In the Middle Ages there was already a prototype of "Manga"

ByCinnamon_girl

Institute for Publication ScienceAccording to the data, the manga market in Japan (comics + manga magazine) in the cartoon power country Japan is estimated to be over 300 billion yen in 2014, every year a tremendous number of cartoons are selling up. Materials that show that already existed in the Middle Ages still existed in the prototype of manga that was fully integrated into such Japanese culture.

The Psychomachia: An Early Medieval Comic Book - Medieval manuscripts blog
http://blogs.bl.uk/digitisedmanuscripts/2017/01/the-psychomachia-an-anglo-saxon-comic-book.html

"Psychomachia" (battle over the soul) which gathered the poetry of the ancient poet Prudentius is known as the most important epic narrativeized in Western Europe. In this epic, the state of the battle between "good" and "evil" in the human soul is told, but after the author's death of Prudentius, it gained popularity among the population after becoming medieval It will look like. In the Middle Ages "Battle over the soul" was created more than 300 copies, about 20 books in it were inserted not only in letters but also in only two books At the British LibraryStorageIt is being done.

One page of "Battle over the soul" with an illustration that it was made in the Middle Ages is like this. Two manuscripts that are kept in the British Library are thought to have been created in the UK from the 10th to the 11th century.


"Battle over the soul"Seven virtues(Goodness) is drawn as seven Christian women, and also the figure of fighting seven women's pagan worshipers (evil) is drawn. In the picture there are scenes where evil dies, and this is "It is comedic but also violent". For example, there are scenes where the "faith" of seven virtues cut off the pagan worshipers' scenes and scenes where "philanthropy" kills the evil side "coloration" with his own sword.



These manuscripts are presumably thought to be used by Anglo-Saxon monks to preach the teachings of Christianity. Indeed, several manuscripts or musical notes have been added to the manuscript of "battle over the soul", and they still remain in the textbooks used in monasteries and the like.

So then why did monks and their students study using illustrative texts? In the Middle Ages it was a warrior society, but monks were not allowed to have weapons. Instead, the monks seemed to be encouraged to fight a spiritual battle. "The battle over the soul" was a tool to convey the message to the monastic community that "fighting the enemies in the heart is as heroic as the war with the physical partner" It is thought that it is not.