| Paper 1726-b | Borders of Medias: Boundaries between Narrative and Visual Sources in a 14th-Century Example of Depictions of a Luxembourg Pedigree
(Language: English)
Barbora Uchytilová, Katolická teologická fakulta, Univerzita Karlova, Praha
Index terms: Art History - Painting, Genealogy and Prosopography, Historiography - Medieval |
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| Abstract | Paper -a:
The narrative about Brutus, his sons, and Trojan refugees became an integral part of medieval historiography on the British Isles. This story about the origin of the insular realms, introduced by Geoffrey of Monmouth, became later a component of diplomacy, royal pedigrees and, among other things, heraldry. This paper deals with the interpretation of Brutus's/Trojan heraldry in the 15th-century heraldic manuscripts. Particularly, it focuses on the heraldic figure of a lion in the arms of England, Wales, and Scotland, the kingdoms of Brutus's sons. The imaginary Trojan heraldry probably reflects one of the English medieval views on the political order of Britain, i.e. a unified realm without internal borders.
Paper -b:
Medieval rulers captured the memory of their noble ancestors in different ways. Naming and comparing variations of ancestors in chronicles, genealogical diagrams and origo gentis stories were meant to support the ruling dynasty's legitimacy. Creating similarities between the ruler and his imaginary ancestors can be found not only in narrative sources but also in their visual representation, i.e. the representative galleries. I would like to point out a possibility of variability and usage of figural compositions in the depictions of dynastical members on an example of Luxembourg pedigree from Karlštejn castle, which has been preserved to this day captured in two codices depictions of representatives of the Luxembourg dynasty.
Paper -c:
Heraldry is considered an ubiquitous symbol. From personal identification on the battlefield, it spread to personal identification everywhere. Yet the search for such evidence in the case of Henry V proves elusive. Images do not necessarily include heraldic devices. The closest contemporary use in France is the copy of a poster for the coronation of Henry VI. Even Henry's chapel at Westminster is relatively devoid of heraldic imagery. Monuments and décor are fragile, so much has been lost. Any real 'ubiquity' of heraldry is memorial: picture books and modern commemoration. We have little direct evidence of how Henry himself used heraldry.
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