A Jesuit Listens to the Kalmyks: Incantation and Music in the Relatio of Jan Milan, SJ

Join us to commemorate the life and scholarship of Paul Shore (Brandon University) who passed away a year ago. Prof. Shore and his wife Lynn Whidden were originally scheduled to present a joint-paper as part of our series. Prof. Whidden will join us for a reading of Paul’s paper, and deliver an address.

Abstract: In 1700, Jan Milan, a Jesuit missionary from Silesia, journeyed to the Kalmyk Khanate, where he remained for many months. There he learned some of the Kalmyk language, met people of all social classes, and had hair raising experiences, such as when an arrow flew out of nowhere, striking him in the arm. Milan observed Kalmyk religious practices, their astronomical and mathematical knowledge, music making, dancing and feasting. He also learned how traditional spiritual practices had been combined with Buddhist beliefs, and he transcribed Kalmyk prayers and incantations. Milan described his encounter with the Kalmyks in a Latin Relatio now in the National Library of the Czech Republic. This manuscript is illustrated with scenes from Kalmyk life, and includes some detailed reporting of incantations and alphabets used. This lecture will devote special attention to Milan’s experience of Kalmyk music, and to his drawing illustrating Kalmyk song and dance.

Noted historian of the Jesuits, Paul Shore (1956-2023) held teaching and research posts at Saint Louis University, Harvard Divinity School, Oxford University, the University of Edinburgh, and Trinity College Dublin. He was a Life Member of Wolfson College, Cambridge University, and Adjunct Professor of History at Brandon University, where he was the Stanley Knowles Distinguished Visiting Professor in 2010. A priest of the Anglican Church of Canada, in 2022 Shore was Senior Researcher at the University of Hradec Králové, Czech Republic. He authored numerous publications, and lectured on topics from Jesuit history in many cities, including Moscow, Jerusalem, Rome, Vienna, Belgrade, Santiago, and Toronto.

Lynn Whidden is an ethnomusicologist with many questions about music in environment and her quest for answers has taken her from Canada to Europe to Asia, South America and back to Canada’s Arctic. It has led her to question the biology of song; indoors and electronic settings for music; and more recently the problems of recording the outdoor sound environment. All of her research is fed by love of doing music and engaging in music with students, friends and family.

The Jesuit History Research Group is a JHI Working Group.

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