Casey, Cherissa (2021) Stitching Sanctity and Sculpting Bones: The Materiality of Cologne’s 11,000 Holy Virgins and their Textile Skull Reliquaries. PhD thesis, University of York.
Abstract
This thesis investigates the medieval textile skull reliquaries of Cologne’s 11,000 Holy Virgins by focusing on their structural, material, and cultural significance. They were supported by and wrapped within layers of textiles, ornamented with material finery, and constructed to expose the forehead bone through an elaborate ‘window’. The use of textiles as a primary external material, the exposure of bone, and their monumental displays – that sometimes totalled over 1,000 skulls – mark notable departures from contemporary methods of display. These textile reliquaries originated in Cologne in the thirteenth century, and eventually circulated across different regions of Europe, forming a much wider network. Nevertheless, they have themselves remained at the periphery of, or been completely overlooked in, most studies; this investigation seeks to redress this scholarly lacuna by exploring the reliquaries in detail – externally and internally, physically, thematically, and theoretically. Although most have been re-wrapped in subsequent campaigns, this study concentrates on the earliest compositions. It examines both the external textile layers that wrap the skulls as well as materials within them, uncovering elaborate assemblages of linen, silk, velvet, parchment, and bone fragments among other materials. These are used to challenge and problematize (modern) canonical distinctions between ‘relic’ and ‘reliquary’. Given the frequent construction of ‘living’ features, consideration is given to the wider context of the head in high medieval medicine and surgery. Here, investigation of images and written accounts of cranial anatomy, especially Albertus Magnus’ De animalibus that was composed in Cologne, reveal a rich vocabulary, used literally and metaphorically, relating to layered fabrics, weaving, and sewing. For the first time, this study considers these reliquaries in their own right and together with other related objects and textual sources. This also sheds new light on the cult’s medieval formation and promotion that establishes this relic phenomenon as integral to Cologne’s sanctity.
Metadata
Supervisors: | Hawkes, Jane and Vorholt, Hanna |
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Keywords: | relic, relics, medieval, reliquary, reliquaries, Cologne, Holy Virgins, medieval medicine, materiality, textiles, skulls, wrapped |
Awarding institution: | University of York |
Academic Units: | The University of York > History of Art (York) |
Depositing User: | Ms Cherissa Casey |
Date Deposited: | 06 Jun 2022 13:46 |
Last Modified: | 06 Jun 2022 13:46 |
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Embargoed until: 6 June 2025
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