Notes on Medieval Church Ironwork

Abstract

The heraldry of the donors depicted in stained glass along the base of the St William window is reassessed, and a date of c. 1415 suggested for the glazing instead of the hitherto accepted date of c. 1421–3. A problem in the heraldry is discussed, and two possible solutions are proposed. The one preferred here involves merely a change in plan during the actual period of glazing; the alternative is linked with a theory that the transeptal bays were altered at a later date and the glazing redistributed. The architectural evidence for this is unsatisfactory and the glazing of the transepts does not support it.     

Church Orientation in the Landscape: a Perspective from Medieval Wales

Studies have proposed diverse explanations in attempting to find meaning behind the varied range in the orientation of church buildings. From patronal feast days, to the seasonality of their foundation, from magnetic east, to the Easter Calendar, and most recently to harvest festival celebrations, no one assessment has resulted in a definite answer. This paper aims to consider the orientations obtained from 630 medieval churches in Wales, the first macro-scale survey of the Welsh structures, a large number of which were aligned far from the traditional 90°, indicating other factors were at play. The study argues that, more than elsewhere in Britain, orientation was set in relation to prominent human-made and natural features in the surrounding landscape, many of which had acquired acquired a strong significance in local collective memory.     

中世纪前期的英国封建王权与基督教会

中世纪前期英国封建王权与基督教会的关系 ,处于“二元统一、对立”的状态中。从总体上看 ,英国封建王权和基督教会基于共同利益的政治联合 ,必然居于支配地位 ,而双方权益的纷争则处于从属地位 ,最后常常以相互妥协而告结束。这种看似矛盾而实则存在合理性的状态 ,稳定着英国封建社会的统治秩序 ,推动着社会的发展。     

Crafters of Kingship: Smiths,Elite Power,and Gender in Early Medieval Europe

IN THE EARLIEST CENTURIES of the Middle Ages, skilled metalsmiths were greatly valued by cult leaders who required impressive objects to maintain social links and the loyalty of their retainers. Despite their clear importance, smiths were peripheral characters operating on the fringes of elite communities. Such treatment may reflect an attempt to limit the influence of metalworkers, whose craft was seen as supernatural and who themselves were probably spiritual figureheads; archaeological evidence associates smiths and their tools in symbolic processes of creation and destruction, not only of objects but also of buildings and monuments. The Church clearly appropriated these indigenous practices, although conversion eventually saw the pre-eminence of the sacred smith and their practice wane. Anthropological study provides numerous comparators for skilled crafters acting as supernatural leaders, and also suggests that as part of their marginal identity, smiths may have been perceived as a distinct gender.     

Creating Cultural Identity: Opus anglicanum and its Place in the History of English Medieval Art

The term opus anglicanum, as a designator of English national identity associated with embroidery and textiles, is unknown in any document written in England during the Middle Ages, but is used in papal and other European archives. The term has been questioned by a number of scholars who have suggested it may be a generic name used to describe a particular technique of attaching gold thread to an embroidered textile (underside couching). It is suggested in this article that the phenomenon of opus anglicanum during its golden age c. 1200–1400 was part of a wider European cultural development at a time when an appreciation of cultural identity as a transnational phenomenon emerged. The article goes on to examine the relationship between English pictorial artists and the craftswomen and men who made these textiles. It concludes with a case study of the orphrey associated with the Daroca Cope in Madrid — now associated with a designer in the artistic circle of the artist of the Wilton Diptych. The respect for, and reuse of, these works of art (many of which have survived through the care taken to preserve them in cathedral treasuries and private collections up to the present day) is an element in their continued importance as a part of our shared European heritage.     

The Chora and the Great Church: Intervisuality in Fourteenth-Century Constantinople

Abstract

In Gregoras' history, the most important building project during the second decade of the fourteenth century is not Theodore Metochites' redecoration of the Chora monastery, but Andronikos II's restoration of II. Sophia and the nearby column of Justinian. Two mosaics at the Chora, the Deesis in the inner narthex and the adjacent lunette of Metochites and Christ, make visual reference to the Great Church. The nature of such relationships is explored through reference to Mikhail Bakhtin and his analysis of dialogic language.     

Women's Devotional Bequests of Textiles in the Late Medieval English Parish Church,c. 1350–1550

This article examines evidence of self‐determination and independent action in the practice, among a significant group of late medieval English women, of donating their own clothing and household linens to parish churches for use in sacred ritual.
The argument is presented that clothworking in a domestic environment was a highly valorised activity closely connected with women, for which the spindle and distaff acted as an index, and that against this background women used textiles as a site for expressing their personal, social and religious concerns.     

History and Globalization: Reflections on Temporality

Globalization emerged as the buzzword of the 1990s, and, at the dawn of a new millennium, it continues to transfix academics, the media and policy-makers alike. However, one of the key gaps in the research into the process(es) of globalization has concerned its historical identity: the story (and analysis) of its origins, its development and mutation over time, and the continuities and differences between past and present. In this article the author sketches a typology of claims made about the historical identity of globlization in the current literature, and points to some unexplored and fruitful avenues of enquiry. Following this, two recent books are reviewed which attempt, in different but complementary ways, to deepen our understanding of globalization in history. The article concludes with a call for further research on this and related topics.     

William Stubbs,Parliament and the Medieval English Constitution

The name of William Stubbs will forever be associated with the birth of modern scholarship on the late medieval English parliament. At the core of his Constitutional History, a three‐volume work published in the 1870s, is a brilliant synthesis of the development of the early parliament. Since its publication, however, Stubbs's work has generated varied reactions, as scholars have positioned themselves at different points on a sliding scale of praise through to criticism; that is, between praising the Constitutional History for its depth of scholarship and pioneering methodologies, on the one hand, to criticising the work for its present‐minded approach and whiggish agenda, on the other. The aim of this discussion is to strike a balance between these two extremes. While it acknowledges the undoubted flaws of Stubbs's narrative, it also argues for a more nuanced and holistic approach to his work. It suggests that the taint of whiggism has for too long acted as a barrier to a true appreciation of the scholarly merit of the work, merit that extends beyond simply acknowledging its ambition, originality and legacy. The discussion considers some key areas of parliamentary development between c.1290 and c.1406 and notes the continued synergies that exist between what Stubbs wrote 140 years ago and current interpretations and understandings.