Contemporary descriptions of objects no longer extant examined to
reconstruct these lost treasures.
Surviving accounts of the material culture of medieval Europe -
including buildings, boats, reliquaries, wall paintings, textiles, ivory
mirror cases, book bindings and much more - present a tantalising
glimpse of medieval life, hinting at the material richness of that era.
However, students and scholars of the period will be all too familiar
with the frustration of trying to piece together a picture of the past
from a handful of fragments. The "material turn" has put art,
architecture, and other artefacts at the forefront of historical and
cultural studies, and the resulting spotlight on the material culture of
the past has been illuminating for researchers in many fields.
Nevertheless, the loss of so much of the physical remnants of the Middle
Ages continues to thwart our understanding of the period, and much of
the knowledge we often take for granted is based on a series of
arbitrary survivals.
The twelve essays in this book draw on a wide array of sources and
disciplines to explore how textual records, from the chronicles of John
of Worcester and Matthew Paris and inventories of monastic treasuries
and noble women to Beowulf and early English riddles, when combined with
archaeological and art-historical evidence, can expand our awareness of
artistic and cultural environments. Touching on a broad range of issues
around how we imaginatively reconstruct the medieval past and a variety
of objects, both precious and ephemeral, this volume will be of
fundamental interest to medieval scholars, whatever their disciplinary
field.
Contributors: Katherine Baker, Marian Bleeke, Deirdre Carter, Laura
Cleaver, Judith Collard, Joshua Davies, Kathryn Gerry, Karl Kinsella,
Katherine A. Rush, Katherine Weikert, Beth Whalley, Victoria Yuskaitis
