Cistercian Art and Architecture in the British Isles

by Edited by Christopher Norton , David Park

• ISBN13: 9780521181358
• ISBN10: 0521181356
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2012-03-29
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Summary

From their introduction in the early twelfth century the Cistercians were one of the leading monastic orders in Britain. Many of the finest monastic remains - Fountains, Rievaulx and Tintern - are Cistercian. This 1986 book is a comprehensive survey of Cistercian art and architecture in the British Isles. The various contributions, all by leading specialists, cover the historical and literary background; the development of Cistercian architecture (especially in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, when the Cistercians were in the forefront of architectural achievement, playing an important role in the introduction and dissemination of the Gothic style); and art forms such as wall painting, stained glass, tile pavements, and manuscript illumination, as well as liturgy and music. These studies reveal what was distinctively Cistercian in the art and architecture of the Order, and permit a distinct understanding of the remarkable contribution of the Cistercians to the culture of medieval Britain.

Table of Contents

List of plates	p. vii
List of figures and maps	p. xiii
Preface	p. xv
Preface to the Paperback Edition
Acknowledgements	p. xiii
Introduction	p. 1
St Bernard, the patrons and monastic planning	p. 11
The foundation of the British Cistercian houses	p. 24
The chronology and character of early Cistercian legislation on art and architecture	p. 40
The Cistercian attitude towards art: the literary evidence	p. 56
The earliest architecture of the Cistercians in England	p. 65
The Cistercians as 'missionaries of Gothic' in Northern England	p. 86
The architecture of the Cistercian churches of Ireland, 1142-1272	p. 117
Cistercian architecture from Beaulieu to the Dissolution	p. 139
The twelfth-century refectories at Rievaulx and Byland Abbeys	p. 160
Cistercian wall painting and panel painting	p. 181
Cistercian window glass in England and Wales	p. 211
Early Cistercian tile pavements	p. 228
Cistercian metalwork in England	p. 256
Cistercian seals in England and Wales	p. 266
English Cistercian manuscripts of the twelfth century	p. 284
Liturgy and liturgical music: the limits of uniformity -	p. 299
Table of Cistercian legislation on art and architecture	p. 315
Tables of Cistercian affiliations	p. 394
Bibliography	p. 402
Index	p. 431
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