Treasure, memory, nature : church objects in the Middle Ages / Philippe Cordez.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Cordez, Philippe, author.

Contributor:

Morgan, Chloe Siner, translator.

Oswald, Julia, editor.

Series:

Studies in medieval and early Renaissance art history

Studies in Medieval and Early Renaissance Art History

Standardized Title:

Trésor, mémoire, merveilles. English

Language:

English

French

Subjects (All):

Art objects, Medieval.

Liturgical objects.

Reliquaries, Medieval.

Relics.

Devotional objects--Catholic Church.

Devotional objects.

Christian art and symbolism--Medieval, 500-1500.

Christian art and symbolism.

Christian art and symbolism--Medieval.

Physical Description:

276 pages : color illustrations, facsimiles (chiefly color) ; 29 cm.

Other Title:

Church objects in the Middle Ages

Place of Publication:

London ; Turnhout (Belgium) : Harvey Miller Publishers, an imprint of Brepols Publishers, [2020]

Language Note:

"Translated from the French"--Foreword.

Summary:

"This book traces the origins, economic development, and later history of church treasures, and explores the forms and function of these objects of memory and wonder. Precious metalwork, relics, chess pieces, ostrich eggs, unicorn horns, and bones of giants were among the treasury objects accumulated in churches during the Middle Ages. The material manifestations of a Christian worldview, they would only later become naturalia and objets d'art, from the sixteenth and the nineteenth century onwards, respectively. Philippe Cordez traces the rhetorical origination, economic development, and later history of church treasures, and explores the forms and functions of the memorial objects that constituted them. Such objects were a source of wonder for their contemporaries and remain so today, albeit for quite different reasons. Indeed, our fascination relates primarily to their epistemic and aesthetic qualities. Dealing also with these paradigm shifts, this study opens up new paths toward an archeology of current scholarly and museum practices. Philippe Cordez is Deputy Director of the German Center for Art History in Paris"--Publisher's web site.

Contents:

Foreword / Herbert L. Kessler

Acknowledgements

Introduction: Ars sacra? The 'objects' of churches

Chapter 1

The imaginary of treasure

The 'treasure' of the church and the 'treasures of churches'

Spiritual treasures and Christian society (late antiquity)

Material treasures and sovereignty (Carolingian times)

The economy of the thesaurus ecclesiae

From the treasurer to the fabric: The 'common good' (high Middle Ages)

The 'treasury of merit': indulgences and alms (late Middle Ages)

Chapter 2

Memory and histories

Relics and writing

The first collections: inventories

Inventorying: objects, techniques, relevance

Forms and uses of inventories: the mediation of collections

Object histories: the construction of memory

Saint Peter's staff

Christ's foreskin

Chess and the imaginary of power

Imperial positions and military conflicts

The king of France, Saint-Denis, and Reims

Chivalric histories

Chapter 3

Marvels and nature

Forms and functions of wonder

Ostrich eggs, coconuts, mollusk shells: reliquaries and exempla

Unicorn horns: objects and knowledge

The remains of giants: natural histories

Encounters with monsters: mastering the world

Victory over evil: dragons

Adventures in the East: griffins' claws

At the margin of the world: the teeth and bones of sea creatures

Conclusion: objects, history, museums

Bibliography

Index

Figure credits.

Notes:

"©Éditions de l'EHESS for the original French edition: Cordez, Philippe, Trésor, mémoire, merveilles. Les objets des églises au Moyen Âge...2016"--Colophon.

"The book was first published as Schatz, Gedächtnis, Wunder. Die Objekte der Kirchen im Mittelalter (Regensburg: Schnell und Steiner, 2015). This German version has more and lengthier footnotes, with extensive quotations and additional bibliography. Readers interested in such in-depth references might consult it together with the present book. The original French text, with reduced footnoes, was published as Trésor, mémoire, merveilles. Les objets des églises au Moyen Âge (Paris: Éditions de l'EHESS, 2016). Anne Madelain, at Éditions de l'EHESS, generously initiated yet another translation of the text. This English version, Treasure, memory, nature, Church objects in the Middle Ages, mirrors the French version (with complementary references to existing English translations of original texts and scientific literature)...For her careful translation, I would like to thank Chloe Morgan ... Julia Oswald, who edited the text beautifully and with great precision."--Acknowledgements.

Includes bibliographical references (pages 219-264) and index.

ISBN:

9781912554614

1912554615

OCLC:

1198094882