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Antiquaries in the Age of Romanticism: 1789-1851 - Queen Mary ...

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were published posthumously. His ma<strong>in</strong> contribution to <strong>the</strong> architectural debate was <strong>the</strong><br />

co<strong>in</strong>age <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> term ‘flamboyant’, still <strong>in</strong> use, to describe late French Gothic. Although<br />

deeply troubled by his experience <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Revolution and subject to prolonged depressive<br />

episodes Langlois had many admirers <strong>in</strong> England and France and his museum became an<br />

important po<strong>in</strong>t on <strong>the</strong> antiquarian tour <strong>of</strong> Normandy.<br />

John L<strong>in</strong>gard (1771-<strong>1851</strong>)<br />

A Catholic priest and historian, <strong>the</strong> son <strong>of</strong> a builder and carpenter, L<strong>in</strong>gard’s<br />

scrupulously documentary methods mark one end <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> scholarly spectrum embraced by<br />

antiquarianism. He would not have liked to have been called an antiquary but his use <strong>of</strong><br />

primary sources marks him out as one. Among <strong>the</strong> last generation <strong>of</strong> priests to study at<br />

Douai (he was forced to leave when it was captured by <strong>the</strong> commissaries <strong>in</strong> 1793) he<br />

never sought high <strong>of</strong>fice <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> church preferr<strong>in</strong>g to live quietly <strong>in</strong> his parish <strong>of</strong> Hornby <strong>in</strong><br />

Lancashire and concentrate on his historical work and his many friendships. L<strong>in</strong>gard’s<br />

Antiquities <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Anglo-Saxon Church (1806), and his History <strong>of</strong> England (1819-30)<br />

were controversial though <strong>the</strong>y attracted some em<strong>in</strong>ent admirers. He was <strong>the</strong> first English<br />

historian to make use <strong>of</strong> orig<strong>in</strong>al documents <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> Vatican and <strong>the</strong> archives <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Holy<br />

Roman Empire <strong>in</strong> Spa<strong>in</strong>. He was made a correspond<strong>in</strong>g member <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Academie<br />

Française.<br />

Sara Losh (1785/6-1853)<br />

The only woman <strong>in</strong> my study she has not previously been considered as an<br />

antiquary although her few surviv<strong>in</strong>g notes suggest that her methods were thoroughly<br />

antiquarian. The eldest child <strong>in</strong> an old Cumbrian gentry family, Losh used her unusually<br />

wide education, her substantial means and her freedom as a s<strong>in</strong>gle woman to develop a<br />

career as an architect. Her build<strong>in</strong>gs were all <strong>in</strong> or near her native village <strong>of</strong> Wreay and<br />

<strong>the</strong> only one discussed here is <strong>the</strong> church, St <strong>Mary</strong>’s, <strong>in</strong> which she expressed a view <strong>of</strong><br />

time and creation that was both personal and metaphysical. The church was dedicated <strong>in</strong><br />

295

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