Grounds for re-appraising the East Anglian manuscripts of early fourteenth-century England
Date
1973
Authors
Kerr, Alastair
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Abstract
The subject of this thesis is a re-appraisal of some of the traditionally accepted ideas about the East Anglian period of English illumination, c.1300-1350. Formerly the term East Anglian has implied that the artistic centre of gravity for England is in the eastern counties, particularly within the Diocese of Norwich. However, research undertaken in recent years has suggested that this hypothesis cannot be wholly maintained. For example, the workshop which illustrated the Tickhill Psalter group of manuscripts employed the same kind of decoration which is said to typify the East Anglian school, but this workshop began with no stylistic connection with any East Anglian workshop. Hence a rationale for this style is sought outside its regional environment, and is found in the Court. The evidence for this conclusion is reached principally through an examination of the patronage and through an iconographic and stylistic comparison of the manuscripts with documented Court works.
The approach adopted investigates the manuscripts firstly through workshop groups based on stylistic similarities; such matters as date, provenance and patronage are discussed. This method reveals that, within a single workshop, there is a wide range of decorative possibilities, and that this varies in each manuscript according to the nature of the patron. It also reveals that certain affinities can be drawn between the manuscripts commissioned by a common class of patronage. Secondly, three classes of patrons are outlined: the noble elite, the gentry and minor ecclesiastics, and religious institutions. It is shown that the most sumptuous manuscripts had been made for the noble elite and that they range in a descending order of sumptuousness through the gentry and minor ecclesiastics, to the ones made for religious institutions. This indicates that the most lavish books had been made for some of the most prominent people in the realm, with direct connections with the Court. Thirdly, a comparison is made between these manuscripts and the types of marginal decoration found in the Court manuscripts of the 1280's, and also figural and applied architectural styles of other works associated with the Court. These lines of investigation accentuate the amazing variety of manuscripts that have been categorized at one time or another as East Anglian, and suggest that their origin in the Court style of the late thirteenth and early fourteenth centuries is the real common factor amongst them.