Rahere - d.1144 - Medieval Personality of the Month

Making a living as a poor villain or surf in the Middle Ages in England can't have been easy but do not think that only in Italy could a man scale the social ladder. During the early 12thC the development of spoken culture and the heritage of the newly forming English literature was producing opportunities for those with musical and poetic skill. One such character known from around the 1120's is a minstrel named Rahere.

What is known about Rahere is an interwoven history which threads between fact and fiction. A feature of poetry as well as actual historical reality, Rahere lingers, like so many ideas about the Middles Ages, as an paradigm of his era. We know that he had been the favorite courtier of Henry I but that he is also known as having been employed in a musical or clerical capacity in the Church and is named as one of the Cannons of St Paul's Cathedral from a document dating 1115.

The Book of Foundation, written within a few years after Rahere's death, explains Rahere's humble beginnings but elucidates on his intellect, wit and his inevitable potential for social escalation;

THIS man, sprung of humble lineage, when he reached the flower of youth began to haunt the household of nobles and the palaces of princes. Sewing pillows upon all elbows (Ezek. xiii. 18), he drew to friendship with himself those whom he had soothed with jokes and flatterings. And, not content with this, he approached the king's palace with some frequency and resorted to the tumults of that tumultuous court and with jocular flattery desired to attract to himself with ease the hearts of many. There he made it his business all day long to attend spectacles, banquets, jests and the rest of the trifles of the court, and, with shameless face betaking himself to the suite -- now of the king, now of the nobles -- he assiduously employed a complaisance that should please them and obtain with greater ease anything that it pleased him to seek. By these means he was well known to, intimate with, and a comrade of the king and of the great men of the court.

Rudyard Kipling wrote in his poem 'Rahere'

Rahere, King Henry's jester, feared by all the Norman Lords
For his eye that pierced their bosoms, for his tongue that shamed their swords;
Feed and flattered by the Churchmen, well they knew how deep he stood
In dark Henry's crooked counsels, fell upon an evil mood.

Rahere's most lasting legacy is his Vision and consequent Foundation of St Bartholomew's Priory and Hospital in London.

Samantha Farhall, St. Bart's Archivist, describes Rahere's achievment;

In 1118, Henry I’s wife Matilda died, followed two years later by the heir to the throne, Prince William, and his brother, half-brother and sister, who all drowned when the White Ship sank. These events inspired Rahere to live a more worthy life and to undertake religious works, including making a pilgrimage to Rome.

During his travels, Rahere became ill with ‘Roman fever’, now thought to have been malaria. Rahere prayed for recovery from his illness and vowed that if his prayer was answered he would build a hospital for the sick poor in London. He was indeed restored to health and began his journey home. On the way, Saint Bartholomew appeared to Rahere in a vision and told him: ‘I am Bartholomew, Apostle of Jesus Christ, and am come to help thee in thy difficulty. I have chosen a place in Smithfield where, in my name, thou shalt found a church… this spiritual house the Almighty Lord shall inhabit, sanctify and preserve unspotted for ever and ever.’

And so he did, and in 1123 both the Priory and Hospital were Founded. Though both institutions were escaped the Great Fire of London in 1666, no remains of the hospital that Rahere lived to see built in completion, remain. Miss Farhall does however, showcase the original Grant, dating 1137, which details Rahere as granting a Hagno Clericus and the canons and the poor in St Bartholomew’s Hospital, the use of the church of St Sepulchre.

St Bart's had a reputation for helping the sick, needy and impoverished and still carries that bench mark today in treating the traumatized and the homeless.

For further reading the excellent Tina Bird provides much information on her website:
http://www.raheresgarden.com/

See also:-
http://www.bartsandthelondon.nhs.uk/aboutus/raheres_grant.asp

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rahere

http://www.fairground-heritage.org.uk/newsite/learn/learn-barts.html

http://books.google.com/books?id=iDI2AAAAMAAJ&pg=PA63&lpg=PA63&dq=rahere+minstrel&source=bl&ots=02QoRkvRG7&sig=sv_BNv241kzWg3vc0Re2QRRtSCM&hl=en&ei=WUgqTcHmJcq2hQfFmNSkAg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=4&sqi=2&ved=0CCYQ6AEwAw#v=onepage&q=rahere%20minstrel&f=false

http://books.google.com/books?id=K0UJAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA263&lpg=PA263&dq=rahere+minstrel&source=bl&ots=XNB_hNqMUc&sig=WqpMMHBkjFrY7Gun1HZpXaQrgUc&hl=en&ei=WUgqTcHmJcq2hQfFmNSkAg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&sqi=2&ved=0CBIQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=rahere%20minstrel&f=false

http://www.1902encyclopedia.com/L/LON/london-30.html

Book Review - Medieval Lives by Terry Jones

If you want to read a concise and broad account of the different lives of people living in the 'Middle Ages'; that time being after the greco-roman classical period and before the later Renaissance period as first described by the Bishop Giovanni Andrea in 1469, then this is most definitely the book for you!

No nonsense, accessible, interesting and humorous, Terry Jones has managed to dispel all the myths taken for fact surrounding the life and society of this vast period in history. By selecting eight of the most popular figures that come to mind when we think of people in Medieval history; Peasant, Minstrel, Outlaw, Monk, Philosopher, Knight, Damsel and King, Mr Jones cuts through the superstitions and fabrications that have been passed down to us almost as fact;

Did you know for example, that medieval people didn't think the world was flat? That was a total fabrication by an American journalist in the nineteenth century. Did you know that they didn't burn witches in the Middle Ages? That was the refinement of the so-called Renaissance. In fact, medieval kings weren't necessarily merciless tyrants, and peasants entertained at home using French pottery and fine wine.

A most enlightening, entertaining and thought provoking read!

Jonathan Jones of The Guardian Attempts a Renaissance Revivial - Agreed!

I am a bit of a fan of Jonathan Jones, who writes as an art critic for The Guardian Newspaper here in the U.K and also has an extremely fascinating and eclectic blog on:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/jonathanjonesblog

I have previously mentioned his book 'The Lost Battles', which i have purchased on pre-order from amazon.co.uk and cannot wait to read! Though his literary dissecting of art is by no means restricted to the Renaissance, he does seem to have a succinct and appropriate argument on the topic, which i tend to agree with.

Recently on sifting through some of his past Blog entries from this year i came upon 'Trying to revive the Renaissance' which you can view on the link below:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/jonathanjonesblog/2010/jun/03/leonardo-michelangelo-renaissance-mattered?INTCMP=SRCH

Jonathan's book, which explores th competition between two of the finest Renaissance minds of the time; Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo, also explores the significance of Florence itself. There is a continuing argument between modern art historians over the actual importance of Florence in the Renaissance, as to whether is was justly considered as the epicenter of 'the golden age' or whether this reputation was merely the result of rich patrons and propagandist literaries whose works have survived and have been passed down to us as fact - Georgio Vasari's 'Lives of the Artists' being one of them.

Jonathan Jones argues for the original idea, that indeed Florence has earned its reputation righteously, even with its turbulent history and infamous characters and that in fact, it has the right to remain preeminent when thinking of the Renaissance as opposed to those other Italian cities of Sienna - which has got more press lately than others, Urbino & Mantua. Or further afield, there has been great discussion as to the equal importance of the Renaissance in Flanders and the rest of Europe in order to unravel the allusion and allure of the shining city of Florence.

Jonathan says his book;

revises the revisionists. The story I tell in my book happens to vindicate everything the Victorians believed about this incredible cultural moment. What does it mean, historically, that in the early 1500s Michelangelo and Leonardo competed in their own city? It reminds us of the sheer wonder of Florence at this time – for how could two such geniuses be produced by its artistic workshops if not because this community was a unique crucible of talent? And if nothing else, my book puts Florence back at the heart of Renaissance Europe. The fact that Niccolo Machiavelli was involved in staging the contest adds to that argument – northerners' admiration for the Italian provocateur ensured that his ideas circulated through Europe and inspired Shakespeare's villains.

What of the place of the Renaissance in global culture? There were many marvellous works of art being created in the world of 1504, in places as various as Mexico and Benin. But only in modern times have such objects been defined, some might say appropriated, as "art". It is the modern world that rips relics from temples and calls them Art. The very idea of "art" – I told my Hay audience – begins in Renaissance Italy, and the contest between Leonardo and Michelangelo is central to its birth. You could say that Leonardo was the first person we know to have a deep and unmistakable artistic personality, and that Michelangelo learned from the older man, self-consciously presenting himself as a free and original artistic genius. In their competition, the demands of political and religious, communal and ritual image-making were eclipsed by a new cult of art for art's sake.

So not only does Florence emanate the pinnacle of invention, intuitive genius and innovation that is so synonymous with the Renaissance, but it also, in the characters of Leonardo and Michelangelo, allows through the zeitgeist of its point in time, the emergence of the individual personality and ego. The development of the self, which Vasari, Burkhardt and many others since have been showing us all along.

Mr Jones likens the importance of Jacob Burkhardt's 19thC work; 'The Civilization of the Renaissance in Italy' to that of Darwin's;

The study of the Renaissance can no more forget Burckhardt than biology can leave Darwin behind...The fascination of reading his book is its vision of Italy as the birthplace of modern individualism, political calculation, science and scepticism. In 1860 Burckhardt looked at Italy and saw the shock of the new, secreted in sleepy ruins.

Burkhardt analyses the age of the Renaissance with a new overview, an eclectic formation of not just one part of the history, but of it all, the society, politics and economics that effected the creation of the art produced in Italy throughout the Renaissance;

The Civilisation of the Renaissance in Italy would ignite the spark of art history as an academic subject – but its greatness as a book lies in its imaginative intoxication. It is not a critique, but the supreme expression of the 19th-century fantasy of the Italian Renaissance...Burckhardt argues, "for the first time we detect the modern political spirit of Europe, surrendered freely to its own instincts"

Jonathan goes on to write;

Burckhardt, like Darwin and Marx, wrote an epic of turbulence, change, transformation – he found in the Italian Renaissance the very birth of what he saw as the most striking aspects of the modern world. Italians never really knew feudalism, he argued. They had no time for the corporate character of medieval life. The second section of his book is called "The Development of the Individual" and portrays the typical Renaissance man as "the first-born among the sons of modern Europe."

Burckhardt's panorama of the ruthlessness of the Italian despots relies heavily on Machiavelli's writings. Indeed he sees the entire Renaissance through Machiavellian, meaning political, eyes. In contrast to Marx and today's historians of the consumerist "material culture" of the Renaissance, he starts with politics and holds that the development of the Machiavellian state liberated Italian energy. Another source he cites is Francesco Guicciardini, a friend of Machiavelli whose great History of Italy, written in the 1530s, compares with Tacitus for its disabused gloom and which flavours Burckhardt's own cynical melancholy.

Having come through all that, the Victorian age of obsession, the development of a new and complete art history; seeing art as an diverse combination and result of socio-historical developments and political events, are we just in an age where the dissection of all that is previous is taken as given? Have we lost the original facts through skepticism and cynicism?

Is the abundance of Italy's heritage the cause for these modern historians to search elsewhere for culture when it is staring at their faces? John Hooper of the Guardian writes in 'Italy's abundance of heritage sites leads to indifference' that Italy;

A country sprinkled with aqueducts and amphitheatres, medieval piazzas and renaissance palazzos devotes far less of its budget to their conservation than others with less to boast.

According to the latest comparative figures from the OECD, from 2006, Italy devoted only 0.8% of its public spending to culture and leisure, putting it 22nd on a list of 27 countries for which statistics were available. France, like Spain, spent almost twice as much.

"Italy has never spent enough on culture," says Cecchi

Roberto Cecchi, director-general of the heritage department of Italy's culture ministry, admits;

"If we do not work to preserve this enormous heritage, if we merely concentrate on the most eye-catching cases like the Colosseum and Pompeii, we risk losing the rest."

There are of course, very good reasons to read between the lines of what history has told us is fact throughout the ages. Prime examples being many historical dialogues written corruptly or written out altogether. Women in the Renaissance for an obvious example and those artists overlooked by the towering personalities who made more noise than they did and whose lives have been read and reread over again.

So these missing histories are certainly important and worth our investigation and further analysis, but to forsake the rest of the history also presented at our doors is a mistake blindly bundled into. Simply because one historical narrative has received more attention than others does not negate its relevance nor its importance. History is not merely black and white with either one narrative or another. Burkhardt brought that to our attention. History itself is an interwoven tapestry of connecting threads.

So i am not saying we should ignore the unknown narrative, quite the opposite, however we should not forget the dominating histories either. To do so is to the demise and possible loss forever of these great monuments to the Renaissance. John Hooper reports of one instance as an example, where Italy's heritage, not just in Florance, has been left to ruin;

Few of the tourists who arrive in Rome by taxi realise, as they speed through, say, the Porta San Giovanni that the walls to either side were built in the 3rd century. The so-called Aurelian walls, of which some 8 miles remain, are among the glories of the Eternal City.

Yet the Romans too take them for granted, and the result is that they are gradually crumbling. A 15-metre stretch collapsed in 2007.

The Aurelian walls are perhaps the biggest structure on Italia Nostra's "red list". So far, it takes in only seven of Italy's 20 regions, but it already comprises the names of 60 severely endangered buildings and sites.

They include barely known castles, far off the beaten tourist track, such as the one at Olcenengo in Piedmont, and archaeological sites of acknowledged importance such as the Greek settlement at Selinunte in Sicily, with its magnificent, reconstructed Temple of Hera.

There are entire nations with a cultural heritage less illustrious than that which fills this red list and, says Cecchi, that could help explain why Italian governments have traditionally been so indifferent to conservation. "When you have things," he says, "there is a tendency to think you will have them forever."

I think that some of these modern historians have in them the remnants of that ego developed during the Renaissance. The pride in discovering something new, something now and being renowned for it. Its a little bit like when at school and a new band is unearthed from the midst of the chart toppers and one takes flattery for finding them out and telling ones friends. Then when everyone catches on to this new trend somehow it doesn't mean as much to the person - 'everyone thinks its cool so i don't think its cool'. To me its slightly the loftiness of being the patron of the new and being ahead of the crowd, being known as a forerunner and being remembered for it.

Peter Hall, in his 'Cities in Civilization', 1998, writes of Florence as a catalyst of creativity at just the right moment. The quattrocentro of the 1400's;

was surely one of the most extraordinary periods in human creativity: within eighteen years, 1420-1438, Brunelleschi's huge dome for the Cathedral rose above the city; the great west façade was filled with sculptured saints; beside it Ghiberti completed his twenty-three year labour on the north doors of the Baptistery, before turning for the next twenty-seven years to the east doors; down the neighboring Via dei Calzaiuoli, Florentines could see the fourteen Orsanmichele statues, commissioned by the guilds; in the other direction, Brunelleschi was also directing work on the severe arcaded classical façade of the Spedele degli Innocenti, the first building of the classical revival in Europe and one of the definitive starting points of the Renaissance; not far away, in 1438, Fra Angelico began his frescoes in the convent San Marco; in Santa Maria Novella, Masaccio was painting his great Trinity; and Donatello was sculpting La Maddalena...

This was no conscious accident, for these works were conscious creations of the entire collectivity; they were not simply expressions of individual creativity or genius, but the result of long deliberations in committees and rigorous, indeed contentious and bitter, competition among artists of huge talent and - frequently - egos to match.

There are ample, and more reasons than i can put into one blog post, why Florance should still be considered greatly important in the history of the Renaissance, and why Italy itself is a forerunner of the movement. Let us not be blinded by the over analytical cynicism of modern art history, but take from the Renaissance what it has to offer and revel in the accomplishments of its totality.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/culture/2010/dec/03/italy-heritage-abundance-indifference?INTCMP=SRCH

http://www.guardian.co.uk/culture/2010/jul/10/jacob-burckhardt-civilization-renaissance-italy?INTCMP=SRCH

http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/jonathanjonesblog/2009/feb/27/art-consumption-renaissance?INTCMP=SRCH

Victoria & Albert Renaissance Treasure Trove

The Victoria & Albert Museum in London is usually a first destination for me due to their Medieval & Renaissance Galleries which has been open for just over a year through the help of funding from Heritage Lottery Fund and other private donors.

This beautifully spacious and light gallery which has three floors to explore, is positively bursting with wonderful artifacts and boasts the most important collection of Italian sculpture from the Renaissance outside of Italy with artists such as Donatello and Michelangelo and artifacts such as betrothal goblets, playing cards, tapestries and the Forster Codex Volumes of Leonardo da Vinci's note books and drawings.

Not only does the V&A Museum house all of these works of art from its own collections which span; European and the Islamic Mediterranean from 700-1600, Donatello in Florence to Women and the Renaissance and Renaissance & Medieval Jewellery, but it also holds a partnership with the British Library to 'show a changing selection of manuscripts from their collections'. The Museum's Medieval and Renaissance Blog explains:

Manuscripts were an important part of the artistic production of major churches at this time. Churches needed service books in order to better administer the liturgy. They copied scholarly texts for their libraries; and they produced charters and other administrative documents as well. The V&A’s collection of medieval manuscripts is comparatively small, and our works from this period tend to be individual leaves or fragments from much larger and grander works. We wanted to work with the British Library to help further contextualise the displays that visitors will see, and to juxtapose V&A objects with relevant manuscript materials

For more information on the V&A's Medieval and Renaissance collections and interactive features as well as information on short Art History courses that they offer please see the below links:

http://www.vam.ac.uk/collections/periods_styles/medieval/new_med_ren_galleries/index.html

http://www.vam.ac.uk/vastatic/microsites/1265_frost/

http://www.vam.ac.uk/collections/periods_styles/medieval/new_med_ren_galleries/m&r_galleries/renaissance_art_ideas_1400-1550/index.html

http://www.vam.ac.uk/collections/periods_styles/medieval/new_med_ren_galleries/m&r_galleries/splendour_society_1500-1600/index.html

http://www.vam.ac.uk/collections/periods_styles/medieval/Medieval_Renaissance_Links/index.html

http://www.vam.ac.uk/activ_events/courses/courses/art_history_year_courses/index.html

Leonardo Exhibition

For those interested in seeing some Leonardo da Vinci paintings please look to the National Gallery, London for their up coming exhibition from 9 November 2011 – 5 February 2012

"Leonardo da Vinci: Painter at the Court of Milan is the most complete display of Leonardo’s rare surviving paintings ever held. This unprecedented exhibition – the first of its kind anywhere in the world – brings together sensational international loans never before seen in the UK.
Leonardo the artist

While numerous exhibitions have looked at Leonardo da Vinci as an inventor, scientist or draughtsman, this is the first to be dedicated to his aims and techniques as a painter. Inspired by the recently restored National Gallery painting, The Virgin of the Rocks, this exhibition focuses on Leonardo as an artist. In particular it concentrates on the work he produced as court painter to Duke Lodovico Sforza in Milan in the late 1480s and 1490s.

As a painter, Leonardo aimed to convince viewers of the reality of what they were seeing while still aspiring to create ideals of beauty – particularly in his exquisite portraits – and, in his religious works, to convey a sense of awe-inspiring mystery.

Works on display

Featuring the finest paintings and drawings by Leonardo and his followers, the exhibition examines Leonardo’s pursuit for perfection in his representation of the human form. Works on display include ‘La Belle Ferronière’ (Musée du Louvre, Paris), the ‘Madonna Litta’ (Hermitage, Saint Petersburg) and ‘Saint Jerome’ (Pinacoteca Vaticana, Rome).

The final part of the exhibition features a near-contemporary, full-scale copy of Leonardo’s famous ‘Last Supper’, on loan from the Royal Academy. Seen alongside all the surviving preparatory drawings made by Leonardo for the 'Last Supper', visitors will discover how such a large-scale painting was designed and executed."

http://nationalgallery.org.uk/whats-on/exhibitions/leonardo-da-vinci-painter-at-the-court-of-milan

Beauty in the Eyes of the Beholder - Mona Lisa Revealed?

Silvano Vinceti, the chairman of the Italian national committee for cultural heritage, has laid claim that the true identity of the model who sat for Leonardo da Vinci whilst he was painting the Mona Lisa, may be revealed.

According to Vinceti, who scrutinised the famous face's eyes by using high resolution images, initials can be seen in both the left and right pupils of the painting. Vinceti states that;

"Invisible to the naked eye and painted in black on green-brown are the letters LV in her right pupil, obviously Leonardo's initials, but it is what is in her left pupil that is far more interesting."

Vinceti seems to claim that the letters B, S or possibly CE are discernible in the Mona Lisa's left eye,

"A vital clue to identifying the model who sat for the Renaissance artist."

"Leonardo was keen on symbols and codes to get messages across, and he wanted us to know the identity of the model using the eyes, which he believed were the door to the soul and a means for communication."

He add's that;

"Under the right-hand arch of the bridge seen in the background, Leonardo also painted 72, or L2, another possible clue...Two expert painters we consulted on this tell us that all these marks, painted using a tiny brush and a magnifying glass, cannot be an error."

Jobathan Jones of the Guardian however, remains skeptical.

Jonathan Jones is somewhat of a modern scholar on Leonardo da Vinci. His book 'The Lost Battles' is about Leonardo, Michelangelo and the Renaissance and details the dual between the two artists in their competition to win a commission in 16thC Florence. So his knowledge of Leonardo is to be noted.

In the Guardian article 'Mona Lisa's eyes: should we believe those Da Vinci stories?' he discusses recent news worthy Leonardo da Vinci finds, one of the more reliable discoveries for instance, being the unearthing of 'new' manuscripts of Leonardo's mirror-writing which have been found in a library in Nantes and which still need to be de-coded. Happening upon such a find as these never before seen notes from the artist is credible due to the artists sheer volume of work however, reading about the unveiled identity of the model for the Mona Lisa, Mr Jones raises some justified questions:

"Mona Lisa's identity is no longer mysterious – it is known from a solid piece of textual evidence found in Heidelberg University's library in 2007. This note records that Leonardo was working in 1503 on a portrait of Lisa del Giocondo. No other theories are needed – and anyway the chief theories down the years have all seen this as a 16th-century work. It would take a lot more than some arcane codes to make this high Renaissance masterpiece look like a work of the 1490s"

It seems we will have to wait for Signore Silvano Vinceti to look a little closer through his high resolution images to see what this most recent 'discovery' will reveal when he announces his conclusions next month.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/2010/dec/12/mona-lisa-eyes-model-identity?intcmp=239

The Sound of the Middle Ages - A Gift of Music to my Ears

http://www.thegiftofmusic.com/acatalog/Music_of_the_Middle_Ages.html

thegiftofmusic.com have some wonderful collections of interesting and unusual music for the melodic connoisseur with a taste for the historical. For Christmas this year I have been given 'Music of the Middle Ages' from this website, which describes the Album as the following:

Music of the Middle Ages Ref: CDG1055
Music of the Middle Ages
Songs, laments and dances

A song of love found and love lost, of love unrequited, of love fought for, and of battles won and lost. Instruments and voices explore the music of the past in songs, laments and dances. Lots of variety and colour evoke the medieval world of chivalry and romance. Most works are anonymous, and are taken from manuscripts of the period.

1 Ricercar
2 Ther is no rose of swych vertu
3 Ricercar
4 Dou way Robin
5 Trois sereus
6 Ah Robin, gentle Robin
7 Summer is icumen in
8 Bryd one brere
9 Salterello
10 Lullay, lullay
11 Foweles in the frith
12 Petrone (medieval organ)
13 Gabriel fram evene king
14 Angelus ad virginem
15 Alle, psallite
16 Veni creator
17 Edi be thu
18 Roses in bloom
19 Maiden in the mor lay
20 Nobilis, humilis
21 Ricercar
22 Gloria laus
23 Alleluya psallat

Serendipity
The Monks and Novices of St Frideswide
The Oxford Girls' Choir

This album brings together a wide variety of medieval music, using voices, and instruments in a colourful and fascinating way to bring these ancient notes to new life. The groups making the music are all specialists in their field and have transformed the feint dots, lines and markings of a series of medieval manuscripts into fine sounds: with good tunes and rhythms, this music is both touching and exciting to hear.

The programme has been created with an imaginary garden in mind - a musical garden full of interesting pathways and bowers, where music can be heard. Before the arrival of noisy traffic and the hum of modern suburban life, the garden was the perfect refuge from the stresses and strains of the day. It may have lacked potatoes (not introduced until 1585), but the medieval garden was brimming over with rare herbs and spices, wild roses and all manner of fruits. It was a favourite haunt of young lovers, ideal for summer revels, but above all it was a peaceful place.

Medieval music is full of the sights and sounds of the natural world and of the garden, which was in many senses an idealised version of nature. Poets and musicians have always been influenced by their surroundings, and even the humblest rose inspired the blossoming of some of the greatest music of the age. Sometimes the sounds of music making are close, sometimes more distant and mystical. At one point, a pied piper can be heard, whose music arrives and departs as if blown in by the wind!

This music is by turn haunting and uplifting, melancholic and joyful. Like medieval poetry, the music is infused with symbolism, and a sense of the grandeur and mystery of the world, a grandeur and mystery not yet spoilt by exploration and scientific discovery. The modern mind seeks answers in the detail and analysis of chemistry and physics. The medieval mind looked to the stars and to religion for answers and explanations.

'Angelus ad virginum' can be heard just as Chaucer described, performed with pure young voices delicately accompanied by the plucked psaltery. 'Sumer is icumen in' reminds us of good times to come. Again the sweetness of the voices is remarkable, an echo in sound of the album cover, where an idealised world of music and study is portrayed

It is a beautiful album and i have been listening to it all day. I thought i would share this with everyone as for a while now i have been trying to find original Medieval music. Unfortunately when looking on the internet and on other cd's there is a tendency for the music to be slightly romanticised and almost cheapened. This CD however has been taken from original manuscripts and arranged in a delightful way. Enchanting

Castle of the Month - Stokesay Castle, Shropshire

Image Copyright Chris Gunns



Built in the 1280's and into the early 1290's by the wealthy merchant Laurence of Ludlow, Stokesay Castle sits in amongst the beautiful views of the surrounding Onny Valley and complete with a moat, a gatehouse and additional 17thC Solar, is a brilliant preservation of English Medieval life.

The Castle boasts some of the finest detail in wood carving and floor tiles remaining from the Middle Age but also has a serene and quietly simple atmosphere which is a pleasure to take in as you take the tour around the grounds.

We went to visit this Castle a few weeks ago and unfortunately the Gatehouse, which doubles up as a Cafe, was not open due to the time of year however, you can take a tour of the buildings all year round and the gift shop provides excellent audio and written guides.

The first impression of the complex is the Gatehouse which is a 17thC addition to the grounds built between 1640-1641. The Biblical story of the fall of humankind is carved around the lintel in the entrance with classically Gothic details of trees, nature, grotesques, good and evil and of course, Adam & Eve. The detail of the carving is incredible and its preserved condition fantastic. Although the lintel has lost the brightly coloured paint that would have covered the figures and the rest of the engraved scene, the impression of medieval beliefs is still very potent.

Walking across the courtyard we went into the Great Hall, which as you can see from the beautiful picture produced by Chris Gunns above, is an unprecedented vestige of the wealth of Laurence of Ludlow and carpentry skill of the carpenters of the time.

The Great Hall boasts some of the finest workmanship in its surviving roof which is a rare remnant of the period. There are three great wooden arches supported below by pairs of struts. Looking up at the roof one gets a vivid impression of how grand it must have been to those who dined in the hall with Laurence, which will have been the principal function of the space. In the right hand corner of the Hall you can walk up the original set of stairs from the late 13thC, a striking survival considering the use of the Hall and its age. Each step is cut from whole tree trunks and as you ascend the staircase you can stop at the top to get a much closer view of the roof and its structure.

The first floor of the Hall, though now two rooms, would have originally been a single room and here you can find the excellently preserved ceramic floor tiles which decorate the whole right alcove of the first floor room. These ceramic tiles, which where produced throughout Europe, would have been extremely expensive and only usually found in large castles or large religious establishments.

On the second floor you can see an original fire place, which retains the 13thC wooden mantel and carved surround.

The Solar Block, which was refashioned in the 17thC, houses the most impressive wooden carving and one can walk around the lower room with a feeling of great opulence and grandeur. The most impressive feature of the room is the Ornamental, which is divided up within its design into four pillars shaped as human figures. Once again this would have been originally brightly coloured but traces of several pigments can still be seen today if viewed closely.

I particularly enjoyed finding the peepholes that look down into the Great Hall. These are in the wooden paneling which surrounds the rooms circumference. You can imagine the ladies on finishing a bite to eat, peering into the Hall to judge the local men and spy at their conversation.

The South Tower of Stokesay is wonderful. As i walked up the tiny dark staircase onto the second floor the brilliance of the sunlight beamed across the room through the beautiful windows, some of which have little benches either side on which you can sit and view the tranquil atmosphere of the encompassing landscape.

My trip to Stokesay was truly enjoyable and i would thoroughly recommend a visit. The information provided for the visitor is excellent and detailed and the sheer preservation of the compex is well worth any enthusiasts time.

For more information on visiting Stokesay Castle please visit the English Heritage website below:
http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/daysout/properties/stokesay-castle/

See also:
http://www.castlewales.com/stokesay.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stokesay_Castle
http://www.shropshiretourism.co.uk/castles/stokesay/

A Renaissance Christmas!

A mid 14th C Tabernacle in Ivory depicting the Annunciation, Visitation & Nativity with Joseph holding the baby


'Madonna of Tarquinia' by Filippo Lippi 1447


'Adoration of the Magi' - Sandro Botticelli 1475 with depictions of the Medici fmaily members; Piero, Giovanni, Guiliano & Lorenzo (the Magnificent)


'The Nativity' in the Scrovegni Cappella a Padova - Giotto di Bondone


Whilst it is Christmas Day tomorrow i thought that a selection of Nativity scenes spanning the Renaissance in Italy would be apt!

Merry Christmas!

Niccolò de' Niccoli (1364–1437) - Renaissance Personality of the Month

To many, the Renaissance was an age that looked backwards to the glory of ancient Greece and Rome, and which determined the Middle Ages as that dark slump between the fall of the great Roman Empire and its own enlightened days. Petrarch and others used 'the Middle Ages' (a phrase which he first coined) as a means to differentiate itself from what had gone before. Brian Stock in 'Listening for the text', suggests that the Middle Ages was invented during the Renaissance in order for it to define, admire and distinguish itself as a golden age separate from the inhabitants of a dark and ignorant past.

The Renaissance, though looking backwards in admiration, also looked forwards with invention, innovation and genius and it was during the early 15thC in Florence, with the new Humanist movement in full swing, that we find Niccolò de' Niccoli as an example of one of the many legacies left to us today from this period.

As one of the leading figures of the brilliant Humanist circles in Florence, Niccolò de' Niccoli is an expression of the enticing possibilities of socio-intellectual growth within 15thC Florence. Moving in the same sphere as Cosimo de' Medici, Niccolò was the son of a wealthy wool merchant, one of the many who had made their fortune in Florence during its recovery in the aftermath of the Black Death.

Niccolò was dedicated in his recovery of ancient manuscripts and in the circulation of their ideals. Peter Strathern writes, in 'The Medici; Godfathers of the Renaissance'

'Not long after he befriended the young Cosimo, they planned a trip to the Holy Land together to search for lost Ancient Greek manuscripts.'

Although he seems to be a presiding influence over much of Florence's intellectual scene during the first half of the 15thC, Strathern writes

'Niccoli was a questionable influence. Dressed in his Ancient Roman toga, and parading all the affectations of 'sensibility', he cut a slightly absurd figure'

Despite this general consensus, Niccolò proved to be a prominent authority particularly in the University of Florence where his copies of some recently discovered manuscripts of Plato, enabled the study of Ancient Greek.

Though regarded as quarrelsome, noted for his troublesome public love affairs and discredited for his inability to write fluid Latin, the latter hinderance ironically, would be his lasting legacy. His copying of hundreds of rare and ancient texts lead to a distinctively clear and slanting writing style which would later be adopted by Italian printers and came to be known as italic.

His mass collection of great and important texts and his dominance over tastes and styles not only influenced literary and intellectual movements, but would also form the tastes of contemporary artists such as Donatello and Brunelleschi. A contemporary scholar; Poggio Bracciolini describes Niccolò as the very embodiment of classical taste. After his death Niccolò's collection of some 800 manuscripts became part of the Medici Library, which was the first public library in Europe, enabling those who desired the possibility of borrowing and studying the texts themselves.

Niccolò represents both sides of the Renaissance; the looking back and ennobling of the past but also, the forward thinking of a humanist society which would provide for the public and for future generations to come, a wealth of knowledge and a new vision of the old.

Castle of the Month - Clun Castle, Shropshire

Recently we were out on the motorbike exploring the welsh boarders and came across a treasure trove of preserved medieval history in the form of castles, fortified houses & medieval towns in a small triangle of about a 15 miles. Our regular destination of Ludlow has provided a great starting point for us to investigate these numerous remains and so, once a month I will be doing a write up on these local Medieval sites. The series will be called Castle of the Month!

This month we wondered into the vast hills of Shropshire past Ludlow, itself a beautiful Medieval town and which I will be covering in this series at a later date. Clun is a small village, about 15 miles from Ludlow and is embedded in what is still referred to as the Welsh Marches.

Although today it is masked by some more recent developments, Clun Castle is situated on an impressive mound and in 12thC it would have dominated its landscape by the River Clun. The Castle was constructed by the Norman, Robert de Say, around 1140-50 according to Lise Hull for Castles of Wales Website – www.castlewales.com

‘In the early 12thC is became part of the Marcher lordship known as the Honour of Clun to the Norman invasion in 1066, William the Conqueror granted extensive parcels of land along the borders to many of his most prized subjects. These men became Marcher Lords, with the right to build castles and rule their lands as if they themselves were kings. The Marcher Lords still owed allegiance to the English monarch, but had the freedom to administer their feudal estates as they saw fit, much to the displeasure of their Welsh vassals’

The site had been chosen for its obvious defensive advantages, with the presence of a natural rocky mound that must have easily served as the motte for protection. Typically the castle would have been originally built with timber defenses, but, was at some later point upgraded to stone in the usual Normal style.

In 1196, according to Lise Hull;

‘Clun Castle was besieged and burned by the Welsh, under the leadership of the great Lord Rhys in 1196. However, it became the property of the prestigious Fitzalan family, who modified the structure into its present form (sans ruins!) and is responsible for the establishment of the associated village. The Fitzalans, lords of Clun and Oswestry, are better known as the Earls of Arundel, builders of mighty Arundel Castle in Southern England. Arundel is now the home of the Dukes of Norfolk, but many of the Fitzalans are interred in the adjacent chapel. While Clun Castle pales in comparison to the Fitzalan's fortress at Arundel, it is a marvelous example of a Marcher castle, intended to keep the unruly Welsh under Norman control’

On approaching the site the visitor can read several information points before crossing the footbridge over the River to begin the steep climb up the imposing mound. (There is a more flat entrance round the side of the Castle mound through a side street for those who need easier access.)

Although now ruined with only the vestiges of the once formidable Baileys and Keep remaining, the towering impression of this seemingly impenetrable 80ft structure are still dramatic. A four-storied keep, with two floors below the summit of the motte and two others rising above the motte, with arched Norman windows, gives the impression of an organised and high status life, however desolate the positioning of the castle may seem.

The remnants of the curtain wall are still visible today at Clun, dated to around the late 12th or early 13thC. This stone structure would have replaced earlier timber edifices. Two round towers have also survived however; access is now limited due to the instability of the delicate masonry.

On the whole I would say that Clun Castle is defiantly worth your exploration. Although at the moment the Keep is under scaffolding for repair and conservation, it is still an atmospheric place and once at the top, the views across Shropshire and into Wales are breathtaking, evoking images of what life and war in this important Norman stronghold must have been like. Its predominance in the local flat landscape must have seemed severe to the small Welsh community who were overpowered by the Normans and ruled over thereafter.

Clun as a village is lovely and welcoming with a very friendly tea shop by the bridge of the River Clun, offering fine views of the castle and warm tea cakes too! The drive through the landscape to get to Clun is in itself worth the trip and the Castle and surrounds are completely free, but for more information on Clun please visit the English Heretidge website;

http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/daysout/properties/clun-castle/

See also:

http://www.shropshiretourism.co.uk/castles/clun/
http://www.castlewales.com/clun.html
http://www.clun.org.uk/castle.htm

'New' Giotto Confirmed

After a seven year labour of Love, a young British conservator, Anna-Marie Hilling, can now finally see her hard work certified, as the Ognissanti Crucifix, which has now been confirmed as a true Giotto original, will finally take its rightful place centre stage in Ognissanti church, Florence.

The Crucifix, which is thought to be dated around 1300, stands an impressive five metres high and was originally attributed to one of Giotto's relatives or pupils from his work shop.

Hilling and her team have proved that this is a true Giotto original through the use of Infrared photography & Xrays of the Crucifix. The results showed 'clear proof' of preliminary sketches and preparatory painting done by the early Italian Master.

The Guardian describes Giotto as being,

'renowned in his day for creating religious images that communicated directly with congregations. In contrast with stylised Byzantine art, his depiction of key scenes from the New Testament was thought daring and his newly rediscovered cross shows the crucifixion as a human triumph, with the image of the risen Christ painted above the dying figure on the cross.'

The painstaking restoration, which took a dedicated team of four, every hour of every day for over five years to complete, revealed the beautiful individual brush strokes of the Masters own hand, the use of the precious pigmant Lapiz Lazuli for the background & delicate coloured glass which was used for Christ's Halo.

Hilling states on the Guardian website that,

'The most difficult phase of the work was the cleaning, which involved years of a very delicate and gradual removal of the altered layer on the blackened surface. Every single square millimetre was cleaned with specific chemical solving systems applied under the control of the microscope, as the original layers were extremely delicate.

But the removal of that dark layer revealed the quality of Giotto's painting, with many fine details that were not visible before. In the 20th century the work of art had often been assigned to a collaborator of Giotto – popularly known as "Giotto's relative" – but the thousands of hours devoted to cleaning the painting have helped art historians to confirm it as by the great master himself – Giotto, father of Italian art.'

The Crucifix is currently on display in the Ognissanti Church and will be inaugurated on 6 November.