2015/11/18 by Alexandra Gajewski, Stefanie Seeberg · 1 voice · 1 citation
Arts and Humanities · #Medieval Literature and History #Medieval and Early Modern Iberia
paper · doi:10.1080/03044181.2015.1106970
openalex publication_date 2015/11/18 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/29
In the Middle Ages, elite women acted as creators, donors and recipients of textile art. This article analyses a small but representative group of seventh- to thirteenth-century embroideries in order to examine the motivation for their creation and to investigate the ways in which women could mark their own presence through textile art. It discusses written sources alongside the material evidence; these sources include documentary, hagiographical and literary texts, which provide information about cultural norms and the expectations of society. Set within the context of these sources, the evidence suggests that society both channelled women's creativity into textile art and idealised it. At the same time, as artists and patrons of ornamented textiles, noblewomen had creative control over the medium; embroidery became a field in which their works were noted and celebrated.