ABOUT THIS BOOK The book presents the panorama of social, cultural, and religious changes in the states of the Piast, Přemyslid, and Arpad dynasties. Major change occurred in the tenth century and again at the turn of the eleventh century. Given the scarcity of written sources, the author employs an analysis of architectural forms which she applies to buildings founded by dukes, kings, and nobles at this period.
Architecture serves as a reliable source of knowledge and can be successfully read as a text using comparative analysis, iconology, and semiotics. No piece of art appeared without an historical context: forms, functions, and styles are all documents created by its founders and creators. The conclusions of this research help us to understand the era that shaped the foundations of the Polish, Czech, and the Hungarian states.
AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY Marta Graczyńska is an art historian from the National Museum in Kraków, Poland who researches the forms and meanings of early medieval architecture in Central Europe.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Introduction
Chapter 1: Displays of Power—Architecture as Sign and Symbol
The book presents the panorama of social, cultural, and religious changes in the states of the Piast, Přemyslid, and Arpad dynasties. Major change occurred in the tenth century and again at the turn of the eleventh century. Given the scarcity of written sources, the author employs an analysis of architectural forms which she applies to buildings founded by dukes, kings, and nobles at this period.
Architecture serves as a reliable source of knowledge and can be successfully read as a text using comparative analysis, iconology, and semiotics. No piece of art appeared without an historical context: forms, functions, and styles are all documents created by its founders and creators. The conclusions of this research help us to understand the era that shaped the foundations of the Polish, Czech, and the Hungarian states.
AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY Marta Graczyńska is an art historian from the National Museum in Kraków, Poland who researches the forms and meanings of early medieval architecture in Central Europe.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Introduction
Chapter 1: Displays of Power—Architecture as Sign and Symbol