Medieval Art and Architecture I

Book of Kells (Note the intials, other

illuminations in the manuscript)

Ayia Sophia,

aka Haghia Sophia

(Constantinople/Istanbul)

Constantinople (prior to 1453);

the Ayia Sophia and the Hippodrome are

near the bottom of the picture, by the water

Interior of the Ayia Sophia

The Byzantine emperor Justinian, in a

mosaic from Ravenna (Italy)

Justinian’s wife Theodora and courtiers, in a

mosaic also from Ravenna

Another great leader: the Holy Roman

Emperor Charlemagne (r. 768-814 C.E.)

Charlemagne’s cathedral at Aachen

(Germany)

Interior of cathedral at Aachen

Carolingian miniscule

Some relics from the period

The Battle of Hastings - came about over a dispute over whom should

succeed the childless King Edward the Confessor as King of England –

Duke William of Normandy or Harold Godwinson of Wessex, a Saxon earl

The Bayeux Tapestry tells the story of

the Norman Conquest of England

(1066 C.E.)

The Bayeux Tapestry – medieval graphic art?

The Coronation of Harold as King of England after

Edward the Confessor’s death

Construction of ships for invasion

Ships land at Pevensey

Normans and Saxons fighting

Odo, Bishop of Bayeux and half-brother of

William the Conqueror, and other Normans

on horseback

Harold is killed at Hastings

Domesday Book (1086)

Reformer Pope Gregory VII and

the Investiture Controversy

The Investiture controversy brought to a

head the whole issue of Church-State

relations.

The main question: whether it was the Pope

or the King who had the right to name

abbots and bishops.

The problem: during the Middle Ages abbots

and bishops usually had both spiritual and

secular power.

German king Henry IV on knees before

Abbot Hugh of Cluny and Countess

Matilda at Canossa (Italy)

The Concordat of Worms (1122):

a compromise on this issue

The Pope or one of his designates would

choose the candidate, the King or secular

ruler would confirm him.

Prince John of England

How bad was Prince John?

1. “Foul as it is, hell itself is defiled by the

fouler presence of John “

(Matthew of Paris, 13th-century chronicler)

2. “King John was not a good man

He had his little ways

And sometimes no one talked to him

For days and days and days.”

(A.A. Milne, Now We are Six)

Abelard and Heloise, a tragic love story

Tomb of Abelard and Heloise

(Pere Lachaise Cemetery, Paris)

Hildegard of Bingen, a learned mystic, composer, herbalist,

mother superior and confidant of the great

St. Bernard of Clairvaux, a very influential

church leader in the 12th century

St. Thomas Aquinas, a 13th-century Domincan friar

and great theologian

The University of Paris (Sorbonne)

Merton College at Oxford

Mont St. Michel

The Krak des Chevaliers

(a crusader fortress in present-day Syria)

Gothic walkway in the Krak des Chevaliers

(note the ribbed vaults)

Reynaud of Chatillon’s Castle at

Kerak (Jordan)

The Romanesque cathedral at Speyer (Germany)

Speyer cathedral (interior) – note

the rounded arches, heavy columns and

thick walls

Interior of a Gothic cathedral

(Notre Dame de Paris)

Wells Cathedral, England

Gloucester Cloister

(Flamboyant Gothic)

Edward I (“Longshanks) and Eleanor of Castile,

King and Queen of England (end of 13th century)

King John the Good (Mid-14th century France)

Les Tres Riches Heures of the Duke of Berry

(by the Limbourg Brothers, ca 1410): Month of January

Month of February

Month of April