Folio Society Published Works Number 3270
Barber, Richard - The Prince in Splendour: Court Festivals of Medieval Europe
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Barber, Richard - The Prince in Splendour: Court Festivals of Medieval Europe (Published in by The Folio Society in 2017. Three quarter-bound in cloth with a Modiglaini paper front board. Set in Poliphilus and Blado display. 280 pages. Frontispiece and 24 pages of colour plates. Blocked slipcase. 9" x 6.25". Introduced by the author. In this fascinating study, historian Richard Barber examines the elaborate pomp and ceremony of the medieval court festival, revealing as he does so its wider cultural and political importance. This volume is published exclusively by The Folio Society. Festivals were many and varied, but they always functioned as part of religious, dynastic or political agendas: from coronations and knightings to celebrations of the birth of royal children, betrothals, weddings, visits from foreign princes, and rulers challenging each other to tournaments. Barber expertly examines, in unprecedented detail, the many different facets of the festival: the food and fashions, the art and music, the organisation, financing and logistics of such grandiose events, and the people that made the splendours possible. René, Duke of Anjou, for example, entered a joust with a procession that included two Turkish attendants 'leading live lions on silver chains'. Food was often served in a similarly dramatic style: entire courses gilded with gold leaf, or guests presented with elaborate castles made of pastry. Minstrels and troubadours would compete for their lords' attentions, while dancing was so enthusiastic that one gathering collapsed a ceiling. New technologies, such as automata and clockwork, made events more memorable; roaring lions in the Byzantine court, boats in pools of water cunningly moved by a concealed mechanism, and even fire-breathing beasts. )
