Description
Book SynopsisMass-produced of tin-lead alloys and cheap to make and purchase, medieval badges were brooch-like objects displaying familiar images. Circulating widely throughout Europe in the High and late Middle Ages, badges were usually small, around four-by-four centimeters, though examples as tiny as two centimeters and a few as large as ten centimeters have been found. About 75 percent of surviving badges are closely associated with specific charismatic or holy sites, and when sewn or pinned onto clothing or a hat, they would have marked their wearers as having successfully completed a pilgrimage. Many others, however, were artifacts of secular life; some were political devices—a swan, a stag, a rose—that would have denoted membership in a civic organization or an elite family, and others—a garland, a pair of clasped hands, a crowned heart—that would have been tokens of love or friendship. A good number are enigmatic and even obscene. The popularity of badges seems to
Trade Review
"[A]n authoritative general introduction to the design, imagery, production, functions, and many uses of religious and secular badges during the Middle Ages, especially in northwestern Europe during the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries...Rasmussen has produced a welcome, readable introduction to medieval badges, which are a fascinating window into religion, social life, and popular imagery." * The Medieval Review *
"This captivating book introduces us to late-medieval badges: small, shiny, usually cheap and mass-produced objects worn on hats or clothing...Badges are ostensibly the subject of Rasmussen's study, but they become tour guides on an extraordinary journey through the many cultures of late-medieval Northern Europe." * Seminar *
"Ann Marie Rasmussen offers a new approach to her subject, combining archaeological and literary sources in a way that has not been done before. Her understanding of the nature of medieval badges is profound and well argued." * Michael Andersen, National Museum of Denmark *
"The book offers a through introduction to medieval badges that is both a solid work of scholarship and a joy to read." * Jennifer Lee, Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis *
Table of Contents
Acknowledgments
Chapter 1. What Are Medieval Badges?
Chapter 2. How Do We Know About Medieval Badges?
Chapter 3. How Were Badges Made, Designed, and Used?
Chapter 4. What Did Badges Do?
Chapter 5. Badges and Pilgrimage
Chapter 6. Badges and Chivalry
Chapter 7. Badges in the Medieval City
Chapter 8. Badges and Carnival
Concluding Remarks
Notes
Bibliography
Index
