BristolConference - Corpus Vitrearum Medii Aevi
BristolConference - Corpus Vitrearum Medii Aevi
BristolConference - Corpus Vitrearum Medii Aevi
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Introduction<br />
Secular Patronage and Piety in the Later Middle Ages<br />
The beginnings of greater involvement of the laity in church affairs may be<br />
linked with the period of the Fourth Lateran Council, and its development<br />
with the growth of towns, the increasing importance of Purgatory and the<br />
concomitant need for intercession. Accordingly, the theme of our conference,<br />
while clearly intended to focus on stained glass, is equally applicable to any<br />
of the arts. Hence it was the intention of the organizers that we should extend<br />
the study of stained glass to include wider contexts, to make comparisons<br />
with other kinds of artefacts and to examine the social roots of the patronage<br />
involved.<br />
We have been extremely fortunate in the response from colleagues from<br />
member countries, who have provided a wealth of most interesting subjects<br />
for their lectures. It has been logical to divide them into General Topics and<br />
Individual Case Studies - though the division is not always hard and fast.<br />
The case studies fall naturally into two categories: royal and aristocratic<br />
patronage and bourgeois patronage, the latter dominated by confraternities.<br />
The formal lectures are supported and amplified by texts and images<br />
on poster boards in the foyer of the lecture theatre, and these also include<br />
contributions from colleagues in the field of conservation, who have been<br />
working on two of the monuments that we shall be visiting (Fairford and<br />
Gloucester).<br />
We should like to thank all of the contributors and to offer the warmest<br />
welcome to you as delegates.<br />
Prof. C. M. Kauffmann<br />
Chair, <strong>Corpus</strong> <strong>Vitrearum</strong><br />
Great Britain<br />
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