Art and political thought in medieval England, c. 1150-1350 / Laura Slater.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Slater, Laura (Lecturer in history of art), author.

Series:

Boydell studies in medieval art and architecture 2045-4902

Boydell studies in medieval art and architecture, 2045-4902

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Art--Political aspects--England--History--To 1500.

Art.

Art--Political aspects.

History.

Great Britain--History--Plantagenets, 1154-1399.

Great Britain.

England.

Genre:

History.

Physical Description:

xxii, 287 pages, 8 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations (some color) ; 25 cm.

Other Title:

Art & political thought in medieval England c.1150-1350

Place of Publication:

Woodbridge, Suffolk, UK : The Boydell Press, 2018.

Summary:

Images and imagery played a major role in medieval political thought and culture, but their influence has rarely been explored. This book provides a full assessment of the subject. Starting with an examination of the writings of late twelfth-century courtier-clerics, and their new vision of English political life as a heightened religious drama, it argues that visual images were key to the development and expression of medieval English political ideas and arguments. It discusses the vivid pictorial metaphors used in contemporary political treatises, and highlights their interaction with public decorative schemas in English great churches, private devotional imagery, seal iconography, illustrations of English history and a range of other visual sources. Meanwhile, through an exploration of events such as the Thomas Becket conflict, the making of Magna Carta, the Barons' War and the deposition of Edward II, it provides new perspectives on the political role of art, especially in reshaping basic assumptions and expectations about government and political society in medieval England.

Contents:

1. Imagining power in Angevin England

2. From the clerics to the court, c. 1200-1250

3. The barons' war and the dreams of reformers

4. Visions of government during the three Edwards.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 241-269) and index.

ISBN:

9781783273331

178327333X

OCLC:

1027811854