesthood", "professional_priesthood": "absent", "comment": null, "description": " Inferred from the following quote. \"In sum, we have not found unambiguous evidence of social complexity and the often suggested highly advanced social system of the Nok Culture. [...] As demonstrated by the uniformity of their material culture and their presumed belief system, most prominently reflected by the terracotta sculptures, external contacts within their culture must have existed. However, such a larger social network apparently was not organised and maintained in a way as to infer social inequality, social hierarchies or other signs of internal demarcation traceable by available archaeological data. None of the numerous excavations brought to light architectural remains of specified buildings or the spatial organisation of housing areas that might have been occupied by high-ranking members of the community. Further, among the admittedly few features interpreted as graves there is no evidence of any heterogeneity pointing to a difference between burials of elite members or commoners. Nowhere, an accumulation of valuable objects neither of iron nor any other materials signifying inequality in terms of property or prosperity was found.\" §REF§(Breunig and Ruppe 2016: 252) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/ES4TRU7R.§REF§" }, { "id": 361, "polity": { "id": 624, "name": "zi_great_zimbabwe", "long_name": "Great Zimbabwe", "start_year": 1270, "end_year": 1550 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "IFR", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Professional_priesthood", "professional_priesthood": "absent", "comment": null, "description": " Full-time specialists. If the religious practices of Great Zimbabwe are similar to the Karanga, as is expected, then chiefs will fulfil the various religions functions, and no distinct priesthood would exist. “The Karanga chief serves as both political and religious leader…. His power was believed to derive from the link between the land and his ancestral spirits…, thereby making the chief’s ancestors of vital importance to the entire population…When a chief died, power passed to his male heir. The chief then became an important ancestor who had joined the rank [sic] of spirits offering guardianship and aid to the people…. As is the case among the Karanga today, recognition and propitiation of ancestor spirits at Great Zimbabwe seem to have been a central part of the belief system…. Karanga oral tradition suggests that the Mwari cult began at Great Zimbabwe.” §REF§ (Steadman 2009, 264-266) Sharon R. Steadman, The Archaeology of Religion: Cultures and Their Beliefs in Worldwide Context (London: Routledge, 2009). Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/N4R4GHNJ/collection §REF§ " }, { "id": 362, "polity": { "id": 617, "name": "bf_west_burkina_faso_red_2", "long_name": "West Burkina Faso Red II and III", "start_year": 1100, "end_year": 1400 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "SSP", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Professional_priesthood", "professional_priesthood": "unknown", "comment": null, "description": " The following quote suggests the existence of some kind of priesthood, but it does not seem that the data clearly suggests whether or not priests were true full-time specialists. \"The political power formerly residing at Mound 4 during Red I and Early Red II was largely disseminated within the community; however, their role as village founders who maintain the community's relations with the local and ancestral divinities, as well as their symbolic position as the external face of the village community, remained unchanged and was simply detached from the iron cult.\"§REF§(Dueppen 2012: 30)§REF§ " }, { "id": 363, "polity": { "id": 618, "name": "bf_west_burkina_faso_red_4", "long_name": "West Burkina Faso Red IV", "start_year": 1401, "end_year": 1500 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "SSP", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Professional_priesthood", "professional_priesthood": "unknown", "comment": null, "description": " The following quote suggests the existence of some kind of priesthood, but it does not seem that the data clearly suggests whether or not priests were true full-time specialists. \"The political power formerly residing at Mound 4 during Red I and Early Red II was largely disseminated within the community; however, their role as village founders who maintain the community's relations with the local and ancestral divinities, as well as their symbolic position as the external face of the village community, remained unchanged and was simply detached from the iron cult.\"§REF§(Dueppen 2012: 30)§REF§ " }, { "id": 364, "polity": { "id": 622, "name": "bf_west_burkina_faso_yellow_6", "long_name": "West Burkina Faso Yellow II", "start_year": 501, "end_year": 700 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "SSP", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Professional_priesthood", "professional_priesthood": "unknown", "comment": null, "description": " The following quote suggests the emergence of social differentiation in this period, but little appears to be understood about this phenomenon apart from the appearance of specialised smiths and the formation of senior and cadet social segments. \"During Yellow II, the inhabitants of Mound 4 began a process that eventually led to centralization of iron production, as described in detail above. Iron ore extraction involves profound digging in the earth, the realm of spirits, and historically in Bwa society the practice is reserved solely for specialized smiths, who also excavate burials (see discussions below). The mid first millennium A.D. therefore witnessed a transformation from redundant social and economic roles for houses to specialization in at least one craft activity. While houses were still highly independent, even producing their own pottery, a formalized village structure was likely present with both cadet and senior social segments, founded upon common descent with a common ancestor.\"§REF§(Dueppen 2012: 28)§REF§ " }, { "id": 365, "polity": { "id": 663, "name": "ni_oyo_emp_1", "long_name": "Oyo", "start_year": 1300, "end_year": 1535 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "SSP", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Professional_priesthood", "professional_priesthood": "unknown", "comment": null, "description": " \"Contexts that could shed light on the dynamics of social structure and hierarchies in the metropolis, such as the royal burial site of Oyo monarchs and the residences of the elite population, have not been investigated. The mapping of the palace structures has not been followed by systematic excavations (Soper, 1992); and questions of the economy, military system, and ideology of the empire have not been addressed archaeologically, although their general patterns are known from historical studies (e.g, Johnson, 1921; Law, 1977).\"§REF§(Ogundiran 2005: 151-152)§REF§ Regarding this period, however, one of the historical studies mentioned in this quote also notes: \"Of the earliestperiod of Oyo history, before the sixteenth century, very little is known.\"§REF§(Law 1977: 33)§REF§ Law does not then go on to provide specific information directly relevant to this variable." }, { "id": 366, "polity": { "id": 570, "name": "es_spanish_emp_2", "long_name": "Spanish Empire II", "start_year": 1716, "end_year": 1814 }, "year_from": 1716, "year_to": 1814, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Professional_priesthood", "professional_priesthood": "present", "comment": null, "description": "The Catholic Church had a full-time priesthood in Spain and its territories." }, { "id": 367, "polity": { "id": 579, "name": "gb_england_plantagenet", "long_name": "Plantagenet England", "start_year": 1154, "end_year": 1485 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Professional_priesthood", "professional_priesthood": "present", "comment": null, "description": " Archbishops, bishops, archdeacons, priests, chaplains, ministers. §REF§(Prestwich 2005: 69-72) Prestwich, Michael. 2005. Plantagenet England 1225-1360. Oxford: Oxford University Press. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/XTBKFDCI§REF§" }, { "id": 368, "polity": { "id": 305, "name": "it_lombard_k", "long_name": "Lombard Kingdom", "start_year": 568, "end_year": 774 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Professional_priesthood", "professional_priesthood": "present", "comment": null, "description": " In the Catholic church." }, { "id": 369, "polity": { "id": 575, "name": "us_united_states_of_america_reconstruction", "long_name": "Us Reconstruction-Progressive", "start_year": 1866, "end_year": 1933 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Professional_priesthood", "professional_priesthood": "present", "comment": null, "description": null }, { "id": 370, "polity": { "id": 560, "name": "bo_tiwanaku_2", "long_name": "Late Tiwanaku", "start_year": 800, "end_year": 1149 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Professional_priesthood", "professional_priesthood": "present", "comment": null, "description": " “Nevertheless, by AD 800, the beginning of Early Tiwanaku V, Tiwanaku was changing significantly.What were the causes and trajectories of these changes? An elaborate residential complex was built on top of the Akapana sometime toward the end of Late Tiwanaku IV. It incorporated elaborate architectural elements and was associated with distinctive ceramic assemblages that included an array of elaborate vessels, such as recurved bowls. The configuration of subfloor burials expressed differences of status or role among the people who perhaps once inhabited the complex, by all accounts some of the prestigious religious practitioners and their attendants who directed major Tiwanaku ceremonies. Intriguingly, associated effigy incensarios allude to an affiliation with Katari, offering the possibility that some Tiwanaku high priests came from, or identified with, the priests and specific rituals conducted in that region. These changes index a transition from relatively high rank to markedly different, institutionalized status. Together with evidence from the Akapana, they represent the emergence of an elite class and the crystallization of a rigidly defined social hierarchy in Tiwanaku. Kolata (1993a) argues that spatial and functional transformations in the city reflected the emergence of a Tiwanaku royal dynasty, an interpretation supported by Couture (Couture and Sampeck 2003). I would add that what we see is the emergence of both royal dynasties and elite castes of priests.”§REF§(Janusek 2004: 223) Janusek, John Wayne. 2004. Identity and Power in the Ancient Andes: Tiwanaku Cities Through Time. New York: Routledge. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/SDDCMA8P§REF§ “Surrounding the sunken court at Akapana’s summit, there were small rooms probably used for ceremonial purposes and as the residences of priests.”§REF§(Korpisaari 2006: 57) Korpisaari, Antti. 2006. Death in the Bolivian High Plateau: Burials and Tiwanaku Society. Oxford: BAR Publishing. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/UPGSC7BF§REF§" }, { "id": 371, "polity": { "id": 563, "name": "us_antebellum", "long_name": "Antebellum US", "start_year": 1776, "end_year": 1865 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Professional_priesthood", "professional_priesthood": "present", "comment": null, "description": null }, { "id": 372, "polity": { "id": 302, "name": "gb_tudor_stuart", "long_name": "England Tudor-Stuart", "start_year": 1486, "end_year": 1689 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Professional_priesthood", "professional_priesthood": "present", "comment": null, "description": " “Therefore, the Roman Catholic Church reserved to itself the right and responsibility to interpret the Bible for the faithful. Holy Scripture was to be studied and expounded by religious professionals: the pope, bishops, and priests of the Church who were thought to have a special mandate from God to do so. In theory, priests studied Scripture and Church doctrine rigorously in Church-run schools and universities. At their ordination they became consecrated, even semi-sacred beings.”§REF§(Bucholz et al 2013: 94) Bucholz, Robert, Newton Key, and R.O. Bucholz. 2013. Early Modern England 1485-1714: A Narrative History. Chichester, UK: John Wiley & Sons. http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/uvic/detail.action?docID=1166775. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/XQGJH96U§REF§" }, { "id": 373, "polity": { "id": 606, "name": "gb_anglo_saxon_2", "long_name": "Anglo-Saxon England II", "start_year": 927, "end_year": 1065 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Professional_priesthood", "professional_priesthood": "present", "comment": null, "description": " There were priests, bishops and archbishops in larger towns such as London, Elham, Canterbury and Hereford §REF§(Yorke 1990: 31, 69) York, Barbara. 1990. Kings and Kingdoms of Early Anglo-Saxon England. London: Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203447307. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/YXTNCWJN§REF§" }, { "id": 374, "polity": { "id": 567, "name": "at_habsburg_2", "long_name": "Austria - Habsburg Dynasty II", "start_year": 1649, "end_year": 1918 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Professional_priesthood", "professional_priesthood": "present", "comment": null, "description": " " }, { "id": 375, "polity": { "id": 295, "name": "tm_khwarezmid_emp", "long_name": "Khwarezmid Empire", "start_year": 1157, "end_year": 1231 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Professional_priesthood", "professional_priesthood": "absent", "comment": null, "description": " There is no official priesthood in Islam." }, { "id": 376, "polity": { "id": 578, "name": "mo_alawi_dyn_1", "long_name": "Alaouite Dynasty I", "start_year": 1631, "end_year": 1727 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Professional_priesthood", "professional_priesthood": "absent", "comment": null, "description": " There is no priesthood in Islam." }, { "id": 377, "polity": { "id": 797, "name": "de_empire_1", "long_name": "Holy Roman Empire - Ottonian-Salian Dynasty", "start_year": 919, "end_year": 1125 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Professional_priesthood", "professional_priesthood": "present", "comment": null, "description": "The papacy and their members of the Roman Catholic Church." }, { "id": 378, "polity": { "id": 351, "name": "am_artaxiad_dyn", "long_name": "Armenian Kingdom", "start_year": -188, "end_year": 6 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Professional_priesthood", "professional_priesthood": "present", "comment": null, "description": " Evidence suggests that priests served at numerous shrines in Armenia.§REF§Hovannisian 2004: 51. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/8B4DBDFU§REF§ Religious leaders were granted wealth directly from the king." }, { "id": 379, "polity": { "id": 573, "name": "ru_golden_horde", "long_name": "Golden Horde", "start_year": 1240, "end_year": 1440 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Professional_priesthood", "professional_priesthood": "absent", "comment": null, "description": null }, { "id": 380, "polity": { "id": 587, "name": "gb_british_emp_1", "long_name": "British Empire I", "start_year": 1690, "end_year": 1849 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Professional_priesthood", "professional_priesthood": "present", "comment": null, "description": null }, { "id": 381, "polity": { "id": 574, "name": "gb_anglo_saxon_1", "long_name": "Anglo-Saxon England I", "start_year": 410, "end_year": 926 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Professional_priesthood", "professional_priesthood": "present", "comment": null, "description": " There were priests, bishops and archbishops in larger towns such as London, Elham, Canterbury and Hereford §REF§(Yorke 1990: 31, 69) York, Barbara. 1990. Kings and Kingdoms of Early Anglo-Saxon England. London: Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203447307. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/YXTNCWJN§REF§ " }, { "id": 382, "polity": { "id": 566, "name": "fr_france_napoleonic", "long_name": "Napoleonic France", "start_year": 1816, "end_year": 1870 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Professional_priesthood", "professional_priesthood": "present", "comment": null, "description": " §REF§Crook 2002: 75. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/29D9EQQE.§REF§" }, { "id": 383, "polity": { "id": 572, "name": "at_austro_hungarian_emp", "long_name": "Austro-Hungarian Monarchy", "start_year": 1867, "end_year": 1918 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Professional_priesthood", "professional_priesthood": "present", "comment": null, "description": " " }, { "id": 384, "polity": { "id": 561, "name": "us_hohokam_culture", "long_name": "Hohokam Culture", "start_year": 300, "end_year": 1500 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "SSP", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Professional_priesthood", "professional_priesthood": "unknown", "comment": null, "description": null }, { "id": 385, "polity": { "id": 786, "name": "gb_british_emp_2", "long_name": "British Empire II", "start_year": 1850, "end_year": 1968 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Professional_priesthood", "professional_priesthood": "present", "comment": null, "description": " The Anglican church had a professional priesthood." }, { "id": 386, "polity": { "id": 571, "name": "ru_romanov_dyn_2", "long_name": "Russian Empire, Romanov Dynasty II", "start_year": 1776, "end_year": 1917 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Professional_priesthood", "professional_priesthood": "present", "comment": null, "description": "The Russian Orthodox Church, with its well-established hierarchy and structure, had a full-time professional clergy that included bishops, priests, and monks during this era. These clergy members were engaged in religious duties as their primary occupation.§REF§Kent, Neil. A Concise History of the Russian Orthodox Church. Washington: Academica Press, 2021.<a href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/YC6JFSXF\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"fw-bolder\"> <b> Zotero link: YC6JFSXF</b></a>§REF§" }, { "id": 387, "polity": { "id": 600, "name": "ru_romanov_dyn_1", "long_name": "Russian Empire, Romanov Dynasty I", "start_year": 1614, "end_year": 1775 }, "year_from": 1614, "year_to": 1700, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Professional_priesthood", "professional_priesthood": "A~P", "comment": null, "description": "17th Century: Clerical education was informal and unsystematic, with many priests supplementing their income through other means like farming. \r\n\r\n18th Century (Starting with Peter the Great, ruled 1682–1725): The clergy started receiving more systematic and formal training. They became more integrated with state functions and increasingly resembled a hereditary professional estate.§REF§Pospielovsky, Dimitry. The Orthodox Church in the History of Russia. St. Vladimir’s Seminary Press, 1998.<a href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/BSA6XCTP\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"fw-bolder\"> <b> Zotero link: BSA6XCTP</b></a>§REF§" }, { "id": 388, "polity": { "id": 600, "name": "ru_romanov_dyn_1", "long_name": "Russian Empire, Romanov Dynasty I", "start_year": 1614, "end_year": 1775 }, "year_from": 1700, "year_to": 1775, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Professional_priesthood", "professional_priesthood": "present", "comment": null, "description": "" }, { "id": 389, "polity": { "id": 539, "name": "ye_qatabanian_commonwealth", "long_name": "Qatabanian Commonwealth", "start_year": -450, "end_year": -111 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "IFR", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Professional_priesthood", "professional_priesthood": "present", "comment": null, "description": "The following quote broadly refers to pre-Islamic Arabia. \"Arabian societies with good income from agriculture or trade were not only likely to be more hierarchical than pastoralist tribes, but also to have greater division of labour. In the inscriptions of Hatra, for example, we read about the professions of stonemasons, sculptors, metalworkers, carpenters, scribes, tutors, priests, physicians, accountants, doorkeepers, merchants and winesellers. In south Arabia a number of administrative offices are known, such as kabîr, qayn and maqtawî, though their exact nature and function is unclear.\"§REF§(Hoyland 2001, 120) Hoyland, R. 2001. Arabia and the Arabs: From the Bronze Age to the Coming of Islam. Routledge. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/search/hoylan/titleCreatorYear/items/AUHRSTGG/item-list§REF§" }, { "id": 390, "polity": { "id": 439, "name": "mn_shiwei", "long_name": "Shiwei", "start_year": 600, "end_year": 1000 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "IFR", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Professional_priesthood", "professional_priesthood": "absent", "comment": null, "description": "The following description suggests that professional roles likely did not exist among the Shiwei. “The Shiwei, in the periods of the Sui and Tang, were relatively weak in the northwestern Manchuria. Their form of social organization appeared fairly loose and still remained at tribal level. Clans and tribes were the basic social patterns. The productive activities were organized by the tribal leaders, as described in the Xin Tangshu, \"in hunting (the tribes) were banded together, and dispersed afterward; the tribes did not rule over one another or submitted to one another\".”§REF§(Xu 2005, 180)§REF§" }, { "id": 391, "polity": { "id": 548, "name": "it_italy_k", "long_name": "Italian Kingdom Late Antiquity", "start_year": 476, "end_year": 489 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "IFR", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Professional_priesthood", "professional_priesthood": "present", "comment": null, "description": "\"[D]uring the 5th century clerical identity was clearly defined through an emphasis on sexual continence and the delineation of external characteristics (e.g. distinctive clothing, tonsure, and specific ritual access to the sacred orders), which made the clerical ordo recognizable as a class, distinct from the laity.\"§REF§(Testa 2016: 453) Testa, L. Bishops, Ecclesiastical Institutions, and the Ostrogothic Regime. In Arnold, Bjornlie and Sessa (eds) A Companion to Ostrogothic Italy pp. 451-479. Brill. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/WDZRJZID/library§REF§" }, { "id": 392, "polity": { "id": 546, "name": "cn_five_dyn", "long_name": "Five Dynasties Period", "start_year": 906, "end_year": 970 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Professional_priesthood", "professional_priesthood": "present", "comment": null, "description": "\"... begun during the Tang dynasty... The rise of religious professionals and soldiers as clearly separate groups was contrary to the previous normative view of society divided into knights (shi, the term that would later be applied to the literati or gentry), farmers, artisans and merchants.\"§REF§(Lorge 2005, 7)§REF§" }, { "id": 393, "polity": { "id": 547, "name": "cn_wei_k", "long_name": "Wei Kingdom", "start_year": 220, "end_year": 265 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Professional_priesthood", "professional_priesthood": "present", "comment": null, "description": "\"Before the entrance of Buddhism, there was nothing in China resembling the monastic institution: celibate communities of like-minded men and women devoted to the performance of ritual, the study and dissemination of religious doctrines, and self-cultivation.20 Patronage from the laity and revenue from monastic services and enterprises were essential for the success of this ideal of dedicated religious professionals living in communities with at least symbolic isolation from secular pursuits.\"§REF§(Kieshnick 2019: 539-540) Kieschnick, J. 2019. Buddhism. In Dien and Knapp (eds) The Cambridge History of China Volume 2: The Six Dynasties, 220–589 pp. 531-552. Cambridge University Press. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/KPEUIH7T/library§REF§" }, { "id": 394, "polity": { "id": 250, "name": "cn_qin_emp", "long_name": "Qin Empire", "start_year": -338, "end_year": -207 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "IFR", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Professional_priesthood", "professional_priesthood": "absent", "comment": "\"... begun during the Tang dynasty... The rise of religious professionals and soldiers as clearly separate groups was contrary to the previous normative view of society divided into knights (shi, the term that would later be applied to the literati or gentry), farmers, artisans and merchants.\" <a class=\"fw-bold\" href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/J8V2UKSP\">[Lorge 2006, p. 7]</a>", "description": null }, { "id": 395, "polity": { "id": 426, "name": "cn_southern_song_dyn", "long_name": "Southern Song", "start_year": 1127, "end_year": 1279 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Professional_priesthood", "professional_priesthood": "present", "comment": "\"... begun during the Tang dynasty... The rise of religious professionals and soldiers as clearly separate groups was contrary to the previous normative view of society divided into knights (shi, the term that would later be applied to the literati or gentry), farmers, artisans and merchants.\" <a class=\"fw-bold\" href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/J8V2UKSP\">[Lorge 2006, p. 7]</a>", "description": null }, { "id": 396, "polity": { "id": 708, "name": "pt_portuguese_emp_1", "long_name": "Portuguese Empire - Renaissance Period", "start_year": 1495, "end_year": 1579 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Professional_priesthood", "professional_priesthood": "present", "comment": "Full-time specialists", "description": null }, { "id": 397, "polity": { "id": 337, "name": "ru_moskva_rurik_dyn", "long_name": "Grand Principality of Moscow, Rurikid Dynasty", "start_year": 1480, "end_year": 1613 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Professional_priesthood", "professional_priesthood": "present", "comment": null, "description": "Full-time specialists<br>The Orthodox Church had Archbishops, Bishops and priests, as well as many laymen who were employed to manage church estates. §REF§Perrie 2006: 339§REF§" }, { "id": 398, "polity": { "id": 314, "name": "ua_kievan_rus", "long_name": "Kievan Rus", "start_year": 880, "end_year": 1242 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Professional_priesthood", "professional_priesthood": "present", "comment": null, "description": "Priests and deacons in town. Capital town had a bishop (only open to monks), who had an \"entourage.\"§REF§(Feldbrugge 2017, 437) Ferdinand J M Feldbrugge. 2017. A History of Russian Law: From Ancient Times to the Council Code (Ulozhenie) of Tsar Aleksei Mikhailovich of 1649. BRILL. Leiden.§REF§" }, { "id": 399, "polity": { "id": 773, "name": "mw_pre_maravi", "long_name": "Pre-Maravi", "start_year": 1151, "end_year": 1399 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "UND", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Professional_priesthood", "professional_priesthood": "uncoded", "comment": "EMPTY_COMMENT", "description": null }, { "id": 400, "polity": { "id": 774, "name": "mw_early_maravi", "long_name": "Early Maravi", "start_year": 1400, "end_year": 1499 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "IFR", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Professional_priesthood", "professional_priesthood": "present", "comment": "EMPTY_COMMENT", "description": null } ] }