Date of Award
12-1996
Degree Name
Master of Arts
Department
Medieval Studies
First Advisor
Dr. Otto Grundler
Second Advisor
Dr. Paul Szarmach
Third Advisor
Dr. Joyce Kubiski
Access Setting
Masters Thesis-Open Access
Abstract
This study analyzes the commercialization of popular medievalism that occurred in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. By examining the works of a forger of medieval manuscripts this research identifies a market created for works that expressed a particularly "Romantic" vision of medieval society. Moreover, this study offers a discussion of late nineteenth century handbooks that teach techniques of illumination. These works are examined to gain an understanding of the audience for which "medieval" works were created. Publication information reveals the popularity of these handbooks. The. prefatory material examined here pinpoints the idealization of the "medieval" that made handbooks and forgeries popular. It is my thesis that medievalism, a constructed idea--an idea that changes and adapts when manipulated by each group in control of that structure--explains the popularity of the handbooks produced in the late nineteenth century and the proliferation of forged works created to appear medieval.
Recommended Citation
Dawson, Amy E., "The Commercialization of the Medieval Ideal: The Spanish Forger and Handbooks of Illumination" (1996). Masters Theses. 4214.
https://scholarworks.wmich.edu/masters_theses/4214