080050 VO Medieval Legends and their Media in Central Europe (m./zeu.K.) (2020S)

The aim of the lecture series is to offer basic insights into the functioning of medieval pictorial hagiography in Central Europe. The narrative images from the lives of saints in this region can be broadly divided into two groups. First, there were the heroes whose legends have inspired the whole Christian world, such as apostles, holy bishops, virgin martyrs etc. Second, there were the local saints. Sometimes, their lives were represented not only in the region, but also widely behind its borders (e.g. Saint Elizabeth of Hungary, Saint Stanislas of Cracow), sometimes they remained of important, but predominantly local influence (Saint Venceslas, Saint Ludmila, Saint Hedwig of Thuringia, Saint Ladislas of Hungary). One of the leading questions of the course will be the place of those legendary lives in the visual culture of towns, monasteries and castles in Central Europe. What media were used for their representation? What was the institutional background of the pictorial cycles? Which legends proved to be the most inspiring? Were there some special features of these local saints which could motivate patrons to invest in their propagation? Have some legends been adjusted dependent on their importance for people’s everyday life? In these respects, there are many intersections with general history, microhistory or social psychology of the respective communities.
Another important group of questions will be regarding the structure of individual narratives. What scenes were the most important to be depicted and why? Which narrative structures were typical for what medium? Was there a difference between a story of saintly life in a chronicle compared to a legendary? What role was played by theological principles, such as the imitation of Christ or of the Virgin Mary? Were there special types of images which seemed to be privileged? After introducing several key narratives in detail, there will remain some room to carefully look for general principles, which might be relevant for a philosophical anthropology or even for a general theory of images in medieval and modern perspectives.