Videos by Jitske Jasperse
I talk with radio presenter Mieke van der Weij about my recent book "Het vrouwelijk oog wil ook w... more I talk with radio presenter Mieke van der Weij about my recent book "Het vrouwelijk oog wil ook wat" (Dutch interview) 19 views
Here's a short video introducing our series on medieval visual and material culture. If you're wr... more Here's a short video introducing our series on medieval visual and material culture. If you're writing a book or edited volume dealing with visual and/or material culture from an interdisciplinary perspective, then do get in touch with me!
https://arc-humanities.org/our-series/arc/cvm/ 25 views
Articles by Jitske Jasperse
Materia: Journal of Technical Art History, 2024
This article showcases an interdisciplinary approach to the materiality of seal wrappings through... more This article showcases an interdisciplinary approach to the materiality of seal wrappings through the collaboration between conservation scientists, archival records specialists, textile experts, and art historians. We present the results of the characterisation of two charters belonging to the collection of the National Archives of the United Kingdom and their respective wax seals and textile bags, highlighting the contributions of each specialist to the project, including their methodologies and specific vocabulary, while also acknowledging the obstacles and learning moments.
Archivo Español de Arte, 2023
Toledo Cathedral owns an early thirteenth-century crozier from Limoges with unique representation... more Toledo Cathedral owns an early thirteenth-century crozier from Limoges with unique representations of lions and deacons, indicative of Limoges’ rich artistic repertoire. Acknowledging its eye-catching features, this short article presents the crozier as a hand-held object that animated multiple senses through its physical use.
Journal of Medieval Iberian Studies
The present article demonstrates that material culture offers medievalists an often untapped prim... more The present article demonstrates that material culture offers medievalists an often untapped primary source, in this case the seals of Matilda of Flanders (d. 1218). Born Teresa of Portugal, she was the daughter of King Afonso Henriques of Portugal and Queen Mafalda of Savoy; as wife, then widow of Count Philip of Flanders, Matilda issued two double-sided seal types. By foregrounding the material traces connected with the countess, an unexpected picture unfolds of a self-conscious royal heiress and staunch promotor of her natal family. Here it is shown that Matilda's seals share signifying elements with those of her royal siblings Sancho and Urraca, arguing that her seal was part of an explicit statement of familial connections. This visual declaration reveals a previously unrecognized chapter of the countess' history, in which she asserted her place within the Portuguese dynasty from her new lands in the County of Flanders.
Authorship, Worldview, and Identity in Medieval Europe
Medieval Encounters
In the Museo de la Real Colegiata de San Isidoro in León, Spain, an intriguing portable altar is ... more In the Museo de la Real Colegiata de San Isidoro in León, Spain, an intriguing portable altar is on display. Its multicolored stone and long inscription detailing the material objects enshrined within invite an analysis of the artwork in terms of materiality and mobility. This article addresses the multiple questions raised by the altar, shifting away from a straightforward interpretation of patronage by Sancha of León-Castilla (ca. 1095–1159), whose name is inscribed on its face. Conceptualizing the altar as a multilayered object that can be placed within Sancha’s network of connections facilitates our understanding of this exotic artifact between León and the Levant.
This article investigates coins and seals as instruments that reflect the desire for self-represe... more This article investigates coins and seals as instruments that reflect the desire for self-representation and remembrance of ruling women. An analysis of these small but important objects connected to Queen Urraca of León-Castilla (r. 1109-1126), Empress Matilda of England (r.1135-1154), and Duchess Bertha of Lorraine (r. 1176-1194/95), will show that they each constructed the visual image of their rule by employing a masculine iconography to craft their identities. Originating directly from the power these lordly women, their coins and seals convey how they represented themselves and consequently how they wished to be recognized and recollected. As such, these objects were part of a wider medieval memorial culture to which the creation of artefacts and architecture was crucial.
&... more "In 1168 Matilda (1156-1189), the eldest daughter of King Henry II and his wife Eleanor of Aquitaine, married Duke Henry the Lion, cousin of Emperor Frederick Barbarossa. Scholars have written much on Henry’s politics and patronage, but little attention has been payed to the role of his wife Matilda. This article presents what is known about Matilda. Her depictions in het Gospels of Henry the Lion, her involvement in the production of literary texts and her noble descent from the culturally engaged Anglo-Norman court make it more than likely that she was involved in commissioning the famous so-called Gospels of Henry the Lion."
Royal Mothers and their Ruling Children, 2015
In this article "Jasperse has investigated the use of sealing practices and coinage as a... more In this article "Jasperse has investigated the use of sealing practices and coinage as a means of visually demonstrating authority of two sisters, Judith of Thuringia and Bertha of Lorraine, in the twelfth century. [She] demonstrate[s] the significance of material culture and visual depictions of authority as a means of reinforcing Judith and Bertha's relative positions as co-rulers with their sons." From: Royal Mothers and Their Ruling Children: Wielding Political Authority from Antiquity to the Early Modern Era, ed. Elena Woodacre and Carey Fleiner (Palgrave Macmillan, 2015, 4-5)
Mediaevistik, 2017
Thus far it has gone unnoticed that the twelfth-century Middle High German Rolandslied has more t... more Thus far it has gone unnoticed that the twelfth-century Middle High German Rolandslied has more to say about women than its famous French counterpart, the Chanson de Roland. In the former the female protagonists are not merely wives and widows, but also advisors, mediators, regents, and rulers. Moreover, these women are expressly connected to the display of wealth and to practices of gift-giving: as givers, receivers, and gifts. While acknowledging that this chanson de geste is a story about honor, lordship, and the triumph of Christianity, the analysis of women through the lens of gift-giving is a plea to open up the Rolandslied to different interpretations. This can contribute to our understanding of social practices and ideas about women, courtly display, and gifts in twelfth-century German society.
Journal of Medieval History, 2017
Arenal. Revista de historia de las mujeres, 2018
En este artículo las monedas y los sellos se analizan como herramientas que reflejan el deseo de ... more En este artículo las monedas y los sellos se analizan como herramientas que reflejan el deseo de las mujeres gobernantes de autorepresentarse y de ser así recordadas. Un recorrido por estos objetos pequeños pero muy relevantes conectados con la reina Urraca de León-Castilla (r. 1109-1126), la emperatriz Matilde de Inglaterra (r. 1135-1154) y la duquesa Berta de Lorena (r. 1176-1194/95) mostrará que cada una construyó una imagen visual de su reinado, empleando una iconografía masculina para crear sus identidades. Procedentes directamente del poder de estas mujeres señoriales, su moneda y los sellos expresan cómo ellas se representaban y, en consecuencia, cómo deseaban ser reconocidos y recordados. Por definición, estos objetos formaban parte de una cultura medieval de memoria para la cual era crucial la creación de artefactos y arquitectura.
Moving Women Moving Objects (400–1500), 2019
This article traces the social lives of books, liturgical vestments, and textiles, which Matilda ... more This article traces the social lives of books, liturgical vestments, and textiles, which Matilda Plantagenet strategically moved to communicate and display her wealth, status, and piety as well as to acknowledge and underscore the high standing of its receivers. Tracing the movements of women and objects does demonstrate how women were able to wield power through the donation of high-quality textiles and goldsmith works. This article is part of the volume Moving Women Moving Objects (400-1500), which forges new ground in the discussion of aristocratic and royal women, their relationships with their objects, and medieval geography. It explores how women’s geographic and familial networks spread well beyond the borders that defined men’s sense of region and how the movement of their belongings can reveal essential information about how women navigated these often-disparate spaces. Beginning in early medieval Scandinavia, ranging from Byzantium to Rus', and multiple lands in Western Europe up to 1500, the essays span a great spatio-temporal range. Moreover, the types of objects extend from traditionally studied works like manuscripts and sculpture to liturgical and secular ceremonial instruments, icons, and articles of personal adornment, such as textiles and jewelry, even including shoes. The flyer contains an order form and a discount code valid until 31 December 2019.
The communication of power, representation and ideas (or ideologies) through money is not a moder... more The communication of power, representation and ideas (or ideologies) through money is not a modern invention. A visual and cultural approach of a twelfth-century coin demonstrates that this medium communicated many things in the Middle Ages as well. Besides their monetary function, coinage also held a social function. In addition they deserve to be studied as carefully carved objects (artworks).
The Kunstgewerbemuseum in Berlin houses three arm reliquaries formerly belonging to the so-called... more The Kunstgewerbemuseum in Berlin houses three arm reliquaries formerly belonging to the so-called Guelph Treasure. Uncovering to what extent Theophylus' high standards concerning material, techniques and execution, as written down in 'De diversis artibus', have been applied by the craftsman of these reliquaries sheds light on workshop practices. At the same time it offers an insight in the limitations an art historian is faced with when studying workshops and manuals.
Gender and Power in the Premodern World showcases cutting‐edge research into issues of gender and... more Gender and Power in the Premodern World showcases cutting‐edge research into issues of gender and power across a broad temporal and geographic spectrum. It fills key lacunae in the field, broadening conversations about gender and power by addressing constructions and performances of masculinity as well as engaging with women's roles, expanding beyond a European framework of analysis, and breaking down conventional barriers between premodern periods. It examines not only rulers and elites in positions of political or religious authority but also others who exerted power in economic, cultural, and symbolic forms.
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Videos by Jitske Jasperse
https://arc-humanities.org/our-series/arc/cvm/
Articles by Jitske Jasperse
https://arc-humanities.org/our-series/arc/cvm/
Contributors to this issue are: Patricia Strohmaier, Jennifer Gerber, Dasol Kim, Cornelius Berthold, Nancy L. Wicker, Bettina Bildhauer and Lieke Smits.
Open Acces: https://edoc.hu-berlin.de/handle/18452/22109
The complete review is published on Medieval Feminist Forum: A Journal of Gender and Sexuality 52, no. 1 (2016), 110-112.
The theme for this year’s CARMEN meeting highlights the North American venue, and is meant to encourage scholarly conversation on the rich history of Medieval Studies in the Western hemisphere as well as the myriad ways in which “the medieval” has been portrayed and appropriated within the art, architecture, literature, and popular culture of the Americas. Plenary lectures will be delivered by Cord Whitaker (Wellesley College) and Laura Cleaver (School of Advanced Studies, University of London).
The Program and free registration are available here:
https://arc-humanities.org/carmen/annual-meeting/
Organized and hosted by The Society for the Medieval Mediterranean in their series "The Medieval Mediterranean: Local and Global Perspectives".
Rethinking the minimi of the Iberian Peninsula and Balearic Islands in late antiquity by Ruth Pliego
Quintana place-names as evidence of the Islamic conquest of Iberia by David Peterson
Territories and kingdom in the central Duero basin: the case of Dueñas (tenth–twelfth centuries) by Daniel Justo Sánchez & Iñaki Martín Viso
“Neither age nor sex sparing”: the Alvor massacre 1189, an anomaly in the Portuguese Reconquista? by Jonathan Wilson
Riots, reluctance, and reformers: the church in the Kingdom of Castile and the IV Lateran Council by Kyle C. Lincoln
Squire to the Moor King: Christian administrators for Muslim magnates in late medieval Murcia by Anthony Minnema
Glassmaking in medieval technical literature in the Iberian Peninsula by David J. Govantes-Edwards , Javier López Rider & Chloë Duckworth
With your book ‘The female gaze wants something too,’ (‘Het vrouwelijk oog wil ook wat’) how do you hope to get readers to view art differently?
Continue reading here: https://artherstory.net/masters-and-sisters-in-arts/
Continue reading here: https://artherstory.net/thoughts-on-feminist-art-history-in-the-wake-of-artemisia-vrouw-macht-at-rijksmuseum-twenthe/