The Regional and Transregional in Romanesque Europe

The Regional and Transregional in Romanesque Europe considers the historiography and usefulness of regional categories and in so doing explores the strength, durability, mutability, and geographical scope of regional and transregional phenomena in the Romanesque period.This book addresses the complex question of the significance of regions in the creation of Romanesque, particularly in relation to transregional and pan-European artistic styles and approaches. The categorization of Romanesque by region was a cornerstone of 19th- and 20th-century scholarship, albeit one vulnerable to the application of anachronistic concepts of regional identity. Individual chapters explore the generation and reception of forms, the conditions that give rise to the development of transregional styles and the agencies that cut across territorial boundaries. There are studies of regional styles in Aquitaine, Castile, Sicily, Hungary, and Scandinavia; workshops in Worms and the Welsh Marches; the transregional nature of liturgical furnishings; the cultural geography of the new monastic orders; metalworking in Hildesheim and the valley of the Meuse; and the links which connect Piemonte with Conques.The Regional and Transregional in Romanesque Europe offers a new vision of regions in the creation of Romanesque relevant to archaeologists, art historians, and historians alike.

About the Author

John McNeill teaches at Oxford University’s Department of Continuing Education and is Honorary Secretary of the British Archaeological Association, for whom he has edited and contributed to volumes on Anjou, King’s Lynn and the Fens, the medieval cloister, and English medieval chantries. He was instrumental in establishing the BAA’s International Romanesque Conference Series and has a particular interest in the design of medieval monastic precincts.

Richard Plant has taught at a number of institutions and worked for many years at Christie’s Education in London, where he was deputy academic director. His research interests lie in the buildings of the Anglo-Norman realm and the Holy Roman Empire, in particular in architectural iconography. He is Publicity Officer for the British Archaeological Association, and in addition to this volume has co-edited Romanesque and the Past (2013), Romanesque Patrons and Processes (2018), and Romanesque Saints, Shrines and Pilgrimage (2020).