13th century

As a means of recording the passage of time, the 13th century was that century which lasted from 1201 through 1300 in accordance with the Julian calendar in the Common Era. In the history of European culture, this period is considered part of the High Middle Ages, and after its conquests in Asia the Mongol Empire stretched from Eastern Asia to Eastern Europe.

Events

1200s

Paul Hillier

Paul Douglas Hillier (born 9 February 1949 in Dorchester, England) is a conductor, music director and baritone. He specializes in early music and contemporary art music, especially that by composers Steve Reich and Arvo Pärt. He studied at the Guildhall School of Music, beginning his professional career while a vicar-scholar at St Paul's Cathedral, London. His concert début was in 1974 in London's Purcell Room.

Ensembles

In 1974, Hillier co-founded The Hilliard Ensemble along with fellow vicar-scholar Paul Elliott and counter-tenor David James. Hillier remained the director of the ensemble until 1990, when he founded Theatre of Voices. In addition to early music, this group explores more contemporary repertoire. With the Chicago-based His Majestie's Clerkes Hillier recorded early American repertoire such as the works of William Billings on the 1992 album A Land of Pure Delight.

Hillier later became Director of the Early Music Institute at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music and, at the same time, of the Pro Arte Singers, remaining so until he left the Institute in 2003. The Pro Arte Singers joined the Theatre of Voices in a couple of recordings. In 2001, he became the Artistic Director and Principal Conductor of the Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir.

13 (number)

13 (thirteen /θɜːrˈtiːn/) is the natural number following 12 and preceding 14.

In spoken English, the numbers 13 and 30 are often confused. When carefully enunciated, they differ in which syllable is stressed: 13 ⁱ/θərˈtiːn/ vs. 30 /ˈθɜːrti/. However, in dates such as 1300 ("thirteen hundred") or when contrasting numbers in the teens, such as 13, 14, 15, the stress shifts to the first syllable: 13 /ˈθɜːrtiːn/.

Strikingly similar folkloric aspects of the number 13 have been noted in various cultures around the world: one theory is that this is due to the cultures employing lunar-solar calendars (there are approximately 12.41 lunations per solar year, and hence 12 "true months" plus a smaller, and often portentous, thirteenth month). This can be witnessed, for example, in the "Twelve Days of Christmas" of Western European tradition.

In mathematics

The number 13 is the sixth prime number, and the smallest emirp (a prime that is a different prime when reversed). It is also a Fibonacci number, a happy number, the third centered square number, and one of only 3 known Wilson primes.

Saint Martial

Saint Martial (3rd century), called "the Apostle of the Gauls" or "the Apostle of Aquitaine", was the first bishop of Limoges. His feast day is June 30.

Life

There is no accurate information as to the origin, dates of birth and death, or the acts of this bishop. According to Gregory of Tours, during the time of the Emperors Decius and Gratius (AD 250-251), Pope Fabian sent out seven bishops from Rome to Gaul to preach the Gospel: Gatien to Tours, Trophimus to Arles, Paul to Narbonne, Saturnin to Toulouse, Denis to Paris, Austromoine to Clermont, and Martial to Limoges. He succeeded in converting the inhabitants to Christianity, and his memory has always been venerated there.

Abbey

Martial died in Limoges was buried outside the Roman town. As his tomb became progressively more important as a pilgrimage site, the monks found patronage in the Benedictine order in the 9th century. The site became the Benedictine Abbey of Saint-Martial, a great library (second only to the library at Cluny) and scriptorium. The 12th-century chronicler Geoffroy du Breuil of Vigeois worked in its library.