Cloisonné Objects as Insignias of a Multi-ethnic Military Class in 5th century Europe

Authors

FRANTOVÁ Zuzana

Year of publication 2014
Type Article in Proceedings
Conference Objects of memory, memory of objects. The artworks as a vehicle of the past in the Middle Ages
MU Faculty or unit

Faculty of Arts

Citation
Field Art, architecture, cultural heritage
Keywords cloisonné; Tournai; Blučina-Cezavy; Apahida; military alliances
Description Archeological finds from several European graves dated to the 2nd half of the 5th century reveal remarkable unity. This unity is shown by the finding of the same type of luxurious jewellery made in the cloisonné technique. Objects of this kind have been found in the territory of Roman Empire, in Gaul, in the Danubian region as well as in Pannonia. Although there are hundreds of kilometers between these regions, the most sophisticated finds from Apahida (Romania, fig. 1),1 Tournai (Belgium, fig. 2),2 Blučina-Cezavy (Czech Republic, fig. 3)3 and Pouan (France, fig. 4)4 form a unified category of arms and accessories for members of the aristocratic military class. The typological and stylistic parallels of particular finds from these famous graves form the basis for an argument that they were made at the same place and time.5 This paper is intended as an effort to consider the historical circumstances in which the jewellery could have been produced, as well as a consideration of its role in forming military alliances and political structures in the period just before the "decline" of the Western Roman Empire.
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