The World in a Book: Weltchroniken and Society at the End of the Middle Ages

FAIN: FA-232675-16

Nina Ariane Rowe
Fordham University (Bronx, NY 10458-9993)

The completion of a book-length study on German medieval World Chronicle manuscripts and an interpretation of their illustrations.

This study will be the first comprehensive account of illuminated World Chronicle manuscripts and their relationship to the tastes and preoccupations of urban audiences in an era of growing middle class city life, from roughly 1330 to 1430. I investigate sixteen richly decorated manuscripts, filled with texts of a versified world chronicle, written in Middle High German, and adorned with illustrations. My book focuses on texts and images that evince a range of social preoccupations among late medieval city dwellers—commercial and political ambitions, skepticism about Christian religious practices, appreciation of artistic ingenuity, and ultimately the implications of the new technology of print. While most art historical considerations of the late medieval era consider sacred works, my project investigates the secular sphere.

Media Coverage

Illuminating the World (Media Coverage)
Author(s): Nina Rowe
Publication: Lapham's Quarterly Roundtable
Date: 12/7/2020
Abstract: Excerpt from book on Lapham's Quarterly online Roundtable
URL: https://www.laphamsquarterly.org/roundtable/illuminating-world

Associated Products

"Devotion and Dissent in Late-Medieval Illuminated World Chronicles" (Article)
Title: "Devotion and Dissent in Late-Medieval Illuminated World Chronicles"
Author: Nina Rowe
Abstract: na
Year: 2018
Format: Journal
Periodical Title: Art History 41, no. 1: 12-41

"Shrugging at the Sacred: Dreams, Punishments, and Feasting in the Daniel-Nebuchadnezzar Cycles of Illuminated Weltchroniken, circa 1400 (Article)
Title: "Shrugging at the Sacred: Dreams, Punishments, and Feasting in the Daniel-Nebuchadnezzar Cycles of Illuminated Weltchroniken, circa 1400
Author: Nina Rowe
Abstract: na
Year: 2018
Format: Journal
Periodical Title: Gesta 57, no.1

"Satan at the Deluge and in the Streets of Vienna: The Story of Noah in Late Medieval Illuminated Weltchroniken" (Public Lecture or Presentation)
Title: "Satan at the Deluge and in the Streets of Vienna: The Story of Noah in Late Medieval Illuminated Weltchroniken"
Abstract: na
Author: Nina Rowe
Date: 9/1/2017
Location: Bard Graduate Center, New York

The Illuminated World Chronicle: Tales from the Late Medieval City (Book)
Title: The Illuminated World Chronicle: Tales from the Late Medieval City
Author: Nina Rowe
Editor: Katherine Boller
Abstract: In this innovative study, Nina Rowe examines a curious genre of illustrated book that gained popularity among the newly emergent middle class of late medieval cities. These illuminated World Chronicles, produced in the Bavarian and Austrian regions from around 1330 to 1430, were the popular histories of their day, telling tales from the Bible, ancient mythology, and the lives of emperors in animated, vernacular verse, enhanced by dynamic images. Rowe’s appraisal of these understudied books presents a rich world of storytelling modes, offering unprecedented insight into the non-noble social strata in a transformative epoch. Through a multidisciplinary approach, Rowe also shows how illuminated World Chronicles challenge the commonly held view of the Middle Ages as socially stagnant and homogeneously pious. Beautifully illustrated and backed by abundant and accessible analyses of social, economic, and political conditions, this book highlights the engaging character of secular literature during the late medieval era and the relationship of illustrated books to a socially diverse and vibrant urban sphere.
Year: 2020
Primary URL: https://yalebooks.yale.edu/book/9780300247046/illuminated-world-chronicle
Primary URL Description: Yale University Press web site
Access Model: Book for purchase
Publisher: Yale University Press
Type: Single author monograph
ISBN: 9780300247046
Copy sent to NEH?: No

Prizes

Karen Gould Prize
Date: 2/22/2023
Organization: The Medieval Academy of America

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