Art and Political Thought in Medieval England

Book at Lunchtime: Art and Political Thought in Medieval England
c.1150-1350 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.