A Cultural History of Gardens in the Medieval Age

Hardback

Main Details

Title A Cultural History of Gardens in the Medieval Age
Authors and Contributors      Edited by Michael Leslie
SeriesThe Cultural Histories Series
Physical Properties
Format:Hardback
Pages:288
Dimensions(mm): Height 244,Width 169
Category/GenreLandscape art and architecture
Gardens (descriptions, history etc)
ISBN/Barcode 9780857850300
ClassificationsDewey:712.09
Audience
Tertiary Education (US: College)
Professional & Vocational
Illustrations 14 bw illus

Publishing Details

Publisher Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
Imprint Berg Publishers
Publication Date 23 May 2013
Publication Country United Kingdom

Description

The Middle Ages was a time of great upheaval - the period between the seventh and fourteenth centuries saw great social, political and economic change. The radically distinct cultures of the Christian West, Byzantium, Persian-influenced Islam, and al-Andalus resulted in different responses to the garden arts of antiquity and different attitudes to the natural world and its artful manipulation. Yet these cultures interacted and communicated, trading plants, myths and texts. By the fifteenth century the garden as a cultural phenomenon was immensely sophisticated and a vital element in the way society saw itself and its relation to nature. A Cultural History of Gardens in the Medieval Age presents an overview of the period with essays on issues of design, types of gardens, planting, use and reception, issues of meaning, verbal and visual representation of gardens, and the relationship of gardens to the larger landscape.

Author Biography

Michael Leslie is Professor of English at Rhodes College. He has written on sixteenth and seventeenth century literature, interart relations, and designed landscapes of the medieval and Renaissance periods; he has most recently published editions of plays by the seventeenth century dramatist Richard Brome.

Reviews

An exciting and unusual approach to a perhaps undervalued aspect of history . . . [that] usefully fills a niche area of research and study. [A Cultural History of Gardens] provides an important and fascinating insight through thought-provoking essays and will be of value to anyone with an interest in the history of the garden . . . the development of human society in general. -- Louise Ellis-Barrett, St. John's School, Leatherhead, UK * Reference Reviews, vol. 28 *