IMC 2024: Sessions

This session has been grouped by the IMC Programming Committee from individually submitted paper proposals.

Paper a: In this paper I investigate the supplications to invalidate forced marriages that were sent to the Apostolic Penitentiary during the pontificate of Pope Innocent VIII (1484-1492). The supplications will be analyzed both in relation to the late medieval scholarly discussions of force and fear as impediment to marriage, and in relation to the lived reality that emerges in the petitioner’s narratives. The Penitentiary dealt with cases from all over Europe and few medieval sources provide such insights into the relation between the concrete situation of individuals in local society and the overarching regulations of canon law.

Paper b: One of the most important ways for Orthodox Christians to leave their mark on time is to create their portraits in the churches. In the context of this brief announcement we will be concerned with the dedicatory portrait in the church of Taxiarches Metropoleos in Kastoria. In the donors’ portrait of the western facade the depiction of a man and a woman on both sides of archangel Michael is preserved. The identification of the donors with well-known historical figures is very difficult due to the poor preservation of the accompanying dedicatory inscriptions; with the result the researchers appear divided. The purpose of this announcement is to promote different interpretations and to attempt to identify the donors.

Paper c: This paper considers the successes, crises, and transitions of families, the grain market, and loggias of Orsanmichele in Florence over two centuries, until the construction of the current loggia in 1337. It considers families who were members of the elite Society of Towers in the twelfth century, but who moved into commerce and commune building. Some were then exiled politically, but built a commercial empire abroad. Some were deemed heretics domestically, but rose to build the grain market and confraternity of Orsanmichele. Some served in the priorate, only to face political execution. The paper considers the grain market, which grew into the city’s centralized venue serving the entire population, only to be burned entirely in factional fighting. It rose again with greater success, only to be forced out following merchant bankruptcies of the 1340s. The paper considers the loggias, first Arnolfo’s masterpiece, which was viciously burned in 1304, together with its Madonna and market. A grand though less solid structure followed, but faced construction compromises and severe flooding. It yielded to the current structure starting in 1337. The paper considers these and other triumphs and challenges of the families, operations, and structures at Orsanmichele as Florence transformed over time.

Paper d: This paper focuses on the breakdowns of families, and demonstrates how examining political contexts in which murals were created is key to understanding meaning. The paper examines the political martyr St Thomas of Lancaster - a member of the House of Plantagenet and eldest son of the Earl of Lancaster Edmund Crouchback (d.1322). Lancaster also held the Earldoms of Lincoln and Salisbury, and the post of Sheriff of Lancashire. A cousin to Edward II, Lancaster was leader of the baronial opposition until his defeat in battle. Lancaster is represented at South Newington (Oxfordshire). The painting was commissioned by the Giffard family of Twyford, who were connected with Lancaster through their cousin John Baron Giffard of Brimpsfield (Gloucestershire). A close ally of Lancaster, John fought on the side of the rebels against Edward II and was later executed. The representation of St Thomas of Lancaster at South Newington provides an excellent springboard for examining his visual cult in illuminated manuscripts. This paper will also demonstrate how murals had multiple functions, and how political martyrs functioned as advocates in times of crisis and peace.