In the mid-thirteenth century, the English monk, author, and artist Matthew Paris produced a rich collection of illustrated manuscripts. Although he is best known for his historical chronicles, Matthew also wrote and illustrated several saints' lives, including those of Saint Alban, Edward the Confessor, and Thomas Becket. The existing copies of these works reveal that Matthew frequently infused his saints' lives with additional historical material, blurring the lines between history and hagiography. This thesis focuses on the Life of Edward the Confessor (Cambridge, University Library, MS Ee.3.59) and explores the way in which Matthew visually represents the lengthy historical sequences that he has added to the more traditional account of the saint. I argue that these additions have a significant impact on the narrative and that they suggest that Matthew had an unusual understanding of how history and hagiography relate to one another. I begin with an exploration of the differing approaches that Matthew took in the illustration of his saints' lives as opposed to his chronicles and demonstrate that Matthew decorated both types of manuscripts with innovative images that were tailored to suit their accompanying texts. I then investigate the nature of Matthew's alterations to his Life of Edward the Confessor and argue that these historical additions provide a contextual frame for the hagiographic narrative by placing Edward's saintly life within the broader context of English history. Furthermore, I suggest that Matthew carefully designed the illustrations of this historical material in order to present his intended reader, Queen Eleanor of Provence, with a very special manuscript that suited her age, lineage, and status as an influential woman. I argue that Matthew's historical additions created a narrative that was not only spiritually affective, but also entertaining, educational, and representative of contemporary changes in the notion of both history and sainthood. / A Thesis submitted to the Department of Art History in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts. / Spring Semester, 2009. / April 10, 2009. / Illustrated Saints' Lives, English Saints, Word and Image, Reception, Historical Manuscript Illustration, La Estoire de Seint Aedward le Rei, Chronica Majora, Narrative Structure, Medieval Manuscript Illustration, English History, St. Albans Abbey, English Manuscript Illustration, Thirteenth-Century England / Includes bibliographical references. / Richard Emmerson, Professor Directing Thesis; Paula Gerson, Committee Member; Stephanie Leitch, Committee Member.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:fsu.edu/oai:fsu.digital.flvc.org:fsu_182330 |
| Contributors | Carter, Deirdre Anne (authoraut), Emmerson, Richard (professor directing thesis), Gerson, Paula (committee member), Leitch, Stephanie (committee member), Department of Art History (degree granting department), Florida State University (degree granting institution) |
| Publisher | Florida State University, Florida State University |
| Source Sets | Florida State University |
| Language | English, English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Text, text |
| Format | 1 online resource, computer, application/pdf |
| Rights | This Item is protected by copyright and/or related rights. You are free to use this Item in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s). The copyright in theses and dissertations completed at Florida State University is held by the students who author them. |
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