Although later medieval St. Albans Abbey has long been renowned as a preeminent center for the writing of historical chronicles,
previous studies have not acknowledged that the monastic community also had a sustained tradition of visually representing the house’s
institutional history. This dissertation demonstrates that between the late eleventh and early sixteenth centuries, the monks of St. Albans
depicted and evoked their abbey’s past in a large and diverse collection of artworks, ranging from illuminated manuscripts and pilgrim badges
to monumental paintings and architecture. Monastic historical imagery was rarely produced during the Middle Ages, but the images and objects
from St. Albans present a remarkably rich and complete account of the abbey’s history from the time of its illustrious origins through the
eve of its dissolution. Using an interdisciplinary approach to contextualize these artworks within the monastery’s history and traditions,
this study argues that the visual historiography of St. Albans served as a potent vehicle for the expression and self-fashioning of the
abbey’s corporate identity and historical memory. As will be demonstrated, this vast corpus of imagery focuses on three fundamental elements
of the monastery’s past: Saint Alban and his early cult, the eighth-century foundation of the monastery by King Offa of Mercia, and the
house’s post-foundation history. Through these artworks, many of which have not previously received the attention of art historians, the
monks of St. Albans documented, celebrated, and occasionally manipulated their abbey’s long and distinguished history, thereby providing a
compelling justification for its continued prosperity and prestige. / A Dissertation submitted to the Department of Art History in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the
degree of Doctor of Philosophy. / Fall Semester 2017. / November 9, 2017. / historiography, identity, medieval art, monasticism, St. Albans / Includes bibliographical references. / Richard K. Emmerson, Professor Co-Directing Dissertation; Lynn Jones, Professor Co-Directing
Dissertation; David F. Johnson, University Representative; Kyle Killian, Committee Member; Stephanie Leitch, Committee Member.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:fsu.edu/oai:fsu.digital.flvc.org:fsu_605094 |
| Contributors | Carter, Deirdre Anne (author), Emmerson, Richard Kenneth (professor co-directing dissertation), Jones, Lynn, 1958- (professor co-directing dissertation), Johnson, David F. (David Frame), 1956- (university representative), Killian, Kyle L., 1971- (committee member), Leitch, Stephanie (committee member), Florida State University (degree granting institution), College of Fine Arts (degree granting college), Department of Art History (degree granting departmentdgg) |
| Publisher | Florida State University |
| Source Sets | Florida State University |
| Language | English, English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Text, text, doctoral thesis |
| Format | 1 online resource (468 pages), computer, application/pdf |
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