Interior Lives: Reliquary Pendants in Late Medieval England

Principal investigator: Liam
Level: PhD level research

In my research I am investigating the apotropaic, material, and social roles of 'reliquary pendants' in the lives of English medieval people (c. 1400-1500). Within this period of heightened emphasis on affective and personal piety, I plan to explore the processes through which individuals collected, curated, and enclosed spiritually significant materials close to the body. This study draws on archaeological artefacts recorded in the PAS in order to suggest a broader range of historically collected materials within these 'reliquary' pendants than previously acknowledged. This investigation will contextualise recent, unstudied, finds amongst more famous and elaborate examples held in long-standing collections, and seek to shed light on the narrative ways in which humans construct value and gravitas through their possessions.

Audit data

• Created: 3 years ago
• Created by: S M
• Updated: 3 years ago
• Updated by: S M