Designs upon the Land
Elite Landscapes of the Middle Ages
Published on 18. April 2013
Book
Paperback/Softback
272 pages
978-1-84383-825-8 (ISBN)
Description
A wide-ranging and accessibly written account of designed medieval landscapes.
The phrase "designed landscape" is generally associated with the great parks and gardens of the post-medieval period, with grand country houses surrounded by parkland, such as Chatsworth and Longleat. However, recent research hasmade it clear that its origins lie much further back than that, in the middle ages, and numerous examples have been identified. This book offers the first full-length survey of designed medieval landscapes, not just the settings for castles, but for palaces, manor houses and monastic institutions. Gardens and pleasure grounds gave their owners sensory enjoyment; lakes, ponds and walkways created routes of approach that displayed residences to best effect;deer parks were stunning backdrops and venues for aristocratic enjoyment; and peacocks, swans, rabbits and doves were some of the many species which lent these landscapes their elite appearance. Richly illustrated with plans, maps, and photographs of key sites showing what can still be seen today.
Oliver H. Creighton is Associate Professor in Archaeology, University of Exeter .
The phrase "designed landscape" is generally associated with the great parks and gardens of the post-medieval period, with grand country houses surrounded by parkland, such as Chatsworth and Longleat. However, recent research hasmade it clear that its origins lie much further back than that, in the middle ages, and numerous examples have been identified. This book offers the first full-length survey of designed medieval landscapes, not just the settings for castles, but for palaces, manor houses and monastic institutions. Gardens and pleasure grounds gave their owners sensory enjoyment; lakes, ponds and walkways created routes of approach that displayed residences to best effect;deer parks were stunning backdrops and venues for aristocratic enjoyment; and peacocks, swans, rabbits and doves were some of the many species which lent these landscapes their elite appearance. Richly illustrated with plans, maps, and photographs of key sites showing what can still be seen today.
Oliver H. Creighton is Associate Professor in Archaeology, University of Exeter .
Reviews / Votes
One of the most satisfying aspects of this book is that it is unashamedly interdisciplinary. * MEDIEVAL SETTLEMENT RESEARCH * A thought-provoking and timely overview of medieval elite landscapes. [...] This volume offers the first attempt to pull together a great deal of detailed research in an interpretative analysis with many plans and illustrations. * ENGLISH HISTORICAL REVIEW * A stimulating study. Creighton has certainly achieved his stated aim of demonstrating that the medieval social elite did commission and appreciate designed landscapes, though their motives and perceptions were not always the same as those of later centuries. * JOURNAL OF MEDIEVAL ARCHAEOLOGY * Creighton has produced an eminently readable, accessible, and thoroughly researched assessment of the character and purpose of medieval elite landscapes in the British Isles. [...] This book is an important study that demonstrates the key role archaeology should play in the study of medieval elite culture. * SPECULUM * Whether to those new to the subject, or to those well read in it, this study can be unreservedly recommended. * LANDSCAPE HISTORY * An admirable scholarly work with an easy command of a wide range of literature. ... [This] study ultimately succeeds in making us recognise that medieval elite landscapes were planned by people living and working within a complex and sophisticated culture which embraced and celebrated relationships to nature and environment that were very different to our own. * ENVIRONMENT & HISTORY * Creighton has written an impressive book that gives a general picture of a vivid and exciting field of research. This book should be on the bookshelf of anyone interested in castles, residences, gardens and medieval elite landscapes. * EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF ARCHAEOLOGY * This stimulating book deserves to be read not just for its theory, but for its wide geographical range of little known sites. * WWW.GARDENHISTORYINSTITUTE.CO.UK * An excellent survey [that] will certainly make you reconsider many modern reconstructions of medieval gardens and landscapes. [...] Highly recommended. * CHICAGO BOTANIC GARDEN * Rescues the study of castles from their purely militaristic contexts and re-establishes them as places that are as much about poetry, art and the intellect as they are about the clash of swords. * CURRENT ARCHAEOLOGY *More details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
Woodbridge
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Boydell & Brewer Ltd
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Product notice
Paperback (trade)
Illustrations
12 colour, 33 b/w, 35 line illus.
Dimensions
Height: 234 mm
Width: 156 mm
Thickness: 15 mm
Weight
421 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-84383-825-8 (9781843838258)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
Book
03/2009
Boydell Press
€81.90
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