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medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture Following up on the last post, try reading them that terrific passage in The Name of the Rose, where one of the characters describes the vision/ impression on entering a huge medieval church (probably inspired at least partly by Dionysius the Areopagite). Very evocative. Andrew Kirkman Steve Cartwright wrote: > medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture > Colleagues, > > Every year I teach a survey course on the history of western > humanities, from the ancient world through the Middles Ages--sort of > Western Civ without the politics, economics, etc. I get to spend three > precious weeks on medieval arts, ideas, and culture. This includes > discussing medieval church architecture, particularly church > architecture. For years I've been discussing the differences between > Romanesque and Gothic, and showing pictures of the various styles, the > stained glass, the sculptures, etc., and putting them into the context > of the allegorical world view of medieval Europeans. But I've always > felt something has been missing, namely, just how all the bits and > pieces of a medieval church--the sculptural program, the stained glass > program, the layout, the sacred geometry, etc., all fit together into > an ultimate combination of form and function. > > What I want to discuss with my students is just how a medieval church > building "functioned," or worked, namely, when a medieval churchgoer > or pilgrim entered a church and saw the whole thing, what did s/he > think? How did the building *as an integrated whole* function to teach > or inspire a worshipper? I'm going for the Gestalt here. I already > discuss such things as the "mysticism of light," the church building > as a microcosm of the universe, an allegory of salvation, and a > foretaste of heaven. I want to discuss more fully how that entire, > complex form functioned, how it all affected the medieval churchgoer. > > Thanks for any suggestions you might have about this! > > Steve Cartwright > Western Michigan University > ********************************************************************** > To join the list, send the message: join medieval-religion YOUR NAME > to: [log in to unmask] To send a message to the list, address it > to: [log in to unmask] To leave the list, send the > message: leave medieval-religion to: [log in to unmask] In order > to report problems or to contact the list's owners, write to: > [log in to unmask] For further information, > visit our web site: > http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/medieval-religion.html -- Andrew Kirkman Tel: (001) 609 448 9795 Personal website: http://music.rutgers.edu/info/fac-bio/kirkman/ The Binchois Consort: http://www.binchoisconsort.com/ ********************************************************************** To join the list, send the message: join medieval-religion YOUR NAME to: [log in to unmask] To send a message to the list, address it to: [log in to unmask] To leave the list, send the message: leave medieval-religion to: [log in to unmask] In order to report problems or to contact the list's owners, write to: [log in to unmask] For further information, visit our web site: http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/medieval-religion.html