The author of the “Discovery of the True Cross” was Roman historian Rufinus of Aquileia, who wrote it as part of his book The Church History, published in 401 AD. He wrote it in Rome, and the main topic of the source concerns the moment when Helena discovered the cross used for the crucifixion of Christ. The Patria was compiled by an unknown author in the late tenth century who lived in Constantinople, and among its main topics is the construction of Hagia Sophia. Mirabilia Urbis Romae was written in the twelfth century by Master Gregorius in Oxford and explored the topic of Rome’s architecture.
Discovery of the True Cross provides the reader with an insight into the story of the discovery of the True Cross by Helena on the site of Jesus’s tomb. Additionally, it describes the decision by her son Emperor Constantine to build The Church of the Holy Sepulchre in the place where the cross was discovered. The historical event featured in the book was particularly significant for Constantine the Great since he was the first Roman ruler who converted to Christianity after observing a vision of a cross (YaleCourses, 2009). This source documents an early instance of the Christian tradition of belief in the power of relics, which continued into the medieval era (Boehm, n.d.). The Patria describes the interior of Hagia Sophia ordered by the eastern Roman emperor Justinian and talks about how it collapsed and then was rebuilt by Justin II. Despite certain historical inaccuracies, this source is reliable and extremely helpful in understanding Constantinople’s architecture.
Mirabilia Urbis Romae is essentially a twelfth-century guide to Rome and all of its most significant examples of architecture. It also demonstrates the state of many structures which were abandoned, destroyed, or transformed after the spread of Christianity, including the palace of emperor Augustus and Pantheon. The overall theme of the sources is the influence of Christianity on the development of architecture. On the one hand, it enabled people to create many impressive buildings such as Hagia Sophia but also made them abandon the masterpieces of the past.
In my view, the Patria is the most interesting source of all three ones since it contains a lot of historical information and small details about Hagia Sophia, one of the main examples of Christian architecture. According to Kleiner, the decision of Constantine to relocate the capital to Constantinople signaled the death of Rome and the empire’s transition to Christianity (YaleCourses, 2009). Yet, it did not erase the architectural tradition, which, for instance, manifested itself in the fact that Hagia Sophia’s dome was made possible only because of the Pantheon. Another example is The Temple of Minerva Medica in Rome, which, as explained by Kleiner, laid the foundation for Christian churches of the medieval and Byzantine periods. Namely, the architects of these eras used the same rounded windows and the octagonal plan with alcoves (YaleCourses, 2009). The Patria allows the readers and researchers to learn about the original grandeur of Hagia Sophia and provides an opportunity to compare it with the modern state of the building.
References
Boehm, B. D. (n.d.). Relics and reliquaries in medieval Christianity. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Web.
YaleCourses. (2009). 23. Rome of Constantine and a New Rome [Video]. YouTube. Web.